Article

2005-03-14 China-Japan-Koreas

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Posted by tipper 2005-03-14 09:26|| || Front Page|| [11128 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 But Taiwan should go further and impose a massive tariff, say 100 percent, on all goods made by French companies; the proceeds, such as they might be, should go to the defense budget. That this violates WTO protocols bothers us as much as the UN bothers US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. That the French might retaliate makes us laugh. Let them double the price they pay for information technology if they want; much of it simply cannot be sourced elsewhere. Taiwan, however, will survive more expensive Louis Vuitton bags.

I wish we had a 100% tariff on French products....

Posted by Desert Blondie 2005-03-14 9:41:15 AM|| [http://azjetsetchick.blogspot.com/] 2005-03-14 9:41:15 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 BTW, Fred, what's with the Napoleon pic? He wasn't really French. DeGaulle is more apropos.

Posted by Desert Blondie 2005-03-14 9:42:29 AM|| [http://azjetsetchick.blogspot.com/] 2005-03-14 9:42:29 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 "...information technology if they want; much of it simply cannot be sourced elsewhere. Taiwan...."

The real reason China must have Taiwan. What they can't buy or develop they intend to steal.

Posted by Sock Puppet Oâ Doom 2005-03-14 9:44:24 AM|| [http://www.slhess.com] 2005-03-14 9:44:24 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 DeGaulle didn't win any battles. Problem is, the frogs have to go back to Joan d'Arc. to find a winner.

Posted by Mrs. Davis 2005-03-14 9:53:58 AM|| 2005-03-14 9:53:58 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 "To the French, lying is simply talking."

LOL

Posted by Frank G 2005-03-14 10:02:31 AM|| 2005-03-14 10:02:31 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 If Nappy wasnt French, than Kissinger aint American. Heck, Alexander Hamilton wasnt American either by that standard.

Posted by liberalhawk 2005-03-14 10:57:36 AM|| 2005-03-14 10:57:36 AM|| Front Page Top

#7 Kissinger aint American That's a relief.

Posted by Mrs. Davis 2005-03-14 10:59:07 AM|| 2005-03-14 10:59:07 AM|| Front Page Top

#8 A few corrections Mrs Davis. Napoleon was born French (but given his birhdate I am not sure he was conceived a French. It was also French military schools who teached him his mettle. And finally it was France who made him a general instead of remaining a lieutenant for life due to lack of blue blood or money.

De Gaulle while heading the untrained and incomplete Fourth Armored Division still managed to get a tactical victory at Montcornet against a such Rommel despite having zero air-cover.

And BTW it was a French general who designed the plan who allowed to take Cassino.

About the photo, both Napoleon and De Gaulle would be out of place, since with all their defects they were patriots. A picture of a notorious traitor like Laval (France's Quisling) would be more in place

Posted by JFM 2005-03-14 11:18:41 AM|| 2005-03-14 11:18:41 AM|| Front Page Top

#9 JFM, nope.

Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon 1st of France
Originally Napoleone Buonaparte, also unofficially known as The Little Corporal (Le Petit Caporal) and The Corsican.

Born: 15th August 1769 in Ajaccio, Corsia

Posted by Sobiesky 2005-03-14 11:35:40 AM|| 2005-03-14 11:35:40 AM|| Front Page Top

#10 Sobiesky

Please, I will not try to teach you the boiography of your namesake don't try teach me where Napoleon was born. In 1768 (ie one year before Napoleon's birth) France cleverly :-) bought Corsica from the Genovese. So he was born a French. Now since he was born in August and I don't remember in which month Corsica was bought there is a small chance he was conceived a Genovese.

But if you dispute the quality of French to people born in Corsica then you will have to dispute the quality of American to all the people born in the Louisiana bought by Thomas Jefferson (who was far larger than the state of Louisiana)

Posted by JFM 2005-03-14 12:12:02 PM|| 2005-03-14 12:12:02 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 JFM, Try to tell a Corsican even today that he is French and let's see how you'd fare. ;-)

Posted by Sobiesky 2005-03-14 12:17:07 PM|| 2005-03-14 12:17:07 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 How influential is the Taipei Times?

I like their little Wikipedia link -- transforms the article contents with all sorts of links to Wikipedia. Smart.

Posted by Kalle (kafir forever) 2005-03-14 12:23:35 PM|| [http://radio.weblogs.com/0103811/categories/currentEvents/] 2005-03-14 12:23:35 PM|| Front Page Top

#13 Sobiesky

About 80% Corsicans will punch your nose if you tell them they are not French. About 20% of them will punch your nose if you tell them they are French.

Napoleon was on the 80% side and fought (not directly of course) against Paoli who was an independentist.

Posted by JFM 2005-03-14 12:31:29 PM|| 2005-03-14 12:31:29 PM|| Front Page Top

#14 Kalle, Taipei Times is on a par with the LA Times and NY Times for objectivity, but it's stories are generally more interesting. Actually, the Straits Times is a better comparison. I'd say this was an officially sanctioned rant against the French.

Posted by RWV 2005-03-14 12:32:44 PM|| 2005-03-14 12:32:44 PM|| Front Page Top

#15 I have to agree w/JFM here; Napoleon was patriotic, and a hell of a military general and leader. He broke Fezzni's rule; Don't get into a land war in Russia, but I digress. Russia was his downfall. (Yes I know Waterloo was later...)

I know French bashing is popular, (hell, I often lead the charge myself), but I have to say, having spent a lot of my childhood growing up in France in the 60's, I remember my French grandparents being tough as nails; my grandfather worked for the SNCF and didn't miss a day of work (really!) in 30 years, and then held various jobs until he was in his 70's. He worked enough for 3 men and died at the ripe age of 93. He was a hell of a worker, fighter, and patriot.

In the 70's I rember him complaining that France was going down the shitter, and the massive immigration was going to its downfall. Of course, being a teenager and supremely smarter than a man who had lived through WWI AND WWII, I thought he was just a senile old man who didn't understand the 'new' way the world worked...

Now that I'm in my 40's, I realize he was right about that too.

Posted by Francis 2005-03-14 12:36:44 PM|| 2005-03-14 12:36:44 PM|| Front Page Top

#16 JFM, I think you are pulling the figures like rabbits outta hat. ;-)

Give me stats for the 80F/20C split, please. Last time I checked (some 5-6 years ago), it was about 55C/45F.

Posted by Sobiesky 2005-03-14 12:55:56 PM|| 2005-03-14 12:55:56 PM|| Front Page Top

#17 Then that explains why the independentists get their asses kicked in elections.

Posted by JFM 2005-03-14 1:43:28 PM|| 2005-03-14 1:43:28 PM|| Front Page Top

#18 Because most of the people have common sense and understand that it has advantges (from their POV, economical I would suspect). They still may feel very Corsican about themselves and object being called French.

Posted by Sobiesky 2005-03-14 1:53:25 PM|| 2005-03-14 1:53:25 PM|| Front Page Top

#19
I like their little Wikipedia link -- transforms the article contents with all sorts of links to Wikipedia. Smart.

What a pity it goes to Wikipedia. (Wikipedia is a nice idea, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired.)

Posted by Robert Crawford 2005-03-14 2:09:18 PM|| [http://www.kloognome.com/] 2005-03-14 2:09:18 PM|| Front Page Top

#20 And perhaps it is because many of those 20% are in the orbit of Maffia-like organizations: when asked about how they would make Corsica economically viable they answer "by a federation with Sardinia and Sicily". BTW perhaps you remember the crumbling of that extension to a stadium in Corsica: the nationalists controlled the club and the extension was to bring BIG money for the match with France's soccer champion. But the thing was built in a such way that a canary sh..g in the bad spot could bring down the whole thing. Since this ended with over a hundred dead and thousands wounded I doubt it hasn't had some political backslash. That and a number of murders between nationalists over racket businesses who have tarnished their reputation.

Plus you don't count the thousands of Corsicans who left for continental France. Nevertheless, Paoli is the hero of the Nationalists, Napoleon they consider him as a traitor. So, since Napoleon, not Corsica is the subject of discussion Napoleon was French, both according to the Continental French, the Corsican French, the Corsican ~~Mafiosi~~ nationalists and his own heart and mind.

Posted by JFM 2005-03-14 4:38:38 PM|| 2005-03-14 4:38:38 PM|| Front Page Top

#21 Ok, now that we got the Corsican history lesson straight...

If you want suitable morons for the illustration, may I recommend Daladier and Reynaud, who dithered for ten years before the Nazis invaded, and who let their mistresses dictate much of the policies of the Third Republic. Not as recognizable as Napoleon, but definitely deserving.

Posted by mom 2005-03-14 7:50:20 PM|| 2005-03-14 7:50:20 PM|| Front Page Top

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