"European Success on the Backs of the Poor"

THAT would be the headline I'd like to see.

Just yesterday, we had to listen to parade of Euro-self congratulatory circle-jerking about the new Airbus plane.

I love engineering marvels and I am not questioning the engineering behind this thing, but, for the Europeans to be virtually fellating each other over this thing is crazy.

This was Jacques Chirac yesterday:

French President Jacques Chirac praised the A380 as the "crowning achievement of a human and industrial adventure", describing it as a "European success".

And here was German Chancellor Schroeder:

"Good old Europe made this possible," gushed German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder

We all know that Airbus is heavily subsidized by the governments of the consortium, which helps on the 'costs' side. But, now we get to find out that some sleazy, strong-armed tactics by the EU are aiming to help the 'revenue' side as well.

"TSUNAMI-struck Thailand has been told by the European Commission that it must buy six A380 Airbus aircraft if it wants to escape the tariffs against its fishing industry"

Too bad, we 'stingy' Americans can't compete with 'old Europe'