From: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com (roc-digest) To: roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: roc-digest V2 #268 Reply-To: roc-digest Sender: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk roc-digest Tuesday, August 10 1999 Volume 02 : Number 268 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 9 Aug 99 07:33:11 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: FW: [Fwd: Repeal the First Amendment] (fwd) One of, if not the best summation of this idea I've seen..... On Aug 9, Dave Smith wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] My freind Cloris forwarded this to me: > Here's the forward that I had been promising a few of you for quite a > while. I just now had the time to catch my breath and find it. It's > hilarious in a very sobering sort of way... > > Cloris > > PS: I wish like hell I could credit it, but I don't know who > wrote it. > > > > A modest proposal: > > > > After the recent massacres in Littleton, Colorado I have come to the > > conclusion that there is too much freedom of speech in > America and that the > > First Amendment to the Constitution is an outmoded relic of > simpler times > > and should be repealed. Many lives could be saved if > harmful information > > could be kept out of the hands of the average citizen. > > > > Our founding fathers never could have conceived of radio, > television or > > satellite communications, let alone the Internet. It is too easy for > > malicious people to spread harmful information throughout > the world, where > > the easily manipulated can use this information to harm others. All > > information that is available for the average person should > be carefully > > screened before being published. > > > > After repealing the First Amendment, the federal government > should set up > > Information Review Boards. Any writing, fact or fiction, meant for > > publication in any form; newsprint, magazines, books, > broadcast, recorded > > media or the Internet would be reviewed by the Information > Review Board for > > harmful or hateful meaning. If passed, the writer would be > subject to a > > five day "cooling down" period before being published and > be forbidden to > > write another piece for publication for thirty days. Should the > > Information Review Board find the writing harmful or > hateful, the writer > > would have seven days to appeal the decision or correct the > writing to > > conform to the board's standards. Anyone publishing > information without > > having the approval of the Information Review Board would > be guilty of a > > federal felony punishable by a minimum of ninety days in > federal prison. > > Anyone giving unapproved writing to a minor or convicted > felon would also > > be prosecuted under federal law. > > > > It would also be a felony to possess a printing press, > typewriter, computer > > printer, word-processing software or have more than ten > sheets of paper, > > unless licensed and registered by the federal government. > The Information > > Review Board would interview potential professional > writers, who would then > > apply for a Federal Writing License. Federal Writing > License holders would > > be exempt from the five day waiting period and one article per month > > limitation. The license would be renewed every three years. > > > > The Internet should be completely operated and all telephone lines > > monitored by the federal government. The possession of a modem and > > communications software without a license would be a > federal felony and any > > person transmitting unapproved information by any > electronic means would be > > prosecuted. Likewise, all radio, television, stage and > motion picture > > content would be reviewed for approval. > > > > Of course, there are those who will scream that they have a > "Constitutional > > Right" to produce and distribute hateful and harmful speech > or information. > > This so called "right" may have been useful in the > eighteenth century but > > is not needed today. No one, not one single person, has the right to > > produce anything that may cause harm by thought, speech or action. > > > > I urge everyone to write to his/her congressional representative and > > senators and urge them to start proceedings to repeal the > First Amendment. [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Aug 99 07:34:19 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: Jeff Cooper's Commentaries - Jul/99 (fwd) On Aug 8, Barry Needham wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] - -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Attached is the latest issue of Jeff Cooper's Commentaries. Comments can be sent directly to Jeff at: Jeff Cooper Gunsite Ranch Paulden, Arizona 86334. As usual, I would be happy to forward any comments from our international readers. These Commentaries are also available on the web. In fact, all of the Commentaries, from the end of the old Gunsite Gossip, are available. The url(s) for this are: http://www.cybersurf.co.uk/JeffCooper/ http://wwww.concentric.net/~mkeithr/jeff/index.html http://www.powernet.net/~eich1/jeffcooper/ Enjoy, Barry. ============================================================= Jeff Cooper's Commentaries Previously Gunsite Gossip Vol. 7, No. 8 July, 1999 Summer Time Hot, ain't it! I am so old that I can remember the days before air conditioning, and those are days I would not care to reoccupy. Summer was never my favorite season, despite the fact that school was out, and it still isn't. Spring, of course, is a joyful time of rebirth. Winter is exciting and cold. Autumn is hunting season. But summer is just hot and sweaty. At this season, the best we can do is to remember how uncomfortable it is to be cold, if we can. If you can arrange it, that is something of a comfort. * * * In considering this literary garbage about the lethal nature of some types of weapons, we give you this opinion from Family Member Celia Milius: "It's not the arrow, it's the Indian." * * * - - From our reading it seems to us that too little of the doctrine and technique of weaponcraft is being broadcast. I see pictures of people doing it all wrong in the magazines, and correspondents continue to ask me questions to which any competent shooter should have the answer. An example is the number of people who endeavor to shoot isosceles and then complain because they do not have enough power in their wrists. So then they ask if they should go to a minor caliber or a muzzle brake. "Why didn't somebody tell me that?" they ask. Either they have never been to school or they have been to the wrong school. Excellence in any activity is something that is not usually sought unless there is a direct financial reward for excellence. Except for big-time athletics there is no financial reward for excellence in technique. There is also the matter of ignorance. A great many shooters simply do not know that there is a better way to do things, and many of these people presume to teach. Well at least there are a lot of Orange Gunsite people out there who do know the right way, and I hope they live long enough to spread the word. * * * Note that the "Hunting and Fishing" Party in France just picked up six seats in the French parliament. That may not sound like much, but in any country using a multi-party system a few votes can sometimes make a critical difference. So now the voice of the French hunters and fishermen will be heard, and so designated, in the halls of legislation. I guess the bambiists will shriek at that, but then the bambiists are going to shriek anyway. * * * In a previous issue we asked for help in the matter of the definition of iron as opposed to steel. We got a large response, but, in general, it asked more questions than it answered. A consensus was that iron is almost useless as it comes out of the ground, but that it can be made into a serviceable material by the addition of carbon. Now this is interesting in view of the fact that when iron comes out of the ground it contains a number of impurities, the most common of which is carbon. Others, such as sulphur, zinc, potassium, etc., are present in lesser quantities. So, in effect, we have "carbonated iron," which apparently must be de-carbonated and then re-carbonated. Heat can be used to blow out most of the impurities, but that leaves us with relatively pure iron, to which carbon must be introduced. This evidently is done by reheating the material in the presence of coal or coke, which forms a useful combination, depending, of course, upon percentages. How this came to pass is the next question. The Hittites knew about iron, but did not use it for weaponry, preferring bronze, which, while not up to carbon steel, is superior to cast iron. The Dorians may have introduced something resembling steel into the Greek peninsula, but how good this was is debatable, there being no original source material from that period. If you are making a cutting sword of either bronze or cast iron it will break the first time it meets heavy resistance. You can stab with it, but you cannot chop. The Roman gladius was always presumed to be a stabbing weapon until some original versions were uncovered which were not formed for that purpose, according to their hilt design. The gladius was apparently made of some sort of wrought iron, but it properly could not be called steel except by those historians who use the two words interchangeably. We first hear of good swords originating in Khorassan in Persia in Alexandrian times. They probably were made of steel, because of the reputation they achieved, and their craftsmanship was moved to Damascus in Syria. When the Moors exploded out of the Near East across North Africa into Europe they brought with them Damascus blades and founded the steel industry in Toledo, where it still exists. There was secrecy involving the methods for producing high quality steel, and much myth entered the scene. During the 800 Year War of the Reconquista, Toledo swords diffused up into Europe where, because of their extraordinary excellence, they were often given magical titles. The Romans never venerated their swords, but the Europeans did and gave them special names, such as Excalibur, Durandal, and Tizona. Since only the clergy could read and write at this period, we find practically nothing in the way of technical manuals, but good swords did exist in Europe during the Middle Ages. Today I own two Toledo swords of surpassing quality. They were made to my order in Toledo. Though I am sure that a modern metallurgist could make swords as good, I do not see that he could make them any better. At the smithy in Toledo, they take the blade that you select and force it into a 45 degree bend, leaving it overnight. If it takes any set by the next day, they discard that one and you start over again. Then, after putting a very sharp point on that blade, they swing it through a 90- degree arc to slam into a mild steel plate point-first. If you can detect any deformation of that point, that blade is discarded. Whether it is pure carbon steel or alloyed with other metal such as chromium, I do not know, but it is awfully good steel. I assume that some similar development was taking place on the other side of the world, most likely in Japan. I have heard good reports about high-art Japanese swords, but I do not know about their metallurgical composition. So, put very simply, steel is raw iron which has been purified and then refined by the re-addition of carbon to a matter of about .4 percent. (But then there is still the matter of "malleable cast iron," which nobody will tell me about.) * * * You have heard, perhaps, of the new Remington 300 "Ultra Magnum." This uses the unbelted 404 Jeffrey case necked down to 30 caliber, to start the good old 180-grain Spitzer bullet at 3300 f/s. (Wow!) Here we have an ideal example of an answer in search of a question. It has long been obvious that if you want more power than available in the 30-06 you do not want more velocity, you want more bullet mass. This should be obvious to anyone who really uses rifles on live targets, but apparently it is not. When you ask, "What is it for?" the answer is "It's to sell, stupid! Why else do we make anything?" * * * One correspondent suggested that the integral bipod could be improved if it were spring-loaded. Apparently he feels that deploying it manually is an imposition. Poor baby! * * * As you rather feared, people have been buying Steyr Scouts without the scoutscope, and then fitting a complex instrument of their own choice to the top rail of that versatile receiver. A "moonscope," as it is often called, cancels two of the advantages of the scout system and offers nothing in return. And so it came to pass that a friend of Family Member George Olmsted took a Steyr Scout, fitted with a moonscope, to Africa, and proceeded to get "lost in the scope" as his impala chuckled and trotted away. It is not absolutely necessary to get lost in a high-powered telescope, but it takes a bit of practice to learn how to avoid it. * * * Back when we were working frequently in Central America, we found it necessary to point out to our employers that a bodyguard is not much use if he is working for the other side. No matter how much you pay your own bodyguard, other people can offer him more. They do not have to pay him, because they will make sure that when they get you, they get him too. Thus it amuses me when I see ads in the magazines for bodyguard schools. The principle use of a bodyguard is to start the car while the principal is standing well away from it, and even this technique is not significant anymore now that the bombers tend to use time-delay fuses on their infernal machines. * * * My publisher feels that I should not call a Zulu a Zulu. The reasoning, if any, is obscure. The Zulus are a proud people, and they are proud to be called Zulus. This must be some sort of a triple backlash beyond the grasp of us non-racists. * * * Literary sorts keep on knocking on old Ernest Hemingway. Papa may not have been a really nice guy, but in the literary sense his best work was unmatched in modern times. Papa was an outdoorsman. He loved and appreciated nature. He venerated strength and courage. He studied and explained violence. That he was something of a lush and that he never understood women are points against him, to be sure, but his "For Whom the Bell Tolls" is arguably the best adventure story ever written. No man of consequence can do without it. * * * We see on the tube some agitation to make car trunks releasable from the inside, so that if you are locked in your car trunk you can get out without help. They have a point there, but consider the other side. Recently a little old lady, who was beset in a parking lot by a goblin, proceeded to lock the goblin in the trunk and drive him to the police station. How did she do that? Well, she pointed her pistol at him, how else? * * * "Hypersensitivity and political correctness are signs of a society in which too many people have nothing serious to do. It makes a bland and sour society, full of rancor, but devoid of spirit." -- Charley Reese * * * I see in the magazine that I am to conduct a "tactical rifle" course at Whittington. I have no idea what a "tactical" rifle may be, and I do not know how to teach it. When I was young, "tactics" was considered the art of winning battles. "Strategy" was the making use of battles in the pursuit of victory in war. As our revered Colonel Allen told us at Stanford, "Dating a girl, sending her flowers, buying a good dinner, going to the theater, and then driving out and parking by the lake constitutes strategy. From there on it's tactics." Thus "tactical rifle" is either a meaningless expression or a redundancy. If you know how to use a rifle well, you use it in exactly the same fashion in a fight as in the hunting field. I have agreed to teach a rifle class at Whittington. Tactical rifle I do not understand. * * * Why is it that "civilians" are presumed to be innocent? This is a misleading term. Very few civilians (or soldiers, for that matter) are innocent beyond about the age of 12. A better term for those not involved in the battle is "non-combatant." * * * When the elite Japanese Sendai Division was ruined in its night attack upon the Marine Corp perimeter at Lunga Point, the instruments which brought about its demise were two brain-children of John M. Browning, a true genius. Our defensive positions were principally manned by the battalions of Chesty Puller and Herman Hanneken, and they had laid them out with double-apron wire covered by interlocking bands of 30-06 fire delivered by the great 1917 water-cooled Browning machinegun. The attack was delivered in the pitch-dark of a post midnight rainstorm, the idea being that the bushido of the Japanese army would simply overwhelm the Marine defenses. Bushido is all very well in its way, but it is no match for a 30-06. Such rifles as the Marines used were 1903 Springfields, but they were not very much use in full dark. On the other hand, in the flashes of intermittent light, the 1911 45-caliber pistol, also the design of John M. Browning, backed up the defense. The final protective lines were covered by the water-cooled machinegun, firing along the wire. And any gaps that were formed were met by the 45 auto, fired at arms' length. The Nip division, 27 battalions strong, was destroyed (not "decimated"), and was never reconstituted throughout the war. I have never heard that battle described as a victory for John Moses Browning, but such it was, in its way. * * * Note that there is a 40-acre homesite hilltop parcel now available for sale in Ravengard. I do not think it will be there for long. Better get it while it is hot! (Contact Col. Bob Young at (520) 636- 1210.) * * * I am somewhat amused at Milosevic's insistence that we "disarm the KLA." It appears that we have a good many people in positions of influence who have no theoretical background in war, revolution, geography, or history. People have been trying to disarm the Irish for longer than I can remember, with absolutely nothing in the way of results. The idea that the KLA might be cozened into laying down its arms is pure fancy. Taking a long view of history, we may say that anyone who lays down his arms deserves whatever he gets. * * * Now it appears that the Nips want to erase the Sack of Nanking from the history books. In the age of illusion a good many people feel that to deny something is to cause it to cease to exist. It seems to me that if the Nips want to erase any history, they can start by erasing Pearl Harbor. That would put them in a better position. * * * The U.S. postal service has now decided that the Grand Canyon is in Colorado, as printed on one of their new stamps. We have been told that our school system is pretty bad, so I suppose that we should not be surprised. Perhaps we will next hear that the Alamo is in Mexico. * * * Turns out that assault has gone up 55 percent since the Brits disarmed their subjects. So who's surprised? * * * The litigation sharpies have discovered that much money can be made by knocking a big business such as tobacco. I have a suggestion for these people. Why do they not go for the steel companies? Almost anything that can hurt you has some steel in it somewhere along the line, and the steel companies are very big and very rich. * * * We are pleased to report that Pachmayr has resumed production of its excellent flush "hammerhead" sling swivels. We have long wondered why this system is not universal. * * * We were recently asked what might be considered the most powerful element of a human personality. We thought about that for quite a while and decided the answer was "an adventurous mind." That will have to do until one of the Family shows us something better. * * * Please Note: These "Commentaries" are for personal use only. Not for publication. - -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP Personal Privacy 6.0.2 iQA/AwUBN64P7aNvVgasqrT0EQIimgCg280ZCPagXsTZ+r0xt8TYESKztyAAoKQ5 wGznCYTc8FzXDFDwsi82P/h4 =Cf0I - -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- Barry Needham barry@needham.vip.best.com Pager: 1-888-530-5814 PGP 5.0 key available on request barryn_p@pager.sgi.com [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Aug 99 18:44:55 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: [Fwd: National, "TAKE YOUR GUN TO WORK WEEK"] (fwd) On Aug 09, Craig Peterson wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] Reply-To: "Steve Hoff" From: "Steve Hoff" To: Subject: National, "TAKE YOUR GUN TO WORK WEEK" Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 21:04:19 -0700 Fellow NRA members;=20 =20 As a former law enforcement officer of many years, I submit the = following statement.=20 =20 Contrary to unrelenting nonsensical anti-gun propaganda, government has = no Constitutional authority, in any degree or manner, to infringe upon = our inalienable (overwhelmingly recognized as God given) Second = Amendment rights of self-protection. The Constitution was conceived = for the purpose of defining the legitimate authority and limitations of = federal government, states and the people (individuals). Ingeniously, = the Constitution lawfully restricts federal interference within our = lives and forbids legislative assaults upon the American people (again, = individuals). Whether or not the majority of citizens believe in the = right of the people to keep and bear arms is irrelevant to the = application of "Constitutional Law". Intentionally disregarding = degrees of social and political popularity, the Constitution equally = protects the liberties of every individual. =20 =20 Irrespective of these facts, we sheepishly fail to challenge government = when it invades the domain of the people. Rather than appropriately = and judiciously moving forward, abolishing incapacitating gun control = laws which unnecessarily place us all in life threatening situations, we = instead become emasculated, ineffectually defending the feeble remains = of our Second Amendment guarantees. Regardless of the fact that we are = law-abiding citizens, we nonetheless remain fearful and cower when = confronted with the incessant delirious babbling of anti-gun fanatics, = unethical self-serving politicians and others of nefarious, cowardly and = socialistic temperaments. =20 =20 Their actions contributing to the same result, government, along with = many politicians and street-wise criminals must all be held accountable = for the thousands of innocent lives that are lost to felonious assaults = each year. Bureaucrats defiantly and unconstitutionally refuse to = permit all law-abiding citizens from exercising the "First Law of = Nature" (self-defense). Covertly, government is aiding and abetting = the most sadistic malcontents of humanity, the psychopaths and violent = criminals within this nation. Politicians are incrementally, = unscrupulously and methodically embezzling your natural, inalienable = rights of self-protection. Get angry, people! GET DAMN ANGRY!!! = Indeed, you have justifiable cause to be furious. =20 =20 A U. S. Federal Appeals court declared in 1982, "There is no = constitutional right to be protected by the state against being murdered = by criminals or madmen." Individuals (citizens), are obliged to = protect the lives of family and self. Think about it folks! No one = else, including government, is responsible for your security. We can = either conform to our natural instincts for survival or succumb to the = criminals of this nation and an incompetent, tyrannical government. = If the former is chosen, we had better move with decisiveness, firmness = and rapidity. Each day, our Second Amendment rights are further = eroded. Without detour, we are quickly approaching the proverbial = "point of no return". =20 It is time that we take the offensive stance and DEMAND from our = representatives that they legislate positive federal laws (overriding = state and local laws) permitting and encouraging the carrying of = concealed guns of personal choice. It is the only logical = (unemotional) solution to the magnitude of violence now being = perpetrated within the workplace and on our streets. =20 =20 The number of casualties resulting from this last Atlanta incident would = not have been as high, had employees (many now deceased) been encouraged = to bring their guns to work. How many local police stations (all well = armed) are assaulted by disgruntled employees or psychotics off the = street? Few!=20 =20 Public awareness programs are imperative and must be intensified = tenfold. For the accomplishment of this necessary goal, a few = potentials exist. The NRA is well able, through additional support = from other private organizations and gun manufacturers, to purchase both = space in the major newspapers and time on national television. Weekly = compiled summarized incident reports demonstrating that guns do in fact = save lives can be published in the newspapers and dramatized for = television. Productions such as "America's Most Wanted" and "Cops" = come to mind for their powerful dramatization effects which do indeed = magnify public attentiveness and acceptance of harsh realities. As = opposed to emotional feel-good solutions which place us all in jeopardy, = Americans along with their employers must face reality and logically = accept the necessity for gun ownership in response to random and = selective criminal assault. Politicians, being advised of their = inevitable removal from office for failure, must be compelled to end = unconstitutional gun control legislation and further proclaim the week = including Labor Day as National, "TAKE YOUR GUN TO WORK WEEK" =20 =20 Sergei S. Hoff S.Hoff-Magus@worldnet.att.net =20 [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Aug 99 19:47:25 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: Fw: EIA Communique - 8/9 (fwd) On Aug 9, Kevin McGehee wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] - ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Monday, August 09, 1999 12:09 PM Subject: EIA Communique - 8/9 The Education Intelligence Agency COMMUNIQU=C9 - August 9, 1999 Now on the Web at http://members.aol.com/educintel/eia + EIA Exclusive: Last Thursday in Illinois, the Naperville Unit Educatio= n Association filed an unfair labor practices complaint about the school district for releasing directly to the public the details of its latest three- year contract offer, which includes raises of 5.75, 4.75 and 4.75 percent. "It's a violation of trust, and I have a serious problem with th= at," NUEA President David Griffith told the Chicago Tribune. "They're trying t= o negotiate in public, and I don't think that's in anyone's best interest." Teachers' unions generally oppose publicizing of negotiations in prog= ress and NUEA's response is a very common one. But how things change when the union plays the role of management in contract negotiations with staff. Hardly a whiff of this has appeared in the press, but officials of th= e Pennsylvania State Education Association spent much of last week congratulating themselves for bypassing the bargaining team for the staff union and presenting their "final, best offer" directly to the staff. As reported last week by EIA, PSEA offered the staff a four-year deal with a total raise of 5 percent, plus a $1,000 bonus if the staff agreed before = the strike deadline of August 1. The bargaining team's last demand was for an= 8 percent raise over three years. Though the staff bargainers turned down PSEA's offer, PSEA had simultaneously mailed it to the homes of each staf= fer. At a subsequent meeting, the staff at large voted to accept PSEA's offer = as a tentative agreement. Last Thursday night, the PSEA Board of Directors vot= ed unanimously to ratify what was essentially its own offer. The staff union will have a final ratification vote on August 20. The PSEA-Staff Organization filed an unfair labor practices complaint against PSEA, claiming PSEA officials engaged "in conduct designed to undermine the status" of the staff union, and saying their actions constituted "a failure to bargain collectively." + The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through its agency, = The Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Serv= ices Administration (SAMHSA), intends to award a sole source contract to the National Education Association to "attend to the mental health needs of teachers by providing effective methods to reduce workplace stress which engenders anxiety and depression." NEA's program will "provide informatio= n and experiential learning for educators to reduce mental stress." + EIA has been adamant about spending little time arguing about if we sh= ould have vouchers, but rather focusing on what will happen when and where the= y are instituted. The Center on Education Policy released a study that shou= ld be read both by supporters and opponents of school vouchers. Entitled "Lessons from Other Countries about Private School Aid," the report analy= zes school choice programs in 22 industrialized nations. Its main conclusion = is that private schools become more regulated. "There's a lesson here for American private schools -- control follows money," said Jack Jennings, t= he center's director. "If states pass vouchers, they'll have to find some wa= y to hold private schools accountable for tax dollars. Increased regulation is= the most obvious way." The full report is available at http://www.ctredpol.or= g/. + Last week, EIA reported that the Texas State Teachers Association cut = dues for new members to $99 in an effort to boost its numbers. In addition, TS= TA is offering $6 million in liability insurance -- "three times the coverag= e offered by the other organizations!" it boasts. "Funny, I thought financial incentives targeted only at new teachers = was an affront to veteran teachers," read last week's communiqu=E9. This week= I've discovered that there has been some squawking from TSTA's veteran teacher= s. In the meantime, the Texas Federation of Teachers quadrupled its professi= onal liability income coverage to $8 million. "No other organization in Texas = even comes close to this level of protection!" writes TFT President John Cole. Cash incentives are also popular. In Garland, Texas, the Garland Education Association charges the normal $199 in dues, then gives new mem= bers an immediate $100 cash refund. A similar program has taken hold in Missou= ri. The Missouri NEA Financial Assistance Program passes out $500 interest-fr= ee, cash advances to the first 200 new members who apply. In addition to dues= , the cash advance is repaid through payroll deduction over a period of one year. Because Missouri and Texas both have large, successful independent teachers' organizations, NEA and AFT affiliates are compelled to cut pric= es and provide more and better services to obtain and sustain their membersh= ip numbers. These measures clearly benefit the consumers (teachers), who bec= ause of the competition will now be able to get $6 million or $8 million in liability coverage when only $2 million coverage was available before. Is= n't this Bob Chase's "run-amok marketplace" at work? + Last Thursday, Kentucky Education Association President Judith Gambill testified before the Governor's Task Force on Teacher Quality. EIA was mo= st intrigued with these two statements, uttered within seconds of each other= : 1) "Individual student achievement should not be a factor in teacher evaluation or compensation." 2) "Research has shown that quality teaching is the key to improved student achievement." It's been a long time since my formal schooling in logic, but when th= ese two statements are taken together, isn't Ms. Gambill saying that quality teaching should not be a factor in teacher evaluation or compensation? + The North Carolina Association of Educators is planning to adjust upwa= rd the formula for computing state dues. The dues are currently 0.6% of the starting teachers' salary (roughly $135). Under a proposed constitutional amendment, dues would be gradually raised over the next three years until they reach 1% of the starting teachers' salary. + EIA's annual report, Strange Places: Inside the 1999 National Educatio= n Association Representative Assembly, is now available in print. Send your name and snail mail address and a copy will be sent ASAP. Of course, the e-mail version is also available. The report is free. + Quote of the Week #1: "Inner-city schools, where AFT holds sway, have = the most atrocious problems in public education. AFT will feel the weight of severe prescriptive measures first." -- Mike Antonucci, from Left at the Altar: The Teachers' Union Merger and the Prospects for Education Reform, October 1998. + Quote of the Week #2: "There can't be any reform unless there are significant changes in the union contract. I want to hear at the negotiat= ing table how to make things possible, not what we cannot do." -- Detroit Pub= lic Schools Chief Executive David Adamany, from the Detroit News, August 4, 1= 999. + Quote of the Week #3: "None of us want to go on strike, but if Dr. Ada= many falsely believes he can use that [anti-strike] law to destroy our union a= nd our union protections, we will strike." -- Christopher Zavisa, elected official of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, same day. # # # The Education Intelligence Agency conducts public education research, analysis and investigations. Director: Mike Antonucci. Ph: 916-422-4373. = Fax: 916-392-1482. E-Mail: EducIntel@aol.com [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Aug 99 23:12:13 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: Clinton is trying to take over the Internet (fwd) On Aug 9, Jim Zoes wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] Both the Drudge Report and WorldNetDaily are reporting that Clinton has issued an executive order that will result in a "take over" of the Internet. The text of the order can be found at: http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/0807-107.htm and/or http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_govdocs/eos/eo_internet.html The text of the order is at the end of this message. Everyone should read this order carefully. Here's my analysis: There was no fanfare and zero news coverage that I could detect about this executive edict. Without WND and Drudge, I certainly would not have known about it. This is, I believe, another STEALTH executive order designed to further Clinton's anti-freedom agenda. Further, 120 days is not enough time to explore this problem and come up with any cogent solutions to the problem of "unlawful conduct" (whatever this is) on the Internet, and run it by the OMB. Therefore, I think that this has already been done, and in 120 days time, we will be facing edicts and other executive orders effectively curtailing freedom of information on the 'net. For example: Expect an executive order forbidding the sales of gun over the net. Expect an executive order to install monitoring and databases to identify and track these "criminals" who are committing "misconduct" by advertising such products using "illegal Internet" conduct. Expect an executive order requiring large proprietary ISP's and the Internet backbones to install monitors and traps to prevent these "criminals" from using the net -- or at least identify and track them. Expect this tracking to include people who talk about "rights" and the "2nd Amendment." Expect it to include *us*. As I understand it, the NSA is prohibited from intercepting domestic communications, unless there is a palpable national security issue involved. This order (and the ones that will inevitably follow) will allow the administration to use the NSA to spy on each email, usenet, chat room, or web-bbs message. How? One way, for example, would be by ordering that each message that traverses the Internet or subscriber private network be scanned for prohibited concepts, words or other content tokens. This is a no-brainer. I'm sure they already have the methodology worked out. Yes, it's a direct violation of the 1st Amendment, but the government will claim that illegal conversations HAVE NO 1ST AMENDMENT PROTECTION. So, all Internet communications (web site downloads, email ads, chat room conversations) will be scanned, on the off chance that they might be involving the sale of medicine, guns, etc. And who knows what other information content will be included? Finally, note who is on the "working group." At least two of them are on record for wanting to ease controls against spying on the public. Remember the Clipper Chip? Recomendations: (1) Time to write your "bosses" and "rulers" (those are Claire Wolfe's terms for "elected representatives" -- see her book "Don't Shoot the Bastards (Yet)") and complain vociferously. It probably won't stop the anti-freedom juggernut, but enough noise might get it before the public. (2) Time to start using PGP or other encryption routinely. It won't stop the NSA from decoding messages, but strong encryption will make it more difficult. Universal and routinely encrypted messages (using strong encryption) will raise the ante and possibly defeat the system. (3) Several years ago, there was a discussion on this list concerning setting up our own dial up private bulletin board *off* the Internet. Maybe this should be reconsidered. (4) ASSUME THAT EVERY MESSAGE SENT ON THIS LIST IS BEING READ BY AN ATF OR FBI AGENT WHO HAS SURRIPTIOUSLY SUBSCRIBED VIA THE NORMAL CHANNELS. Phrase your messages accordingly. Jim Zoes "In God We Trust -- Everyone Else We Keep Under Constant Surveillance." [New motto for US currency, as proposed by the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia), February 21, 1999, in light of the "Know Your Customer" proposal] - ---------------------------------------------------------- Text of the executive order: - ---------------------------------------------------------- WORKING GROUP ON UNLAWFUL CONDUCT ON THE INTERNET By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to address unlawful conduct that involves the use of the Internet, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Establishment and Purpose. (a) There is hereby established a working group to address unlawful conduct that involves the use of the Internet ("Working Group"). The purpose of the Working Group shall be to prepare a report and recommendations concerning: (1) The extent to which existing Federal laws provide a sufficient basis for effective investigation and prosecution of unlawful conduct that involves the use of the Internet, such as the illegal sale of guns, explosives, controlled substances, and prescription drugs, as well as fraud and child pornography. (2) The extent to which new technology tools, capabilities, or legal authorities may be required for effective investigation and prosecution of unlawful conduct that involves the use of the Internet; and (3) The potential for new or existing tools and capabilities to educate and empower parents, teachers, and others to prevent or to minimize the risks from unlawful conduct that involves the use of the Internet. (b) The Working Group shall undertake this review in the context of current Administration Internet policy, which includes support for industry self-regulation where possible, technology-neutral laws and regulations, and an appreciation of the Internet as an important medium both domestically and internationally for commerce and free speech. Sec. 2. Schedule. The Working Group shall complete its work to the greatest extent possible and present its report and recommendations to the President and Vice President within 120 days of the date of this order. Prior to such presentation, the report and recommendations shall be circulated through the Office of Management and Budget for review and comment by all appropriate Federal agencies. Sec. 3. Membership. (a) The Working Group shall be composed of the following members: (1) The Attorney General (who shall serve as Chair of the Working Group). (2) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget. (3) The Secretary of the Treasury. (4) The Secretary of Commerce. (5) The Secretary of Education. (6) The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (7) The Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. (8) The Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. (9) The Chair of the Federal Trade Commission. (10) The Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration; and (11) Other Federal officials deemed appropriate by the Chair of the Working Group. (b) The co-chairs of the Interagency Working Group on Electronic Commerce shall serve as liaison to and attend meetings of the Working Group. Members of the Working Group may serve on the Working Group through designees. WILLIAM J. CLINTON THE WHITE HOUSE, August 5, 1999. Members of the Working Group may serve on the Working Group through designees. [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ End of roc-digest V2 #268 *************************