From: Cynthia Brown <cynthb@sonetis.com>
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 05:31:00 +0800
To: "S. M. Halloran" <mitch@duzen.com.tr>
Subject: Re: "Show me an example of terrorists using the Internet or cryp
In-Reply-To: <199710020617.IAA23092@ankara.duzen.com.tr>
Message-ID: <Pine.BSD/.3.91.971002133210.9198B-100000@mrburns.iosphere.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



On Thu, 2 Oct 1997, S. M. Halloran wrote:

> Painting America with a rather broad brush, aren't you?  I never went 
> to a school--and I attended public schools for ALL of my 
> education--which had a metal detector.  But comparing America and 
> Canada is pretty much apples and oranges again.  Do you [in Canada] 
> really have our ethnic mix?

Not identical, but we have large groups from various parts of the world,
and we are by no means ethnically uniform.  The two most numerous, of
French and British Isles descent, have very different cultures; Vancouver 
has large communities from Asia; etc. etc. And my brush is no broader than 
the "all government workers are lazy, corrupt little power-trippers"
mantra that appears here so often, uncontested. 

> America's violence problem is not one bit related to guns everywhere 
> in the street.  There are much deeper problems, including distrust 
> between ethnic groups.  The O.J.Simpson was a real eye-opener on 
> black-white relations, for example, and I think the Native Americans 
> have yet really to speak about the shitty way they have been treated 
> over the years.  By the way, have Canada's European descendants come 
> to proper terms with its native American neighbors?

Granted that the guns are a symptom and not the underlying problem.  
However, having them readily available makes it that much more likely 
that a person will do something regrettable in a fit of rage (or just 
plain annoyance).

Our history is not squeaky clean either, but at least we're trying to 
settle things by negotiation and referenda instead of violence.

> Now you're talking!  Don't ever repent for thinking clearly.  But do 
> keep in mind that not all people who own guns and wear red plaid 
> Pendletons and sport scraggly beards are the neoFascists of tomorrow. 

Agreed.  There are also dedicated, hard-working, community-oriented 
policemen out there. (I'm probably going to get flamed for daring to 
say that, but tough.)

Cynthia
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		   Cynthia H. Brown, P.Eng.
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