European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 7, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 18 stars and stripes Friday february 1986 columns & comments today s crossword Chunnie won f cure prejudices by Flora Lewis they be been talking about it for nearly 200 years and now they say they re really going to do it. Work on what Fleet Street Calls the Channel a Tunnel under the English Channel is supposed to Start next year and sometime in 1993 people should be Able to go by Lan Between London and Paris in 3w hours. The idea has always been wrapped in High Symbol ism the solid attachment of defiantly insular England with its once global preoccupations to the continent but there were More immediate and mundane concerns that pushed prime minister Margaret Thatcher an president Francois Mitterrand to their agreement both Are deeply concerned with the stubborn persistence of High unemployment even As the recession ebbs. Building the Tunnel is expected to create 30,000 jobs Between France and Britain. Mitterrand s party remains the underdog in legislative elections due in March and Thatcher will probably face elections in the fall of 1987, when the work is expected to Start. Further the project is to be financed privately in anticipation of earnings on future tolls so it does t provoke National budget headaches. It does evoke Thaura of grandiose Enterprise like the Suez canal in the 19th Century when Europe spawned engineering projects that changed the look and the ways of the world. There have been hints that somehow a land link will reinvigorate the common Market and make Britain More willingly and More cooperatively but that is recognized As part of the obligatory fanfare and rhetoric not serious prediction at this stage. For the curious fact is that the French and the British still see each other As the 18th and 19th Century Archeri vats they were not As the close partners of a late 20th Century Effort to revive Europe s vitality that they ought to be. In the British press the French Are still frogs disdainful reference to French willingness to eat frogs legs. To the French the British Are still Rose ifs the phonetic gallic spelling of roast Bee which is some what Kinder but nonetheless implies traditional English incapacity to appreciate the Art of cuisine. The germans Aren t called krauts or bodies any longer. The Franco German relation is seen As the Central Axis of West european order Security and Prosperity. No body in any part of the French political spectrum thinks of challenging the accepted need for getting along very Well with West Germany in every imaginable Field. The former enemy is now the first and Foremost ally. And Britain and France intimate allies in two world wars still grate on each other Britain arousing suspicion in France France hostile contempt in England. The reflex has nothing to do with politics among the leaders. Thatcher and Chancellor Helmut Kohl of West Germany Are both conservatives and both get on rather better with Mitterrand a socialist than they do wit each other. But Ordinary people see things differently. N was the first to propose a Tunnel in1803, before he became emperor of France. The Britis Napoleo. Refused then lest the passage serve As a Surprise invasion route. Now the Security concern about the Channel is How to protect it from possible terrorist attacks a Mea sure of the change in perceived menace. Over the Cen lilies the idea was renewed and rejected 26 times including two abortive starts at digging in 187s and 1975. The holes Are still there. The new plan is for a. Two bore railway with terminals at Folkestone England and Calais France though the underwater segment will be a straight 30-mile line Between Dover England and the town of san Gatte France near Calais. Britain s preference for a Roadway has been set aside with a Promise of looking at the possibility again after the rail Tunnel is built. Projections of traffic profitability and economic Impact on surrounding areas As Well As on Trade Between Britain and the continent Are Uncertain. In 1980, boats carried 18 million passengers and 15.9 million tons of freight across the Channel and both figures Are expected to double when the Tunnel is open. But there is no longer much likelihood that Realiza Tion of the historic dream will affect the Way the French and British think about each other. The world changes dramatically. Old prejudice and attitudes linger. C new York times come on crash course with Earth by Art Buchwald the country seems to be divided Between those who have seen Halley s Comet and those who say they have. It in t like 1910 when everyone did see it this time if you blinked your eyes you could easily have missed it. Yet As Halley s Comet fades behind the Sun More and More americans Are pretending they sighted it these citizens will Tell you i saw Halley s Comet last night with my opera there is no reason for you to doubt them until you remember it was so foggy Las night that they had to shut Down the Airport Why do otherwise honest people the pillars of our communities Many who would t even pick up a Dis carded newspaper from a bus lie about what they saw in the heavens the answer is that since Halley s come thas been so hard to spot status seekers Are forced to resort to perjury in order to impress their friends. If claiming you saw the Comet when you did t is just a Way of keeping up with the Joneses then i say More Power to the Fibber. But what makes this practice so dastardly is that i does injustice to the people who actually have spotted it. Those who stood outside All night in the freezing cold stabbing their fingers at the skies deserve a lot More respect than the ones who stayed in bed with their Heads under the blankets looking at photos of Halley s Comet in people reason i am incensed about All this is that i happened to see Halley s Comet the other night i refused to mention it to anyone because it is the sighting and not the bragging that counts with me. Then Novak came Down the Hall and claimed that he had seen it. I have been suspicious of Novak Ever since he announced in 1973 that he viewed Kohoutek and told everyone it was on a crash course with Earth. The people in the office were quite impressed that Novak had seen Halley s Comet but no one thought to find out if he was telling the truth. What did it look like i wanted to know. He replied a dirty he could easily have read that in Penthouse mag Azine so i asked him How Long was it As Long As the dirtiest snowball i be Ever seen Novak replied. Did you see the Tail on it i thought i had him. Novak said it was too dirty to see the Tail. I was Lucky to get a glimpse of its i was leading him right into a trap. And what did the Mouth look like a big dirty snowball streaking across the it Fly past the Moon of course it flew past the Moon. What kind of Comendo you think it is not so fast Novak i said. I saw Halley s come last night and it was nowhere near the Well it was so dirty i could t Tell what it was passing. All i know is the sky is pc a Een lying about Huey Comet for2,225 years i said. Novak was Adamant. I know what i saw. It was snowball and it whizzed right past the Moon.1 where was it going it was on a crash course with
