Geezer

Watching the news this morning, they were going on about the visit to France by President Bush and how it was hoped it would heal the rift between the 2 countries after the Iraq affair.

They then went to New Orleans to interview some Americans, as New Orleans is hitorically and contmporarily so linked to France.

What struck me was the attitude of the people they interviewed, and the somewhat distorted view of history they have.

Comments such as "if it wasn't for the US, France would be a colony of another country", "we fought and died to save them, they owe us" etc.

When will those ignorant rednecks understand that they did not win the war single handedly?

Even if it were true, does it mean that France (or any other country that "had their asses saved" by the US) have to be their lapdog for the rest of eternity and never disagree with their foreign policy?

Come on Yellowstone, it's about time you had another super eruption and made the world a safer place.

Geezer

Bubba po

They're all really fat, as well.

555wrx

How many wars have the US actualy finished?
Umm.... Vietnam....Korea.....Afganastan........Iraq?
The only one that THEY actauly ever won was the war of Indapendance.
Sure, they HELPED to win WW2, along with the Russians, Aussie, Kiwis, Poles, Indians etc etc.

Must be too much Burger abuse that has changed their perception of history.

ajm

I think it's great they are biased against France. We Brits are too nice considering the 100's of years of crap we have had to put up with from the the French!

Neil Smalley

Actually, the Americans did'nt win the war of independance. They only became Americans afterwards, so technically the British did..

gsm1

I saw that report as well. What amazed me was that the American interviewed believed it was the French that had been bad mouthing them! Freedom Fries idiots.

Hopefully Bush will have every road blocked in Europe by protestors. He's going to meet Blair as well but I doubt on British soil or his head will look like Mussolini's.

Chip

I'd much rather be French than American.


Chip

jasey

Both of which are preferable to being Welsh .

mynickers

He he, I was pretty shocked when I was in States, people asked me where I was from, and I told them originally from Plymouth, none of them had heard of it!. They thought London was Britain. Plymouth is fairly important in their history though. But it got worse when one donut asked me if we celebrate thanks giving - ROTFL!! Eng-ger-land, is that near Euro-rope!? I think I was unlucky to bump into a lot of retards, I am not sure they were completley representative, it's a big ol' country after all. They're a funny bunch though!!

ajm

I think it, you SAY it!

jasey

I spent a load of time in the Southern states with my old job - Sounds like you bumped into some American members of Mensa. I was once coming home and one of my ex-colleagues asked "Are you gonna be OK with the Security situation when you go home?" - I Said "What Security situation ?" - He Said "Eye-Rack" - I told him that I didn't think I'd run into any trouble on the way home !!!

astraboy

MN has hit the nail on the head. I dont think most of the Americans are renowned for their intellectual capacity.
For Example: Work colleague in Las Vegas on holiday. Work Colleague has the shrillest, whinest, nastiest scouse accent you will ever hear. Ever.
Work Colleague gets chatting to two stereotypical septic tourists (round, cameras hanging off every angle) and the following conversation ensues:
Septic tourists - Are yew from en-ger-land?
Work Colleague - Yeah thats right.
ST - Hey Herb! you were right, he is from Engerland. I thought you were as well.
WC - Whys that then?
ST - Cos you sound so sophistocated!

astraboy.

Chip

Both of which are preferable to being Welsh .

I think it, you SAY it!

Please explain yourselves you racist Einglish bastuds.

Chip

SJ_Skyline

The Americans put a man on the moon.





One down, 289,999,999 to go

ajm

Well let's face it, there has been no love lost between our respective nations, has there! It was Cadwallon's fault for trying to steal Northumbria!

jasey

I think it, You Say It

ps Who's Cadwallon

ajm

A Welsh king with sticky fingers, that's who!

Chip

Cadwallon Lawhir, King of Gwynedd
(c.450-517)
(Latin, Catuvellaunus/English, Cadwallon)


Cadwallon apparently had very long arms. The appendage to his name means "Long Hand" and Iolo Goch explains that he could "reach a stone from the ground to kill a raven, without bending his back, because his arm was as long as his side to the ground." He was the eldest son of King Einion Yrth of Gwynedd and was almost certainly the first generation of the dynasty to be born in Wales. His wife was a native of Nant-Conwy, but her mother, like Cadwallon's own family, was a Northern migrant.

Cadwallon seems to have inherited the western portion of his father's Kingdom around what is now central Gwynedd. Not satisfied with this small area of land, Cadwallon joined forces with his cousins, Princes Cynyr, Meilir and Yneigr of Ysfeilion, to extend the policies of his grandfather, Cunedda Wledig, and continue to wrest the remainder of North Wales (Lleyn, Arfon & most of Ynys Mon (Anglesey)) out of Irish control. Ynys Mon (Anglesey) was the central Irish power-base and, upon his succession to the throne, Cadwallon and his war-bands made a concerted push to evict them. He defeated the invaders in several bloodthirsty clashes including the Battle of Cerrig-y-Gwyddyl, at which the Welshmen tied their feet to their horses, in case their courage should desert them. In AD 517, Cadwallon forced the Irish into a mass retreat back to Holy Island. From here, many of them escaped in boats but their leader, Serigi Wyddel (the Irishman), was cut down at Llam-y-Gwyddyl (Irishman's Leap). His bravery was much respected and the Welsh who later erected a church over his grave at Llanbabo.

The palace of Cadwallon's early years on the throne was at Bodysgollen near Llanrhos, but he later favoured Ynys Mon (Anglesey) and set up the Royal court at Aberffraw, on its west coast. In Arthurian literature Cadwallon appears to have been remembered as King Cradelmant of Northgalis, one of the eleven Kings who rebelled against High-King Arthur at the beginning of his reign.

Oh, and we beat you at rugby as well.

Chip

SJ_Skyline

WTF???

How the hell would he shift it? Maybe he had a good fence?

Chip

Northumbria! Is that a place then is it.

Chip

jasey

I'm half Irish .

Diablo

Ahem...

You English are far too nice considering the 100 years of crap you have had to put up with from the French.

They have always been our allies up here

D

jasey

Yeah - Until they sold you down the river to Eddy

Diablo

LOL

We can forgive that, they are French after all

D

CrisPDuk

Based on that description, he was either a hunchback, or a knuckle-dragger, descended from chimps then


Are all welsh descended from him then?

Flatcapdriver

Whilst the levels of ignorance displayed by some Seppos is alarming you have to put it in context given the size of the country - there is plenty to explore in the US without going OS. The same applies to Oz, albeit to a lesser extent as it is also a large country and it's expensive to travel abroad - other than Bali but that's another story. The advantage your average Aussie has is a long history tied up in the Commonwealth which usually gives a greater appreciation of other countries.

I've usually found the Seppos on either coasts to be pretty much up to speed but its the worrying kind who inhabit the middle parts that are usually up for a Darwin award or two and usually display the types of ignorance given here.

Chip

Ahhh, a thicko as well then.

Chip

Geezer

I think you are probably right, but worryingly there are enough of them to vote **** like Dubbya into power!

Geezer

Brit_in_Japan

They didn't even win the war of independence on their own. Guess who helped them? Yep, the FRENCH! Oh the irony....

From http://people.csail.mit.edu/people/s...ge/frhist.html

"French military aid was also a decisive factor in the American victory. French land and sea forces fought on the side of the American colonists against the British."

"From the perspective of the American Revolution, however, the high point of French support is the landing of five battalions of French infantry and artillery in Rhode Island in 1780. In 1781, these French troops under the command of Count Rochambeau marched south to Virginia where they joined Continental forces under Washington and Lafayette. Cornwallis, encamped on the Yorktown peninsula, hoped to be rescued by the British navy. A French fleet under the command of Admiral DeGrasse intercepted and, after a fierce battle lasting several days, defeated the British fleet and forced it to withdraw. This left the French navy to land heavy siege cannon and other supplies and trapped Cornwallis on the Yorktown peninsula.

At that point, the defeat of Cornwallis was essentially a matter of time. On September 14, 1781, the French and Continental armies completed their 700 mile march and soon thereafter laid siege to the British positions. After a number of weeks and several brief but intense engagements, Cornwallis, besieged on the peninsula by the large and well-equipped French-American army, and stricken by dysentery, determined to surrender his army. On October 19, 1781, the British forces marched out between the silent ranks of the Americans and French, arrayed in parallel lines a mile long, and cast down their arms."


BTW, I'd rather be Welsh than English

Leslie

We would have been poorly placed in the world wars without the support we got from the Americans.

Les