&&000 CANADIAN SCHOOLBOOKS     1990s                                                   CA90604.TXT

6th GRADE, 1990s

Samples by dph at OISE, U Toronto, 12 Jan 2004
edited by dph 1-17-2004
RE-EDITED FOR RESIDUALS 3/21/04
Re-edited 22 June 2005

&&111
are =China, with =1'2 billion people, and =India, with =883 million. The biggest in area is
=Russia, which covers =17075400.   =Canada is second largest, with =9958319 but only =27
million people. Some countries are tiny. One of the smallest nations, =SanMarino, has =23
thousand people and covers only =25 square miles. 
The world is not like your neighborhood. There isn't a world government to keep law and order.
Instead, the world is like a big schoolyard, but one where no one has the power to stop fights or
keep gangs or bullies from hurting other kids. That's why wars and fighting and stealing have
gone on forever. It was only fifty years ago, after the worst war ever, that =Canada and other
countries helped start the =UnitedNations =UN. The members of the =UN agreed to work
together to stop wars and help each other, but still remain independent countries. In =1997 the
=UN had =185 member countries. A few more join every year.
For a world organization, the =UN is really very small. In =1992-93, the =UN budget was only
=24 million =American. That's only about what the people of =Newfoundland spent on their
government that year. It would buy the =Canadian navy only two new warships. Even though the
=UN has so little money, people want it to stop wars, feed the hungry, and fight terrible diseases
like =AIDS.
No wonder some people call the =UN a complete failure. However, in its first fifty years the
=UN has performed miracles.
The Struggle Against War
What can the =UN do for peace? Through decisions and resolutions in the =GeneralAssembly, it
tells the world that war is the wrong way to settle arguments. It pleads with its members to limit
the number of weapons they have, especially nuclear weapons. It sends the =Secretary-General to
countries in conflict in order to help opponents reach peaceful agreements. It writes laws for
using the ocean and outer space. The =UN pressured =SouthAfrica to end policies that could
only lead to all-out war between its =Black and =White people.
When a war breaks out between members, the =SecurityCouncil reminds one or both sides that
they have broken their commitment to the =UN's Charter. Sometimes the =UN can get both sides
to stop fighting in a few days. Then the =UN can send in observers or peacekeeping troops to
separate the warring sides and make sure the fighting doesn't begin again. It can also send in food
and medicine for the victims. The =UN usually cannot intervene in a civil war, a war in which
people of the same country fight each other, but it can prevent other countries from helping either
side by sending arms and soldiers.
The =UN has three weapons in the struggle against war:
It encourages members to disarm.
It supports a world court and new laws
to settle arguments.
It borrows soldiers from its members
to keep the peace and, if necessary, to
fight for it.



the bears have some restless neighbors. =Vietnam, =Cambodia, =Laos, and =Myanmar have
faced serious internal and external conflicts for many years. These conflicts have hindered their
own economic development, and may also affect the economies of the four bears as well. That's
because both local and foreign companies are wary of setting up businesses in unsettled or
unstable conditions.


The elephants are the economies of =SouthAsia. This region includes =India, =Bangladesh,
=Pakistan, =Nepal, =Bhutan, =Afghanistan, the =Maldives, and =SriLanka. Although =India has
many industries, most of the other countries in this region are less developed than other parts of
=Asia.
=SouthAsia has had a difficult past. Most of its countries were colonized by foreign nations at
one time or another. Wars have been fought over territory, and peoples divided when new
national boundaries were established. This past still influences the present, so peace is
the most basic requirement for economic growth in this region.
A large number of the people of =SouthAsia are farmers, so the sale of agricultural products is
the main source of income. And much income is needed, because the region is already home to
=1'5 billion people. By the year =2000, =SouthAsia will have around =2 billion people, all of
them needing food, health care, and education.
The region has other problems too. One is that there is not enough land for many of its farmers to
make a good living. =SouthAsia is also subject to natural disasters such as floods and droughts,
which destroy crops and kill many people. India, for example, must spend around one billion
dollars per year to repair the damage caused by the annual monsoon storms.
In spite of all this, economic development is going ahead. Irrigation systems are being improved
and storage capacity increased in order to keep harvests safe from natural disasters such as floods
and typhoons. New techniques are being developed to increase harvests, and roads, electrical
grids, and communications networks are being built.
Today, industries are being developed, and many of the people in this region are getting an
education. Local companies now process agricultural products in their factories, and the money
from the sale of these products helps develop still more industries. Foreign investment has been
encouraged too, but in most cases it is controlled by the government. The goal of all the countries
in =SouthAsia is to sell more processed products and fewer agricultural products on the
international market.

her arm protectively around his shoulders, pulling him closer to her. If only =Mama and =Papa
could be here too. She tried to shake off the black feeling of loneliness that slipped over her when
she thought of her parents. She turned to =Robbie. "We've done it, =Robbie! We ran away and no
one stopped us!" But somewhere in her mind came the answering thought-no one really cared.
Abruptly, =Elspeth turned her back on =England and pulled =Robbie over to the stairs.
At the bottom of the first flight they passed a dining room where a steward was setting out a tub
of ship biscuits and another of hard-boiled eggs. As soon as his back was turned, =Elspeth
dashed forward and shoved four eggs into her pockets. She took a biscuit for each of them.
"Was it all right to take them?" =Robbie asked nervously when =Elspeth divided the spoils back
in the hold. "Won't they be angry?"
"It's our supper. It's meant for us, =Elspeth reassured him. "It's just better to eat it here by
ourselves. I'll take our mugs and fetch tea, but you wait here."
The ship biscuit was about fifteen centimeters across and two centimeters thick, so it kept
=Robbie quiet for a long time. For both of them an egg was a rare treat, and they'd never had two
each before.
By evening, =Rob and =Elspeth knew their way around the ship. They heard plenty of angry
complaints about the crowded holds and makeshift washrooms, but they thought nothing of it
because they had shared a toilet with five other families back in =Glasgow.
=Robbie didn't want to sleep, with all the excitement and noise. On one side of them a baby was
crying. On the other, a man and his wife were arguing.
"I'll lie down here right beside you," =Elspeth said, tucking a blanket around =Robbie. "Look,
here's =Pig-Bear!"
The quarreling voices became still, and they could hear the mother singing softly to her crying
baby. Tears filled =Elspeth's eyes as she recognized the sweet, sad music of "=BonnyDoon," a
song that =Mama used to sing. "You mind me of departed joys, departed never to return."
=Elspeth began to cry.
=Robbie reached up and touched =Elspeth's wet cheek. "Don't cry, =Elspeth!" he said softly.
"They'll never find us here. They won't know where to look."
She snuggled closer to him. Was it easier or harder for =Robbie, not being burdened with so
many memories? she wondered. As time went by, he would forget =Mama and =Papa. But at
least he still had her, and she had him. Comforted by this thought, she finally drifted off to sleep
to the soothing sound of hymns.
For the first time since =Mama had died, =Robbie slept through the night. They were awakened
by the sounds of the families around them beginning their second day at sea. =Elspeth went to
wash a few clothes in a scant bucket of water one of the stewards had provided, leaving =Robbie
behind. 



that it says "=LakeValleyDance." It's like a ticket saying you've paid
Mrs =Taylor said, "Well, =Mark, have you learned to dance the =Cotton-EyedJoe yet?"
"No, Mrs =Taylor," I said. "I'm waiting for you to teach me." "Oh, if it weren't for this arthritis in
my knees, I'd have you dancing it in no time."
"That's right, =Mark," Mrs =Jessup said. "That was =Eula's specialty. If I didn't have this
dad-blamed walker, I'd teach you myself."
"Have a good time tonight, honey," said Mrs =Taylor.
At the north end of the long room stood a table for the food people had brought. I dodged through
the crowd to put our baked beans there.
Parents were setting up playpens and putting sleepy babies in them. The coat hooks were filled,
so people piled their wraps on the benches around the room.
At the south end of the room was a little stage for the band. Mrs =Madrid plays the upright piano,
and Mr =Madrid plays fiddle. My dad plays guitar, and my mom sits behind her little drum set
and beats out the rhythm. =Dad's guitar case was lying open beside =Mom's feet. I remember
when my youngest sister, =Julie, was a baby, and she slept in the guitar case. =Mom says I slept
there, too, when I was a baby.
Though the band had started to play, =Julie was up on-stage saying something to =Mom. =Mom
nodded her head in my direction, and =Julie came running over. She begged me to dance with
her. I was teaching her to do the dances I knew. Country western dancing is not like
square-dancing. There's no caller to tell you what to do; you have to know the steps yourself.
First =Julie and I danced a polka. After that was over, the band played =TenPrettyGirls. Now,
this dance is like the =CottonEyedJoe. It's got a lot of complicated moves in it. =Julie pestered
me to teach her, but I said, "You'll have to get someone else, =Julie. I don't know it."
"=Dad should be the one to teach me," =Julie said. She was right. Usually mothers teach their
sons, and fathers teach the daughters.
Just then =Julie saw one of her friends and ran over to join her. I sat down on a bench. Across the
room from me, I saw a stranger-a girl about my age sitting alone.



 The =Minchau kids share their writing with student partners at =McCauley using exactly the
same technology and procedures as they use when working with =LyleWeiss. Student to student
conferences tend to be a bit more chatty than the sessions with =Lyle. =Tim explains. "Our
student partners at =McCauley are kids like us. They think like us and we're doing a lot of the
same things, so have a lot to talk about when we look at our poems."
Which kind of conference is most useful? The students see value in both. About working with
the professional writer,=Tim says,"=Lyle can give us really great advice. He knows a lot about
writing because he's been doing it for years, and he's good." What about their peer editors?
=Ashley, another student at =Minchau, comments that student editors are particularly good at
pointing out things that don't make sense and asking you to check your spelling.
As they gain more experience, student editors will be able to focus on more aspects of writing.
"Now we're working together to find words that will help people visualize what we're saying in
our poems. Really, that's the big part of writing," says =Ryan.
=Ashley realizes how lucky they are to be able to video-conference. "=Lyle would never have
time to come out to all our schools, but he can look at our poems on disk. And all of us kids sure
couldn't get together from all over the place to help each other," she says. "So video conferencing
gives us editing input we couldn't get in any other way."
Where in the world is =PortFairy? Students in Mr =Milson's class at =GoodShepherdSchool in
=Edmonton, =Alberta, not only know the answer to that question, they also know how to get
there in just a few seconds! =PortFairy is halfway around the world from =Edmonton, down on
the southeastern tip of =australia in the state of =Victoria. It takes about seventeen hours to fly
there and around two weeks for a letter to arrive. But a message sent by e-mail arrives almost
instantly. Incredible, isn't it?
The Grade =6 students at =GoodShepherd think it's exciting, too. Through e-mail they have
keypals in =Australia, kids they write to using a computer keyboard instead of pen and paper. On
days when the e-mail comes in and they get a printout of their letters, the students can hardly wait
to read messages from their own keypals and then listen while some of the other kids' keypal
letters are read aloud.

Checking out e-mail from =Australia.
top of the pole, =Raven's forehead. Then, while crew members are still tracing the lower
creatures, he begins shaping the legs of the Moon figure and Raven's wings. He alternates using
his big adze, axe, and chain saw, seeing in his mind how deeply to cut. Chunks of wood fly off
the pole. =Norman calls these first cuts an explosion, and they feel like one!
There are two pieces of this totem pole that must be carved from separate blocks of wood and
added on later Whale's fin and Raven's beak. =Norman gives the young apprentices the
responsibility of carving these pieces. He assigns the beak to =Isaac. =Wayne will do the fin.
=Norman, =Chip, and =Hammy rough cut
the rest of the figures. Then =Chip demonstrates how to use a mallet and chisel to define each
creature from the background wood. At this point, all the
arms, legs, and heads look square and chunky.
The next stage in carving the totem pole is rounding the figures and sculpting the faces. =Isaac's
strong adze strokes take the sharp edges off  Bear's legs and arms. He is careful not to cut too
deeply where =Norman has drawn small circles on the wood. These mark the areas that will
become the wrist bones and ankle bones that are a trademark of =Norman's carving.
Chip puts his hands over the eyeballs, feeling whether or not they are equally shaped. The carvers
learn how to measure with their hands as well as their eyes. "Your hands will tell you if one side
is higher," he explains, "but you need to practice."
Each of the crew members will carve one of the four faces around the doorway all by himself.
=Norman calls these faces signature pieces, because they are a way of signing each carver's name
to the totem pole. After the faces have been drawn on the wood, the carvers begin rough cutting
with smaller, single-handed adzes. Although the faces are all drawn from the same outline, they
soon loot: quite different from one another.
Working head to head, =Hammy and =Isaac use chisels and mallets to.




Then it will be easy for all of us to find food and not starve as we are doing now."
"Tell me what to do, =Grandfather," the young fisher said, letting the squirrel go.
The squirrel climbed quickly up onto a high branch and then spoke again. "Go home and say
nothing. Just sit down in your lodge and begin to weep. Your mother will ask you what is wrong,
but you must not answer her. If she tries to comfort you or give you food, you must refuse it.
When your father comes home, he will ask you why you are weeping. Then you can speak. Tell
him the winds are too cold and the snow is too deep. Tell him that he must bring warm weather
to the Earth."
So the young fisher went home. He sat in the corner of the lodge and cried. His mother asked
what was wrong, but he did not answer. She offered him food, but he pushed it away. When his
father returned and saw his only son weeping, he went to his side.
"What is wrong, son?" =Fisher said. Then the young fisher said what the squirrel had told him to
say.
"I am weeping because the wind is too cold and the snow is too deep. We are all starving because
of the winter. I want you to use your powers to bring the warm weather."
"The thing you are asking of me is hard to do," said =Fisher, "but you are right. I will do all I can
to grant your wish."
Then =Fisher had a great feast. He invited all of his friends and told them what he planned to do.
"I am going to go to the place where the sky land is closest to the Earth," he said. "There in the
sky land the people have all the warm weather. I intend to go there to bring some of that warm
weather back. Then the snow will go away and we will have plenty to eat."
All of =Fisher's friends were pleased and offered to go with him. So when =Fisher set out, he
took the strongest of his friends along. Those friends were Otter, Lynx, and Wolverine.
The four of them traveled for a long time through the snow. They went toward the mountains,
higher and higher each day. =Fisher had with him a pack filled with dried venison and they slept
at night buried under the snow. At last, after many, many days, they came to the highest
mountain and climbed to its top. Then =Fisher took a pipe and tobacco out of his pouch.
"We must offer our smoke to the Four Directions," =Fisher said. The
four of them smoked and sent their prayers to =GitcheeManitou, asking for success. The sky was
very close above them, but they had to find some way to break through into the land above. "We
must jump up," said =Fisher. "Who will go first?"



on a clear moonless night, go out to a dark place away from city lights. Gaze
across millions of kilometers of space and try to spot =Saturn. Use a current
star chart from your local newspaper to help you. You're looking for a bright,
yellowish object that doesn't twinkle or flicker =Saturn.
The solar system has nine planets. =Saturn, the most distant planet visible to the naked eye, is the
sixth planet from the sun. =Saturn is the largest planet after =Jupiter. About =Earths could fit
inside it. Yet =Saturn is relatively lightweight. It would float on water, if you could find an ocean
big enough to hold it. =Saturn is made mostly of gases-hydrogen and helium. Lower in its
atmosphere are liquids. The planet core may be solid.
=Saturn is surrounded by a dull, yellow haze. But beneath its pale veil, the planet is hopping!
Winds race around =Saturn's equator faster than =450 meters per second. That's about ten times
stronger than a hurricane on =Earth. And =Saturn is cold! Temperatures there can drop to an
estimated =84. Big, cold, and full of gas, =Saturn is slower than =Earth in one way but faster in
another. =Saturn takes about =thirty =Earth years to orbit the sun. =Earth takes only one year.
But =Saturn rotates on its axis every ten hours and thirty minutes. =Earth takes twenty-four hours
to rotate. And those rings! Other planets =Jupiter, =Uranus, =Neptune-have cosmic hula hoops,
but theirs are small compared to =Saturn's. Scientists aren't sure why =Saturn's rings are so big.
They do know the rings contain trillions of ice particles. The particles range from dust-size to the
size of large buildings.
The final count isn't in yet, but
scientists believe =Saturn has at least twenty moons-more than any other planet. =Titan, the
largest, is the only moon in the solar system that has an atmosphere. =Titan's air contains no
oxygen. And at around =180, the temperature on =Titan is much too cold to support life. But
=Titan does have methane and other organic materials found in living things. Scientists believe
that =Titan's conditions may have been similar to =Earth's during =Earth's formation. If so, what
we   =Saturn and some of
learn about =Saturn and its moons may reveal information    its moons. about our own planet.

=Harriet's big brother, =Tom, was annoyed at her because =Mom made him drive her to school
early with her stupid project. =Dad was annoyed at her for using part of the business section.
Mostly she had stuck to the want ads, but then an advertisement printed in red ink in the business
section caught her eye, and she just had to have it for =Mars. Harriet had a crush on =Mars; that's
what =Tom said. She didn't even mind him saying it.
=Mars was near the =Earth this month. The nights had been November cold but clear as glass,
and
=Harriet had been out to see =Mars every night, which was why she hadn't got her solar system
finished, why she was so tired, why =Mom made =Tom drive her to school. It was all =Mars's
fault.
She was using the tape on Ms =Krensky's desk when =ClaytonBeemer arrived with his dad. His
solar system came from the hobby store. The planets were =Styrofoam balls, all different sizes
and painted the right colors. =Saturn's rings were clear plastic painted over as delicately as insect
wings.
=Harriet looked at her own =Saturn. Her rings were drooping despite all the tape. They looked
like a limp skirt on a  on a ball of scrunched-up newspaper.
Harriet sighed. The wires that supported =Clayton's planets in their black box were almost
invisible. The planets seemed to float.
"What do you think?" =Clayton asked. He beamed. Mr =Beemer beamed. =Harriet guessed that
he had made the black box with its glittery smear of stars.
She had rolled up her own project protectively when =Clayton entered the classroom. Suddenly
one of the planets came unstuck and fell on the floor. =Clayton and Mr =Beemer looked at it.
"What's that?" asked =Clayton.
"=Pluto, I think," said =Harriet, picking it up. She popped it in her mouth. It tasted of grape gum.
"Yes, =Pluto," she said. =Clayton and Mr =Beemer walked away to find the best place to show
off
their project.
=Darjit arrived next. "Hi, =Harriet," she said. The project under her arm had the planets' names
done in bold gold lettering. =Harriet's heart sank. =Pluto tasted stale and cold.
But last night =Harriet had tasted pomegranates. Old Mrs =Pond had given her one while she
busied herself putting on layer after layer of warm clothing and gathering the things they would
need for their =Mars watch.

Near sunset =Ona could hear the dragon repeating bits of her riddle. For an hour it whispered the
words "to gain the moment" over and over. She felt the creature's hot breath on her back as the
sun slipped below the mountains and the grey skies dwindled to blackness. Then she sat,
wrapped
in her blanket, waiting for the sunrise. She hoped to be alive to see it.
During the coldest hour of the night, a howl slapped the girl from her half-sleep. The dragon was
roaring and shrieking, lashing its tail and crying out in frustration and rage. "Tell me, human," it
screamed, "how am I to seek nothing? If this is a lie, I will show you no mercy!" This last the
beast whispered with half-closed eyes, the smoke from its nostrils seeping out and sinking to the
ground like a horrid creeping thing.
=Ona thought she might scream from pure terror. She gripped the blanket about her with both
hands and closed her eyes so she could not see the flames as the dragon flew in circles above her.
Even when the heat beat against her face and the fire singed her hair, she did not move. Only as
dawn approached and the dragon flew toward the shadow of the mountains did =Ona open her
eyes to watch its fiery trail.
The beast did not return.
Sunrise was cold. =Ona huddled on the hard earth and
trembled. A clinging fog crept up from the foothills,
turning the valley into a bowl of rolling grey smoke.
Straining her eyes, =Ona searched from north to
south and back again, waiting for the shadow that
would mark the dragon's return. She was
terrified the beast might come without her
seeing. Although she had no weapon, she did
not want to be caught unaware. She pushed
away the thought that she might scream and
run mad with fear into the hills.
When the dragon did come, =Ona was
surprised by the silence of its flight. The
creature circled three, then four times over the
small, still figure on the ground. At last, folding its wings like great fans, the dragon settled in the
open meadow in front of her.
"Human," the beast whispered, its voice scraping.



The mouse began to cry softly. When =Eleanor heard her tiny sobs, she said, "=Bartholomew,
you
must speak to the bringer of darkness. Perhaps he will listen to you."
=Bartholomew stepped carefully out onto the branch and called to Night, "My friend, why are
you angry with us? Where is Moon? Why doesn't Tomorrow come?"
Night replied, "=Bartholomew
Owl, when you gave our names to your children, we were pleased and flattered. But your
children
have forgotten who they are. For all their stealth and beauty and wisdom, they are, after all,
animals among animals, and they must remember that. We want our names back!"
"But what will we call our
children?" cried =Bartholomew.
"That is your problem," said Night. "If you want Moon and Tomorrow to return to the forest, you
will give us our names back."
Fortunately, Night could not see the anger that flashed in =Bartholomew's eyes, nor hear the
protest that shouted in his heart. And =Bartholomew, being somewhat wiser than his children,
answered as he knew he must.
"It will be done."
Reluctantly, =Bartholomew told his children they had to give back their wonderful names. And,
reluctantly, they did.
Tomorrow came to the forest and the animals could see to hunt for food and water. When Night
came again, Moon came with him. And all was as it should be again.
But =Bartholomew did not share in the rejoicing that filled the forest. His children had been
robbed to ransom the light, and, though he had no choice but to pay the ransom, he was
determined that the sacrifice should be remembered.
"If my children cannot have the names they deserve," he declared, "they shall have no names at
all."
And that is why, to this very day, owls do not have names. So if you go into the forest and try to
call an owl by name.



That started the exodus and animals wandered in all directions. Great Gorilla and Brainy
Chimpanzee, feeling that they did not want to go too far, simply went into the jungle. Tree
Pangolin, Leopard, Gabon Viper, and Royal Antelope did the same.
Elephant led a whole delegation South following the rhinoceros. Buffalo, Lion, Giraffe, Gazelle,
Hyena, Zebra, Cheetah, and many others wandered South and roamed the grasslands. But
rock-climbing =BarbarySheep, Camel, Addax, Sand Cat, Desert Hedgehog, =Fennec Fox,
=Jerboa, Sand Grouse, and many others remained exactly where they were.
Meanwhile, the Sun had gathered all its strength. It sent its hottest rays to heat the River, and
slowly, oh so slowly, you could not see what was happening, the River started to lift in particles
too tiny for the eye to see. Up, up, up they went until they were so high that it felt cold. Then the
tiny particles of the River huddled together and formed white fluffy clouds of all sizes. They
were
so happy to be floating in the air, and they waited in excitement for the spectacle of the night sky
when they would walk among the many winking stars.
Sure enough, in the evening, the night sky prepared to lay out the best winking stars for the
visiting clouds to walk among, and as it got darker, the stars winked and twinkled and sparkled.
"Oh, isn't this wonderful!" said a cloud. "Simply stupendous!" Whoosh! A gust of wind came in.
"You're sitting on my bit of sky ledge," the wind said.
"Oh, I beg your pardon," said the cloud, and she moved over to one side.
Whoosh! Gusts of wind came over and over again, here and everywhere. They claimed parts of
the sky where the clouds were. Sometimes they came while the clouds were trying to get some
sleep, and they would shake them awake and push them over.
Now, pushing and shoving is about the only thing that the gentle River would not stand. And all
the clouds remembered the peaceful days of being water down on =Earth. They remembered the
gentle flow in one direction and the gliding back on the tide, and a small cloud said, "I want to go
home."
Yes. They all wanted to go home. But how? The wind, so quick at picking up conversations,
snapped up the news of the clouds trying to go home, and it gathered all its sisters, cousins, and
brothers.

They carried the clouds high and made them feel colder, and as the clouds huddled together, they
grew heavy and began to fall as rain. Down below, the Sun was still burning out any manner of
moisture that remained in the river bed.

I told her that sounded pretty neat. I wish we had one of those guys in our neighborhood.
When there's a full moon outside, my =Grandma always pulls down the window shades near my
bed. She says it's bad luck if the moon shines on you when you sleep. I make fun of her
superstitions but she always says, "You never know  . you never know."
Mostly, my =Grandma's stories are funny. But sometimes they're scary, so scary that I have to
scrunch up my shoulders to cover my ears, even if I've heard them before.
For instance, there's the one about her aunt and uncle who lived in this poor little town with a
winding brook and a wooden bridge. It sounds like she's starting a fairy tale, but I know she's
working up to the part about the pogroms. That's when these soldiers called =Cossacks attacked
and burned =Jewish people's houses. We're =Jewish.
"If it wasn't for the pogroms," she says, "a lot of =Jews who ran away to =NorthAmerica would
have stayed in =Europe. Then they would have been killed by the =Nazis. So maybe the pogroms
were a blessing in disguise." To me that's like saying, "Good thing we were hit by a two ton bus
or we might've been flattened by a ten ton truck." But to =Grandma it's a happy ending.
=Grandma loves happy endings.

&&000