3 Moments of Silence
Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 11:28 pm
Three Moments of Silence=20
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 =
who did not return." It became very quiet in the room.=20
**************=20
Then 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?" Dead silence.=20
*****************=20
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 who 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 its because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies, and Americans arranged =
it so you wouldn't have to speak German.' Silence=20
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 =
who did not return." It became very quiet in the room.=20
**************=20
Then 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?" Dead silence.=20
*****************=20
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 who 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 its because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies, and Americans arranged =
it so you wouldn't have to speak German.' Silence=20