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Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] custom question
Very well said.
I've been in lots of places where Americans are not welcome. When in
these places, the operative word is camouflage... you learn to speak a
bit of German, Arabic, Kurdish, or whatever and don't wear baseball
caps. You eat what the wives of the nice men with the AK47's are
serving you and you don't ask what it is. You don't defend Israel in the
Middle East, and you don't order "freedom fries".
A departure from this recipe for table manners could lead to a
disagreement punctuated with flying projectiles. It would be nice to
cure people of bigotry, but we never will.
I live in a city that was originally an old French colony... indeed the
plot my house is situated on is surveyed in the old French long-lot
system. Despite all this, some of the locals here would as soon ship
Lady Liberty back to France... in pieces, if they knew her origin. O'
course most of those who feel that way don't know that she is an
immigrant from France.
I am so envious of you guys that get to go to the convention! Well,
have fun anyway.
On Sat, 2003-03-15 at 02:32, Coalbunny wrote:
> If people cannot accpet other people as *individuals* and not based on
> their race or nationality, then it only shows how bigoted they are. Sad
> but true. And in my world, there is NO room for it. I realize we all
> at some point crack a joke or two about another country, but in the end
> we have to tell the difference between a rare bit of humor and the hard
> cold reality of life. In my book, Pierre is more than welcome here,
> regardless of anything. Likewise for anyone of Mid-Eastern origin.
>
> I feel that ANY PSUBs activity or convention MUST be 100% politics-free.
> Carl
>
>
> Jonathan Wallace wrote:
> >
> > I hope current world events do not haunt the PSUBS convention. We are
> > an international group of people who all have a common interest in
> > submersibles. We are not holding a summit to discuss world issues,
> > therefore the politics and differing opinions between our respective
> > government leaders on Iraq or any other UN issue should not impact our
> > ability to come together as friends and enjoy our pasttime.
> >
> > New Hampshire has a large french population, and even the signs at
> > the southern end of the state that border Massachusetts have
> > "Bienvenue" on them. I believe any visitor regardless of their
> > nationality will find that they are warmly welcomed in both New
> > Hampshire and the United States.
> >
> > Security within the United States is significantly higher than what it
> > was prior to 9/11, however that should not impact bringing a submersible
> > to the convention. Simply contact customs agents for details of what
> > will be required of you. We have nothing to hide and building/using
> > your own submersible in the United States is not against the law.
> >
> > The US military and US government regularly visit PSUBS, just check our
> > server logs for proof. If there were any issues with what we are doing
> > we would have been shut down by now, believe me.
> >
> > Everyone, regardless of nationality is welcome to attend the PSUBS
> > convention, and we hope you will.
> >
> > Jon