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pjp
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 Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 4:23 am Post subject: You could have heard a pin drop. |
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| Quote: | | At a time when our president and other politicians tend to apologize for our country's prior actions, here's a refresher on how some of our former patriots handled negative comments about our country. |
| Quote: | JFK'S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60's when DeGaulle decided to pull out of NATO. DeGaulle said he wanted all US military out of France as soon as possible.
Rusk responded, "Does that include those who are buried here?"
DeGaulle did not respond.
You could have heard a pin drop. |
| Quote: | 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."
You could have heard a pin drop. |
| Quote: | 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 intend 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 their flight deck. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?"
You could have heard a pin drop. |
| Quote: | 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 Brit's, Canadians, Aussie's and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German."
You could have heard a pin drop. |
| Quote: | AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...
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 their 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 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen
to show a passport to."
You could have heard a pin drop. |
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sugar
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pjp
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 4:56 am Post subject: |
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I received it as not spam.
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notageek
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 4:57 am Post subject: |
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The first one's good, the rest are meh.
Although I'm seeing a pattern here. The French don't like you very much.
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mcgruff
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Prenj
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 7:51 am Post subject: Re: You could have heard a pin drop. |
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| pjp wrote: | 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 Brit's, Canadians, Aussie's and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German."
You could have heard a pin drop. |
Russian, not German. Allies were there to ensure that russkies didn't go all the way, they turned the war around in 1942, and by 1943 were on offensive. US was still warming up at that time.
But you get one for the effort.
P.S. Polish who flew in Battle for Britain when their country was run over never asked for anything in return, and always showed their passports. |
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disi
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 8:02 am Post subject: |
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Sounds a little like Godwin's law. However really good replies to dump questions, especially the passport one 
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John R. Graham
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 11:46 am Post subject: |
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I've heard this one on one of the aviation boards I frequent but I've never seen accurate attribution; it may be apocryphal.
In the 1970's British Airways instituted 747 jet service to Frankfurt, Germany. Only the most experienced and senior pilots were allowed to fly those big jets back then. Allegedly a PanAm captain heard this exchange between the German ground controllers and a British Airways 747, call sign "Speedbird 206":
Speedbird 206: " Frankfurt, Speedbird 206 clear of the active [runway]."
Ground: "Speedbird 206. Taxi to gate Alpha One-Seven." The BA 747 pulled onto the main taxiway and slowed to a stop.
Ground: "Speedbird, do you not know where you are going?"
Speedbird 206: "Stand by, Ground, I'm looking up our gate location now."
Ground (with quite arrogant impatience): "Speedbird 206, have you not been to Frankfurt before?"
Speedbird 206 (coolly): "Yes sir, twice in 1944, but it was dark—and I didn't land."
There followed quite a long silence on the ground control frequency, after which the German ground controller was painfully polite.
- John
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notageek
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 12:02 pm Post subject: |
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Wow!
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mcgruff
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 12:43 pm Post subject: Re: You could have heard a pin drop. |
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| Prenj wrote: | | Russian, not German. Allies were there to ensure that russkies didn't go all the way, they turned the war around in 1942, and by 1943 were on offensive. US was still warming up at that time. |
Indeed. The west was something of a sideshow by comparison. The Soviets destroyed the bulk of the German army and endured terrible losses.
| Quote: | | P.S. Polish who flew in Battle for Britain when their country was run over never asked for anything in return, and always showed their passports. |
And after the war, the country they fought for was gone, swallowed up by the Soviet Union. VE day would have been a bittersweet experience. Many never returned home.
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Prenj
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 1:30 pm Post subject: |
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| John R. Graham wrote: | | Ground (with quite arrogant impatience): "Speedbird 206, have you not been to Frankfurt before?" |
Smart but BS. Why would an operator on an international airport assume that someone HAS been there before? Probably invented by some hick who cannot grasp the difference between international airport and local buss. |
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pjp
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 1:58 pm Post subject: Re: You could have heard a pin drop. |
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| Prenj wrote: | | But you get one for the effort. |
I just posted it, so not much effort. I think you might be taking it too seriously.
| John R. Graham wrote: | Ground (with quite arrogant impatience): "Speedbird 206, have you not been to Frankfurt before?"
Speedbird 206 (coolly): "Yes sir, twice in 1944, but it was dark—and I didn't land." |
:lol:
Hadn't heard that one. I was expecting a variation of the US Navy / Lighthouse interaction.
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notageek
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 2:02 pm Post subject: |
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Why do the French hate you so much? Is Barack Obama French?
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John R. Graham
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 2:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Prenj wrote: | | Smart but BS. Why would an operator on an international airport assume that someone HAS been there before? Probably invented by some hick who cannot grasp the difference between international airport and local buss. |
As a pilot, I've flown in and out of controlled airfields for most of my life. I have to say that the dialogue didn't ring all that false to my ears. You might be more experienced in these things than I, though.
- John
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disi
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 3:17 pm Post subject: |
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| John R. Graham wrote: | | Prenj wrote: | | Smart but BS. Why would an operator on an international airport assume that someone HAS been there before? Probably invented by some hick who cannot grasp the difference between international airport and local buss. |
As a pilot, I've flown in and out of controlled airfields for most of my life. I have to say that the dialogue didn't ring all that false to my ears. You might be more experienced in these things than I, though.
- John |
The discussions between the tower and pilots are sometimes really funny
http://www.funnyairlinestories.com/pilot_stuff/tower_chatter.asp
| Quote: | Beech Baron: "Uh, ATC, verify you want me to taxi in front of the 747.".
ATC: "Yeah, it's OK. He's not hungry.". |
//edit:
| Quote: | Tower: "Have you got enough fuel or not?"
Pilot: "Yes."
Tower: "Yes what??"
Pilot: "Yes, SIR!" |
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notageek
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 4:15 pm Post subject: |
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They have time to do comedy in these situations...
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Muso
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 4:19 pm Post subject: |
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| notageek wrote: | | Although I'm seeing a pattern here. The French don't like you very much. |
The pattern I'm seeing is that the French come off as idiots.
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notageek
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 4:24 pm Post subject: |
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To you Americans. I wonder why? It must be the Batman-Joker syndrome.
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notageek
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 4:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | The following are accounts of actual exchanges between airline pilots and control towers from around the world.
While taxiing the crew of a USAir flight departing for Ft. Lauderdale made a wrong turn and came nose to nose with a United 727.
The irate female ground controller lashed out at the USAir crew, screaming:
"USAir 2771, where are you going? I told you to turn right onto Charlie taxiway! You turned right on Delta! Stop right there. I know it's difficult for you to tell the difference between C's and D's, but get it right!"
Continuing her tirade to the embarrassed crew, she was now shouting hysterically:
"God, you've screwed everything up! It'll take forever to sort this out! You stay right there and don't move till I tell you to! You can expect progressive taxi instructions in about half an hour and I want you to go exactly where I tell you, when I tell you, and how I tell you! You got that, USAir 2771?"
"Yes ma'am," the humbled crew responded.
Naturally the ground control frequency went terribly silent after the verbal bashing of USAir 2771. Nobody wanted to engage the irate ground controller in her current state. Tension in every cockpit at LGA was running high. Then an unknown pilot broke the silence and asked,
"Wasn't I married to you once?" |
| Quote: | A Pan Am 727 flight engineer waiting for start clearance in Munich overheard the following:
Lufthansa (in German): Ground, what is our start clearance time?"
Ground (in English): "If you want an answer you must speak English."
Lufthansa (in English): "I am a German, flying a German airplane, in Germany. Why must I speak English?"
Unknown voice (in a beautiful British accent): "Because you lost the bloody war!" |
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Prenj
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 4:37 pm Post subject: |
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meh
Last edited by Prenj on Mon May 14, 2012 4:38 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Muso
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 4:37 pm Post subject: |
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| notageek wrote: | | To you Americans. I wonder why? |
"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 intend to do, bomb them?" <--- perfect example of the idiocy I mentioned.
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notageek
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 4:44 pm Post subject: |
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You had the opportunity to let the Germans take care of them, you let it pass.
You've only got yourselves to blame for it.
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Muso
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 4:52 pm Post subject: |
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| notageek wrote: | You had the opportunity to let the Germans take care of them, you let it pass.
You've only got yourselves to blame for it. |
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aidanjt
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 4:57 pm Post subject: |
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| disi wrote: | | http://www.funnyairlinestories.com/pilot_stuff/tower_chatter.asp |
| Quote: | Student Pilot: "I'm lost; I'm over a big lake and heading toward the big E."
Controller: "Make several 90 degree turns so I can identify you on radar."
(short pause)...
Controller: "Okay then. That big lake is the Atlantic Ocean. Suggest you turn to the big W immediately ..." |
That's the best one
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| juniper wrote: | | you experience political reality dilation when travelling at american political speeds. it's in einstein's formulas. it's not their fault. |
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ichbinsisyphos
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 5:04 pm Post subject: |
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| It's scary how easily Americans can be manipulated by their government. |
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