Giant Predatory Worms Are Invading France (qz.com) 250
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Quartz: In a Peer J study published on May 22, "Giant worms chez moi!" zoologist Jean-Lou Justine of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris, entomologist colleagues, and Pierre Gros, outline a discovery that "highlights an unexpected blind spot of scientists and authorities facing an invasion by conspicuous large invasive animals." About 100 citizen scientists ultimately contributed to the assessment of this alien invasion, identifying five giant predatory worm species in France that grow up to 10 inches long. The study relied on contributors' worm sightings, reported "mainly by email, sometimes by telephone." Researchers requested photographs and details about locality. In 2013, the Washington Post reports, "a group of terrorized kindergartners claimed they saw a mass of writhing snakes in their play field." These were giant flatworms! The study concludes that the alien creatures appear to reproduce asexually. They prey on other, smaller earthworms, stunning them with toxins. "The planarian also produces secretions from its headplate and body that adhere it to the prey, despite often sudden violent movements of the latter during this stage of capture," researcher note. In other words, the hammerheads produce a substance that allows them to stick to victims while killing them. The study points out that invasive alien flatworms have been spotted in New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Brazil, and Australia. But the five species of hammerhead flatworms invading France are giants, growing up to 27 centimeters.
Sauteed in butter? (Score:5, Funny)
A few herbs and spices, feature as a delicacy problem solved.
Re:Sauteed in butter? (Score:5, Funny)
A few herbs and spices [...]
Once upon a time there may have been a series of SF books about giant worms and spices...!
Re: (Score:2)
Flashbacks to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
A few herbs and spices [...]
Once upon a time there may have been a series of SF books about giant worms and spices...!
If only the Spacing Guild -- I mean, the French -- had a bunch of giant tequila bottles ...
Re: (Score:2)
"The spice must flow!"
Re: (Score:2)
A few herbs and spices, feature as a delicacy problem solved.
There is another, more tasty solution: The government of France declares a special national holiday, and orders everyone on that day to . . . go fishing!
With folks collecting the giant worms, and using them for bait. Everyone should be catching some very big fish that can swallow giant worms.
Re: (Score:3)
Giant predatory worms invaded France, but scientists just noticed them [washingtonpost.com]:
What they lack in physical defenses, they make up in a cocktail of disgusting bodily juices. A colleague once tried to put a flatworm in his mouth, Justine recounted. The man still describes it as “one of the worst experiences of his life.”
Re:Sauteed in butter? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Especially since these things are quite phallic! They'll probably be endangered species by the weekend.
Re: (Score:2)
i think you were either going for "decimated" in minutes or "devastated in months"
in Proper or Classic English decimated is killing 1 in 10 devasted is leave 1 in 10 living.
but yeah just tell folks these are "certified organic" and or "Cruelty Free" and the problem is solved
Re: (Score:2)
No he was going for exactly what he said. We here speak English, not some historical form of it, and dictionaries are happy to point out the current accepted definition of decimate is to "kill large portions of a population" with your "proper" definition relegated to the historical footnotes at the bottom.
Now tell us what you think about this in ancient greek and other languages no one communicates in?
Re:Sauteed in butter? (Score:4, Insightful)
Nope :-(
Giant predatory worms invaded France, but scientists just noticed them [washingtonpost.com]:
What they lack in physical defenses, they make up in a cocktail of disgusting bodily juices. A colleague once tried to put a flatworm in his mouth, Justine recounted. The man still describes it as “one of the worst experiences of his life.”
Sounds like French food to me!
Re:Sauteed in butter? (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Hmm. That probably rules out the usual solution of bringing in gorillas, then.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Nothing that you have quoted rules it out from being included in French cuisine.
Re: (Score:2)
Nothing that you have quoted rules it out from being included in French cuisine.
Something that seems too gross to put in your mouth: Check.
Probably gives you "worms": Check.
I'm surprised the French aren't already eating them and claiming they're superior in a snooty tone to the rest of the world for doing so.
Re: (Score:2)
A colleague once tried to put a flatworm in his mouth, Justine recounted. The man still describes it as “one of the worst experiences of his life.”
Was the colleague a three year old?
Re: (Score:2)
On news of the invasion, (Score:2, Funny)
Re:On news of the invasion, (Score:5, Insightful)
White flags broke out across the country.
France has fought a hell of a lot more wars than America and they didn't hang back in either WW1 or WW2.
Re:On news of the invasion, (Score:4, Interesting)
France has fought a hell of a lot more wars than America and they didn't hang back in either WW1 or WW2.
Apparently you've never heard of the Phoney War, so I'll tell you how it all went down:
Germany invades Poland and conquers it in 5 weeks. France and England largely stood by and did nothing, except for a small operation called the Saar Offensive, which officially began the Phoney War. This offensive was so light that it didn't even tickle Germany. The USSR (on friendly terms with Germany at this point) invaded Finland, and then Germany invaded Denmark and Norway. This caused France to get cold feet, so they picked up what meager forces they sent and ran home.
That is a very brief summary of what happened, and you'll find it to be accurate if you research it. Granted, I've omitted many details, obviously, because of how short I wrote it, but it's hard to overstate how little of an effort that France and England made to stop Germany for TEN MONTHS after the invasion of Poland began. Anyways, immediately after France withdrew, they assumed their WWI playbook and hunkered down in the trenches in the Maginot line. It didn't work though: France didn't bother to fortify the region near Belgium's border thinking Germany wouldn't go there, but neutral Belgium and Holland seemed ok with allowing Germany's forces to quickly shift to the west and bypass the Maginot line entirely. In spite of France having a large and well armed and prepared Army (which they never tried to use to break Polish invasion,) they surrendered in 6 weeks.
So in other words, Europe as a whole sat on its ass (except for Germany, Austria, and their allies) for TEN FREAKING MONTHS! It's one thing for a country separated by an entire ocean, but good fuckin lord, practically the only reason a European country would take action during this period was after they were already invaded.
It was only after the fall of France that a serious allied war effort actually began. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor about 14 months after that. The US was isolationist at the time because we wanted nothing to do with your kings, queens, kaisers, and fuhrers because they looked all the same to us, and still do: But the lesson we took from Pearl Harbor is that even if you don't want a war, you're going to get one anyways. This meant we had to, among other things, assist the fucking USSR that we had to go to proxy wars with while we funded Europe's reconstruction with the Marshall plan, even though it wasn't our fault that they decided to blow themselves up. Here we are, 80 years later, and one third of Europe wants to be fascist again. And that is NOT an exaggeration:
https://www.nytimes.com/intera... [nytimes.com]
Now that Europeans aren't allowed to see what today's fascists actually say because it's censored, then all they see is the mild stuff that they sympathize with, and then they start liking them. What the fuck did you think was going to happen when you banned hate speech? Just because you don't see or hear the fascists doesn't mean they aren't there (for the most part, the only fascists you actually see in Europe call themselves antifa.) Some things never change...
I don't hate Europe or Europeans by the way, just the stupid ones who think tossing dog feces under the rug makes it go away, and then proceed to tell you that their house doesn't actually smell like shit.
Re: (Score:2)
What the fuck did you think was going to happen when you banned hate speech?
I think you've landed on the best argument I've ever heard for allowing free speech. There is no organization better equipped to turn people off to xenophobic fascists than letting them get a good whiff of what those fascists are cooking.
Sometimes you get someone so unhinged all you can do is sit back and say; "You were saying,..."
The only problem is when there are radical youth out there who suddenly think because old keyboard war
Re: (Score:2)
So in other words, Europe as a whole sat on its ass (except for Germany, Austria, and their allies) for TEN FREAKING MONTHS! It's one thing for a country separated by an entire ocean, but good fuckin lord, practically the only reason a European country would take action during this period was after they were already invaded.
I'm sorry, you must turn in your hipster card immediately.
The US cannot be allowed to be heroic, now or ever, not even in WWII. And Europe, all of it, must always be superior.
Kids these days ...
Re: (Score:2)
Europe as a whole sat on its ass (except for Germany, Austria, and their allies) for TEN FREAKING MONTHS! It's one thing for a country separated by an entire ocean, but good fuckin lord, practically the only reason a European country would take action during this period was after they were already invaded.
Although I agree more effort should have been made sooner, this is an oversimplification.
Europe 'as a whole' did not exist. There was no EU or anything like that. After the (the quite recent) horrors of WW1, the British and French populace weren't exactly jumping to get into another war and subsequently, neither were their representatives. Everybody was in "[Our country] first" and "Don't send our boys to die" mode, so Poland's invasion was troublesome, but not [Our country]'s problem (tm). A very slightly
Re: (Score:2)
Europe 'as a whole' did not exist.
I should have used the term "at large".
This is trivially false as France was not a monarchy at the time. It was a republic. Like you know, the US. The real reason is below.
Yes, and at large would have been a better term. But France still actually fits here, namely because even though they've technically been a Republic almost as long as the US has been, even during the first republic they never really cared much for individual rights, and they pretty much still don't. France always has had this populist feel to it, IMO, including having leaders that were basically dictators from the very start and reoccurring throughout the history of th
Re: (Score:2)
but neutral Belgium and Holland seemed ok with allowing Germany's forces to quickly shift to the west
Why do you think such nonsense? They got conquered, like the rest of Europe, and then we attacked France.
and bypass the Maginot line entirely.
We did not, we destroyed it with para troopers (Cargo Sailing planes landing on top them dropping about 20 troopers per plane, at night.) The line was designed to withstand field battles, not a night attack by special forces.
When the german troops entered France, it
Re: (Score:2)
and then we attacked France.
Oh boy...the way you've just set yourself up is just too hard to resist...I apologize in advance for what I feel I am now lulzbound to do next.
Why do you think such nonsense? They got conquered, like the rest of Europe,
First of all, your silly little third empire did not conquer the "rest" of Europe, much of it simply joined you (or rather, your Fuhrer (not Merkel, your other Fuhrer) idolized Mussolini and his creation of fascism, who in turn didn't care about your Fuhrer until after he rose to prominence, and a number of other countries that liked Mussolini's creation also joined
Re: (Score:2)
This load of nonsense has been modded up?
England and France didn't go to war against Germany in 1939 because that would have been suicide: both were desperately behind on the acquisition of military equipment, and were at that moment still looking at diplomatic solutions. With hindsight it's easy to see those didn't work, but that's hindsight for you. France was well-prepared to fight a repeat of WW1 but not to fight a highly mobile war.
Holland and Belgium were categorically NOT okay with the Germans invadi
Re: (Score:2)
Aside from the fact that your link is useless, (and I find it hilarious that somebody upmodded you in spite of having no idea what the fuck you're talking about since you really haven't made any kind of a point) the hard (voting) numbers speak for themselves. Really, if you make somebody have a very good reason to not be open about their beliefs, then guess what? You really have no idea just how many there actually are. Penalty of going to jail is a good enough reason to not be open about it. I really think
Re: (Score:2)
Besides inventing and/or making practical nearly all of the technology that allows the world's economies to prosper and scale to heights that otherwise wouldn't be obtainable? Besides giving the world the internet, which the rest of world then began censoring to keep their population controlled (Europe inclusive,) and then recently began weaponizing? Besides being the primary source of the green revolution, which effectively ended world hunger as much as it can be without deposing all of the world's dictato
Re: (Score:2)
Perhaps, but their tanks go twice as fast in reverse.
Re: (Score:2)
White flags broke out across the country.
France has fought a hell of a lot more wars than America and they didn't hang back in either WW1 or WW2.
Yes... and fine allies they are too. Thanks for helping us in WW2 Britain! Oh, what's that, you're fighting a war with Argentina over the Falkland isles... sounds like a perfect time to sell missiles and arms to Argentina.
Bastards!
Re: (Score:2)
France did not sell any war material during the Falkland war to Argentinia, you are an idiot.
They did the opposite, disabling the Exocet missiles partly, like they did in the second Gulf war.
The british had bad luck that the Exocet still could hit, but no war head exploded, only the remaining fuel.
During the Falkland war, the british refused all help from its allies ... only Nepalese Gurka troops where following the Queens call to arms. But I guess they were de facto british soldiers, and not Nepalese suppo
Re: (Score:2)
White flags broke out across the country.
France has fought a hell of a lot more wars than America and they didn't hang back in either WW1 or WW2.
It's a fucking joke. Let it go. Why do people feel the need to be offended about every-fucking-thing?
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Stop talking crap and trying to rewrite history.
America was actively working WITH the Germans until it got forced in to the war (thanks mostly to the Japanese).
US companies were supplying Germany with war materials, helping run factories, and supplying critical fuel additives.
Once the tables were turning (mostly thanks to the Russians, and the russian weather..) the Americans certainly
got involved..
No one says American help was not needed, but it is VERY interesting just how long it took to arrive...
And no,
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Stop talking crap and trying to rewrite history.
America was actively working WITH the Germans until it got forced in to the war (thanks mostly to the Japanese).
US companies were supplying Germany with war materials, helping run factories, and supplying critical fuel additives.
Once the tables were turning (mostly thanks to the Russians, and the russian weather..) the Americans certainly
got involved..
No one says American help was not needed, but it is VERY interesting just how long it took to arrive...
And no, America didnt 'Invade Europe' either, they were involved, but most certainly not single handed.
So why dont you just Fuck Off already.
I wonder just how well The NAZIs would have done without US fuel (specifically TEL addititives) and US trucks for their troop movements..
The US was reluctantly working with England with the lend/lease program. Not Germany. And to be fair, Russia needs due credit for the lives lost to defeat Germany. They suffered more than almost any other country.
Re: On news of the invasion, (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The US was reluctantly working with England with the lend/lease program. Not Germany.
Rofl.
You know not much. You know what a Hollerith machine is? You know who sold the most to whom, when and why? You know who the biggest customer of Ford truck engines was? And trucks build under license?
Should I go on?
And to be fair, Russia needs due credit for the lives lost to defeat Germany.
Sure they do, like any other army that has inferiour material, inferiour tactics, and an incompetent leadership. Like north Kore
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
The US government was seeking to aid the UK. Some individual US companies aided Germany (but very few). After WW2 a US company successfully sued the US government for bombing its fighter plane factories in Germany, and was awarded compensation.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
I for one am very grateful for the US intervention in WW2.
Could you send your best worm-eating rodents to Europe, save us one more time, plz?
Re: (Score:2)
I for one am very grateful for the US intervention in WW2.
Are you glad that we sold fuel to the Nazis so they could drive tanks into other countries, or that we sold aluminum to the Japanese so that they could build Zeroes and attack ships with them?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: On news of the invasion, (Score:2)
Yes, yes, we know; everything the US does is always wrong. Give it a fucking rest already.
Re: On news of the invasion, (Score:2)
Americans get stereotyped as stupid and fat, the French as rude and cowardly. You can't fight jokes with facts.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Our very best is occupied at the moment... hopefully available in 2020
Re: (Score:2)
Interesting idea, claiming that the people who came and saved your asses were "hiding" cowards.
If not for those "cowards" you'd probably be speaking German right now, and in constant fear of being sent to a labor camp until your eventual gassing for not saying the proper number of Sieg Heils every day.
The United States kept Britain free through lend / lease, and then without having a single shot fired at them by Germany put hundreds of thousands of troops into North Africa and France. The way you act, they should have just left well enough alone - maybe your ancestors would have been jailed and we wouldn't have you to deal with.
Fucking ungrateful ignorant moron.
Well, the USN had a number of minor engagements with the Kriegsmarine in 1941, and Germany declared war on the USA. Plenty more shooting before Operation Torch was launched, which was against the French.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:On news of the invasion, (Score:4, Informative)
"Without even a token resistance"
https://www.quora.com/Were-the-French-involved-at-Dunkirk
"The French army (and navy, which sent nearly as many ships as Great Britain), were the Allied resistance at Dunkirk, with some minor assistance from the British and Belgian forces. The French fought bravely - and well - to secure the safe evacuation of so many Allied troops"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32956736
"The fall of France 75 years ago is conventionally seen as a moment of abject national disgrace. But today some insist the French military has been wronged - and that the hundreds of thousands of French troops who fought in the Battle of France deserve to be honoured, rather than forgotten."
"About 360,000 French casualties, including between 55,000 to 85,000 dead and 12,000 missing."
https://www.quora.com/How-many-French-soldiers-died-during-the-battle-of-France-in-1940
In 1940, France was attacked by Germany and Italy at the same time (Total population twice bigger or more). UK had a natural shelter and could evacuate somewhere. Not the French who were attacked by Italy in the South. USA, due to its size and Atlantic Ocean natural barrier, never had to face this situation.
And also, German industry got a little help:
https://www.adl.org/news/op-ed/ford-and-the-third-reich
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/nov98/nazicars30.htm
https://libcom.org/library/allied-multinationals-supply-nazi-germany-world-war-2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Germany#Use_of_forced_labor_during_World_War_II
http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-american-companies-that-aided-the-nazis.php
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/general-motors-and-the-third-reich
I second this. (Score:4, Interesting)
The French did a fair job in preventing Paris not getting bombed to chunky kibbles.
Pre-war Nazi Germany was basically Isis + perfect organization + highest standard high tech military and organizational skills + 80 million people. Losing out in a blitzkrieg to an opponent of that magnitude isn't all that shameful.
To emphasize: In Operation Paukenschlag the US captured a German Sub. They couldn't copy it because it was too high tech. That's how advanced German military was back then. It's only thanks to the all-out stupidity and lunacy of Hitler and his goons that Germany lost despite having the most effective military force at the time. Luckily. If Hitler had had his 7 senses about him, Europe would be Nazi territory today. What happened though was that the Germans willingly went to serve as a tool for the globally extended suicide of a madman.
Re:I second this. (Score:4, Informative)
The West doesn't like to admit it, but the Soviet Union played a huge role in stopping Hitler. After he steamrolled Europe, he got cocky and invaded Asia. The Soviets threw bodies at him (soldiers were frequently sent in unarmed and told to pick up a rifle from a comrade who'd been killed) and eventually managed to stop his army and starve it during a brutal winter. Look at the Allied military casualty figures from WWII [wikipedia.org].
U.S.: 407,300 killed, 671,800 wounded
UK: 383,700 killed, 376,239 wounded
France: 210,000, 390,000 wounded
Soviet Union: estimated 8.6 to 11.4 million killed, 14.7 million wounded
And no it wasn't because the Soviets were incompetent. Other Eastern European countries which were overrun (Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia, Hungary) also suffered casualties on par with the U.S., UK, and France. And the Latvian countries lost over 10% of their total populations. If you look at German casualties [wikipedia.org], the Germans lost more than 8x as many soldiers on the Eastern front than it did on the Western front. The vast majority of the fighting happened to the east of Germany.
Yes D-Day gave the Allies a crucial Western foothold turning Europe into a two-front war (technically three-front since Italy had been invaded the previous year). But if the Soviets hadn't been keeping Hitler busy on the Eastern front, most of his armies would've been on the western beaches, and D-Day would've been a massacre.
Re:I second this. (Score:5, Informative)
Germany was always low on fuel. They produced fuel and plastics out of coal in more expensive processes. The Ardennes ambush was only possible because they conquered fuel depots of the Americans to supply their tanks.
The Me262 engine had to be replaced every week because Germany did not have access to the metals needed for heat-resistant alloys.
The Russians just built much more tanks and planes (the planes were powered by American enignes). And the Americans were just producing more ships than the Germans could sink with their subs. Oh, the Russian T34 tank was also superior to anything else when it arrived, the Germans had to construct stronger tanks to keep up with that.
Re: (Score:2)
There are many reasons why stuff went like this and not like that.
E.g. Turing cracked the Enigma. German subs positions where mostly known. The british radar was superior and could detect shallow diving subs and of course surfaced subs. So the brits used sailing cargo planes (without engine or engine off) to find subs with radar and bombed them. Many subs that did not see/hear them coming got lost that way.
I believe the ME262 engine was removed and overhauled after each flight or every second flight.
While t
Re: (Score:3)
They wouldn't copy it because it couldn't do the things a US submarine needed to do. Y'know, little things like cross the Pacific without running out of fuel....and then come back across the Pacific on the way home...on the same tank of gas....
---an ex-submariner
Re: (Score:2)
The French did a fair job in preventing Paris not getting bombed to chunky kibbles.
Not to be unfair to our friends across the channel, but it was Hitler who steadfastly refused to harm Paris, the rest of France was open slather but Hitler decreed that Paris was to be taken intact.
France's problem was that it was prepared to fight the last war (as was the UK and US, but we had the advantage of entire oceans between us) so all of their defences were centred around the Maginot line, which the Germans completely bypassed and surrounded a large part of the French army. Add to that that thei
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I welcome your intelligent and studied response. Thank you for enlightening me. I shall endeavor to become worthy of your esteem in the future.
Semper Fi.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
So you're saying the US should have colonized the Gaulic region of Europe.
Re: (Score:2)
So you're saying the US should have colonized the Gaulic region of Europe.
Seeing as there hasn't been a Gaulic region for about 1500 hundred years and the the US has existed for less than 300, probably not.
Re: (Score:2)
And France would be part of the Greater German Reich if we hadn't said thank you and sent a few million guys to help out in 1918 and 1943.
Call it even, then?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
replying to undo moderating mistake
Partially true. Weak, scared leadership ran away (Score:5, Informative)
The French were weakened by WWI, but had rebuilt quite a bit. The German army had taken heavy damage from the invasion of Poland and other battles. Hitler's top military commanders told him they couldn't invade Belgium and France until they had about two years to rebuild their strength. By the numbers, the two sides were roughly matched in the Battle of France:
Germany: 141 divisions
7,378 guns
2,445 tanks
5,638 aircraft
3,350,000 troops
Allies: 144 divisions
13,974 guns
3,383â"4,071 French tanks
2,935 aircraft
3,300,000 troops
The French expected a German assault would be much slower, with Belgian resistance giving the French time to prepare before the German army could advance through Belgium to France. In fact, the Luftwaffe were able to defeat Belgium very quickly, so things were not going the way French leaders expected when Germany was suddenly near their border. Since things weren't going according to plan, there was confusion and disorder in the French military in the first few days. Some French commanders and soldiers fought the best they could, without much national leadership.
Rather than taking charge and getting a new plan organized and in action, two days after the Germans attacked French prime minister Paul Reynaud called Winston Churchill and said "we have been defeated". The Germans had barely entered France when Reynaud gave up. Shortly afterward, the French leadership fled the country. After the leadership fled, the individual military units didn't (couldn't?) mount an effective defense acting separately.
The French people as a culture may not necessarily be cowards, but certainly Prime Minister Reynaud and other leaders behaved very cowardly and ineffectively.
In contrast, even after France was in fact occupied by the Nazis, Charles De Gaul refused to give up, urging resistance by individual French people within the occupied territory and organizing units of French people from outside France to join the allies in a campaign to liberate France from the Germans. Had de Gaulle been Prime Minister rather than Reynaud, the history of WW2 might have been very different, and the French might have a very different reputation today.
Re: (Score:2)
The French were weakened by WWI, but had rebuilt quite a bit. The German army had taken heavy damage from the invasion of Poland and other battles. Hitler's top military commanders told him they couldn't invade Belgium and France until they had about two years to rebuild their strength. By the numbers, the two sides were roughly matched in the Battle of France:
Germany: 141 divisions
7,378 guns
2,445 tanks
5,638 aircraft
3,350,000 troops
Allies: 144 divisions
13,974 guns
3,383â"4,071 French tanks
2,935 aircraft
3,300,000 troops
The French expected a German assault would be much slower, with Belgian resistance giving the French time to prepare before the German army could advance through Belgium to France. In fact, the Luftwaffe were able to defeat Belgium very quickly, so things were not going the way French leaders expected when Germany was suddenly near their border. Since things weren't going according to plan, there was confusion and disorder in the French military in the first few days. Some French commanders and soldiers fought the best they could, without much national leadership.
France's problem is that most of that equipment was horribly outdated. The Germans had built their tanks and aircraft from completely new designs, France and the UK followed WWI tank doctrines of scout tanks and heavy infantry tanks designed to support an infantry advance. So their heavy tanks often didn't have guns capable of dealing with armour and were definitely not fast enough to go toe to toe with German Panzers. It was the same with naval forces, much of the Royal Navy dated from WWI.
Hittler was Reckless, but what about Tiawan? (Score:2)
Hitler's invasion of Poland was achieved with Soviet help. Poland had a reasonable army, Germany had only recently started to rearm. But Stalin wanted the Baltic states and east Poland, and Hitler gave them to him. Without Stalin, the war with Poland would have been difficult, particularly with an attack from France. With Soviet help, it was hopeless for the Poles.
Hitler's invasion of France was reckless, and opposed by many of his generals. The Maginot line was very strong, and did its job of securing
Re: (Score:3)
and the French might have a very different reputation today.
That reputation only exists in the USA. And it was popularized after the French refused to invade Iraq. Something the USA now acknowledges as a big mistake (waste of money, no WMD found).
Re: (Score:3)
that french reputation existed before before US invaded Iraq. And was also quite popular in UK, not just the US.
But yes, the leadership of France did create the stigma, not the front linemen.
Re: (Score:2)
that french reputation existed before before US invaded Iraq. And was also quite popular in UK, not just the US.
You can maybe add the UK to that list but it's definitely not a world-wide thing.
Re: (Score:3)
The German army had taken heavy damage from the invasion of Poland
No they/we did not. Poland attacked the german tanks with cavalry and lances.
I don't know if they had a single tank or fight ready plane (as in a plane with weapons and not only scout plane).
The Germans had barely entered France when Reynaud gave up.
That is nonsense.
In contrast, even after France was in fact occupied by the Nazis,
Only north France was occupied. South France was under reign by the Vichy Government. They collaborated with G
Re: (Score:3)
The French refused to kowtow to the USA after WWII. While the British agreed to major concessions, including freeing it's colonies, the French did not. In fact, the USA got dragged into VietNam by de Gaulle's threat to ally with the Soviet Union if we didn't back them up in their attempt to re-acquire French Indochina.
Re: (Score:2)
They didn't have that reputation in the US either, when I was a child. I suspect that a bunch of people embarrassed by Vietnam feel the need to feel superior, and they can say "at least we weren't conquered, so we're better". That's just a wild guess, though, as I didn't notice when the reputation began changing.
Another possibility is that it could be based on some movie that I never saw. There are probably other possibilities. It's worth noticing that the word partisan was common terminology before the
trivial to solve (Score:4, Informative)
Issue solved.
Thats not a worm, THIS is a worm (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3)
You think the Giant Gippsland Earthworm is bad you should check out the Sandworms: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
3m is a good size. The title of the topic was promising but the actual size of the things was a disappointment.
Shai Hulud (Score:4, Funny)
The worm is the spice the spice is the worm!
Let me know when these little guys get big enough to ride.
Re: Shai Hulud (Score:2)
Let me know when these little guys get big enough to ride.
Thatâ(TM)s what she said.
And where is the earthworm porn? (Score:2)
knew it (Score:2)
First global warming and now this.
I knew it! Arrakis IS Earth after all!
Dune Reference. (Score:2)
Wheres the Spice ?
Serious question (Score:3, Interesting)
If I understand correctly, these invasive species feed on native earthworms.
If I remember correctly, earthworms have a relevant role in the conservation of top soil.
Will these invasive species have an impact on the conservation of top soil?
LET THEM ALL IN (Score:2)
YOU RACISTS!
France? Sacre Bleu, Eetz a terrorwist invasion (Score:3)
It's them Musworms :-D
Finally! (Score:2)
It is time for all biologists to pay for a century of torturing planaria! Go forth legions of wormy vengeance!
So where are these from? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Frenchman here.
Yes, it has changed a lot. For example, mobile internet is much cheaper. If you are talking about national security, then yeah, we now that security theater thing in many public events and in airports. Generally, the way France has changed in the last decade isn't much different from the rest of the western world.
As for "predatory things", the wolf preservation program is relatively successful, and while some farmers are complaining, we can't really call that an invasion if that's what you me
Re: (Score:3)
Same here in Germany, we have about 60 packs. Some estimate it is about 600 animals in total.
Sad is, one pack killed a whole herd of sheep a few weeks ago. Of course the farmers get refunded, but it is ofc annoying and not good for the project.
Luckily the lynx are more quiet :D We have about 100 in Germany, but some idiots try to poisson them or even hunt them.
Re: (Score:2)
Love lynxes. They're amazing.
And I know you're typing in another language - kudos to you for your mastery, wish I could say I had the same - but your misspelling of 'poison' as 'poisson' (fish, in French) is extra funny - I had images of idiots chasing lynx with fish. ;)
mh
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Not really.
They can come in all colors, as long they follow the same book that tell em to remove all the rest.
Re:There are predatory things invading France (Score:5, Funny)
Yes, and we should be tolerant of their intolerance, because otherwise we would be intolerant and that would be bad since we're white.
I, for one, welcome our new intolerant overlords.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:There are predatory things invading France (Score:5, Insightful)
Alas, the people who complain the most about other cultures tend to have the least of it on their own. Many of them don't even read novels. It's a sad truth that you can see that everywhere.
In contrast to that, the people who actually produce and advance culture, who write books and poems, who compose music, create fine arts, and make movies have almost without exception always been international cosmopolitans. Many of them have lived in different countries during their life, and the vast majority are very tolerant. Goethe's travel diaries are a good example of that attitude, for instance, and since we're talking about France it is also worth mentioning that Alexandre Dumas was the son of a French nobleman and a black slave from Haiti.
The moral of the story is that before even starting to think about complaining about other people's cultures, you should make damn sure that you have some of your own first.
Re: (Score:2)
"Alas, the people who complain the most about other cultures tend to have the least of it on their own. Many of them don't even read novels. "
Really...care to back that up with some evidence. Oh, you can't, can you, because you completely pulled it out of your anus.
Re: (Score:3)
it illustrates very well how irrelevant cultural differences are
Right. Because our culture now generally tolerates things like, say, being gay. Whereas other cultures cheer when gay people are thrown from rooftops. I'm sure, as you headed through the air to your death, you'd probably have some different thoughts about how irrelevant it is that a particular culture holds that you should die because of your sexual preferences.
Gotta love progressive moral relativism. More than happy to let other people die as long as they can use "not being judgey" as a crutch for thei
Re:The origins of (Score:4, Informative)
Uh... no...that came out 17 years ago:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Tremors 6 came out a few few weeks ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
So the next movie will be Tremors 7.
Re: (Score:2)
Centipede [wikipedia.org] was a far superior game, but that's just my opinion.