I'm Thankful to France for

Though I can't stand Jacques Chirac of France, I do want people in the US to realize that there are reasons to be thankful to France. This is not a competition between who has invented more, just a note that there are things to be thankful for.

The Louvres and its amazing art collection.

The aqualung which lead to Scuba (by Jacques Cousteau who open a new world to us in underwater discovery).

The aneroid barometer.

The first rechargeable battery.

Braille was one of the greatest inventions helping numerous blind people.

Aiding in the process of building telescopes which lead to amazing discoveries.

The gyroscope used in navigation equiptment.

Hot air balloons.

Interchangeable parts in gun manufacturing.

Mayonnaise

Pasteurization

The sewing machine

The Statue of Liberty

All of these things I'm thankful for. I am not thankful for Jacques Chirac.

Originally posted by infinite8
The Louvres and its amazing art collection.

yes. yes oh yes oh yes. nothing, really, is better. really, a lot of the entirety of french history im thankful for. versailles, napoleon, all the art. not the crusades.

and, of course, their help during the revolution. thanks, boys.

You forgot the metric system and the many other gifts of the enlightenment.
And food in tin cans also ^^

Actually, it was Eli Whitney that created interchangable gun parts. And most of the other things on your list would've been invented eventually.

Eli Whitney at Biography.com

The Louvre was great but the Mona Lisa was a let down that painting is small in real life.

Oh man the pastries in Paris were to die for.

Jacques Cousteau was the man I loved that guys work, I really loved his narration on his films.

Originally posted by gop627
Actually, it was Eli Whitney that created interchangable gun parts. And most of the other things on your list would've been invented eventually.

Eli Whitney at Biography.com

No offense,but your post seems like a french hating cheap shot.
We should not forget that if not for the french,we wouldnt be a free nation today,wanna sing "god save the queen" at baseball games?
up until just the last four years we have had a good relationship with the french since the birth of our nation.not to mention the louisiana purchase.
Im as patriotic as they come,but im truly sick of all the ditto heads that have jumped onto the very tired bandwagon bashing the french.
you'd think it was the french that attacked us on 9/11.
Frances influence on america,and its place in our collective western society is undeniable,read you history books.

Originally posted by Samhain
we wouldnt be a free nation today,wanna sing "god save the queen" at baseball games?

The help we got from the French during the American Revolution was more out of hate of the British then love for the rebels across the atlantic. The only French soldiers that fought in that war came at the very end of the war after the tide had already turned in America favor.

Plus France wouldnt be a free nation without the US They would have a nice Nazi flag flying at their Soccer games. Unless of course Russia was planning on "Liberating" France. With Stalin in charge it might have been worst the Hitler in charge.

Any help we got was paid back ten fold in WW2

*groan* Not that argument again...

I've seen it about 12 times since I signed on to ATS. "We helped you during your Revolution!" "Yeah, but if we hadn't come in 1940, you'd all be Germans!"

Can we stop the bickering and actually discuss something constructive for a change?

Let's talk about an invention in which the Americans AND the French both participated... cinema. Without Thomas Edison's input, the Lumi�re brothers would have had nothing to work with. And inversely, the Lumi�re brothers took Edison's work, expanded it and brought it to fruition.

Lets live in todays world. I know many French citizens, and I must say, the ones I know are fine upstanding people. France is wonderful place to visit and the French people are open and friendly to peoples from all over. If they have one pitfall, it's being too nice and friendly.

BTW, I've never met a French citizen that has liked that Jaques Chirac guy. I just can't put a lot of stock in his ability to accurately represent the people of France.

Originally posted by ShadowXIX

Originally posted by Samhain
we wouldnt be a free nation today,wanna sing "god save the queen" at baseball games?

The help we got from the French during the American Revolution was more out of hate of the British then love for the rebels across the atlantic. The only French soldiers that fought in that war came at the very end of the war after the tide had already turned in America favor.

Plus France wouldnt be a free nation without the US They would have a nice Nazi flag flying at their Soccer games. Unless of course Russia was planning on "Liberating" France. With Stalin in charge it might have been worst the Hitler in charge.

Any help we got was paid back ten fold in WW2

Well,the majority of the help the french gave us was naval,tactical,and supply's.I agree that the french gov at the time was mainly doing it out of spite,but the fact remains that the average french citizen was very much into our revolution,as demonstrated by their own revolution just 14 years after ours.i also agree that we have paid any debt back to france by liberating them from nazi germany.
i'm just sick of the knee jerk reaction by people anymore to hate france.
france suxx blah blah blah blah,all you ever hear anymore.
its beat.

Originally posted by Otts
*groan* Not that argument again...

I've seen it about 12 times since I signed on to ATS. "We helped you during your Revolution!" "Yeah, but if we hadn't come in 1940, you'd all be Germans!"

As long as people are going to bring up that there would be no US without the French stuff they are going to get alittle reminder of WW2.

If someone brings up one side expect to hear about the other side

Originally posted by ShadowXIX
The help we got from the French during the American Revolution was more out of hate of the British then love for the rebels across the atlantic.

enemy of my enemey is my friend. i dont need to care about their motive, they did it.

Plus France wouldnt be a free nation without the US They would have a nice Nazi flag flying at their Soccer games.

so? we wouldnt be the united states of america is someone else had written a better map. when they make their 'thankful' list, id hope theyd put us on it. until then, its irrelevant.

You guys forgot to mention that the french gave us french fries

Whats with the hatred to France anyway? Is it because they didnt want to help america during the Iraqi freedom thing? Cause there are alot of times when america could have helped other countries but didnt.

Originally posted by Croat69
Whats with the hatred to France anyway? Is it because they didnt want to help america during the Iraqi freedom thing? Cause there are alot of times when america could have helped other countries but didnt.

I think the roots are much deeper than than. My brother in law is a French Citizen. We had many a lively discussion prior to the war and you bet after to the point my wife does not allow that discussion when we are in the same room. The war just focused people on a simmering issue.

Bleu Cheese
Poodles
Louisiana Purchase
French Bread
Dijon Mustard
Georges Bizet
Bibendum
Bridgette Bardot
Cajuns
Louis Pasteur
Marie Curie
Pierre Curie
Maurice Chevalier
Charles Boyer
Victor Hugo
Hector Berlioz
Claude Debussy
Impressionism
Jacques Offenbach
Maurice Ravel
Edgar Degas
Paul Gauguin
Edouard Manet
Henri Matisse
Claude Monet
Camille Pissarro
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Georges Seurat
pointillism
Georges Seurat

Grady,

Marie Curie was Polish. Just thought Id let ya know.

But, props to infinite who made a nice list. The French have done some great things in the past.

But their current policies and actions I feel are as big a threat to the west and its allies as are Dubya's policies.

But I have not forgotten their contributions in the past.

CHEESE EATING SURRENDER MONKEYS!!!!! lol ,im joking before any one complains!!

I like france and i like the french,beautiful sounding launguage and great sense of humour.....even if in all the times paris has been attacked they never tried to defend it!

AS so many people here have said of America; I appreciate the people, but I do not appreciate the French government.

The list is not to the glory of the French government.

Quote - "As long as people are going to bring up that there would be no US without the French stuff they are going to get alittle reminder of WW2. "

And it's an unending argument. That's why I never bring up the issue of the American Revolution and WW2 anymore. I get a "been there, done that" feeling from it, and besides, it just spirals into arguments that don't move the discussion forward. IMHO.

I don't feel France is a threat to "the West". The United States may feel it's a threat to its policies, but nobody gave the U.S. permission to speak for Canada, Britain, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Austria, Italy, etc.

Last thing... as expected (how could it be otherwise) this topic is going political. Is it time to put it in PTS?

Is there a reason that I can't edit my post on this thread? I haven't noticed this on other threads.

Well, as you can see this post is edited, but there is no edit tag on my previous post. I know that they are working on the software, but it's still strange.

[edit on 04/12/4 by GradyPhilpott]