Dozens of readers have written in asking for a list of French companies products to boycott. After all, some are well known, but many are not. Here goes.
Posted by Muddy at March 16, 2003 09:59 AM | TrackBackFrance's greatest allies in trade are America and Britain.
Is this war against anyone who dares disagree with the current Bush regime, or is it against a crazed dictator?
Last time I checked this country was not waging war against France. So, will we boycott every other product that originates from a country that we are not in agreeance with?
Why don't we start with OIL then...since we ARE at war with Iraq.
Posted by: Les at March 16, 2003 03:37 PMI'm already boycotting Iraqi Oil.. I'll find the list again and post it up.
Posted by: Muddy at March 16, 2003 04:46 PMWhen a company or country does something someone does not like, they sometimes boycott it in protest. As an example, I have a personal boycott of Old Navy, Gap, McDonalds and Abercrombie and Fitch for the past several years (Gap the longest).
If one does not like the actions a government is taking, they can boycott that government or country's products in protest. So, if one does not like the actions France is taking, one can choose not to buy French exports.
We're not yet at war with Iraq. But we get a small percentage of our oil from Iraq. So, not buying petroleum products wouldn't be felt all that much by Iraq, even if every American stopped buying (which is impossible, without petroleum products, I could not get to school or work.) Aside from that, while I'd love to see Hydrogen based fuel cell vehicles, they are still a few years off, leaving me not really minding the purchase of petroleum products.
Posted by: skywalker at March 16, 2003 04:53 PMSkywalker, There was a guy here locally that had found a way to run cars off water. However he was doing conversions out of his house and when GM came knocking on his door asking to buy him out he said no. Then he mysteriously died a week later.
There is also a guy out in California that is running his vw bus off used fast food grease.
My point is the "big 3" and the oil companies are putting a stop to all alternative fuel sources.
You won't see hydrogen until your very old if you do at all. We can run all our cars of water now, it's about a 2,000 conversion and it runs great.
However that would destroy the oil industry and the auto industry would be turned on it's ear.
So don't count on running your cars off anything but gas for a long time to come.
A friend at my last job was working on getting his car to run off water, however the plans the guy (that GM killed) had are gone and so he's working off what he found on the internet. I'll let you know if he gets it working.
Muddy:
I'm aware of the water/grease conversions.
I'm not sure about the water ones, but I know that the grease one is for diesel engines. I drive a gasoline engine.
At this point I'm going to act of political character and say that it might be time for mandates on alternative fuel source vehicles.
I'll disagree with you one this though: They have not put a stop to the programs. Last I checked (a couple months ago) GM was full steam ahead on their fuel-cell program. The issue they were having at the time, was getting it to run with a decent amount of power.
Posted by: skywalker at March 16, 2003 05:21 PMI thought that in the last State of the Union, the President said he was going to direct 1 billion dollors to alternate fuel. I think hydrogen would be the logical next step.
Posted by: cwilli at March 16, 2003 09:48 PMAppaling.
Should I boycott this site ?
Shouldd I boycott mac donald ?
Should french banks and other mutual funds boycott the USA State bonds ?
I received direct post on my email ...
It was outrageously funny...
I've kept the best part for all of you to seee...
"Please speak from a position of facts and
> knowledge, not merely from passion and principle.
> U.S.A. IS under attack!"
Now who's speaking from passion and principle.
Seen any sign of iraki planes bombing your country on a daily basis ? mhh ?
Is there hundreds of thousands of soldiers close to your country ?
Mhh ?
It is appalling to see that the american citizens and their administration are simply unable to debate and accept opposition. From a democratic country it sucks.
This planet is not yours.
Not yet at least.
http://www.idleworm.com/nws/2002/11/iraq2.shtml
have a shot
Still, officials at the ministry acknowledged that tensions were rising rapidly. After one ill-tempered exchange with a reporter, one official apologized, saying Iraqis in government jobs were becoming more nervous with every passing day.
"You are under pressure? It is nothing compared with us," he said. "We are the ones who are going to be attacked. It is our families, our jobs and our lives that are threatened."
-By DAVID E. SANGER and WARREN HOGE
The New York Times
Published on Monday, April 22, 2002 by Inter Press Service
Mideast Street Anger Turns into Calls for Boycott of U.S. Goods
by N Janardhan
DUBAI, Apr 22 - The university cafeteria at the University of Sharjah has stopped selling softdrinks manufactured by U.S. multinationals, and instead stocks other beverages produced in the country or region.
The American economy is ”surviving on Arab money, which is used to supply the Israelis with monetary and military assistance to kill the Palestinians who are resisting the occupation for 50 years,'' Nawal Jasim, head of the Women Students' Union at the university, said in explaining the boycott.
”If the Arab governments do not boycott American goods, we believe it is our responsibility to take the initiative,'' Jasim added in an interview. ''We are a billion Muslims and imagine how much the U.S. economy would be affected if each of us boycott a softdrink can or all American products.''
Lebanese students hold a sit-in at a Burger King fast food restaurant as part of a campaign to boycott American products, in Beirut April 15, 2002. A growing number of Lebanese have begun boycotting U.S. brands and products since Israel began its onslaught against Palestinian areas more two weeks ago. They are protesting against U.S.-backing for the Jewish state. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
These moves for a boycott, amid the Israeli offensive against Palestinian areas for weeks now, are triggering a people's revolution of a kind rarely seen before in the region.
They reflect how the angry political calls in the Arab street for Israel's withdrawal are fast turning into a search for an economic threat against Washington, in order to force a policy shift by the United States.
Unlike the rhetoric of Arab governments, people in the region are resorting to taking action at their level by boycotting U.S.-made products - thus, UAE journalists are organizing a boycott conference, some Lebanese have begun turning their backs away from American products like cigarettes.
Some have gone as far as calling for a repudiation of the U.S. dollar in international trade.
”I have never seen the streets in the Gulf filled with so much hatred and anger as they have been in the past fortnight. The situation is reaching boiling point,'' said Dr Saeed Hareb, professor of law at the UAE University.
”The striking feature of the demonstrations is that the initiatives have been taken not by the governments, but by students as a collective group and by individuals out of their own choice,” he said in an interview.
Last week, the UAE Journalists' Association announced that a national committee for boycotting American goods would be formed in cooperation with public welfare societies and civil society organizations.
In a statement, Dr Aisha al-Nuaimi, a member of the association, urged the government to support the first boycott conference on May 13-14.
Anas Al Zaibaq, a Syrian marketing representative working for a private company in the UAE, said: ”Since the United States has been supporting Israel in its crime, we as Arabs must put pressure on it by boycotting its products.”
A war on the economic front is one language the materialistic West understands, he argues.
”Many people, including me, have boycotted American products and this has driven most American franchisers in the Arab world to think of alternatives to boost sales, implying that losses are being suffered,” Zaibaq said in an interview.
The first of the demands for the boycott of American products in the region came surprisingly from Bahrain, a major non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally of the United States and where its navy's Fifth Fleet is now positioned.
Anti-Israel and anti-U.S. graffiti reportedly began appearing there about two weeks ago.
So far, the rallying calls have not just been for boycotting American goods, but: ”we want the government to close the U.S. embassy and the military bases,” according to Manama's 'Akhbar Al Khaleej' newspaper.
A group of people even managed to break through a U.S. Embassy compound wall, damaging windowpanes and setting at least three cars on fire, leading the King Hamad Bin Issa Al Khalifa to warn Washington that the U.S. interests in the region were in jeopardy if it did not alter its Middle East stance.
Apart from the Gulf, Lebanon, Morocco and Iraq have also witnessed ”boycott” calls.
American cigarettes became the first casualty of such calls in Lebanon. ”The price of a packet of American cigarettes is equal to the price of a bullet that will be targeted at the Palestinian people,” said a leaflet distributed by university students in Beirut recently, according to the local 'Gulf News' newspaper.
Lists of Lebanese, Arab, European and Asian products have been distributed to houses as alternatives, resulting in the ”sale of American cigarettes going down by half'', it added.
Addressing a rally of 2,000 Iraqi students protesting Israel's military offensive in the West Bank, ruling Baath Party official Huda Saleh Mehdi Ammash urged Arabs to convert their demonstrations into action.
”Boycott American companies that support the Zionist entity (Israel) and take other initiatives that convert emotions to an effective Arab action in defense of our just cause of Palestine,” she was quoted as saying in the UAE's 'The Gulf Today' newspaper on Sunday.
The same day, 'Akhbar Al Arab' newspaper proposed in an editorial that the Gulf countries stop pegging their currencies to the U.S. Dollar
”What is required is to delink from the dollar ... and stop supporting this currency so that it no longer dominates international markets while it is effectively a weapon directed against the Arabs, their rights and their interests,'' it said.
Last week, the Moroccan newspaper 'L'Economiste' suggested that the dollar be ditched in trade dealings and the euro be used instead, following the lead of Iraq, which last year switched its foreign commercial dealings to the euro.
But Dr Ali Ahmed Al Ghafli of the American University of Sharjah advises caution amid the height of emotion and anger.
He recommends that economy and politics function independently and that one should not be used to influence the other, lest it hurt the Gulf and Middle itself.
”Arabs have not yet exhausted all the political options to solve this political problem which can take them out of the frying pan (implying the severance of Jordan's and Egypt's ties with Israel which would put the U.S. under pressure),'' he said in an interview.
''Opting for the economic weapon may prove counterproductive given the region's reliance on Western products. There is no logic in jumping from the frying pan into the fire,” he explained.
But for some, calling for boycotts makes them feel less helpless than standing by as the Israeli offensive continues.
At a rally last week, for instance, Nawal Jasim of the University of Sharjah was busy calling on cooperative societies and foodstuff dealers in the country to instantly provide alternatives to American products to help a national boycott effort.
Posted by: Les at March 17, 2003 03:08 PMi just read the list. It is mainly comprised of nice things...things i like that arent american made. Oh well, the beauty of a globalized economy
Posted by: Les at March 17, 2003 03:13 PMWild Turkey is on that list?!?!! I couldn't believe it, so I looked it up. Austin Nichols was bought by the Pernod Group in 2000.
Woe is me.
Posted by: Baker at March 19, 2003 09:02 AMno comment
Posted by: poop at March 24, 2003 12:50 PMThe French are the number one enemy in the entire world of the U.S.A.
A historic perspective:
1. The French in their quest to become the most powerful country in the world worked its way through the interior of the US because it was not yet populated by the British. They did this knowing full well that the entire continent had been claimed by England with the explorations of John Cabot in 1497. They also knew the wording of the English Charters giving permission to colonize noted boundaries from sea to sea meaning Atlantic to Pacific. Sir Francis Drake was sent on a mission later to explore the most western boundary of the British land which was California.
2. During the French and Indian War with Britain, the French let the Indians do most of the fighting for them against the colonists. They promised the Indians anything to get them to attack the British colonists.
3. The French only began helping the US after the Battle of Saratoga during the American Revolution. Why? They realized the Americans could win. Then and only then did they lift a finger to help the colonists. They were really trying to weaken Britain who was the most powerful country in the world at that time. A position France has always wanted, but had/has never been able to accomplish. The French get a great laugh when historically uneducated Americans think the US owes France for its help during the Revolution when it was merely using the Americans for its quest to be the most powerful country in the world.
4. French representative Edmond Genet came the the US to meet with President Washington. Washington rode a horse the better part of a day just to meet the French representative's ship only to find he purposely got off at another port so to embarass the American president. He proceded to try to convince French Americans to vote for French causes in the US and send money for the French causes. This led the second American President, John Adams to call for tougher immigration laws lengthening the time to become an American citizen to fourteen years. Immigrants could be deported for forming protest groups. Immigrants did not get their full rights until citizenship was granted. All this to protect America from being taken over by the French from within.
5. The French would not talk to American representatives about disputes until a bribe of two hundred fifty thousand dollars was paid in the XYZ Affair.
6. The French pirated American ships on the high seas for years in the 1800s.
7. The French took part of Germany's land after World War 1 which embittered them leading to World War 2. By the way the only country who did not want any of the spoils/land after World War 1 and World War 2 was the USA. But of course, they are emperialists, right?
8. In expecting a lot of the spoils for all the hard fighting and protecting of its citizens during World War 2[not],the French demanded Vietnam returned to its empire. Reluctantlly the Allied forces agreed because France was causing problems about the development of the UN, etc. America had already promised Ho-Chi-Min that a democracy would be set up in Vietnam. Ho-Chi-Min had already drafted a constitution. When France was given Vietnam to keep it from squawking by the Allied forces, Ho-Chi-Min turned to Communism. After scaring the French with attacks, the French withdrew from Vietnam knowing the people who had become friendly with them in the south would be slaughtered. Thus, enters US to try to help clean up the French mess. The US lost fifty-eight thousand lives because of the French.
10. To this day if the US says black, the French says White. If the US says white, the French says black. The US is in a 'no win' situation with the French. What is the US crime? It became the most powerful country in the world. Something that the French have wanted all along. Be weary! What country beheaded twenty thousand of its own citizens in its capital in one year alone? This does not even count the other cities and the countryside. It certainly was not the US! During the slave days of the US, such did not happen! The French will always hate the US for taking the quest from them. However, now the US returns these feelings in full measure. That is what is different. Not the French hatred of the US, but the US disdain of the French!
*Loud clapping and cheering*
Very well said Not Fooled!
You sound like a history teacher, I knew some of that, but not all. Thank you for the education.
"2. During the French and Indian War with Britain, the French let the Indians do most of the fighting for them against the colonists. They promised the Indians anything to get them to attack the British colonists"
Last time I checked US treatment of the indians was not any more humane...
"3. The French only began helping the US after the Battle of Saratoga during the American Revolution. Why? They realized the Americans could win. Then and only then did they lift a finger to help the colonists. "
The US entered WW1 in 1917 after attempting to not become involved in the war...two years after the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 did we enter the war. The war ended, in 1918.
The Europeans had been fighting since 1914.Sources http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/ww1/ww1-1.htm
"7. The French took part of Germany's land after World War 1 which embittered them leading to World War 2. By the way the only country who did not want any of the spoils/land after World War 1 and World War 2 was the USA. But of course, they are emperialists."
What happened after World War 2? The United States influence in Japan and West Germany? Have we forgotten that?
"America had already promised Ho-Chi-Min that a democracy would be set up in Vietnam. Ho-Chi-Min had already drafted a constitution. When France was given Vietnam to keep it from squawking by the Allied forces, Ho-Chi-Min turned to Communism. After scaring the French with attacks, the French withdrew from Vietnam knowing the people who had become friendly with them in the south would be slaughtered. Thus, enters US to try to help clean up the French mess."
Need we forget the US government then went against Ho Chi Minh, the entire cause of the Vietnam incident was to stop the spread of communism...and did it work?
No. Many working class men went off and lost their lives while Bush Jr was defending texas from foreign invaders..
"What country beheaded twenty thousand of its own citizens in its capital in one year alone? "
Be weary ! What country committed genocide with their native american population driving them off into reservations where the land was not even fit to farm? Which country enslaved millions of its blacks and then passed black codes in order to keep them as second class citizens after a Civil War had swept throught the US?
And the list goes on...
And as we say...one good turn deserves another. For every story there is another one that ussually runs counter. Such animosity towards the French...let us not forget everything the Brits, the Japs, and the Hessians did to us as well...but of course they are not as outspoken as the french.
The english general wanted to present their reddition to the french general in the american independance war. But he refused saying this noble english general would have to resign to peasant George washington. Humiliation of the british.
France has supported the USA in the last gulf war, our troops fought together on several peacekeeping operations,
France sold a 1/5 of the now US territory to the US government in 1806 or the like.
France has been bashed often by the USA because of its Desire to remain independant, something imperial USA refuses to admit
Posted by: definitilyfrench at March 25, 2003 08:09 PMwww.medical.saint-gobain.com/products_materials/tygon.asp
Has anyone added Saint Gobain to the ban list?
They manufacture Tygon Tubing used in every high school, college and research lab.
It cost many times more than comparable tubes.
I guess you find it normal that mac donalds are attacked all over the world...
Even in Korea.
is there a population. At least one who supports the US administration action ?
May be australia.
No sure.
Brittons have but only recently...
3 countries.
Posted by: definitelyfrench at March 26, 2003 01:29 PMHalliburton Makes a Killing on Iraq War
Cheney's Former Company Profits from Supporting Troops
Special Series
By Pratap Chatterjee
Special to CorpWatch
March 20, 2003
RELATED ARTICLES
Cheney's Ties to Brown and Root
Vinnell: 'We Train People to Pull Triggers'
VBR at Incirlik Airbase
As the first bombs rain down on Baghdad, CorpWatch has learned that thousands of employees of Halliburton, Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, are working alongside US troops in Kuwait and Turkey under a package deal worth close to a billion dollars. According to US Army sources, they are building tent cities and providing logistical support for the war in Iraq in addition to other hot spots in the "war on terrorism."
While recent news coverage has speculated on the post-war reconstruction gravy train that corporations like Halliburton stand to gain from, this latest information indicates that Halliburton is already profiting from war time contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Cheney served as chief executive of Halliburton until he stepped down to become George W. Bush's running mate in the 2000 presidential race. Today he still draws compensation of up to a million dollars a year from the company, although his spokesperson denies that the White House helped the company win the contract.
In December 2001, Kellogg, Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, secured a 10-year deal known as the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP), from the Pentagon. The contract is a "cost-plus-award-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity service" which basically means that the federal government has an open-ended mandate and budget to send Brown and Root anywhere in the world to run military operations for a profit.
Linda Theis, a public affairs officer for the U.S. Army Field Support Command in Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, confirmed for Corpwatch that Brown and Root is also supporting operations in Afghanistan, Djibouti, Georgia, Jordan and Uzbekistan.
"Specific locations along with military units, number of personnel assigned, and dates of duration are considered classified," she said. "The overall anticipated cost of task orders awarded since contract award in December 2001 is approximately $830 million."
But yeah it isnt for oil. Cheney still recieves salary from Halliburton, "defferred compensation" of course.
This $830 million in contracts is just in the past year. I thought we were going in to rid the world of a mad dictator right? But hey, while we're there might as well make some cash right.
Also it looks like "we" ( and I use the term loosely) just bombed a "busy" market. 600 people came out into the streets and yelled against the US and for Sadaam. But they love the US right?
It is time for corporations to be treated like companies and not individuals. Business ethics need application. Looks like the Arab world wants an end to the US intervention.
Get more info on declassified docs
www.seen.org
lol, Les you seem to think we never hire people to do work for the military. If you think that they are not going to go with folks they personally know and trust when possible, then your crazier than I thought.
This should come as no shock to you, none.
I have come to expect more interesting stuff from you, must be a slow news day :-)
... and to think their doing it for a "gasp" profit!
Posted by: Muddy at March 26, 2003 03:05 PMOf course. But why the need to coddle th epublic as if they couldn't understand the concept you just mentioned above? You seem to realize it, but many like skywalker seem to think their government innocent of all crimes.
And its never a slow news day. Its " I am playing some counterstrike and sims day."
Funny Libertarian Jokes
I guess they should get a new slogan. Let's have a new slogan contest for the Libertarian Party!
A party a lot smaller than the Communists used to be?
The party that can't get as many votes as any one-shot third party?
The party that's elected fewer to national office than the Socialists?
The party whose symbol is a big government statue.
The party with the oxymoronic name?
The party of Pat Paulson, uh, I mean Don Imus, uh, I mean Howard Stern!
America's Third Most Comical Political Party?
Preschool for hyperactive Republicans? ...my favorite
Join in! Submit your slogan today!
DO the idiots that are promoting this boycott realize that there are probably millions of AMERICANS that are employed by these French companies here in the United States? So you really think it would be easy for those Americans to find another job if they quit or lose the job because of this boycott. Shame on you.
Posted by: Ellen at March 26, 2003 03:28 PMLes I think you at times don't realize I'm as frustrated with our government as you are, in different ways though. For example, last year my tax refund came to me minus several hundred dollars. I was hacked off and called up the IRS. They explained to me.. (now sit down for this one).. that my wife's dead father (1st point, her father, not her) cashed a social security check in the 70's that they accidently sent him (2nd point, they sent it, their mistake) and then they discovered this mistake after he died. Took them over 25 years to figure this out. Now we found out her sister who has been in Europe and just returned to the states was jacked this year on her tax returns. Oh and the hits just keep on coming.
See, Washington is heavily f***ed up, heavily. However this is a separate issue from supporting our men and women dying in Iraq this day. I think this is a problem you have, I get the impression you hate the government so much you can't support your country men and women who are dying for us, whether you think it's a just war or not is pointless at this time. Support them, love them, pray for them... criticize Bush and the rest when it's over, right now our soldiers need to know we're behind them.
Posted by: Muddy at March 26, 2003 04:14 PMWe both think the government is bad..but for different reasons and that is why I won't be a hypocrite and support troops I never supported in the first place. Sorry but I can't.
I was against this war before it started and I am still against it. My politics won't change just because the major morality wants me to.
So hate me if you want to I really don't care. I have become quite jaded when it comes to people, universities and this feeling many people have that they "owe" it to someone greater than they.
We seperate eachother with flags and with countries. See, I am for no country if I could I would just give up citizenship for any country...as I have dual citizenship, but one can't because then you have no passport and my drug is moving around. I just want to find equilibrium in the world and it is very hard during these times. So I cannot compromise what I feel and will not. I think life is valuable on all levels, be it American or French.
I just don't care for flags anymore. They do more dividing than anything. Now I am not refuting any of your points, for they are yours and so I am merely stating they are not mine...in the "values" sense.
I don't know but it seems like you are for minimul government intervention whereas obviously if it meant having to pay more taxes and then going to University for free like my relatives in Spain do then that would be fine by me.
I am just sick of the back and forth banter and criticism of one another.
Peace
Posted by: Les at March 26, 2003 05:20 PMELLEN: Good point.
We live in a "globalised" world meaning we try and hurt Country D, somehow it will hurt our own interests. It is being interconnected...
Posted by: Les at March 26, 2003 05:23 PMI understand your point, however if anyone calls themself an American or is a citizen of the United States, then it's your duty to support those that fight and die for your freedom. It appears you are not claiming to be an American, so I won't hold you to this, however out of respect for others I'd ask there be no anti-troop talk on this site during the conflict.
Posted by: Muddy at March 26, 2003 05:48 PMWOW, Les......
Don't claim any country? I think you need to go to Iraq. Maybe you'll find a country you can identify with. How about Somolia? Maybe Columbia? You'll love the lack of "government intervention" in any of these, I'm sure.
I can see why you won't support much when you think it would be great to "pay more taxes" and to go the university "free". I presume that is ME work to pay more taxes so YOU get to not work and go to college free?
And, have fun finding people who don't criticize each other. You have a response to everyone here, I see. I guess your responses don't qualify as "criticism" or "banter". This is obviously a conservative, USA supporting site. Maybe you should find another chat board when you leave America to find another country, that is if you are allowed to have a computer, or to even express a thought at all.
With freedom comes responsibility. With responsibility, comes identity. Here's hoping that you will someday learn both.
Posted by: Dixie Belle at March 28, 2003 06:46 AMI guess les and I post here, just because we find it so easy to counter your points, because some are so appalling, out of want of being right, because it's funny to bash some of you, like skywalker, though in fact i don't find it funny, he never admits when he's wrong, but that's another point. Now Dixie belle, I'll tell you what : in countries where university is free, or almost so, like france, germany, grad salaries tend to be lower, the difference between those who have education and those who have not is lower, this more than compensate poors paying for the rich going to school. Suddenly a doubt rise, I wonder if the japanese universities are free or not. I guess so but not sure. Any way. Having free universities is a way to express a solidarity of all the country, rich or poor. Poors know they have less chance to go in it. Rich know they could get better salaries if they paid for it and then would force their employers to pay them more and pay less the non educated.
But I guess not trying to take all of the advantages you can out of a situation is something hard for you to grasp. :-)
Any way, in case you don't know there are many countries outside of USA with free speach and democraty. In fact there are many countries with better democraties than the US starting with brittain or France, as for free speech mmhhh well the things forbidden to say in public are just different I guess.
try to think of it this way, you pay taxes so that you don't have to spare lots of money for your kids so that they can go to colledge you pay taxes for medical insurance so you don't have to be afraid that if you get cancer they won't be able to go in univesity and so on.
Taxes is not only about taking money from one pocket to pour it into others, its about granting some right providing security, serene life, allowing people to make plans in life, build a peaceful order in which legal fighting in the courts and illegal fighting in the streets (and abroad) is stopped by agreement on a just rule.
>"
We did intervene in Columbia as we did in most of Latin America during the 60s and up until the 80s. And government intervention did not do much but worsen situations.
Afraid to ruin your argument but I have been to a few countries in the Middle East. Syria is among one of them and as I have relatives in Europe and Latin America been there too. It is different but not "better" than the US. But of course, you have to have an open mind and not be so attached to physical comfort in many cases. Seoul Korea on the outskirts we had to squat over slits to take a sh**. It is just different, but not better.
>"
You think I have no identity or responsibility? Working as a photographer and going to University full time is no responsibility? I have great identity as I know what I believe in and I practice it. I think cars pollute. I don't have a liscence thus I do not drive. I do many things that support my stance politically and socially. So in comparison to many I think I have a great sense of identity and have accomplished much during my lifetime....
I have much left to do though.I am sorry you feel so "angry". But I have much responsibility, as a human being and it seems rather obvious this is a conservative site, but hey I think its entertaining.
And do you go to school? We pay money into a system to have that money there. So if I use it what is the problem? Education IS a good thing.
Posted by: Les at March 28, 2003 03:13 PMquote from bill Buckley
Posted by: les at March 29, 2003 06:04 PMDear DEFINITELYfRENCH,
On March 25, 2003 you said "fRANCE SOLD 1/5 OF THE NOW U.S. TERRITORY TO THE U.S. GOVERNMENT". I just wanted to clarify that Napolean was in power and sold the land only because he wanted to "beef up" his military and make it stronger. Where did the fRENCH go wrong with their military to where they would need 66,033 of our American Troops to die for the fRENCH and later now-days have them turn their backs on us. Shame on them.
To all of the soldiers who have died for FREEDOM, not just for the fRENCH, may God Bless You!
I don't think I took pride in that act... that would have been ridiculous. I think Napeleon did a lot to harm French status as a super power.
I think I've said I'm very grateful your parents came for help in Europe.
Just see our opposition in the Irak case as the best way to help you, since it was a big mistake. It sure has add a positive effect in helping muslims understand it was not a holy war, despite all the countersigns given in you country by your biggot president.
PS by the way I'm curious about that 66 033 death toll especially the 033 number ... How do you get that ? How do you separate those dying for the french from those dying, say for the brits, the austrians, the people from belgium and netherlands... But that's just the 033 intriguiing me.
You and I both know how the USA helped us in the 1939-1945 war.
This does not mean we should help you in a colonial war in Irak with unclear aims
the american declaration of independance is taken from france's revolution
the french revolution is one of the cornerstone's of modern democracy. if we cannot see that, i question...a king was beheaded.the people ruled.
what a concept. and here we are giving the french a hard time. just get over it. silly.
The biggest threat to world security, American imperial expansionism, cannot be defeated militarily – their military, controlled by fundamentalist apocalyptic Christians, is impervious to any other army or military in the world, albeit the combined forces of Russia and China, and these nations will never attack America while their own interests are affected. Therefore, there is only one way to bring America to its senses and to its knees; and that is by economic sanctions. However, economic sanctions by foreign governments are never allowed by America; they will assassinate leaders and topple governments for the sake of a business advantage – think South and Central America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia etc. The peoples of the world are in fear of unbridled American economic and military power and consider the US as the greatest threat to world peace, including all the terrorists combined.
There is only one way that this power can be diminished and that is by individual boycotting of US products and US business. When their economy weakens they will be less inclined to spend their dollars on war. It takes little to have an affect. There are few US products that cannot be bought elsewhere; many alternative products are superior anyway. Join the growing numbers of those who are really going to change the world – the consumers of conscience – and boycott American products today.
I have personally diverted around $40,000 of discretionary spending in the past two years on products I normally might’ve considered US product - including grocery items, considerably more than that.
If you’re a Canadian a European an Asian or a South American, START TODAY - without the support of us American imperial expansion is doomed to failure.
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The Harvard Business school has published an article which states that the effects of the global anti-US boycott may be having an effect on US companies abroad.
Here’s a couple of links to get you going, there are many others, and growing:
http://whyusa.net/english/index.php?PHPSESSID=d74f10fb8ef1ad0e0054788c3f45d3f0
http://www.motherearth.org/USboycott/global_en.php