Reprinting Postings

["S.North" <north -at- HGL -dot- SIGNAAL -dot- NL>]

Just to clear the air a little.... I have no problem with any reader of this
list using anything I post for any purpose and herewith negate any requirement
for notification of such use. However, I _would_ appreciate a credit.

May I also throw 10 cents into the racism/sexism pot? ... I am anglo-saxon
English (I can trace my family back to when they came over to England from
France in 1071) but I work in Holland for a Dutch company owned by a French
multi-national. I therefore have a lot of French colleagues but, since we are
only about 8 miles from the German border, I also have many German colleagues.
Further, to cover for staff shortages, we have hired in some extra programmers -
who are Portugese.  Then, to further complicate matters, I come into occasional
contact with our customers ... who are respectively: Greek, Turkish, Arabic and
British (which could mean either Northern Irish, Scottish, Welsh or English).
As a final complication: 'Dutch' (since The Netherlands was also a major
colonial power once) could mean Indonesian, Surinamese, Maroccan or even
 Turkish.

Now, I am by no means a shining example of non-racism ... as I keep telling my
(Dutch) wife - if you aren't English then you are all "bloody foreigners"
(and that goes double for Americans) [BTW, I once proposed to some very senior
Army officers the idea that (before it collapsed) if it ever came to a Third
World War between the USA and the USSR then Britain's cultural allegiances
lay with Soviet Russia and not with America.] ... but I don't make such a
fuss about it ...  Americans (sorry if I grossly generalise) seem so painfully
conscious of it all the time. For example, someone complained about racism ...
and then asks to be put in touch with other African-American technical writers.
Maybe it's me, but is that not a _racist_ request?  Why the distinction?

And as for sexism ... here's a thought to start the flame war of all time:
which sexist was it that started registering whether a member of the STC is
either male or female? Surely making that distinction is also sexist?

I'm willing to bet that if we ever do meet extra-terrestrial life they are
going to complain that they cannot tell the difference between one human and
another since we all look the same.

==========================  Disclaimer: I claim dis. ===========================
 Simon North FISTC                               Quality Group, Software R&D
 north -at- hgl -dot- signaal -dot- nl                            Hollandse Signaalapparaten BV
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