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Footy · Feb 26, 2005, 01:37 AM

Originally posted by Millennium:
I admit to not following the politics of Catholicism much, but last I checked the Pope couldn't name his own successor, nor can one be determined unless there is no Pope (due to death or resignation).

While there is a clear process for determining a successor, the politics involved are hideous, and the process can take an inordinate amount of time since the vote must be unanimous.

The College of Cardinals elect the Pope (as I'm sure you know) and I'm sure they have their prerequisites but they can elect anyone Pope, you wouldn't even have to be Catholic.

Election of the Popes

mrfrost · Feb 26, 2005, 09:05 AM

I knew it - Belgians are friendly people. Unless you try to take away their beer, their (French ) fries or their chocolate, that is.

Completely off topic. I actually read something about "French" fries the other day. Fries actually originate from Belgium but due to the fact that most Belgian soldiers in WW2 (or was it 1) spoke French, the English soldiers started calling them "French" fries. Anyway, this isn't all that important since now they are called "Freedom" fries anyway.

Carry on.

Goldfinger · Feb 26, 2005, 09:17 AM

Nice, I always wonderd why they are called "French" fries.

paully dub · Feb 26, 2005, 09:29 AM

Originally posted by mrfrost:
Completely off topic. I actually read something about "French" fries the other day. Fries actually originate from Belgium but due to the fact that most Belgian soldiers in WW2 (or was it 1) spoke French, the English soldiers started calling them "French" fries. Anyway, this isn't all that important since now they are called "Freedom" fries anyway.

Carry on.

Interesting. Answers.com has this to say:

Origin of the name

The simplest expanation of the origin of the American name of the dish is that the verb "to french" is a cooking term meaning "to cut into thin strings"; hence, they are potatoes that have been frenched, then fried.

However, there exist many other theories. By one account, the fried potatoes are called french fries because they are commonly fried in the Belgo-French manner (that is to say frying them twice with a small pause in the middle).

Other accounts say that they were once called German fries but the name was changed either for political reasons (Germany was once the enemy of the United States) or simple historical reasons (the traditional theory poses that it was in France during World War I that American soldiers first encountered the dish. However, recent historical evidence indicates that North-American soldiers were actually first served the dish in the Belgian part of the trenches but mistakingly thought they were in France. This makes all together more sense, as fries were and still are the national dish of Belgium, and this also implies that the historically correct name for the dish really should be "Belgian Fries").

A further theory is that the name is a misunderstanding of the archaic British usage of "French fried potatoes" to mean saut� potatoes, i.e. the French way of shallow frying potatoes that have been peeled, parboiled, allowed to cool and then sliced thinly; this is far more convenient than deep frying if frying other items as well, or if using previously prepared materials in a hurry (as in the English cooked breakfast).

Now to go get me some frites...

effgee · Feb 26, 2005, 09:55 AM

Originally posted by paully dub:
Interesting. Answers.com has this to say:
"... Other accounts say that they were once called German fries but the name was changed either for political reasons (Germany was once the enemy of the United States) ..."

Now to go get me some frites...

My favorite!

To make it semi-official, this thread is now about:

m a d r a · Feb 26, 2005, 10:11 AM

Originally posted by paully dub:
Interesting. Answers.com has this to say...

it's your own fault yanks, for always having to make up your own words for things! if you'd just stuck to calling them "chips" like in proper english, you wouldn't have had this problem - but of course you couldnae do that, coz you'd already decided to call "crisps" "chips"

paully dub · Feb 26, 2005, 10:25 AM

Originally posted by m a d r a:
it's your own fault yanks, for always having to make up your own words for things! if you'd just stuck to calling them "chips" like in proper english, you wouldn't have had this problem - but of course you couldnae do that, coz you'd already decided to call "crisps" "chips"

Interesting experiment: fill your mouth with as many of these fried potato sliced thingies and try to pronounce the words French Fries and chips (for advanced fun you can throw in frites).

Whichever is the easiest to pronounce/or ejects the least amount of potato and grease from the mouth wins.

Footy · 12:05 PM

Originally posted by m a d r a:
it's your own fault yanks, for always having to make up your own words for things! if you'd just stuck to calling them "chips" like in proper english, you wouldn't have had this problem - but of course you couldnae do that, coz you'd already decided to call "crisps" "chips"

So you call potato chips "crisps"? Just doesn't roll off the tongue as well!

m a d r a · Feb 26, 2005, 02:53 PM

Originally posted by Footy:
So you call potato chips "crisps"? Just doesn't roll off the tongue as well!

my spanish teacher at school reckoned it was the hardest word in the english language for her to pronounce....

"k-r-e-e-e-t-h-h-h-p-p-p-t-h-h-h?"

Disgruntled Head of C-3PO · Feb 26, 2005, 02:58 PM

More proof he has been dead for a while:

Stradlater · Feb 26, 2005, 03:39 PM

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
Once again, except this time a 4 day break, first post back is about me

Second, also me

Oh and now the 6th post also..

You got some catching up to do on your stalking.

http://forums.macnn.com/search.php?s...archid=1103832

He's a fanboy, you should be happy!

Disgruntled Head of C-3PO · Feb 26, 2005, 03:44 PM

Originally posted by Stradlater:
He's a fanboy, you should be happy!

Stradlater · Feb 26, 2005, 03:45 PM

Originally posted by Zimphire:
Cause you know he is SUCH a evil guy!11!

Depends on your definition of "evil." "Misguided" is perhaps more appropriate.

'Cause, you know, abortion is kind of like the holocaust...with the Jews and the nazis and the death camps and all...

paully dub · Feb 26, 2005, 04:01 PM

Originally posted by m a d r a:
my spanish teacher at school reckoned it was the hardest word in the english language for her to pronounce....

"k-r-e-e-e-t-h-h-h-p-p-p-t-h-h-h?"

I'm sure the pope, in his later years, would agree.

Deimos · Feb 26, 2005, 04:24 PM

I hope his last days are peaceful ones.

Randman · Feb 27, 2005, 07:11 AM

He just appeared at the window during the Sunday service. He's not going down without a fight it seems. Heck, as much as he's gone through, disease, being shot, old age ...

Albert Pujols · Feb 27, 2005, 07:24 AM

Originally posted by Randman:
He just appeared at the window during the Sunday service. He's not going down without a fight it seems. Heck, as much as he's gone through, disease, being shot, old age ...

psh, who hasn't been shot atleast once? I'm way tougher than the pope.

Zimphire · Feb 27, 2005, 08:09 AM

Originally posted by placebo1969:
Bush and the Pope the 2 most pathetic people alive? Give me a break.

They live in bizarro world.

Zimphire · Feb 27, 2005, 08:11 AM

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
In that case God seems to want him out of the picture also.

Ever had grandparents that have died?

Did God take them out of the picture also because they were evil?

Or, did they just die because they are old and ready to die?

Stop trolling.

Zimphire · Feb 27, 2005, 08:12 AM

Originally posted by effgee:

Wow - we're not getting any quicker in the head as we get older, are we?

No really I am. The BS gets easier to spot.

effgee · Feb 27, 2005, 08:50 AM

Originally posted by Zimphire:
[B]No really I am. The BS gets easier to spot.

LOL.

The (literally) mind-boggling power of auto-suggestion ...

... "Self-praise stinks" (ancient German proverb)

You know, you really shouldn't be that negative so early in the morning. Did you even have breakfast yet? Remember what the pharmacist said - eat, wait 20mins, then take that Lithium so you can put that heart-warming smile of yours back on ...

And for god's sake, get yourself a new BS-Meter - that one is so ugly it's not even funny. Show some pride and put a bit of effort in creating/leeching your graphics.

Buckaroo · Feb 27, 2005, 01:42 PM

I gues this is a cardboard cut out that they are holding up to the window.

Disgruntled Head of C-3PO · Feb 27, 2005, 01:50 PM

Originally posted by Buckaroo:
I gues this is a cardboard cut out that they are holding up to the window.

Disgruntled Head of C-3PO · Mar 20, 2005, 11:17 AM

More proof:

Zimphire · Mar 20, 2005, 12:34 PM

Originally posted by Stradlater:
Cause, you know, abortion is kind of like the holocaust...with the Jews and the nazis and the death camps and all...

Well they both have killed lots of innocence in the name of greed and selfishness.

Psychonaut · Mar 20, 2005, 12:51 PM

Originally posted by Zimphire:
Well they both have killed lots of innocence in the name of greed and selfishness.

Have you proposed your hypothesis to victims of the Holocaust? If you win their support, you could gain a lot of credibility.

Zimphire · Mar 20, 2005, 01:13 PM

Originally posted by Psychonaut:
Have you proposed your hypothesis to victims of the Holocaust? If you win their support, you could gain a lot of credibility.

Well one couldn't gain support from them either way now could they?

I am sure it would be like anything else in this world. People agreeing, and people disagreeing.

Dimethyltrypt · Mar 20, 2005, 01:47 PM

This whole Pope thing is pissing me off. Every 2 days or so we hear about this Pope in the medias. Shut up already. Just tell us when he dies. We don't give a ****.

Zimphire · Mar 20, 2005, 01:51 PM

Originally posted by Dimethyltrypt:
This whole Pope thing is pissing me off. Every 2 days or so we hear about this Pope in the medias. Shut up already. Just tell us when he dies. We don't give a ****.

Wow, so hateful.

Dimethyltrypt · Mar 20, 2005, 02:06 PM

Originally posted by Zimphire:
Wow, so hateful.

don't hate him, just sick & tired of seeing his ugly dying mug on tv and everywhere I go. and titles like "HE'S BREATHING OMG"

Zimphire · Mar 20, 2005, 04:08 PM

Is it cramping your style?

Disgruntled Head of C-3PO · Mar 20, 2005, 04:19 PM

Ha ha ha!

nredman · Mar 20, 2005, 04:34 PM

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
Ha ha ha!

wdlove · Mar 20, 2005, 05:59 PM

I have no doubt, but that the pope is still alive. The Parkinson's is making him look a lot worse. He is a frail 84 year old man. Seems to have avery strong will to live.

undotwa · Mar 21, 2005, 03:15 AM

Originally posted by Dimethyltrypt:
This whole Pope thing is pissing me off. Every 2 days or so we hear about this Pope in the medias. Shut up already. Just tell us when he dies. We don't give a ****.

Half the things in the Newspaper I don't care about. I don't go ranting about them and complaining. There are clearly quite a few people who are interested, like most Catholics who are a very large market.

Garage81 · Mar 21, 2005, 12:10 PM

even you flamboyant non-christians shouldnt wish death upon the pope, *just in case*

well, it's not really nice to wish death upon anyone, unless they play basketball for Villanova.

Disgruntled Head of C-3PO · Mar 27, 2005, 11:57 AM

Puppet on a string I tell ya

Weyland-Yutani · Mar 27, 2005, 01:14 PM

Originally posted by Footy:
The College of Cardinals elect the Pope (as I'm sure you know) and I'm sure they have their prerequisites but they can elect anyone Pope, you wouldn't even have to be Catholic.

Election of the Popes

You have to be a cardinal to be elegible as Pope and under a certain age.