Your thoughts, please.

“I couldn't have put it better, myself.......”

“my sister used to french braid her hair....”

“Dunadan, when did you get to go to Normandy. I would love to go there. I imagine that if I ever get to go that I'll wind up weeping like a baby. That is such a special place.”

“My family is from the Alsace region of France. My grandmother spoke a curious dialect of German and French when she spoke to her sister in France.

When my wife, who is german, and I went to Strasbourg, I was amazed at some of the people we met there, and how open they were and polite. It was Also good to see memorials for the people who had died in the terror attacks on NY (this was in October of last year).

The original article mentions a difference between the views of those who have travelled and those who have not. I think this thread is showing those differences to be very real.”

“I 'ave no thoughts. I gave up thinking. It 'urts me 'ead, it bloody well does.”

“"I don't know, Lloyd, the French are #&%!$s."”

“"The original article mentions a difference between the views of those who have travelled and those who have not. I think this thread is showing those differences to be very real."

BTW, Phaedrus... don't agree, how does one not traveling to another country have an impact on innocent people dying? Are we at fault for not showing respect to a group that kills innocent??”

“well, aren't we enlightened.....”

“Hey I was born in the USA but I am 100% Norg!

I have been to Norway when I was little and I love the country that my family is from.I guess thats why I like fish so much!

8)”

“YOU ROCK YOU PIMP!














did i say that right?”

“I am pimp!

Ya you said it right!

8)”

“Phaed, you and I might be related.
Dayhiker, that is interesting that you said that about the Normandy gravesite and memorial. I went there with no preconcieved notions about it. Afterwards, my wife and I both said how moving an experience it was to walk among those grave markers and the magnificent sculptures. To look down on that beach, or to look up at those cliffs from the beach, gives you the chills. It's unimaginable that those soldiers ran into the hail of bullets that must have been thick that day.
I will never forget visiting that site.”

“I know a man who fought in WW II who went back to Normandy and other parts of France for the 50th Anniversary. He looked up the folks he had met during the war, and tbey were most gracious to him. It not only renewed an old friendship, but they now correspond quite regularly.

He said that the real French are quite grateful for what the Americans did during the war. It's neither been forgotten nor marginalized in any way.

My sister-in-law has taken students to France nearly annually for many years and stayed with friends there. She always is received graciously, and her French friends travel regularly to stay with her here.

I think there is always a disconnect between government and people when it comes to relationships between nations. The fact that we might not like what their government does or says does not diminish the people. It works the other way, too.

For that matter, even folks in this country do not all agree with government, witness the Bush Sucks thread.

As far as Paris goes, New York hardly represents the populace of the United States. Rude and crude is not unique to Parisians.

Nor does Sad Sack Insane represent the Iraqi people, for all that matters.”

“that's cool geo”

“Geobeet's point about a disconnect between the people and government is interesting. The North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church hosts about 30-50 children from Belarus of the former Soviet Union each summer. These are children who grow up in the shadow of Chernobyl. The plan is to get them into fresh air and eat fresh food for about a month. It does wonders for their health. One of the girls (10-12) came in our SS class one morning. I couldn't help think about how that would not have been possible not too many years ago. I also thought "That's the red menace"

I was watching Ken Burn's "The Civil War" on PBS last night. They talked about how the death toll for Antietam was twice that of Normandy. I have never read much about the Civil War, but that floored me.”

“The Antietam/Sharpsburg battle was remarkable....over 5,000 dead and 18,000 wounded in TWELVE hours.

I've never been to France, but I have been to Quebec several times.
It is always a nice experience.

The key to understanding is EXPERIENCE.
IGNORANCE will get one nowhere.

stratdewd-
Why are you afraid to fly?
Just wear one of those "granny diapers" and everything should be fine~@%^>”

“well, i have flown 8 or 10 times and it always scared the he!! outta me. guess i'm just a wimp. don't wanna go out thatta way. of course, 9-11 didn't help matters.”

“Strat - better living through chemicals. You wont even remember the flight.”

“He he he!!!

Yeah, some people and flying just don't mix.

How do you do with Peyote?”

“Ive been to Paris a few times. Its a very romantic city, but I dont think they should decide whats best for americans. As far as Iraq is concerned, Id rather fight them now then wait and allow them to grow stronger. Allot of my friends will have to be the ones to give their lives to win that war. War is terrible, and Im glad it is or there would be more of it. I spent some time over in the Middle East and most of the people I met were nice. In Saddams case, allowing him in power will mean the deaths of countless innocent people. I have seen whet he has done to even his own people first hand. Only a monster could do what he has done. I think its beyond politics and just a matter of right and wrong. He murders children without remose. That to me is just plain evil, no matter what religon or country you are from. If war will stop him, then Im for it.

But I will agree, German toast is better unless you throw in maple syrup, then its french hands down.”

“Tom, Dayhiker,

I looked up the numbers a while back and did some rough division... and the death toll during the Civil War was the equivalent of one September 11 every week for five years.”

“What's the population of the US now? It has to be close to 300 million. The population of the US in about 1861 was around 31 million according to Burns. 3000 dead *52 weeks/yr*5 yrs = 780k.

780k/3000k = about 1/4 of the pop. Is that right? We lost 1/4 of the population of this country?”

“You're off by an order of magnitude...we lost about 2.5% of the population, still a large amount.
31 million == 31000 thousand”

“You're right. Those zeroes will get you every time. That number just didn't sound right.”

“On both sides, there were nearly 620,000 killed in battle and from disease.”

“620000/31000000 = 2% of the population. I'll bet the disease number was at least equal to the KIA number.”

“Or greater. I had another relative (GGGGrandfather actually) that came home from the war sick, lived long enough to father my GGGrandmother, then died.”

“It's Tuesday, and France still sucks. I can't wait til' tommorrow!”

“"Strat - better living through chemicals. You wont even remember the flight."
garfum
08:53:12 AM


garfie, that's what you told me on my wedding when i was having cold feet......right before you shoved a blue V down my throat!

still can't believe you wouldnt give me your underwear!”

“Yep, it's Tuesday and B. Bear is just as enlightened as previously demonstrated. For some reason, I don't think you chose that screen name to honor Buddha either.



Hey, I found those Civil War numbers... I wish I had saved that first URL. The first souce I had estimated 620,000 deaths, which yields a figure of 2975 deaths per week. Another I just found is 558,052 which yields 2677 per week.

http://www.cwc.lsu.edu/other/stats/warcost.htm



264 (1861 - Fort Sumter fired upon, April 12)
365 (1862)
365 (1863)
366 (1864 – leap year)
99 (1865 - surrender on April 9, at Appomattox Court House )
----
1459 days


I simply divided the total fatalities by 1459 days, then multiplied by 7 to get the weekly averages.

The YEARS through me off: it was much closer to 4 years (3.99) than 5, <oops>.

Sooo... even using the lower figure, we have Nearly one Sept 11 per week for 4 years.”

“The YEARS through me off: it was much closer to 4 years (3.99) than 5, .
Tilt
10:13:10 PM



geesh, get a spellchecker ya bumpkin!”

“twignut (our daughter) is in the hospital because of her asthma. I took her to the ER Friday night then Sat afternoon it was very bad. So she is there getting lots of good care. just please send some good thoughts her way.”

“You got 'em!”

“Good thoughts on the way, Mapleleaf.”

“Good thoughts will flow from here.

We're with you Mapes.
last edited: 2/10/08 6:13:22 PM”

“This is a 15 below zero good thought as it heads your way from the frozen tundra. Hope it warms a little as it gets to the NYC area.”

“I'm sending good vives.
Give her a hug from all of us at TT.”

“straight up I95 to ya!”

“best of luck mapes. i am not a praying man but if you are looking for best wishes and sympathetic thoughts then my family has them for you and yours.”

“thank you everyone. anyone with asthma or even short of breath can understand what she is feeling. it is a horrible feeling to see your daughter laying there not being able to breath :(”

“Good luck Mapes.....”

“Asthama sucks. Hope she's doing better.”

“Wow, hope she feels better soon Mapes.”

“need some good vibes sent our way. Taking little susie the dog to the vet for the second time in two days.
not responding to her meds at all :(

please!!!”

“DORK, whats the symptoms?”

“She barks, wags her tail and sheyats a lot.

What do you think is wrong with her Dr. Dan?”

“Is that Dork or Susie?”

“LMAO.

Does it matter?”

“Not really...lol...good thoughts for the doggie...(LOL)”