Date: Fri, 6 Sep 1996 18:00:50 +1000 (EST)
   From: Caroline Ann Seawright <kunoichi@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au>

   [...]

   Hmmm.... Okay, I can see that. I'll bet that some people think that there
   are kangaroos hopping down the streets, too...

Well, deer certainly do that in the US....

   [...]

   Ah, well... All those people with guns in the US should go kill the people
   in the government and maybe it'll help the country...

Roughly half the people in the US own guns---all of us going after
"the people in the government" would be a bit ... excessive.  And
quite unnecessary, for our government dares not push us very hard for
exactly that reason.

Not to mention that getting gun owners upset cost the Democrats their
control of the legislature in 1994 after around 40 years, or as one
wag in _National Review_ (from the "Dear Rusty" column) put it:

Current House (lower and most powerful legislative body) Minority
Leader Gephart (sp.): Do you remember (former House Speaker (leader))
Tom Foley?

Vice President Gore: Sure, he backed our agenda all the way.

Minority Leader: Well, he's now representing the American Aerosol
Processed Cheese Manufacturers Association....

   Though that part in ID4 with the people on the news putting a ban on the
   people shooting at the alien spaceship ... THAT only reinforced American
   stereotypes!

Stereotypes have their utility; I didn't watch ID4, but we'd certainly
use our personal weapons on alien invaders.  I suspect smart aliens
would start with countries that have been disarmed by their
governments, like yours will be in short order....

   Australia has Mormons, too ... though we all hate them...

Your intolerance is appalling.

One of the things that I like about the US is that we have a strong
"Don't Tread on Me" tradition (the phrase is from an American
Revolutionary flag), aka "Leave me alone!", "Get off my back!", etc.
It rather nicely balances the widespread tendancy of humans to try to
control others for whatever reasons.

Ob fanfic:

The Dread Space Pirate's new Ranma/Wheel of Time crossover is *great*,
but subtly disturbing, becuase the WOT sections go *much* too fast
compared to the original novels :-)

					- Harold