it is even said that some french may think of having a shower that day :-)

thanks for the laugh dude... :-)
I needed that this week!

anything for you francois! my main man crush!

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

That's all well and good, but I think I am still in contention for the title of "Topic-Killer".

If only I hadn't started that thread on Lake Placid.

Argh!

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first of all, your work with the smiths was greatness.

topic killing is a skill i have brought to a fine edge. i wouldn't mind having someone to fight the good fight with but make sure you kill at least %80 precent of the threads you chime in on. you can do it!

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

I get the award for "best poseur using French products" award, as I have a full selection of Cartier products (wedding band, pinkie ring, pen, wife has matching pinkie ring and has a watch from them), and have my beautiful Samantha (Corima) Fox, and equip my bikes with Look forks (sorry Gerard).

During this whole "down with the French" thing, I proudly display my poseur items and add that they are French. And I am unabashedly unashamed about them. I did not want a trade embargo against France, as I could not buy these items if there were such an embargo. I am glad that no talk of such terrible action existed.

Yes- I call it "Car-tie-er", just like Elizabeth Berkly said "Ver-sayse" in the great film "Showgirls".

that whole french thing is not over yet...
look at the smart behavior of someone like
Record9Ti....

It's actually all really quite sad.

I was reading an article this week that stated that many French people are desparate because their products: tourism, wine, and cheese, among others, are suffering badly, and that the average French person has nothing against America at all.

However, due to Chirac and Villepin being delusional nutcases who still refuse to admit that there has been an economic impact to the unofficial boycott, American tourism to France is down 30-50%, meaning that a lot of money is being lost. The US makes up 15% of France's tourism revenue, making us by far the largest group of visitors to France.

While I was very upset by Chirac and Villepin before and during the war, what I find totally astounding is that the president's politicos were sufficiently savvy that they played the American media for stooges(not that it's difficult), so much so they have successfully brainwashed many Americans to genuinely hate all things French, despite probably not knowing where France was one year ago.(Okay, maybe you knew it was in Europe.)

It really underscores just how foolish, gullible, and easily deceived the American public is.

Meanwhile, let's think about it for a minute: The average Frenchman is probably a lot like the average American: Too busy trying to make a living, follow the game scores, and pick out bike parts to care much about politics.

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>>I was reading an article this week that stated that many French people are desparate because their products: tourism, wine, and cheese, among others, are suffering badly, and that the average French person has nothing against America at all.<<

I am personally trying to help French economy--only French wines and cheeses at Casa Morgan (or should that be Maison Morgan) and I'm already planning a return to France. And, I've talked at least 4 people to seriously consider coming with me. One has already put down a deposit.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

June 31st?

yeah the 31st. see there is no june 31st...so they won't sing my favorite song...so it doens't count...

as far as the boycott goes i say buy whatever the hell you want. i hate boycotts, goes against my capitalistic vibe. on the other hand having spent time with french people outside of festivals or tourist areas i find they look down on anyone not like them and have real superoirty complex. plus they agree with thier leadership and see us as a bunch of colonzing war mongers. so i say whatever just sop being so freakin' french.

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

"on the other hand having spent time with french people outside of festivals or tourist areas i find they look down on anyone not like them and have real superoirty complex. plus they agree with thier leadership and see us as a bunch of colonzing war mongers. so i say whatever just sop being so freakin' french"

Is "french" slang for Bostonian? Because it sounds like you're describing the way most Bostonians look at everybody else in America.

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>>on the other hand having spent time with french people outside of festivals or tourist areas i find they look down on anyone not like them and have real superoirty complex<<

Perhaps it's just you! Cause I haven't found this at all. BTW--Just when was the last time you were there?

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

oh i didn't say it was just the french. no no no it is all over baby.

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

normandy june 1994 for the 50th ann of d-day. ivory coast worked with the french army in 1998. spent time with the legoin C R A P froces (i will not butcher the french trying to spell what c r a p stand for. it is a specail airborne force in the foriegn legoin. they are pros and do a great job. i am not saying they are 'crap') to teach airstrip marking.

during those times i went around and talked to a lot of people. face it a lot of the world hates americans. you where there under a very specific instance. at thte tour your gonna be treated great. your spending cash. if you have friends there then of course you have an in.

hey i've witness poeple being treated like shit all over america. but facts are facts. the french hate us.

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

>>you where there under a very specific instance. at thte tour your gonna be treated great. your spending cash. if you have friends there then of course you have an in.<<

You really shouldn't presume. This was NOT my first trip there and each trip, I've met locals and still keep in touch with most of them. It's you CJ.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

ok look i started this thread as a joke against my lack of posting skills. using jerry lewis and the fact the french do not like english. they change english words like 'walkman' and 'email'. it was a big goof on myself.

if you want to go person by person then anything is possible. i'm just saying there is no love loss between the countries. if you have a great time in france great. have a ball. i hope you go there often and spend tons of money and i hope the french prove me worng.

i give. i quit. you win.

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

Not to get myself stuck on the middle here, but the term "Ugly American" is not just a French term.

Americans have a reputation for being loud, obnoxious tourists. We have lots of money to spend, don't bother to learn anything about the local people when we travel overseas, and are generally uncouth.

If you want to see some people who have a superiority complex, go to England. Don't confuse their politeness for a lack of condescension.

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oh i know th english. see i am not some hayseed who has never left his own nieghborhood and gets all his ideas of the world through t.v. news. i have been there done that got more tshirts than i know what to do with. if i say the french hate americans it's not because i'm so hte mongor it's just the fact that the goverment they elect and the polls they answer too say they hate us. but we ain't looking so great with the idea of 'freedon fies' and 'patriot ticklers'. everyone has a lot to answer for. as far as the whole tourist thing goes. dude it ain't jsut the americans who are loud and rich.

so again. i give up. i quit. if i could look past my jingoistic view of the world i would see that the people if france and america are really hot for each other.

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

Well said, JM (great old NY'er cartoon: guy in Bermuda shorts: "Which way to the Loo-vreh, Mack?")

And some of that condescension may be deserved (to them, it's merely forebearance). As the only Yank in my 3rd/4th/5th/6th form in a UK school, I've seen both sides of this one. :-)

Happy Swiss National Day (August 1) to all...

Completely agree. Plus Parisiens are suckers for flattery -- or even the slightest evidence of sincere appreciation of their city (which -- let's face it, isn't hard to express).

My wife -- who speaks only a few phrases in French, but opens each encounter with them and a smile -- has been floored each trip to Paris by how graciously she's been treated. And that's in Paris -- not "France profonde".

On the flip side, imagine how the typical Manhattanite reacts to a Japanese tourist who accosts them in loud Japanese. :-)

stupidity is a universal value...

no the french do not hate the americans. not more than americans hate the french. Yes some do...some people on this forum hate the french and don't even know the country and the people.

same in france, some french will have seen like 5 americans in their life, those 5 would have happened to be morons and the french (morons too) will say: all the americans are morons...

pretty much like some do on this forum with the french...

the polls say french hate americans? which ones, the ones done on Fox news?? or the one done by l'Equipe where Lance is the second most popular bike rider ever in France (for someone that was going to be mugged by the french in the mountains, it's kind of surprising) or those that qualify Tyler Hamilton as a Hero?

Or is it the 80% or so french who still believe there is an american dream? ok, maybe you got really unlucky and the polls only targeted communists and Le peniste...bummer.

world peace :-)

I'd agree on this...

you visit a country, you first address the locals in their language...it's not because everyone speaks english that when visiting Paris, you can't try a "bonjour, excusez moi", it takes like 30'' for a slow learner to get this...

you go to italy, germany, japan, anywhere, you are visiting a different culture, and you have to do the first step. if you want to locals to appreciate you, then start by showing you come to their country and respect their culture by trying just a couple of words, then after speak english...

it's not even a matter of respect actually, it is a matter of courtesy.

I work for the Gallup Poll, have for the past 19 years, and, am personally in charge of all the public release polling we do outside the U.S.

What francois says is precisely correct -- any valid poll shows this -- and we have the data to prove it.* (I measure this stuff for a living, 24/7).

The arguments that occur are at the political and policy level -- most adults can diffentiate between individual human beings and governments. After 9/11. I spent a good chunk of the last two years in the Middle East -- they, too, can make this distinction. (30 years ago, Swedes hated our Vietnam policy -- anyone here know anyone who was letter-bombed or spat on by an irate Swede?).

best, Richard B.

*Anyone who doubts this can call me in Princeton on Monday (don't call our DC HQ -- public release polling is in Princeton). FWIW, Gallup started polling in France just before WWII, and in the US in 1934.