[quote=“fred smith”]Given the lack of civilized behavior from our
European friends in recent months it’s a pity that
they are not being anally probed as well. Can we get
that included as well?
Fuck Europe.
Love Fred[/quote]
Given that much of “Western” civilization was born in Europe, I found that hard to believe.
I just watched a cooking/travel programme in Spain and Italy. Life there looks wonderfully civilized. Hmm, the Italian Riviera or Las Vegas for my next trip?
europe’s the best continent in the world. I’ve been to them all, and been around the world 3 times. Fred smith, you can keep your lard arse food and guns… The UN are taking over. You delusional self righteous buffoon.
All countries should go the way of Brazil and do the same to americans as the americans are doing to everyone. (like it would stop suicide bombers anyway)…
Orwell had foresight…
The quality of life in much of Western Europe, though not not sustainable at the current levels, is wonderfully civilized: Shorter working hours, earlier retirement, wonderful food and beverages, vibrant arts, historical architecture, fashion, but above all a commitment to enjoying life and its simple pleasures.
Fred, you are wrong to damn Europe just for its political failings.
[quote=“Closet Queen”]The quality of life in much of Western Europe, though not not sustainable at the current levels, is wonderfully civilized: Shorter working hours, earlier retirement, wonderful food and beverages, vibrant arts, historical architecture, fashion, but above all a commitment to enjoying life and its simple pleasures.
Fred, you are wrong to damn Europe just for its political failings.[/quote]
None of that is sustainable, especially after the US stops underwriting Europe’s defense. Anyway, its the Europeans who are damning Europe’s future: Eurabia
[quote=“tigerman”][quote=“Closet Queen”]The quality of life in much of Western Europe, though not not sustainable at the current levels, is wonderfully civilized: Shorter working hours, earlier retirement, wonderful food and beverages, vibrant arts, historical architecture, fashion, but above all a commitment to enjoying life and its simple pleasures.
Fred, you are wrong to damn Europe just for its political failings.[/quote]
None of that is sustainable, especially after the US stops underwriting Europe’s defense. Anyway, its the Europeans who are damning Europe’s future: Eurabia[/quote]
Sustainable? You mean all that culture over the past thousand plus years or so will go to the birds?
It will all crumble due to the overwhelming PULL of captialism with its superficial strangleholds on the world?
Let’s hope not. Europe, IMO, is the last refuge.
It’s a place one visits when they want to appreciate the finer side of life.
America is downtrodden and repressive, and after only 230 years! Dang, all it took was a few bozos, and not a snowball’s chance in hell with that so-called ‘democracy’ everyone’s so misinformed on…Talk about NOT sustainable.
[quote=“Alien”][quote=“tigerman”][quote=“Closet Queen”]The quality of life in much of Western Europe, though not not sustainable at the current levels, is wonderfully civilized: Shorter working hours, earlier retirement, wonderful food and beverages, vibrant arts, historical architecture, fashion, but above all a commitment to enjoying life and its simple pleasures.
Fred, you are wrong to damn Europe just for its political failings.[/quote]
None of that is sustainable, especially after the US stops underwriting Europe’s defense. Anyway, its the Europeans who are damning Europe’s future: Eurabia[/quote]
Sustainable? You mean all that culture over the past thousand plus years or so will go to the birds?
It will all crumble due to the overwhelming PULL of captialism with its superficial strangleholds on the world?
Let’s hope not. Europe, IMO, is the last refuge.
It’s a place one visits when they want to appreciate the finer side of life.
America is downtrodden and repressive, and after only 230 years! Dang, all it took was a few bozos, and not a snowball’s chance in hell with that so-called ‘democracy’ everyone’s so misinformed on…Talk about NOT sustainable.
[/quote]
Looks like you didn’t bother to read the article to which I linked. Why don’t you read it first and then post your comment/question?
Sorry about the laughter, Alien… I was just imagining you living in Eurabia, the “last refuge”, after it is thoroughly Islamicized. I’m certain you will like the new rules and new culture…
As to the criticism regarding the fuck Europe comment, let’s examine this a slightly different way.
Europe is your friend who inherited money rather than working for it. Went to the right schools, member of all the right clubs. Problem is that Europe never got a job or had a career and this is starting to wear away at Europe in its 40s. Nor did Europe every have children or get married because that was something only peasants do.
Now, you have been a good friend to Europe, even lending money to it when it was down and out from one of its shopping, gambling, drug sprees. Yet, whenever you have a problem at the office, Europe sneers, well you would wouldn’t you, you’re nothing but a peasant, a drone, a worker. The next day Europe has the chutzpah to call you to see if you can get his/her nephew a job at said company.
When you are having problems in your marriage, Europe scoffs that marriage is for the birds and something only peasants do and then tries to sleep with your husband or wife.
When you go to a restaurant, Europe orders the most expensive wine and food and then conveniently has no money so you pay the whole thing. Naturally, Europe complains during the entire dinner about how the food and wine are not up to its standards.
Despite helping Europe numerous times, when the plumbing bursts in your home and you have to move out a few days, Europe immediately helps by providing you with a list of hotels in his/her area.
So while Europe is well dressed, has beautiful manners and is very sophisticated, there comes a time in your life when you go FUCK Europe, it is no friend and I am sick of putting up with the shit. Go Fuck Yourself you might say and so might we all.
Therefore nothing to do with “civilization” but all to do with how it treats its friends and eventually said friends have to stand up and dust themselves off and go I can do better than this. Who needs this shit?
Europe and Alien:
So go move to Europe then… let me know how long it takes you to find a job… then tell me how beautiful an experience starvation is while you are living in low-rent quarters and watching all the American and Japanese tourists eating at the fine restaurants, while you… hmmm do you suppose this is why Europe is so resentful of America… Now if we could only prove that it really is Japan’s fault… we could all be “friends” again.
Alien, for your perusal (from the link I provided above):
[quote]Nevertheless, there is no question that the continent is experiencing fundamental demographic and cultural changes whose long-term consequences no one can foresee.
To begin with, consider the extraordinary prospect of European demographic decline. A hundred years ago – when Europe’s surplus population was still crossing the oceans to populate America and Australasia – the countries that make up today’s European Union accounted for around 14 percent of the world’s population. Today that figure is down to around 6 percent, and by 2050, according to a United Nations forecast, it will be just over 4 percent. The decline is absolute as well as relative. Even allowing for immigration, the United Nations projects that the population of the current European Union members will fall by around 7.5million over the next 45 years. There has not been such a sustained reduction in the European population since the Black Death of the 14th century. (By contrast, the United States population is projected to grow by 44 percent between 2000 and 2050.)
With the median age of Greeks, Italians and Spaniards projected to exceed 50 by 2050 – roughly 1 in 3 people will be 65 or over – the welfare states created in the wake of World War II plainly require drastic reform. Either today’s newborn Europeans will spend their working lives paying 75 percent tax rates or retirement and ‘‘free’’ health care will simply have to be abolished. Alternatively (or additionally), Europeans will have to tolerate more legal immigration.
But where will the new immigrants come from? It seems very likely that a high proportion will come from neighboring countries, and Europe’s fastest-growing neighbors today are predominantly if not wholly Muslim. A youthful Muslim society to the south and east of the Mediterranean is poised to colonize – the term is not too strong – a senescent Europe. [/quote]
So say some of the prophets of doom.
The historian Niall Ferguson wrote a piece called Eurabia in the NY Times. I have huge respect for his authorship of early 20th century European history, but he
Closet Queen Wrote: "Firstly, tolerance is a basic tenet of Islam. Secondly, existing Muslim communities in, say, Britain are peaceable and becoming better integrated. Thirdly, their Imam
Seems like a degree of argument fatigue is setting in Freddie. But don’t worry you can console yourself with dinner from May 1st at the Ritz Landis’ new upscale Europe-free restaurant - Cleveland 1930. 
Cheer up.
[quote=“Closet Queen”]So say some of the prophets of doom.
The historian Niall Ferguson wrote a piece called Eurabia in the NY Times. I have huge respect for his authorship of early 20th century European history, but he
[quote=“Closet Queen”]The demographics are correct, but the conclusion is flawed. Last week
I dunno. The above screeds on Muslims and their ‘pernicious strategems’ read to me like someone has simply used the Protocols of the Elders of Zion as a template and substituted the word ‘Muslim’ for ‘Jew’ wherever referenced.
Very uplifting reading.
The odd thing about all these silly, endless tirades against tired old dowager Europe is that the U.S. really didn’t need Europe for anything it did in Iraq. This is simply childish pique about not being able to take ‘no’ for an answer from a formerly subservient junior partner.
Several years ago I had to go to Europe to do some contract work…in Eindhoven, Holland. My company rented me a house in a small village, Nuenen (Van Gogh used to live there). The house was a 30 year old duplex and cost $4,000US per month. My neighbors thought I had a bargain. The people who had been living there were moving to New York…and weren’t planning to come back. In a few months, I met 4 families a 2 individuals all leaving for the US. When I asked “why?” they all spoke of the high taxes, paternalistic government, poor medical care and expensive cost of living. All of these people were university educated professionals.
Nuenen also has several mosques.
vangogh-nuenen.com/
vangogh-nuenen.com/engels/gebouw/ukgeb.htm
vangoghgallery.com/painting/ … nuenen.htm
The best site for expats living and working in Europe is:
Lots of local news stories, forums and general information.
[quote=“tigerman”]
The questions he poses are, IMO, worth considering.[/quote]They are worth considering, although I think for similar reasons to CQ that Ferguson’s predictions are unlikely to come true.
[quote=“tigerman”]I don’t think you can dismiss them based merely on your own personal experiences with Muslims in your university town.[/quote]CQ didn’t. The personal experience was contained in a short paragraph at the end, and was simply a form of corroboration of the argumentative points he made in other paragraphs.
By the way, my own experience also goes along with what CQ said, having lived in areas with a large Muslim population for nine years, having studied issues such as assimilation and religious identity and having talked to Muslims about this kind of stuff. Of course personal experience is limited but it does give you some understanding of the situation, at least in one country.
Gosh Spook:
The Jews are busy blowing things up? They are so tricky, blowing shit up and then blaming it on like oh I don’t know the Muslims. Right?
This has nothing to do with peevishness and everything to do with respect. Europe has been getting a free ride for far too long and its peoples believe that they have achieved the perfect solution to the world’s problems. How? Dialogue. But then when dialogue does not work as in Bosnia and Kosovo where they had 3 years to “talk” who do they demand get involved and solve the problem? The US.
Now I genuinely understand European opposition to the Iraq invasion at a citizen level. Half the population in the US would agree with that view. But for a government to act in the way that many European governments did was quite frankly an eye opener. There was more for certain nations to gain by actively opposing the US the most important political and economic actor for a nation with a murderous dictator who started two major wars and who was genuinely believed to have wmds even by their own intelligence agencies. Now, that is something to think about. If this is what happens for something minor of secondary significance, what will happen when the US really does need help and allies. Better to face up to this now and ditch off these leeches and ungrateful fuckheads so that we can better prepare for dealing with future problems in a realistic manner. And those future solutions will NOT include Europe minus Britain. Sorry Poland but get your security guarantees from the Germans (haha) or better yet like you did the last time from the French (hoo haw)
What does Europe stand for these days? Where are the ideas?
I mean this is the continent that gave us the Renaissance and the Enlightenment after all. What does Europe stand for today? The only things that I can think of are as follows:
35 hour work week
5 week vacations
appeasement
nothing really matters
words don’t mean what they say. it’s all about who says them because of power politics so a woman who says “the ball” means a totally different “ball” than a White man or a black woman or a Chinese boy or an Arab girl.
So much for continental sophistication.
Here’s an interesting news item re Europe and the world re:
Oriana Fallaci Calls Europe “A Province of Islam”
In her usual blunt style, Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci draws headlines for calling Europe “more and more a province of Islam, a colony of Islam” in her latest book, THE STRENGTH OF REASON. She adds, “And Italy is an outpost of that province, a stronghold of that colony.”
Elsewhere, she dubs the continent “Eurabia.”
Also: “A group in France unsuccessfully sought to stop distribution of the book, while two other associations have requested that it carry a warning.”