Holy cow...

From: Ed Kelleher <Pres_at_macro-inc.com>
Date: Sun Aug 8 15:37:11 2004

At 02:21 AM 8/8/2004, you wrote:
>If you go around acting the ass
>when you've already been bitch slapped,

LOL - thinking of someone attempting to bitch slap Mike Tyson or any pro
fighter or soldier.
They're used to being hit --- and responding.
More correct term for what happened is "sucker punched" which can happen to
anyone.

It's not sensible to ascribe personal motives to that of nation states either.
Their rulers (depot or democrat) got there by strict pragmatism not
emotionalism.
(They certainly use emotions but strictly as a tool).

We, as individuals, might want to punch out some arrogant loud mouth bully,
but for dictators with dreams of hegemony that's not a good enough
reason. They'll do so only for a profitable reason, not to satisfy some
emotion.

The reason for them to do so (as they're doing) is that it's hard to fool
their people into thinking they live in a "worker's paradise" (or paradise
of any sort) when the USA [substitute your country here] is there as an
alternative.

To bring this back (or closer anyway) to being on-topic:

1) I don't think most people on this list could be "bitch slapped" by a
problem - whipped into submission. They'll keep coming back and back and
back till they whip the problem into submission.

2) Could the activities this list promotes (classic computing) exist in a
place where people's work is owed to the state.
I think the conversation would go something like this, "Why [insert
euphemistic description] are you wasting time on this IBM 5100 nonsense
when you could be [insert state supported activity here]".

You implied that America's arrogance was the cause of the problem.
I don't think that's the root cause. This list (and the personal freedom
it describes) is a much greater threat to a dictator then a country that
whips the snot out of someone who attempts to "bitch slap" them.

Though I guess it would be better if the USA wasn't so [insert list of
perjorative terms here] and were more humble.

:-)

Ed Kelleher
Received on Sun Aug 08 2004 - 15:37:11 BST