Speaking of white types, I was going to mention an item from our local paper, the Lake Traverse _Travesty_. It's not really such a bad publication, though it commonly runs dopily-worded headlines and other goofs. Its editorial page offers a variety of views. Within the past few weeks there appeared a letter from a local, likely lefty, Lutheran (I think) pastor--and part-time roofer. Now, I've seen it claimed that the Lutheran clergy tends to be further to the left than other denominations', though these guys also are said to keep their politics out of the pulpit. (By no means do I wish to dump on Lutheranism, having been reared in that tradition myself.)

$#|+! That's the second time tonight Bugger's *lost* my text when I tried to post it! (The first time, it claimed to have recovered it, but it hadn't.) OK, I'll write it all offline and paste it in. I don't need this.

Sorry for the interruption. Anyhow, presumed populist Pastor K. wrote to argue against war with Iraq. He writes well, too. Unfortunately his "argument" consists of stringing together politically-correct complaints about US history, then evoking the gospel dictum, "Let him without sin cast the first stone." That doesn't work in this context. As for his list of "our" offenses, maybe I shouldn't bother--though, to deal with its beginning, I'll note that territorial conquest and slavery were not invented here! In fact, the West was the first civilization to *abolish* slavery.

A curious sidelight to his antiwar point is his introduction of the Ojibwe expression _gichi-mookoman_, which he explains as "an unflattering term for white guy" literally meaning "big knife." Interestingly I'd gotten the impression long ago that some natives of the North American interior referred to the inhabitants of the young United States as "Big Knives" to distinguish them from the whites still representing European powers. Personally it doesn't strike me as negative--but then I collect knives (some of them big!) and archaic weaponry. Coincidentally it turns out that, roughly 500 years ago, German civilians carried an unusual variety of sword called the grosse Messer--literally "big knife!" I thought it cool enough that I eventually bought one from the catalog I'd found it in.