April 08, 2004

BUSHIFICATION OF EUROPE CONTINUES

No evidence of imminent attacks! Pre-emptive responses anyway! It’s a whole new France:

The French had kept a group of Moroccan-born militants under surveillance for some time, but had no specific cause to arrest them when the police struck in dawn raids on Monday, seizing 13 men with suspected links to the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group.

A senior French official admitted as much on Tuesday, saying "There was no evidence they were preparing an imminent attack in France." The crucial factor was that they had traveled to Afghanistan, where they learned to use weapons and make explosives.

The new French counterterrorism motto, he said, is "Every time we discover a cell, we eliminate it as a pre-emptive measure."

Those unsophisticated unilateralist cowgauls! And in another France rocks development:

Today Jose Bove, the Farmers' Confederation firebrand, risks slipping away into history. "McDo" cash registers at 1,030 locations, meanwhile, ring up a million sales a day to French customers.

McDonald's France reported 2003 revenue approaching $3 billion and is the most profitable subsidiary in Europe. It is opening 40 more restaurants in 2004, 10 percent of the chain's new outlets worldwide.


Posted by Tim Blair at April 8, 2004 01:49 AM
Comments

They must have finally read the report about Big Macs being healthier than their usual diet of quiche, rotting cheese and arab smegma.

Posted by: Clem Snide at April 8, 2004 at 02:58 AM

When I was in France a couple of years ago, you couldn't keep the French out of McDonald's or Pizza Hut (especially Pizza Hut). The places were always packed. I went into a couple of each to be sure that the patrons were French, and, if the chain smoking, French clothing, and French language were reliable evidence, then the Golden Arches are a big hit in Paris.

Posted by: hbchrist at April 8, 2004 at 03:42 AM

Where is the nuance in these heavy handed actions?

Posted by: perfectsense at April 8, 2004 at 03:45 AM

Mmmm. Royale with Cheeze.

Posted by: Ash at April 8, 2004 at 03:58 AM

Do they ask for french fries, or freedom fries?

Posted by: JeffS at April 8, 2004 at 04:51 AM

McDonald's France reported 2003 revenue approaching $3 billion and is the most profitable subsidiary in Europe.

Haahahaha!!!! You Fat Bastards! Hahahahaha!!!

Posted by: BH at April 8, 2004 at 05:44 AM

Go, McDonalds! Hard to beat their coffee & their fries at any well run franchise. (But when I have a choice, I usually go to Wendy’s).

Posted by: ForNow at April 8, 2004 at 05:54 AM

France has never been ashamed of unabashedly following its own self-interest and ignoring international norms when it suits her. In fact, French politicians will cheerfully admit, in their more honest moments, that their support for international norms and the UN is purely to restrain the US and boost French glory.

Unlike France, the US has never bombed a Greenpeace boat for protesting.

Posted by: John Thacker at April 8, 2004 at 06:03 AM

les mcdonalds est place préférée de peuples français à manger

Posted by: chirac at April 8, 2004 at 08:33 AM

In Germany, the signature McDonald's meal, Big Mac, would be pronounced 'big muck'. To guard against this eventuality, the advertisers put an umlaut over the A - or so I hear.
Umm - nothing much else to add, just a spot of trivia I picked up.

Posted by: TimT at April 8, 2004 at 09:52 AM

They order neither freedom, nor french, fries. They order frites.

Posted by: Andrew at April 8, 2004 at 10:10 AM

Andrew, I think they order "pomme frites" in France. Which I knew, having served in Europe. I was amused at buying beer in a German McDucks. That you won't see in the USA!

Posted by: JeffS at April 8, 2004 at 11:40 AM

More McDonald trivia:
In Buenos Aires, the three main burgers (McUltima, McSupremo, and McNifica) battled for the top of the superlative heap.

Posted by: arlo at April 8, 2004 at 12:07 PM

their usual diet of quiche, rotting cheese and arab smegma.

If they're getting any Arab smegma, they must like their boys VERY young!

Most Arabs are Muslim, and circumcised before they reach adulthood.

Arab prick cheese is nearly as rare as Israeli prick cheese.

Posted by: peggy sue at April 8, 2004 at 03:18 PM

McNifica? You've got to be kidding.

Posted by: Matt Moore at April 8, 2004 at 03:33 PM

Well, it could be worse, it might have been McPrickica

Posted by: JeffS at April 8, 2004 at 04:38 PM

Hmmm ... McPrickia with cheese anyone?

Posted by: JT at April 8, 2004 at 07:35 PM

Go Mickey D! Converting idiot minds one fry at a time!

Posted by: TC-LeatherPenguin at April 9, 2004 at 12:55 AM

Hey Matt, I actually think McNifica is a pretty clever bit of language adaptation to the Spanish market. The presumptuousness of labelling a Big Mac "magnifica/o" is pretty funny, though.

Posted by: Jeff B. at April 9, 2004 at 01:01 AM

JeffS, pommes frites = french fries; frites = fries. I might order "pommes frites" at some fancy restaurant, but at MacDo it's just "frites," as in "Six McNuggets et une grande frite, SVP." YMMV.

Posted by: Katherine at April 9, 2004 at 01:08 AM

Well it's got to be better than scarfing down a "Big Hober
" which has got to be appearing soon on Madrid menus.

Posted by: cugel at April 9, 2004 at 01:22 AM

Hum, Tim Blair, Bushification of french anti-terrorist policy is not really hot news...
Jean-Louis Bruguière, a prominent anti-terrorist investigator used to hold trials in gymnasium, because he rounded up so much people he coulnd't find a large enough court room... He's your man ! (of course a lot of them were innocent, but who cares)

Posted by: philippe at April 9, 2004 at 01:49 AM

I used to jizz in the cole slaw when I worked at KFC.

Posted by: heebyjaco at April 9, 2004 at 01:58 AM

"McDonald. The Ultimate Revenge." (TM) (C) (look-and-feel)

Posted by: Jack at April 9, 2004 at 02:34 AM

TimT,

In German, "Big Mac" would be pronounced "Beeg Mock", not Muck. So I have no idea why they'd make it "Big Mäc", but sure enough, it is...

http://www.mcdonalds.de/

Töo wierd für me...

Posted by: mitch at April 9, 2004 at 02:36 AM

Achewood to the rescue: http://achewood.com/index.php?date=07172003

Posted by: Josh at April 9, 2004 at 02:57 AM

Actually, pomme frites is literally fried apples. That's because potato is pomme de terre, apple of the earth. In pomme frite, the de terre is dropped because that's quicker, easier, and just sounds better.

Similarly, the pomme is dropped at fast food places to make plain frites--but it's the same food.

Posted by: Roger Sweeny at April 9, 2004 at 03:03 AM

Jeff S. -- Back in the 80s you could get beer and wine at the restuarant in the McD's corporate HQ in Oak Brook, IL

Posted by: trivia at April 9, 2004 at 03:22 AM

Heebyjaco - That is so fucking sick. To think that you're proud of your "act(s)" is beyond understanding. Unless, of course, you're still around the age where most people generally experience fast food from the employee side of the counter.

I, for one, hope there's a surveillance camera that recorded your action, and further hope that perhaps someone at your next residence will return the favor - hopefully in your ass.

Un fucking believable.

Posted by: yuck at April 9, 2004 at 03:45 AM

oh, the french love mcdonald's. and they're not afraid to admit it.

Pound for quarter-pound, they eat more of it, more often, than any other nationality on the Continent, and the nay-sayers here who predicted the French would give up their beloved aged cheese before they would adopt the quick-fry meat patties, so often seen as emblematic of America’s bad taste, have been proved as wrong as red wine with white fish.

Posted by: catherine at April 9, 2004 at 03:50 AM

Hey Yuck, don't respond to jaco. I've seen his comment before: he posts it on any topic even remotely dealing with fast food. I wouldn't be at all surprised if "he" was just a spam script.

Posted by: E. Nough at April 9, 2004 at 05:28 AM

Beer and wine at the Oak Brook McDucks? really? LOL! That's interesting!

Thanks!

Posted by: JeffS at April 9, 2004 at 07:09 AM

Besides, McDonald's restaurants are air conditioned. Sadly, this is a rare amenity in France. If it's another long hot summer, McDonald's will save many lives again.

Posted by: Eric Jablow at April 9, 2004 at 08:36 AM

heebyjackoff, you are a piece of sh*t.

Posted by: brian at April 9, 2004 at 09:03 AM

"Besides, McDonald's restaurants are air conditioned. Sadly, this is a rare amenity in France. If it's another long hot summer, McDonald's will save many lives again."

Well, America comes to the rescue of France! And they PAY us for it! Who says capitalism is bad?

Is McDonalds trying to expand into Iran or North Korea?

Posted by: JeffS at April 9, 2004 at 11:17 AM

it's not a whole new France; France was never soft on terror!

Posted by: karibu at April 9, 2004 at 06:13 PM

Regarding the French class, I might help.

French fries are indeed "pommes frites" in French.

But "pommes frites" is generally shortened to "frites" in both McDo and fancy restaurants...

As far as the "pomme" is concerned, it is true that apple = "pomme" and potatoe = "pomme de terre" or "patate".

/!\ You don't mention "pommes de terre" when talking about french fries: you don't say "pommes de terres frites" or you are quite old...
And you generally don't eat fried apples, or maybe in Normandy (salted with a Andouillette) or in the south of France (sweet in fritter).

Hope this'll help your ordering @McDonald's in France.

Posted by: Passerby at April 9, 2004 at 08:40 PM

Thanks for the lesson, Passerby!

The interesting thing is that I learned "pomme frites" while stationed in Germany, without ever stepping into France. I believe that I heard the term on the German economy (such as dining in the local McDucks), but I might have picked it up from my fellow soldiers.

Posted by: JeffS at April 10, 2004 at 01:14 PM