Fw: news

[Robert Myers]

Amen, Luke.  There are indeed many who share your views - myself among them.
Now, this subject is probably best discussed off-list to keep from 
irritating brother Phil and those others who pay by the byte.

Ed, I'd be happy to discuss this topic with you off-list.  You, too of 
course, Luke.  Perhaps the offtopic list recently set up by Dan for such 
discussions might be the appropriate forum.

At 10:11 AM 9/15/01, Edward Birch wrote:

>Subject: Re: news
>
>
> > On Thu, 13 Sep 2001, Edward Birch wrote:
> >
> > > Luke Rickert <rickert at engr.orst.edu> wrote.......
> > >
> > > > rather then watching the ridiculous "news" yesterday<snip>...
> > >
> > > Excuse me!  Would you like to explain that remark for the families of
>the
> > > hundreds of New York City firemen and policemen who are missing and
>feared
> > > dead.
>
>Well, Luke Rickert did explain, off list, his remark concerning the recent
>New York City and Washington D.C. terrorists attacks.  Rickert seems
>unwilling to face the public........
>
>Rickert wrote..........
>
> > Yes I would be happy to explain my comment, I put the word news in quotes
> > since the media continually repeated the few same conjectured details
> > despite the fact that there had been no real news developments since the
> > event. Calling something news would imply some sort of substantial
> > development or new event, this was definitely not the case.  This was not
> > a comment on the event, loss of life or really anything not having to do
> > with cars.
> >
> > Additionally I would like to say that fireman and policemen (or women for
> > that matter) are simply people, they are volunteers for inherently
> > dangerous professions. Due to their potential for sacrifice, they are
> > widely respected. This does not mean that their deaths are any more tragic
> > than the death of anyone else. If anything it should be considered,
> > although extremely unlikely, part of the job description.  People die,
> > that is how it is, this is a matter better suited to religious or
> > philosophical discussion, not something that is appropriate material for a
> > list generally devoted to cars and other rather inconsequential topics.
> > For this reason it is inappropriate to post a list wide criticism of my
> > comment, a comment that was taken out of context and assigned a great deal
> > more meaning than can reasonably be justified.  I realize that I cannot
> > tell you how to feel, but it might benefit you to consider that not
> > everyone in the country shares your views or what I presume is a rather
> > strong fascination with the events of this week.  If you are overcome by
> > emotion then perhaps you should think before firing off inappropriate
> > comments in the future.  You will notice that this message is addressed
> > only to you; there is no need for the rest of the list to be flooded with
> > yours, mine or anyone else's comments on these so terribly irrelevant
> > things.
> >
> > It also might help you to consider the point of view from the other side.
> > Violence is horrible means for dealing with most problems, this attack is
> > an exelent example of this point, it just pisses off the other side and
> > make the cycle continue.  There are very few justifications for violence
> > and revenge is one of the worst. If a deed is so incomprehensibly
> > terrible, why is it right to go and do the very same thing back to someone
> > else? That is the logic of the playground, not that of supposedly
> > intelligent and advanced people. Revenge leads to an endless cycle from
> > which it becomes ever more difficult to extricate ones self. That said
> > take a moment and consider this little scenario.
> >
> > You and your people have been living in your country for thousands of
> > years, then all of a sudden a bunch of foreigners, claiming a
> > historic/religious justifications steal your land, kill your people and
> > imprison, persecute and segregate those remaining. They do all of this
> > because someone else mistreated them in a very similar manner with
> > remarkably similar justifications. And to top it all off, they were only
> > able to do these things and to maintain their control over your homeland
> > and people because of the help of a very arrogant and powerful friend.
> > Don't you think there might be a little bit of animosity against this
> > friend?  And given some very skillful and admittedly fanatical planning,
> > you might take any means possible to avenge their interference? While I
> > don't think what they did is right, it is by no means surprising. The US
> > has behaved terribly in many parts of the world; particularly in its
> > dealings with Arab and Islamic peoples (who are not the same thing by any
> > means) We play favorites and have no respect or understanding of their
> > cultures. This makes it very easy to get people to hate a powerful and
> > visible country such as ours. There are fanatics in all cultures and
> > countries, this one has plenty of examples, one of which was recently
> > executed, but these people and groups are not representative of the true
> > character of the country, or are they?  only time will tell. The popular
> > idea that all Arabs and Muslims (this would include Indonesia where most
> > of the population lives) are terrorists, is nothing but racism following
> > in the fine tradition of the Crusades in the 13th century fed by
> > ignorance. There would be much less terrorism against this country if we
> > weren't so bloody stupid in our dealing with the rest of the world.
> > Terrorist organizers would get nowhere if we didn't do such a good job of
> > making enemies.
> >
> > I know you are not going to like this and may very well not read it, but
> > you asked for it and now are getting it. OK your comment was probably
> > meant to be rhetorical, but you are getting an answer anyway. In the
> > future please think and then hit send. There is no excuse for being
> > thoughtless.
> >
> >
> > Luke Rickert
> > www.engr.orst.edu/~rickert
> >
> > Remember: There is nothing more dangerous than stupid people with power.
>
>
>
>
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Bob
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