Celebrity advice

[Paul Boddie]

"Andrew Dalke" <adalke at mindspring.com> wrote in message news:<yra3b.6546$Jh2.2048 at newsread4.news.pas.earthlink.net>...
> Lulu of the Lotus-Eaters:
> > Of course, in reality, the homicide rate is much lower outside of the
> > USA, so the base rate isn't good for extrapolation.
> 
> I thought of that when I looked up that number.  But the
> comparison stats I know of are for Europe.  I remember in 'Guns,
> Germs, and Steel', in the foreword the author points out that
> the homicide rate in New Guinea was quite high, pointing out
> he knew a woman whose first husband was killed by the man
> who became her second husband.

A great book, that one, with some very interesting discussions on
dynamics within and between societies, and the relative importance of
technology in all of these things. Interestingly, if I recall
correctly, the author mentions the introduction of firearms in New
Zealand and the subsequent "musket wars", contrasting this with the
disapproval of firearms over a long period in Japan.

Again, I'd recommend that people spend their time doing a bit of
background reading (and viewing - the homicide rate discrepancy is
also covered in "Bowling for Columbine") rather than pushing their
agenda on a programming language newsgroup because they probably
couldn't cut it on a newsgroup actually dedicated to such discussions.

Paul

P.S. And the reason why many people find ESR to be offensive or just
plain inappropriate is that one gets the feeling that he wants you to
buy into his whole agenda, whether or not that involves running around
with a firearm in the woods dressed as Obi-Wan or Yoda.