Lets talk about the French

[h22chen]

@Dr_Zoidberg

[quote=“SHARLEE”]To sum up, I like my country althought it is far from being perfect. But remember no one is perfect.

I said nasty things about France, but I say much worse things about my own country.[/quote]

So true, one is normally more sensitive about one’s country because one cares. lol

What pops into my head when France was mentioned are “World War II” and Calvin (go Calvin!) [despite being dead for a few centuries].

[TainanCowboy]

4711 eau de cologne. I’ve used that stuff for 30 yrs.
Its German - so, you may ask why does this fall into the “Lets Talk About the French” thread.
Here’s why -

Many years ago, in some European War, a French general was going to sack the town in Germany where this stuff was made. Upon hearing that information, he immediately directed the battle to halt. It seems that he also used this cologne and did not want to stop his supply. So the town was saved from destruction. And the world smelled just a little bit better for it.

“GLOCKENGASSE No 4711”
Koln a. RH/COLOGNE

[Dangermouse]

I have a soft spot for the French. It wouldn’t be the same without the constant bickering. I suppose deep down I like the French. Deep down, where nobody could ever hope to get with the current submersible technology. But all the same, there’s a fondness there somewhere.

[GUEST2]

Dangermouse, that s what is called here the “hate and love relationship” between England and France

[sandman]

@Dangermouse

Needless to say, I loved riding my French dike.

Needless to say. How did that work, anyway?

[Anyone_for_Tiffin]

Riding French dikes! Whatever next!
As for the English and French love/hate relationship, would have said it is more a grudging respect rather than love although that French TV newswoman could possibly make me change my Little Englander mentality in a second

[GUEST2]

I suppose english and french will never understand each other. but I d wish there would be more collective consideration and respect for each other .

[Comrade_Stalin]

@SHARLEE

I suppose English and french will never understand each other. but I d wish there would be more collective consideration and respect for each other .

The British have several hundred thousand dead buried in France. That should win some respect.

[GUEST2]

@Comrade Stalin

[quote=“SHARLEE”]I suppose English and french will never understand each other. but I d wish there would be more collective consideration and respect for each other .

The British have several hundred thousand dead buried in France. That should win some respect.[/quote]

This is a bad start for mutual respect…

[the_chief]

@sandman

[quote=“Dangermouse”]Needless to say, I loved riding my French dike.

Needless to say. How did that work, anyway?[/quote]

Lucky you, God knows I can never get them to let me ride them, let alone call them “mine”…

[Comrade_Stalin]

@SHARLEE

[quote=“Comrade Stalin”][quote=“SHARLEE”]I suppose English and french will never understand each other. but I d wish there would be more collective consideration and respect for each other .

The British have several hundred thousand dead buried in France. That should win some respect.[/quote]

This is a bad start for mutual respect…[/quote]

Tell us about it…they died fighting for your freedom.

[Dr_Zoidberg]

@SHARLEE

[quote=“Comrade Stalin”][quote=“SHARLEE”]I suppose English and french will never understand each other. but I d wish there would be more collective consideration and respect for each other .

The British have several hundred thousand dead buried in France. That should win some respect.[/quote]

This is a bad start for mutual respect…[/quote]

I think Comrade Stalin was referring to the British who died with their French comrades-in-arms in two world wars. If there’s a better start for mutual respect than that, I’d like to hear it.

[jdsmith]

@Dr_Zoidberg

[quote=“SHARLEE”][quote=“Comrade Stalin”][quote=“SHARLEE”]I suppose English and french will never understand each other. but I d wish there would be more collective consideration and respect for each other .

The British have several hundred thousand dead buried in France. That should win some respect.[/quote]

This is a bad start for mutual respect…[/quote]

I think Comrade Stalin was referring to the British who died with their French comrades-in-arms in two world wars. If there’s a better start for mutual respect than that, I’d like to hear it.[/quote]

Resumption of the breeding of the royal families?

[h22chen]

He He, the Republicans will go up in arms with that one. ha ha.

[GUEST2]

Dr Zoidberg, I was not diminishing the value and the fact that we owe respect for the thousands who died.

But my point was more on the MUTUAL word. How can it be only one sided and ask for respect from one side only. This is a bad starting point for making up things.
Sorry

CS you owe us respect for having fought for your independance

[Dr_Zoidberg]

@SHARLEE

But my point was more on the MUTUAL word.

To quote myself:

the British who died with their French comrades-in-arms

[GUEST2]

Dr Zoidbert, yes but I was originally referring to CS post first and not yours…
I was asking for more respect both sides and he came up with one side only… hence the bad start.

[Comrade_Stalin]

@SHARLEE

yes but I was originally referring to CS post first and not yours…

OK. So maybe your country should do something worthy of respect. Surrendering and then turning yourself into an R&R brothel for the Nazis isn’t something that usually gains respect anywhere. But maybe your values and ideas of respect are different. C’est la vie!

[Jive_Turkey]

@Dangermouse

[quote]2001 - Taiwan bought 60 French-made Mirage jet fighters in 1995. In 2001, during a routine test flight near Hsin-Ju, one Taiwan airforce pilot died after the 3rd crash of a Mirage-2000 fighter jet. Each fighter jet (apparantly a piece of shit) cost 58 million USD.

Between 1998 and 1999, no less than 4 F-16’s made by Lockheed Martin crashed in Taiwan resulting in the death of 3 pilots.

The Mirage jet crashes were caused by the following:

Crash 1 - Engine failiure.
Crash 2 - Bird sucked into intake resulting in engine surge
Crash 3 - Pilot disorientation > pilot error.
[/quote]
Has it occured to you that Taiwan’s initial take of Mirage 2000s was 60? Or that it’s total fleet of F-16s, at 150 minus 4 lost, is 2.5 times the number of Mirage 2000s?

All four F-16’s crshed as a result of mechanical failiure.

Bullshit. Only the 3rd and 4th were attributed to mechanical problems. Of those two, only the third can be attributed with a degree of certainty to manufacturing problems: the flight control wiring shorted-just like it has on a number of US inventory F-16s. The 4th’s engine lost thrust in flight. That’s just as likely due to poor maintenance. The causes of the first and second crashes have never been found.

Before you posted, did you even wonder how many hours/year Taiwan’s F-16s and Mirages spend in the air? That has a pretty big effect on how many jets are going to be lost. Accurate numbers would not be accessible to you and me, but there is good reason to believe that a lot more training is done in the F-16s since they have the data links necessary to exchange info with the E-2s. The Mirages do not.

Except from an interview with a contractor/engineer with the USAF with F.I. Magazine

“… had a bad run of F-15E’s, so we shipped
them all to Israel and Saudi Arabia. Out of about 50 produced (I don’t
remember actual number produced), only 8 or so passed USAF quality checks
and made it to USAF squadrons.”

“As soon as we identify a fighter as a “lemon”, it’s immediately
tagged for export. Usually these are identified during the manufacturing
process, but you remember that whole shipment of F-16’s that got cancelled
and sat out in the desert for a year? Wonder why we didn’t use them
ourselves?
I’m sure the same thing is happening in Taiwan”

“The USAF recently identified another operational F-16 that wasn’t up to our
quality standards (it basically un-manufactured itself after just barely
tapping the ground at 600 kts), so we’re going to pack up the parts and sell
them as a do-it-yourself kit to a little bananna republic somewhere.”

Ahem. Link?

Add this to the notoriously unreliable military helicopters sold to Taiwan by the US, of which quite afew have already crashed,

Link? What helicopters? What models? When did Taiwan take delivery? Were they new or second-hand? When and where did they crash? This smells like BS.

then you can seethat US exported gear isn’t exactly top of the line.

The US just might sell some crap to export customers, but I fail to see any evidence of that from what you’ve posted.

BTW, I think the Mirage 2000 is a fine airplane for the ROCAF to be flying, save for the fact that the French have told the PRC everything they’ve ever wanted to know about the Mirage 2000’s ECM package.

[Jive_Turkey]

[quote=“SHARLEE”]Dr Zoidberg, I was not diminishing the value and the fact that we owe respect for the thousands who died.

But my point was more on the MUTUAL word. How can it be only one sided and ask for respect from one side only. This is a bad starting point for making up things.
[/quote]
I agree. I think the Brits should show some respect and thanks for all the times the French have saved their asses from tyranny. Now when was that…Oh yeah, do the times when the French served as speed bumps (small speed bumps, mind you) at the feet of German armies advancing toward the English Channel count?

CS you owe us respect for having fought for your independance

That seems fair enough to me. :America: :Europe: (sorry, there’s no French flag in the emoticons)