On Mon, 21 Mar 2005 07:36:46 -0600, Bob Sullivan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Frank, > > In the 50's, all of us kids played WAR. > John Wayne was a box office hero in numerous war stories. > My dad served in WWII and my uncle Bill was off in the Korean war. > By the time we got to the late 60's, it was the Vietnam era... > and I didn't want to play war anymore. > > We all grew up just fine. They will too.
Bob, I was born in '56. We played "war", too. We also played cowboys and Indians. Our Indians scalped people, and our cowboys shouted racial slurs at the Indians. I owned a Daisy air rifle. I wanted a BB gun, but my parents refused; they didn't really want to get the air rifle, but it was a compromise to shut me up, I guess. I'm not saying "it was okay for us when we were kids, but not for kids in the new millenium", but lets face it. These are different times. The word "terrorist" hadn't entered the popular lexicon. Whatever was going on in the Middle East back then was hardly a blip on our radar (post Suez Crisis, pre 7 Day War). Korea was over, Americans were still "military advisors" in Vietnam. The race riots had yet to start during the long, hot summers of the mid-to-late sixties. It was the Cold War; we thought we were under seige from 5th Columnists everywhere. Guns and rifles weren't a concern, being nuked was. It was a different, more innocent time, especially in North America. Look, I know that "boys play war", but that doesn't make it right. Given that 12 year old kids are being shot by soldiers in the country that photo was taken in puts "playing war" in a different context than it did when we were kids, and in a different context than it does here in our countries. Children and adults are being shot for throwing rocks at soldiers in that country. Arabs are killing Jews, Jews are killing Arabs. I know that Boris will say that it doesn't happen "all that often", and I accept that most areas of Israel are in fact safe, most of the time. I'm not saying that Israel is a dangerous place, or that I'd be afraid to go there - indeed, I'm going to visit Boris someday, after I win the lottery, on my World-Wide PDML Tour! <vbg> But, the facts speak for themselves. Acts of terror ~do~ happen there, and military reprisals are a fact of life (unless our news sources are lying...). In that atmosphere, kids playing with guns scares the hell out of me. If I were their parents, it would scare the hell out of me. If I were an Arab, walking by these (obviously Jewish) kids, seeing them with a gun (even at their tender age) would scare the hell out of me. If I were an Arab carrying a gun, being scared by these kids with their toy gun... See where I'm going here? Anyway, that's it for me on this. And, I suppose this should also be a reply to Boris, as well. Sorry if I over-reacted, but if I did, I make no apologies for it. I know we're not supposed to talk about guns on this list, and I certainly am not criticizing anyone here who likes guns, owns guns, collects guns, is a memeber of the NRA, etc. That's your business, and I'll keep my nose out of it. Jostein, again, I thought that was a great photo (the tilt was great, BTW - dont' you dare straighten it! <g>). But if it was a couple of kids in California or Norway, it would have been a fun photo. The context in which it was taken, like it or not, puts a whole different spin on it. Great stuff! Last post on this subject. Sorry to have rambled so... cheers, frank -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson
