Thorlifter
Captain
I don't know if these are true, but they sure sound good.
When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the
Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of
empire building' by George Bush.
He answered by saying, 'Over the years, the United States has sent many of
its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond
our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is
enough to bury those that did not return.
It became very quiet in the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Then there was a conference in France where a number of international
engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break
one of the French engineers came back into the room saying 'Have you heard
the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to
Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to do, bomb
them?'
A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: 'Our carriers have three
hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear
powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they
have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a
day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water
each day,
And they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and
injured to and from thei r flight deck.. We have eleven such ships; how many
does France have?'
Once again, dead silence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals
from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a
cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers
that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting
away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly
complained that, 'whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn
only English.' He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak
English in these conferences rather than speaking French?'
Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied 'Maybe it's because the
Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to
speak German.'
You could have heard a pin drop
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...
A group of Americans, retired teachers, recently went to France on a tour.
Robert Whiting, an elderly gentlem an of 83, arrived in Paris by plane.
At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry
on. 'You have been to France before, monsieur?' the customs officer asked
sarcastically.
Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.
'Then you should know enough to have your passport ready.'
The American said, 'The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it.'
'Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in
France!'
The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly
explained. 'Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in '44 to help
liberate this country, I couldn't find any damn Frenchmen to show it to.'
When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the
Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of
empire building' by George Bush.
He answered by saying, 'Over the years, the United States has sent many of
its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond
our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is
enough to bury those that did not return.
It became very quiet in the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Then there was a conference in France where a number of international
engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break
one of the French engineers came back into the room saying 'Have you heard
the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to
Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to do, bomb
them?'
A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: 'Our carriers have three
hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear
powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they
have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a
day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water
each day,
And they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and
injured to and from thei r flight deck.. We have eleven such ships; how many
does France have?'
Once again, dead silence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals
from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a
cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers
that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting
away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly
complained that, 'whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn
only English.' He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak
English in these conferences rather than speaking French?'
Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied 'Maybe it's because the
Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to
speak German.'
You could have heard a pin drop
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...
A group of Americans, retired teachers, recently went to France on a tour.
Robert Whiting, an elderly gentlem an of 83, arrived in Paris by plane.
At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry
on. 'You have been to France before, monsieur?' the customs officer asked
sarcastically.
Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.
'Then you should know enough to have your passport ready.'
The American said, 'The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it.'
'Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in
France!'
The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly
explained. 'Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in '44 to help
liberate this country, I couldn't find any damn Frenchmen to show it to.'
