[Leica] Re: Red dots and jingoism

[Douglas Cooper <douglas@metaversalstudios.com>]

At 05:37 PM 11/17/00 -0800, you wrote:
>And actually what caught my eye in the original post was that it seemed a
>bit jingoistic to assert that there is more crime "abroad" than at home,
>wherever Home may be.


Heh.  I *can't* be jingoistic.  I'm a resident alien.  Home at the moment 
is New York, and I'm fully aware that parts of it can hold their own 
against the worst the world can cough up.  (In those parts, however, I'm a 
tourist.)  I remember some journalist a few years ago raving about some 
dire circumstance in Manhattan, suggesting that it was "worse than 
Calcutta." Those familiar with both cities considered it 
slanderous:  Calcutta, according to most measurements, was nowhere near as 
bad.  (This was before Rudy invited Mickey and Pluto into Times Square.)

Home initially was Canada, which is safer than some countries, but I came 
close to being murdered once while hitching out west.  So jingoistic I'm 
not.  Still, let's not pretend that all cities are equally dangerous.  I 
was just visiting a friend in Toronto who leaves his front door unlocked, 
while he, his wife and two children are asleep.  I assure you that no one 
in Miami, Marseilles or Mombasa would sleep very soundly under those 
circumstances.


Doug (who seems to be in an alliterative mood) Cooper