Wow, thanks Lev. Thats a way better explanation that I expected to get. Ive been curious about the Canadas gun laws since I saw Michael Moore do a piece on his TV show where he went to the Canadian border and tried to give away rifles to Canadians.

Thanks to Rich too, I wasnt aware of either of the laws in England either.

I apologise, I exaggerated
to make a point. A bit of googling dug up the stat that over 44 million Americans claim irish ancestry. That's more like a sixth, right?

I guess the point I was trying to escape is that for a country trying not to be Europe, so many of its citizens seem to have a strong affection for their "roots", identifying themselves by European countries, traditions and in certain circumstances segregations. They seem more to celebrate their heritage than shun it.

Seriously Munch, you may need to reread history. Jiongoistic retelling of history is a worldwide problem. Hell, you should see UK history books from the 1950s in the UK - still under the impression that Britain was an Empire.

Similarly, the US Revolution isn't as exactly clear cut as some would like it to be. As mentioned previously, native Americans fought on the side of the British - as the British were resisting the colonial settlers desire to expand west into native American lands.

Sometimes Good Guys vs Bad Guys, or indeed Cowboys vs Indians just doesn't cut it.

Being as you have only two posts under your belt, surely you can understand where I thought you were someone's Sock Puppet parody. My apologies. Drink a cup of hot chocolate, lie down and close your eyes, and try to relax. It's just a message board.

And Ireland would like it if they shut up about the ancestry, stop sending the IRA cash and for the love of Godess, stop coming to Dublin.

You crack me up with your distortions, Rich. Americans who "claim Irish ancestry" is a damn site different than than saying they "think they're Irish" as you stated in your previous post.

I am of European ancestry, and I'm interested in that. I'm proud of it.
But the politics and attitudes of today's Europeans sicken me. I dont "think I'm European" by any means.

What's the status of Noraid these days? And if the US threaten military action against those who support and fund terrorism, will that include inside their own borders?

Again, I exaggerated to make a point. Apologies if that came over wrong.

Which politics in particular? You'll find a wide range from communist to fascist, from liberal to libertarian, pretty much anything to fit your viewpoint. What, in particular has rouased you ire?

There's some truth to this, although there were Native Americans fighting on the side of the Americans as well.

Not quite as true that the British were "resisting the colonial settlers desire to expand west into Native American lands." It's true to some degree, but -- as Richie says -- "it's a little more complicated than that."

Ultimately though, for Americans to kick dust at the British is to deny that they are the British, just with a new name. Let's remember that until 1776 ... later, actually ... Americans were nothing more than British immigrants bullying and slaughtering the hell out of Native Americans as they made room for their tobacco farms and slave plantations. The American Revolution wasn't so much a bunch of noble American underdogs breaking away from British Baddies -- it was a bunch of British immigrants who realized that "Daddy" had expended his usefulness in helping British colonists rape the New World, and perhaps it was time to take things into their own hands.

We did seem to have the opportunity to lay slightly better foundations for a government, but ultimately, there's nothing exceptionally "noble" in the history of America OR Britain on the whole, so far as I've seen -- at the very least, up to that point. Then again, ideas of nobility have in and of themselves changed radically, so that the entire history of the world looks pretty horrible to us, these days.

But if anyone in said equation got a bum deal, it's certainly the Indians.


K

If only they'd been packing heat...