I feel so guilty for not reading through all of these posts, after all, I asked the question. I kind of wanted a simple answer, like "because they bombed us" or "because they treat american tourists like crap" or "they started it"...

I never was good at history. I used to cram in school, get A's, and forget it all. History just bores me...

It seems like, from what I scanned, we don't really have a good reason to hate them as a group..

I still don't get it!

Who said you need a "good" reason?

I actually spent about 10 minutes thinking about your question this morning, staceyv. I have narrowed my personal reasons down to two:

(1) At least half of all the French-language films I've ever watched sexualizes underage kids. It's like their directors can't make it through 2 hours of footage without lovingly filming a 12-year old with erect nipples, partially nude, showering with her schoolgirl friend, or at least hinting at prepubescent sexuality. For me, it goes beyond creepy, but it seems to be widely accepted as long as the director is French. The most mainstream example is Luc Besson's "Leon" a.k.a. "The Professional". It's a beautifully shot film, which means that critics call the sensual way the camera moves over Natalie Portman (age 10 or 12 or so) "art", not kiddie porn. Lock up the pervs and there would be no French cinema that didn't feature those stupid fucking street puppets. (imo)

(2) Pierre Capretz, whose bug-eyed, tousled-hair narration of French In Action was permanently etched into my brain throughout high school and college. Great course, frightening dreams at night. This picture does him too much justice -- the man's actually quite insane.

good wine, good cheese, but they spit, they smell, they're rude, and they run at the mention of war. nuff said.

Noodle's post reminds me that in addition to harboring murderers, they also have a record of providing sanctuary to child molesters.

If you've ever met an arrogant Parisian from around that general area you will know how easy it is to hate the French. It all started with De Gaulle trying to boost morale.

Because we can. Is that simple enough for you. :eyebrow:

We resent them because we needed their navy once a long time ago when we were young.

I hate the French because they think that I don't know how to order my own food at a restaurant.

But I do like their toast. And, fries. French fries---the food of gods. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmfrenchfries :yum:

Nobody's all bad.

And their sluts seduced our poor naive Ben Franklin. :lol:

And on one occasion, Capnhowdy too...I mean two. :blush:

Actually, I think we're mad about the Statute of Liberty. :3_eyes:

Lingering animosity from the French-Canadian War?

We got ripped off by the Louisiana Purchase?

OK, I'll stop now. I only got two hours sleep last night and I'm even sillier than I usually am. I'll just go away now and eat some liberty fries...

Good wine, good cheese, good bread, good movies, beautiful women, charming underclothes, (for cows too, see above), why should they have these things and not us? We should forget about iraq and iran and go to france and take all that shit for ourselves.

We shouldn't pay for it either because they would just try to short–change us.

Meanwhile, there is always a sibling that the other family members don't especially like. Tommy Smothers said, "Mom always liked you best". Maybe Tommy Smothers was the Frenchman of that closely knit family.

Were YOU that family member? :D

Do you mean was I black, or was I related to sheep?

Someone hacked tw's login again ...

(good one)

Frankly, I find myself struggling to care. America is not yet perfect, and I'd rather work on that than try to fix somebody else's country.

Wash your mouth out with Olympia. :lol:

I prefer Coors as my mouthwash of choice. They don't call the stuff "Colorado Kool-aide" for nothing. Which reminds me of a joke (WARNING: thread de-rail in progress):

A Coloradoan, a Texan, and a Californian were sitting in a bar having a round of drinks. The Californian chugged his white wine spritzer and threw his empty wine glass at the wall and said, "In California we have so much money, we never drink out of the same wine glass twice." The Texan stared at the Californian, and then, not to be out-done, he swallowed his shot of Jack Daniels in a single gulp and threw his empty shot glass at the wall and bragged, "In Texas we have so much sand that we never drink out of the same shot glass twice." The Coloradoan looked in disbelief at the Texan and Californian, finished his can of Coors off, crumpled up the can, and drew out a gun and shot both the Californian and the Texan. Then the Coloradoan looked around the bar and announced, "In Colorado we have so many Californians and Texans, we never drink with the same ones twice!"

I imagine you could switch around states and nationalities to tailor this joke to suit your own situation. ;)

Lunaephiliac is in Olympia country. ;)

I reckon Lunaephilliac is in No Alcohol Sales to Minors country, Olympic or otherwise. Maybe a Starbucks' buzz iis in order.

Why do you think he/she is a minor? :question:

I'm lost in this forum

Sorry my english is not fluent but you won't have to bear my awful accent.
As soon as I read all your messages about french people I will answer you.

It's quite interesting to see the opposite opinion despite they are not always very kind for us.
For instance I've recently met russians people, the "old communists opponents" and the main thing I've listened is that we're all victime of our medias and schoolbooks (our intellectual laziness too !) that distort the truth.

Later
Bye

Hey that's Laos

Air America was there but left. USAF was there and left a shit load of UXO there.

Don't go away! Stay and let us know how cool you are! We had a French person at the cellar a bit ago and he/she didn't do anything but insult American food...so, that didn't do any good! Hang around! Enlighten us! :)

Thank you Brianna

I’ve just read the 2 first pages.
First excuse me if my words exceed my thought.
It's not always easy to find all the shades I'd like to.

wolf :

Freedom Fries thing is laughable : OK it's true they are belgian
And I don't think freedom is a matter of choice among different fries !
if politics go on like this, it will be our last freedom.
coca or pepsi, shell or esso, nike or addidas... that's a pity.
(in their history US have already boycotted Francfort sausages which are german !)

lookout123 :
“I always thought the french were our pals until I did some work with their military and spent some time in their embassy. *ahem* fuck the frogs.”
Don’t mistake French people and military or embassy. Those are too often professional of betrayal. It’s the same for every country : France, China, GB, Germany, South Africa and of course US. Just look at history where alliances have been decided and so often not respected.
I want to add that our high school system produces a lot of inflated students, (I was one of them) and you may have met them in such a professional sphere. I imagine it’s the same with Yale and the “Skull and bones” and all US people are not like Yale’s students.
Furthermore I think we meet people who “resonate” like us wherever they come from.

Brianna

“They also pour sauce over everything and pronounce it delicious”
We say the same about English people !

Griff
“We hate them because they feel as strongly about France as we do about the good ole USA”
I don’t understand ole, but I think I agree

Richlevy
“Basically because they can be as arrogant, nationalistic, and self-centered as we are, without the military and economic arsenal to back it up.”
OK

Guyute

“Maybe because they have a knack for having someone pulling their irons out of the fire after being steamrolled, then acting like they would have done it anyway if they had a bit more time (De Gaulle was a puke like this), and then being to proud to admit that they were fucked if the good guys didn't help.” I imagine it’s “too” proud
De Gaulle : see Marichiko’s message

Radar

“they have a history of surrendering their country and being ingrateful when their bacon is saved by the United States”

In France we really really thank US soldiers who have poor their own blood, but not US government.
We think they could have interfere before, but they have waited Europe was destroyed enough to be sure to become the economical and political leader after the war. Furthermore Soviet Union was the new competitor that required to be stopped.
So France freedom itself was just a detail, it’s the reason Allied decided not to free Paris but to run to Berlin before Russians.

After the war the “president” Franco, dictator of Spain, has kept the power in his country despite he helped Hitler in sending spanish troops. Is it a manner to bring liberty in a country ?
Look on the net for information on Gladio, Stay behind, Paper Clip… thanks to this operations, the US put pro-US governments in Europe against European interests and recruited nazis scientists.
The Marshall plan helped Europe to rebuilt war damages but it wasn’t free, there was financial interests to refund after.
Governements are not humane, they don’t care about French, African, US people. They just believe in oil and money. Don’t listen to what they say, just look at their actions.
To be clear and frank I don’t trust states, governments, army, big firm, flags and medals, whatever they are : french, US or kenian…

Radar

“For me it's not so much the French I dislike, but Parisians.”
In France we say we must be crazy to live in Paris. It’s lovely in summer to visit as a tourist but not during the other seasons, it’s overcrowded with cars everywhere.

My town Nantes during a festival :
http://cellar.org/iotd.php?threadid=8792
http://www.nantes.fr/ext/royal_de_lu...5/vendredi.asp
http://www.lean.to/gallery/royaldeluxe

“Because the Parisians shower infrequently, the women have hairy armpits”
Have you already been to Paris to verify that ? We say the same about Portugueses.
As for us US people are all fat like Mickael Moore. It’s so silly.


Marichiko

Thank you for your intervention

Jaguar : Hello

xoxoxoBruce :

“that's when the french took charge again and sowed the seeds of WW II.”
Yes with Clémenceau in Versailles Treaty 28 06 1919.
But you forget
- another French, George Mandel. Mandel, birth name : Jerobeam Rothschild
- Colonel Edward M. House and Bernard Baruch important employees of the Rothschild Bank.
- David Lloyd George prime minister of Great-Britain with his counsellor, Sir Philip Sassoon, “descendant in line” (translation OK ?) of Amschel Rothschild.
- Vittorio Emanuele Orlando minister-president of Italia.
- The last but not the least : Thomas Woodrow Wilson, president for the United States .
(You can notice the influence of bank Rotschild)

It’s always the same principle : states wants to divide, weaken and exploit their opponents : German secret service and banks propped up Lenine against tsar Nicolas 2 before the revolution of 1917 to weaken Russia.
Poland had always been a puppet between the interests of Germany, Russian and France, in order to protect all of them from each other.
US has won the cold war and divides URSS in several republics, and prop pro-US governments up in order to lead pipelines towards US tankers too. Iouchenko, the nice pro occidental Ukrainian president is fascist, so was his pro-Russian opponent. (A friend of mine is Ukrainian)
England, US, France (less now because of US influence), exploit African countries. Now US take the main role in Asia (except China ?). And I don’t talk about Arabian countries exploited from the beginning of 20th century by the “7 sisters” (US, English, French, Dutch petrol companies)

All those states have dirty hands !

If I was US I’d try to find information about “the Virginia company” because thanks to it, the Britain Crown could always be the owner of United States. It’s an economical power instead of a political domination which is too evident. Is it true ?


“Were we ready for a major land war? (in 1940) No. The government was still trying to figure out how to convince the public that wanted to stay out of it. Gee, maybe Pearl Harbor was part of that.“
OK for me


That’s all for today

Bye / A bientôt

thanks for your response and welcome to the cellar.

it may be hard for you to understand but i seriously doubt that anyone in here really truly hates all french people. conversations like this are started more for humor, and then turn into friendly and not-so-friendly nose tweaking.

we can say that we dislike or hate a group of people, but then when you actually meet one on an individual basis you may find you like them. do i really hate the french? no not really. they are just people. i have no respect for the french military. i have no respect for the diplomats and foreign service workers that i met in the embassies. i believe that the french government parades and preens in the world of international politics without realizing that it has been some time since France was truly and international powerhouse. but there are a number of French people that i know and like. people are just people. some i like, some i dislike. nationality doesn't really matter. for instance, RichLevy is a cellarite that i disagree with on most every issue, but i'm willing to bet that he is a helluva nice guy that i'd enjoy conversing with. BUT when you have a group of people with RichLevy's views, it is easy to say "i don't like them", etc. it is the difference between group and person to person dynamics.

---
and if you really think that the US waited to enter WWII until Europe was in a shambles so that we could step in take center stage in the world then i can understand why you might distrust and dislike America. unfortunately, that would be a misunderstanding of American sentiment and politics leading up to that time period.

Welcome to the Cellar, Bargalunan. I am sorry that you would drop in here and read this thread. A Frenchman might well use it as an example of "Why do we hate the Americans?" I hope you'll come back, anyhow. Its interesting to get the perspective of people from other countries.

By the way, I bet most people here would not be able to write French or any other language well enough to comment on a written discussion in a foreign language. Of course, we Americans are sooooo superior! :eyebrow:

Only you.

Hey, thank you for recognizing my wonderfulness at last! Je suis adorable, est-ce que je ne suis pas ? :D

I like 4 of em: one ex-coworker, one kid I played Rogue Spear with, his friend who he introduced me to in a chatroom (who I've spoken with maybe 3 times -- she doesn't know any English, and my French is nearly as bad), and a guy who used to come into the bait shop I worked at. They liked me okay, too.

I also harbor no ill will towards any of their mothers, which gets me up to 8. I don't know how many fathers they had :lol: so I can't add them yet.

Other than the stupid looking Foreign Legion uniforms and that nasty tasting Kraft salad dressing, I say....what the hell.
Welome to the cellar, bargalunan.
Always remember... controversies "R" us.
And BTW did you guys really invent the French tickler? heehee.......

OK...fashion thread. :rolleyes:

Bonjour comment ça va ?
Thank you for your welcome, I will repeat in France that all US people are not bad ! :love:
There’s no problem really, if I was on my nerves, I wouldn’t have written a so long message.

How can you kill a French person ?
Shoot above his head, in his complex of superiority

How can you easily make money ?
Buy a French for his real price, and sell him for the price he thinks he worth

A lot of political decisions upset me (French, English, of course US because they rule the world...) So did Rome, France, England before.
I just think that things will change thanks to simple people and not from the head of states.
In France we talk about "the hundredth monkey".

I've really got nothing against US people (as you said lookout123).
If you just could calm down mac donalds, coca cola, Lance Armstrong and Paris Hilton.... :p
How could I be angry with US people when you give birth to Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby and Unforgiven are two of my favorite films ! )

Ten years ago, the US image in France was not so bad : sometimes very good, good or sometimes irritating. But now because of G and GW Bush, the “Falcons” (or “Hawks” ?), Colin Powell and the Gulf war, French people less and less trust American politic.
And we were really disappointed when GW Bush was reelected. We think he’s crazy, idiot and dangerous.

Be sure that French TV not always criticize US politic, they are sleeping. They rather criticize Mickael Jackson’s nose or Janett’s nipple. :mg:
But they detailed the reason why Chirac didn’t want to help Bush :
- ONU had never received any evidence that Saddam Hussein was hiding High Destruction Weapons. (Colin Powell has lied in showing a test tube, we’re still waiting for his report)
- There is still no proof of link between Saddam Hussein and Ben Laden.
- so what’s the purpose to invade Irak ?

A French joke :
Why was GW Bush sure that Saddam owned High Destruction Weapons ?
Because he has kept the receipt !
(French and German sold weapons to Irak too, we’re not better)

US army bombs Irak and Halliburton rebuilts the building.
Dick Cheney is the former President of Halliburton (and KBR (private army). For us it’s as crazy as if Ben Ladden Corporation (firm of Oussama BL’s father) had rebuilt the Twin Towers. (I repeat in France we say there’s still no link between Irak and Ben Laden)

It’s my opinion from France. Bush’s government isn’t clear. France, Germany, Spain, China… acted like this before.

In France we foresee war against Iran at end of August / beginning September.
I hope we’re wrong.


lookout123 :
I’ve read again my notes about WWII (written by Russian historian Valentin Faline.)
Usually history is written by the winner !
He said that the war could have finished since 1942 if Churchill and US leaders who agreed with him (FD Roosevelt, Cordel Hull) had agreed to open a new front line that
Beaverbrook and Cripps in British army, and Eisenhower among other leaders were thinking it was possible.
But in fact Anglo Saxon wanted to replace Nazi’s domination over Europe, but they need to weaken Russia. Thus they let Germany and Russian fight against each-other. Churchill wanted also to control petrol in Caucase and Middle Asia. It’s the following of war of Crimée (1854/1856) (west Russia) between Russian on one side, and British allied with French.
After the battle of Koursk, in 1943, Anglo Saxon (Churchill, Roosevelt) even thought to allied with Nazi army to fight against Soviets. (Remember Franco in my last post).
May be those are the reasons why De Gaulle didn’t trust Anglo Saxon politicians.
Economical domination is an argument we often read in France (not in our schoolbooks, it’s too complex !).

Links :
http://www.reseauvoltaire.net/article16696.html (sorry it’s only in French and Spanish)
Item in English about US influence (it’s critical) :
http://www.voltairenetwork.net/article156.html (U.S. ruling class’ bargains with the Reich)
http://www.voltairenetwork.net/article91.html (Psychological Cold War)
http://www.voltairenetwork.net/article39.html (Ford Foundation)
http://www.voltairenetwork.net/article109.html (Skull and bones)

That’s part of my informations. There’s no problem for me if you tell me it’s false.
I’ve read a book I think it’s excellent :
“A People’s History of the United States. 1492 – Present”
written by Howard Zinn, teacher in Boston University

Another French example about WWII : Russia betrayed some French communists (!) (pro Russians) members of the Resistance movement and denounced them to Nazis, because those French people could have helped US troops to arrive the firsts in Berlin !!

So who killed JFK ?
It’s not De Gaulle !
Can you help me ?

In all your posts you often talk about Pershing. In France history his name may take one line. (except for missiles)

Brianna :
"My house was built on an ancient Indian burial ground. It was the site of Satanic rituals, witch-burnings and five John Denver Christmas specials."
It may be strange, do you see ghosts ? play with energy, spirits ? A friend of mine is “talking” with souls to help them to do their last wishes before going to heaven. :3_eyes:

Bye

Hi again, bargalunan.

My little "signature" line about my house being built on ancient Indian burial ground, etc., is just a joke. Because I live in Ohio it is totally possible that I am on some sort of ancient Indian ground, I doubt that it is a burial ground because if it were it would probably be some State sanctioned park or something. The joke is that all those terrible things happened on the site--the Satanic rituals, the witch-burnings, but the most HORRIBLE things were the Five John Denver Christmas Specials...see? Just a joke!

I thought your last response/post was very good, barga. Well thought out, well informed. We need a French voice here in the Cellar! I hope you stay and have fun with us!

Interesting coincidence. I'm housesitting for some friends, who also offered their basement rooms to our church's new pastor and family (big house). The pastor's previous gig was in France, so they're all fluent. The 2 boys have a flawless accent, at least to my untrained ears.

Once again... My pastor is temporarily living under the same roof as me. And his lovely wife and precious kids are completely enamored with France and French culture.

Dad was gone, so mom, the kids, and I played pool and talked in French. I was terrified that I would swear accidentally when I missed a shot, but otherwise, I ended the evening feeling quite magnanimous and warm/fuzzy about the world. And also like a hypocrite. Something about spending the day dissing people, then having a grand old time with them in the evening. :blush:

it is quite possible, but you must remember that America was just breaking out of its isolationist past, unwillingingly at that. then when you look at american strategic thought at the time it looks a little less heinous than what this author suggests. there were concerns that our green, unbloodied young men would be slaughtered if they weren't FULLY trained - and everyone's definition for that is different. there were many different proposals for ops plans, but in the end it was decided that the best course of action was to wait until the US had trained and equipped (haha) an overwhelming number of GI's to send over to the theater. keep in mind that americans were not interested in any sort of negotiated peace so the goal wasn't to fight until a position of strength was achieved and then pause. the goal was to overwhelm and crush the opposition.

John Denver is unknown in France (at least for me)

Perhaps is less sexy than Britney Spear

www.johndenver.com will tell you all you need to know. He was a cheesy guy who wrote and played cheesy songs for cheesy people.

I really like that French band Air. This intrigues me, and I want to look into more French pop. Many of the artists I like say they were influenced by Serge Gainsbourg.

You don't want to know about John Denver. He's dead, thank God. Forget you ever even heard his name. Here in the US, he's just about everyone's favorite singer to hate. Now Jean Luc Ponty... ;)

Oh, I don't know about that. I liked "Poems, Prayers, and Promises" and "Back Home Again".

No, I didn't forget. I never forget the power of bankers and their money to shape the world to their advantage. That's always been true but Wilson's input to the treaty was very small because we were the new kids. We had only been in the war a short time and not considered a major player by the rest of the allies.

The Virginia Company only lasted for about 20 years in the early 1600s before the King yanked their charter and made Virginia a Crown Colony. It was an attempt to financially exploit "The New World" by the Brits just as the French, Spanish, Portugese and even the Vikings had done. 1776 put an end to that attempt, but then and now, the "Money" will cooperate across political boundries to their own benefit.

I'm glad you're smart enough to realize most of this thread was in fun and most of the barbs were directed at other posters rather than France.
Tell me, has France had to face the largest Evil the world has ever known ....WalMart? :worried:

I said "just about everyone's." And if you promise not to breathe a word to another living soul, I'll admit to a sneaking fondness for "Country Roads," myself. ;)

Same here. Although you want to be far away when I sing it in the shower. :scream:

Because of the amount of respect that I have garnered here over the years, I probably should not mention things like wearing out a copy of Rhymes and Reasons, and enjoying some of his sappier tunes ... yes, even that one.

They are all very singable.

Serge Gainsbourg : very famous in France
really really wonderful songs, I hope you can find them
French people love him because he was a bad boy always drunk, provocative but very sensitive. He wrote also songs for Jane Birkin (English girl only famous in France ?) and Birgitte Bardot (when she was young !). He was quite ugly but always seduced the most beautiful and famous women.
His lyrics are often based on play on words and poetry. His music is very rich, a lot of different styles.
I think his last songs were “easier”.
Most famous Songs : “Initials BB”, “Je t’aime moi non plus“ (with sexual whisper melt in the music), “Ballade de Melody Nelson”, “Je suis venu te dire que je m’en vais”, “la javanaise“…

Famous also in having said, in a TV French show where Witney Houston was the guest star, that he "wanted to fuck her". She became white for few seconds : What !!!!! :mad:

From the 60’s to 80’s there were always in France about the same 20 singers. And French were inhibited compared to US and British music, trying to copy. It wasn’t so good and almost forgot to sing like they before used to.
Now French music is influenced by anglo saxon pop, soul, techno, African, Arabian and Spanish rythm and the French touch… : the result is good.
Since nearly 2000 we've really got plenty of good singers : about 5 to 10 new per year, for us it’s an explosion, in every kind of style.
Exemples : Juliette (French style, humour), Manu Chao (world music, latino), Souad Massi (Algerian, pop, rai, flamenco), Thomas Fersen (French style), Yann Tiersen (music from the film “Amélie from Montmartre”), Lo Jo (world music), Camille (sounds like Bjork), Tiken Jah Fakoli (Coast of Ivory ? african political reggae), Lhasa (French/Spanish/English jazz/world music), Pink Martini (French/US jazz latino), St Germain (album “Tourist”, jazz techno, no lyrics)…

Less recent : Mano Negra (Rock latino), Noir Désir (French pop Rock), Rita mitSouko (French pop rock), Etienne Daho (French pop), I Muvrini (traditional band from Corsica), Renaud (beautiful lyrics, awful voice, made a song against “Miss Maggie”), Bernard Lavilliers (our Bruce Springsteen in spirit with latino-American influences), Laurent Voulzy (album “caché derrière” and others, good pop), Alain Souchon (beautiful lyrics, good pop), Francis Cabrel (soothing French pop Rock ), William Sheller (pop classic, piano), Mylène Farmer (pop quite original and successful), Enzo Enzo (French style), Zazie (pop), Michel Jonasz (Jazz), Claude Nougaro (Jazz + song “Toulouse” !), Jean Jacques Goldman (our national song maker, cautious humanist, the man French people would like to meet once, pop rock), songs of Starmania (“Tycoon”), Air, Daft Punk ……

If you like Serge Gainsbourg’s music, maybe you’ll enjoy “M“ (Matthieu Chedid), Dominique A, Alain Bashung, in a more modern way… and MC Solaar (pop rap)

Our French star : Johnny Hallyday (I think he isn’t original for US people)
Our French god : Charles Aznavour, we can’t say anything bad about this man. Respect.

You can find them on the web. (emule, kasaa, (un)official sites)
Lyrics French songs : http://www.paroles.net/
And French singers with number of songs : clic “La Liste Complète des Interprètes“ :
http://www.paroles.net/artis/*

Sorry, Jazz is really a fashion in France but I’m not a specialist despite there’s a little jazz festival in my birth village. I just know St Germain, Michel Petrucciani and some US jazz. An Old album : “Giants of jazz play Brassens”. Georges Brassens, Jacques Brel and Leo Ferré
are our 3 poets in songs, it’s often not really funny nor modern but the lyrics are timeless.

I think that real militaries like Eisenhower who said it was technically possible earlier are more qualified for this kind of opinion than politicians like Roosevelt and Churchill. Usually leaders decide and the technical people have to reach the objective.
But I won’t declare the war for that !

In my books Wilson is Rotshild’s puppet

Walmart ? Why ? Is it another joke I never understand ? I’ve just heard the name. I’ve no idea about that. :confused:
I hope it’s not worst than Monsanto !


Have you got Alicia Key’s phone number ? or Nora Jones’s ?

Bye

Thanks for the information!

Many of us admire that film, which is just called Amélie here. Or even Amelie, without the correct accent.

Wal-Mart is a chain of warehouse-like stores that sells everything from tires to lettuce to DVDs to rifles. It's cheap, soulless, mass-produced crap, marketed to cheap, soulless, mass-produced people. When a Wal-Mart comes to town, the effect on family-owned businesses is similar to nuclear detonation, only slower. I loathe Wal-Mart, and shop there every week. I'm pretty sure the mark of the Beast will be that stupid smiley face on the commercials.

Ooh, that's a poser. Walmart takes normal corporate villainy to the extreme, while Montsano invents new ways to be evil. Walmart is bad for its employees and neighborhood, while Montsano is bad for its customers and their neighbors.

Ooooh, I loved that film! That was just the funniest movie! Remember the part about her kidnapping the garden troll and sending post cards from it at various places around the world?

I like the writer, Collette, too. She was a liberated gal long before the word "feminist" had ever been coined. I read everything of hers I could find. She wrote about LIFE and the wonderful way she lived it outside the bonds of the conventions of her times!

I wish the French wouldn't have given us all those existentialists like Sartre and Camus - very depressing.

French perfume is wonderful, though. Shalimar!

If you ever see a Walmart start to go up in France, blow it up and put the blame on Bin Laden! ;)

marichiko said "People ignorant of European history (that means 99.9999999% of all Americans) find it easy to make arrogant assumptions."

That was so funny, milk came out my nose!

you'll find the humor wears off shortly.