Peter,

Ignore NE and Joe. They are the true enemies of the USA. They do not believe in
the real principles upon which the USA was founded, and they do not belive in
the basic goodness of mankind. They have no faith in the USA. Yes, there is a
problem of terrorism, but simple minded and uneducated people like NE and Joe
think the way to solve the problem is to become the bigger terrorist. Pretty
moronic, wouldn't you say? I know Joe has a big issue with gay people. Maybe he
could use his same approach to solve his "gay problem" by being a bigger gay?

CWM

Hi Charlie,
Thank you for your kind words.

No, I am never upset by people such as they, merely saddened as
healthy democracy needs dissent, questioning and left field views. I,
along with many other people in the world, strongly believe in the
principles that the USA was founded upon and realise that it was a
lot more than just annoyance at having to pay a tax on tea to the
English Crown. What is fascinating was that there was a coming
together of thinking people who genuinely wanted to make a difference
at a time when nothing like it had been achieved before. It wasn't a
grab for power and economic riches. Many of the founding fathers
writings had a huge impact on the French Revolution and more recently,
Ho Chi Min, and Sun Yat Sen of China.

One of my great enjoyments was to walk the red brick line of the
Freedom Trail in Boston with a friend and to stand before the statue
of Ben Franklin, a man who I have admired as a fascinating human being
since childhood. I had been invited to Cambridge to present a paper to
a computer conference, but spent more time in exploring Boston's
historical places than in listening to the other speakers. The
highlight of course was being on the US Constitution. I was so
euphoric that I left my daughter's expensive camera bag there (but
thankfully not the camera). Oh, I almost forgot the bronze equestrian
statue of General Hooker outside the Capitol building and the
bequeathal of his name to those professional ladies who are
entrepreneurial with their favours.

It would be disappointing if all of this were to come to naught as it
seems it must one day if the past history of other civilisations and
empires have anything to tell us. As I am in the mood for quoting,
Woodrow Wilson, who I believe was previously a professor of history at
Yale, said that what we learn from history is that we do not learn
from history.

A valid warning for these times and the "War on Terror" that has been
flashing into my mind for sometime comes from the German philosopher
Nietzsche "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the
process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an
abyss, the abyss also looks into you"

I'm right out of pertinent quotes. I'll probably remember some more
halfway up my mast where I can't make notes with a pen. I have
repainted my mast and am in the process of completely renewing my
rigging. I've thankfully finished repainting the hull in this terrible
heat. The locals have gotten used to my sarong which is the only
sensible apparel besides nakedness in this climate.

regards
Peter