Comments on: Musings From Northern Spain and France

By: Razzbar

Razzbar — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:59:19 +0000

This being a football town, it shouldn’t surprise anybody there are those with the mentality of “us all good, them all bad”.

Duh, is it possible that somebody else could have a good idea? When you praise someone, does it mean you hate yourself?

Thanks Dave, I wish you’d write more on your world travels. A lot more, in fact.

By: JIMV

JIMV — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:29:36 +0000

Editor, I have lived on 3 continents, visited 5 and can say that very few things that folk in the rest of the world do is better than we manage in our provincial country. I lived in Scotland in 1991 and 92. My home was 7 years old. I had to chip a hole in the ice in my toilet every morning in winter…no insulation, not double paned windows, not garbage disposals. Sewage disposal was simply a pipe that dumped raw sewage a minel into the Atlantic. About 3 years ago the Uk changed their laws on double jeopardy letting the government prosecute over and over again till they got the result they desired. In 1997 they outlawed all guns and gun crime increased 80%, violent crime over 100%. Hot breakins, with the owners home, are 17% in the USA and over 70% in the UK. It seems the crooks like unarmed victims.

I am tired of hearing how much better they manage it than we do when they really screw it up.

By: dog

dog — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 22:52:32 +0000

Jorge,
Welcome to America. Just remember, If Bush was having a love fest with Russia and our oil companies were making billions there, the Georgians would be labled terorists and the Russians “freedom fighters”. Just like in Spain, the Basques are terroists because they don’t have anything we want or can sell at WalMart. It’s all how you look at it.

By: Jorge

Jorge — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:47:53 +0000

I moved to America (and Idaho) from Spain in 1987 and have been a US citizen since 1994. I’m never going back. I am glad that the Euronized Spaniards, who allowed their elections to be swayed by an act of mass murder, approve of one of our Presidential nominees. I will sleep better tonight.

EDITOR NOTE– To one and all. I love America, I love Boise, but it is nice to note how other people live in other places. Lighten up and enjoy life–I am not advocating anything other than making our own little world a better place.
The Euro is worth around $1.50 and there are approximately 4 liters in a gallon. Today in Boise I filled up at $3.84 a gallon. The cute little crash-test failure rental cars may be fuel efficient, but in Spain you’re paying a sweet seven bucks a gallon.

The Europeans are more dependent on foreign energy than the USA. Why else would they barely whiff as Russia begins to invade former Soviet states? Russia holds all the cards and the flaccid EU “government” can and will do nothing until we are on the doorstep of another European war.

Enjoy the paella and the beautiful sunsets over a short visit because a long one would open your eyes too wide and only make you sick.

By: Old friend

Old friend — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:51:36 +0000

“ACHD could take lessons from engineers in the France and Spain when it comes to signs, left turn “loops” on the right side of the load and large ROUND ABOUTS that really work well.”

I can hear those guys filling out their travel requests as I type.

By: The Boise Picayune

The Boise Picayune — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:24:48 +0000

For all it’s faults, a really bad day in Boise – or America for that matter – is still better than a really good day in about 3/4 of the rest of the world.

As we tackle the challenges that face us, I am reminded of a quote attributed to Winston Churchill, to wit:

“You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing… After they’ve tried everything else!”

By: JIMV

JIMV — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:09:31 +0000

Did you note that the high price of gas is almost 100% the result of government taxes. The French are simply moore greedy then the Spanish. I note you also didn’t mention the current meltdown in the Spanish real estate market. Thier problems make ours look easy because so many of their overpriced homes are owned by foreigners. Those round-a-bouts have a much higher accident rate than do our cloverleafs and have a bigger real estate stamp. That is why we moved away from them in the 1950’s. Oh, and the same folk who long for Obama are voting their own left out of office all over Europe. It seems there might be a limit on the number of votes one can buy with other peoples money. The folk who speak of gun toting cowboys in America don’t know that their own countries have a higher violent crime rate than here and that theirs is is increasing while ours is dropping. Perhaps it is something other than the guns. Perhaps Americans retain their balls while the EU has theirs in a locked box.

By: Clancy

Clancy — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:03:20 +0000

I have seen those left turn loops in New Jersey before. They work well but consume extra land and can be confusing.