My daughters use a lot ICQ and MSN messenger services. And if I say a lot I
mean a lot.
 (I am glad that I have now a cable connection.) 
The day after the disaster they and their friends started an action to stay
silent on the web for some days and at least 4 days these children were
succesful in it.
I did like that simple symbolic idea and suggested indirectly - refering to
the silence on the DominoList - to do the same for Squeak (the list with at
least 60 emails a day.)

Two things happened then. 
- Some people went on to handle problems as if nothing did happen: to be
honoust: would it influence my opinion (=prejudice) about these people?
- Then several people did start to talk about this disaster and then - when
someone did try to explain the situation with some cynical words in an
attempt not to show to much sentiment(who would blame you in this sad and
awful situation?) - the ghost was out of the bottle.

So, instead of reacting on all these emails I - only once - say something: I
will read all the comments on this [OT} but will after this statement no
longer react.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++
When I was young the world was simple. You had good guys and bad guys.
Better long hair the short sight. The truth of the song of the universal
soldier. Not eating meat would bring us more close to peace. Oh boy, were we
naive but also What was it a beautiful time.

Several terror-actions (or actions I saw as terror in my view on the world)
took place in these days. I did like sports, so the attack during the
olympics in Munich was news, but for me no reason not to enjoy the rest of
the games. 
I also like Soccer, so when The Dutch players went to Argentina, i did not
boycot the games - even not when my favorite stand-up-comedian did start
this boycot-the-games. I still feel pain about loosing the final, but I was
fully aware of the pain and the sorrow of the "mad mothers"on the plaza...
(Now, years later I feel shame for it so I keep it silent.)

On the other hand: I never did buy an Apple-II because it was to expensive
for a poor student. I did also not buy an ITT replica of the Apple because
that company did support the coup of a wrong regiem, also in SouthAmerica.

What I also still remember of these days are the stories that did not fit in
my simple good guys/bad guys model:
- In the Netherlands we had these kindergarten- & train-haijackings by
people of our former colonies in Indonesia: they kept the innocent people
several days as hostages and despite all the evil they did to some of them,
these hostages told that they did have long conversations with these
haijackers and learned to look from another perspective to the situation...
and even developed some sympathy for these horroble terrorists. (what caused
psychological problems for some of them afterwards...)
- German radical students did create a lot of terror in Europe. More
frightening was that the German government did shift in the way they handled
these terrorists: Lots of the silent majority in Germany and in The
Netherlands did not understand that others protested to these govermental
violation of human rights in the case of a terrorist. (I think that the
warnings in this list for a climate that makes the use of some laws
dangerous are very important: The German government is also considering
losen the laws of privacy, now it is clear that some of the terrorists did
have a lot of privacy in Germany during preparation time.. And our own prime
minister from my own labour party is speaking words as "war" and "acting in
war without asking the chambers first.." hardly any protest is heard..)

Of course, we are all humans: I sent my children to public schools and not
to Christian enclaves, so they learn early about the many faces of society.
That means that one of my daughters girlfriend has the name Fatima and I
like that. That also means that some of their classroommates with arab
background feel and utter other sympathies, or connect the tragedy in NY to
other tragedies when no one was crying: Yoegoslavia, Palistina,... 
But also, to be honoust (hypothese): If she brings home the brother of
Fatima as her new boyfriend I know that she will have a more problematic
future then with Jan or Cees, also in that tolerant Holland: the first two
islamitic schools got already fire in the Netherlands...
It is easy to condemn the USA and other states for sending people to death,
but if something would happen to my own daughters or wife I do not know what
will hapen to this pascifist.

Last year I did visit Mozambique to support the study of their University
with setting up a new educational faculty in combination with ICT. (The
Dutch approach, so it is very cheap.) From the airport until the city I saw
only poor people and cabins, miles and miles and miles... What a waist of
young lives. 
When I did try to by a souvenir for home, I got immediallity 20 begging
children around me: I did feel like a bloody colonial... I also realised
that after 2 days I did eat with taste in a barricaded restaurant, knowing
that these children were lying hungry on the doorstep.

Coming home I keep these images of wasted young lives in my mind: are there
no ways to bring education to these children? WWW is available in their
capital city: I even could email from my hotelroom,(I have to admit that
water was more problematic.) 
Setting up a squeak server must be piece of cake... and then they can build
their own knowledge and share it with us (You have to learn Portugese)....

Come one, we are all educated and using our brains (aren't we using squeak?
) Lets find ways to spread education, share knowledge and also share insight
in different ways of looking at the important things in life.. bringing
prosperity will kill the breeding grounds for despair. But we will keep
different views on life: let's share it in this community in nice morphic
settings.


-----Original Message-----
From: Gary McGovern [mailto:garywork at lineone.net]
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2001 12:39 AM
To: squeak-dev at lists.squeakfoundation.org
Subject: Re: [rant] Re: [OT] Will the SSSCA outlaw Squeak?


My apologies to those who quiet on the matter, but I'd like to add my voice.

The only way I see forward is to eliminate all fascism, terrorism and
racism. And one way of moving toward that is through educating normal people
so they don't put up with it. (Going back to Andrea's original email)

I'd like to see all people put a stop to their funding and supporting of
terrorist, fascistic and racist regimes and that includes US people. (Let's
face it, are the US going to bomb the US for funding certain Irish people
for the last 30 years ?).

Regards,
Gary

<snip>