A Modern Scottish View of Clans (and Gathering)

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I don't think I have portrayed anyone in a false light.

The "false light" I was referring to was the way in which you conveyed the impression that he had pulled himself up by his bootstraps.

I set out the facts.

Vaguely at best, if at all.

Smokescreen?

No, thanks. I don't smoke.

If there is a pattern of social advancement his maternal family in the last 200 years (and I really don't know if there is) it would prove my point: it would have happened after they came to the US.

Why is it that people always assume that only "the poor, the tired, the wretched refuse, etc." moved to America? Pretty damned condescending, in my view. Unless, of course, you are trying to make some sort of obscure point about how unfair the entrenched social system is in Britain, and that only by moving to North America does a person have a chance of achieving his/her full potential. If that's the point you are trying to make, it can be refuted with four words: Richard Branson and Sean Connery. Both blokes made it to the top with a combination of intelligence, talent, and a lot of hard work. In Britain.

You are mistaken re: his education. He did attend a private college prepartory school in HI, but worked during the summers at Harvard Law School, and took advantage of a program there that offered scholarships to students who agreed to practice some form of public service law after graduation.

I am not the least bit mistaken about the president's educational background-- read what I wrote: He has a first class education (the foundation of which was paid for by his maternal grandparents) and he took full advantage of it to advance himself both socially and politically. Those are facts. That he worked summers, between terms, or nights handing out towels at the YMCA is neither here nor there. In the United States and Canada virtually all third level and graduate level students have some sort of "after school" job, if for no other reason than to beguile the tedium of being a student.

[gilmore]

... In the United States and Canada virtually all third level and graduate level students have some sort of "after school" job, if for no other reason than to beguile the tedium of being a student.

Where ever do you come up with your facts?

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Where ever do you come up with your facts?

In this instance the US Department of Labor.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

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[Dianne B]

I have a friend not far from Glasgow and, when I was thinking about getting a kilted skirt, I asked her about the attitudes in Scotland regarding the wearing of tartans.

Her response was to wear whatever I liked, that there isn't any strong feeling about it in Scotland except in jokes etc. - just choose one you like and go for it. Nobody there would bat an eyelid. "They might ask you what it was if they liked it or if it was unusual but it would be perfectly ok to say you wear it because you like it."

Since she is involved in "cultural stuff" over there, I figure that is as close to 'the horse's mouth' as I am likely to get,