[LMB] OT: ANZAC?

[Paula Lieberman]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Macdonald" <don_iain at verizon.net>


> From: "Jacki Knight" <jacki at knightech.com.au>
>> On 27/11/2007, at 12:57 AM, paal at gis.net wrote:
>>
>>> "ANZAC" is in regular contemporary use in defence and defence/defense
>>> industry contexts, actually.
>>
>> Again, military focus (although I'd be curious to know what the AC at
>> the end stands for in this day and age) not civilian which is what I
>> was referring to.  The military is such a small part of life in this
>> country and really has very little bearing on the modern character as

>> far as I've seen.

I live in the Northeastern USA in what's not part of the US Bible Belt.  The 
white church in the center of town is a Unitarian Universalist one, that has 
hosted meetings of an organization dedicated to promoting legal rights for 
people of the same gender to marry.  Go to Colorado Springs, Colorado, 
however and the biggest most noticeable churches are ones preaching that 
homosexuality is a vile sin and same gender marriage an abomination of an 
idea.

Which set of value are "American"?  The rightwing hatemongering hordes led 
by James Dobson and such, are not the entirety of the USA and are not the 
one national character, nor is the Unitarian Universalist movement which has 
its clergy performing religious same gender couple marriages... they are 
BOTH representive of groups in the USA and strains of US character.

Likewise, the Australian military is part of the Australian national 
character--not the only thread in it certainly, but would you rather have me 
bring up Mel Gibson's father as "typically: Australian, who is a member of 
an extremist splinter group of Roman Catholicism which regards many of the 
actions of the Catholic Church that occurred starting with the accession of 
Pope John XXIII to the Papacy, as illegitimate for daring to "liberalize" 
Christianity and stop persecuting Jews and convert the Mass from all Latin 
to the language of the local parish?!

At the other extreme there's sf fan Zev Sero, originally from Australia, 
who's a homosexual Chasidic Jew observant except hes' a homosexual Jew....

> The AC in ANZAC probably has no current meaning and the acronym
> is just a traditional holdover for any combination of Australia and New
> Zealand. (Tradition man, tradition)

There is a strong tradition of military service in some parts of Australia, 
and the stories I've heard of the Australian military....
> --
> Richard A. Macdonald, CPA/EA
> SSG(Ret), USA, ADA, 16P34
> Gib mir Schokolade und niemand wird verletzt!!!