OT: Celebrity advice (was: Advice to a Junior in High School?)

[Andrew Dalke]

Alex Martelli
> Again, I suspect these are very theoretical possibilities for most
> discussants.  People who were in Bologna in 1976, on the other hand,
> have witnessed these issues first-hand: with the "mob" of protesters
> having nearly taken over the city, the government acted rapidly and
> decisively by sending in the armed forces, with abundant tanks to
> occupy and hold the city's key strategic points.

Another datum for the discussion is Iraq.  In Slate at
http://slate.msn.com/id/2080201/ and with reader responses
at http://slate.msn.com/id/2081185

  In the March 11 New York Times, Neil MacFarquhar notes
  in passing, "Most Iraqi households own at least one gun."
  This comes as a shock to those of us who've been hearing
  for years from the gun lobby that widespread firearms
  ownership is necessary to prevent the United States from
  becoming a police state.

Note also that the US allows Iraqis even now to own AK-47s,
which isn't legal in the US.  The US tried an amnesty program,
for people to turn their weapons in, but only a few hundred of
the estimated 5 million were turned in.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/08/15/1060936052309.html


                    Andrew
                    dalke at dalkescientific.com