At 02:58 12/07/2001 -0200, Alexandre Guimar=E3es wrote:
>Quote:
>
> >Inside info ?
>
>Not about Sir Blake, but about Brazil maybe. It's not unheard of that
>rather unorganized and often illiterate people do some things that seem not
>to follow common sense.
>
>End Quote:
>
>     Read it again and you will see clear prejudice.

I've wanted to stay away from this, but as Alexandre is literally accusing=
=20
me of prejudice, I'd like to throw a few words in. I've lived in a number=20
of coutries, among them the USA and Brazil. I like all of the places I've=20
ever lived, I think they're all great places -- Brazil and the USA included.

It is a fact that the first time I've seen a gun on the street anywhere=20
near me was at age of 25, in the USA. It is also a fact that the first time=
=20
I've had a gun pointed at my head was in Brazil, a few years later. There=20
are places where encounters with armed criminals (and heavily armed law=20
enforcement personnel) are much less common, for a number of reasons, and=20
often it is hard to know exactly why. This does not mean that these=20
countries are necessarily "better" (at least in my opinion), but it's still=
=20
a fact.

What I stated in my message and what you cited above is a plain fact. If=20
you want to, please tell me with good arguments why it is not true,=20
sticking to what I wrote. If you think there are other places for which=20
this is valid, too, that's your right, and I might very well agree with you=
=20
on some of these places. But just because it is not only valid for Brazil=20
alone doesn't make the opinion a prejudice.

And lastly, you maybe could try to read the message in context. I was=20
replying to the opinion that "pirates" would do it differently, in a more=20
organized way, and therefore the probability of hired killers is higher.=20
Jinx wrote this. AFAIK he lives in NZ, probably one of the places where=20
preventing encounters with armed criminals is not an everyday concern (as=20
it is in most urban centers of Brazil, and, as you state, in many regions=20
of the USA). This is why I wanted to add a different perspective. I could=20
have said the same thing if it had happened in another place of which I=20
think that similar things happen with a certain frequency. But as Jinx=20
said, it did happen in Brazil, so I was talking about Brazil. What would be=
=20
the use of talking about some New Orleans neighborhoods in this context?

ge

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