[PLUG-TALK] Fair Use, etc.
Russ Johnson
russj at dimstar.net
Thu Mar 28 00:47:30 UTC 2002
I'm prefacing this with the following statement: I am NOT in any way,
advocating either gun control or gun ownership. I don't own a gun, and I
don't intend to, but you may. It's not my call.
On Wed, 2002-03-27 at 15:54, J.A. Henshaw wrote:
> "well regulated militia"
Let's dissect that term, shall we?
"well". Assuming the adverb. Means; justly, rightly, expertly,
satisfactorily, and a couple of other adverbs.
"regulated". Inflected form of regulate. Regulate is "to govern or
direct according to rule".
"militia". The noun can mean a part of the organized armed forces, a
body of citizens organized for military service or the whole body of
able-bodied male citizens declared by law as being subject to call to
military service.
So, the long version of "well regulated militia" could be, "expertly
directed, according to rules, part of the organized armed forces of the
United States".
Or, it could mean; "justly governed, able-bodied male citizens of the
United States, declared by law as being subject to military service."
In every instance, militia deals with being part of the military, either
that of the states, or the country as a whole.
> and their use of the word "regulated" in
> that sentence were a problem for those who oppose private
> firearm ownership and state militias being composed of all
> able-bodeied males 18 and over, rather than the corporate
> US National Guard.
Corporate? How? It's run and paid for by the State government.
>
> So if they leave out the 200 year old definition and
> subsitute a NewSpeak version, I think we can safely believe
> they must have had some purpose for doing so.
What is the "200 year old definition"?
> Who else is responsible for the perceived shift in the
> meanings of words?
>
> Mass Media?
Yes. See "Hacker".
> Paranoid is when you see conspiracies against yourself
> personally, which do not exist.
No, paranoid is characterized by suspiciousness, persecutory trends, or
megalomania. It has nothing to do with whether they exist or not. Only
that you think they do. They may not... But then again, they may.
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