On Sat, 10 Mar 2007 19:08:04 GMT, Don W
wrote:



Peter, I've been in and out of the US many times
since 9/11 and have not personally witnessed the
type of behavior you are refering to. I don't
doubt that it occured, but it was an isolated
incident, and not the norm.


The USA is still mostly that way. We are just
getting a lot more bad press these days.


I think history will show that the security
changes are temporary. There were similar things
done during WWII, but they stopped as soon as the
war ended. Unfortunately, we are _really_ at war
at present although not in a traditional war with
another nation state. Furthermore, our adversary
has shown itself to favor attacks on unprotected
civilians.

It seems your mind is made up that the Maine was
blown up by the US Government to give it an excuse
to intervene in Cuba. Doing a little bit of
Google research, it appears that your conclusion
is controversial, and not well supported by the
evidence.

Unlike Herr Hitler, or even present day Hugo
Chavez, there has been no attempt in the USA to
change the constitution in a "one-off" election to
allow a single party to hold power continually.
In fact, the Republican party has now lost control
of both houses of congress, and the Democrats are
in control. The political story of this
week--Congressional hearings on FBI abuses of
power during the last several years. The pendulum
is swinging back the other direction even as we
write. Unlike a lot of people, I have faith that
our system will correct itself.

Sounds great. That is the way it should be.
Fortunately, Singapore and Australia have not been
directly attacked, and so have not developed
"paranoia" yet.



Regards,

Don W.

Hi Don,

I do so hope that you are right that the pendalum is swinging back.
The events of the past few years are rather scary as viewed from the
outside. It would be sad if the great American experiment were to end
up just as that - an experiment. I have always been an admirer of what
the US purports to stand for and though I would not really care to
live there, it is a great place to visit.

People are generally the same world wide, and the US is no exception,
but I was recently priviledged to meet a real gem who runs a
ramshackle restaurant - "Joanie's Place" converted from an old garage
on the east-west road through the Everglades. Joanie is in her late
60s and makes the most fantastic key lime pie and fried green tomatos
amongst other culinary delights. She was kind enough to show me how to
cook them and give me some recipes. I would prefer to think of
Americans as such as Joanie, the National Park rangers, the helpful
people in the motels and the many others who went out of their way to
help and talk to a stranger. Forget the stars and stripes, it flies
above used car lots which sort of desecrates it in a way. Key Lime Pie
(with whipped cream of course) should be your national emblem and Mark
Twain (I seldom meet an American who has read him excepting maybe "Tom
Sawyer"), Ernest Hemmingway, O Henry and a few such should be elected
to your senate as senior statesmen.

It is unfortunate that you are all getting tarred by the same bad
press.

By the way, we in South East Asia also have to guard against terrorism
including both fundamental Christian and Islamic groups such as in
Indonesia. However, I would like to say that killing non-combatants is
strictly prohibited by the Koran and is thus un-Islamic and abhorant
to most Moslems of my aquaintance. You may only make war on those who
bear arms against you. The Turkish armies for example carried a small
Koran tied to their battle standards so that the Law of the Koran
would enter conquered cities before them.

cheers
Peter