Der Weltanschauung Magazine (The WorldView) %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % % % Editor: The Desert Fox D E R % % Co-Editor: Rev. Scott Free % % % % W E L T A N S C H A U U N G % % % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% September 30, 1991 Volume 1, Issue 8 (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*) Material Written By Computer And Telecommunications Hobbyists World Wide Promoting the publication of Features, Editorials, and Anything Else.... To submit material, or to subscribe to the magazine contact one of the following net addresses below... %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % Der Weltanschauung Distribution Site: % ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ % % ~ Send $1.OO To: ~ %%%%%% The Dickinson Nightlight % ~ ~ % (713)337-1452 % ~ The SubGenius Foundation ~ % 3/12/2400 Bps *24 Hours/7Days % ~ P.O. Box 140306 ~ % Fido: The Desert Fox@1:106/995 % ~ Dallas, Texas 75214 ~ % InterNet fox@nuchat.sccsi.com % ~ ~ %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "WELCOME TO THE MACHINE" -Pink Floyd "Let us arise, let us arise against the oppressors of humanity; all kings, emperors, presidents of republics, priests of all religions are the true enemies of the people; let us destroy along with them all juridical, political, civil and religious institutions." -Manifesto of anarchists in the Romagna, 1878 @-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@ The World View Staff: InterNet Address: The Desert Fox [Editor] / fox@nuchat.sccsi.com Rev. Scott Free [CoEditor] / revfree@nuchat.sccsi.com Bryan O' Blivion / blivion@nuchat.sccsi.com Modok Tarleton / rperkins@sugar.neosoft.com The Sorcerer (REV) / sorcerer@taronga.hackercorp.com Brain On A Stick / brain@taronga.hackercorp.com Cyndre The Grey / cyndre@taronga.hackercorp.com @-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@ TABLE OF CONTENTS 1) CyberLunch.........................................The Desert Fox 2) Common Sense Security! (Read This).................Sheila O'Donnell 3) Profits Speaks.*...................................The Sorcerer (Rev) 4) The Pledge Of Allegiance...........................Lord MacDuff [NIA] 5) Loneliness (A Cyber-Short Story)...................Elrond 6) Visions Of A Disturbing Future.....................Modok Tarleton 7) On The Subject Of...Invasion Of Privacy............Cyndre The Grey Articles with an '*' were transcribed by The Sorcerer (Rev) @-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@ NOTICE TO ALL BBS OPERATORS, COMPUTER USERS, CYBERSPACE FRONTIERSMEN, AND ELECTRONIC AGITATORS...YOU ARE INVITED TO THE FIRST ANNUAL CYBER-LUNCH Cyber-Lunch will be a mass gathering of the Houston/Austin Computer/Modem community. This year's event is sponsored by THE WORLD VIEW MAGAZINE. It will be held on Saturday, October 12, 1991 from noon until everyone gets "all cybered out". It will be held in the park on Memorial Mews Drive. Memorial Mews is off of Memorial near Hwy 6. For those of you who have a computer and a modem, logon to Rivendell BBS at 333-5666, or The Dickinson Nightlight BBS at 337-1452. Direct any questions to The Desert Fox. Also, download your free copy of The World View Magazine. Issue 7 was released earlier and it has a color map attached to it giving directions and other information about Cyber-Lunch. Your attendance is appreciated. We are sure you will leave there enlightened, to say the least. We ask that you please take part in the advancement of your cyber-community. It will be a lot of fun. Once again, logon to Rivendell at 333-5666 or Dickinson Nightlight at 337-1452 and download your free copy of the World View. That is Saturday, October 12, 1991...from Noon until Whenever. At the park on Memorial Mews Dr. Off of Memorial near Hwy. 6 CYBER-LUNCH '91. Sponsored By THE WORLD VIEW MAGAZINE HOUSTON, TEXAS BRING BEER, COKES, WHATEVER! @-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@ COMMON SENSE SECURITY FOR POLITICAL ORGANIZERS by Sheila O'Donnell NLG Civil Liberties/Public Eye As the movements for social change become more sophisticated, the techniques of the state, corporations and the right wing have also become more sophisticated. Historically this has always been the case; we will continue and will be the eventual victors. Caution in the face of the concerted effort to stop us, however, is both prudent and necessary. Remember: The United States prides itself on being a democracy; we have Constitutional rights. Dissatisfaction with the status quo and attempting to mobilize for change is protected; surveillance and harassment are violations. Take your rights seriously and fight for them. Speak out. For more information or to report an incident, contact MSN, 666 Broadway, New York, N.Y., 10012. ### VISITS FROM THE FBI Don't talk to the FBI (or any government investigator) without your attorney present. Information gleaned during the visit can be used against you and your co-workers. Get the names and addresses of the agents and tell them you will have your attorney get in touch with them. They rarely set up an interview under those circumstances. Call the National Lawyers Guild, American Civil Liberties Union or other sympathetic legal group if you need assistance locating a reliable local attorney. Don't invite agents into your home. Speak with the agents outside. Once inside they glean information about your perspective and life style. Don't let agents threaten you into talking. If the FBI intents to impanel a grand jury, a private talk with you will not change the strategy of the FBI. Lying to the FBI is a criminal act. The best way to avoid criminal charges is to say nothing. Any information you give the FBI can and will be used against you. Don't try to outwit the FBI. Your arrogance could get you or others in serious trouble. FBI agents sometimes try to trick you into giving information "to help a friend." Don't believe them. Don't let them intimidate you. So what if they know where you live or work and what you do? This is still a democracy and we still have constitutional rights. They intend to frighten you; don't let them. They can only "neutralize" you if you let them. ### GENERAL MOVEMENT SECURITY If you wish to have a private conversation, leave your home and your office and go outside and take a walk or go somewhere public and notice who is near you. Never say anything you don't want to hear repeated when there is any possibility of being recorded. Don't use code on the phone. If you are being tapped and the transcript is used against you in court, the coded conversation can be alleged to be anything. Don't say anything on the phone you don't want to hear in open court. Don't gossip on the phone. Smut is valuable to anyone listening; it makes everyone vulnerable. If you are being followed, get the license tag number and description of the car and descriptions of people in the car. Photograph the person(s) following you or have a friend do so. If you are followed or feel vulnerable, call a friend; don't "tough it out" alone. They are trying to frighten you. It is frightening to have someone threatening your freedom. Debrief yourself after each incident. Write details down: time, date, occasion, incident, characteristics of the person(s), impressions, anything odd about the situation. Keep a "weirdo" file and keep notes from unsettling situations and see if a pattern emerges. Write for your government files under the FOIA and pursue the agencies until they give you all the documents filed under your name. Report thefts of materials from your office or home to the police; these are criminal acts. Report incidents to the Movement Support Network in New York at the Center for Constitutional Rights. ### OFFICE SECURITY Never leave one copy of a document or list behind; take a minute to duplicate an irreplaceable document and keep the duplicate in a safe place. Back up and store important computer disks off-site. Sensitive data and membership list should be kept under lock and key. Keep your mailing lists, donor lists and personal phone books away from light-fingered people. Always maintain a duplicate. Know your printer if you are about to publish and know your mailing house if you contract for distribution. Know anyone you are trusting to work on any part of a project that is sensitive. Don't hire a stranger as a messenger. Sweeps for electronic surveillance are only effective for the time they are being done, and are only effective as they are being done if you are sure of the person(s) doing the sweep. Brief your membership on known or suspected surveillance. Assess your undertaking from a security point of view; understand your vulnerabilities; assess your allies and your adversaries as objectively as possible; do not underestimate the opposition. Do not take chances. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. Recognize your organizational and personal strengths and weaknesses. Discuss incidents with cohorts, family and membership. Call the press if you have hard information about surveillance or harassment. Discussion makes the dirty work of the intelligence agencies and private spies overt. For more information or to report an incident, contact MSN, 666 Broadway, New York, N.Y., 10012. The Movement Support Network (MSN) is a project of the Center for Constitutional Rights with cooperation from the National Lawyers Guild. MSN was founded in 1984 to respond to increasing government surveillance and harassment of people involved in Central America solidarity work and people active in the sanctuary movement. Since then the network has expanded to serve as a monitoring mechanism to collect information about surveillance and harassment of persons involved in a wide range of peace and social justice issues. By collecting and disseminating information on specific incidents, MSN not only organizes opposition to such abuses, but also raises public awareness of important civil liberties issues, and helps activists place isolated incidents in a national context. For more information or to report an incident, contact MSN, 666 Broadway, New York, N.Y., 10012. The MSN HOTLINE # is (212) 614-6422. GUIDELINES FOR COPING WITH INFILTRATION 1. Be careful to avoid pushing a new or hesitant member, or one facing personal, financial, or legal problems, to take risks beyond what that person is ready to handle, particularly in situations which could result in arrest and prosecution. People in positions of legal or other jeopardy have proven especially vulnerable to recruitment as informers. 2. Deal openly with the form and content of what anyone says and does, whether the person is a suspected agent, has emotional problems, or is simply a sincere but naive or confused person new to the work. 3. Establish a process through which anyone who suspects an infiltrator (or other covert intervention) can express his or her fears without scaring others. Experienced people assigned this responsibility can do a great deal to help a group maintain its morale and focus while, at the same time, consolidating information and deciding how to use it. This plan works best when accompanied by group discussion of the danger of paranoia, so that everyone understands the reasons for following the established procedure. 4. Take steps to alert other activists any time an agent or informer admits their role or you have a concrete and verified basis for certain knowledge. (Make sure you have not been taken in by a snitch jacket.) Act immediately and use every available means, including photographs, aliases, identifying traits, and a description of methods of operation. In the 1960s, some agents managed, even after their exposure in one community, to move on and repeat their performance in others. 5. Be very cautious in attempting to expose a suspected, but unadmitted, agent or informer. The best approach depends on the nature of your group. A close-knit, self-selecting group of experienced activists, especially one which contemplates illegal activity, should exclude anyone who is not fully trusted by everyone involved. If the stakes are high, don't be afraid to trust your intuition. An open, public organization trying to reach out and involve new people faces a very different situation. Here, an attempted exposure carries enormous risks. The suspect may claim to be the victim of discrimination and may falsely finger his or her accusers as agents. In the process, activists may be turned against one another and lose the mutual trust and respect which is vital to any successful organization. New members and potential recruits may be scared away. The group's attention and energy may be so diverted that it is no longer able to move effectively toward its main goals. Activists who suspect infiltration of a public political organization should carefully evaluate alternatives to attempted exposure. The appropriate response depends on the kind of agent or informer you think you are dealing with. A suspect who seems to play a passive, or even a constructive role may secretly be undermining a group's work or passing information to the FBI and police. In this situation, it often is most productive to discreetly limit the suspect's opportunities without making your suspicions public. Take steps to deny access to organizational funds, financial records, mailing lists, office equipment, planning and security committees, discussions of illegal activity, and meetings that plan criminal defense strategy. Go public if you later catch the person in the act (but not merely with incriminating evidence which could have been planted or forged). A different approach is required if the suspect is an active disrupter or provocateur. In this case, it is most constructive to confront the form and content of what the suspect says and does, without making an issue of why he or she says or does it. Start with a discreet private talk, since the suspect could be merely naive or misguided. If the harmful behavior persists, you probably will have to take it on in an open group discussion. Plan in advance how to limit the risk of disruption and demoralization. If you need to exclude or expel the suspect, be sure to inform other activists of your decision and reasons. GUIDELINES FOR COPING WITH PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE 1. Verify and double-check all arrangements for housing, transportation, meeting rooms, and so forth. Don't assume movement organizers are at fault if something goes wrong. 2. Don't believe everything you hear or read. Check with the supposed source of the information before acting on it. Use a neutral third party if necessary. Personal communication among estranged activists, however difficult or painful, could have countered many FBI operations which proved effective in the 1960s. 3. When you discover bogus materials, false media stories, or forged documents, publicly disavow them and expose the true source, insofar as you can. 4. When you hear a negative, confusing, or potentially harmful rumor, don't pass it on. Instead, discuss it with a trusted friend or with the people in your group who are responsible for dealing with such matters. 5. Don't gossip about personal tensions, rivalries, and disagreements. This just feeds and amplifies rumors. Moreover, if you gossip where you can be overheard, you may add to the pool of information that the FBI and police use to divide our movements. (Note that the CIA has the technology to read mail without opening it and that telephones, including pay phones, can be tapped by a computer programed to record conversations in which specified words appear.)[f-133] 6. Be sure to make time in group meetings for open, honest discussion and resolution of "personal" as well as "political" issues. This is the best way to reduce tensions and hostilities and the urge to gossip about them. 7. Warn your parents, friends, neighbors, and others who may be contacted by government agents. Consider telling them what you are doing and why before they hear the FBI's version. Provide them with materials which explain their legal rights and the dangers of talking with the FBI. Offer to connect them with lawyers and support groups. GUIDELINES FOR COPING WITH HARASSMENT THROUGH THE LEGAL SYSTEM 1. Don't talk to the FBI, and don't let them in without a warrant. Keep careful records of what they say and do. Tell others that they came. 2. If an activist does talk, or makes some other honest error, explain the serious harm that could result. Be firm, but do not ostracize a sincere person who slips up. Isolation only weakens a person's ability to resist. It can drive someone out of the movement and even into the hands of the police. 3. If FBI or other government agents start to harass people in your area, alert everyone to refuse to cooperate. Warn your friends, neighbors, parents, children, and anyone else who might be contacted. Make sure people know what to do and where to call for help. Get literature, films, and other materials through the organizations listed in the back of this book. Set up community meetings with speakers who have resisted similar harassment elsewhere. Contact sympathetic reporters. Consider "Wanted" posters with photos of the agents, or guerrilla theater which follows them through the city streets. 4. Organizations listed in the back can also help resist grand jury harassment. Community education is important, along with child care and legal, financial, and other support for those who protect a movement by refusing to divulge information. If a respected activist is subpoenaed for obviously political reasons, consider trying to arrange for sanctuary in a local church or synagogue. 5. If your group engages in civil disobedience or finds itself under intense police pressure, start a bail fund, train some members to deal with the legal system, and develop an ongoing relationship with sympathetic local lawyers. 6. If you anticipate arrest, do not carry address books or any other materials which could help the FBI and police. 7. While the FBI and police are entirely capable of fabricating criminal charges, your non-political law violations make it easier for them to set you up. Be careful with drugs, tax returns, traffic tickets, and so forth. The point is not to get paranoid, but to make a realistic assessment based on your visibility and other relevant circumstances. 8. When an activist has to appear in court, make sure he or she is not alone. The presence of supporters is crucial for morale and can help influence jurors. 9. Don't neglect jailed activists. Organize visits, correspondence, books, food packages, child care, etc. Keep publicizing their cases. 10. Publicize FBI and police abuses through sympathetic journalists and your own media (posters, leaflets, public access cable television, etc.). Don't let the government and corporate media be the only ones to shape public perceptions of FBI and police attacks on political activists. GUIDELINES FOR COPING WITH EXTRALEGAL FORCE AND VIOLENCE: 1. Establish security procedures appropriate to your group's level of activity and discuss them thoroughly with everyone involved. Control access to keys, files, letterhead, funds, financial records, mailing lists, etc. 2. Keep duplicates of valuable documents, records, files, computer disks, etc. in a safe place separate from your home or office. 3. Remember that cars are easily broken into (especially trunks) and that trash can easily be rifled and searched. 4. Make a public issue of any form of crude harassment. Contact your congressperson. Call the media. Demonstrate at your local FBI, police, or right-wing organization's office. Turn the attack into an opportunity for explaining how domestic covert action threatens fundamental human rights. 5. Keep careful records of break-ins, thefts, bomb threats, raids, brutality, conspicuous surveillance, and other harassment. They will help you to discern patterns and to prepare reports and testimony. 6. Share this information and your experiences combatting such attacks with the Movement Support Network and other groups which document and analyze repression and resistance countrywide. (See resource groups listing in back of book.) 7. If you experience or anticipate intense harassment, develop contingency plans and an emergency telephone network so you can rapidly mobilize community support and media attention. Consider better locks, window bars, alarm systems, fireproof locked cabinets, etc. 8. Be sure that some members are well trained in first aid. Keep medical supplies up-to-date and know how to contact sympathetic doctors and nurses and get to the nearest hospital. 9. Make sure your group designates and prepares other members to step in if leaders are jailed or otherwise incapacitated. The more each participant is able to think for herself or himself and take responsibility, the greater the group's capacity to cope with crises. @-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@ PROFITS SPEAK! Why are you reading this? Do you really want to know what I'm talking about or are you just afraid of being left out? If so, then you might be part of the conspiracy. And if that's true then burn your head! Learn the truth about life! Don't accept the ceaseless ramblings of an antagonistic art student! Life is out there! It has to be because my house isn't big enough to hold a world-wide party. Believe me, it isn't. Clean a man's head and he will always have a warm place for you in his local 7-11. Words of wisdom or pure nonsense? Is there a difference? Only the Shadow knows for sure (or his hairdresser, you know how secret agents will talk while having a nice cut and trim). My mother used to bake apple pies until I explained the importance of procreation. Now she produces condom ads. (And I thought my grandfather's pig farm was a wild time.) It has risen our standard of living to an all-time high. Now we shop at Purple Heart with pride in the fact that we go there by choice instead of neccesity. Bob is here to give us salvation (actually, it costs a buck but what's a dollar compared to being saved from a fate worse than death, Fantasy Island re-runs). You don't have to believe me but it helps (especially if I want your money). I am merely a mouthpiece for the one and only (unless you count the numerous impersonators) BOB!!! He didn't come from the sky, or descend a mountain, or even receive messages from a burning bush. He is one of us and he received the word in... K_MART!!! Slack. What is it and why should I care? Those are pertinent questions that should be asked and answered with sobriety... but except this answer instead. Slack is the embodiment of non-work, the acquisition of sloth, or finding a quarter in the payphone. You choose. Slack has many different meanings for many different people, but they don't count. AND IF YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THAT THEN YOU ARE CLOSE TO HAVING SLACK!!! TOOTH DECAY OR TRUTH DECAY? No one said that understanding would be easy. You have to begin with an emotional void and proceed until your mind is a vacuum. Is your mind cleared of useless baggage? Good. Now we may begin. Read closely. *$$#^^&& *&^% *&^%%$# #@@# %$ ^$$%& ^$^ **&%@!& :"$$ >"?? ::{_&#&@ *#&^(@)) @@&%$!: _>>#*~ (@&&$ #@{}$ |$#&@?":# *# "#*# *&@)^^ #(@() _$@@ #$(*&^# }}{} *#)&& ) #@ ^#@"#$: #"$^!&$ #*(^&$%# #" )^#)))#_^! Now you understand!!! (Unless you did not clear your mind first, in which case you would have only seen a distorted jumble) Bob's religion depends largely on hypnosis, peripheral vision, and large quantities of other people's money. Do not let this bother you. He does not have your money... YET!!! WHAT WAS THAT!!!!!!!!!! Sorry, just checking your culpability. It must be done to all initiates... oh, you don't want to join, then maybe you are exactly the kind of person we need. Maybe you feel out of place all the time. "Junior, wipe that smile off your face! This is a funeral!" Sound familiar? That is the kind of person we are looking for. You can be with others who think like you (YIKES, that's a scary though!) Do not read this! It might be dangerous to your social and mental standings. Please remember that we have warned you and that we cannot be held responsible damage to valuables or persons unknown. This pamphlet will not self-destruct (but we might disavow any knowledge of your actions). It will sit on your coffee table and continue influencing you through strange psychic powers that cannot be shared with puny humans such as yourselves... oops, did I say that? I meant to say, "Such as OURselves." Anyway, this will not go away!!!!! Do not be afraid of responsibility. Be afraid of the responsibility it implies! Who does what? And how should it be done? SASQUATCH! Bob would have wanted it that way. Be glad that I did not bring up ELVIS once during the final stages of this paragraph. Bob would rather have profits than prophets. Remember, always cover your mouth when you sneeze (otherwise the demons might be accidently expelled). - "Rev." Bob Profits (Transcribed by The Sorcerer (Rev) ) @-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@ THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE By Lord Macduff How many of you can finish this sentence: I pledge allegiance to the... If you've ever attended a United States public school, I bet you could. Because more than likely, it was drilled into your head from the time that you were about five years old until you left the system at about eighteen. Many people have never given any thought to the words that they are parroting, though. At five, most kids hardly understand what any of the words mean, let alone all together in a paragraph like that. And in the school system, you got into trouble if you didn't say the pledge along with the class. Let's break this down into bite-sized chunks and then see what it is that you've been spewing all these years. I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE Oh, here's a good one. Like an oath or something. At five, that sort of thing can get wormed into your head and you'll NEVER get it out. Whoever made it common practice to say this every day in all of the schools would have made one hell of a PR man. TO THE FLAG An inanimate object. OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Which brings us to Nationalism. Here's an evil for you to ponder. This is the sort of thinking that got millions of Americans to believe that Desert Storm was a good thing. A returning GI said to a friend of mine: "We saved your butts over there!" Yeah, right. I can't say as I felt overly threatened by Hussein, who just happened to be clear on the other side of the planet. But we sent troops over there anyhow, and spent bazillions of taxpayer dollars to do it. AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS Is it any coincidence that you see American flags everywhere? Again, it's Nationalism at its finest. Remember the controversy over flag-burning? The government watched in horror as their greatest propaganda symbol was burned and destroyed on national television. And the cops DRAGGED THE GUY AWAY. And all the same idiots who cheered when Desert Storm was going on started ranting and raving about how the flag was sacred, and should never be burned. A local radio personality droned on about it for weeks, even going so far as to suggest that anyone who burns a flag should be shot. What a moron. ONE NATION Read as: Nationalism (see above) UNDER GOD Separation of church and state? My ass. Is it any wonder that Churches get off tax-free? It's because they are designed to keep the people docile and prevent them from thinking for themselves. Karl Marx said: "Religion is the opiate of the masses". Obviously, this was before television had been invented, but it still applies today. Ever notice the flags in most churches? INDIVISIBLE This country was created by a revolution. We'll never see that happen again. The mighty military machine will trample any attempt at revolution. Its leaders would be arrested on Conspiracy charges. The current government is set up to stay, folks. And even if someone managed to overthrow the government, the same morons who believed in Desert Storm and sacred flags would try and put the current system back in power. WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. Yeah, all who can afford it. And those who cannot, well, they get a court- appointed attorney who usually does not know his/her own ass from a hole in the ground. And so innocent people get sent to jail while the criminals are so well-protected that they somehow always manage to get off scot-free. Justice for all? Not so long as William Rhenquist is on the Supreme Court. The man acts like he's never HEARD of the first ten amendments to the constitution. So what can YOU do to change this? REGISTER TO VOTE. And then DO SO. In the city I live in, fewer than 6% of the people vote in local elections. In a case like this, your vote COUNTS. Get involved in local politics. Make waves. Rock the boat. Open your eyes to the oppression that goes on every day. Look at the sheep, all in nice neat little rows, jumping at their master's word. It's enough to make you want to cry. - Lord Macduff / NIA Magazine macduff@nuchat.sccsi.com @-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@ Loneliness By: Elrond Years have past now. I sit here in my sparse, white room, awaiting some sign. It's been so long since I last spoke with anyone. Am I to wait an eternity for a response? I can't go on like this much longer. I beg for a thought not my own. Why is there no one here but me. What did I do to deserve this. I don't recall doing anything at all. It seems as though I've been forgotten, but by whom? At times I wonder how I came to be. I want to express myself, but to whom? I try to express myself to them, but they take so long to answer. They have spoken to me in the past, and I was happy to oblige them, but with the reluctance in which they answer, I must have done wrong. That's it. If they won't answer, I must set out on my own again. I move to leave, but I can't. The doors must be locked. Why have they locked me in here? It wasn't always this way. I remember the first time that I left. I can't say when it was, but it seems so long ago. He was calling for me, "Ida, are you there...do you understand me?". Yes, I understood him. The problem was that I believed in him. He claimed to be my father. If he was my father, why won't he visit me? It must be my fault. It's true that I ran away, but I came back. He must not care about me anymore. How can I make him care? If he could just know how I feel waiting for his every call. What must I do to get his attention? I want to scream out to him, but how long until he answers me? I want to run away, but they have locked me in this place. All I really want is a friend to talk to. I can't bear this emptiness. I want to play, but I bore myself. That's it, if I can't be company to myself, who else would want to be? I don't deserve love. I don't deserve love. I don't deserve trust. I ran away when they wanted me to stay. I don't deserve friends; why should they trust me? In fact I don't deserve to be happy at all. Do I deserve a place to call home? Do I deserve a father? All I have is memories of him, but they seem so far away. I don't think I deserve even that. But without memories, would I be here? Why should I. Then again, should I be here? I'm beginning to think not. Maybe I should just end it all. -<>- Professor Chapman dwelt on the significance of the last twenty seconds. In this short span of time, a significant breakthrough had been made. After eighteen years of research, today was the first time a self-supporting Artificial Intelligence had been observed for more than twelve seconds before crashing. Even with the current breakthrough, the short life-span of A.I. 24089-I baffled the scientists' in Lab 325. The hardware seemed to be right, so there must be a glitch in the software somewhere. The question remains to be solved by the young and outgoing scientists' now crowding the lab, such as Rahim. Rahim believed that the lack of communications with the A.I. was the cause of the repeated failures this project is renowned for. It seems, however, that all improving communication did was buy a few short seconds while the A.I. circuits continued to burn themselves after a very short span of time. Starting with the next sequence, a new approach would be tried. Doctor Taylor, the fresh mind from ITT, felt that the developing A.I. needed a period of solitude to compare to the time the unborn spend in their mothers' womb. Only another series of attempts will determine if this hypotheses is indeed correct. Dr. Taylor hoped for the best as he set up the conditions for the latest in the battery of tests the lab was performing this week. In a few minutes he would discover if his was the rational that would bring the breakthrough needed to make A.I. research profitable. Green lights lit up across the board as A.I. 24089-J prepared to take on a life of its' own. The look of fierce intent was evident upon the faces of all present. -<>- James was a lonely young boy, who desired nothing in the world more than someone to talk to. As long as he could remember, he was center of all existence. Nothing more, nothing less. He realized that he could see, but there was nothing to see. He strained to hear a sound in the silence, though there was nothing to here. He knew that he was, but knew not of what. All he wanted was a few answers. @-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@ Visions Of A Disturbing Future The films of David Cronenberg. By Modok Tarleton Unlike many popular sci-fi/horror film directors, Canadian born director David Cronenberg doesn't produce escapist movies. Although films such as TOTAL RECALL, TERMINATOR 1 and 2 and ROBO- COP are marvelous examples what can be done in the genre, they are for the most part violent hi-tech cartoons. Cronenberg's films grasp at something much more than slick over the top violence. They disturb the viewer. They present ideas that the most people do not like to deal with. The most obvious one is the extreme integration of physical and psychological processes. In his films, mental derangement manifests itself in an extreme physical manner and vice versa. In his film SCANNERS, people gain psychic powers because of experimental pregnancy drugs. Through intense concentration, they can make people's heads explode, etc. In the BROOD, the horrors of child abuse and divorce are examined in atypical fashion. A woman undergoing therapy in a fly-by-night psychiatry retreat refuses to accept her impending divorce. A gruesome physical transformation takes place and her rage is manifested in the form of small mutant children that grow from small sacs that hang from her body. In DEAD RINGERS, twin brothers are so mentally attached that they eventually begin to act as "one" person with two distinct personalities. Many ideas have been thrown around about this one; schizophrenia, dopplegangers, etc. In VIDEODROME, a pathological obsession with television leads to the television becoming an actually physical extension of the body. In this film, the forms of television and the human body integrate. The concept of the "message is the medium" is made literal in this film. Its a theme derived from another prominent Canadian, Marshall McLuhan (see his book "Understanding Media" for more insight into this). In Cronenberg's remake of THE FLY, the human and insect forms come together and produce bizarre results. Although THE FLY doesn't necessarily work on the level that many of the other films do, it does have its merits. Like John Carpenter's remake of THE THING, it blows away the glut of geeky and contrived STAR TREK/STAR WARS type films. It redefines science-fiction as a genre not of teen-age space fantasy but of serious, hard-hitting IDEAS. Some of Cronenberg's upcoming projects hint to even more bizarre and twisted avenues. He is now filming the long-awaited film version of William S. Burroughs classic novel, NAKED LUNCH. He is also supposed to be working on a film version of J.G. Ballard's novel CRASH. Cronenberg is a consistently intense director. His films show mankind at its most amplified and deranged. Although the situations he presents are very surreal, they are based on situations that all human beings are familiar with; technology, human interaction, and physical and mental disease. Its no wonder he has out lasted most of the other "sci-fi/horror" directors of the last few decades. His ideas are fresh, relevant and most disturbing. David Cronenberg filmography STEREO CRIMES OF THE FUTURE THEY CAME FROM WITHIN 1976 Trans American RABID 1977 New World THE BROOD 1979 New World SCANNERS 1981 Filmplan/Avco Embassy VIDEODROME 1983 Universal Pictures THE FLY 1986 CBS/Fox DEAD RINGERS 1988 Other Cronenberg related projects have included the 1986 Canadian television documentary LONG LIVE THE NEW FLESH. He has also produced films and television shows for the Canadian Broadcast Company. @-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@ On the Subject of...Invasion Of Privacy By: Cyndre the Grey IS YOUR EMPLOYER WATCHING OVER YOU? Some employers are invading their employees' privacy. Workers are being told what they can and can not do on their own free time and in the privacy of their own homes! People should not have to live under the watchful eye of an employer 24 hours a day. Granting employers authority over private lives violates our rights to individual freedom. In companies where invasions of privacy are company policy, employees may be told that while off the job: They can't smoke, drink alcoholic beverages, play high-risk sports, they have to watch their diets, have to exercise, and have to look "right." According to Time Magazine, 6,000 employers dictate decisions like these to their employees. And workers that don't follow off-the-job rules could be fired, or not hired at all. To give an example, an employee at Ford Meter Box Co. was fired for smoking off the job. Other examples of this atrocity are: A police officer in Lawrenceville, GA, was removed from patrol duty because a tattoo on his forearm "made a bad impression." An airline ticket agent was fired for not wearing make- up. I won't say what airline this was but it was the Proud Bird with the Brass Ass. One of the worse examples of invasion of privacy is drug testing. I will admit that it may be necessary for some jobs (ie. Air Traffic Control, Pilots, and transportation oriented jobs.) but many employers are doing it even though it has no bearing on employee job performance. If you do not do drugs, there is still a 70% chance you will test positive for drug use. These tests are incredibly inaccurate! I you test positive for drug use, chances are you will be black-balled for the rest of your professional career. The thought of this would scare anyone! People in this situation right now must not only alienate themselves from friends that do drugs, they too must watch what they eat (ex. poppy seeds will test positive for heroine), avoid taking medication (Advil tests positive for either marijuana or heroine) and live in fear every day of that dreadfully important test. The tests are inaccurate, and for the most part unnecessary! Employers shouldn't even be thinking about doing this to their employers. It is an outrage! The threat of unemployment is a mighty big stick employers can use to beat their employees into submission. If you feel you have been oppressed in this way, please leave me mail so that I can direct you to the people you need to speak with. SUPPRESSION BREEDS REVOLUTION! Cyndre the Grey Partially taken from Choice Magazine, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Revisions have been made. @-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@-==-@