
1 If you are in need of help, you need but ask....
2 ************************ INSTALLED: 1 DEC 86 ************************
3 Welcome to BWMS (BackWater Message System)  Mike Day System operator
4 ************************************************************
5 GENERAL DISCLAIMER: BWMS IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INFORMATION
6                     PLACED ON THIS SYSTEM.
7 BWMS was created as an electronic bill board. BWMS is a privately owned
8 and operated system which is currently open for use by the general public.
9 No restrictions are placed on the use of the system. As the system is
10 privately owned, I retain the right to remove any and all messages which
11 I may find offensive. Because of the limited size of the system, it will be
12 periodically purged of messages. (only 629 lines of data can be saved)
13 To leave a message, type 'ENTER' and use ctrl/C or break to get out of the
14 ENTER mode. The message is automatically stored. If after entering the
15 message you find you made a mistake, use the replace command to replace
16 the line. To exit from the system, type 'OFF' then hang up.
17 Type 'HELP' to see other commands that are available on the system.
18 *************************************************************************
19 
20 
21 EXIT
22 NOW IS THE TIME
23 NUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOFF
24 OFF
25 XX
26 CC Y
27 EXIT
28 
29 			At the top? That is nothing.
30                            I want to snatch the
31                                  bottom.
32 
33    The bottom of whom?
34 ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
35 What is love?  Strange. 
36     It has been a little over a year since I last saw Anne.  At first, her wish
37 to end our love was hard.  It hurt, especially the first few weeks, then the
38 pain grew gradually less to at last fade to a dull ache. It is not easy to
39 nd two years just like that. 
40    Then came the pain of lonliness. It hurts greater for one to be alone, when
41 one has had a friendship as deep as ours, then if it had never been. Eventually,
42 even that faded out as life's events took command. 
43     Then came the other ones, the fleeting shallow loves, the crushes, the 
44 aquaintences that do not last. During them I changed, grew and learned. 
45    Perhaps, that is the problem.   I learned cynicism, for what will produce 
46 it faster than many disappointments in love?  And so, I even began to lose hope
47 in finding another. Hope that crumbled away into dust. 
48      Then, as I trudged along in my life, berefit of even interest in reaching
49 out too much, I found someone.  Someone who responded to me, with love that I
50 had not known for a very long time.  Even now I ponder the question, did she
51 reach out to me, or I to her. She says that she had an interest in me since she
52 first knew me, I wonder if that was then true of me also?  Or, was I so wrapped
53 up in myself to see, to look out!  And now, as we dance upon the intricate 
54 paths of beginning love, moving forward and back, side to side, it comes to me
55 that this ground is familiar.
56      Is it comfortable? Yes and no. I ask myself do I really love her, yet at
57 the same time knowing that the question is but a part of the long process
58 a mind goes through to reach an understanding with another. Do I want her?
59 Do I want to get involved?   Yes, I do, but it seems that I still must walk
60 those paths of doubt and questioning that I walked, years earlier.
61      This is my new love. this is what I look forward to in the morning, 
62 what gets me up. It is said that there is nothing quite as exciting as first 
63 love, and maybe this is true. If so, I would say that there is nothing as
64 comforting as falling in love again, nothing as wonderful.
65 ``````````````````````````````Mr. Interceptor````````````````````````````````
66 BAH HUMBUG!
67 .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.Emu
68 WHO CARES?
69     -  Lucky guy. -
70                   - will walk a mile. -
71                                         - for a camel . -
72 O\=<([V2V])>=/O
73 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
74 	Black Powder & Alcohol (words & music: Leslie Fish)
75 		a teaching song
76 Chorus:	Black powder and alcohol!
77 	When the states and the cities fall.
78 	When your back is against the wall --
79 	Black Powder and alcohol!
80 
81 Give me charcoal to the measure two,
82 Send the bullet where you want it to!
83 Give me sulfur to the measure three,
84 Make that powder, gonna keep you free!
85 Give me saltpeter -- measure fifteen,
86 Sweetest shootin' that you've ever seen, remember!
87 	chorus
88 Give me water, yeast and veggie trash,
89 Leave it sittin' in the slurried mash.
90 When it's ready put it in the still,
91 If you can't heat it up the sunlight will.
92 Draw the alcohol away and then
93 Put the slurry back and start again!
94 	chorus
95 Booze 'll clean your cuts, 'll run your car!
96 You can make it anywhere you are.
97 Black powder in your cartridge shells
98 Will send yer raiders running clean to hell!
99 You can make it if you just know how,
100 So kids remember what I'm teachin' you now!
101 	chorus
102 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BARD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
103 DOUGHNUT MAN WAS HERE
104 
105 WHO CARES?
106  
107 WHOM CARES?
108 </> <\> </> <\> </> <\> </> <\> </> <\> </> <\> </> <\> </> <\> </> <\> </>
109     Billy, a tall, unkempt, 16 year old, who was never very well liked by his
110 school mates; was explaining to his only friend at Jackson High, that the
111 student crime rate was all together to high, and that most of it could be
112 atributed to the high level of minotities treated as equals here.
113     Billy's friend, James, agreed with him as they walked to the table in the
114 back of the cafeteria, that they've sat at every since their freshman year
115 together. "Yes, I think you're right about the amont of crime that the
116 students of this school take part in, but I disagree about it being the fault
117 of the minorities. No, I think that the high anglo saxon student body, are
118 equally responsible, you're just racist."
119     Billy then tried to sound intelligent, which was hard, since he never
120 really has been, "well, that's a matter of opinion. In any case, I think we
121 should do something about it. You know, like in that made for TV movie, where
122 the students form a vigilante group!"
123     "Your a real dipshit Billy. There's only two of us, what can we do to
124 people like Jake," James pointed to muscular hispanic in the coner making
125 some sort of an exchange with a fellow student.
126     "Yeah, but we got supperior intellect. Come with me down town after
127 school, and I'll show you."
128     That day, after school the boys did meet, and they did go down town. When
129 they got there Billy lead James to a sleazey alley, on a dirty street. Billy
130 then started down the alley.
131     "Billy, don't be dumb, if we go down this alley, were sure to get mugged!"
132     "I know, I heard on the news that at least 400 muggings happen every year
133 in the alleys around this street."
134     "Oh, I see. You're gonna go in there, some guy comes out to take your
135 money, and you kick his ass. Jessus Christ, you're so god damned dumb! It's
136 no wonder you don't have any freinds!"
137     "Just follow me, I know what I'm doing."
138     Billy walked towards the back of the alley. James just stood, and watched.
139     At the back of the alley was a corner. Billy stood at the corner, and
140 waited. He stood, and waited for something to happen. He waited waited like
141 that for 5 minutes, before he slowly turned, and started his back up the
142 alley.
143     "We'll try some other time, some other alley. This one seems dead."
144     "Bullshit Billy. You can go alone next time!"
145     Just then, from around the corner, came a tall black figure. The man was
146 wearing a black T-shirt, jeans, and a black leather jacket. He grabbed Billy
147 by his dirty, uncombed black hair, and used it to throw Billy's head in to
148 the ground. He repeated this 3 or 4 times, then shouted, "Gimme yo' money!"
149     James' face turned pale, and he froze up.
150     Billy reached toward his back pocket, were he kept his wallet. He didn't
151 get his wallet though. Instead he grabed for the metalic handle, he carefully
152 placednext to his wallet. With the push of a button, a blade flashed from the
153 handle, and before Billy's assailant could act, Billy twisted, and jabbed the
154 knife, into the man's gut, with a cry of "Die, Negro!"
155     Blood splashed on to Billy's face, and clothes, in pools of deep red. He
156 laughed, as the man he killed fell to the ground, the knife still lodged in
157 his gut.
158     "Holly shit Billy, what the hell have you done?!" Was the only thing
159 James could squeeze out of his mouth.
160     Suddenly, there was another voice coming from the back of the alley, "So
161 ya like ta kill negros?"
162     Billy turned to the voice, and froze.
163     At the end of the alley was 4 or 5 men, of varied size, and race, all of
164 whom took what seemed to be great pleasure in the fear they were giving young
165 Billy.
166     "Run Billy," shouted, a slightly less dazed, James.
167     Billy grabed his knife from the dead body, and stayed were he was.
168     By the time James came back with the police, Billy was beaten to very
169 dead mess.
170 </> <\> </> <\> </> <\> </> <\> </> <\> </> <\> </> <\> </> <\> </> <\> </>
171  
172 AMEN, BRO'!  WE KICKED THAT HONKYS WHITE ASS!
173 
174 	So says a white who has seen one too many episodes of Good Times,
175 	and who also thinks that calling a person a `jive turkey' is the
176 	hip thing to do. You know, it really disgusts me to see that sort
177 	of stereotypical view, especially when shown in such a condescending
178 	and confident air of wordly knowledge.
179 							Pat
180 
181 O\=<([V2V])>=/O
182 No sweat. The whole entry will undoubtedly be deleted due to the unacceptable
183 language used.
184 O\=<([V2V])>=/O
185 I think it has merit as an entry. I was interested by it. Unacceptable
186 language ? I accepted it, read it, got the message of it, and hope that it
187 will be left for everyone else to read.
188 
189 WHO CARES?
190 YOU DOES!  OTHERWISE YOU WOULDN'T CARE TO MAKE YOUR ENTRY:
191                          "WHO CARES?"
192 EXIT
193 HELP
194 
195 
196 
197 EXIT
198 OFF
199 ATDT
200 H
201 
202 ATDT
203 ATD
204 T
205 H
206 
207 ?
208 ATDTH
209 ATDT
210 H
211 
212 
213 
214 H
215 to:ALL
216 concerning:Q-Meg & Bit Bucket
217 	Could anyone give me information
218 on how to receive a password or
219 possibly even a phone number of
220 one of the SYSOP's??  I would 
221 greatly appreciate any information
222 I receive.
223      Thank you,
224 	       G. Moyer
225 /s
226 
227 
228 stop
229 
230 
231 
232 
233 
234 
235 
236 
237 
238 This is a message system, NOT an
239 emotionally disturbed contact group!
240 
241 
242 
243 WHO CARES?
244 Never before have i seen such a
245 display of lollipops in all of my
246 life!" exclaimed little Molly 
247 Henderson as she grabbed the biggest
248 one of them all.  Her mother gave
249 a rather big sigh as she paid the man
250 at the counter.  "If only Molly could
251 control her eating habits.." Walking
252 out the door of the candy shop Molly
253 noticed the sky turning a funny color
254 of red. "Oh mother, look at the sky!"
255 Molly yelled.  Molly's mother, knowing
256 mollyMolly's lying capacity ignored the
257 remark that Molly made.  Suddenly a
258 giant foot appeared, as if from 
259 nowhere and stepped on Molly's mother.People were screaming as her head slowly turned re then popped like a
260 balloon under extreme pressure. BLAM!
261 Molly, showing no remorse for her 
262 mother, simply walked over to what
263 was left of her mother and took the
264 keys form the ground nearby.  She
265 quickly swung the door open and hopped
266 up onto the seat.  She started the carup and backed over not once, but five
267 times over the top of what wasleft of her mother.  Smiling with Molly shovedthe car into drive and skidded off.
268 
269 ttttttt  h   h  eeeee  eeee e  e   e
270    t     h   h  e   e  e  e ee e   e
271    t     ttttt  eeeee  eeee e ee eee
272    t     h   h  e      e    e ee e e
273    t     h   h  eeee   eee  e ee eee
274 
275 
276 
277        written by:
278 Rickey Moose
279 
280 
281 /s
282 ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
283 Well, I guess that took care of Molly.
284    Has anyone out there been following the Iran arms excapade? Come on, I know
285 you lurkers are out there!. If anyone read todays paper, you may have noticed
286 a leter in the editorial section PRAISING!!! Ronnie&Co. for the arms deal and
287 condemming the press for revealing it.
288     This is a perfect example of how the country has gone to pot. We theoretically live in a society that places a value 
289 on truth and law. Why then is it OK for our leaders in Washington to break the law? Is truth something that is so hard to 
290 obtain that it is no longer worth the effort to try to reach for it? After all, the president and congress make the law, is
291 it too much effort for them to follow their own policies and laws? If they want to sell arms to Iran, then is it too much 
292 trouble to change the law to allow themselves to do so? 
293 Apparently so.  When people wonder why no one has any morals anymore, and why the criminal justice system is such a farce, they
294 can look to the example our leaders set in Washington, an example for the country to follow. There are no strong reasons that   295 excuse what Regan and his people did.  If there were, wouldn't you expect to here those reasons from the mouths of those people
296 who broke the law?  Instead, all your hear fro the White House is a bunch of mealymouthed wimps whining and crying, and the 
297 President stumbeling over himself to apologize.  What's worse, the president himself got up before the people and admitted 
298 that he authorized the sale of those arms, directly aginst federal law, and yet there is still no talk of punishment. When do
299 we punish Regan? Do we just let him go off scott free? I guess when you get to be President, you can just about do as you 
300 please. This also means that the closer you get to becoming president the more you can get away with, right?  You bet! 
301 I hope we all remember this the next time we are asked to pee in a bottle.
302 ```````````````````````Disgustedly,  Mr. Interceptor```````````````````````````
303 ____12/03/86__________________JD 2446768.5955_________18:17:31_PST_________
304 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzippy
305 Mr. Interceptor,
306      There are still those who praise Nixon. This arms scandal will affect
307 Reagan's prsidency like no other error in judgement or faux pas that has 
308 occured in the previous 6 years. The only reason this isn't exactly like the
309 Watergate scandal is that the administration saw things coming, and announced
310 what was happening, thereby beating the press to it, and saving themselves a
311 great out for claiming the two scandals are nothing like each other...
312      already, the big question is "What did the President know, and when did he
313 know it?"...
314 The would-be Woodwards and Bernsteins are already poised in the gate, with 
315 Pulitzers dancing about behind their eyes...
316      Reagan has lost the trust of the American people, something that will
317 finally put a dent in his Teflon coating.
318      I am reminded of a bumper sticker that was common around this time in '80,
319 and again in '84 : "Nixon won by a landslide too...".
320      Seems this is what happens when you take an extremely popular, Republican
321 President, and give him a second term in office...
322      I hope the American people will remember this one when urged to vote 
323 Republican...
324      Random thoughts...
325 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzippy
326 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
327 You assume that the problem is a result of the person in charge being republican.
328 That is hardly the case, there have been many scandles during many presedencies 
329 in the past. It has nothing to do with the party affiliation of the individual
330 in that position. It is rather a result of a lack of control of the people he
331 appoints that is the problem. I don't like Reagan and the way he has been runin
332 the country, but I don't blame it on the fact that he is "republican" Rather
333 I blame it on the fact that he is a lousy president. There are several aspects
334 that mark a good leader, one of them is popular acceptance, and up until this
335 mess Ronny managed that trick rather well (I didn't like him, but in general
336 most people did). The other aspect is to provide direction and drive for those
337 that he leads. In this case Ronny is sadly lacking. He puts someone in charge
338 of an office and then ignores them, and when you get a president that is in 
339 his second term and won by a good margin, and then doesn't provide proper
340 leadership to those he gathers around him, you are going to get what happened.
341 After all, what do they care about hurting the president, he isn't going to
342 be there next term, and there is no job protection for them, so there is no
343 point in them being careful to keep their own job since the next president
344 will probably kick them out. So best to get done what you want to do now while
345 you can. So they try little things, and go unnoticed, so they gain the nerve
346 to try something greater, until it gets out of hand and they get caught.
347 What happened here was simple, all the hype about the Danalof thing caused
348 the press to become interested in hostiges agian, and of course because so much
349 effort was placed on getting Danalof back, everyone started wondering why that
350 sort of effort wasn't placed on getting the hostages out of Iran, so that caused
351 the press to start watching for any activity in that area since all the screaming
352 would mean that the powers that be might try doing something. Unfortunatly for
353 them the first thing that happened that the press got hold of was the arms deal.
354 As for changing the law, that is more easily said then done. It would have been
355 very politically unwise to do that. So since they wanted to do what they did,
356 they had no real choice but to do what they did. Not that I agree with it, I
357 feel that it was wrong. But then the whole mess is wrong. 
358 Part of the problem here is that Reagan has lost touch with what and who he is.
359 He has forgotten that he represents the people of America not a small group of
360 individuals that surround him. I only hope that we can get through the remaining
361 two years without him doing to much more damage to the country.
362 I think that his handling of the Iceland summit was a precursor to this 
363 problem it set up an attitude that he didn't really know how to control
364 himself and those around him. There was almost no planning, and a lot of 
365 negativism that didn't need to be there, much of which I suspect was a result
366 of his dislike for the Russians. Nevertheless, they are there, and we have to 
367 share the world with them whether we like it or not.
368 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ fred ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
369 
370 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzippy
371 Ahem... Perhaps I did not make myself clear. Reagan's problems have nothing at
372 all to do with his party, nor even his intelligence. The fact is, he has faux
373 pased himself big time... The point about popular Republican Presidents was 
374 made because of the great number of similarities between this fiasco and one
375 that happened in the previous decade. Again, both had similar goals to complete
376 in their presidencies, and by the time this scandal ends, I am sure they will
377 have run similar courses. 
378      As for Iceland, I agree. There was much negativity, and I think a good 
379 deal of the problems there stemmed from Reagan's wish to be remembered as the 
380 guy who saved the world with SDI(but that's an entirely different discussion!).
381      To risk echoing someone, I stand by my statements, and will retract
382 none. 
383      More misplaced rabble from
384 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzippy
385 
386 ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
387     Well, I have't been on backwater for four years for nothing! I thought 
388 that would get a response.
389     First, I know quite well that changing the law is easier said than done. 
390 But, I was talking about principles, not details. 
391     I also agree that the problem has nothing to do with Republicans.  One 
392 thing that I may point out, though, is that under this Republican 
393 administration there is a peculiar problem with fanatics.  It seems as though
394 although the president himself is not fanatically conservative, the religious
395 rot, and anti commie hype types feel themselves free to prosper.  Look at the
396 peopl who make up the cabinet. Ever since Regan got into office he has been 
397 appointing fanatics and other weirdos into it.  Remember James Watt. I would
398 say that they lucked out when they allowed George Schultz to head up the 
399 State dept., as he seems normal enough for other state leaders to communicate
400 with, and he at least does not totally ignore reality. The other exception to
401 the rule is Paul Volker, but the reason he is in is that the bankers told
402 Regan he was going to be in or Regan would lose his second term due to a
403 recession.  However, everyone else in there seems plainly to live in a world
404 of their own devising.  Topping that, take Pat Robertson, and Jerry Falwell.
405 To even Imagine anyone associating them with any governmental role, even as
406 a joke is an excellent example of the arrogance of the Fundamentalist 
407 Christians under this administration.  I think that this presidency is as 
408 weak as the last one, it's just that Regan has PR men that finally realize 
409 that a president has to be packaged like any other product and sold to the
410 American people. 
411 `````````````````````````Mr. Interceptor```````````````````````````````````
412 WHO CARES?
413 Come to think of these: Who got us in this mess?
414                         Who's profiting from this mess?
415                         Who's pulling all the string on this mess?
416      The ANSWER:  I-S-R-A-E-L - the jewish state!!! and the press media
417                   they and their cohorts control in this country.!!!!!
418 lkjl:kjl:kj
419 
420 
421 stop
422 
423 Another blast from the Nazi past. Wow. I wonder if the Aryan Nations Liberty
424 Network ever calls out at 300 bits-per-second.
425 
426  
427 SO WHAT?
428 -------------------------------
429 praising the administration for the deal does have one merit. those armaments
430 are going to help elements of the iranian government, ones that would have
431 connections in the united states government. when the ayatollah dies, those
432 links could become very important in snatching the leadership of that nation
433 away from the fundamentalist muslems. that link was not worth the public
434 outcry however. as a secret deal, it was worth it.
435         the united states government does have integrity. there is a respect
436 for the laws of the nation. they were ignored in scret, which is a disgraceful
437 act for a member of the administration to have done. but it is not a fatally
438 flawed system. remember, the congress does have the power to impeach the
439 president, and there are other checks and balances in the system.
440         i hope that there are firings and disgraces in the administration over
441 this. i also hope that the national security administration is limited to the
442 gatherings of intelligence, and the emergency planning between covert
443 agencies. i do not favor the impeachment of the president, since there is a
444 price to pay for the humiliation of a national executive.
445 -------------------------------
446 people who refer to the watergate scandal for comparisson to this are wrong.
447 those thefts of papers and the secret investigations are vastly different than
448 the arms deal, and swaps of finances.
449         there is often a confused escalations of scandals in the united
450 states. scandals in washington are especially prone to this. indigancy is
451 usually genuine, but the gravity of the scandal is discoursed on with
452 overserious references, and cynics bemoan the loss of integrity in this modern
453 world. well, this scandal is not as severe as it is being portrayed by
454 essayists on this system.
455         the writer who entered an indictment of all republicans (and
456 republican presidents) provides an example of the confused loathing that is
457 put to page here. the just hours old accusation of fanaticism in the
458 administration is another example.
459         my advice to all the essayists here are to estimate the actual
460 significance of events like this, and realize that the bimonthly world furor
461 is probably not going to shatter the world looking glass.
462         or were you simply trying to get a reply?
463 ------------------------------- a partial federalist, with gop/ndc leanings
464 ch /scret/secret/escalations/escalation
465 
466 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzippy
467 Well, I hate to tell you this, but the current situation is much more serious,
468 for all involved, than the bi-monthly blunder that seems to be a regular 
469 occurance with the current administration. This is not a Bitburg or an Iceland,
470 this is a very serious situation that is niether legal, nor moral. 
471      Federal Laws have been broken, and outright lies have been told, and more
472 is being revealed, seemingly, on almost a daily basis.
473 To say that this scandal is nothing like Watergate is just plain wrong. 
474 The nature of the crime is irrelevent, although much more serious in scope.
475 The important point is that a crime has been committed, and the ripples of this
476 have dealt a serious blow to this country politically  Weather it was stolen
477 papers or illegal arms shipments and illegal fundings makes no fundamental
478 difference. The beauty of a Democracy is that the laws are made by the people,
479 and for the people. This includes espcially public officials, who are empowered
480 with the ability to make these laws by the people, and for the people. They are
481 thusly to be held accountable for them as well... For the members of a 
482 Presidential Cabinet, the highest office of our nation, to break such laws,
483 is a gross abuse of the system, and should not be tolerated.  In allowing such
484 activities to go on, in violation of his own policies, Mr. Reagan has destroyed
485 much of the credibility our nation has in the world, and has sent a vital 
486 message to public enemy #1, the Terrorist: Terrorism Works. All that is \
487 n(oops)go to the major Terrorism-denouncing country of the world, and promise
488 that you are against Terrorism, and you can get whatever you need, without 
489 due process, and regardless of your official standing in that nation's eyes...
490      In light of all this, I do not feel at all secure about a government that
491 allows deals to be made with "un-friendly" countries behind the public's back,
492 and uses to profits to provide illegal support to a group who is already under
493 suspicion of misusing the extravagant amout of funding they have already been
494 granted. \
495 
496      Peace,
497 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzippy
498 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
499 Arms, Farms. Face it, Our foreign policy experts got caught with the proverbial
500 hand in the cookie jar. Don't you realize this sort of dealing has been going
501 on for some time, but it took a leak to a newspaper to make it come to light.
502 The United States has been supporting Iran and Iraq for some time, hoping
503 each country kicks the other country's arse. We play both sides of the game,
504 and the, at the end, side with the less bloodied of the two. Business as
505 usual in the Old U S of A.
506 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&Neil&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
507 I CARE, YOU IDIOT!
508 
509 -------------------------------
510 by bi-monthly blunder, i meant the world incidents that come about once every
511 two months, not international incidents caused by president reagan. the
512 interception of abu nidal, libyan hostilities, libyan air strikes, shuttle
513 disaster, chernobyl, drugs, the daniloff arrest, the summit and the cold war,
514 and now the iran arms scandal. place blame on president reagan for all of
515 these, and i'll wince.
516 	comparissons to watergate are references to a whirlwind of scandal in
517 the united states. they are no more than that. there are not great
518 similarities between the crimes of this and the crimes of then, other than the
519 violation of the law by people sworn to serve the law. the eventual punishment
520 is plausibly similar though, i agree.
521 	watergate was another time, and another set of circumstances. it was
522 the democrats and the integrity of the electoral process that was directly
523 wounded in the break-ins. it was the actual scandal itself that forced the
524 american president to resign his office and shook national trust in the
525 position of executive. in the iranian arms deal, iraq was directly hurt, and
526 the people of nicaragua, were directly hurt.
527 	indirectly, i think the scandal itself is going to devastate the
528 adminstration. the president's power was waning anyway, his cabinet can be
529 reshelved, and the democrats were about to gain nearly absolute political
530 control in washington. what i think is the largest effect of this scandal is
531 the total absense of foreign policy on terrorism and the mideast, and the
532 chance to implement a new one.
533 	president reagan did not tell terrorists that terrorism works. that is
534 a confused statement. one that puts president reagan behind every subtle shift
535 in attitude, every plo strategy session and every demographic survey. he is a
536 president who spends almost no time on details. i dont think he had the
537 initiative to be responsible for most of the acts of the administration.
538 instead, it was the group he surrounded himself with. people who criticize him
539 personally for them are criticizing the figurehead at the top of a
540 tremendously powerful apparatus.
541 	now that i hope i have established that president reagan is not the
542 antichrist, what of the actual foreign policy situation? europe is used to
543 these scandals, and americans have always been more utopian than europeans.
544 the mideast? many nations are implicated in the arms shipments or the transfer
545 of money, and the indignancy is more one of nations used to apparently idiotic
546 moves by western nations. the soviet bloc? did you think they ever liked us at
547 all anyway? it is mostly what results of this national scandal that interests
548 these powers.
549 	i am not afraid of the absense of a foreign policy, or the eradication
550 of the senior active members of the administration, or even the period of
551 international silence that is about to end. because i know that any policy
552 asserted in this period, is going to be a new policy, asserted by the
553 democratically controlled legislature and the republican administration, and
554 that will probably steer the nation more wisely than its former policy of the
555 public supression of the effects of terrorism.
556         who nows, a diplomatic offensive to create the state of palestine
557 might even erupt. or, if the state department snatches control of the
558 nicaraguan issue away from the intelligence agencies, a start on the way to
559 ending the war.
560 ------------------------------- a lad plainly stunned at the new alternatives
561 REKRAM
562 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
563 Well, actually, if you come down to it, the final responsibility does lay
564 at the feet of Reagan. Yes it was the group that he surrounded himself with
565 that did the deed, but it is Reagan who placed them in that position. And
566 he being the boss carries the final burden of responsibility. So in that
567 respect, yes I do blame the actions of the administration on him. Even through
568 lack of action. For Through action he could have placed restrants on them,
569 but he did not. It is his responsibility to supervise the actions of those
570 he leads. And he carries that responsiblity whether he likes it or not.
571 That is why I don't care for Reagan, he has never been a responsible leader.
572 He lets those he appoints do what they want pretty much with no supervision
573 and no leadership. When trouble occurs he just finds a scape goat to throw 
574 it on and walks out of the picture leaving them to fend for themselves.
575 And he never does anything himmself so that he can never be truely blamed 
576 for personally doing anything. But that doesn't let him off the hook for
577 responsiblity, he is still the leader, and thereby is responsible for the
578 actions of his group. That is the basis of any group, it is the basis of
579 leadership. Reagan reminds me of Sgt. Shultz on the old Hogan's Heros TV
580 series. Anytime anything goes wrong, his first response is "I know nothing!"
581 In regard to the activities abroad, while yes it was ileagle and immoral,
582 (personally I feel that anyone who sells arms should be stood against a 
583 wall and have those same arms used against them) there are reasons for 
584 those activities from many aspects they are important too. One of them is
585 the interest of us Americans to drive in our fancy gas hogs. If Iran were to
586 go into the hands of Soviet influence, they wouldbe taking the next step to 
587 control the Gulf. A very significant portion of the Western World's oil
588 comes from that region. Note that it is the Western world I speak of, not
589 the US, though a large portion of our oil comes from there too. But the aspect
590 is that if the western world loses that source, then it must rely on the remaining
591 sources, which makes it hard all around to make the oil streatch. We are not
592 the only people in this world, nor do we always have first dibs on resources.
593 The other aspect of maintaining the situation is to maintain the balance of
594 power. Of course the US is trying to gain groups that look to the US on its
595 side. It is the modern version of imperialism. Russia on the other hand still
596 uses the old fashioned Colony aproach. Walk in and take over control of their
597 government because they don't know how to do it. In both cases the result is
598 the same, an outside influance on how the country exists. What Russia does
599 is imperialism simple and straight forward. What America does is imperialism
600 through the back door. Why do we do it? For all kinds of reasons, none of
601 them really sane, but then nothing in this world is ever really done for a
602 sane reason. The end result of it all is the desire by both sides to be in
603 control of everything in the hopes that somehow it will make us all feel
604 safe and secure (myself, that is when I would feel the most unsafe, read
605 1984 sometime...) Most strong powerful and long lasting governments (those that
606 outlast a single leader) are based on the concept of security and safety.
607 What usually happens though is that when the strength is greater then that
608 needed to provide that security the government starts looking to export it.
609 Strength after  all is an exportable commdity. There are many groups that
610 would like to have some in exchange for something else, be it comodities
611 such as oil or gold and such, or use of the country as a base of operations.
612 Or if they don't like being raped, they'll just pay money as some do.
613 Both America snd Russia are in the strength exporting business, and they
614 are doing quite well at it. In exchange we get oil, gold, chromium, and
615 a multitude of other products both directly and indirectly.
616 Well, I've just about filled the disk up here with my babble, so maybe
617 I should shut up and give someone else a shot at this mess.
618 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ fred ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
619 80
620 help
621 ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
622 Hours old accusation of fanaticism?  I thought I used relevant supporting
623 examples of fanaticism in our government. James Watt was undeniably a fanatic,
624 (calling the Beach Boys rock and rollers?) and he was kicked out years ago.
625 I have felt Reganites were fanatics long before this! 
626    Also, a word about oil....  The Mideast oil producers will not allow 
627 themselves to be taken over by the soviets.  The Soviet Union cannot consumme
628 oil in the quantities we can, and pay for it.  `````Mr. Interceptor```````````

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