[SEL] ...now 33...OT

Tue Apr 17 21:41:01 PDT 2007

Hi Jerry, Thanks for your comments!
         Dave

At 05:05 PM 4/17/2007, you wrote:

> >Hi Guys,
>          This is totally off topic but the list has been terribly quiet
>just lately - good to see some activity even if it is not engine related -
>at least we have a lot of members communicating. I was beginning to think
>that the list was going through it's "death throes" - good to see there are
>still people reading it (and responding). (Hey - we did not have too much
>"cabin fever" coming over he list this year - what happened - did you
>northern hemisphere guys have a mild winter?").
>
>          My "tuppence ha'pennies" (I'm not sure what that is in US$) worth
>follows. I'm going to try my best not to be "racist" and apologise up front
>to any members who may think differently about my views. My only defence is
>"Do not criticize if you have not been there!".
>
>          I'm not responding to any one particular "post" here. There have
>been so many posts on this subject (and most of you did not "snip" your
>replies so I just skimmed through them).
>
>          I live in South Africa and as most of you know we have a pretty
>bad history, what with Apartheid and the like. We are now a "democratic"
>(note the quotes) country ruled by the vote of the mostly tribal majority.
>
>          If any of you know the history of South Africa you will know that
>the greatest "General" that the indigenous people had was "Chaka" (a.k.a.
>"Shaka" or "Shaka Zulu"). He ruled with an iron fist and his word was law.
>Anyone who disagreed with him in any way was quickly despatched to join his
>forefathers with an "assegai" (short stabbing spear) applied through the
>rib cage directly to the heart or thereabouts. There were no "trials",
>"magistrates", "hearings", "court cases" or "lawbooks". Violence ruled and
>no one dared to question the leaders authority.
>          Not much has changed - our elections (although usually reported by
>the press as being "free and fair") are usually preceded by much violence
>and intimidation in the "townships"
>("townships" are best explained as the areas occupied by the previously
>disadvantaged citizens of this country). The majority of people are not
>given the chance to decide for themselves who to vote for. They live in
>constant fear of being killed if they do not vote for the correct party (as
>in disagreeing with Chaka - assegai to the heart or similar - assegai's
>have now been replaced with AK-47's or Makarov pistols - strange that both
>these weapons originate from the former Soviet Bloc). They do not realise
>that the "ballot form" they make their mark on cannot be traced to an
>individual - at least that part of the voting process is still sacred.
>
>          Our elections are also usually preceded by an increase in the
>number of "armed hijackings", "armed heists" and "armed bank robberies"
>usually employing (again) AK-47's and Makarov pistols which are never
>solved or brought to court. The question has to be asked "Where is the
>money for the election advertising coming from?"
>
>          O.K. I'll try to get back on track now. AK-47's and Makarov
>pistols were never legally imported into this country. Our previous
>government were very "anti-communist" and did not do business with the
>Soviet Bloc. Also, our previous laws (and they still hold good today) did
>not allow the private ownership of automatic or semi-automatic weapons. It
>then goes without saying that these weapons are "illegal". Does that bother
>the criminals ?
>
>          Gun control is now being exerted upon us normal citizens who would
>just like to have a gun (either a rifle or a hand gun for self protection
>or even for hunting) but this right is being taken away from us. Our
>government loves to hide behind the excuse that they are just following
>world trends (and the USA features greatly in this one).
>
>          Licensed weapons are NOT used to commit crime - it is the
>unlicensed weapons used by criminals that are used. If anyone thinks that
>Gun Control Laws will put an end to this then they need their "heads to be
>read" - (sorry - that's a South African saying - it means that "you are
>stupid, naive or sick" - just in case you did not understand).
>
>          Our Police force members are even scared to use their guns these
>days as, if they happen to kill a criminal who is pointing a gun at them
>they could be charged with murder and will really battle to prove their
>innocence. The law protects the criminal.
>
>          I was attacked in my home at 7:45 am one morning and myself and my
>son (19 at the time) were stabbed by a criminal wielding a dagger and a
>"panga" ("machete", "bushknife"). I was stabbed in the arms, chest and head
>and my son was chopped on the wrist (put his arm up to defend himself) with
>the panga and also stabbed with the dagger in various places including the
>face and arms. We were lucky - I grabbed the perp., actually the blades of
>his knives, as they were the best points of leverage, and ended up in a
>wrestling match with him, he was much younger and stronger than me and I
>would have lost the battle had my son not had the presence of mind to rush
>off to his room and get his revolver. He shot the criminal dead - had this
>not happened I would not have been a member of this list today. We were
>very lucky (that happened in December 1996) because: 1) the new laws were
>only being promulgated then and, 2) the criminal was only armed with knives
>- today they carry "unlicensed guns" and do not hesitate to use them!
>
>          Some of you may use the old story that he was only armed with
>knives and we brought a gun into the equation - but the gun saved my life
>and probably my son's a well. I've never used a gun to commit a crime - I
>consider myself to be a responsible gun owner but do feel that I need one
>for my own protection - especially in this country where our violent crime
>statistics rate the highest in the world and legally licensed guns never
>feature in violent crime. Yet our government is trying to take our legal
>weapons away from us - is this to give the criminals a better chance to get
>rid of us ?
>
>          If the above  had happened today, I might have been sitting in
>jail for murdering a poor petty criminal whose only intention was to break
>into my house, relieve me of all my valuable possessions (which I had spent
>half a lifetime working for) and kill me in the process if necessary.
>
>          You guys overseas probably never see news articles on crime in
>this country - why - because our government does their level best to hide
>them. Our police force used to have an excellent record for solving crimes
>- the present police force (and I apologise to the few dedicated police
>officers who are really trying to make a difference) just does not seem to
>care about solving crime - they are more interested in "going on strike"
>for better working conditions, housing and higher wages etc. (I do agree
>that they are "under funded" but that all comes back to our governments
>attitude that "crime is not a problem").
>
>          We had a case in December where a world renowned Historian in Kwa
>Zulu Natal was murdered by "petty" robbers in his home - that case was
>solved and the criminals prosecuted and sentenced within a month - Why -
>because he was "world renowned" - a friend of Prince Charles and many other
>world figures. The government needed to be seen as "law abiding" in the
>eyes of the world and got off their backsides and made things happen.
>
>          An acquaintance of mine (not world renowned - lived next door to
>my girlfriend) was murdered by robbers in his home in January (about 10
>miles from me) - he arrived home from work one afternoon and as he opened
>his door his head was smashed in with a hammer by the criminals waiting
>inside his house - he was never given a chance to hand over his money or
>anything else - he was just murdered for the joy of it - this crime will
>probably never be solved - Why - because the rest of the world will
>probably never hear about it !! He was a lay preacher and had a chapel
>built on his property and was  considered by all who knew him as a
>humanitarian , always ready to help anyone in distress irrespective of
>their skin colour. He was also a slightly built person - not he kind of
>person able to "put up a fight". The criminals are cowards and usually go
>for soft targets like him or old retired couples. (His neice died of a
>heart attack when given the news of his murder)
>
>          (If you do not believe me do a "google" for "farm murders" "south
>africa" - you may be shocked)
>
>Why does all this happen - Because all the "do gooders" in the western
>world think that we are dealing with people just like them - people with
>the same values as them but just have a different skin colour - people who
>are sane and able to make up their own minds - has'nt the story of Africa
>over the last 40 years opened their eyes?
>
>          I could go on for hours more but this is an "engine list" and I
>apologise once again for putting you guys through this.
>
>          To all those countries facing "gun control" laws brought on by "do
>gooders" who have no clue as to what this modern world is all about I would
>just ask you to fight against those laws - they will only leave you and
>your families defenceless against the bad guys. Why the hell can
>governments not realise that criminals do not obey laws anyway. Much better
>if they allow a "shoot to kill" law against criminals. It would save the
>taxpayer millions in court fees - luxury accommodation (todays jails) and
>make life so much better for all us citizens who put the damn government
>there in the first place.
>
>          Once again I am going to apologise to any list members who find
>this post to be offensive - I will not reply to any posts that try to
>condemn it. If you want to reply to me then spare the list and write
>directly to me "off list" I promise to reply to all those who do so but
>will not get involved in any political  discussions with people who have no
>experience with our situation. I do not like politics.
>
>          As I said before "Do not criticize if you have not been there!".
>I've been there - done that and bought the "T" shirt - and I am living the
>experience.
>
>          O.K. anyone got any engine related stuff to talk about - Patrick
>Livingstone in Aus - thanks for the good pics (as always).
>
>Keep the revs up (or down)
>Jerry Evans
>Near Johannesburg in Sunny South Africa.
>Tel. (016) 365-5787
>Intntl.: +2716 365-5787
>Cell: 083 293 7191
>Visit our website for old engines in South Africa.
>www.oldengine.org/members/evans
>
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