> I agree with Dave that Wilhelm probably never intended to > make a political statement about Bush with his picture. > Overhere in Europe it is totally OK to make fun of people, > whether we respect them or not.
I think everyone is in agreement that this list isnt the place for that. In fact, given the number of international clergy and political activists on this list, it is remarkable how well we've been able to maintain the peace and focus on the technology. In my businesses, we have offices throughout the world, and a very broad range of cultures. When it comes to very sensitive topics like politics and religion - it simply isnt discussed. In the late 80's, I began living in Japan, and lived there continuously for about six years. Any expat living there quickly learns the old addage in Japan - "the nail that sticks up gets knocked down". Of course as a knuckle-dragging barbarian, I was an awfully big nail at first, and to me, this translated to "when in doubt, shut up". What is also interesting is that, if you are together in a group and knocking back quite a bit of sake or shochu or your local beeru, slips are permitted and forgiven. Anyway - ones's notion of the application of freedom of speech varies culture to culture. And as far as I can tell, its possible to politely respect differences in how that is applied. There's a universal norm that, in almost any culture, if you say something that offends grandmother, even though its legally okay to say it, you can and will get wacked upside the head by an umbrella, huge brockaded hand bag, tray of cookies, rolled up newspaper, presto log, or maybe a week old baguette. Let's let the spirit of grandma prevail, especially since we do not know what Heather List Mom is carrying around :-) Best regards, Lynn Fredricks President Paradigma Software http://www.paradigmasoft.com Valentina SQL Server: The Ultra-fast, Royalty Free Database Server _______________________________________________ use-revolution mailing list use-revolution@lists.runrev.com Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution