And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading troughs*
It is entirely possible that American warships chugging across the ocean with the singular focus their name implies might just have passed the Jeanne d’Arc, a French helicopter carrier, on its way to New York…
Have the French decided to teach America a lesson? Are they coming to take back the Statue of Liberty because we don’t deserve it anymore? Are they attacking America, now that all her “defenses” are off shoving Democracy down the throats of heathens and securing oil for America’s energy habit?
Not the French. They’re far too civilized for that. They know that the only weapon worth having is knowledge.
In fact, the French warship Jeanne d’Arc, which docked in New York Harbor on the 28th of December, was carrying a precious cargo: over 10,000 books. For America’s disadvantaged children. The books are for inner city kids in newly launched French immersion programs in New York city and for kids who were victims of Katrina.
Thank gawd somebody’s government thinks of American kids.
Is this gesture a slap in the face? Is it a reaction to France’s growing awareness of just how alarmingly ignorant Americans are? Is it France’s attempt to provide a prophylaxis against ignorance in the next generation? Are they trying to make a point, or set a good example? Or are they just being nice? I’m sure it’s a little bit of all of these…
What’s important is that while Americans now have about the same respect for human rights, international law, and their own Constitution that they do for their Chuck E. Cheese game tickets, France is trying to keep the dream alive.
Best thing that could happen to America would be a plague of Frogs…
*Exodus 8:3
A warship with 10,000 books for the educationally underprivileged: very French ;-)
As I’m still freezing in my humble Antwerp (Belgium) dwelling after an unresolved major AC wiring drama, I spent some time at a nearby FNAC (books, CDs and electronics) store. After 10 min a security guard come up to me and asked “if I wanted to buy that book or just read it for free” (aaaaargh)
I left, with the freezing cold and the crime-ridden neighborhood of the Antwerp library
(http://antwerp.wordpress.com/2007/01/26/
a-novel-approach-to-fight-crime-in-antwerp-build-a-library/)
forcing me home.
There are times that I’d rather be ignorant, but warm.
Nice one Pam. Often after a disaster like the tsunami an appeal will go out for books for schools and libraries. Given the tsunami-like disaster that the Bush administration has been for America, a general appeal for books from the American people to the rest of the world would be responded to sympathetically, as the French have demonstrated.
A happy new year to the frog bloggers.
Hi Peter. Very French indeed! Downright subversive to give American kids books these days. I’m sure they’ll be burning books soon.
I can’t believe you’re still without heat!!!! The holiday’s over!!! You poor thing. I HATE to be cold. I wear fingerless mittens when I’m at my computer. Do we need to send blankets?
Hi David. Nice thought and I’m sure you’re right. But what are the odds Americans would actually ask for books? You and I both know that intellectual curiosity is in its death throes there.
Pardon my French, but what a load of crap. I know another thing you can do with warships. Sink them with a French designed, built and highly exported Exocet anti-ship missle. How uncivilized. I wonder if the French ships heading to Libya are carrying books. Probably not.
I know, if it wasn’t for America, there would be no wars, because deep down the human race is peaceful and it is only the threat of American imperialism that makes everyone else arm themselves to the teeth.
God, if only we could read we might change our ways. Thank you for the books France, thank you thank you thank you(are they in English, ’cause I don’t think anyone here reads French). Soon we will be on the road to literacy. This, of course, will help us build more effective weapons.
Hello Yank. You’re right, the French are one of the world’s foremost arms exporters. They make ‘em, they keep ‘em, they sell ‘em. But at least they think before they use them, probably because after centuries of war with neighbors and two world wars on their own territory they learned something. And I have no idea what the French ships are carrying to Libya. Possibly the parts to build the nuclear power plants they just agreed to sell Libya for something like 9 billion Euros. Definitely questionable judgment on the part of French president “Sarko the American,” who is quite rash for a Frenchman and making a lot of his countrymen very nervous. He was elected because he promised to energize the economy, but so far this means making massive nuclear power plant deals with scary countries. At least they are aware of what their president is doing and they ARE getting nervous, and protesting, and not just going to Starbucks, oblivious to the man behind the curtain. His popularity has plummeted to just over 30% in the first almost year of his presidency because the French don’t like his methods and are beginning to wonder about his madness. Americans, however, re-elected their own madman.