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Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 09:28:19 +1000
Subject: Re: Python 3 is killing Python
From: Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com>
Cc: "python-list@python.org" <python-list@python.org>
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On Tue, Jul 15, 2014 at 8:12 AM, Rick Johnson
<rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> wrote:
> If the "powers that be" cannot handle the heat, then they
> should withdraw Python from the public and then they can
> decree any ridiculous fascist rules they please, until then,
> what's that old adage about "reaping" and "sewing"...?

You've already been told about "shutter" vs "shudder", but I'd like to
also point out that this would be "sowing", as it's a reference to
this passage from the Bible:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+6%3A7-8&version=NIV

which is itself a reference to the work of planting (sowing seeds) and
then harvesting (reaping).

> Besides, "opposing and competing forces" are a fundamental
> part of evolution (psst: do you remember that little thing
> called "evolution" Chris?)

Actually, no. I don't remember evolving from anything else. Do you?
Because I've always been the same thing I am now. What am I supposed
to be remembering, exactly?

> Image, for a moment, a world WITHOUT the great USA!

"Imagine". If you were worth the effort, I could easily "image" a
world without the USA, by Photoshopping something out of a world map.
(I'd probably use the Gimp, or Pike's image manipulation libraries,
but everyone knows what Photoshopping is.)

And I know what would happen if the USA weren't here. People in other
countries would have made similar improvements to the world. Oh, and
just for reference, I'm not in the US. I'm an Aussie, and we boast a
fairly impressive per-capita invention rate. Some of them (like the
stump-jump plough) are specific to our peculiar land, but there are
plenty of awesome tools of general interest that have come from here.
Just start poking around in various technical documents (RFCs, ISO and
ANSI standards, etc, etc) and see how many contributors' addresses say
Australia; chances are it'll be a lot more than our ~20M population
would suggest. There are a few European countries that, similarly,
contribute far more than their apparent size would imply.

> what nation in
> modern history has contributed more technological
> achievements [1] or engendered a revolution of social
> justice around the world, or, propagated the idea that all
> men are created equal and endowed by their creator with
> unalienable rights?

Social justice? Do you honestly think the USofA is the example to hold
up and say "Look, we have perfectly solved the problems of social
injustice"? I guess you've eliminated racism since I last heard.

Oh, and I agree that all people are created equal. (I'll leave aside
the argument about whether your statement is proof that English is
sexist, or that the US founding fathers were the sexist ones.) I also
believe that our Creator sees us as equal. But all through history, we
flawed human beings have had a problem with seeing people differently,
for various reasons. The Apostle James wrote about a major problem
with "wealthist" Christians:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A1-4&version=NIV

And there've been plenty of other problems creeping in. God treats us
all the same way: flawed, fallible people whom He loves enough to die
for. If you want to believe in true equality, you need to follow His
example.

ChrisA