No problem Jim. I was expanding on your comment more than disputing it.
Of course, we COULD argue about that.
BTW, someone mentioned that the police would never use the word "pigs" to identify themselves, but I do remember it being used sparingly among the few officers I used to know, more in irony than definition. And I also remember many years ago it being used to promote fundraising & community integration sporting events between off-duty cops and others, something like "Pigs vs Pupils" to boost attendance for a basketball game between local police and a highschool team, say. Like "Yankee Doodle," when you adopt an epithet as your own it disarms the attacker, which is often how such expressions go out of fashion.
Best,
Kerry
----- Original Message -----
From: JIM DOHERTY
To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 5:11 AM
Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: Canadian Question: DaVincis Inquest -- The Horsemen
Kerry,
Re your response to my comment, "In Canada, 'The Horsemen' means roughly what 'The Feds' means on this side of the border," below:
"Actually, much more than that. They began as a semi-military organization to quell rebellion in the pre-confederated west. They are a federal force, but as Kevin implies, they serve as provincial police (similar to state police) except in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario and I think Newfoundland. As well, many middling to smaller communities outside those provinces may also contract to have the RCMP as the local constabulary instead of financing their own services."
What I meant was that when a local or provincial cop in Canada refers to the RCMP as "The Horsemen," he's using an in-house piece of jargon roughly equivalent to a local or state cop over here referring to the US Government's pantheon of law enforcement agencies as "The Feds." I didn't mean to imply that the history of federal policing in the US and Canada was identical.
JIM DOHERTY
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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