Goodbye E-MAIL!

by **SHWoff** » Sat Jul 19, 2003 1:22 am

Originally posted by Doug the Unforgiven
And just what [B]is the "redneck bandwagon"? [/B]

Yes. Do tell...

by **Sannop** » Sat Jul 19, 2003 3:00 am

I am just so amazed at how dam pathetic this is. This is such a trivial issue that they really look like a bunch of children. No wonder no one takes them seriously. This is like a little bratt crying and taking his toys home.

The proud frenchmen of the past must be rolling over in their graves.

Floppy, I agree that the freedom fries thing was just as childish. What some politicians do for airtime....

But I really liked watching the French economy hurt when we stopped buying wine. Maybe they should treat one of their major customers better.

Chacal, you might feel that you are getting assimilated by English.. but in the US English is getting challenged from Spanish.

by **Sidekick Floppy** » Sat Jul 19, 2003 11:48 am

Try to look at it like this:
The French were always known to be "Chauvinistic". You can compare it with the pride a US citizen has for his country.

by **[U.S.C] Amaryl** » Sat Jul 19, 2003 5:16 pm

lol, stupid changes, but here in spain nobody call them french, franceses ,or whatever, we call them " Gabachos!!!"

by **Doug the Unforgiven** » Sat Jul 19, 2003 7:01 pm

From Random House Webster's College Dictionary:
chauvinism, 1. zealous and aggressive patriotism or blind enthusiasm for military glory. 2. biased devotion to any group, attitude, or cause.
[(after N. Chauvin, a soldier in Napolean's army noted for vociferous patriotism)]

"blind enthusiasm for military glory"

Pondering...

by **Sannop** » Sat Jul 19, 2003 10:46 pm

Originally posted by [U.S.C] Amaryl
lol, stupid changes, but here in spain nobody call them french, franceses ,or whatever, we call them " Gabachos!!!"

by **Chacal** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 10:46 pm

Originally posted by Face
France claims it is a democracy, yet they LEGALLY BANNED the use of the term e-mail. They didn't just declare corriel or whatever the official term, they actually BANNED the use of e-mail. Banning language not of an offensive nature?

Wrong. Read the CNN piece again:

The Culture Ministry has announced a ban on the use of "e-mail" in all government ministries, documents, publications or Web sites,

That means they're taking the english word out of the government's official documents and web sites. Sounds normal to me. It's the same here: we don't use english words on our official documents.

What you're saying is preposterous anyway. You can't legally ban the use of a word.

by **Chacal** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 10:51 pm

Originally posted by Sannop
Chacal, you might feel that you are getting assimilated by English.. but in the US English is getting challenged from Spanish.

Yes, it's pretty much the same, except we are a tiny French-speaking land in an enormous English-speaking continent. Also, assimilation was an official policy of the British governement after they conquered Canada, it failed and we're proud of it.

by **Chacal** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 10:59 pm

Originally posted by shockwave203
French isn't at risk any more than German, Chinese, Japanese, Hungarian, blah blah etc are. I wonder if these cultures go to the same extremes the French do.

Yes they do. They don't use English words in their official documents. That's extreme?

I'm not dissing the french, infact I can understand where they're coming from, I really do, but sometimes I hear obsurd stories coming out of Quebec, like people being fined large sums of money because words in english are bigger than french words on their own BUSINESS cards. I'm recalling that from memory, so I could be wrong.

You are. Don't believe all these absurd stories. There is a law about business signs, but it isn't really harsh and it doesn't generate much complaints from mechants. After all, tourists come here for the french culture and that's good for business.

by **Chacal** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 11:04 pm

Originally posted by Doug the Unforgiven
And just what [B]is the "redneck bandwagon"? [/B]

It's saying "fuck the French" every time France is mentioned, even when you don't understand the issue.

It's making lame jokes about how the french army surrendered in WWII (conveniently forgetting WWI), when you don't know the situation they were in.

by **Sannop** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 12:43 am

Originally posted by Chacal
It's saying "fuck the French" every time France is mentioned, even when you don't understand the issue.

It's making lame jokes about how the french army surrendered in WWII (conveniently forgetting WWI), when you don't know the situation they were in.

EDIT: Sorry for the rant... but obviously I am ticked off tonight. I wanted to start this off with the statement that this is not at all directed at Chacal. He is a top-notch person, one of my favorite personalities here.

Chacal many in the US feel that they get that sentiment from the world.

Right now the Liberians are mad because we didn't send in troops to stop their turmoil... but if we did we would have a good share of the rest of the world (including France) raving about how imperialistic the US is.

The French have aided the negative sentiment from the US. I grew up military and we were stationed in the Azores in the 1970s. My family was regularly told not to visit France because of the horrible treament that Americans got, especially US military. Many in the US feel, as if we are at least owed respect from the French for WWII.

At times, whenever I get filled with non-realistic ideas, I wonder what the world would think if the US actually did "butt-out" of everyone else's business.

The UN wants an $800 million NO INTEREST loan to rebuild when many of its members have never paid anything back on earlier loans. Ok what if we take the "butt-out" approach .... take the UN elsewhere, we will supply only as much money as the other members (even if we supplied only what #2 did.. it would go broke).

Stop all foriegn aid..... hell we might actually be able to have public schools that aren't falling down.

Stop allowing an uneven exchange of the use of learning insitutions.

Hell, lets seal off our borders and all aid and communication for three dam years and see what hell breaks loose throughout the world.

I am sorry if this sounds harsh, and most of you that have read my posts hopefully understand that I really try to be neutral. But after reading about the current rounds of anti-US sentiment throughout the world over not protecting Liberia followed by constant bashing for everything that we actually do... I have had enough.

I question our leaders on every issue. Many poor decision have been made. But dammit the world, including the US, is full of pathetic whiners that have no clue as to what the US has done in the last 200+ years for freedom and democracy across the globe. This forum itself would not exist as a tool of free expression if not for the US.

I have friends that are cops that get an attitude. They get tired of evryone bitching at them for arriving too late whenever they are needed, and bitching whenever the are around anytime else. Well hell, if you want to know why so many in the US have an attitude .. there you go.

My only question is, once again, where the hell does the French attitude come from? Is it from the fact that the were once the main power of the Western World and now they probably couldn't even take the Basques if they threw everything at them? Hey, even GB won a war in the last hundred years.

I personally love the history of France, and I have enjoyed every French person that I have ever met. I want to spend weeks there seeing the sights that I have read about. But the anit-US sentiment has turned even me. I will not go spend my money there. I will go to England instead.

by **lil_Tigga** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 4:32 am

ya well i have been to england and its a hell of a nice city

by **SHWoff** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 9:02 am

Quebec City is a beautiful city with lots of 'French-culture'. I spent a week up there a few years back. I don't think I ran into a single negative instance. So, if you don't want to go to France...

BTW. I noticed that most tourists left the street at about 9:00 in the evening and it seems the locals came out at about 9:30. After 9:30, the partying goes on til 3 in the morning...

by **Tommy Boy** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 9:51 am

this is an interesting thread to read from a Canadian who has lived in Quebec but now in Ontario's perspective. The election of Jean Charest as Premier (Federalist) has really given the rest of Canada a lot of hope that the Quebec Soverignist movement will be greatly reduced. The fact that some people in Quebec want to leave Canada still boggles my mind...and I cannot appreciate how they realistically think that they would be better off on their own.

I am an Anglophone from Ontario who chose to not only learn French, but go to University in Quebec to understand and appreciate the culture. Yes it is distinct, and yes I love it, but the unfortunate reality is that the rabid actions of some who want to "protect" French actually do more to discourage people from learning about French language and culture.

The French sign law does offend most non-French speaking people in Quebec, and I do not mean English-speaking people only. I also include Japanese, Chinese, Indian, etc... I understand that French needs to be taught and encouraged, but I believe that separating is not the best way to encourage people to explore and learn about the French culture.

I love Quebec and go back many times each year for business and pleasure. I will do so even more now with a Federalist Premier and the threat of separation reduced for at least the next few years.

by **Mr. Yuck** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 2:28 pm

Originally posted by Chacal
Er... guys... trying to preserve one's language by preventing the use of foreign words is NORMAL. It's not a political thing. It's not particular to France. It's nothing against the US.

Here in Quebec we've used "courriel" for years. And yes, we have language laws, I'm their fiercest advocate. I'm not ready for assimilation yet.

Chacal, resistance is futile!!!

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