Mainedigger
Bronze Member
Subject: You could have heard a pin drop!
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, th e 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.
You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Then there was a conference in France where a number o f 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, a n d
they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and
injured to and from their flight deck.. We have eleven such ships;
how many does France have?'
You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~< BR>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 gentleman 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 Ameri can 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."
You could have heard a pin drop.
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, th e 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.
You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Then there was a conference in France where a number o f 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, a n d
they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and
injured to and from their flight deck.. We have eleven such ships;
how many does France have?'
You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~< BR>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 gentleman 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 Ameri can 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."
You could have heard a pin drop.
