RE: [microsound] OT - Draft by 2005

["Rudolph A. Carrera" <fgrecs@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Ashline [mailto:ashline@xxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Saturday, May 22, 2004 9:44 PM
To: microsound
Subject: Re: [microsound] OT - Draft by 2005

On Sat, 22 May 2004 21:19:55 -0700, Rudolph A. Carrera
<fgrecs@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>  But
> for you to insult National Guardsmen sounds utterly idiotic (NOTE, BILL:
I'M
> NOT CALLING -YOU- IDIOTIC).

How was I insulting national guardsmen?  I just said that a person
like Dubya would no longer be able to use the NG  as an escape from
military service (especially since the NG now serves in Iraq anyway).


	Bill,

	Implying Bush dodged out isn't much of an argument.  All evidence
points to him doing as he was supposed to during his day.  He should have
served in the front line as well, but he didn't.  Amazing how the liberals
of the past are now crowing against the "hawks" of today for doing what they
desperately wanted to do themselves (again, not directed to you, just a
general comment).

> 
> You give non-American residents a ridiculous picture of what life is like
in
> the States. 

Pray tell, how so?  I don't believe that offering any particular
prescribed image of what the US is is part of my job description.  I
state my opinions just the same as anyone else.  People can take them
or not.  But I sincerely doubt that people around the world care much
anymore about an "accurate" picture of how the US "really is."  That,
they can see for themselves very well.

	It's not, but your words reek of slander, man.  There is little to
no proof of your negative comments against the country.  Just going on with
the tired arguments used by anti-American rabble-rousers.  About the only
one I would give even a bit of credence to is Chomsky, but even he seems to
be going off the deep end with some of his theories (he was interviewed by
Slovenian Television before I left and espoused on "black helicopter"
theories and the like.  It was pretty embarrassing).

	Look, you have a right, obviously, to say as you feel.  Just respect
the fact that not everyone is eating the borscht your serving out.


> Abu Ghraib is a blip on the screen to most Americans.  And, I'm
> willing to bet, to most Iraqis.  The only ones really jumping up and down
> for this are Saddam Loyalists, Communists and their sympathizers, and the
> kooky fringes of Arab society.  That's a shame.  Those who will be
punished
> will be punished for dereliction.  What they did, however, does not even
> come close to qualifying as "torture."

Boy, Rudy, are you out of the loop.  there are any number of people
who don't qualify in your list of pariahs above who abhor these
events.  As to your comment about "torture," I refer you to the
Geneval Convention.  HRW and Amnesty International have very clearly
demonstrated that these events qualify as torture.

	Bill,
	
	Living in the general area is hardly out of the look.  HRW and
Amnesty International crow about their favorites in jail, and never do much
to say anything about American victims of terror.  Where are their words
about Berg, the kid who got his head lopped off by cowards?  HRW is the
same.  The Gevena Convention has been bent by the US Soldiers, not broken.
Until Yankees start chopping off hands and sticking electric shock devices
on the testicles of inmates, I can't take that seriously.  The bad taste and
cruelty shown by those derelicts will be punished.  The story (except for
the loony fringe at CNN) should be dead soon enough.  There will be a few
misguided politicians who will use it for political gain, of course.
Perhaps this will be Moore's new project for Cannes next year.  But outside
of that, the story will indeed go away.


> 
> And to say the army is disproportionately represented by African-Americans
> is hogwash.  Whites still represent the bulk, and Hispanics sign up
> voluntarily as a general rule.  

Everybody signs up "voluntarily" Rudy.  For some it's a "great"
opportunity.  the rich, on the other hand, usually have "other
priorities."  (Read:  Other opportunities).  Proportionally, blacks
are far more represented in the armed services than they are in
corporate boards.  That's hardly a controversial statement.


	It is, because it's now true.  They are largely represented by
percentage of their population.  That doesn't mean you will see a bunch of
blacks on the front line.  They just don't have the numbers.

Best,

Rudy






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