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F I D O N E W S -- Vol.10 No.18 (03-May-1993) +----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | A newsletter of the | | | FidoNet BBS community | Published by: | | _ | | | / \ | "FidoNews" BBS | | /|oo \ | +1-519-570-4176 1:1/23 | | (_| /_) | | | _`@/_ \ _ | Editors: | | | | \ \\ | Sylvia Maxwell 1:221/194 | | | (*) | \ )) | Donald Tees 1:221/192 | | |__U__| / \// | Tim Pozar 1:125/555 | | _//|| _\ / | | | (_/(_|(____/ | | | (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. | | | -- JOSEPH PULITZER | +----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Submission address: editors 1:1/23 | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Internet addresses: | | | | Sylvia -- max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca | | Donald -- donald@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca | | Tim -- pozar@kumr.lns.com | | Both Don & Sylvia (submission address) | | editor@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | For information, copyrights, article submissions, | | obtaining copies and other boring but important details, | | please refer to the end of this file. | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ ======================================================================== Table of Contents ======================================================================== 1. Editorial..................................................... 1 2. Articles...................................................... 2 Lighten Up! "Abort, Retry, Ignore" poem.................... 3 Catholic Information Network Announcement................... 4 Dear madam,................................................. 5 MARANATHA! NET INTERNATIONAL................................ 6 Online Access to Legislation / MORE PUSH NEEDED............. 7 SUNDAY MORNING TELEVISION................................... 12 3. Fidonews Information.......................................... 14 FidoNews 10-18 Page: 2 03 May 1993 ======================================================================== Editorial ======================================================================== The snooze and the net seem to be full of Issues today. Not only are there two articles on religious echos, but one against proselytizing and bigotry. To top it off, my first message of the day started with "Emma Goldman was a saint". It got me to thinking about how little things have changed. We have changed the medium, but not the characters. Eras ago, we had the Emma's of this world ranged against the Times using handprinted leaflets; today we have FidoNet ranged against control freaks. . .speaking of ranges, we do appreciate the mail sent encouraging FidoNews to remain left justified only. Metaphorical little bits do byte quite effectively :). Emma's sentence EG> folly of war freedom of women love of love Sentenced to a year on Blackwell Island "she needs to learn the meaning of authority" <as if she didn't know> having inspired hungry unemployed to steal bread there surrounded by green dressed guards well suited screws of law and propriety and perpetuation of everything the same parents protected children with her name Emma Bogey woman Emma Bogey woman come to haunt you if you dare do anything against while Leaflets from Emma dropped from a tree sending chained reaction all over Harlem or Chicago Scandalous cranked paper, only paper > folly of war freedom of women love of love FidoNews 10-18 Page: 3 03 May 1993 ======================================================================== Articles ======================================================================== Lighten Up! "Abort, Retry, Ignore" poem by Scott Miller, The Star Board BBS (1:123/416) Its time to lighten up a bit, so here is some humor Here is a bit of humor, with obvious apologies to Mr. Edgar Allen Poe. BTW, I DID NOT WRITE THIS POEM, SO DON'T GIVE ME CREDIT! If anyone knows who wrote this, please let me know, he/she diserves credit. Once upon a midnight dreary, fingers cramped and vision bleary, System manuals piled high and wasted paper on the floor, Longing for the warmth of bedsheets, Still I sat there, doing spredsheets: Having reached the bottom line, I took a floppy from the drawer. Typing with a steady hand, I then invoked the SAVE command But got instead a reprimand: it read "Abort, Retry, Ignore". Was this some occult illusion? Some maniacal intrusion? These were choices Solomon himself had never faced before. Carefully, I weighed my options. These three seemed to be the top ones. Clearly, I must now adopt one - Choose : "Abort, Retry, Ignore". With my fingers pale and trembling, Slowly toward the keyboard bending, Longing for a happy ending, hoping all would be restored, Praying for some guarantee Finally I pressed a key -- But on the screen what did I see? Again: "Abort, Retry, Ignore". I tried to catch the chips of-guard -- I pressed again, but twice as hard. Luck was just not in the cards, I saw what I had seen before. Now I typed in desperation, Trying random combinations. Still there came the incantation - Choose: "Abort, Retry, Ignore". There I sat, distraught, exhausted, by my own machine accosted; Getting up, I turned away and paced across the office floor. And then I saw an awful sight, A bold and blinding flash of light, A lightning bolt that cut the night and shook me to my very core. The PC screen collapsed an died, "Oh no -- my database", I cried. I thought I heard a voice reply, "You'll see your data-- Nevermore!" FidoNews 10-18 Page: 4 03 May 1993 To this day I do not know The place to which our data goes Perhaps it goes to Heaven where the angels have it stored. But as for productivity - well, I fear it has gone straight to Hell. And that's the tale I have to tell - Your choice: "Abort, Retry, Ignore". ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Catholic Information Network Announcement by Richard Walker Catholic Information Network Availability Just a quick note to let yall know of a private echomail network called the Catholic Information Network. This is a fairly old net, dating back several years, which I have been gating since early 91; it is designed as a lay forum to discuss issues relating to Catholicism, and to provide information to anyone interested in learning more about the Catholic Church. Please also note that this is not an open invite to anyone who happens to feel the need to abuse Catholics or Holy Mother Church; there are other echos on fidonet which will be more than happy to listen to your complaints. The following is a listing of the echomail tags: GT_CINMAIN Main conference (for stuff that don't fit others) GT_ASKFATHER Ask Father Mateo about Catholic'y kinds of things GT_ECUMEN Ecumenical discussion GT_PRAYER Prayer requests GT_ETHICS Ethical issues (whether religious or not) GT_CATHBIBLE Biblical issues from a Catholic perspective GT_CINSYS Sysop-only echo for techy questions/support GT_MEDJUG Messages from Medjugorge GT_CATH.YOUTH Youth issues GT_CATH.LITURGY Liturgical things PARCOM Parish software (fidonet origination) Ethics, Main, Bible, and Ecumen have pretty heavy traffic... Here is the first level of the topology, and a good source for a timely feed: 106/960 V.32 V.32bis 129/75 V.32 V.32bis HST14.4 130/69 HST 147/45 V.32 V.32bis 3625/462 These echos support full IBM-ASCII character sets, ie, line drawing characters; so if such technology irks you, you are warned. FidoNews 10-18 Page: 5 03 May 1993 Also, note, that the echos preceeded with a GT_ originate on the GT Network and also have several gates into QWK packet based nets. 1:129/75 calls at least once a day to 1:106/960, so if you have an HST, feel free to give him a ring. You may contact me at 1:106/960.0 on fidonet, or 001/060 on the GT Network. Compuserve: 71750,3513 and its internet equivalent, 71750.3513@compuserve.com. (I check fido much more often though...) Kyrie Eleison! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear madam, In answer to your article in fidoNews, pleae note the following: We are talking about a LuxCon/EuroCon, Europe being the operative world. You are going to be very surprized: there is something else that the USA in the world. It is usually referred to as "zone 2". I wish to make it clear since all thru you article, you refer to the United States. "Here in the States Best Western this " or the "4th of July", do not apply here. We ARE NOT the United States and have no wishes to be so. You don't know what the hotel is like so don't start complaining. If it is cheap for you - great. Not everybody can be a millionaire. The hotel was picked because it met the criteria: conference rooms and not to expensive and close to the city. FYI 60% of fido nodes in Belgium/Germany/Luxemburg are below 20. As for sponsors and speakers, the fact that we are still looking for some doesn't mean we don't have any. It means that we still have openings. Period. The rate is not mentionned - sorry for your US-centrism, but do you have to make it so plain that you have no idea how to find what a currency is somewhere else in the world ? Any speaker that goes to the convention will have to pay an oversea expense of his own pocket (not so rich anymore ??) - again, i guess this means we have to import speakers from the states, we are too stupid to have our own in Europe, right ? As for the money going to Joho's private account, there again you have no idea of what it requires to open a bank account for moral person, accountancy, registers, sales taxes, VAt, etc. Of course, "here in the States", etc.. To me this is but the manifestation of yet another "ugly american", incapable of imagining that there might be some other ways of living than the american way of life. FidoNews 10-18 Page: 6 03 May 1993 I pity you and dare sign: -= Francois Thunus =- FidoNet: 2:270/25 Internet: Francois@fido.lu WalNet: 222:500/1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- MARANATHA! NET INTERNATIONAL by Martin Riley MARANATHA! NET INTERNATIONAL, "Spreading God's Salvation message through the TRUTH of scripture & love of Jesus." () () ()()()() () THE ONLY REAL ONE GOD APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN NETWORK IN THE WORLD! () Serving the Christian community since 1991! () A young and growing REAL One God Apostolic Christian Network! () Elaborate and exciting Bible debates! () Over 25 religious and NON-religious echoes to choose from! () A Christian file support line! () Nodes in both CANADA and the USA! () A Christian Network in five languages with echo support! () A Non-denominational Net that stands FIRMLY on God's TRUTHS! Hi everyone! My name is Martin Riley and I am the International Coordinator for Maranatha! Net International. Maranatha! Net International is a young and growing One God Apostolic Christian Net that was started in 1991 in Canada. So why the post in Fido News? To let people know that there is a REAL One God Apostolic Network they can be a part of. Why is Maranatha! Net here? Maranatha! Net is a One God Apostolic Christian Net that strives to spread the Good News of the Bible and offer Christian message and file support to those of the Christian faith. Unlike some other Networks, Maranatha! Net does NOT spread this Good News through insults, abuse, or maliciousness towards others. Rather, Maranatha! Network spreads the Gospel message by standing on the firm rock of Biblical TRUTH, and sharing with others this same TRUTH the way Jesus commanded His servants to share it, with LOVE. Nor does Maranatha! Network International axe your mebership if you happen to have a different theological belief. If you can abide my the simple Network rules laid forth in Maranatha! Network (Posted in Maranath.zip) that are based on mutual respect for others, then your welcome to be a part of anetwork that is blessed of God. Sound interesting? :-) Maranatha! Network has over 25 echoes to choose from with topics ranging from cooking, camping, hunting, to theological descussions and Bible studies. If you wish more information concering FidoNews 10-18 Page: 7 03 May 1993 Maranatha! Net, you can download MARANATH.ZIP from either: 1:134/95 or 1:134/110 (FidoNet). Or leave me a netmail message at the below address: Thank you for your time people. Thank you Fido News, for the chance to advertise Maranath! Net. Martin Riley International Coordinator Maranatha! Net International North American branch. 22:22/0 Maranatha! 1:134/95 Fido Net! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Warren <jwarren@well.sf.ca.us> Online Access to Legislation / MORE PUSH NEEDED California Assembly Bill 1624 would mandate that already-computerized public legislative data be publicly accessible by modem. The bill's sponsor is Assembly Member Debra Bowen (D-Torrance/Marina del Rey area). This update reports: 1. Timing and progress on the bill. 2. Issues raised in the Rules Committee hearing. 3. Sponsor's planned changes to the bill. 4. Much-needed constituent and citizen support-action. 1993 OR BUST If a committee votes against the bill, then the proposal cannot again be introduced by anyone in the Assembly until 1995, the next two-year session. BRIEF RULES COMMITTEE HEARING, APR. 19 The Assembly Rules Committee heard the bill Apr. 19th, chaired by John Burton (D-San Francisco). Four people came forward to speak: Assembly Member Debra Bowen, the bill's sponsor, Ted Laliotis, Los Altos City Council member and former Mayor and Director of Emerging Technologies, Hewlett-Packard, a woman from Common Cause whose name I failed to get, and I, Jim Warren. But, only Bowen and I were ever permitted to speak. IMPOLITE DISTRACTIONS As soon as Ms. Bowen began to present her bill and explain it -- and almost every time she spoke in the ensuing discussion -- a man sitting next to Chairman Burton immediately began talking to the Chairman in much more than a whisper. I asked later, and found he was the Assembly's Chief Administrative Officer, Bob Connelly [an Assembly staff member; not an elected official]. FidoNews 10-18 Page: 8 03 May 1993 Also: At one point, Bowen displayed a file-folder of support letters and faxes about an inch thick. No one seemed to notice or care. NO ORDERLY PRESENTATIONS I had the impression that Bowen was not finished with her explanation when the Chair asked, "How's this going to be done?" That ended any planned presentations and the hearing became a random question-and-answer discussion. USE THE INTERNET, WITHOUT COST TO THE STATE As technical questions arose, I was eventually permitted to speak, to answer questions. That gave me the opportunity to outline the size and cooperative style of the Internet and propose that public access could be implemented by making legislative data available via that 'net, costing the state no more than a daily phone call -- explaining what Bowen was proposing. After briefly outlining the Internet, I proposed nightly downloads to one or several cooperating Internet hosts that would agree to make the files available to other hosts without charge to the state or to the other host- computers. [by anonymous ftp] I mentioned that the Legislative Data Center Director and Coordinator had agreed they would need no more than a server-class computer to do this, and I said a donor machine could be found if they couldn't afford one. (needs to handle less than a gigabyte of data for a two-year legislative session; a "heavy load" in March averaged only 1MB -- one megabyte per day.) DOUBTS ABOUT COOPERATIVE SHARING Several committee members showed clear doubts -- perhaps disbelief -- that people (a) would accept and store files without charging for it, and (b) would really permit others to copy them without charge. They questioned those ideas at some length. QUESTIONED MOTIVES OF "FREEWARE" PROGRAMMERS They were further doubtful when I said that, if the data were available without charge, volunteer programmers would quickly develop programs to search, sort, index, cross-reference and otherwise utilize such data, and many would share them without charge. The notion of cooperative sharing for mutual benefit was clearly a questionable proposal. There were repeated queries of, "Why would they do that?" and, "What's in it for them?" I mentioned civic responsibility, public access to the public's FidoNews 10-18 Page: 9 03 May 1993 legislative process and,"Because it's there," but some were obviously not convinced. MAINTAINING INTEGRITY OF DATA They expressed serious concerns about downloaded files being modified. One mentioned concern that legislators' votes might be modified to misrepresent their positions. I said there were numerous established solutions to this. MONEY, MONEY, MONEY The most serious concern was whether they could make any money from this -- especially if any recipients of the data charged for using it. This prompted a side-discussion about giving away copies of bills to constituents versus selling them in their "bill room" to lobbyists. I urged that host-computer operators not charging users extra to use public legislative data not have to pay for it, but was less concerned if the Legislature collected royalties from information-distributors that charged specifically for using legislative data -- like Compu$erve's extra charges for using the OAG (Official Airline Guide). They asked how they could protect their data, and I [stupidly] said they might copyright it but grant free use for those who don't charge extra to use it while collecting royalties from those who do. Dumb! -- but they were clearly getting concerned that someone might make money off of their data without them sharing it. BUILD THEIR OWN SYSTEM? I recall someone mentioning the possibly of their building and running their own system to reap the profits. This was not extensively discussed, but it clearly remains an alternative that will have to be addressed. COMMITTEE CONCLUDED; BOWEN PROMISED AMENDMENTS Near the end, a minority-party member spoke up strongly in favor of the proposal. He said it was the way of the future and the legislature should be part of it. I later found that he was Ross Johnson, Committee Vice-Chair. Chairman Burton then looked at me, said to get a memo to him on this, and declared they'd delay action on it. Sponsor Bowen asked that the bill be amended to include the state codes and state constitution, as well as already-specified legislative data, and that it cap costs. (I requested several hundred dollars a month for data-line costs.) [SOME] MAJOR ISSUES TO BE RESOLVED 1. Can they make money selling their public legislative data? FidoNews 10-18 Page: 10 03 May 1993 2. Should they set up their own information-distribution system to do so? 3. Can they collect money from those who charge for using this data? How? Can they protect it from private for-profit use (the copyright issue)? [They clearly dislike the idea of downloading the information without cost and then having anyone profit by selling it.] 4. Can the integrity of the data be assured if they allow copies to circulate beyond their control? [They already do, via current distributers.] 5. Would people *really* receive, store and share the data, and develop and share processing programs, without charging? For FREE?!! 6. They still need better general understanding of the Internet -- structurally and operationally. 7. If they download to the Internet, what types of hosts should be used? Must they be government-owned systems? 8. Should this be studied, reviewed, considered, analyzed and picked-apart? [The standard mechanism for delaying or killing a proposal, sez I.] 9. Minor red herring: There are only a few [million] "elite" computer users who could use this -- and there are suggestions of some monumentally- expensive public-access alternatives (IBM kiosks in malls, 800-number phones with information clerks standing by, etc.). [Must we wait for them?] I've agreed to draft a layperson's outline of how this can operate, and also outline what would be likely if they tried to build their own system [I cannot envision it being a pretty site :-) ]. In this memo, I will address most of the technical and "cultural" questions posed above, supplying references and a variety of contacts. Suggestions herewith solicited. ==== !!!!! CALL TO ACTION !!!!! ==== ACTION ITEMS FOR THOSE WHO THINK IT'S *OUR* LEGISLATURE & DATA The Rules Committee may act on this within a week, or they may delay it for several weeks. If they pass AB1624, it is very likely that it will pass the Assembly and have an excellent change in the Senate. But -- 1. The Rules Committee members NEED TO HEAR FROM THEIR CONSTITUENTS. NOW! 2. And, they need to hear from volunteers -- not in detail, nor so they can "choose" them -- but just so they can begin to FidoNews 10-18 Page: 11 03 May 1993 believe they really exist. ACTION FOR CONSTITUENTS OF RULES COMMITTEE MEMBERS' DISTRICTS *Each* Rules Committee member needs to hear from constituents in their own Assembly Districts -- personal meetings, faxes, letters and phone calls. 1. *Briefly* express support for AB1624 and state WHY. 2. Explicitly request an explicit commitment to support AB1624. 3. Explicitly request an explanation if they decline to commit to it. The Committee members are: John L. Burton, Chair, Rules Committee (D-San Francisco) 916-445-8253; fax/916-324-4899; Room 3152 Burton is the key. If you have a SF address, call and fax and write him. Ross Johnson, Vice Chair, Rules Committee (R-Fullerton) 916-445-7448; fax/916-324-6870; Room 3151 Deirdre "Dede" Alpert (D-Coronado) 916-445-2112; fax/916-445-4001; Room 3173 Trice Harvey (R-Bakersfield) 916-445-8498; fax/916-324-4696; Room 4162 Barbara Lee (D-Oakland,Alameda) 916-445-7442; fax/916-327-1941; Room 2179 Richard L. Mountjoy (R-Monrovia) 916-445-7234; fax/818-445-3591?; Room 2175 Willard H. Murray, Jr. (D-Paramount) 916-445-7486; fax/916-447-3079; Room 3091 Patrick Nolan (R-Glendale) 916-445-8364; fax/916-322-4398; Room 4164 Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles) 916-445-7587; fax/916-324-4657; Room 2188 Address: "The Honorable FFF LLL", California State Assembly, P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento CA 94249-0001. Salutation: "Dear Assembly Member XXX; re: AB1624" Keep it to one page if possible -- but give reasons for supporting the bill. ACTION FOR ALL CALIFORNIANS In addition: 1. Fax, write and/or call John Burton's office -- as Rules Committee Chair. 2. Send one fax/letter to your representative and another one to one of the [other?] Democratic members on the Rules Committee. (It appears likely that the Republicans will support the bill, as did Vice-Chairman Johnson.) ACTION FOR OUT-OF-STATERS Urge that California provide leadership to the other states. FidoNews 10-18 Page: 12 03 May 1993 Mention the benefits f all states could easily and economically access each others' codes and legislative data. [They, too, can benefit from free sharing.] ACTION FOR VOLUNTEERS HOST-ADMINISTRATORS, PROGRAMMERS & SERVER DONORS Send a one-page statement volunteering to store and share the files without charge. Say you will develop and freely share access software if the data is freely available. Offer to donate a server-class machine for downloading legislative data for everyone to share freely, if they can't afford one. Volunteer to help their staff install it. It will be helpful if you will let me what you said, sent or did -- and what response you received. [If so, indicate whether I may share it.] Timely, economical, widespread, public, online access to state legislative information, statutes and constitution, would allow the People to participate in their legislative process. Neat idea. --jim Jim Warren, Contributing Editor & "futures" columnist, MicroTimes jwarren@well.sf.ca.us -or- jwarren@autodesk.com 345 Swett Rd., Woodside CA 94062; voice/415-851-7075; fax/415-851-2814 [founder/Chair, 1991 Computers, Freedom & Privacy conference; InfoWorld founder (1978-1979); Autodesk Board of Directors member; blah blah blah] Original bill-text is available by email from jwarren@well.sf.ca.us. <Please copy, post, print and circulate widely. And quickly.> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SUNDAY MORNING TELEVISION by Tyler Wunder, 1:221/279.4 SUNDAY MORNING TELEVISION Like me, if you happen to rise from bed early on a Sunday morning you can seldom find something on the television that you really want to see. Of course, there are a multitude of television preachers, but who actually watches them? Last Sunday morning, I actually sat down and watched one -- specifically, I saw Jerry Falwell hosting the Old Time Gospel Hour. And what was Mr. Falwell talking about? Was he preaching the love of Jesus? Was he talking about the scriptures? Reading from the bible? Leading his viewers in prayer, pleading with God to cure the sick and lessen the suffering of those in pain? If Mr. Falwell was doing any of these things, I must have blinked and missed it, because for the entire segment of the show that I observed (I must admit, I missed the first ten minutes of FidoNews 10-18 Page: 13 03 May 1993 the program) Mr. Falwell was attempting to sell a $35 video tape that explained the problems of America as he saw them; the tape also laid out his proposed solutions to these problems (frankly, if Mr. Falwell is so concerned with rescuing America and solving these "problems", I would think that he'd be eager to distribute the information as widely as possible, free of charge -- certainly, I would like a copy, but I have better things to spend $35 on). In particular, Mr. Falwell seemed extremely concerned with a piece of legislation that Bill Clinton is apparently going to sign soon, known as the Freedom of Choice Act. According to Falwell, this act will establish homosexuals as a bona-fied minority, and work to increase their rights within America, and although Mr. Falwell didn't word it this way, the act will prevent many forms of discrimination against the homosexual community. Obviously, Mr. Falwell is all for discrimination. Using the fear of the "judgement of God" and the destruction of the American family as motivation, Falwell implores his viewers to call a 1-900 number in order to have their names placed on a petition that will apparently be sent to the Whitehouse, requesting that President Clinton not sign the Freedom of Choice Act. As well, a number is provided for viewers who support the Freedom of Choice Act. At first, this surprised me; I almost thought that perhaps Mr. Falwell was concerned with allowing everyone to represent their views, whether they agreed with him or not, until I realized that only the number which represented opposition to the legislation in question involved a petition. To call the number supporting the Freedom of Choice Act cost $1.95/minute like the other number, but no petition was involved. In reality, to support the Freedom of Choice Act through the Old Time Gospel Hour seemed rather a useless gesture. So why am I telling you this? Because those who oppose Mr. Falwell ought to be heard. Perhaps I'm giving Jerry Falwell too much credit, but this man frightens me. His agenda of ignorance frightens me. His opposition to the feminist movement (which he casually ties to witches and lesbianism) frightens me. His desire to have institutionalized prayer re-established in the public school system frightens me. His wish for the teaching of biblical Creationism in American public schools, despite the fact that as a scientific theory biblical Creationism does not exist ("God did it" is not a testable, verifiable/falsifiable scientific theory -- it is religious dogma, and it does NOT belong in a science classroom), frightens me. It frightens me that Mr. Falwell wishes to have people believe that the separation of Church and State is a myth, as he believes that the founders of America were Christians; they were in fact, for the majority, not Christians at all but Deists -- however, even if Thomas Jefferson et. al. were Christians, that is no more an FidoNews 10-18 Page: 14 03 May 1993 excuse to make America into a Christian theocracy than the fact that all the American founding fathers were slave owners gives us reason to reinstitutionalize slavery. The Whitehouse has a Fidonet address. After watching Mr. Falwell's hateful propaganda campaign, I immediately whipped off a letter requesting information on the Freedom of Choice Act. I suggest you do the same. Mr. Falwell has provided a petition for those who oppose equality, civil rights and privileges for the gay and lesbian community, yet offers no voice for those who oppose him (granted, I wouldn't expect him to be that open minded, but then it makes me wonder why he offers the "support" 1-900 number in the first place). Fidonet offers you the voice Mr. Falwell would likely prefer not to be heard. Write the Whitehouse (netmail address is 1:2613/333 -- put WHITEHOUSE in the "To:" field) and request information on the Freedom of Choice Act if you so desire, but at the very least voice your opinion. Frankly, I don't know how much affect Mr. Falwell's petition can have on President Clinton's decision, but if it can have any influence at all, then I would implore you to fight Mr. Falwell's campaign of hate and intolerance. As citizens of a country that professes to be free, the moment that the rights of one minority are overtly oppressed, the rights of all minorities are in increased jeopardy. And in some way, we are all in a minority. Heaven help you if it's a minority that Jerry Falwell disapproves of. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ======================================================================== Fidonews Information ======================================================================== ------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ---------------- Editors: Sylvia Maxwell, Donald Tees, Tim Pozar Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell, Vince Perriello, Tom Jennings IMPORTANT NOTE: The FidoNet address of the FidoNews BBS has been changed!!! Please make a note of this. "FidoNews" BBS FidoNet 1:1/23 <---- NEW ADDRESS!!!! BBS +1-519-570-4176, 300/1200/2400/14200/V.32bis/HST(DS) Internet addresses: Don & Sylvia (submission address) editor@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca Sylvia -- max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca Donald -- donald@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca Tim -- pozar@kumr.lns.com FidoNews 10-18 Page: 15 03 May 1993 (Postal Service mailing address) (have extreme patience) FidoNews 172 Duke St. E. Kitchener, Ontario Canada N2H 1A7 Published weekly by and for the members of the FidoNet international amateur electronic mail system. It is a compilation of individual articles contributed by their authors or their authorized agents. The contribution of articles to this compilation does not diminish the rights of the authors. Opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of FidoNews. Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is copyright 1993 Sylvia Maxwell. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact the original authors, or FidoNews (we're easy). OBTAINING COPIES: The-most-recent-issue-ONLY of FidoNews in electronic form may be obtained from the FidoNews BBS via manual download or Wazoo FileRequest, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet. PRINTED COPIES may be obtained from Fido Software for $10.00US each PostPaid First Class within North America, or $13.00US elsewhere, mailed Air Mail. (US funds drawn upon a US bank only.) BACK ISSUES: Available from FidoNet nodes 1:102/138, 1:216/21, 1:125/1212, (and probably others), via filerequest or download (consult a recent nodelist for phone numbers). A very nice index to the Tables of Contents to all FidoNews volumes can be filerequested from 1:396/1 or 1:216/21. The name(s) to request are FNEWSxTC.ZIP, where 'x' is the volume number; 1=1984, 2=1985... through 8=1991. INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via FTP from ftp.ieee.org, in directory ~ftp/pub/fidonet/fidonews. If you have questions regarding FidoNet, please direct them to deitch@gisatl.fidonet.org, not the FidoNews BBS. (Be kind and patient; David Deitch is generously volunteering to handle FidoNet/Internet questions.) SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews BBS, or Wazoo filerequestable from 1:1/23 as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". Please read it. "Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered trademarks of Tom Jennings, Box 77731, San Francisco CA 94107, USA and are used with permission. Asked what he thought of Western civilization, M.K. Gandhi said, "I think it would be an excellent idea". -- END