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[Ithekro]

I don't even want to think about how many copies of that movie we have. At least one for every type of video playback device short of a Blu-Ray...probably going back all the way to Cartrivision.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

is it just me or does french officials seems a bit petty?

It's not pettiness (though they probably are petty). They're just desperate to point fingers somewhere convenient. Whether to say 'it's their fault" or "look! they're worse off, so we didn't do a bad job". We do have an election next year, after all. (Well, there's always an election around the corner...)

[Fahd]

Originally Posted by solomon

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...myO_story.html

I know this is local but was wondering what people thought.

Okay... I'm a bad, bad person . When I saw the skeleton Santa I burst out into laughter . In all seriousness though surely the correct venue for a nativity display is outside a church, not a court house, which is theory is supposed to be neutral with regards to belief systems (see: first amendment). Since one could conjure up an infinite number of belief systems the correct approach is to not allow any religious display on court property lest you offend some other group because they didn't get to put their display there.

[DonQuigleone]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

I always find that scene ironic....considering everyone in the town has the last name of "Johnson".

Johnson... is not an Irish name.

[Ithekro]

No, but when families got to Ellis Island their names changed. McKeown or MacEion for instance would be Anglicised to Johnson. Also there are lots of Scot-Irish as well that got the same thing.

It is also the second most common American surname after Smith.

[DonQuigleone]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

No, but when families got to Ellis Island their names changed. McKeown or MacEion for instance would be Anglicised to Johnson. Also there are lots of Scot-Irish as well that got the same thing.

It is also the second most common American surname after Smith.

Firstly Scots-Irish != Irish. They're Scots who were planted in Ireland, and then emigrated to the americas. They're not culturally Irish, they have a lot more in common with the Scots (in a manner similiar to the Ulster Scots in Northern Ireland).

Secondly, I've never met anyone with the name McKeown or MacEion either(those would be Scottish). Johnson, however, is a fairly common name in England, IE meaning son of John. Much like Stevenson or Williamson. You'd be hard pressed to find any Irishman with such a name, unless he got his name from an English ancestor (a fairly common occurence). Whereas in England, it's the 7th most common surname, in Ireland it's quite rare.

So Johnson would be a fairly typical English or American name, meaning that them discriminating against the Irish doesn't at all imply that they're discriminating against themselves. Of course the scene is still absurd as they're discriminating against Irish above Blacks etc.

If they intended an Irish name they'd have chosen something more obvious like Kelly or O'Brian.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by DonQuigleone

Firstly Scots-Irish != Irish. They're Scots who were planted in Ireland, and then emigrated to the americas. They're not culturally Irish, they have a lot more in common with the Scots (in a manner similiar to the Ulster Scots in Northern Ireland).

Secondly, I've never met anyone with the name McKeown or MacEion either(those would be Scottish). Johnson, however, is a fairly common name in England, IE meaning son of John. Much like Stevenson or Williamson. You'd be hard pressed to find any Irishman with such a name, unless he got his name from an English ancestor (a fairly common occurence). Whereas in England, it's the 7th most common surname, in Ireland it's quite rare.

So Johnson would be a fairly typical English or American name, meaning that them discriminating against the Irish doesn't at all imply that they're discriminating against themselves. Of course the scene is still absurd as they're discriminating against Irish above Blacks etc.

If they intended an Irish name they'd have chosen something more obvious like Kelly or O'Brian.

The scene derives from the fact that the Irish *were* despised as immigrants back in the day, just something many Americans are totally unaware of as they rail on about the 'brown peril'.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

btw can we just blame Canada for everything that is going on?

At least keep the blame over the current gouvernement; the 12 years ( at least) before Harper wasn't that bad...

[GundamFan0083]

Originally Posted by Ascaloth

I doubt he has the capability to 'know' any 'truth', having passed away and all.

Sad news. A hero is lost from us, but the battle for rationality continues.

Doubt has nothing to do with it.
It is a fact that Hitchens is dead and thus is either gone on to oblivion and ceased to be or is realizing he was wrong.

To claim otherwise is to claim omniscience or that you've come back from death and thus know what lies beyond.
And I highly doubt any of us know what lies beyond death, but we're all going to find out eventually.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by GundamFan0083

And I highly doubt any of us know what lies beyond death, but we're all going to find out eventually.

If there's nothing beyong death, it would be rather hard to realise it, no ?

[Ithekro]

If there is nothing we would get a rather abolute answer right at the end. We'd be unable to share, but that would be abolute.

[Ascaloth]

Originally Posted by GundamFan0083

Doubt has nothing to do with it.
It is a fact that Hitchens is dead and thus is either gone on to oblivion and ceased to be or is realizing he was wrong.

To claim otherwise is to claim omniscience or that you've come back from death and thus know what lies beyond.
And I highly doubt any of us know what lies beyond death, but we're all going to find out eventually.

And yet you are the one who claimed that 'now he knows the truth', which suggests an absolute statement on your part that Hitchens 'is realizing he was wrong', directly contradicting your later qualification that you 'highly doubt any of us know what lies beyond death'.

Even if I were to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you were acting out of good faith, were the man alive to read what you wrote, you would have been quite thoroughly Hitchslapped for such an utterly poor choice of wording.

[Zakoo]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

is it just me or does french officials seems a bit petty?

More like the actual government is mad, they were going urr urr urr since last May saying it's impossible we lose our AAA "because they have done the necessary measures" and now they are doing everything to put the blame on either the notation agencies ( seems like there's an anti notation agencies raising up here) or the opposition.

A wonderful situation, full of bullshit.

On a side note, that man isn't an official, it's a bankster nothing more.

[sneaker]

It's also politicians. The French Finance Minister just recently said that Britain's state of economy is alarming and that it's currently better to be a Frenchmen than a Brit. And Noyer isn't just "a bankster", he's head of the French central bank.
Also it's annoying how Sarkozy and Lagarde use war rhetoric to persuade/threaten Germany to pay more, though German politicians use it themselves to scare the German public.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Zakoo

More like the actual government is mad, they were going urr urr urr since last May saying it's impossible we lose our AAA "because they have done the necessary measures"

Eh. That was just some méthode Couet. Doesn't every government do that? Just like every opposition likes to inflate problems?

and now they are doing everything to put the blame on either the notation agencies ( seems like there's an anti notation agencies raising up here)

That's more from the extremists. Other guys tend to play softball with the notation agencies.

or the opposition.

No, they just say it will go down in flames if the opposition gets into power.

Originally Posted by sneaker

It's also politicians. The French Finance Minister just recently said that Britain's state of economy is alarming and that it's currently better to be a Frenchmen than a Brit. And Noyer isn't just "a bankster", he's head of the French central bank.
Also it's annoying how Sarkozy and Lagarde use war rhetoric to persuade/threaten Germany to pay more, though German politicians use it themselves to scare the German public.

What war rhetoric?

[Zakoo]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

No, they just say it will go down in flames if the opposition gets into power.

Doesn't our dear president like to taunt them saying it's because of 35 hours and retreat at 60 years old that we are in deep shit?

Don't know about first part though, I began to be interested in politics inside Sarkozy's mandate, maybe the formers did the same, though the formers (i will admit this) never had to go through such a crisis.

[sneaker]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

What war rhetoric?

They are always saying that saving the Euro is necessary for a Europe in peace. Just recently Lagarde compared the current situation to the depression of the 30s, "before the outbreak of world war 2".

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by sneaker

They are always saying that saving the Euro is necessary for a Europe in peace. Just recently Lagarde compared the current situation to the depression of the 30s, "before the outbreak of world war 2".

To be fair, the 29 crisis is the benchmark of financial crises. We've been comparing this one to that one since it started back in 2008.

I also don't remember Sarkozy making any kind of veiled threats... Too busy hearing about him bending over for Merkel.

Originally Posted by Zakoo

Doesn't our dear president like to taunt them saying it's because of 35 hours and retreat at 60 years old that we are in deep shit?

You're right, but he's been doing it for so long (since before the crisis) it kinda turned into background noise for me.

Besides, I was mostly thinking of the problem of our debt, which ballooned 30+ years ago, under too many governments, to dare play the blame game too hard. Unless you're the FN or something, I guess - they've never been anywhere near power.

[sneaker]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

To be fair, the 29 crisis is the benchmark of financial crises. We've been comparing this one to that one since it started back in 2008.

I'd led it slide if it would just be "the recession of the 30s", but not the "before the second world war", that rhetoric is on purpose, not by chance. I'm currently too lazy to search for the Sarkozy quotes.

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

I also don't remember Sarkozy making any kind of veiled threats... Too busy hearing about him bending over for Merkel.

I personally think it's the other way around, even though Merkel is always playing a bit reluctant, she eventually always gave in to Sarkozy's requests. In the beginning Germany objected any kind of bail-out whatsoever, but until now Merkel has always given in to France's requests, even if Sarkozy had to make some compromise and has not succeeded with the Euro bonds idea yet. We now have the EFSF, the ESM is soon to come, we have the initial bail-out and the ECB is buying PIIGS fonds.
But yes, every nation thinks it's not getting fair treatment and the resentments between the European nations are currently at an all time high because of that. Kinda ironic that the cause is the Euro and the EU, while they were supposed to prevent it.
The French think the Germans rule Europe, the Germans think the French rule, the Greek say it's Germany's fault and currently the UK also gets its amount of finger pointing.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by sneaker

I personally think it's the other way around, even though Merkel is always playing a bit reluctant, she eventually always gave in to Sarkozy's requests. In the beginning Germany objected any kind of bail-out whatsoever, but until now Merkel has always given in to France's requests, even if Sarkozy had to make some compromise and has not succeeded with the Euro bonds idea yet. We now have the EFSF, the ESM is soon to come, we have the initial bail-out and the ECB is buying PIIGS fonds.

I think that, as is normal, it's a compromise.

I also think that, more than Sarkozy himself, it's the circumstances that push Merkel. A disintegrating Europe isn't in Germany's interest either. What'll happen to her commercial balance if all her trading partners go belly up?

But yes, every nation thinks it's not getting fair treatment and the resentments between the European nations are currently at an all time high because of that. Kinda ironic that the cause is the Euro and the EU, while they were supposed to prevent it.

They're just tools. They're not going to do a lot of good if they're misused.