<< < For example: why does the universe exist at all?

<Whether there is a "why" or not we have to find it. This is Pascal's(?) wager.
<If there is no why and we spend our lives searching, then we have merely
<wasted our lives, which were meaningless anyway. If there is a why and we
..
<Suppose the universe is 5 billion years old, and suppose it lasts another
<5 billion years. Suppose I live to be 100. That is nothing, that is so small
<that it is scary. So by searching for the "why" along with my friends here
<on earth if nothing else we aren't so scared.

 I find this view of Christianity to be quite disheartening and sad.
The idea that life only has meaning or importance if there is a Creator
does not seem like much of a basis for belief.

 And the logic is also appalling: "God must exist because I want Him to."

 I have heard this line of "reasoning" before and wonder how prevalent
it is. Certainly in modern society many people are convinced life is
hopeless (or so the pollsters and newscasts state), but I don't see
where this is a good reason to become religious. If you want 'meaning'
why not just join a cult, such as in Waco? The leaders will give you
the security blanket you desire.


Is there any program available (free or otherwise) for taking a tiff or gif
or some other bitmapped file and turning it (or parts of it) into ascii
characters?

  DOS, OS/2 or platform independent programs if possible.


I missed the original post, but aren't the Expos rushing alomost their
entire team this year?  I am from Montreal, and am a fan, but geez, the
Expos rank 27th in salary (only the Rockies trail) and someone at
the average age would probably be in first year University!
			CorelMARK!


Boy that was really humorous.  I'm impressed by your incredible senses of wit,
sarcasm and propriety.  Mind if I post jokes about your mother?


At the company I worked for previously, I received a file that was des encryped
and the person that had sent it, went on vaction.  Rather than wait two weeks
I set up a straight frontal attack with one key at a time.  It only took two(2)
days to crack the file.  No, I don't have any faith in DES.

A.G.


Secular laws seem to value criminal life more than the victims life,
Islam places the rights of society and every member in it above
the rights of the individual, this is what I call true human rights.

As a Muslim living in a non-Muslim land I am bound by the laws of the land
I live in, but I do not disregard Islamic Law it still remains a part of my
life. If the laws of a land conflict with my religion to such an extent
that I am prevented from being allowed to practise my religion then I must
leave the land. So in a way Islamic law does take precendence over secular law
but we are instructed to follow the laws of the land that we live in too.

In an Islamic state (one ruled by a Khaliphate) religions other than Islam
are allowed to rule by their own religious laws provided they don't affect
the genral population and don't come into direct conflict with state
laws, Dhimmis (non-Muslim population) are exempt from most Islamic laws
on religion, such as fighting in a Jihad, giving Zakat (alms giving)
etc but are given the benefit of these two acts such as Military
protection and if they are poor they will receive Zakat.

After the Fatwa didn't Rushdie re-affirm his faith in Islam, didn't
he go thru' a very public "conversion" to Islam? If so he is binding
himself to Islamic Laws. He has to publicly renounce in his belief in Islam
so the burden is on him.

Mas


It is a long standing good luck Redwing's tradition to throw an octopus
on the ice during a Stanley Cup game. They say it dates back to '52
at the Olympia when the Wings became the 1st team (I think) to sweep
the cup in 8 games. A lot hardet to throw one from Joe Louis seats
than from the old Olympia balcony, though.


Fellow Texans and Members of Crime Strike in Texas

Crime Strike in Texas has a loosely knit coalition with most
Victims Rights Groups in Texas. We ask that you write a
letter protesting the release of the following murderer.

This letter should be written to :

Raven Kazen - Victims Services
Board of Pardons and Paroles
P.O. Box 13401 - Capital Station
Austin, Texas 78711

The letter should be written if at all possible on RED PAPER
as that was agreed on at one of our first meetings . It
represents the coalition and all of its parts as well as the
heart ache of those left behind and the blood spilled by
these criminals. The letter should have only one name on it
so it can be filed in the folder of that criminal waiting for
his next try at parole.

List of Criminals:

Today we have only one parole to protest , On October 4,
1990, Mark Steven Hughes rendered numerous blows to the head
of James Allen Pompa . Ten month old James went into a coma
and died two days later.

On July 8, 1992, Mark Steven Hughes pled guilty to Injury to
a Child and received a ten-year sentence. According to Texas
law, Mark became eligible for parole on January 4, 1992 --
six months before he was even sentenced!

Would you join us in strongly protesting the release from
prison of Mark Steven Hughes, who beat a baby to death .

Mark Steven Hughes - beat to death the baby boy of
Russel Pompa -- Reference Mark Steven Hughes - TDC# 633546

Mark your envelope   "PROTEST LETTER" on the front and back.

A typical letter is indicated on the next page ---

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Irvin Wilson - Volunteer Crime Strike Texas

Date: April 13, 1993

Raven Kazen - Victims Services
Board of Pardons and Paroles
P.O. Box 13401 - Capital Station
Austin , Texas 78711

I protest the parole of Mark Steven Hughes TDC#633546, who,
murdered James Son of Russel Pompa.

He should be kept in prison for his full sentence and not be
released at any time prior to his full sentence for any
reason.

Irvin Wilson
Houston, Texas


Actually, there was very little to the book.  First of all looking at
the titles of her other books, I would personally consider her
to be engaged in a bizarre form of Christian-like mysticism
heavily influenced by eastern philosphies (great titles like
_The_Astrology_of_the_4_Horsemen_).

However, other than the Chapter One into, there's nothing original,
biased, or even new this book.  It is basically a collection of previously
published works by those who claim that there exist Buddhist and Hindu
stories that Christ visited India and China (he was known as Issa)
during the period from late teens to age 30.

Conclusion:  the book actually lets you come to your own view by presenting
a summary of various published works and letters, all of which you
could verify independently.  It includes refutations to such works as
well.  Therefore, even if you think she is theologically warped, this
book is a nice reference summary for the interested.


duh, why not just chop out the .sig?

bob vesterman.

ps: hey kids, take all those pictures of dead presidents out of your
parents' wallets and mail them to:


This is message is only of interest to those going to
International Symposium on Circuits and Systems that is being
held in Chicago this May.

   I checking to see if there is any people out there who would be
interested in getting together for a pickup game of soccer during
the off hours of the conference. If so could you e-mail me at:

philc@macs.ee.mcgill.ca

I'll bring a ball. If you know someone who is going to the
conference and you know that they are avid soccer players
please pass on this message to them. Also if someone in
Chicago is going to the conference please let me know if
there is any field near the hotel where we can play.

Thanks. Bye.


We are interested in purchasing a grayscale printer that offers a good
resoltuion for grayscale medical images.  Can anybody give me some
recommendations on these products in the market, in particular, those
under $5000?


Actually if 'a few minutes' translates into 6 hours, you have it
right.  BUT you (and I guess your single-source news agency CNN)
failed to mention the Davidians pouring kerosene all over and lighting it in plain
view.

Well, small-scale Jim Jones type suicide with fire instead of kool-aid.

Sorry, guy, you got it wrong.  ATF was pumping tear gas into the compound.
The Branch Davidians (going along with their apocolyptic faith) set their
own compound on fire killing all but 9 or so.  No children survived.

Self-slaughter, anyway.  I pity the children who were to young to be able
to make a conscious choice.

You are wrong.  Thank goodness.  I would suggest, however, that you take
a deep breath, and wait 30 minutes or so before posting.  Also make sure
your facts are correct before making your allegations(sp.).

You repeated wrong.  There were 9.

God help the Branch Davidians.

NO DON'T!!!!  THERE IS WAY TOO MUCH OF THIS CRAP BEING CROSSPOSTED ALL OVER
CREATION AS IT IS!!!!!!


And my number 1:

1. The spectacle of the religious fervour of the CR "true believers".


So, did the Jews kill the Germans?
You even make Armenians laugh.

"An appropriate analogy with the Jewish Holocaust might be the
 systematic extermination of the entire Muslim population of
 the independent republic of Armenia which consisted of at
 least 30-40 percent of the population of that republic. The
 memoirs of an Armenian army officer who participated in and
 eye-witnessed these atrocities was published in the U.S. in
 1926 with the title 'Men Are Like That.' Other references abound."
     (Rachel A. Bortnick - The Jewish Times - June 21, 1990)

Yes. To be exact, Armenians slaughtered 2.5 million Muslim people between
1914 and 1920.

Source #1: McCarthy, J., "Muslims and Minorities, The Population of Ottoman
           Anatolia and the End of the Empire," New York University Press,
           New York, 1983, pp. 133-144.

Source #2: Hovannisian, Richard G., "Armenia on the Road to Independence,
           1918. University of California Press (Berkeley and Los Angeles),
           1967, p. 13.

Source: Hovannisian, Richard G.: Armenia on the Road to Independence, 1918.
University of California Press (Berkeley and Los Angeles), 1967, p. 13.

"The addition of the Kars and Batum oblasts to the Empire increased the
 area of Transcaucasia to over 130,000 square miles. The estimated population
 of the entire region in 1886 was 4,700,000, of whom 940,000 (20 percent) were
 Armenian, 1,200,000 (25 percent) Georgian, and 2,220,000 (45 percent) Moslem.
 Of the latter group, 1,140,000 were Tatars. Paradoxically, barely one-third
 of Transcaucasia's Armenians lived in the Erevan guberniia, where the
 Christians constituted a majority in only three of the seven uezds. Erevan
 uezd, the administrative center of the province, had only 44,000 Armenians
 as compared to 68,000 Moslems. By the time of the Russian Census of 1897,
 however, the Armenians had established a scant majority, 53 percent, in the
 guberniia; it had risen by 1916 to 60 percent, or 670,000 of the 1,120,000
 inhabitants. This impressive change in the province's ethnic character
 notwithstanding, there was, on the eve of the creation of the Armenian
 Republic, a solid block of 370,000 Tartars who continued to dominate the
 southern districts, from the outskirts of Ereven to the border of Persia."
 (See also Map 1. Historic Armenia and Map 4. Administrative subdivisions of
 Transcaucasia).

In 1920, '0' percent Turk.

"We closed the roads and mountain passes that might serve as
 ways of escape for the Tartars and then proceeded in the work
 of extermination. Our troops surrounded village after village.
 Little resistance was offered. Our artillery knocked the huts
 into heaps of stone and dust and when the villages became untenable
 and inhabitants fled from them into fields, bullets and bayonets
 completed the work. Some of the Tartars escaped of course. They
 found refuge in the mountains or succeeded in crossing the border
 into Turkey. The rest were killed. And so it is that the whole
 length of the borderland of Russian Armenia from Nakhitchevan to
 Akhalkalaki from the hot plains of Ararat to the cold mountain
 plateau of the North were dotted with mute mournful ruins of
 Tartar villages. They are quiet now, those villages, except for
 howling of wolves and jackals that visit them to paw over the
 scattered bones of the dead."

                             Ohanus Appressian
                            "Men Are Like That"
                                   p. 202.

 SOME OF THE REFERENCES FROM EMINENT AUTHORS IN THE FIELD OF MIDDLE-EASTERN
 HISTORY AND EYEWITNESSES OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE OF 2.5 MILLION MUSLIMS

1. "The Armenian Revolutionary Movement" by Louise Nalbandian,
   University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, 1975

2. "Diplomacy of Imperialism 1890-1902" by William I. Lenger, Professor
   of History, Harward University, Boston, Alfred A. Knopt, New York, 1951

3. "Turkey in Europe" by Sir Charles Elliot,
   Edward & Arnold, London, 1900

4. "The Chatnam House Version and Other Middle-Eastern Studies" by
   Elie Kedouri, Praeger Publishers, New York, Washington, 1972

5. "The Rising Crescent" by Ernest Jackh,
   Farrar & Reinhart, Inc., New York & Toronto, 1944

6. "Spiritual and Political Evolutions in Islam" by Felix Valyi,
   Mogan, Paul, Trench & Truebner & Co., London, 1925

7. "The Struggle for Power in Moslem Asia" by E. Alexander Powell,
   The Century Co., New York, London, 1924

8. "Struggle for Transcaucasia" by Feruz Kazemzadeh,
   Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn., 1951

9. "History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey" (2 volumes) by
   Stanford J. Shaw, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, New York,
   Melbourne, 1977

10."The Western Question in Greece and Turkey" by Arnold J. Toynbee,
   Constable & Co., Ltd., London, Bombay & Sydney, 1922

11."The Caliph's Last Heritage" by Sir Mark Sykes,
   Macmillan & Co., London, 1915

12."Men Are Like That" by Leonard A. Hartill,
   Bobbs Co., Indianapolis, 1928

13."Adventures in the Near East, 1918-22" by A. Rawlinson,
   Dodd, Meade & Co., 1925

14."World Alive, A Personal Story" by Robert Dunn,
   Crown Publishers, Inc., New York, 1952

15."From Sardarapat to Serves and Lousanne" by Avetis Aharonian,
   The Armenian Review Magazine, Volume 15 (Fall 1962) through 17
   (Spring 1964)

16."Armenia on the Road to Independence" by Richard G. Hovanessian,
   University of California Press, Berkeley, California, 1967

17."The Rebirth of Turkey" by Clair Price,
   Thomas Seltzer, New York, 1923

18."Caucasian Battlefields" by W. B. Allen & Paul Muratoff,
   Cambridge, 1953

19."Partition of Turkey" by Harry N. Howard,
   H. Fertig, New York, 1966

20."The King-Crane Commission" by Harry N. Howard,
   Beirut, 1963

21."United States Policy and Partition of Turkey" by Laurence Evans,
   John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1965

22."British Documents Related to Turkish War of Independence" by Gothard
   Jaeschke

1. Neside Kerem Demir, "Bir Sehid Anasina Tarihin Soyledikleri:
   Turkiye'nin Ermeni Meselesi," Hulbe Basim ve Yayin T.A.S.,
   Ankara, 1982. (Ingilizce Birinci Baski: 1980, "The Armenian
   Question in Turkey")

2. Veysel Eroglu, "Ermeni Mezalimi," Sebil Yayinevi, Istanbul, 1978.

3. A. Alper Gazigiray, "Osmanlilardan Gunumuze Kadar Vesikalarla Ermeni
   Teroru'nun Kaynaklari," Gozen Kitabevi, Istanbul, 1982.

4. Dr. Kirzioglu M. Fahrettin, "Kars Ili ve Cevresinde Ermeni Mezalimi,"
   Kardes Matbaasi, Ankara, 1970.

T.C. Basbakanlik Osmanli Arsivi, Babiali, Istanbul:

a) Yildiz Esas Evraki
b) Yildiz Perakende
c) Irade Defterleri
d) Cemaat-i Gayr-i Muslime Defterleri
e) Meclisi Vukela Mazbatalari
f) Dahiliye Nezareti, Kalem-i Mahsus Dosyalari
g) Dahiliye Nezareti, Sifre Defterleri
h) Babiali Evrak Odasi: Siyasi Kartonlar
i) Babiali Evrak Odasi: Muhimme Kartonlari

T.C. Disisleri Bakanligi, Hazine-i Evrak, Defterdarlik

a) Harb-i Umumi
b) Muteferrik Kartonlar

British Archives:

a) Parliamentary Papers (Hansard): Commons/Lords
b) Foreign Office: Confidential Print: Various Collections
c) Foreign Office: 424/239-253: Turkey: Correspondence - Annual Reports
d) Foreign Office: 608
e) Foreign Office: 371, Political Intelligence: General Correspondence
f) Foreign Office: 800/240, Ryan Papers
g) Foreign Office: 800/151, Curzon Papers
h) Foreign Office: 839: The Eastern Conference: Lausanne. 53 files

India Office Records and Library, Blackfriars Road, London.

a) L/Political and Security/10/851-855 (five boxes), "Turkey: Treaty of
   Peace: 1918-1923"
b) L/P & S/10/1031, "Near East: Turkey and Greece: Lausanne Conference,
   1921-1923"
c) L/P & S/11/154
d) L/P & S/11/1031

French Archives

Archives du ministere des Affaires entrangeres, Quai d'Orsay, Paris.

a) Documents Diplomatiques: Affaires Armeniens: 1895-1914 Collections
b) Guerre: 1914-1918: Turquie: Legion d'Orient.
c) Levant, 1918-1929: Armenie.

Official Publications, Published Documents, Diplomatic Correspondence,
Agreements, Minutes and Others

A. Turkey (The Ottoman Empire and The Republic of Turkey)

Akarli, E. (ed.); "Belgelerle Tanzimat," (istanbul, 1978).
(Gn. Kur., ATASE); "Askeri Tarih Belgeleri Dergisi," V. XXXI (81),
(Dec. 1982).
----; "Askeri Tarih Belgeleri Dergisi," V. XXXII (83),
(Dec. 1983).
Hocaoglu, M. (ed.); "Ittihad-i Anasir-i Osmaniye Heyeti Nizamnamesi,"
(Istanbul, 1912).
Meray, S. L. (trans./ed.) "Lozan Baris Konferansi: Tutanaklar-Belgeler,"
(Ankara, 1978), 2 vols.
Meray, S. L./O. Olcay (ed.); "Osmanli Imparatorlugu'nun Cokus Belgeleri;
Mondros Birakismasi, Sevr Andlasmasi, Ilgili Belgeler," (Ankara, 1977).
(Osmanli Devleti, Dahiliye Nezareti); "Aspirations et Agissements
Revolutionnaires des Comites Armeniens avant et apres la proclamation
de la Constitution Ottomane," (Istanbul, 1917).
----; "Ermeni Komitelerinin Amal ve Hareket-i Ihtilaliyesi: Ilan-i
Mesrutiyetten Evvel ve Sonra," (Istanbul, 1916).
----; "Idare-i Umumiye ve Vilayet Kanunu," (Istanbul, 1913).
----; "Muharrerat-i Umumiye Mecmuasi, V. I (Istanbul, 1914).
----; "Muharrerat-i Umumiye Mecmuasi, V. II (Istanbul, 1915).
----; "Muharrerat-i Umumiye Mecmuasi, V. III (Istanbul, 1916).
----; "Muharrerat-i Umumiye Mecmuasi, V. IV (Istanbul, 1917).
(Osmanli Devleti, Hariciye Nezareti); "Imtiyazat-i Ecnebiyye'nin
Lagvindan Dolayi Memurine Teblig Olunacak Talimatname," (Istanbul, 1915).
(Osmanli Devleti, Harbiye Nezareti); "Islam Ahalinin Ducar Olduklari
Mezalim Hakkinda Vesaike Mustenid Malumat," (Istanbul, 1919).
----; (IV. Ordu) "Aliye Divan-i Harbi Orfisinde Tedkik Olunan Mesele-yi
Siyasiye Hakkinda Izahat," (Istanbul, 1916).
Turkozu, H. K. (ed.); "Osmanli ve Sovyet Belgeleriyle Ermeni Mezalimi,"
(Ankara, 1982).
----; "Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi Gizli Celse Zabitlari," (Ankara, 1985),
4 vols.

Russia

Adamof, E. E. (ed.); "Sovyet Devlet Arsivi Belgeleriyle Anadolu'nun
Taksimi Plani," (tran. H. Rahmi, ed. H. Mutlucag), (Istanbul, 1972).

Altinay, A. R.; "Iki Komite - Iki Kital," (Istanbul, 1919).
----; "Kafkas Yollarinda Hatiralar ve Tahassusler," (Istanbul, 1919).
----; "Turkiye'de Katolik Propagandasi," Turk tarihi Encumeni Mecmuasi,
V. XIV/82-5 (Sept. 1924).
Asaf Muammer; "Harb ve Mesulleri," (Istanbul, 1918).
Akboy, C.; "Birinci Dunya Harbinde Turk Harbi, V. I: Osmanli Imparatorlugu'nun
Siyasi ve Askeri Hazirliklari ve Harbe Girisi," (Gn. Kur., Ankara, 1970).
Akgun, S.; "General Harbord'un Anadolu Gezisi ve (Ermeni Meselesi'ne Dair)
Raporu: Kurtulus Savasi Baslangicinda," (Istanbul, 1981).
Akin, I.; "Turk Devrim Tarihi," (Istanbul, 1983).
Aksin, S.; "Jon Turkler ve Ittihad ve Terakki," (Istanbul, 1976).
Basar, Z. (ed.);"Ermenilerden Gorduklerimiz," (Ankara, 1974).
----; "Ermeniler Hakkinda Makaleler - Derlemeler," (Ankara, 1978).
Belen, F.; "Birinci Dunya Harbinde Turk Harbi," (Ankara, 1964).
Deliorman, A.; "Turklere Karsi Ermeni Komitecileri," (Istanbul, 1980).
Ege, N. N. (ed.); "Prens Sabahaddin: Hayati ve Ilmi Mudafaalari,"
(Istanbul, 1977).
Ercikan, A.; "Ermenilerin Bizans ve Osmanli Imparatorluklarindaki Rolleri,"
(Ankara, 1949).
Gurun, K.; 'Ermeni Sorunu yahut bir sorun nasil yaratilir?', "Turk Tarihinde
Ermeniler Sempozyumu," (Izmir, 1983).
Hocaoglu, M.; "Arsiv Vesikalariyla Tarihte Ermeni Mezalimi ve Ermeniler,"
(Istanbul, 1976).
Karal, E. S.; "Osmanli Tarihi," V. V (1983, 4th ed.); V. VI (1976, 2nd ed.);
V. VII (1977, 2nd ed.); V. VIII (1983, 2nd ed.) Ankara.
Kurat, Y. T.; "Osmanli Imparatorlugu'nun Paylasilmasi," (Ankara, 1976).
Orel, S./S. Yuca; "Ermenilerce Talat Pasa'ya Atfedilen Telgraflarin
Icyuzu," (Ankara, 1983). [Also in English translation.]
Ahmad, F.; "The Young Turks: The Committee of Union and Progress in
Turkish Politics," (Oxford, 1969).

Serdar Argic


[reply to aldridge@netcom.com (Jacquelin Aldridge)]

The acquisition of scientific knowledge is completely scientific.  The
application of that knowledge in individual cases may be more art than
science.

Certainly we don't have all the answers.  The question is, what is the
most reliable means of acquiring further medical knowledge?  The
scientific method has proven itself to be reliable.  The *only* reason
alternative therapies are shunned by physicians is that their
practitioners refuse to submit their theories to rigorous scientific
scrutiny, insisting that "tradition" or anecdotal evidence are
sufficient.  These have been shown many times in the past to be very
unreliable ways of acquiring reliable knowledge.  Crook's ideas have
never been backed up by scientific evidence.  His unwillingness to do
good science makes the rest of us doubt the veracity of his contentions.


Greetings!!

	I planning to upgrade my Mac IIsi:

		(1) from the present 5Megs to 17Megs;
	and	(2) add a Math-Coprocessor.

	Technology Works, of Austin (Texas) comes quite highly recommended by
some Mac magazines.  I was just wonderring if anyone could share with me
anything about Tech Works (both good and bad experiences); or give any advice
about other mail-order companies that I may consider.

	Your reply would be very much appreciated.  Thanks in advance.


   From: "Phil G. Fraering" <pgf@srl03.cacs.usl.edu>

   > Finally: this isn't the Bronze Age, [..]
   > please try to remember that there are more human activities than
   > those practiced by the Warrior Caste, the Farming Caste, and the
   > Priesthood.

   Right, the Profiting Caste is blessed by God, and may
    freely blare its presence in the evening twilight ..

The Priesthood has never quite forgiven
the merchants (aka Profiting Caste [sic])
for their rise to power, has it?

;-)


Another fish to check out is Richard Rast -- he works
for Lockheed Missiles, but is on-site at NASA Johnson.

Nick Johnson at Kaman Sciences in Colo. Spgs and his
friend, Darren McKnight at Kaman in Alexandria, VA.

Good luck.

R. Landis


I suspect that this clipper thing could backfire on the Gov in a
big hurry. I expect that products using these chips will socket them
rather than soldering them, since once the keys are handed over by the
escrow agencies, the chip is so much garbage, and will need to be
replaced. I expect that someone will come along with a pin compatible
chip that uses secure encryption -- possibly even disguised so that it's
not possible to tell it from the clipper chip until you try to use the
2 backdoor keys.

   If I were to manufacture such a chip, as part of my marketing
strategy, I would try to subvert one or both escrow agencies either
through bribes or industrial espionage -- and then publicize the fact.
(doing my best not to be connected with such activities -- which would
likely not be legal :-) Publicly discrediting the escrow agencies would
go quite far towards creating a market for a secure alternative.

  I also believe that someone will reverse engineer the clipper chip,
and knowlege of the algorithm will likely be fairly widespread. Any back-
doors or weaknesses would further discredit the scheme, and help grow
the market demand for a secure alternative.

 I believe that the company that provides such an alternative will make
few friends in the LE community, but lots of money. I also believe that
the government will do it's best to make such plug replacements illegal.
I expect that they will see the same success in limiting the availability
of such alternatives as they have seen in limiting the availability of
certain illicit drugs -- ie. little to none.


THE WHITE HOUSE

                    Office of the Press Secretary

____________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                  April 5, 1993

                       REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
        EN ROUTE TO CAMDEN YARDS FOR ORIOLES OPENING DAY GAME

                              MARC Train
                       En Route to Camden Yards

11:45 A.M. EDT

	     Q	  Mr. President, what do you think of Jesse Jackson's
protest today?

	     THE PRESIDENT:  I think it's an informational protest.
I think it's fine.  The owners put out a statement few days ago,
which they say was the first step in, you know, efforts to increase
minority ownership and minority increases in management.  I think we
should.  I'm encouraged by Don Baylor's appointment out in Colorado.
And I think it's time to make a move on that front.  So, I think it's
a legitimate issue, and I think it's -- like I said, it's an
informational picket and not an attempt to get people not to go to
the game.  So, I think it's good.

	     Q	  Do you think they're moving fast enough?

	     THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I think that it was a good first
step.  And I think you'll see some movement now.  And I think it's an
issue that deserves some attention, and they're obviously going to
give it some.  And I think that Reverend Jackson being out there will
highlight the issue.  So I think it's fine.

	     Q	  Mr. President, how about the logjam in the Senate
on the economic stimulus plan?  Do you think they'll be able to break
that and get cloture?

	     THE PRESIDENT:  I don't know, we're working at it.  I
mean, it's a classic -- there was an article in the paper today, one
of the papers I saw, which pretty well summed it up.  They said, you
know, this is a -- it's just a political power play.  In the Senate
the majority does not rule.  It's not like the country.  It's not
like the -- it's not like the House.  If the minority chooses, they
can stop majority rule.  And that's what they're doing.  There are a
lot of Republican senators who have told people that they might vote
for the stimulus program but there's enormous partisan political
pressure not to do it.

	     And, of course, what it means is that in this time when
no new jobs are being created, even though there seems to be an
economic recovery, it means that for political purposes they're
willing to deny jobs to places like Baltimore and Dallas and Houston
and Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and Portland and Seattle.  It's very
sad.  I mean, the block grant program was designed to create jobs in
a hurry based on local priorities, and it's one that the Republicans
had always championed.  Just about the only Democrat champions of the
program were people like me who were out there at the grassroots
level, governors and senators.  I just think it's real sad that they
have chosen to exert the minority muscle in a way that will keep
Americans out of work.  I think it's a mistake.

	     THE PRESS:  Thank you.


: >I have a SoundBlaster board in a 486-SX PC, and I have it
: >jumpered to IRQ 7, port 220h.  Will this conflict with my
: >parallel port?  I just have an IDE controller, a multi-IO board
: >with 2ser, 1Par port and a VGA board.  Should I choose
: >another IRQ besides 7?  Or is IRQ 7 safe to use on 486 Motherboards?

: Recently I was adding a modem to my computer, and I noticed that LPT1 uses
: IRQ-7 and so does my SB card (220h).  I've never had a problem, but I'm
: just wondering why not.  I thought this would cause a conflict.

I would also like an explanation of this. If anyone can explain
why the SB Pro and LPT 1 can share an IRQ, please do so.
Thanks


Clemens is going on his normal four days' rest (last pitched Saturday).
Hesketh only pitched one inning yesterday afternoon, his first outing
since an aborted 1-1/3 inning start 6 days before, so he should be plenty
rested to go in his expected turn this Saturday, as the 5th starter.  Not
that this is a good thing, of course.  I'd like to see a well-managed
four-man rotation with this team...

---
Glenn Waugaman
Digital Equipment Corporation
Littleton, MA
g_waugaman@nac.enet.dec.com


Just taken delivery of a 66MHz 486 DX2 machine, and very nice it is too.
One query - the landmark speed when turbo is on is 230 or something MHz
- thats not the problem. The problem is the speed when turbo is off. Its
7 MHz. The equivalent in car terms is having a nice Porsche with a button
that turns it into a skateboard.

Does anyone have a clue as to what determines the relative performance of
turbo vs non-turbo?? I would like to set it to give a landmark speed of
about 30 or 40 MHz with turbo off.

Cheers,


I am getting Garbled output when serial printing thru Windows & works
etc.  This has occurred on several systems and goes if a LaserJet 4 is
used.  I suspect that there is no need for handshaking in this case due
to the capacity (memory/speed) of it.  There is no problem printing from
DOS.  Are there any obvious tweaks I'm missing.  I'm sure its not JUST
me with this problem.  Thanks for reading....  John Atherton


I have been looking at buying a 1989 Jeep Laredo and was wondering
if anyone had any bad or good experiences with this model. Is it
all that much different than the other YJs?

 It looks, feels and sounds like a nice vehicle even thought the
price is rather steep for an '89 (12K Canadian).


There are actually only two of us.  I do Henry, Fred, Tommy and Mary.  Oh yeah,
this isn't my real name, I'm a bald headed space baby.


Ok I want to get a color Mac I don't care if it is an LC or a Mac II or
what but I want to go to a color machine.  I'd prefer to trade my
present Mac SE system plus some cash or other equipment for the color
system as right now I'm not full of the $$$ to buy a color system
outright.
Here's what my Mac SE system has...

Mac SE 4/20 with internal 800K drive
20 Meg external
External 800K drive
ImageWriter II with 4 color ribbon

Stuff that can go with it......
I've got 3 modems and I'd be willing to give 1 of the 9600's and the
2400 with the system

MultiTech Multimodem II (9600 data/fax)
U.S. Robotics Sportster (9600 data)
Microcom QX/12K         (normally will connect at only 2400 as highest
but it will do faster if connected to another Microcom)

The USR and the MultiTech are both brand-new

If interested send me e-mail at dleonard@wixer.bga.com


[...]
[...]

Oh, lord.  This is where I came in.

Obcountersteer:  For some reason, I've discovered that pulling on the
wrong side of the handlebars (rather than pushing on the other wrong
side, if you get my meaning) provides a feeling of greater control.  For
example, rather than pushing on the right side to lean right to turn
right (Hi, Lonny!), pulling on the left side at least until I get leaned
over to the right feels more secure and less counter-intuitive.  Maybe
I need psychological help.

Obcountersteer v2.0:Anyone else find it ironic that in the weekend-and-a-
night MSF class, they don't mention countersteering until after the
first day of riding?

-----
Tommy McGuire, who's going to hit his head on door frames the rest of
    the evening, leaning into those tight turns....
mcguire@cs.utexas.edu
mcguire@austin.ibm.com


I'm looking to buy a used motorcycle helmet.  I'm interested in a full
 face shield, but not necessarily a helmet with the piece around the chin.

 Please email me directly.

 Janice Kendall    kendall@adobe.com    ...!{decwrl|sun}!adobe!kendall


From this account, it doesn't sound like you even saw the goal, Mike. Smith
came out from behind his own net and fired a breakout pass that hit Fuhr in the
back of the leg. Fuhr was backing up at the time and never saw what
happened. The puck went straight off Fuhr's leg and into the net. Fuhr never
had a chance. There was no play back to the goaltender, in fact Perry Berezan
of Calgary had just dumped it in and Smith was retrieving it.

It was unfortunate that it happened; Smith is a nice guy and was only a rookie
at the time, and on his birthday too. But all the blame lies with him. Starting
in pee-wee coaches tell players never to make a cross-ice pass in front of
their own net. Too much chance of having it intercepted, or hitting the
goaltender, or whatever.

And to the people who say that Smith cost the Oilers the series, I can only
say that he certainly didn't cause the team to lose the other three games.
There was no reason for a powerhouse team like Edmonton to be tied late
in the third period of the 7th game of the second round. Everybody on the team
has to take responsibility for them even being in that situation.


: Well,
:
: 42 is 101010 binary, and who would forget that its the
: answer to the Question of "Life, the Universe, and Everything else."
: That is to quote Douglas Adams in a round about way.
:
: Of course the Question has not yet been discovered...
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
But it WAS discovered (sort of).  The question was "What is 7 times 8?"
When Arthur Dent objected that this was, unfortunately, factually
inaccurate, the effort to discover the question was begun all over.
This last effort was, I believe, likely to take far longer than
the lifespan of the universe, in fact several lifespans of same!
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Wilson, Online Computer Systems.  1-800-922-9204 or 1-301-601-2215
(Try email address mark@ocsmd.ocs.com....)
This file .disclaims everything signed with my .signature, I .mean it!


Hi people..

OK heres my problem....
I keep hearing about these little credit card type of things which
detect IR light....

I believe that you have to 'charge them up' under normal (visible) light
and then if they are exposed to IR light they glow or something like
that...

I think that they are avaliable in the states and even in England, but
alas I live in Australia.  Could someone please inform me if I can get
these things over here, and if so where??? and how much???

Also are they really commonly avaliable in the states, and if so, then
how much are they and who sells them (maybe if I cant get one here, I'll
write to one of the companies over seas..)

Anyway.... Thanks in advance...


Here is a summary of Don Cherry's coach's corner from April 18, 1993.
It took place in the first intermission of game 1 of the Montreal-Quebec
series.

Pre-game comments
-----------------
Don's pregame comments were mostly aimed at the goalies... The goalie
who gets back his all-star form (Roy or Hextall) can win the series
for his team.

Eposode Summary
---------------
This episode took place rinkside. Don was holding a hot dog that
he bought from the concession stand.

Ron Maclean started out by showing a cartoon which appeared in the
Toronto Sun. It featured a picture of Don, who just saw his shadow
and proclaimed "Will you look at dat, eh? Means another 6 weeks
of me. Beauty."

Next, Don talked about the hot dog he was holding. According to
him, the hot dogs at the Quebec stadium are the best food in all
the arenas in the NHL.

From there, Don commented on the Quebec-Montreal game. The game
had great flow, because Referee Paul Stewart calls the best game
in the NHL. In contrast, the Calgary-LA game was terrible... All
stop-and-go, over 50 minutes of penalties called against Calgary
by Dan Marouelli. Its getting so that the ref who calls the most
penalties gets to ref in the finals.

Next, Ron showed an old picture of Don, when he was playing for
the Rochester Americans of the AHL. Don recalled some of the
wins that he had in the Quebec arena... during the Memorial cup
and the AHL championships.

Finally, Don and Ron discussed Keenan becoming coach of the
Rangers. The rangers were a talented team who underachieved.
Don feels sorry for temporary coach Ron Smith, who had
several key injuries (to Leetch and Patrick) and goalies who
went cold.

Don had some criticism for the Rangers team... The party's over,
Adolf (Keenan) is there. The Rangers organization will no longer
be a 'country club'.... "NY should be achamed of themselves... If
they go in the tank with Adolf there, they'll be hanging from the
yardarm by their thumbs."

Rating
------
Nothing too special in this episode.

I'll give it a 5.5 out of 10.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   \  \                   |Allan Sullivan (allan@cs.ualberta.ca)
    \  \                  |Department of Computing Science,
     \  \_______          |University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
      \    ###  \     _   |---------------------------------------------------
       \___###___\   (_)  |My opinions are mine and mine alone.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the
 credit..."          - U. of A. Golden Bears Hockey Motto (C. Drake)


Such a measure would also have another benefit. It would relieve the
various states of the thorny problem of what to do with the hundreds
of millions of dollars hunters pour into the economy annually. I'm
sure that, to attain sure a lofty, humane, liberal and ecologically
(not to mention politically) correct goal, the environmental and animal
rights groups/individuals supporting such a measure would be more than
willing to add their names to a list of supporters seeking increased
taxation to replace these lost revenues. I am equally confident that
these same entities, given their noteworthy record in the area of social
responsibility and respect for private property, would feel morally
and ethically bound to raise the necessary funds to acquire the
hundreds of thousands of acres of land now held in private hands
solely for use as private hunting preserves by the landowner(s). To
do less than this would place these same groups/individuals in
the ethically untenable (to say nothing of environmentally and
politically incorrect) position of sanctioning the logging and
subsequent development and urbanization of these former private
hunting lands, which would no longer be useable by, or of any
benefit to, the landowner(s) in such a capacity.


Go easy on him drieux. It is the right of every American to
know nothing about anything.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Who said anything about panicking?" snapped Authur.           Garrett Johnson
"This is still just culture shock. You wait till I've       Garrett@Ingres.com
settled into the situation and found my bearings.
THEN I'll start panicking!" - Douglas Adams


: [deletions]
:
: > How can you reconcile the administrations self proclaimed purpose of
: > providing law enforcement with access to encrypted data without making
: > the clipper system the only crypto available in the U.S... ?
:
: The Second and Fourth Amendments do come to mind.
:

I think i heard someplace (misc.legal?, comp.org.eff.talk?) that the courts
have pretty much eliminated the fourth amendment already.


But whatever the neutrons hit has a good chance of absorbing the
neutron and becoming radioactive itself. Mostly, that means water
turning into (harmless) heavy water. But some neutrons would
also hit bones, and the resulting harmfull, secondard radioactives
would remain in the body for decades. I think an unshielded nuclear
warhead could reasonably be considered a public health hazard.

As for a shielded warhead, I think a fair amount of maintaince
is required for it to remain safely shielded (e.g. storage in
a dry, temperature-regulated facility, etc...) For private
ownership to be unregulated, I think a single individual must
be able not only to keep the weapon, but keep it in a safe
condition. If any random private citizen could not properly
keep, maintain and store a nuclear weapon, then some regulation
is clearly appropriate.

I disagree with this purpose: The job of the militia is to defend
themselves and their community. If you look at the American
revolution as an example, the militias won by seperating themselves
from, and becoming independent of, a repressive government. They
didn't overthrow it, and those communities (Canada and England, for
example) that didn't defend themselves were still under that same
old regime. If the role of the militia were offensive, to go out and
destroy repressive governments, nuclear weapons _might_ be appropriate.
But their jobs is defensive, and nuclear weapons aren't suited
for that.

There is also the question of personal and collective arms: The
Second Amendment definately protects ownership of personal
weapons (since the very nature of the militia requires members
to provide their own arms.) But it isn't clear if it covers
other arms. Certainly, not all members would supply (for example)
a tank, only a few could or (if they were to be used effectively)
should. However, those providing the heavy weapons have a
disproportionate control over the militia and its fierpower.
The militias, as the framers envisioned them, were extremely
democratic: If only 50% of the members supported the cause, only
50% would respond to a muster, and the militia's firepower would
be proportionately reduced. Militia firepower and the popular
will were, therefore, linked. But if a small minority of the
members supplied a large fraction of the firepower (in the
form of heavy weapons) this would all change: The militia's
firepower would depend on the will of a small minority, not
of the general public. Worse, that minority would be quite
different from the general public (at the very least, they
would be much richer.) As a result, I think the nature and
character of the militia requires that each member provide
a roughly equal share of the militia's firepower: His personal
weapons, and some equitable fraction of a squad's heavier firepower.


	I totally agree with each point you made.  Jose Viscaino looked
like a single A hitter up there.  Who swings on 3-1 count with Maddux
pitching and your teams down by a run, and you haven't touched the ball all
day.  I also think too much is made of that lefty-righty thing.  Watching
the Cubs games I get the feeling Steve Stone knows a lot more about what
the Cubs should be doing than Lefebre does.  Harry said it best when he
stated after another terrible Vizcaino at bat-- we can't wait til
Sandberg returns!


As of today, April 17, Jack Morris has lost his first three starts.

However, the Jays are doing well without him and injured Dave Stuart.

This is a credit to the rest of the pitching staff.


: It is a dead and useless faith which has no action behind it.  Actions
: prove our faith and show the genuineness of it.

A good example of this is Abraham (referred to in the James passage). Hebrews
says that Abraham was justified by faith -- but his faith was demonstrated
through his works (i.e., he obeyed what God told him to do).

Reading Abraham's ``biography'' in Genesis is very instructive. He was a man
beset by *lack* of faith a lot of the time (e.g. lying about Sarah being his
wife on 2 occasions; trying to fulfil God's promise on God's behalf by
copulating with Hagar). . . yet it seems that God didn't evaluate him on the
basis of individual incidents. Abraham is listed as one of the ``heroes of
faith'' in Hebrews 11. i.e., when it really came to the crunch, God declared
Abraham as a man of faith. He believed God's promises.

This gives us confidence. Although real faith demonstrates itself through
works, God is not going to judge us according to our success/failure in
performing works.

``Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy
he saved us, through the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy
Spirit.'' (Titus 3.5)

Amazing Grace! Hallelujah!


Of course, one again faces the question of how one circumscribes government
power (and keeps it circumscribed) in a complex society when it is in the
interest of neither capitalists nor consumers to refrain from using
government power for their own ends.  But apart from that little
conundrum...

It would seem that a society with a "failed" government would be an ideal
setting for libertarian ideals to be implemented.  Now why do you suppose
that never seems to occur?...

I wouldn't call it "vague."  I'd call it elastic.  All "regulation" is
not necessarily the same.  By opposing all government regulation, some
libertarians treat every system from a command economy to those that
regulate relatively free markets as identical.  That's one reason
many of the rest of us find their analysis to be simplistic.

jsh


        Not bad, you only got 2 wrong,...
        Cal over Chi in 5
        and Cal over Pit in 6 (or 7) to take the SC


If the Administration is this far along, is it possible that the
government been working on it for a while and has been using the
Dennings to prime the pump, so to speak, or as the Judas goat?
Whether paid off, just gullible, or what, doesn't really matter.

It might also be possible that the NSA / whoever has had the idea for
this for quite a while, has been promoting it (Denning, et al) and
siezed the new opportunity - a new administration who wants to spend
more money on espionage than Bush did.

Whatever, i'm not so sure that the cause/effect order is totally
obvious.


CB>        DON'T BE SO STUPID AS TO LEAVE YOUR HELMET ON THE SEAT WHERE IT CAN
CB>        FALL DOWN AND GO BOOM!

Ryan> Another good place for your helmet is your mirror (!). I kid you not.

This is very bad advice.  Helmets have two major impact absorbing
layers... a hard outer shell and a closed-cell foam impact layer.
Most helmets lose their protective properties because the inner liner
compacts over time, long before the outer shell is damaged or
delaminates from age.  Dr. Hurt tested helmets for many years
following his landmark study and has estimated that a helmet can lose
up to 80% of it's effectiveness from inner liner compression.  I have
a video he produced that discusses this phenomenon in detail.

Puncture compression of the type caused by mirrors, sissy bars, and
other relatively sharp objects is the worst offender.  Even when the
comfort liner is unaffected, dents and holes in the foam can seriously
degrade the effectiveness of a helmet.  If you are in the habit of
"parking your lid" on the mirrors, I suggest you look under the
comfort liner at the condition of the foam.  If it is significantly
damaged (or missing :-), replace the helmet.


         No cache, also called 386DX.

     It has the same internals as the 386, is a real 32-bit processor, just has
     16 bit hookup to the outside world.

            Yes, optimized 387 internal.
            Yes, 8K.
            Yes, but only a few instructions, nothing noteworthy.

            486 with no coprocessor.

            Nope.  Just another name for the 486.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Frank Racis - FWR100@psuvm.psu.edu - fwr@eclu.psu.edu
Computers are useless; they can only give answers.


A friend of mine is cnsidering buying a new car, and is considering the
Subaru Impreza or the Nissan Altima right now.  Which of these two cars
would you recommend.  We definately want an airbag and ABS, and room for
tall people and long legs.

If you have other suggestions for cars under $13K after dealing I'd be
interested
in you opinions as well.

PLEASE send replies to sem1@postoffice.mail.cornell.edu, no tthis address.


News reports in Toronto say that the Rangers are insisting that
Kovalev, Zubov, and Andersson play for Binghampton in the Calder
Cup playoffs, rather than return to play for their "home" countries
in the World Championships.

...shame on the Rangers.

Another black eye for the NHL in Europe.


We here at Utah State University Cooperative Extension have been using
W4Wg for a while now.  We wanted to talk to the internet with the mail
package so we got the smtp gateway.  You also need a tcp/ip transport
package on top of that which is utterly stupid but that's what they
require to get the smtp gateway to work.  You need a dedicated pc
for the gateway and if you are looking at remote access you need another
dedicated pc for the remote mail stuff.  We do not have the remote mail
going but you indicate that that is what you want to do.

There is a glitch somewhere in the system though.  I don't know if it
is MS mail, the gateway or the VAX here on campus that is choking in the
mail that is sent.  The scenario is this.  The outgoing mail goes to a
Unix system which then routes the mail where it needs to go.  If that mail
is routed to the VAX, the VAX has problems some times receiving the mail.
Most messages do get through this way except if someone has there mail
on the VAX forwarded to some other location.  That is the main gotcha.
Where ever the mail is forwarded to that person gets a message header
then a message saying "Boudary:= (error garbage code stuff)".  If you
can stay away from sending to a VAX you are ok.  The system people
of course say that the VAX is not the problem, the gateway is probably
the problem.  If anyone wants to get help it is only $175.00 for one
support call. (until problem is worked out)  Phooey to that I say.  I
am looking vigorously for a better Idea.

If you go forward on any of this and find out anything knew,  please
drop me a note - anyone.  The next itteration is supposed to have tcp/ip
built in THEY say........  The netxt itteration of w4wg

Good Luck!!!!!


Is there a fast 'n dirty way to kill the line spiking that occurs when
an inductive load is turned on sometime other than at zero-crossing of
the AC cycle?  A capacitor kludged in somehow, etc?

I've got a microcontroller that is running a bunch of valves and pumps
in a big instrument washer, and almost everything is being switched with
zero-crossing solid state relays, so that stuff stays "quiet", AC-wise.
But there's one steam valve that gets turned on by a mechanical relay
in the water tank fill/thermostat system, and it's not under control
of my SSRs, and it does sometimes generate/radiate a spike that resets
one of my peripheral chips.  My software times out and tries again, but
I'd love to just tack in a magic spike-killing fix that would avoid having
to do some major rewiring/redesign.  A varistor would help but might not
be sufficient.  Ideas?


Endometriosis is where cells that would normally be lining the uteris exist
outside the uteris.  Sometimes this causes problems, often it doesn't.
There is generally no need to remove pockets of endometriosis unless they are
causing other problems.  One lady I know had Endometriosis in an ovary.
This caused her a _great_ deal of pain.  Another lady I know has an
endometrial cyst in her abdominal wall; she is not having it removed.

The American Fertility Society has information on this and they probably
maintain a list of physicians in all parts of the continent that deal with
endometriosis.  You can reach them at:

The American Fertility Society
2140 11th Ave South
Suite 200
Birmingham, Alabama 35205-2800
(205)933-8494


What  evidence  indicates that Gamma Ray bursters are very far away?

Given the enormous  power,  i was just wondering,  what if they are
quantum  black holes or something  like that  fairly close by?

Why would they have to be at  galactic ranges?

my own pet theory is that it's  Flying saucers  entering
hyperspace :-)

but the reason i am asking is that most everyone assumes  that they
are  colliding nuetron stars  or  spinning black holes,  i just wondered
if any mechanism could exist  and place them  closer in.


	Is there no JUSTICE?!

	If I lost my leg when I was 19, and had to give up motorcycling
(assuming David didn't know that it can be done one-legged,) I too would want
to get swamped.... maybe even for ten years!  I'll admit, I'd probably prefer
homebrew to pubbrew, but still...

	Judge Coterill is in some serious trouble, I can tell you that.  Any
chance you can get to him and convince him his ruling was backward, Nick?

	Perhaps the lad deserved something for starting a brawl (bad form...
horribly bad form,) but for getting drunk?  That, I thought, was ones natural
born right!  And for spending his own money?  My goodness, who cares what one
does with one's own moolah, even if one spends it recklessly?

	I'm ashamed of humanity.


You can also swab the inside of your nose with Bacitracin using a
Q tip. Bacitracin is an antibiotic that can be bought OTC as an
ointment in a tube. The doctor I listen to on the radio says to apply
it for 30 days, while you are taking other antibiotics by mouth.


I'm not sure if this is free or shareware, but you can try to look to wsmrsimtel20.army.mil,
directory PD1:<MSDOS.DESKPUB>  file OCR104.ZIP .
From the file SIMIBM.LST :
OCR104.ZIP    B   93310  910424  Optical character recognition for scanners.

Hope this helps.


	Not to pick on Mr. May in particular, of course, but isn't this
kind of the domino theory? When one little country falls, its neighbor
will surely follow, and before you know it, we're all mining salt
in Siberia for not turning in our Captain Crunch Secret Decoder Rings.

	Surely the hypothesis relying on the least wild assumptions is
to take this at face value. Our lads at the fort were asked to cook up
something that's pretty secure, with a key that can be escrowed neatly,
and they did. The government plans to sell this thing, for the reasons
they state. Yes, those evil guys in the FBI can probably, with some
effort, abuse the system. I got news for you, if the evil guys in
the FBI decide they want to persecute you, they're gonna, and you're
gonna hate it. Fact is, the FBI doesn't want to listen to your phone
calls, and if they do, and if you're using triple-DES, they'll just
get a parabolic microphone and point it at your head.

	This is pretty clearly an effort by the government to do exactly
what they're saying they're doing. As is typical with governments,
it's mismanaged, and full of holes and compromises. As is typical
with our government, it's not too bad, could be worse.

	My interpretation.

	Andrew

                           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


I'm not very impressed by the old so-called "prospecting" work from
LPI, it has almost all been geared towards industrially silly processes on
the moon as an excuse to put astronauts there.   [...]

Translation:  It doesn't support the Nick Szabo Vision of the Future
to Which You MUST Subscribe...

Fred, we're all supporting what each of us thinks should be done, to some
degree.  If you have a problem with what Nick thinks should be done,
address it, instead of just complaining about his doing so.

You really don't get what the 'complaints' are about, do you?
  [not incredibly clear explanation of complaints...something between
   feelings regarding Nick's method, and judgments about his meaning]

T

F

*** Fred's issue #1;  Nick's alleged trashing of others ***

I only got it when you stopped trashing, and made your point patently,
instead of 'allegorically'.  That was my point all along, Fred.

I see we are dealing with a problem in a conflict of interpretations, not
least of which is your belief that only you can adequately judge what is
and is not debate.  Suffice to say that I disagree with you on that last
point.  Why don't you take a poll, Fred, if you want some psuedo-objective
point-of-view?

And, as usual, you defend your insults with "he started it."  "Yeah, I
took some of his research and called it my own, but he started it."  "So
what if I stole his car, he stole my lawnmower first."  Besides that, I
think it's still open to interpretation whether Nick actually did start it.
So your defense, besides being lame, and contradicting the first part of
the sentence in which it occurs, may not even apply anyway.

Your defense reminds me of the guy that broke the borrowed tool:  "I
never borrowed it, I already gave it back, and it was broken when you
gave it to me."  Make up yer mind, Fred!

First, I try to address what I think you meant, for which I am rewarded
with a denial of sorts, and a smart remark.  Then, I point out that I am
not clear what you did mean, rather than risking your childish ire, wrongly
interpreting you a second time, and I'm stupid for it.  I just can't win,
can I, Fred?  You've got a great point here somewhere, it's just that
between stupid people that you must insult, and your jealous guarding of
your valuable opinions, you never actually get around to making it.

*** Fred issue #2;  Nick's alleged meaning ***

Too bad the plan only exists in your mind, instead of Nick's, or you
would have a really good point.  Instead you have provided a good reason
to ignore your insults, since they are based on incorrect interpretations
that you have made about others.  Forgive me for giving your insults more
meaning than they ever should have had.

My reading of what Nick actually said is that "people aren't required in
all parts of all space processes", so your taking issue with his opinions
regarding people in the space program, I read as "People are required in
all parts of all space processes."  So, help me out, here, Fred, since I'm
so patently stupid.  Did you read Nick wrong?  Or are you going to eat
your terminal now?  If the latter, I sure hope it's one of those Cheeto and
string models that all the computer mags have been raving about :-)

The point is, _I_ am not stupid because of _your_ incorrect assumption.  I'd
only be stupid if I insulted you for having made it.  But, alas, that's your
job, Fred.

And, finally, your style is confusing, since you tried to make two points,
simultaneously, with an allegory/insult.  Sadly, one point addressed a 'plan'
that only existed in your mind, and the other took issue with behaviors that
you do as much as anyone.

No, no, I finally got it.  You don't like the plan that Nick's posts made
you imagine.  And you don't like Nick's obnoxious behavior, even though
it's no worse than your own.  Thanks for taking the time with someone as
dense as myself.

Of course, Socrates.  How could it be otherwise?

Who cares who came on the net first?  If you do, consider that you saw
me come on after a brief haitus, before which I was on for about 2 years.
If you had seen me on the net first, you'd remember when Nick and I went
down exactly the same road regarding rude, unneccesary behavior.  It's
just amazing to me that you continue to take issue with behavior that's
no worse than your own.

Let's see here, my complaints about your obnoxious behavior are hypocritical,
while your flames against people you decide are flamers isn't, and my
complaints about your name-calling are immature, while your name-calling
isn't.  Yeah, right.  Maybe if you called me some more names, I might
see it better, Fred.

"Net.ghod wannabe"?  Naturally, Fred, you've correctly interpreted my
motivations, when yours are impossible to judge from your actions (as
your insulting of people that try, proves).  I didn't really care about
people that fill the net with personal garbage, what I really wanted was to
impress everyone.  I only put my complaints with your behavior on private
mail, not because it belongs there, but because I thought you were such a
jerk that you'd bring it back to the Net, playing right into my hands.
Alas, I had no idea what an intellectual master you were, turning tables and
bringing the history of these posts to the net, for the noble and valuable
purpose of embarassing me.  Whether I should feel stupid because I tried
to make suggestions to such a superior intellect, or becuase I tried to
communicate like an adult with a self-righteous ass, still isn't clear.

Well, Fred, you exposed me.  Now I'll never be able to get a(nother) job
with NASA, since they all know that I'm stupider than Fred McCall.  Well,
I just hope you're happy.  Please leave me alone, now.  I just don't
have the heart to attempt keeping up with one so far above me.  Maybe Nick
or Pat can approach your high standards, but I'm dropping it now.

-Tommy Mac
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom McWilliams 517-355-2178 wk   \\ As the radius of vision increases,
18084tm@ibm.cl.msu.edu 336-9591 hm \\ the circumference of mystery grows.


Or John Edgar Hoover's USA.

yet.

yet.

so far.

What harm is there in overreacting?
This may be the largest single threat to civil liberties yet in my
lifetime.  The US has done some pretty heinous things in the past,
and we haven't yet recovered from all of them.  There certainly seems
to be a historical trend towards less liberty, with occasional
perturbations.

Time to break out the quotes from American political radicals.

Lyle		Transarc		707 Grant Street
412 338 4474	The Gulf Tower		Pittsburgh 15219