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<DIV>I usually agree with Dave, but I don't find much sense in the complaints
that the people displaced by Katrina should not be called refugees. I've seen it
in the papers and even on NBC news. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>A quick look at a pocket dictionary (American Century, by Oxford University
Press) defines "refugee" as "a person taking refuge, esp. in a foreign country,
from war, persecution, or natural disaster."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>True, people displaced by Katrina are not in a foreign country, nor fleeing
from war or persecution. They are, however, taking <EM><STRONG>refuge
</STRONG></EM>from a natural disaster.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>So, why are we treating "refugee" as a dirty word?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Why do we assume that AMERICANS can't be refugees?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>If people are associating the word "refugee" with the pompous nonsense
Robert Tracinsky put out (I'm not blaming Frank for it, he just passed it along
as something to look at), then I understand the sensitivity, but I still don't
believe the word "refugee" is wrong.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Americans are taking refuge from a natural disaster, many in another state
-- and if you ever look in a law book, a corporation from one state doing
business in another state is called a "foreign corporation."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Let's call it what it is, not take REFUGE in myths that this couldn't
happen to OUR country. We're not all that special, certainly not in the eyes of
God. But let's also not put any prejudice on OUR fellow citizens who ARE
refugees.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Siarlys</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>P.S. Concerning the down-and-out chronically unemployed and unemployable
among the refugees, we came up with a good plan discussing this before church
this morning. Every contractor from outside the disaster area that comes in to
get work on rebuilding should be required to hire one new apprentice from the
local population for every journeyman or master of any trade they bring in as
part of their crew.</DIV></BODY></HTML>