Moondog wrote:

"Any reaction to the old woman's comment? Cheers"

According to the BBC version of this story, the old lady was
laughing when made her comments about the US about the United
States being responsible.

For example, ABC News Online at [www.abc.net.au] stated:

"One older woman has told NTV she believes the
Americans have finally been able to hit them
where it hurts.

"I am thinking, well, America has finally got
to us," she said as she sat on the ground
outside her house.

BBC News, World Edition, May 20, 2005, at [news.bbc.co.uk] stated:

"But one elderly villager sitting outside her
house had another kind of force in mind.

"I thought the Americans had got here," she said,
laughing."

The similarities between each account suggested to me that the "old
lady" and "elderly villager" is the same person and that the ABC News
account left out a very important observation, that she was laughing,
concerning her frame of mind when she made the statement. It sounds
like in the retelling someone confused a statement that she made
in jest for a serious statement. We make the same jokes about Russians
being involved when something weird happens in the United States. A
joke is a joke.

Besides, during the Cold War, people seriously accused the "evil empire"
of being repsonsible for earthquakes, droughts, and so forth. We in the
United States are not without our own sins.

Best Regards,

Paul




Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2005 11:25AM by Paul H..