The Hacker's Encyclopedia 1998

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╓╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥─██████████─╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥╥─█████████████████████████─╥╖ ╠╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╩╩╩╩╩ ██████████ ╚╩╩╩╩╩╩╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╣ █████████████████████████ ╠╣ ╠╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╩╩╝███████████████████████ ╚╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╣ ██████ ╔╦╦╦╦╦╦╦╦╦╦╦╦╦╦╦╦╦╦╬╣ ╠╬╬╬╬╬╩╝████████████████████████████╚╩╩╩╩╬╬╬╬╬╬╣ ██████ ╚╩╩╩╩╩╩╩╩╩╩╩╩╩╩╩╩╩╩╬╣ ╠╬╬╩╩╝██████████████████████████████████ ╚╬╬╬╬╬╬ █████████████████████████ ╠╣ ╠╩╝██████████ ╦╦╗██████████╔╦╗████████████╚╬╬╬╩╝ █████████████████████████ ╚╣ ║███████████ ═╬╬╣██████████╠╬╬╗████████████╠╬╣ FROM NEW YORK STATE, U. S. A.║ ║█████████████╚╩╝██████████╠╬╬╣████████████╚╬╬╦╦╦╦╦╦╗ - August, 1993 - ╔╦╦╦╦╣ ║██████████████████████████╚╬╬╬╦╦═══════════╚╩╩╩╩╬╬╩╩ ██████████████ ═╩╬╬╬╬╣ ╠╦╗ ████████████████████████╚╩╩╩╝ SCAM! MAGAZINE ╩╝ ████████████████████╚╩╩╩╣ ╠╬╬╗╔╗╔╗█████████████████████████ VOL 1 * NO 3 ████████ ═════════ ███████ ║ ╠╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╦╗ ████████████████████████ ══╦╦╦╦╦╦╦╦╦╗ ██████████████████████████ ║ ╠╬╬╬╬╬╣╠╣╠╦╦╗████████████████████████ ╚╩╩╬╬╬╬╬╬╣ ██████████████████████████ ║ ║╚╩╩╩╩╩╩╩╩╩╩╬╦╦╦╗██████████╔╦╗██████████ ╚╩╩╬╬╬╣ ████████╔╦╦╦╦╦╦╦╦╦╗███████ ║ ║███████████╚╬╬╬╣██████████╠╬╬╦╗███████████ ╠╬╩╝ ████████╚╩╩╩╩╩╩╩╩╩╝███████ ║ ║███████████ ╚╬╬╣██████████╠╬╬╬╝███████████ ╠╣ YOUR TRUE ON-LINE SCAM SOURCE! ║████████████ ╚╩╝██████████╚╩╩╝███████████ ╔╬╬╦╗ ████████ ╔╦╦╦╦╦╗ █████████ ║ ╠╦╗ ███████████████████████████████████ ╔╦╦╬╬╬╬╣ █████████╚╬╬╬╬╬╝██████████ ║ ╠╬╬╦╦╗ █████████████████████████████ ═══╩╩╩╩╩╩╬╣ ██████████╚╬╬╬╝███████████ ║ ╠╬╬╬╬╬╦╦╦╦╦╗█████████████████████ ══ SCAM! is ╚╣ ███████████╚╩╝████████████ ║ ╠╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╦╦╦╗ ██████████ ╔╦╦╦╦╗ published by ████████ ████████ ███████ ║ ╙╨╨╨╨╨╨╨╨╨╨╨╨╨╨╨─██████████─╨╨╨╨╨╨─THE─PRODUCER──████████──██████───███████─╜ ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │VOL 1 NO 3 SCAM! MAGAZINE August 1993 FREE ONLINE!│ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ LEGALITIES AND DISCLAIMER "SCAM!" MAGAZINE is published solely for informational and entertainment purposes. The publishers and authors in no way wish to encourage or promote unlawful and/or criminal activities of any nature or sort, but merely wish to furnish the materials contained herein in accordance with the practices and policies established by the IIRG and pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. Local, State and Federal laws provide severe civil and criminal penalties for unlawful and/or criminal activity which may include fines and/ or imprisonment. The publisher and authors absolve themselves from any and all actions, direct or indirect, consequential or inconsequential, resulting from the readers of this publication. The publisher and authors are not and at no time have been affiliated in any manner with any law enforcement agency in any State or Territory of the United States of America. This magazine and its contents may be reproduced and uploaded without the permission of the publisher and authors, but may not be modified in any manner. The publisher and authors assume no responsibility or liability for such unauthorized modifications, and shall seek appropriate restitution. SEE, READ AND UNDERSTAND ANY AND ALL WARNINGS CONTAINED HEREIN. THIS MAGAZINE IS AVAILABLE FOR AND ONLY TO BE READ BY PERSONS OVER THE AGE OF 18 YEARS. ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ║ ║ ║ ║ 1. The Non-Existance of AIDS ║ ║ by The Producer ║ ║ ║ ║ 2. "SCAM!" CLASSIFIED ADS ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ EDITOR'S NOTE: Read on with the knowledge that all materials contained in the article "The Non-Existance of AIDS" are, to the author's knowledge, 100% accurate. ┌───────┐ ██████████████████████████████████│SCAM #3│████████████████████████████████████ └───────┘ "THE NON-EXISTANCE OF AIDS" by The Producer August, 1993. -- "... and I stood at my window and I watched them, people who looked just like they always had except they seemed tired, frustrated, afraid, and I wondered, 'What of?' And they said, 'AIDS', and they told me it had been so long since their last sexual encounter that they felt ashamed to admit it, and some said they lost all true pleasure in life by not having as many partners as they once had. And they said they wished they were born in the late 1940's so that they could have experienced the sexual freedom of the late '60's and '70's which they felt cheated out of. And then they said it's hopeless, that there's nothing I could do ..." This entire issue is devoted to one of the biggest scams of all time ── the AIDS hype that has been pulled off by the government of the United States of America ── for reasons still unknown. The author has noted a variety of other publications discussing AIDS, however the faceless and fictitious epidemic continues to plague society. Omit the title page of this magazine and omit this paragraph, and you should have no trouble getting someone to sleep with you after they've fully read this article. Sure, I know, you meet someone and get her to your apartment at 3:17 A. M. and she says no, so what do you do, whip out this article?? ── no, I guess not!; but, it will certainly help the process of turning relationships from non-sexual to sexual. Preface Please show this article to someone you know and love who will either not sleep with you unless you wear a condom or, out of fear of contracting AIDS, will not sleep with you at all. * Introduction What are the real truths and untruths about AIDS, HIV and your odds of actually dieing from them? So much has been said, it is now finally the time to clear up fact from fiction and explain away all the myths that have sadly captured and inhibited the U. S. population. The following is a list of 12 statements that were once made to me regarding AIDS and the use of condoms. If you agree with them, by the end of this report your opinion will hopefully drastically differ: 1█ AIDS is a horrible, lethal disease which has spread throughout the American population. 2█ It is a delusion to think AIDS is confined to homosexual men and intravenous drug users. The heterosexual community is alarmingly at risk. 3█ Even if you have led a promiscuous life with partners out of the "high-risk" category, you still have a reasonable chance of contracting AIDS because you never know who your partners have slept with. 4█ People who are educated should be smart enough to acknowledge AIDS and should act accordingly to prevent themselves from becoming victims. 5█ It is reasonable for a single woman to expect a man she has been dating and knows well to voluntarily submit to an AIDS test so that she may have peace of mind. 6█ Even if a person submits to an AIDS test and has negative results, this is no assurance the person is not infected. You have to wait at least 6 months without sexual contact and then take the test for it to be fairly accurate. And even then, there's always still some risk. 7█ If I knew a man who was not in a "high-risk group" for AIDS, and if he promised to submit to an AIDS test in 6 months, I would still not have sex with him until that time, even if he wore a condom. 8█ Because of AIDS, I would insist my partner use a condom, even if his AIDS test result after 6 months was negative, because there's always risk. 9█ Any man who engages in sexual encounters with strangers without wearing a condom is a stupid and ignorant man. He is alarmingly increasing his chances of being infected with AIDS. He is not the type of man I would like to know, much less marry someday. 10█ AIDS has overwhelmed our society and government should clearly devote more financial resources to find a cure right away, as more people are dieing and more people are at risk than ever before. 11█ I've read articles which state the possibility exists that you can get AIDS from french kissing and oral sex. Though there are a limited number of statistics available, the fact that I have read of the possibility is alone enough reason to make me that much more wary of french kissing strangers or engaging in oral sex with a non-tested partner. 12█ The articles I have read about AIDS come from well- known, reputable sources. What I read from one source is confirmed by five others. Even if one publication contained misstatements, they can't all contain misstatements. Therefore, I generally accept what I read as true. To properly support the contention that AIDS is a virtually insignificant disease for persons like you and I, two separate questions must be addressed. First, what really are our odds of becoming infected with HIV, the virus that is AIDS? And secondly, if it be true that our chances are infinitely small, why are so many articles published warning and cautioning us against a violently threatening disease? Consideration must be made of the actual public opinion of AIDS ── not the opinion penned by questionable magazine authors, but rather the actual opinion. Finally, an argument must be offered to illustrate why a person such as yourself might succom to excessive fear of this disease. Usage of condoms in the face of AIDS must similarly be treated. The Mathematical Probability of Contracting AIDS Let's first look at some hard statistics and apply some everyday mathematics. If you need to use your calculator, go ahead. I used mine. Eighty-nine percent of AIDS cases in the U. S. involve gay or bisexual men, who acquired the disease sexually, and users of intravenous drugs who acquired the disease through infected needles. The actual breakdown is 62% gay/bisexual, 27% addicts. Other high-risk groups include people with hemophilia, who became infected through contaminated, blood-derived clotting agents, and recent immigrants from certain African countries and Haiti. Let's be generous and say that 95% of all AIDS cases involve, directly or indirectly, persons from one or more categories of this entire above referenced segment of the population (collectively hereinafter "the high-risk group"). Remember this 95% figure, for it will be cited soon again. Norman Hearst and Stephen Hulley of The Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at The University of California in San Francisco recently performed a series of calculations. In "The Journal of the American Medical Association", the two researchers tabulated a heterosexual's chances of getting infected with the AIDS virus during one episode of penile-vaginal intercourse. Not surprisingly, the risk is extremely low. For instance, the chance of becoming infected with the HIV after one sexual encounter with someone who has both tested negative for HIV and who has no history of high-risk behavior is 1 in 500 million. If the same couple uses a condom, the risk plummets to 1 in 5 billion. Even having sex with someone whose HIV status is unknown, but who does not belong to any high-risk group, yields a calculated risk of 1 in 5 million or 1 in 50 million per sexual episode, depending on whether or not a condom is used. And having unprotected sex with someone who is HIV-positive still exposes a person to only a 1 in 500 chance of getting infected after one sexual encounter. After 500 such encounters, still only 2 out of 3 unprotected partners would become infected. "This advice is substantially different from the message that the public has so far received regarding AIDS prevention," the researchers say. Since we now know that 95% of all AIDS cases involve persons from the high risk group, let us assume that if a person is not in the high risk group then this person is not infected (don't worry, this will be accounted for later, but let's assume it now). For simplicity, let us state that I am a typical American male. I have had 10 sexual partners in my lifetime; only 1 of these partners did I know very well and the other 9 were promiscuous, "one-night stands". The partner I knew well tells me, and I verily believe, that she had been with only one other partner in her lifetime, the last sexual encounter with this partner, who was not a member of the high-risk group, having taken place years before anyone in the U. S. even knew what AIDS was. With this information, we rule out this well-known partner as being a carrier and must mathematically investigate the 10 unknown females. First, we narrow down the AIDS pool by sex and race based on personal knowledge. Statistically, 92% of all AIDS victims in the U. S. are male and 70% of all female victims are black or hispanic. I know that none of the 9 unknown females were black or hispanic. Certainly, none were male (if there is a God!) Combining the above statistics, it can be mathematically shown that 1 in 42 AIDS victims are non-black, non-hispanic females. Thus if we do not yet begin to consider the sexual histories or personal habits and morals of these individuals and naturally assume the worst, and if we do not yet consider the small probability of contracting AIDS in the general population, each still has only a 1 in 42 chance of being a carrier and I am mathematically left with a 97.6% safety net. Next we consider the high-risk factor. A consensus of opinion is that gays represent approximately 10% of the U. S. population. A recent Kinsey Institute estimate, however, more properly places the correct breakdown at 4%. Let us be generous, assume the worst, and go at 10%. Let us further be exceedingly generous and claim that 5% of the U. S. population are intravenous drug users and thus similarly fall into the high-risk AIDS group as defined above. Let us continue to be mathematically generous and say that people who are gay don't do drugs, and vice versa. Under these extremely generous figures a total of 15%, or about 1 in 6.5 people in our country, would fall into the group. Since we do not now know, nor will we ever know, if these 9 unknown females were members of the high-risk group, although we believe them all not to be, we are destined to use this "generous statistic" that 1 in 6.5 of them were high-risk group members. Recall now the figure of 95% we cited earlier as that which represents the percentage of AIDS victims in the high risk group. We account for the 1 in 20 AIDS victims who are not high-risk (that leftover 5%), combine all statistics heretofore set forth and arrive at a now 1 in 208 chance of any of these 9 unknown females to have been a carrier ... again still not considering the likelihood of contracting AIDS in the general population. Now considering the AIDS pool versus the entire U. S. population of 250 million, we begin by noting statistics of The U. S. Centers for Disease Control (hereinafter "CDC"), which inflates the number of infected Americans at 1.5 million, thus overestimating that 1 in 160 Americans are infected! If we use this generous figure, and if we know the odds for each of these 9 unknown females to fall into this 1-in-160 pool are 1 in 208, we now further diminish the odds for any one of these 9 unknowns to actually be infected with AIDS to be 1 in 33,280. (Here is something peculiar ... consider the AIDS pool versus the entire U. S. population. The U. S. Centers for Disease Control (hereinafter "CDC") has placed the number of infected Americans at 1.5 million; as the entire population is approximately 250 million, the CDC is thus implying that 1 in 160 Americans are infected. Yet we just showed, mathematically, that the odds of any of those 9 women to fall into the high risk group ── not be infected, just fall into the group ── would be 1 in 208. Thus, if what the CDC has said is really true and 1 in 160 really are infected, that would mean that if you're in the high risk group, you're pretty much automatically infected; 1 in 160 and 1 in 208 are about the same odds. Something sounds wrong, doesn't it? You bet! Now, let's continue ...) Recall earlier we stated that having one sexual encounter with a person who is HIV-positive results in a 1 in 500 chance of becoming infected. If we know the likelihood for each of the 9 unknown females to be HIV positive is 1 in 33,280, it can be mathematically shown that the actual odds of any one of these 9 females being HIV positive AND of my becoming infected after that one sexual encounter with them to be 1 in 16,640,000. Finally, to do some real-world adjustments, recall we used a calculation of 1 in 6.5 for females to fall into the group, based upon the inflated assumption that a majority of the 10% of the unknowns are lesbians (gay); if they were, of course, chances are very high that they would not have been my sexual partner in the first place, for to do so would mean they are bisexual also. Thus, considering an ever so slight adjustment for our previous statistical generosity coupled with my judgment that none of the 9 females were bisexual/lesbians, or drug users for that matter, a rough and still extremely generous final estimate would more appropriately be that the likelihood for me to have become infected from any of the 9 women I have slept with, whose past histories are virtually unknown, would be 1 IN 17 MILLION!!! This 1-in-17,000,000 statistic, by the way, will not waver upon the past sexual histories of any of the 9 unknown partners ── or 90 or 900 unknown partners ── because the figures used to calculate the statistic are based on the present and have already incorporated the consequences of the past. And yes, this 1-in-17,000,000 statistic also assumes unprotected sex. Does this 1-in-17,000,000 figure seem right? Yes. Why? Because we began with the statistic that the odds of becoming infected with a person whose HIV status is unknown, while unprotected, is 1 in 5 million. But we then filtered out a high percentage of the AIDS population because, in my particular case, we do know certain things. We know all the partners were female; we know none were black or hispanic. Naturally, we can expect to statistically improve the odds through these specifics and so it is that 1 in 17 million might very well be a realistic ballpark guess, were it not for the lengthy mathematical calculations heretofore performed to arrive at the figure. The Truth About Condoms The next question arising is, if I am a typical male and if my odds of contracting AIDS while unprotected, with total strangers, is really only 1 in 17 million per sexual encounter, then why are so many men turning to condoms to protect themselves against AIDS? The answer is very simple: they aren't. "Consumer Reports" devoted an entire issue to condoms. Not surprisingly, they discovered that 87% of all males polled did not feel it necessary to wear a condom to protect themselves against AIDS; 95% of those over 30 years of age similarly did not feel it necessary to wear a condom. It should thus come as no surprise that there is not one, single college-educated male friend I know who has worn a condom for the specific purpose of guarding against AIDS. And how about sex with an hispanic, Haitian hemophiliac homo who's on heroin? Fifty-five percent of the males polled in "Consumer Reports" said it doesn't matter; their sexual practices have remained unchanged in the face of AIDS. The only 3 possible advantages that condoms can provide to some men are: (1) eliminating the possibility of an unwanted pregnancy; (2) providing justifiably sought peace of mind when engaging in repetitive sexual encounters with a known member of the high risk group; and (3) enabling those who reach orgasm easily to prolong the sexual episode. In these instances, and only in these instances, condoms are a worthwhile solution not only for men, but also for their partners. However, for those men who customarily engage in sexual activity with a non-high risk, protected partner and who do not reach orgasm quickly or easily, condoms can prove to be a nightmare. Statistics show that almost 60% of males polled have experienced reduced sensation when wearing a condom. Over 70% stated that condom usage interfered sporadically with the natural art of lovemaking, and almost 40% said they felt uncomfortable because they were constantly aware of its presence. One-fifth of the males noted that sex cannot be as vigorous, for fear of breakage or slippage. Other negative cites included the requirement of prompt withdrawal (40%); general embarrassment (15%); and friction (about 5%). Men were, on the average, about twice as critical as women. However, almost 70% of women shared their counterpart's view that condom usage does create unwanted interruptions during sex. "Parents" magazine recently conducted a poll to compute the overall, present-day reaction to AIDS. They found 87% of those polled, both men and women, to be "slightly worried" or "not at all worried" about personally contracting AIDS; in fact, of this 87%, 21% were "slightly worried" and a significantly larger 66% were "not at all worried". How many were "very worried"? Only 5%. The Statistical Insignificance of AIDS The reason most persons never think twice about AIDS is because it is truly a statistically irrelevant disease plaguing a strictly confined group of individuals. Let us take the generous government estimate of 600,000 persons expected to contract AIDS in the next 4 years; well, that's an average of 150,000 new AIDS victims per year. That seems like a lot of people, right? Not really. This figure is dwarfed by the number of persons who will die of cancer and heart disease. Over 2.1 million of us are in car accidents each year, yet no one thinks twice about getting behind the wheel; and New York City parkways, being in the condition they are in, should make it that much more apparent that absolutely no measures are really being taken to ensure safer roadways. What about the number of babies that are born prematurely each year and who will die each year because modern medicine, in its infinite wisdom, has not yet found a way to artificially keep them alive until they are strong enough to survive? No woman would avoid pregnancy out of fear of being the mother of a child such as this ── despite the statistic that there are 40,000 such cases each year! That's 40,000 non-restrictive deaths ── about 27% as many real death as projected, confined AIDS deaths! And yet every newly-expectant mother announces her condition with an ear-to-ear smile. The world is chock full of 100,000-deaths-a-year causal factors; these death figures are so insignificant when combined with the aggregate population, however, and the number of causal factors are so very high, that medical research grants totalling the national debt probably would not come even close to scratching the surface for the innumerably required cures. To avoid the chance of falling victim to driving on one of those flooky roads to death, one might just as well live in a bomb shelter with purified air and water. Getting emphezyma from the air we breathe; having a heart attack from the caffeine in the coffee we drink; becoming HIV-positive after an unprotected encounter with a stranger ... these are all mathematical possibilities, yes, but we cannot live our lives in fear of these infinitely unlikely, 1-in-17-million-odds occurrences causing us serious harm or death. To do so would be tantamount to living the rest of our natural lives in a coffin with a glass lid. It's Legal to Lie So why is it, then, that so many persons you may know are concerned with AIDS, you ask? Why does it seem like a lot of people view it as a serious threat? And why, if all that you have read up to now is true, are you faced with a multitude of articles and news stories in all forms of media, in newspapers, magazines, journals, on radio and on television, proclaiming AIDS to be one of America's biggest challenges and tragedies? The reason is sad and simple: Sex sells! Combining greed, money, power and the desired attention by special- interest groups, we have created an overwhelming onslaught of bogus editorials and hyped newscasts which make AIDS out to be the present-day polio, out to kill us all. Thus, we must now examine the ethics of journalism as a whole and answer the question, "Can we truly trust what we read?" ── and, if not, why not? Nearly 80% of the American workforce is in the sphere of information and communication sectors. These range from media, advertising, public relations, consulting, telecommunications and computer industries to such institutions as banking, insurance, education, transportation, bureaucracy and the legal system. The perceptions, attitudes, values and opinions of the public at large are shaped by the quantity and quality of information circulated in our society. Media consultants, communications experts, informational specialists and political advisors have been hired not to seek information from the public but rather to use all the available techniques, methodologies, strategies and resources to manipulate and control it. Their goal has been to change trends and opinions, not to seek information from the public. The only time that the matter of information and communication came to be a national debate was in the 1940's, when the Commission on Freedom of the Press issued a report which cited, among other things, the decrease in the proportion of the people who could express their opinion through the media adequately, and the engagement of the press "from time to time in practice which ... will inevitably undertake to regulate or control [society]". It was the Commission's opinion that the media should provide the citizenry with an "intelligent account of the day's events". No report or debate of this magnitude has since been conducted in the U. S., where we must unpleasantly face the fact, some fifty years later, that information in the media is being treated mainly as a marked commodity rather than a social commodity. "The New Yorker" recently published a two-part article by Janet Malcolm who, in her piece, files a sort of ethical class-action suit against all reporters. She states: "[They are all] incorrigible bullies who would dump their mothers for a decent story. Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible. He is a kind of confidence man, preying on people's vanity, ignorance or loneliness, gaining their trust and betraying them without remorse." Says Fred Bruning, staff writer with "Newsday": "Let's be frank. Do reporters have their tricks? They do indeed. There is [definite] doubt as to the rules of ethics and civility in the weightless atmosphere of hardback publishing and influential periodicals." The right to deceive the public got a major boost in August, 1989 after a Federal appeals court upheld a ruling that publications could legally publish fabricated quotations. In their final 2-1 vote, the majority concluded: "Malice will not be inferred from evidence showing that the quoted language does not contain the exact words used ... provided that the fabricated quotations are either rational interpretations or do not alter the substantive content of [actual remarks]." The single dissenting judge, Alex Kozinski, wrote: "This rationale is explosive. What the Court is saying, in effect, is that if you make statements that could be reasonably construed as boastful or arrogant, or callous or stupid or reflecting any other trait or character or intellect, the reporter may attribute to you any other statement reflecting that same trait." Masquerading fiction as news or history is thusly becoming increasingly common; and fiction, among its other characteristics, can have a most considerable influence on cultural attitudes. Producers and editors can often be as story-crazy as publicists, who not only play competitors against each other but often try to control assignment of the interviewer. Deals involve setting conditions for interviews, or where quotes can be changed "as a favor". One "Wall Street Journal" reporter estimated that 25% of all interviews at his paper involve such deals, which are usually negotiated in secret and deprive readers and viewers of knowing how certain stories get hyped. "Why should otherwise respectable publications and TV programs allow themselves to become cogs in the 'rave machine' of modern public relations? Sometimes a deal is the only way ..." The practice of checking ostensible facts with the story's subject is also rapidly declining. "Washingtonian", a prosperous monthly, does an annual salary survey. Fall, 1989's survey, for example, which lists hundreds of names linked to specific monetary figures, appears to be based on serious research. Eight "Time" staffers were cited; says Laurence I. Barrett of "Time": "Mystified, several of us agreed that the figures were wrong, by 30% in one case, and that none of us had been consulted by 'Washingtonian'. The writer, Robert Pack, explained: 'You don't call hundreds of people and ask them what they make because they won't tell you.' Pack insisted that he had knowledgeable sources for his numbers. An editor of the 'Washingtonian', however, acknowledged that such stories are 'ball-park estimates'. If 'Washingtonian' didn't get MY pay right, how many other numbers in that story were wrong? More broadly, if too many news organizations neglect to check their facts, how long become this becomes [everyone's problem]? In a business whose cardinal asset is credibility, that notion should be unsettling." In his "Time" article "Is it Right to Publish Rumors?", author Walter Shapiro states as follows: "Public more may have changed over the past three decades, but the press still finds itself trapped by the rituals that govern its coverage of scabrous gossip. Today the journalistic rules of righteous rumourmongering have been liberalized. Leading newspapers and the television networks write and broadcast artificially crafted stories about the rumors themselves, thereby spreading calumny while piously decrying it." When one journalist starts a rumor, others are quick to "jump on the bandwagon", despite the true facts and possible consequences. Shapiro continues: "How sad and sordid ... is the current rule of rumor on Capitol Hill. Perhaps the nadir was reached with the recent press coverage of the baseless charge that House Speaker Thomas Foley is a homosexual. Syndicated columnists Roland Evans and Robert Novak initially helped stir the muck by referring to rumors about the 'alleged homosexuality of one Democrat who might move up the succession ladder'. As the gossip oozed along the halls of Congress, 'New York Daily News' columnist Lars-Erik Nelson published the details of the whispering campaign against Foley in order to finger the staff of Congressman Newt Gingrich as one of its sources. Never mind that the Foley rumors were completely false. Once the Republican National Committee launched its own smear campaign against the new Speaker, using sniggering language like 'out of the liberal closet', virtually every news organization felt compelled to repeat the slur, regardless of the damage it would cause ... [H]ow tempting it must be for armchair analysts to decree that henceforth no responsible publication or newscast should disseminate unsubstantiated rumors. But ... would such a high-minded standard also serve the public interest?" The public interest, indeed; catching it is what the authors want, as the more interest there is the higher the publication sales will be. Leonore Fleishcer or "Publishers Weekly" deems the AIDS crisis nothing more than "a plague of blame and fear". She cites Monroe E. Price, Dean of the Benjamin N. Cordozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, who published a work entitled "Shattered Mirrors: Our Search for Identity and Community in the AIDS Era". Mr. Price examines the frightening changes in the influential media to present a message of sexual caution rather than sexual freedom. He states that television news has become " ... an electronic pulpit ... a tool with which public health officials instruct people in how to think and how to behave during the AIDS crisis. [It tells us what individuals'] values are and should be, what conduct will be deemed worthy of imitation and, as a result, how behavior will be shaped." So there you have it: a society whose media preys on the weaknesses and fears of the general public and divinely deems what "acceptable" responses to these fears should be. The panic has a ceiling, however, and can only spread so far; let it be known, fortunately for our society, that there are still many wise Americans who will have rummaged their way through the inescapable heap of media hype thrown at them and happily emerge with a personal interpretation of their own, one which comes about only after examining the manipulative, sadistic greed overpowering the heartless, insensitive liars behind the frightening, doomsday words. The Bogus "Masters and Johnson" Report One of the most respected research teams in the field of sexual behavior, Masters and Johnson, joined the ranks of the money-hungry, word- twisting fear-injectors when it published "Crisis: Heterosexual Behavior in the Age of AIDS". Criticized for failing to submit their results to scientific review, the medical research community deemed Masters and Johnson's claim that the AIDS epidemic is "running rampant in the heterosexual community" bad science, if slick marketing. An elaborate press conference, a cover story in "Newsweek" and distribution by "The Los Angeles Times Syndicate" were timed to coincide with the book's publication. Noted for their innovative studies in human sexual physiology and pioneering work in sex therapy, most readers in fact do not know that they have rarely submitted their studies to scientific journals, where the work is supposed to pass the scrutiny of experts before being published. Says University of California sex researcher Bernard Zilbergeld, "Their primary aim is to sell themselves and their books." Aside from preposterous claims that AIDS can be contracted, "theoretically at least", via mosquito bites, french kissing, toilet seats and sliding into second base ("if, by chance, an infected player has bled into it ..."), experts say that the main problem with Masters and Johnson's alarming AIDS data is, similarly, that their sample is drastically skewed, that is, not representative of the nation as a whole. The sex researchers, with co-author Dr. Robert Koldony, studied 800 people in New York, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Atlanta. One-half claimed to be monogamous and one-half claimed to have had 6 sex partners per year for the previous 5 years. The participants further stated in questionnaires that they had not engaged in homosexual activity or used drugs. Only one of the monogamous subjects was found injected with the AIDS virus, compared with 24 or 6% in the sexually active group, a rate 5 to 10 times higher than that found in patients at clinics for sexually transmitted diseases, a very high risk population. "This is just plain bad science," says Dr. John Bailar, a biostatistician at McGill University in Montreal and consultant to the U. S. government and "The New England Journal of Medicine". She continues: "The sample of people they chose, or who chose themselves, is totally biased. You can't come to any broad conclusions from this, even if you assume that the subjects told them the truth about their sexual habits." The study participants were volunteers who responded to notices placed at churches, childbirth classes, colleges and singles gathering spots. Masters and Johnson apparently inserted a disclaimer in the book stating that their results "cannot be easily generalized", but critics say Masters and Johnson and Kolodny did just that: they used their data to assert that AIDS is spreading rapidly and that 200,000 heterosexuals in the U. S. are now infected, not the 30,000 estimated by the CDC, which figures place the number of heterosexuals with AIDS at 2% of the entire AIDS population. Says Dr. James Curran of CDC: "The problem has become more exaggerated in coverage of AIDS because of the severe life-and-death implications. This life-and-death journalistic rollercoaster leaves the public wondering what to believe." U. S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop promptly called the work "irresponsible" and accused Masters and Johnson of "scare tactics". New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Stephen Joseph stated: "They pile their statements, each holding a thin layer of established fact, on top of one another like slices of bologna." A "Chicago Tribune" editorial blasted the "panic-peddling book" and "The New York Times" decried its "false alarms about AIDS", all while frightened readers jammed AIDS hotlines seeking clarification and comfort. Perhaps some consolation was received by their being warmly reassured that "The Journal of the American Medical Association" has scientifically disproven the theory that "deep kissing" can lead to death. Not one single case has ever been attributed to infection brought on by french kissing. Explains Jay Levy of The University of California at San Francisco: "The AIDS virus is not present in saliva. Saliva is a hostile environment for the AIDS virus. In fact, it will kill half the viruses exposed to it within 30 minutes." In their defense, Masters and Johnson argue that it is up to the medical community to prove them wrong. As a practical matter, however, scientists cannot prove that something will never happen. Even so, in a dozen studies conducted on some 500 persons living with AIDS-infected relatives, not one single case of casual transmission has occurred, even though they shared toothbrushes, toilets, cups, plates, toys and bed linens. "They've created a straw man," says CDC's Curran, "Let THEM prove it's true!" Says Joanne Silbernerer in her recent work in "U. S. News & World Report": "Science is a gradual process; journalism isn't. Why do we fall for it? The media reports the latest discoveries, which are all too often taken as gospel. Even when studies are reported in reputable journals, they can be misconstrued." At least with Masters and Johnson, some publications evidently saw warning flags. "Time" and "The Boston Globe" were invited to bid for rights to excerpt the book, and declined. "We felt it was determinedly alarming," said "Time" senior editor Russ Hoyle. The book, published by Grove Press after several other publishers reportedly turned it down, didn't lack buyers. "The Los Angeles Times Syndicate", the German magazine "Stern" and France's "Paris Match" bought rights. As one editor precisely observed, and as hereinbefore stated, "Sex sells." You Don't Get Heard It does not pay to be the bearer of good news. Since 1987, Michael Fumento has been trying to spread the reassuring word that AIDS is not going to carry off millions of Americans, that AIDS will not devastate the heterosexual population, that AIDS is not the late 20th Century version of the black death. As a result, Fumento lost his job as AIDS expert at the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights, had a generous fellowship offer rescinded, and has been told that he is not a nice person. Fumento, author of the recently published book "The Myth of Heterosexual AIDS", argues that AIDS is not a disease that is easily transmitted, meaning the universe of Americans likely to be infected by it is clearly circumscribed. Arguing that monogamy buffs in the Reagan administration were using AIDS as a tool to terrify sexually adventurous Americans with a "chastity or death" message, Fumento did not get in trouble for offending the gay liberals ... he got in trouble for offending the conservatives. Essentially, Fumento denounces as "worthless" and "garbage" most of the projections about the size of the AIDS epidemic, noting that most information disseminated in the press has been provided by crackpots, while a great deal of the statistical data generated by the CDC is high-class guesswork. In his work "The Incredible Shrinking AIDS Epidemic", Fumento argues that new infections among homosexuals have dropped dramatically because word about AIDS is out, while the number of drug users left to be exposed has topped out because there are only so many drug users and partners left to contaminate. In his "Forbes" article, author Joseph Quinnan states: "Fumento feels that alarming projections about the spread of AIDS into the heterosexual population served the interests of several groups. One group was journalists, who revel in nightmarish stories and are willing to cite the most dire statistics, even when the numbers are supplied by 'experts' with dubious credentials, or by certain organizations whose epidemiological prowess is in question. 'It's a bumper sticker disease,' he remarks, suggesting that scaring the daylights out of white, middle-class suburbanites may have been the only way AIDS activists could have corralled the dollars needed to combat a disease whose principal victims are socially unfashionable black females and homosexuals." Says Fumento: "AIDS will go down from an epidemic to an endemic level within just a few years. If someone had come up with a 'cure' a couple of years ago, he would have been hailed as the new Jonas Salk. But now, when AIDS vaccine is discovered, people will say, 'Oh, that's good, that's great, that's a good thing ..." When "Newsweek" jumped on the bogus Masters and Johnson survey in support of its alleged validity, Michael Fumento joined those who criticized the survey in an article in "The New Republic". Alas, the circulation of "The New Republic" is 92,500, while the circulation of "Newsweek" is 3,198,000! So, the mass of the public will hear what they want to believe ... another frightening statistic ... regardless of sociological implications. "No wonder we're hysterical, from denial or paranoia," states author John Leonard in his recent "Ms." article as he vehemently lashes out against a world of publications deliberately outpouring misinformation. "It depends on the magazine that's messing with our minds." He further states: "[W]hat we think we know is determined entirely by the information environment. It's as if they're screaming at us from transistors in the cavities of our teeth, and they don't care if they're telling the truth or not. We haven't the tuners and amplifiers to steer through this static. No historical bifocals for a close reading of the facts. No previous experience nor any guru to help us feel our way. As perhaps never before, we are dependent on the conscienceless, retina-eating media for all the weather in our heads. What this amounts to is a shameful unknowingness, a crime." Psychiatric Delusions in Some In its article "The AIDS Delusion", the magazine "Science News" set forth an example of one of the terrifying consequences that twisted, tattered words can have on some of us who are not strong enough to properly distinguish fact from fiction: "Here's a new twist in the controversy over AIDS testing. A small but increasing number of people with psychiatric disorders are demanding to be tested for the AIDS virus as a result of delusions that they have contracted the deadly disease. In three cases described in 'The American Journal of Psychiatry', this erroneous belief that AIDS has been contracted disappeared with successful treatment of the person's severe depression or manic depression. The patients have no symptoms of AIDS, are not intravenous drug users and report no homosexual experiences. If testing for the AIDS virus is nonetheless conducted, the researchers note, these patients usually find a way to explain away negative results and hang on to their delusion until the underlying psychiatric disorder is addressed. As AIDS becomes a fixture in the media in public consciousness, it may increasingly affect the delusions of people with psychiatric disorders, the investigators conclude." Conclusion In summary, AIDS is a frightening disease and AIDS is a deadly disease ... but AIDS is a distant disease, light years away from people like you and I in the realistic world of mathematical probability and true facts. My personal likelihood of contracting it, while unprotected and from a stranger, has been calculated at 1 in 17 million; yours, equally minute. It is not disputed that there is justifiable reason to be cautious, however there is certainly no cause for exaggerated and unnecessary fear and preoccupation. Almost all males do not feel it necessary to wear condoms as a guard against AIDS; condoms are primarily reluctantly used as a method of birth control, and evoke widespread criticism for the reduction of sensation they produce. Almost all men and women polled state they are "slightly" or "not at all" worried about contracting aids, thus the ideals of the minority can be attributed to the great influx of bogus, hype articles about AIDS that plague the American media and frighten the American public. A California court, in 1989, upheld a law permitting publications to legally publish fabricated quotes, and reported news continues to become reported fiction. Even Masters and Johnson, one of the most noteworthy and respected teams of sex researchers in the U. S., published a totally fictitious book based on non-scientific data and was blasted by the U. S. Surgeon General. Yet, countless other fabricated AIDS books by less well-known authors have been bought, read and believed by hundreds of thousands of persons, not surprisingly accounting for the creation of a group of people who have delusions of having AIDS or getting AIDS, even after negative HIV test results. What to Do If you plan on having sex with someone who is in the high risk group, use protection. If you plan on having sex with someone on a regular basis and do not want children, use protection regardless of the person's group status. But if you meet someone who is not in the high risk group and would like to have sex with this person without having a relationship, be free, live free, remove all inhibitions, relax and enjoy, for there truly is nothing to fear ... unless you've already slept with 17 million or so other persons, at which point yes, I'd definitely be careful! * ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ┌─────┐ ┌─────────────────────────────┘ THE └──────────────────────────────┐ └─███████████████████████████████│████████████████████████████████─┘ ╔════════════════════════════════════╧═════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ SCAM! ════════════///═════////════/ //═══///════////═══///═══/////══//// ║ ║ ████/ █ ███ ████ ████ ███ ████ ███ ████ ████ ║ ║ █/ █/ █/ /█/ █/ // █/ // █ █ / █/ █ // / █/ █ ║ ║ █/ █/ █████/ █████/ █████/ █/ ███/ █/ █████ █/ █ ║ ║ █ / // █ / // █/ █/ /// █/ /// █/ /█/ █/ /█/ █ / // █//█ ║ ║ _████/ _████ /_█/ █/ _████/ _████/ _███ _█/ _███/ _████ _████/ ║ ║ ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ SCAM! ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════╤═════════════════════════════════════╝ ┌─███████████████████████████████│████████████████████████████████─┐ └────────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────┘ "THE RUNE STONE BBS" is open and available to ALL inquisitive modemers! This is an IIRG-oriented, Connecticut-based BBS which features a VERY knowledgeable, helpful and friendly Sysop; NO ratios(!); and a WEALTH of informational philes to explore. This BBS is also the place to find the latest editions of "SCAM!" magazine! Even if you're an out-of-state caller, this BBS is well worth the extra dime. So why not call today? The fone number is (203) 832-8441. Logon with newuser password "CONSPIRACY", and say you heard about 'em from "SCAM!" ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── FIND THE LATEST AND THE GREATEST 0-30'S! STARGATE ASYLUM (516) YOU-WISH ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── WANTED: VALID CBI, TRW, EQUIFAX AND TRANS UNION ACCOUNTS, PASSWORDS AND LOGON HELP. If you have enjoyed reading "SCAM!" magazine and have found it of any value to you, which hopefully you have, please be advised that NO idiotic money contributions are requested. Rather, I seek the above. If you have any of the above, or would like to refer a BBS number and newuser logon password where the above information can be obtained, please leave a PRIVATE message for THE PRODUCER on The Rune Stone BBS (see above). NOTE: The Rune Stone BBS is a legitimate BBS and does NOT wish information of this type publicly posted. Therefore, please obey the wishes and respect the rules of the Sysops on this BBS and do NOT post this info publicly. Each message will be treated with the UTMOST in confidentiality and will be sincerely appreciated. ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── MERCENARY, GIMME MORE POINTS FOR AREA 27! 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MAGAZINE ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── FOR SALE: VALID SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS, together with (1) the name of the person the number belongs to; (2) his or her most current address; and (3) his or her most current telephone number. HUNDREDS OF NUMBERS AVAILABLE, most also including the person's date of birth! Many also include the person's current occupation, place of employment AND salary. These numbers, which are available for REAL, LIVING persons, can in many cases be tailored to your needs for specific age, race and/or nationality. NO MONEY DESIRED FOR THIS INFORMATION; USE YOUR BRAIN TO FIGURE OUT WHAT'S WANTED IN RETURN! DISCLAIMER: The authors and publishers of this magazine shall act merely as liaison to any parties responding to this advertisement, for informational and entertainment purposes only. 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AND THE DWELLING RETURNS! ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ██████████████████████████████████████████ ██ ██ ██ WANTED!! ██ ██ ──────────── ██ ██ VALID WDIA ACCOUNTS, PASSWORDS ██ ██ AND LOGON HELP ██ ██ ██ ██████████████████████████████████████████ WDIA is (or was) one of the nation's largest electronic databases that acts (or did act) as a gateway to DMV, credit card bureaus and courthouse records nationwide. Its function is (or was) to provide private investigators with the necessary tools for tracing, tracking, etc. private individuals and/or businesses and, upon entering the proper search requests, can offer credit card histories, criminal background checks, business investigations etc. nationwide, if not worldwide. If you have enjoyed reading "SCAM!" magazine and have found it of any value to you, please leave a PRIVATE message for THE PRODUCER on The Rune Stone BBS (see above), or furnish a BBS number where the above information can be obtained. Again, please respect the rules of The Rune Stone and do NOT post public ANY info of this type. Each message will be treated with the UTMOST confidentiality and will be sincerely appreciated. *** "SCAM!" SUGGESTION: *** For total anonymity, use PKZIP encryption. Especially when dealing with WDIA, I would suggest it. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0-30'S WITH MINT MESSAGE BASE AND SUPER-MINT SYSOP THE TACK ROOM (516) 4U2-KNOW ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED AD IN "SCAM!" MAGAZINE: Leave a PRIVATE message for THE PRODUCER on The Rune Stone BBS (see above). Your real name, address, etc. are NOT needed to place classified ads. You may leave your handle, e-mail address and/or BBS message area where others can respond to your ad. NO FEE IS REQUIRED! Classified ads MUST conform to the general content of "SCAM!" magazine. Classified ads for "conservative" BBS's (e.g. BBS's containing shareware programs, games, etc.) will NOT be posted, so please don't waste my time! Classified ads containing actual credit card numbers, passwords, etc. will NOT be posted, simply because the posting of such information would be clearly illegal; however, classified ads that contain SOURCES to obtain this information are acceptable and, in fact, are encouraged. Classified ads will be posted based upon their content and at the sole and exclusive discretion of THE PRODUCER. In your request, please don't forget to specifically state that you wish a classified ad, or else your info will simply be treated confidentially and I will not know to post it. Please help make "SCAM!" magazine grow by submitting your classified ad today! ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── THE DWELLING RETURNS ... ELITENESS UP TO YOUR ASS! (516) GO2-HELL ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN "SCAM!" MAGAZINE: "SCAM!" magazine is searching for new "Field Researchers"! If you have something you feel is valuable to the readers of "SCAM!" and would like to submit it for consideration, please do so! Here's how: Leave a PRIVATE message for THE PRODUCER on The Rune Stone BBS (see above). In this message, state the following: (1) your handle; (2) a brief (please!) description of your offering; (3) about how many pages is it?; (4) a BBS that you belong to, other than The Rune Stone BBS; and (5) newuser password and logon info for that other BBS. Generally only articles, in ASCII form, will be accepted; executable programs, unless VERY useful and VERY small, cannot be considered simply due to the forum. Please post your proposed article in ZIP, ARJ or LHA on that other BBS (not the Rune Stone!) If your article seems really worthwhile, it will be downloaded, reviewed and ultimately published. In your request, please don't forget to specifically state that you wish an article published, or else your info will simply be treated confidentially and I will not know to consider it. Please help make "SCAM!" magazine grow by submitting your articles for consideration today! *** "SCAM!" SUGGESTION: *** If you would like to keep your article confidential prior to its appearance in "SCAM!", do the following: Place the article in "ZIP" form on the other BBS, but add PKZIP encryption to the file. In your private message, leave the key. That way, no one else can read the article. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── EDITORIALS AND SUGGESTION BOX. All articles in "SCAM!" magazine are subject to EDITORIAL REPLY by my readers. This is a free country and you're entitled to respond, so PLEASE DO SO! I welcome your thoughts and ideas. Do you have any suggestions on how to make "SCAM!" better, or what you'd like to see in "SCAM!"?? Was there something in "SCAM!" you disagree with, or would like to have clarified?? Is there a particular scam you'd like to pull off, but don't know how?? Leave a PRIVATE message for THE PRODUCER on The Rune Stone BBS and let your editorial replies be heard for future publications of this magazine! ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ╔═════════════════════════════════╦╦╦╦╦════════════════════════════════════╗ ╔╩═════════════════════════════════╩╩╩╩╩════════════════════════════════════╩╗ ║ UNTIL NEXT TIME, HAPPY "SCAM!"S & BE WELL!! ║ ║ ║ ╠╦╗ ╔╦╣ ╠╬╣█████████████████ T H E P R O D U C E R ████████████████╠╬╣ ╠╩╝ ╚╩╣ ║ SNEEZING, COUGHING, CHOKING AND GASPING FOR ║ ║ UNPOLLUTED AIR IN GOD'S COUNTRY ... ║ ║ NEW YORK STATE, U. S. A.! ║ ╚╦═════════════════════════════════╦╦╦╦╦═════════════════════════════════════╣ ╚═════════════════════════════════╩╩╩╩╩═════════════════════════════════════╝ The End