How many times does the world have to end anyway? I guess I could gamble that it really is going to end, and blow all my savings and go to Carcassonne again. That would be nice. But I'd regret it come the 22nd, which incidentally two years ago to the day, Carcassonne is where I was. *sigh*
Why'd I log in to write this? Oh yeah, because I wanted to say that if it really is the end of the world, and if these asshats really are right, just go ahead and toss my ass in the lake of fire, because I have no desire to spend eternity with a bunch of jerk asses and their evil god. That's my feeling on the matter. At any rate, they're more full of it than a turkey at Thanksgiving dinner, so I look forward to the 22nd and all the snark that's going to go with it.
Showing posts with label france. Show all posts
Showing posts with label france. Show all posts
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Just Say No to... Trolls and your Own Interests while you're at it
Two things today. The first is, no more anonymous posting. I originally (and probably naively so) didn't have a problem with people posting anonymously, until I realized that it's usually only trolls that have nothing to add to the conversation, and that I can't tell who I'm talking to. They're all anonymous. So from now on, you have to be registered. Sorry, but some pricks always have to go and ruin a good thing for everyone else.
The second thing is, I was checking out France24, a news agency in France. I like to watch them, they tend to give a different perspective on things, since they have less of a vested interest in our politics, especially so when compared to local news networks. And I have to say, I love the comments regarding our health care. I'm sure the French, who have that *evil* "socialist" medical system are laughing their asses off at us. Well, at least laughing themselves silly over the idiots in this country. And we wonder why there is a prevalent attitude that Americans are stupid. We re-elected GDubya, so that's a case in point. We have people running around screaming against their own interests in favor of the interests of the Insurance Industry. How dumb can you get? Some comments from France24... translation is mine, and I'm not a native speaker, so I might miss some of the subtelty, but you'll get the gist of it anyway
When I was in France, I came across a French family vacationing in the Pyrenees. We had a conversation about our vacations and what we were up to. The husband told me he thought it was insane that we didn't get more vacation time here in the States, followed by a little laugh, as if he knew he had the better end of the deal and was thanking his lucky stars he wasn't American. The French get an average of 39 days of vacation a year. In my white collar job, I get 10 a year. Yeah. They understand there, that there is more to life than money. Something that I think we've forgotten in this country. Sure money is important for living, I come from poverty and understand that really well, however it is not the be-all and end-all of life. What happened to enjoying life? Or are we too busy killing ourselves chasing after material shit that the talking heads on the TV tell us we have to have?
If you want to see an prime example of this, watch HGTV sometime. Watch how prospective home buyers and home owners either talk about or rip out entire kitchens and bathrooms because they're "dated". They complain about the color of the appliances because they're not "in". Talk about environmentally unfriendly! How many resources are wasted to build a new appliance, how many appliances are dumped in landfills because they're the "wrong" color? And these same people talk about going "green" while being the most wasteful fucks on the planet.
Everyone has to have the latest of everything, the latest phone, the latest custom cabinetry, the latest computer (okay well, maybe if you want to play the latest games you'll need that LOL), a brand new car, a brand new this and a brand new that. What happened to using things until they don't work?
Le sigh.
The second thing is, I was checking out France24, a news agency in France. I like to watch them, they tend to give a different perspective on things, since they have less of a vested interest in our politics, especially so when compared to local news networks. And I have to say, I love the comments regarding our health care. I'm sure the French, who have that *evil* "socialist" medical system are laughing their asses off at us. Well, at least laughing themselves silly over the idiots in this country. And we wonder why there is a prevalent attitude that Americans are stupid. We re-elected GDubya, so that's a case in point. We have people running around screaming against their own interests in favor of the interests of the Insurance Industry. How dumb can you get? Some comments from France24... translation is mine, and I'm not a native speaker, so I might miss some of the subtelty, but you'll get the gist of it anyway
"When Bush was in power, the Senate didn't hesitate to vote in favor of more funds to support an increase in cost of opearations for the soldiers in Iraq, that money was wasted and lost, but now they hesistate to vote in favor of a project that benefits all Americans, especially the poor."Yeah, he's going to need all the luck he can get. And yes, it should be simple to understand that we think health care is a right, and that all people regardless of income should have access to it. But that requires critical thinking skills, and those are unfortunately sorely lacking in this country.
"I do not understand why certain people (USA) are so hostile to this project? It's simple enough to be empathetic and understand the best interest of the project..."
"Good luck to this President, for this initiative for health."
When I was in France, I came across a French family vacationing in the Pyrenees. We had a conversation about our vacations and what we were up to. The husband told me he thought it was insane that we didn't get more vacation time here in the States, followed by a little laugh, as if he knew he had the better end of the deal and was thanking his lucky stars he wasn't American. The French get an average of 39 days of vacation a year. In my white collar job, I get 10 a year. Yeah. They understand there, that there is more to life than money. Something that I think we've forgotten in this country. Sure money is important for living, I come from poverty and understand that really well, however it is not the be-all and end-all of life. What happened to enjoying life? Or are we too busy killing ourselves chasing after material shit that the talking heads on the TV tell us we have to have?
If you want to see an prime example of this, watch HGTV sometime. Watch how prospective home buyers and home owners either talk about or rip out entire kitchens and bathrooms because they're "dated". They complain about the color of the appliances because they're not "in". Talk about environmentally unfriendly! How many resources are wasted to build a new appliance, how many appliances are dumped in landfills because they're the "wrong" color? And these same people talk about going "green" while being the most wasteful fucks on the planet.
Everyone has to have the latest of everything, the latest phone, the latest custom cabinetry, the latest computer (okay well, maybe if you want to play the latest games you'll need that LOL), a brand new car, a brand new this and a brand new that. What happened to using things until they don't work?
Le sigh.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
I'm Back Stateside
So I'm back from my walkabout in Europe. Let me just say it was awesome, amazing and way cooler than I had ever imagined. I thank you all for your comments and well wishes.
To answer the question about whether or not Europeans hate Americans, etc., the answer is definitely no. They think our government is quite mad, but most of them think their own governments are quite mad too. There's the rub, most governments are corrupt bastards, but the people are nice. They think sometimes that we're a bit obnoxious, but they think the French are more obnoxious, except of course the French, who think everyone else is inferior.
Actually, that's not true. The French are actually pretty nice, or at least the ones that I met were. Even in Paris where I had been warned that everyone was rude and hated Americans, I failed to come across a single rude person. And for a city that size, I was shocked. I've met more rude people in London. And I butchered French, I only speak a little, and most people if they knew English would just start speaking English to me when they realized that I wasn't fluent. Which is a bit infuriating if you're trying to learn their language. Most of the French in Paris speak English by the way, I suppose it's because they're so close to England, only a little over two hours away by Eurostar train. You know attitude is a lot of it. I wonder how many people who complain about others being rude to them, are really the cause of their own problems.
Now the French in the south, they don't speak much English, but they're as nice as can be. We got by with my terrible French and waving our hands about a lot. Check my blog on the Albigensian Crusade, because I'm going to update it and include a few photos that I took.
To answer the question about whether or not Europeans hate Americans, etc., the answer is definitely no. They think our government is quite mad, but most of them think their own governments are quite mad too. There's the rub, most governments are corrupt bastards, but the people are nice. They think sometimes that we're a bit obnoxious, but they think the French are more obnoxious, except of course the French, who think everyone else is inferior.
Actually, that's not true. The French are actually pretty nice, or at least the ones that I met were. Even in Paris where I had been warned that everyone was rude and hated Americans, I failed to come across a single rude person. And for a city that size, I was shocked. I've met more rude people in London. And I butchered French, I only speak a little, and most people if they knew English would just start speaking English to me when they realized that I wasn't fluent. Which is a bit infuriating if you're trying to learn their language. Most of the French in Paris speak English by the way, I suppose it's because they're so close to England, only a little over two hours away by Eurostar train. You know attitude is a lot of it. I wonder how many people who complain about others being rude to them, are really the cause of their own problems.
Now the French in the south, they don't speak much English, but they're as nice as can be. We got by with my terrible French and waving our hands about a lot. Check my blog on the Albigensian Crusade, because I'm going to update it and include a few photos that I took.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Away for the next month...
I'm leaving in a few days for a trip to Europe. I might not find the time to write any more before I leave. Or I might. Who knows? I suppose it will be a matter of whether I have the time on my hands, and if I find anything to sufficiently piss me off enough to bother writing about. So much of everything lately is redundancy.
At any rate, I'll be back the second week of June. Until then, you'll have to be content reading what I've already written. I'll be updating my other blog on the Albigensian Crusade when I get back, as I'm going to be in France where the crusade took place, so if you're interested in that, check back in June.
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