We can learn from the French.

Originally posted by mwm1331
Yeah a lot of americans are fat, so what? You ever seen a fat hunter make a shot from 500 yards or more? I have. The only difference between a deer and a nazi is you can eat a deer without getting indigestion. Those who are fat would slim up pretty quick. Also keep in mind that those who are fat would be able to handle lack of food better than the skinny, Fat is afterall a calorie storehouse. So what if our violence is directed at each other, its only becuse we dont have anyone else to kill at the moment except each other. Yeah some would whine and cry and break, most wouldn't.

Spoken like a true Mousepad Commando.

And gee, that's quite an intelligent explanation you gave for America's violence. I assume, then, Ted Bundy wouldn't have murdered hundreds of women if he'd had an invading army to focus on...?? Think it's safe to say you won't be earning a degree in criminology any time soon.

As for fatties being "survivors"....agility is an asset to survival. A large butted, lumbering American would not fare well in a lawless, war torn environment.

[edit on 6-10-2004 by bushblows]

A mousepad commando?
Now that is funny.
I got my first rifle at 9, my first pistol at 12. (would have been sooner but my mom was a little overprotective and wanted to make sure I was mature enough to handle a gun)
After hurricane andrew (I was 15) I camped out in what was left of my house with a gun my dog and a tent to keep away looters. some tried, I shot one, they ran. no cops in the area and no phones so I never bothered reporting it.
Now I'm no tough guy and I dont look for fights but I know how to take care of myself and whats mine. Most of the people I know are the same.

It's important part of reasoning to consider all sides, ESPECIALLY the ones who disagree with us. It makes us stronger when we make a decision, showing that we've thought through the pro's and con's. Ultimately the decison should be up to us. Not the UN, not an international court, not other countries, etc...

Pardon me while I eat my french toast with my french roast coffee and listen to Patricia Kaas sing french jazz because this is America. I'm free to enjoy what I like - French, German, Chinese, Japanese or otherwise.

Originally posted by mwm1331
Things we can learn from the french
1) How to surrender
2) How to allow socialist policies to run an economy into the ground
3) how to allow 11000 people to die from heatstroke in a single summer
4) How to not bathe or use deodorant

Things we can learn from the germans
1) How to be lazy
2) How to allow socialists policies to create the highest unemployment rate in the western world
3) How to create economic policies for the E.U. that we then violate because of reason 2
4) How to sell the greatest car company in a country to Chrysler so it can finally be run by competant people.

How about what Europe can learn from the USA?
1) How to install dictators like Pinochet and many more?
2) How to finance rebels like in Nicaragua?
3) How to train people like Osama who after a while start biting the hand that feeds them?
4) How to let that same Osama slip through the fingers several times?
5) How to have Intelligence financed with drugmoney?
6) How to follow blindly a President who lies to his own people?
7) How to trust a President that was aware of coming attacks and did not enough to prevent his own people?

You see, there is plenty French can say against your country also. But it feels better to slam someone else instead of looking into the own problems isn�t it? Before you start slamming another person/race/country look at your own and what is going wrong there. And there is plenty wrong in the USA. Of course the Americans and America have done much good things also, but so did France and some French people.
You don�t know anything about surrendering for the simple fact that you didn�t have the Nazi�s knocking on your door. They did. Easy to say the stuff you all say about surrendering and blahblah. Did you ever look decent into the matter? About size and possibilities of the German Army and what the French and other countries had? Guess not. Before you come trashing others, do research.

The reason the french didnt have a military capable of standing up to the germans was because they chose to spend thier money on a defeatist policy. Can you say Maginot line. And had the french army not surrendered the civilians would not have been put in the position they were in the first place.

your proud that you are armed like a combatant at the age of 12?! i think that is severely wrong. BTW mwm1311, all those great generalisations about the french and germans made me crack up!

I don't know if you have ever heard of East Germany, but what happened is that it was called a GDR until 1990 when it reunified with the FRG and we have the germany today. East Germany has to be rebuilt and hundreds of billions of dollars have to be spent on doing this. East Germany is still poor compared to the West and it's hard to get a job. This is why unemployment remains such a problem in Germany.

Please show some sympathy to people who have lived under the iron will of a soviet-backed regime for 40 years straight.

The US may have low unemployment but a lot of the workers are paid a pittance and awful benefits compared to other western nations. The thing is that this can be worse than being on welfare because when the majority of people who are on welfare are out looking for jobs while many oppressed US workers don't have the chance to.

Apparently France's socialist policies runs their economy into the ground?? France has a very healthy economy and perhaps the people over their don't care about numbers and the accumulation of wealth as much as Americans do and believe that high-quality healthcare should be available to all at a heavily subsidized rate?

Can't you see there's something wrong when every single developed nation on the planet has a healthcare system similar to France's apart from the United States of America? I am sure there's quite a few americans on this board who have had relatives die because they could not afford the healthbill for proper treatment for a fatal illness or disease where in France they would of gotten the treatment that could of possibly saved their lives?

I perfectly realise that if you turn up to hospital sick in the US a hospital can't refuse to treat you but if you want to go on a treatment or have surgery after being diagnosed you have to cough up an incredible amount of dough for it anyway. So essentially they may "treat" you but it doesn't mean they will cure you.

thanks,
drfunk

I think that socialised healthcare is wrong. And lets face it the vaunted french system didn't do much for the thousands of people who died last year did it? From a heatwave? How does that even happen? It happened because the french system allowed it to happen.
As for being armed like a combatant at twelve I didnt walk around armed. But I did go to the range with my step father and was trusted with posession of the gun in my room. You think its wrong I say that knowing how to handle a firearm safely and effectivly is a basic skill, just like reading writing swimming etc.

I remember Fox News reporter gloating last year about that. The fact is that even more old people would of died in the US if the same thing happened because of it if you actually watched the rest of the interview. It was quite funny actually seeing her gloating turned into embarassment as this health official flatly told her "more people would of died here with our healthcare system in the US". She tried to fight back but was just shot down.

thanks,
drfunk

Whether more people would have died or not is an opinion. He could be right he could be wrong. But what is a fact is that the french system did fail. I don't belive in socialised healthcare. I think that those who put in the time money and effort to be doctors deserve to be well paid. I think that the pharmecuetical companies who have to spend an estimated 1.2 billion dollars in R&D just to devolp a single drug that will break even deserve to make enough of a profit to keep paying for R&D. Everything the government touches or gets involved in takes longer and costs more than the private sector. As far as I am concerned the reason so many people in the US dont have healthcare is that vultures like John Edwards launch so many lawsuits (most of which are frivolous) that it has been made unaffordable. Besides anyone in America who truly can not afford healthcare (as opposed to those looking for a free lunch) can get medicare/medicaid.

Originally posted by mwm1331
I think that socialised healthcare is wrong.

As a Canadian who also benefits from that system (and medication at a lesser cost than in the U.S.) I'm OK with it. It has its flaws, for sure - emergency rooms in hospitals are often really full - but I don't have to worry about insurance thingies - my health card guarantees that I have free access to health care when I need it.

Originally posted by mwm1331And lets face it the vaunted french system didn't do much for the thousands of people who died last year did it? From a heatwave? How does that even happen? It happened because the french system allowed it to happen.

It would've happened exactly the same way in North America. It's not a case of the health care system in France being bankrupt (actually, in France doctors still make house calls), it's a matter of the western world's attitude towards elderly people (most of the people who died from the heat wave were over 65). Many of the victims were found at home alone - and this points to the fact that in the Western world, elderly people often live alone, don't get many visits from their children (our society values youth and beauty, and the elderly remind us of our mortality), and are generally more at risk when something like this happens. The same happened in Canada in 1998 when an ice storm deprived parts of Quebec and Ontario of electricity. It wasn't as dramatic, but some elderly people were found at some point by their neighbors to be living in their house or apartment, without electricity, in the middle of January.

So it's not a French problem. It's a western civilization problem.

What the french never saw the "I've fallen and I can't get up" commercial?

Originally posted by mwm1331

Things we can learn from the germans
1) How to be lazy
2) How to allow socialists policies to create the highest unemployment rate in the western world
3) How to create economic policies for the E.U. that we then violate because of reason 2
4) How to sell the greatest car company in a country to Chrysler so it can finally be run by competant people.

Total falsehoods. Chrysler was sold to Daimler/Mercedes Benz, who in turn own Freightliner, Detroit Diesel, Jeep, Dodge and Prevost Bus.

I would stack 3 American workers against a German worker any day of the week.

From a country, as you put it, as lazy as Germany is, these technologies were developed: measurements of degrees( Fahrenheit and Celsius), the metric system, the printing press(Guttenberg), rocketry, the first expressway, color television, modern medicine, modern armor warfare, mechanized infantry, modern artillery units, and the space program.

Not to mention 1/4 of all white Americans are of German descent, and that German was 1 vote away in the Senate from becoming the official language of the USA.

Ultimately, anything that happens to the French or in France is going to be exploited to the hilt - all because a good number of Americans now hate France for its opposition to the war in Iraq. And it's now come to the point that history is being rewritten - the French have always been "surrender monkeys", they've always been "cowards", and they've never been allies of the United States. And obviously, now, nothing good can come out of France. And I wonder if people can remember what they thought of France BEFORE 2003.

Kind of reminds me of George Orwell's 1984... "Oceania was now at war with Eastasia. It had always been at war with Eastasia."

This might be a little why France did Not want the war in Iraq....read at this site. www.heritage.org...
The site also has information on other countries that are in the UN that were/still against change in the Iraqi politics. I think what it all boils down to is Money. I am not saying the US is not guilty of hoping for money or trade with a Free Iraq. I don't know, that only time can tell. I don't know if the war in Iraq is over oil. I do know that people were calmly killed in mass and buried for that is recorded. I know that we lose our loved ones over there and elsewhere in the world in the name trying to keep the peace or help with other countries.
My son serves proudly in the US Navy and I am very Proud of him and others who make the choice to serve. I know it is not popular with a lot on this board but I do hope President Bush wins for I would rather my son serve under him the Kerry. I have researched Kerry and do not care for what I have learned.

I guess I should have added that even being a white, 47 year old woman if needed, called, or even if threatened this mother/grandmother is totally willing and able to pick up a gun and fight. I am willing to do anything necessary or asked of me to protect this country. So while there may be many couch potato people in this country I know there are also many people who would kick a@@ and take names later when called to do so.

Newsflash: Sovereign countries can make their OWN decisions as to foreign policy.

Weird, huh?

For example, if, say, France decides to stay out of Iraq, due to public demand and political reasons, IT'S THEIR RIGHT. End of story.

You have no right to deride them for their decision. They're NOT your lackeys, they're NOT your patsies. They're your ALLIES, and any good ally will tell you when you're being an idiot.

The reaction to France staying out of the war was hilarious. the rest of the world was roaring with laughter as Jimbob in Tennessee poured 40$ french wine down the gutter "in protest". French's Mustard had to come out with a statement that said "We're not actually French, it's just a name."

Canada stayed out of the war. Why? Never mind, it's our country and we make decisions for OUR citizens. Your input is appreciated in our decisions, but not if it's stupid misguided input.


For your information, there are 192 sovereign countries in the world.

The Coalition of the Willing had, what, 35? So there are 157 countries that disagreed. FIVE TIMES THE AMOUNT THAT AGREED. And some of the countries in the Coalition are ludicrous.

Afghanistan? They have an army? Oh yeah, they have YOUR army.

So before you slander the French for making a decision that THEIR PEOPLE WANTED, consider that 156 other countries agreed "We will not invade Iraq without at least UN approval".

Originally posted by drfunk
I remember Fox News reporter gloating last year about that. The fact is that even more old people would of died in the US if the same thing

That is a very intersting take on things. The simple fact is tha the vaunted French Healthcare system dropped the ball. Even when people got to the hospital, they died. To simply chalk it up as "being old" (my french brother in law also took this line) is simply wrong. Has that happened in the US? Plase show me links that show even 5000 people dying because of a heat wave in the US or any other event (other than 911). When has the US health care system broken down to that extent? If that hppened it would have been all over the papers etc.

As in the case of Princess Diana, and these poor souls, it is the French HC system to blame.

Originally posted by FredT
That is a very intersting take on things. The simple fact is tha the vaunted French Healthcare system dropped the ball. Even when people got to the hospital, they died. To simply chalk it up as "being old" (my french brother in law also took this line) is simply wrong. Has that happened in the US? Plase show me links that show even 5000 people dying because of a heat wave in the US or any other event (other than 911). When has the US health care system broken down to that extent? If that hppened it would have been all over the papers etc.
As in the case of Princess Diana, and these poor souls, it is the French HC system to blame.

The fact is that Air conditioning is rarely used in Europe, where there is no need for it. The summers are temperate. They don't have the Arizona style dry heat, or the Chicago style heat + humidity factor. It had nothing to do with the healthcare system.

The U.S. Healthcare system sux so bad, that an average Moe off the street can't afford to see a doctor. After paying your monthly insurance premium, you are still left with a deductible. My deductible from BC/BS is $1000.00. After the deductible is met, they pay 90% of the bill, up to $100,000. After that, it's 100%. But you better make sure your doctor is in the BC/BS net of providers, or else you're paying a large percentage of the bill out of pocket. All in all, if I have a $100,000 medical bill, my out of pocket payment is $11,000. I don't know about you, but as a blue collar worker, with a family at home, I can't afford that. And just try not paying( I did). You are then taken to court, and if you lose, you can have your wages garnished, up to 15% of your weekly gross. Try having garnished wages, paying your mortgage, putting food on the table, clothes on your kids backs, and still taking your baby to the same doctor, who you now owe money to.

Now tell me the HelathCare sytem is not messed up.

"So before you slander the French for making a decision that THEIR PEOPLE WANTED, consider that 156 other countries agreed "We will not invade Iraq without at least UN approval"."

Whatever. Read my previous post on France. Canada is much like France except with crappy food and skunk beer. If it weren't for the US you'd be lucky if you had the economy of North Dakota.

I'm really tired as an American of hearing all this anti-US crap...you want to dish it-here it is back in spades.

So why is it that 90% of Canadians live within 100 miles of the US border then eh? EH?

Cancel freakin' NAFTA and build a wall across the north! EH?

Sargon:

I'm really tired as an American of hearing all this anti-US crap...you want to dish it-here it is back in spades.

So why is it that 90% of Canadians live within 100 miles of the US border then eh? EH?

Cancel freakin' NAFTA and build a wall across the north! EH?

I'm sorry, is this supposed to be insulting? Is this you giving it to me "back in spades"?

Try diamonds or hearts, cuz that ain't workin. We live so close to the U.S. border because it's freakin COLD farther north. We're north of you, you know.