France Entering The Rather World?

[Annie]

LOL Kind of envision themselves as the French CNN, funded by the tax payers. They wonder why they are irrelevant?

http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110006167

Excerpt:

The Iraq war and Mr. Kerry's defeat appear to have convinced the Chirac government to press ahead with plans to start a government-funded international news network, which they have dubbed "CNN à la française," in an attempt, as French diplomats put it, to "make France radiate" around the world.

The French have been suffering for years from envy of what they call America's "hyperpower" status. Although it has nuclear weapons and a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, of late France has had fewer opportunities than ever to assert its clout in a U.S.-dominated world. The new channel was in part the brainchild of former foreign minister Dominque de Villepin, the poet-diplomat whose duplicity during the Iraq conflict angered even the most Francophile officials at the State Department. In 2003, Mr. de Villepin announced plans for the channel by declaring that the world was thirsting for the French view. "Never has France been so listened to, and never have so many hopes been placed in it," he declared.
The Chirac government will provide $40 million in start-up financing for the network, which will be unusual partnership between the leading private broadcaster, TF1, and a state network called France Télévisions. It will be broadcast only outside France, in order to not compete with TF1's 24-hour domestic news channel.

It's hard to see how the new channel would be anything more than a propaganda arm of the French Foreign Ministry, since the ad market for such a station outside France is nonexistent. Only 3% of the world speaks French, making it just the 11th most widely spoken language. To increase its influence the channel promises it someday will broadcast in other languages--including Arabic and even English.​

 

[dilloduck]

oooooooo hmmmmcall it France Reveals Obsolete Government ??

or just FROG ?

 

[musicman]

oooooooo hmmmmcall it France Reveals Obsolete Government ??

or just FROG ?

ROFLMAO!

Charity to the ungrateful and undeserving is always a mistake; it makes the recipient contemptuous of the giver. Given the - what - five minutes France spent fighting WWII? - she did not deserve the postwar powers handed her by the U.S. . France knew it, the world knew it, and France knew that the world knew it. A puffed-up people can never forgive generosity.

France's contempt for America has been seething for sixty years. Nothing they do will surprise me.

 

[Said1]

Thanks Kathianne! This is one of the funniest articles I've read about France in a long time! The pickings were endless, but I found the following brought about the most hysterical laughter!

"Never has France been so listened to, and never have so many hopes been placed in it," he declared.

Yes, we're all watching and hoping for the same fits of uncontrollable laughter they enjoy while watching Jerry Lewis.

To increase its influence the channel promises it someday will broadcast in other languages--including Arabic and even English.

Boradcast in Arabic AND English! They must think the rest of the world is suffering from the same delusions and mental retardation they appear to be afflicted with.

"France believes it has a point of view, which is not represented in international channels like BBC and CNN--to say nothing of Fox News," says David-Herve Boutin, an aide to Bernard Brochand, the lawmaker who was appointed to design the channel's blueprint.

If they want the job done right, I guess they're gonna have to do it themselves.

 

[Merlin1047]

Only 3% of the world speaks French, making it just the 11th most widely spoken language.[/INDENT]

If you take the french Canadians out of the mix, I wonder how the percentage tallies up then.

The xenophobic french are desperately trying to keep their language and their culture going. The harder they try, the more they fail and the more irrelevant they become. My personal prediction is that the french language is on the same road as latin.

 

[manu1959]

betcha a franc they do the broadcats in french then complain that no one is listening to them

 

[musicman]

betcha a franc they do the broadcats in french then complain that no one is listening to them

Bush's fault.

 

[drlin]

betcha a franc they do the broadcats in french then complain that no one is listening to them

they will probably broadcast in french and arab, with english in subtitle...

at least, that's what I heard...

 

[manu1959]

they will probably broadcast in french and arab, with english in subtitle...

at least, that's what I heard...

should be a succesfull adventure for the french given their history

* Gallic Wars - Lost. In a war whose ending foreshadows the next 2000 years of French history, France is conquered by of all things, an Italian.

* Hundred Years War - Mostly lost, saved at last by female schizophrenic who inadvertently creates The First Rule of French Warfare; "France's armies are victorious only when not led by a Frenchman."

* Italian Wars - Lost. France becomes the first and only country to ever lose two wars when fighting Italians.

* Wars of Religion - France goes 0-5-4 against the Huguenots

* Thirty Years War - France is technically not a participant, but manages to get invaded anyway. Claims a tie on the basis that eventually the other participants started ignoring her.

* War of Devolution - Tied. Frenchmen take to wearing red flowerpots as chapeaux.

* The Dutch War - Tied

* War of the Augsburg League/King William's War/French and Indian War Lost, but claimed as a tie. Three ties in a row induces deluded Frogophiles the world over to label the period as the height of French military power.

* War of the Spanish Succession - Lost. The War also gave the French their first taste of a Marlboro , which they have loved ever since.

* American Revolution - In a move that will become quite familiar to future Americans, France claims a win even though the English colonists saw far more action. This is later known as "de Gaulle Syndrome", and leads to the Second Rule of French Warfare; " France only wins when America does most of the fighting."

* French Revolution - Won, primarily due the fact that the opponent was also French.

* The Napoleonic Wars - Lost. Temporary victories (remember the First
Rule!) due to leadership of a Corsican, who ended up being no match for a British footwear designer.

* The Franco-Prussian War - Lost. Germany first plays the role of drunk Frat boy to France 's ugly girl home alone on a Saturday night.

* World War I - Tied and on the way to losing, France is saved by the United States . Thousands of French women find out what it's like to not only sleep with a winner, but one who doesn't call her "Fraulein." Sadly, widespread use of condoms by American forces forestalls any improvement in the French bloodline.

* World War II - Lost. Conquered French liberated by the United States and Britain just as they finish learning the Horst Wessel Song.

* War in Indochina - Lost. French forces plead sickness, take to bed with the Dien Bien Flu

* Algerian Rebellion - Lost. Loss marks the first defeat of a western army by a Non-Turkic Muslim force since the Crusades, and produces the First Rule of Muslim Warfare; "We can always beat the French." This rule is identical to the First Rules of the Italians, Russians, Germans, English, Dutch, Spanish, Vietnamese and Esquimaux.

* War on Terrorism - France , keeping in mind its recent history, surrenders to Germans and Muslims just to be safe. Attempts to surrender to Vietnamese ambassador fail after he takes refuge in a McDonald's.

Thus, the question for any country silly enough to count on the French (see EU) should not be "Can we count on the French?", but rather "How long until France collapses?"