Excuse the OT, but this needs to be said:

["Shahan, Ray" <rshahan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>
>
>
>

> >Finally someone says it right !!! You probably missed it in the rush of
> >news
> >last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had
> >published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an
> >American, any American. So an Australian dentist wrote the following to 
>let
> >everyone know what an American is, so they would know when they found 
>one:
> >
> >
> >"An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish,
> >Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican,
> >African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, 
>or
> >Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan. An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage,
> >Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known
> >as
> >native Americans. An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or
> >Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in
> >Afghanistan. The only difference is that, in America, they are free to
> >worship as each of them chooses.  An American is also free to believe in 
>no
> >religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, nor
> >to
> >armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.
> >
> >An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world.
> >The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of
> >Independence,
> >which recognizes the God-given right of each person to the pursuit of
> >happiness. An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about
> >every other nation in the world in their time of need. When Afghanistan 
>was
> >overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and
> >supplies to enable the people to win back their country. As of the 
>morning
> >of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the 
>poor
> >in Afghanistan.
> >
> >Americans welcome the best: the best products, the best books, the best
> >music, the best food, the best athletes. But they also welcome the least.
> >The national symbol of America, the Statue of Liberty, welcomes, "your
> >tired
> >and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless,
> >tempest tossed." These, in fact, are the people who built America. Some 
>of
> >them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001
> >earning a better life for their families. I've been told that the World
> >Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other countries, cultures, and
> >first languages, including those who aided and abetted the terrorists.
> >
> >So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did 
>General
> >Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the
> >history of the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing 
>yourself.
> >
> >Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. 
>They
> >are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to
> >that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
> >
> >Please, pass this around the World."


Ray Shahan

"Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans", John Lennon