Joe wrote on Mon, 2 Jan 2006 11:00:39 -0500:

JBR> 2. Getting the US stuck in Indo-China--when we kicked the
JBR> Japanese out in 1945, we let the French back in--instead
JBR> of granting independence---How well did that work?

JBR> 3.. Development of a nuclear arsenal--and selling to such
JBR> stable governments as North Korea, Pakistan, & Iran.
JBR> Osama lives in Pakistan under tacit acceptance by their
JBR> government---if we cross the border to get him will it
JBR> sparks an overthrow of a friendly regime--do we want to
JBR> give the jihads the nukes sold to Pakistan by La Belle
JBR> France

JBR> 4. Letting the sale of French products like weapons and
JBR> the purchase of oil from the more anti-American countries
JBR> lead to denunciation of Israel and/or Zionism and the
JBR> virtual carte blanche to bomb synagogues. Yes I know the
JBR> Rothschild are powerful but all they get is weak apologies
JBR> & Lapin gets stronger

JBR> 5. (You thought I'd mention DeGaulle-nah) Getting the US
JBR> & Brits involved in the first World War over spheres of
JBR> influence. If they kept their cool in 1914 our boys never
JBR> would have gone "Over There" ++++ as a bonus we got a
JBR> policy of financial retribution that destabilized Germany
JBR> leading to the rise of the Nazi's thanks to the other
JBR> Allies outmaneuvering Woodrow Wilson at Versailles.

JBR> The USA was helped by Lafayette in the late 1700's--we've
JBR> been paying that ungrateful country(see DeGaulle, Charles)
JBR> with our soldiers blood ever since. Oh yeah thanks for the
JBR> Statute of Liberty, who paid to put it up?--those cowboy
JBR> US citizens the French mock. The French kept their
JBR> resources so they could plunder their colonies and afford
JBR> public lynchings like the Dreyfuss affair.

JBR> So as far as I'm concerned they can can take their Galois
JBR> smokes & oeufs and shove it. I love Bordeaux & the Rhone
JBR> and the better reasonably priced Burgs and drink them. I
JBR> would not boycott them--boycotting is not an American
JBR> value but is a tradition our les Amis, Le Belle France.

JBR> So what if they sneer at our tourists while they bank our
JBR> dollars. Yes they make the world best wine and charge
JBR> dearly for it while they slip some Moroccan plonk into
JBR> Burgundy bottles

JBR> "DaleW" > wrote in message
JBR>
oups.com...
??>> "Who first come across botrytis? Was it not a German? "
??>>
??>> Er, I think it was a Hungarian from Tokaji.
??>>
??>> "Somehow the
??>> whole world got the impression that the "best" wines come
??>> only from France, paying through their nose for "top"
??>> Bordeauxs and Burgundies. In reality, wines from Spain,
??>> Italy, Germany etc are as good in quality and cost
??>> a lot less."
??>>
??>> Well, using botrytized wines as an example doesn't really
??>> prove your point- as a class TBAs are the most expensive
??>> wines in the world. Only Yquem even comes close to the
??>> release prices of most top German TBAs.
??>>
??>> " In a recent blind tasting in France, French judges were
??>> astonished when they realized the top wine voted was
??>> American. "
??>>
??>> Recent, or 1976?
??>>
??>> While I am an admitted Francophile, I certainly appreciate
??>> the wines of many countries, and prize the differences.
??>> One strength that France does have, rivaled only by maybe
??>> Italy, is the large variance in styles that are offered at
??>> "world-class" quality levels. The great thing about France
??>> to me is not Petrus or DRC, but that almost every region
??>> offers a world-class wine in a unique style. I know others
??>> would offer US or Australia as examples, but to my tastes
??>> they offer fewer expressions of styles (especially in
??>> whites) than France.
??>>

Joe, that must be one Lulu of a hangover to last until today!
(Unless, the post is a forgery.)

James Silverton.