David

I love this thread Dave

"vince" <don`[email protected]`t.read.it> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
    > "Go Fig" <[email protected]> wrote
    > >
    > > Spend much time on rec.travel.usa-canada ?
    >
    > No, none at all. We don`t have computers in Europe.

ajc

On Tue, 7 May 2002 08:37:35 +0100, "The Oik" <[email protected]> wrote:

    >
    >"Rhys" <@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
    >news:[email protected]...
    >>
    >> >
    >> > I mean, you Europeans still can't sort out whether to let Jews live in France
    >> > without getting their synogogues bombed. (Oh, wait -- wasn't that another thick
    >> > question...?)
    >>
    >> Or the Americans letting people in Northern Ireland live in a peaceful democracy
    >> without the fear of being bombed or shot at, mostly funded by Americans.
    >>
    >>
    >
    >a bit more explicit please; US bombs and guns have killed in ALL of the UK
    >
    >
That reminds me. Can someone just explain this to me. Recently on the news it was
reported that an Arab American was arrested for being involved in some organization
that was collecting money to fund Al-Qaida(sp?) terrorism. Seems reasonable to arrest
him, but when will the US authorities be arresting all the Americans involved in
collecting money to fund IRA terrorism? Surely their very worthy policy of arresting
the supporters and financers of terrorism isn't applied selectively on racial grounds
is it? --==++AJC++==--

David

"vince" <don`[email protected]`t.read.it> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
    > I have been astonished by some of the threads on r.t.e lately.
    >
    > Is there drinking water in Europe? Can you buy batteries in Europe? Can you buy
    > petrol in Europe? Is it safe to go to Europe if you are Jewish?
    >
    > Here`s my question. Should educational standards in American schools, particularly
    > in relation to the world which exists outside the U.S. border, be raised to the
    > standard which exists in the rest of the world?

I'm amused by some of the questions. The ones about specifics (eg batteries) and
standards are expected, but I have to admit some of the others appear to be a
symptom of overplanning a potential trip especially the "1 day here, 1 day here,
37mins here, stop for breath _here_, take photo _here_, where should I go for a side
trip ?" variety.

Enjoy. Dave

A.Spencer3

Hatunen <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]... Did you take an actual course about
North American
    > history and customs?
    >
    >
Yes!

Surreyman

A.Spencer3

Paul Tauger <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    >
    >
    > It seems to me to be a sensible concern for someone who has never visited Europe
    > before and, particularly with regard to France, is unfamiliar with the locations
    > of Arab neighborhoods, where most of the recent French antisemitic incidents
    > have arisen.
    >
This really is being totally overconcerned. Any local nutters will know the local
synogogues, etc., so it's maybe sensible, temporarily, to guard them.

But who's to know that the average USA Jewish tourist in, say, Prague is in fact
Jewish anyway?

Surreyman

A.Spencer3

Icono Clast <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > He refused to grasp the concept of the distance from Copenhagen to San Francisco
    > being more than twice that to Cairo.
    >
    >
It's when a guest had to prove to me that her state of Washington was bigger than
England that I had to admit to being thick!

Surreyman

Ash & Jaff

By sheer coincidence, from the A.P. today:

<<Jews Rethink Vacations to France

NEW YORK (AP) - Abbey Goldberg was supposed to be in France this week, vacationing in
places such as Avignon and the Loire Valley - all part of a romantic trip he'd been
planning with his wife for months.

Instead, the couple stayed in the United States, unnerved and angered by a spate
of anti-Semitic acts in France this spring, ranging from a synagogue arson to
physical assaults.

``We had plane tickets, hotel reservations, everything,'' he said. ``But with all the
anti-Semitism going on, we didn't feel comfortable going. ...There also was a bit of
a desire not to spend money in a country that was tolerating this kind of thing.''>>

So much for being "inappropriate" to the thread...

Regards,

--Ash

"Just Joan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
    >
    > > I mean, you Europeans still can't sort out whether to let Jews live in France
    > > without getting their synogogues bombed. (Oh, wait -- wasn't that another thick
    > > question...?)
    >
    > No, but it was totally inappropriate for the thread.
    >
    > Defensive, much?
    >
    > --
    >
    > Just Joan remove knickers to reply

Ash & Jaff

Ah, yes. The Europeans also can't get sorted out whether Britain is part of their
continent or not.

Though the idea that the U.K. is part of America is a new one. You see, back in 1776,
while Europeans were still sorting out the notion of democracy, there were some
British expats living north of the New Indies, when...

Wait. Wasn't it a European here claiming that the U.S. needed geography and
history lessons?

Regards,

Ash

"Rhys" <@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    >
    > >
    > > I mean, you Europeans still can't sort out whether to let Jews live in France
    > > without getting their synogogues bombed. (Oh, wait -- wasn't that another thick
    > > question...?)
    >
    > Or the Americans letting people in Northern Ireland live in a peaceful democracy
    > without the fear of being bombed or shot at, mostly funded by Americans.

Ash & Jaff

"a.spencer3" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    >
    > Paul Tauger <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > >
    >
    > But who's to know that the average USA Jewish tourist in, say, Prague is
in
    > fact Jewish anyway?
    >
    > Surreyman
    >

As someone who lives in the middle of the Jewish Quarter in Prague, I can tell you:
It's pretty damn easy to tell who the Jewish Americans are, considering that they're
walking around in big tour groups visiting all of the Jewish sites here.

In fact, many synogogues in the U.S. organize trips to places like the Jewish Quarter
in Prague. I chat with some of the tourists on occasion when I'm out and about, and
many of them have cancelled visits to places like Israel and France in favor of
places like Prague, specifically because of the rise of violence and anti-Semitism in
those areas.

Regards,

Ash

Go Fig

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] wrote:

    > On Tue, 7 May 2002 08:37:35 +0100, "The Oik" <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    > >
    > >"Rhys" <@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
    > >news:[email protected]...
    > >>
    > >> >
    > >> > I mean, you Europeans still can't sort out whether to let Jews live in France
    > >> > without getting their synogogues bombed. (Oh, wait -- wasn't that another
    > >> > thick question...?)
    > >>
    > >> Or the Americans letting people in Northern Ireland live in a peaceful democracy
    > >> without the fear of being bombed or shot at, mostly funded by Americans.
    > >>
    > >>
    > >
    > >a bit more explicit please; US bombs and guns have killed in ALL of the UK
    > >
    > >
    > That reminds me. Can someone just explain this to me. Recently on the news it was
    > reported that an Arab American was arrested for being involved in some organization
    > that was collecting money to fund Al-Qaida(sp?) terrorism. Seems reasonable to
    > arrest him, but when will the US authorities be arresting all the Americans
    > involved in collecting money to fund IRA terrorism?

Maybe the Dutch should protect them....but 'that reminds me' 8500 people died the
last time the Dutch 'protected' someone.

jay Tue, May 7, 2002 mailto:[email protected]

Surely their very worthy
    > policy of arresting the supporters and financers of terrorism isn't applied
    > selectively on racial grounds is it? --==++AJC++==--

--

Legend insists that as he finished his abject... Galileo muttered under his breath:
"Nevertheless, it does move."

Anders Svensson

Ash & Jaff wrote:

    >
    > NEW YORK (AP) - Abbey Goldberg was supposed to be in France this week, vacationing
    > in places such as Avignon and the Loire Valley - all part of a romantic trip he'd
    > been planning with his wife for months.
    >
    > Instead, the couple stayed in the United States, unnerved and angered by a spate of
    > anti-Semitic acts in France this spring, ranging from a synagogue arson to physical
    > assaults.
    >
    > ``We had plane tickets, hotel reservations, everything,'' he said. ``But with all
    > the anti-Semitism going on, we didn't feel comfortable going. ...There also was a
    > bit of a desire not to spend money in a country that was tolerating this kind of
    > thing.''>>
    >
    > So much for being "inappropriate" to the thread...
    >
    > Regards,
    >
    > --Ash
    >


When SAAB exported their cars to us some 10-15 years ago the safety belts had to be
made EXTRA long on the export models to us as the americans (us only, not the rest of
america) where in fact too fat to fit.

As I tested the belts myself I was surprised to see how much extra belt length there
was. Two normal persons could easily have fitted.

/Anders

--
Remove the obvious part before replying by mail please!

Inge Johannesse

"David Lewis" <[email protected]> skrev i melding
news[email protected]... [snip]
    > She was introduced to a certain G.W.Bush who, on hearing she came from Wales, asked
    > "What state is that in?"

My favourite one in this NG was about three years back (I was working in The
Netherlands at the time) with the subject line: "Does anybody know where
Holland is?".

He was not flamed back as far as I remember.

On the other hand a popular game here on the Norwegian South Coast at least is to ask
questions like: "What other states does Nebraska share a border with?". One a good
day somebody might actually suggest Kansas.

Inge sj

David Greenhalg

Battery powered equipment is fundamentally different from mains powered. I would
expect to get AA or AAA batteries for my radio or camera anywhere in the world since
the same products can be bought anywhere. But the question is still valid. It's easy
to forget how naive you can be when young.

Northern Europe has had 'pure' drinking water longer than the U.S. In 1960 there were
parts of Europe where some water was suspect. In 2002 I don't think so.

That the U.K. (and Japan) drives on the left hand side has a sensible heritage; men
on horseback carried their swords at their right side. I believe that it was a whim
of Napoleon's that France and others moved to the right. I hope someone can
elaborate on this.

When I was travelling by train in the U.S. I was asked by an American if I had come
from England by train. Another believed that New Mexico was part of Mexico. But it
was an English woman who asked me if my mother had had any children. These make
interesting (true) anecdotes but not generalisations.

Dave

ajc

On Tue, 07 May 2002 09:39:12 GMT, Go Fig <[email protected]> wrote:

    >In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] wrote:
    >
    >> On Tue, 7 May 2002 08:37:35 +0100, "The Oik" <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>
    >> >
    >> >"Rhys" <@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
    >> >news:[email protected]...
    >> >>
    >> >> >
    >> >> > I mean, you Europeans still can't sort out whether to let Jews live in France
    >> >> > without getting their synogogues bombed. (Oh, wait -- wasn't that another
    >> >> > thick question...?)
    >> >>
    >> >> Or the Americans letting people in Northern Ireland live in a peaceful
    >> >> democracy without the fear of being bombed or shot at, mostly funded by
    >> >> Americans.
    >> >>
    >> >>
    >> >
    >> >a bit more explicit please; US bombs and guns have killed in ALL of the UK
    >> >
    >> >
    >> That reminds me. Can someone just explain this to me. Recently on the news it was
    >> reported that an Arab American was arrested for being involved in some
    >> organization that was collecting money to fund Al-Qaida(sp?) terrorism. Seems
    >> reasonable to arrest him, but when will the US authorities be arresting all the
    >> Americans involved in collecting money to fund IRA terrorism?
    >
    >
    >Maybe the Dutch should protect them....but 'that reminds me' 8500 people died the
    >last time the Dutch 'protected' someone.
    >
    >jay Tue, May 7, 2002 mailto:[email protected]
    >
    >
    > Surely their very worthy
    >> policy of arresting the supporters and financers of terrorism isn't applied
    >> selectively on racial grounds is it? --==++AJC++==--
    >
    >--

Ah, I see you have no comment on the issue of US moral and financial support for
International terrorism. That is not really surprising though, you never can deal
with issues outside your limited political agenda. So, once again, when will the US
authorities start calling to account the US citizens that have encouraged and
financed the killing of innocent people in European cities? --==++AJC++==--

R J Carpenter

David Lewis wrote:
    >
    > True story from Charlotte Church ( a young singer who is very well known in
    > the UK.)
    >
    > She was introduced to a certain G.W.Bush who, on hearing she came from Wales, asked
    > "What state is that in?"
    >
    > No further comment required.

1) I don't think of W as any sort of well-versed genius, but being an expert in
foreign pop stars isn't in my list of qualifications for his job.

2) She could have been from:

Wales, Alaska Wales, North Dakota Wales, Utah Wales, Wisconsin or perhaps Lake Wales,
Florida North Wales, Pennsylvania

There isn't just __one__ Wales, though Brits may not know of any others .