Do we need to wave the white flag or will holding the white flag limply do?
/fwance

Why would anybody be surprised at French diplomacy?

The IAF should make informal "contact" with them more often, too.

Informal Contact With Hamas .

In France that means they've been selling them weapons for 6 months.

Mange moi , zee last!

re: #6 buzzsawmonkey

Is that "informal contact" like the kind a businessman makes with the lady hanging out under the lamp post?

You mean like a John and a Ho?

Weapons sale.

70,000 rifles, never used, dropped once.

Obama will be thrilled to hear this.

re: #5 mikeinmd

I have to disagree with you there.

I think it means we have been selling them weapons for the last 25 years......

France has informal contacts with Hamass, so does Israel, about three times a day courtesy of 122 MM unguided rockets. Lifes a bitch unless you are French!

Say it ain't so, Sarko.

Yes, Carla is hottie, but you have to get out of bed some time and get to work.

So France has been sleeping with Hamas? I'm sure France's wife, the local [bigoted word]s, will be a little upset. I mean, they can't have any competition when it comes to capitulation.

Ah.. this is just like the informal contact that Bill was given under the Oval office desk.

Nothing to see here.

re: #14 Occasional Reader

Nikko will soon be out of the velcro stage ........

re: #15 Zach_the_Lizard

So France has been sleeping with Hamas?

It's ok, they're just friends -- doesn't really mean anything.

France had "informal contact" with Saddam too. They called it oil-for-food. I called it treason. No,Im not surprised.

re: #4 song_and_dance_man

Is preemptive surrender in the works?

with no preconditions!

re: #18 song_and_dance_man

Haha!

B-HO.

I like it.

How do you say "Let them eat their waffles" in French?

re: #23 JammieWearingFool

Guillotine......

"Informal" contact could mean all sorts of things.

Israel has "informal" contact with Hamas all the time, right?

McCain said it well. . .Hamas may be terrorists, but they are nominally in charge of Gaza, and we may have to "deal" with them from time to time. ("Deal with" was his exact word usage).

But there is a big difference between occasional back-channel or third party brokered communications over matters of legitimate urgency, and face-to-face negotiations of the kind Obama advocates with Iran.

re: #17 WhiteRasta

Nikko will soon be out of the velcro stage ........

Huh?

ad in a newspaper: FOR SALE french rifle. never fired. dropped once.

With the particular issues at hand, i.e. unconditional talks with terror states, I think that Sarkozy just figured it's the right time to come clean and admit the truth that we've already known for ages.

The French think they are so forward-looking, but we see what they are doing. No need to hide it. We need to talk to them.

Oh well, at least they are admitting it at last. Sort of. Ish.

Short answer: no.

If it turns out that "informal contact" means that Sarkozy has been bangin' Pali chics: yes and no.

Does Hamas roar like a tiger and France yelp like a hyena during these informal contacts?

Prediction:

This is the first step in the Nicholas Sarkozy rope-a-dope.

Hamas might want to watch thier behinds...

I am sure the French were just getting the catering order right for the day they surrender.

In college I met a man who was in the OSS during WWII who said that if every Frenchman he met after the war who claimed to be in the resistance had been in the resistance, the German would have never made it over the border.

France is just preemptively surrendering too their new Muslim Overlords.

Informal Contact? When do the conjugal visits start?

re: #19 Lucius Septimius

Yeppers. They're just "studying together", nothing wrong is going on there, right?!?! France would never sleep with Hamas.

IMO, this is the absolute WORST kind of "informal talks with Hamas:

Why did the French invent the TGV?
So the French Army can bet the German Army to Paris during the next war.
/HT The MunchkinWrangler's comments page

how long did it take the nazis to take paris?
three days and that's because it was raining.

They must have run out of Saddam money.

/on the payroll

re: #26 Occasional Reader

Never been in the velcro stage with a new lover?

Nikko will have to wake up and get his ass back to work.

Although the concept of "Work"is foreign to a Frenchman....

re: #39 song_and_dance_man

lol, good one!

/although didn't the Israelis use old Mirages to great advantage during the 6-Day War?

Bush, against his better instincts, signed the SOR suspension bill.

I can dig it. Doesn't mean I like it. It's like swatting a bumblebee with a feather.

re: #37 mitthrawnurdo

Yeppers. They're just "studying together", nothing wrong is going on there, right?!?! France would never sleep with Hamas.

No. A little bukkake, perhaps, but nothing serious.

re: #38 looking closely

I managed to stay pretty calm today until I saw that picture again.

" I didn't have sex with that woman"

William J. Clinton

re: #31 jcm

Does Hamas roar like a tiger and France yelp like a hyena during these informal contacts?

wickedly funny, jcm. But I regress...

re: #46 Lucius Septimius

Alcohol can do that.

I tend to think of "informal contact" with Hamas as involving explosives.

"..to inform us about the situation"... "...just to inform ourselves..."

Inform ourselves of WHAT?, one wonders.. what Hamas proclaims France can or cannot do?!

re: #41 nyc redneck

Why do the French plant trees on the Champs Elyse?

Because the German Army likes to march in the shade....

Okay, in the spirit of some of the comments, Blackfive's Encounter with a French General.

I am an advocate of informal contact with Hamas. What could be less formal than a MOAB crashing through the roof of their headquarters? It would be positively rude, it would.

we shouldn't look to europe for anything but a laugh. (and a sigh)

re: #47 HelloDare

I managed to stay pretty calm today until I saw that picture again.

Good thing I didn't post this one instead.

Carter is a fool.

Legitimizing Hamas by meeting with them doesn't just hurt Israel, it hurts all the Palestinians.

Can anyone imagine the outcry from the UN, ME, WE, and the US if Israel started launching three unguided missiles a day at Gaza or Lebanon? The sh-t would truly hit the fan. This double standard is beyond comprehension. Israel does everything possible to limit casualties and Hamas keeps using human shields to up the casualties and our fracking media suppresses reports on the policy of human shields to inflict maximum civilian casualties for propaganda. This is insane....

re: #51 mitthrawnurdo

Alcohol can do that.

Yep -- cause of and solution to all life's problems.

What's the first thing they teach you when you join the French Arny?

How to say, "I surrender." In German...

re: #58 looking closely

Good thing I didn't post this one instead.

Love the body language in that picture -- Assad is looking like "whoah! This dude is starting to creep me out!"

re: #56 Shiplord Kirel

I am an advocate of informal contact with Hamas. What could be less formal than a MOAB crashing through the roof of their headquarters? It would be positively rude, it would.

A Daisy Cutter or two is pretty "informal," as well.

/bad taste, but I couldn't resist...

re: #61 WhiteRasta

What's the first thing they teach you when you join the French Arny?

How to say, "I surrender." In German...

And the intepreters always tell them "Ich bin eine Schwulli!"

The toxic fumes from all of the burning automobiles left behind by the last bunch France tried to appease should be enough to remind their leaders of what happens when terrorists tire of "informal contacts" and decide the mouse has been played with long enough....and now it's time for dinner.

re: #59 LoFlyer

Can anyone imagine the outcry from the UN, ME, WE, and the US if Israel started launching three unguided missiles a day at Gaza or Lebanon? The sh-t would truly hit the fan. This double standard is beyond comprehension. Israel does everything possible to limit casualties and Hamas keeps using human shields to up the casualties and our fracking media suppresses reports on the policy of human shields to inflict maximum civilian casualties for propaganda. This is insane....

Imagine what would happen if the Mexican army starting lobbing rockets into El Paso. There wouldn't be two boards left nailed together in Ciudad Juarez 48 hours later. Yet we blithely demand that Israel endure similar provocation from a terrorist gang (Mexico is at least a legitimately constituted country.)

Obama is actually worse.He is talking about unconditional direct contact with the President of the U.S.
No pass for the French, but Obama is out frenching the French.

re: #58 looking closely

Good thing I didn't post this one instead.

Carter is a fool.

Legitimizing Hamas by meeting with them doesn't just hurt Israel, it hurts all the Palestinians.

[deleted]

*any comments on Rabbit Bait would be ban worthy*

Deep breath.
Find your happy place.
Deep breath.

Re. # 65. That's mean. Funny, but mean

If France will attempt to work with Hamas, that means the US must. As president i will do whatever it takes to make Hamas happy.

/B. Hussein Obama off

re: #70 LittleRed1

Re. # 65. That's mean. Funny, but mean

I know -- it's the image of the German response when the surrending Frenchmen say that that completes the picture.

re: #48 ted

" I didn't have sex with that woman"

William J. Clinton

Please quote the scumbag correctly. He used what he considered was a weasel word . "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." Conservatives always misrepresent liberals.
/sarc

Re. 72. Agreed!

re: #61 WhiteRasta

What's the first thing they teach you when you join the French Arny?

How to say, "I surrender." In German...

ich bin ein franzosische arschloch.

re: #59 LoFlyer

Can anyone imagine the outcry from the UN, ME, WE, and the US if Israel started launching three unguided missiles a day at Gaza or Lebanon? The sh-t would truly hit the fan. This double standard is beyond comprehension. Israel does everything possible to limit casualties and Hamas keeps using human shields to up the casualties and our fracking media suppresses reports on the policy of human shields to inflict maximum civilian casualties for propaganda. This is insane....

There's no such thing as a single fatality in a targeted Israeli strike. If you want to get rich in paliform land, you rent your reusable caskets by the hour.

re: #75 nyc redneck

ich bin ein franzosische arschloch.

"Und meine Mutter ist eine zwei Groschen Dirne"

re: #68 opnion

Obama is actually worse.He is talking about unconditional direct contact with the President of the U.S.
No pass for the French, but Obama is out frenching the French.

In fairness to Obama he DID say that he wouldn't meet with HAMAS.

The problem is Obama seems idiotically unaware (and I don't use the term lightly) that Hamas, Syria, Hizb'Allah, and Iran are more or less different sides of the same square, and he DOES want to have "face time" with the respective thugs from Iran and Syria.

re: #55 Sarge1984

Okay, in the spirit of some of the comments, Blackfive's Encounter with a French General.

Hey Sarge, What's new? BTW That one's always been a favorite of mine.

Bitte, bitte! Vielleicht lesen die Monitorlizards Deutsch.
Oder vielleicht nicht.

As long as we're having fun with German ...

I wonder if "contract" is new speak for "non-aggression pact".

If I were to ever find myself in a compromising position I will now know to use the "Informal Contact" defense...

re: #79 NGrove

Good to see you back, NGrove!

That's been one of my faves since you turned me on to milblogs last year! Thanks!

re: #77 Lucius Septimius

"Und meine Mutter ist eine zwei Groschen Dirne"

und mein vati ist ein besofener huhnerkopf.

re: #20 WayDownSouthInBama

France had "informal contact" with Saddam too. They called it oil-for-food. I called it treason. No,Im not surprised.

not to mention giving Saddam regular reports on private meetings between American and French diplomats.

(OT: Oh, dear.....there's a petition to get the one good reporter on Islam at the Star/Trib, Katherine Kersten, fired..... ):

re: #67 Shiplord Kirel

Imagine what would happen if the Mexican army starting lobbing rockets into El Paso. There wouldn't be two boards left nailed together in Ciudad Juarez 48 hours later. Yet we blithely demand that Israel endure similar provocation from a terrorist gang (Mexico is at least a legitimately constituted country.)

Agreed! Rice and the State departments insistence that Israel "turn the other cheek" after her civilians are massacred is BS and they (Rice and the State dept.) should be "burned" by Americans citizens for their sympathetic overtures to terrorists..

re: #81 LittleRed1

Bitte, bitte! Vielleicht lesen die Monitorlizards Deutsch.
Oder vielleicht nicht.

Guten tag! Danke!

This covers the gamut of my knowledge of the German language, learned while visiting there. Thankfully, they are a kind people and those two phrases were sufficient to endear me to the locals...

re: #85 Sarge1984

De Nada. Yes, we are back (sigh). So not ready to put out fires at work tomorrow but five days without phone, tv, internet or newspapers was very relaxing. Nice beach and big bay didn't hurt either!

Ich spreche ein bisschen deutsch.
ein bier bitte!

Surrender monkeys, fly!

re: #92 gman

Ich spreche ein bisschen deutsch.
ein bier bitte!

er wird bestimmt besser als man trinkt.
so i know what you're talking abt.

War bei Universitaet in Deutschland. Studierte Militaergeschichte.
/Trans. I went to university in Germany for a while and studied military history as well as languages.

German for wrench:
Guten Tight

re: #95 LittleRed1

War bei Universitaet in Deutschland. Studierte Militaergeschichte.
/Trans. I went to university in Germany for a while and studied military history as well as languages.

wunderschon (es tut mir leid, ich habe kein umlaut for over the o)

Haven't figured out umlauts on the Web yet, either. I use the ae, ue, oe as replacements.

re: #96 buddyg

German for wrench:
Guten Tight

Doesn't Billy Mays do the commercials for that?

...But WAIT...order in the next 15 minutes, and we'll double your order! Get 2 Guten Tights for the low, low price of $19.95 (plus shipping and handling)...

LOL

re: #97 song_and_dance_manhey song..curious about your comment #307 in the Monday open thread..were you referencing THIS joecitizen and if so,what's the context? thnks in advance.Your pal,joe

re: #99 LittleRed1

Haven't figured out umlauts on the Web yet, either. I use the ae, ue, oe as replacements.

Look down at the bottom of the comment box for the "how to enter special characters" instructions.

re: #103 song_and_dance_man

Here

that too ...

Hotel in Leverkusen. Ja !

re: #94 nyc redneck

er wird bestimmt besser als man trinkt.
so i know what you're talking abt.

This is an American political blog. If you want to converse in a foreign language, hit the chatroom. You can even start a subchat for those who also want to converse in a foreign language.

See how easy that is?

re: #99 LittleRed1

Haven't figured out umlauts on the Web yet, either. I use the ae, ue, oe as replacements.

Try clicking on Charles' *special characters* link at the bottom of the comment window. There is a chart for all European language characters there....

Time to feed the baby and get him off to slumberland. Night all!

Re. #102, 103. Vielen Dank. (Many thanks.)
And, alas, back to work. Good night, fellow lizards!

re: #103 song_and_dance_man

Here

Yeah, "oe" works.

Ü

re: #109 Lucius Septimius

Time to feed the baby and get him off to slumberland. Night all!

Awww...that's what Grandpa Cracker calls it, too....

LOL

Letzte November haben wir eine paar Stunden in Frankfurt geblieben. Als wir den koscheren Restaurant besuchten, hat der Eigentumer verlangt, das wir nur Englisch oder Hebraisch sprechen!

Da ware ein Messerangriff vor zwei Wochen in der Synagogue.

re: #108 Grammy Cracker

Try clicking on Charles' *special characters* link at the bottom of the comment window. There is a chart for all European language characters there....

Grammy, not to worry. American English still consists of twenty-six simple characters of the alphabet.

If you wan't to know who's already preparing to lay down and die, count the accents, umlauts etc. in their posts. You'll get the bigger picture.

re: #111 Roentgen

Yeah, "oe" works.

Does this mean I have to change my username?

re: #107 song_and_dance_man

It was the Joe Citizen who posted that atrocious picture in the KOSlam diaries on that thread.

ok,thanks..I didn't see it (nor did I post it!)..just to clarify,was that posted on here by ANOTHER joe or on kos? a site I have thankfully never felt the urge to post at..just curious

re: #115 really grumpy big dog Johnson

Grammy, not to worry. American English still consists of twenty-six simple characters of the alphabet.

If you wan't to know who's already preparing to lay down and die, count the accents, umlauts etc. in their posts. You'll get the bigger picture.

Oui?!

re: #114 Alouette

Letzte November haben wir eine paar Stunden in Frankfurt geblieben. Als wir den koscheren Restaurant besuchten, hat der Eigentumer verlangt, das wir nur Englisch oder Hebraisch sprechen!

Da ware ein Messerangriff vor zwei Wochen in der Synagogue.

This is an American blog, not a foreign language class. You earned a down ding for that one.

re: #119 Grammy Cracker

Oui?!

Exactly!

re: #116 Roentgen

I think there's already an X-ray.

Night guys! Got chores to do!

re: #120 really grumpy big dog Johnson

This is an American blog, not a foreign language class. You earned a down ding for that one.

%u05EA%u05E0%u05E9%u05E7 %u05DC%u05D9 %u05E2%u05DC %u05E6%u05D3 %u05E9%u05E0%u05D9

Casual contact with Hamas ... That sounds unsanitary.

France Has 'Informal Contact' with Hamas

If it's good enough for the obama campaign, it's good enough for France!

I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. "Informal contact" means business casual, and that's the way people do things now. Khakis and loafers.

You people are so stuck on formality. "Silk ties" here, and "wingtips" there, and "no dealing with terrorists."

So old-fashioned.

re: #120 really grumpy big dog Johnson

This is an American blog, not a foreign language class. You earned a down ding for that one.

Wait, I'm trying to get this.... November...student?...Frankfurt...kosher restaurant...English...speaking Hebrew?....Synagogue

/sigh...It's so much easier to read French and Italian...

This is just another reason not to vote for Obama.

re: #124 Alouette

%u05EA%u05E0%u05E9%u05E7 %u05DC%u05D9 %u05E2%u05DC %u05E6%u05D3 %u05E9%u05E0%u05D9

How to make friends and influence enemies?

re: #125 PeggyU

Casual contact with Hamas ... That sounds unsanitary.

Wear protection.
Practice safe informal contact.

re: #106 really grumpy big dog Johnson

This is an American political blog. If you want to converse in a foreign language, hit the chatroom. You can even start a subchat for those who also want to converse in a foreign language.

See how easy that is?

nicht so schwer, meister doktor professor sehr bose grosse hund johnson.
;)
that means. ok.

re: #100 Grammy Cracker

Doesn't Billy Mays do the commercials for that?

...But WAIT...order in the next 15 minutes, and we'll double your order! Get 2 Guten Tights for the low, low price of $19.95 (plus shipping and handling)...

/are you mocking Billy Mays?

Reposted from an earlier thread; more relevant here.

Hamas is at their fake truce stuff again.

First, Olmert skeptical of cease-fire, but going along for Mubarak

Israel is skeptical that a cease-fire with Hamas will be reached and, therefore, the IDF is preparing for a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said in recent closed-door meetings while adding that he is letting the process play out in order to show respect for the Egyptian leadership.

Good thing they're preparing, because 'Truce doesn't mean end of resistance'

As for freeing Shalit, Hamas says forget it:

Referring to the case of kidnapped IDF Cpl. Gilad Schalit, the Hamas official said his movement would not "succumb" to Israel's demand that the issue be part of any truce deal.

"We won't surrender to Israeli extortion," he added. "Hamas is different from the other Palestinian parties, which are used to making free concessions to Israel."

Funny, I haven't heard of any Palestinan party making any form of concession to Israel, short of not destroying Israel right now (because they're too weak)

I'm sure Jimmy Carter and B. Hussein Obama are ready to negotiate with Hamas, without preconditions, though.

re: #130 really grumpy big dog Johnson

How to make friends and influence enemies?

How to make friends and scare enemies.....

I am continually impressed with the many talents of the Lizards...considering we're knuckle draggers.lol

re: #133 Killian Bundy

/are you mocking Billy Mays?

Hell no! I really do love Oxy-Clean!

re: #126 Sharmuta

France Has 'Informal Contact' with Hamas

If it's good enough for the obama campaign, it's good enough for France!

Lay off.

More WaffleMan......

re: #138 song_and_dance_man

LGF - better than the French

Rotating title nomination!

re: #139 sparrowlake

I'm not helping Michelle's children, am I?

How formal can contact be after one has dropped one's pants?

gosh, i can't believe i can remember any german at all. lol
es freut mich so das ich ein bissel sprechen.

re: #137 Grammy Cracker

Hell no! I really do love Oxy-Clean!

Okay.

/Vince forgives you

Je ne parle pas.

Mais non!

Non!

mein deutsch hilft michelle's kinder.

re: #143 USBeast

How formal can contact be after one has dropped one's pants?

I did not have informal relations with that terrorist group, Hamas.

re: #1 jcm

Do we need to wave the white flag or will holding the white flag limply do?
/fwance

Actually, what we need to do is turn the enemy's black flag white

re: #134 Kosh's Shadow

"Referring to the case of kidnapped IDF Cpl. Gilad Schalit, the Hamas official said his movement would not "succumb" to Israel's demand that the issue be part of any truce deal."

At least he's not in Gitmo.

/major sarc

/praying for Gilad Schalit's safe return

re: #145 Killian Bundy

Okay.

/Vince forgives you

I can't believe I just watched that.

"You're going spend twenty dollars on paper towels this month anyway!"

Wait... what?

re: #136 snowcrash

I am continually impressed with the many talents of the Lizards...considering we're knuckle draggers.lol

ich bin kein knuckle dragger. :D

Dónde está la cerveza?

Bon-jer mada-moy-zell

re: #151 Cognito

"You're going spend twenty dollars on paper towels this month anyway!"

Wait... what?

We actually had that argument one night.

/apparently some people do spend $20 on paper towels per month

re: #144 nyc redneck

gosh, i can't believe i can remember any german at all. lol
es freut mich so das ich ein bissel sprechen.

I remember a little German. (Cue the dwarf in lederhosen) (OK, I stole that from Top Secret)

Here's my German phrase:
Ein bier, bitte!
Very useful during Oktoberfest.

re: #155 Killian Bundy

We actually had that argument one night.

/apparently some people do spend $20 on paper towels per month

We didn't spend that much when we had a lot of puppies!

re: #138 song_and_dance_man

LGF - better than the French

Yes, but at least I speak French!

re: #155 Killian Bundy

We actually had that argument one night.

/apparently some people do spend $20 on paper towels per month

Families with small kids probably blow through $20 in paper towels in a month. Or they have to wash kitchen towels everyday.

re: #146 Cognito

Je ne parle pas.

Mais non!

Non!

Pas un peu? Un petit peu?

re: #151 Cognito

I can't believe I just watched that.

"You're going spend twenty dollars on paper towels this month anyway!"

Wait... what?

I'd be surprised if I spend $20 a year on paper towels.

That guy must be really messy.

re: #159 Intrepid

Families with small kids probably blow through $20 in paper towels in a month. Or they have to wash kitchen towels everyday.

Repent, ye killers of Mother Gaia!

/Al Gore

re: #156 Kosh's Shadow

I remember a little German. (Cue the dwarf in lederhosen) (OK, I stole that from Top Secret)

Here's my German phrase:
Ein bier, bitte!
Very useful during Oktoberfest.

das ist genug. (perfect, aber make it zwei bier, one for me. actually make it drei bier, another for grumpy)

re: #154 BuddyG

Bon-jer mada-moy-zell

Bon soir, monsieur! Comment ca va? Je vais bien quand je peux compter les etoiles.

re: #138 song_and_dance_man

LGF - better than the French without even trying

/fixed it

re: #160 goddessoftheclassroom

Pas un peu? Un petit peu?

Ah, oui! Je parle un peu....tres peu!

/four years of high school French...about 100 years ago!

re: #166 Grammy Cracker

I read it better than I hear it. I can speak it fairly well, and my accent is impressive, so I've been told!

re: #166 Grammy Cracker

/four years of high school French...about 100 years ago!

Wow, you don't look or act your age.

re: #167 goddessoftheclassroom

I read it better than I hear it. I can speak it fairly well, and my accent is impressive, so I've been told!

Oui, moi aussi!

re: #168 ameridan

Wow, you don't look or act your age.

Not bad for 118, eh? LOL

It only SEEMS like 100 years ago.....

re: #134 Kosh's Shadow

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said in recent closed-door meetings while adding that he is letting the process play out in order to show respect for the Egyptian leadership.

I don't know exactly when it occurred but one morning I woke up in an alternate universe.

A universe where a young novice politician who hangs around with American haters may be elected President in time of war and economic distress and where the PM of Israel is willing to put his nation at risk and allow Jewish blood to flow in the streets in order to "respect" an Arab tyrant and enemy of Israel.

I wondered who Obama was getting his foreign policy advice from. Now I know.

re: #170 Grammy Cracker

It only SEEMS like 100 years ago.....

Don't blink.

Now, what are you-all doing down here when there is a perfectly good techie thread upstairs?

Yes, but just imagine how bad the situation would be if France wasn't meeting with them!

(Seriously, though, this is exactly what Bush was talking about in his speech before the Knesset.)

Can't wait 'till Israel has Full contact with Hamas once and for all. It's unreal what the civilized world is willing to take from the scum of the earth. Meeting with terrorists for any other reason than to destroy them makes them stronger. We will learn this when we've endured enough.

re: #172 Mormon Doc

I wondered who Obama was getting his foreign policy advice from. Now I know.

Who? Stan?

re: #167 goddessoftheclassroom

I read it better than I hear it. I can speak it fairly well, and my accent is impressive, so I've been told!

A funny story to tie the German and French together...

When visiting Rothenburg, Germany, we stayed at a beautiful little inn with a very nice restaurant. None of us spoke any German, so we couldn't read the menus. The manager spoke almost no English, but he indicated that he understood the problem and brought one new menu to the table, which he gave to me.

I managed to suppress my giggles until he walked away; the menu he proudly gave me was in Italian! Luckily, I adore Italian food and can at least read the menu item basics...."that one is fish,....no, that one is beef..." We all had a good meal, and a great time.

re: #176 Bosch Fawstin

Can't wait 'till Israel has Full contact with Hamas once and for all. It's unreal what the civilized world is willing to take from the scum of the earth. Meeting with terrorists for any other reason than to destroy them makes them stronger. We will learn this when we've endured enough.

perfect

re: #178 Grammy Cracker

Luckily, I adore Italian food

I thought the French were food snobs and only served French foods(like french fries, snails, etc.).

TANKS? Who knew?
Egyptian FM: US, Israeli tanks make Mideast unstable

This Egyptian foreign minister seems totally baffled as to why there isn't peace between the Palis and Egypt. If only the Israelis wanted it. And if they can't get it together within 10 years, then, well, he figures a one state solution should be imposed.

Not a word about rockets and bombers over Israel's borders... probably because those are normal occurrences in his own society. By insisting on no dead people in the streets caused by the neighbors, Israel is asking for special treatment! And this guy is just frustrated and baffled by that. Look in the mirror, Mr. Aboul Geiht. It's your attitudes that leave your people in misery, poverty, death.

re: #180 ameridan

I thought the French were food snobs and only served French foods(like french fries, snails, etc.).

Upon further review, I see that you were in Germany.

All those European countries look alike to me.

re: #134 Kosh's Shadow

Reposted from an earlier thread; more relevant here.

Hamas is at their fake truce stuff again.

First, Olmert skeptical of cease-fire, but going along for Mubarak

Funny, I haven't heard of any Palestinan party making any form of concession to Israel, short of not destroying Israel right now (because they're too weak)

I'm sure Jimmy Carter and B. Hussein Obama are ready to negotiate with Hamas, without preconditions, though.

Will they be negotiating in French?

re: #181 Sunlight

TANKS? Who knew?
Egyptian FM: US, Israeli tanks make Mideast unstable

This Egyptian foreign minister seems totally baffled as to why there isn't peace between the Palis and Egypt. If only the Israelis wanted it. And if they can't get it together within 10 years, then, well, he figures a one state solution should be imposed.

Not a word about rockets and bombers over Israel's borders... probably because those are normal occurrences in his own society. By insisting on no dead people in the streets caused by the neighbors, Israel is asking for special treatment! And this guy is just frustrated and baffled by that. Look in the mirror, Mr. Aboul Geiht. It's your attitudes that leave your people in misery, poverty, death.

If the Israelis wanted death the way the Palestinians do, there would be peace. And 7 million dead Israelis.

Nope- not surprised at all- the fwench show their true colors- or color- YELLOW.

Didn't France have informal contact with Hitler before they were conquered...yet again?

Play to win. You do that by attacking.

'Informal Contact' : Is that a new euphemism meaning 'Grovel to' ?

re: #55 Sarge1984

Okay, in the spirit of some of the comments, Blackfive's Encounter with a French General.

Yeh, I read that when Matt first posted it 5 years ago and I still think it is funny.

[Matt of B5 discussing M1A1 Abrams with a French Gen.]

The Captain, exasperated as well, just mumbled, "He says that it is inferior to the Leclerc (French) tank. That's all."
My incredulous voice went up a few decibels, "Inferior?!", a few more decibels, "Why?! Because it doesn't have three gears for REVERSE?"

The smile on the M1A1's Sergeant's face was priceless. However, the Captain turned white as a ghost. I could read the "Oh SH#T!" look on his face. General Jannier looked stunned, then you could see his eyes narrowed on me, his smirk faded into a sneer.
The Army Captain's face tightened up. He turned to me to address me directly, "Lieutenant, General Jannier can speak English. HE...JUST...CHOOSES...NOT...TO!"

I was replaced by another escort officer (faster than you can say "Your career is OVER!"), told to stay in my quarters, received a General Letter of Reprimand for pissing off an allied General Officer (conduct unbecoming), and ordered to stay away from all French nationals on base.

All Things French - Blackfive's Encounter with a French Army General

The “3 speeds of reverse” could be rephrased as “3 speeds of retreat.”

re: #41 nyc redneck

how long did it take the nazis to take paris?
three days and that's because it was raining.

Why did the French plant all those trees along the Champs D'Elysees?
So the Nazis could march in the shade.

They'll never learn! *sigh*

France could use its informal contacts with Hamas the same way it used its informal contacts with Le Ponant.