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From our Mailbag 06/09/01 - 06/25/01

You'd Better Ask Somebody...

From Yona R., San Francisco, CA, USA:

SUBJECT: the mother thang

rod, at least you went thru the mother thang... it's behind you now. the f2f experience will remind you of what really was/is... make a firmer boundary between what is and what has become imaginary demons. i say imaginary not because they don't exist, but because the realm they exist in is inside you... for your eyes only to a certain extent. anyways, congradulations on your graduation to true adulthood. though i too always expected more from my parent, once i saw him for who he truly was and saw myself in the presense of who he was, i knew he could never hurt me (like that) again. thank the gauds a million times for rudell. she is truly a gift from them to you. see somebody loves you. i am envious of your interesting journey. in all of scotland, the greatest thing for me was the graveyard near the st andrews golf course, with centuries of corpses and spirits layed to rest at the gates of the great north sea. the mixtures of emotions rendered me wordless.... one of my favorites places to be..

take great care with yourself....

yo


From Bob Powers, Marietta, OH, USA:

SUBJECT: Cool Britannia II

Your analysis of the British elections not only was accurate, but beautifully written.

Very impressive, Old Chap!

Bob


From Dove DV, Bandon, OR, USA:

SUBJECT: Have NO Dough, Love to Travel

Dear Brother Butterfly Soul,

Seems I'm back in the virtual world. Yes, we have a new mac in the house- well it is newer a poweer mac 225 pc , about 4 years old and loaded with goodies. Everybody is thrilled- especially Nilda with all the capabilities.

Now I can read the G, without hit and miss, jumping thru hoops . It is all there at the press of a button or two.

I have been reading the mag.. keeping up with your travels and travails. The stuff in Bermuda, seemed a mixed bag

good with your brother and his wife,that to be expected from your mother, it was painful- brought back some memories of my own mother/son conflicts.I'm glad you are finally traveling in Europe- I hope you have a great time out of the U.S. and attaining the International Herald Tribune world view. Jeff Young is over there too playing with Sting. Be in touch and I will too. I pray for your safety and the enjoyment of this long sought situation. Things here have really been a rollercoaster ride lately.. and more to come...though of a more enjoyable nature ..as summer begins to blossom forth.

From way out in the Pacific Northwoods;
Euphonious P. Flagglebinder


From Bill P., Oakland, CA, USA:

SUBJECT: Grasshopper Blues

Ah grasshopper you have many roads to travel, you must follow your destiny... Enough of the philosophical crap, life kicks the shit out of all the bipeds that inhabit this globe, one's measure is taken by how they respond to adversity, which by the way you have had more then your fair share.

You have a wonderful talent, the gift of gab, sure you're not Irish?

You do not use it well......exorcising your daemons with a quill only leads to madness, just ask De Sade.

Has the thought ever occurred to you that perhaps you are fulfilling your parents' version of your destiny by continuing their abusive behavior through self deprecation?

Wise up my friend....your folks were wrong and so are you!

Time to embrace life, either forgive your folks or say fuck them, but whatever you do cut out the self abuse, you are a uniquely talented individual, and as with most gifted people your own worst enemy.

Why not meld the writer with the man and dazzle the world?

Bill


From Ric W., Austin, TX, USA:

SUBJECT: AMSTERDAM

Really, man.

Burn a few in Amsterdam.

Whoever "she" is, nursing the pain in Amsterdam will either make the pain deeper and thus more sweet in that S&M way unrequited love dispenses or you may find there are pleasures to be had in "strangeness," a succor available that isn't based in pity but an embrasure and recognition of pain as a liberating condition. It liberates the heart to commiserate with other broken hearts. The heart is broken so it can be entered, n'est pas? Intimacy in the flesh is a dangerous thing. It makes us familiar strangers, builds a more real compassion, one made of the body more than the mind, of the soul more than the spirit.

Go to Amsterdam. Surely someone knows someone. I am sorry she hurt you. I hope it spurs you away from the past and into the now, arcing into a more fulfilling tomorrow.

Love,
Ric

ROD RESPONDS: Rico,

You must be Amsterdam's biggest booster. I'll see what I can do on the way to Serbia... Cash is a core problem, of course.

More Later,
RA


RICO REJOINS: I just dig the image of you in big boat wooden shoes clutching a bouquet of tulips in one hand and a naked six-foot tall gorgeous buxom pigtailed blond in the other, a huge joint clenched between your teeth sending up spirals of great blue smoke--you smiling like the king of the whole wide world . . .

Yers,
Henry Miller


From Sue H., (No City Provided,) UK:

SUBJECT: Journey to Belgrade

Dear Rod

Good luck with your "brave/crazy" journey into your next life. I look forward to reading of your new exploits and adventures in Belgrade!

All good wishes
Sue


From Felicity Ussher, London, UK:

SUBJECT: Feedback to My Glass House

Rod,

I am not the sort of person who hates.

I wish you hadn't said to the world, "Felicity Ussher Hates." She does not. Please publish this feedback so that all the people - many of whom were once my readers as well as yours - are clear that I am not the sort of person who hates.

Thank you.

Felicity


From Dan VD, San Francisco, CA, USA:

SUBJECT: Travel

Rod -

I got a laugh out of your attempts to explain to the travel industry where Belgrade was.

I've walked a mile in your shoes: every time I go to Northern Ireland, seems I have to explain to some travel person that Belfast is in the UK, not Ireland. After one go around, a travel clerk exclaimed to me, "boy, that sure is confusing...it's in Northern Ireland, but it's not in Ireland!?" I replied, "yeah, well some of the people who live there have some issues with it, too." ;-)


ROD RESPONDS: Dan,

I think your experience and mine answer the question, "Is the whole world crazy...?"

But you can imagine some of the flak I've gotten for being an Irish "sympathizer" in these parts. Wish me a speedy exit.

RA


From Ric W., Austin, TX, USA:

SUBJECT: Where's Your Remote?

Ok.

But what's the plan?

As the old joke goes . . .

You may be crazy but you aren't stupid are you? California reply yet?

Plan my friend. Even moderate what do I do to make the plane in 18 days. Like the old Indian in "Little Big Man" you may be ready for the Great Spirit to take you but perhaps the Great Spirit has different plans. This--uh--may not be the end. You may not be lost. Just a wee bit confused. Write out this play--dying for it has little value--the idea is to COME BACK from the edge with a story.


ROD RESPONDS: Shit, mofac! I'm already makin' more comebacks than Carole Channing!

You sitting in the same movie theatre I am?

RA


From Lucy M., (No City Provided,) USA:

SUBJECT: oaxaca's children

Your essay is beautiful. I am from Mexico, Veracruz , and when I was reading your article I could not help to go back to my own childhood. Unfortunately, we , Mexican people, are so different, physically and culturally, that is very difficult to find our identity. We do not hate gringos; we always welcome foreigners and share with them the little food we have. I accepted my Indian roots until I came to the US. I used to feel offended when someone called me India: " No, I am notÝan Indian;ÝMy grandfather was fromÝFrance.." I repplied.

Congratulations and good luck in everything you do.

Lucy

ALERTS, ACTION, STUFF PEOPLE THINK YOU SHOULD KNOW

From Booty Adams, (No City Provided,) USA:

Subject: BLACK IQ TEST

Greetings: Wuz Sup! EXCITE & MOBILIZE!

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http://www.blackconsciousness.com

Sistahs average score to date is 39, while the brothers average score is 43. What's up wit that! Please spread the newz and forward to your crew. We don't plan on going away, nor will we let romantic revolutionaries turn us 'round. Much luv to the Durty South, the Ruff North and the Wild, Wild West! Once you have finished the self-test, the answers are on the home page. You don't peak, until you've finished. BLACK HONOR applies. The Nubian Times is read by more people than some major metropolitan newspapers.Updated monthly!

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There is but one stipulation: Those persons displaying Negro behaviors are not allowed!

Peace Out!
Booty Adams
http://www.blackconsciousness.com

BOOK MARK or ADD to FAVORITES for future reference!

FROM SIRIUS TO ATLANTIS,
FROM LEMURIA TO MARS,
FROM ALKEBULAN to Your House,
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BlackConsciousness.Com is there!
Thankx much! DEM FINE PEEPS!


From Ron S., (No City Provided,) USA:

Subject: Gas prices

I don't like chain letters, but this one makes sense -- and it's our pocketbooks that are hurting!!

PASS IT ON!!!!!! THIS CAN WORK.....

HIGH GAS PRICES?????????

This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day" campaign that was going around last April or May! The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas. It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them.Ý BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can really work.Ý Please read it and join with us!

---------------------------------------------------------------------

By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super cheap. Me too!Ý It is currently $1.97 for regular unleaded in my town. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $1.50- $1.75, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace....not sellers. With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas!Ý And we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves.Ý How? ÝSince we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas.Ý But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war. ÝHere's the idea: ÝFor the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL.Ý If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit. ÝBut to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon andÝ Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do!!Ý Now, don't whimp outÝ on me at this point...keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!! ÝI am sending this note to everybody in my email address book.Ý If each of you send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) ... and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers! ÝIf those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted!Ý If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!Ý Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people.Ý That's all.Ý (If you don't understand how we can reach 300 million and all you have to do is send this to 10 people.... well, let's face it, you just aren't a mathematician.Ý But I am... so trust me on this one.) ÝHow long would all that take?Ý If each of us sends this email out to ten more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!!!Ý I'll bet you didn't think youÝ and I had that much potential, did you!Ý Acting together we can make a difference. If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. (If it doesn't, please contact the person who sent it to you.... maybe they can breath some life into you!)

PLEASE HOLD OUT UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.30 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN. THIS CAN REALLY WORK.

Travel Radio Channel

From FranceTime, San Francisco, CA, USA:

La Gazette de FranceTime - http://www.francetime.com

La Gazette de FranceTime - May 29, 2001

FRANCETIME: The Online French Connection - Le Reseau francophone mondial. FranceTime is the place where Francophiles and francophones meet and interact in English or French.
********
1 - Survey: French food
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********

Salut -- comment ca va?

Please forward this message to others you think may appreciate our content and services. Your word of mouth is essential as we work to build our readership.

-- The Editors

1 - Survey

"French Survivor Menu." French food you won't ever taste:
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Steak tartare (raw horse meat)
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Frog legs
All the above
Other (post comment)

Cast your vote http://www.francetime.com/index.php
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1914-1945: France Between the Wars
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Dordogne: Our Corner of France - 1

Jeremy and MichÀle Edwards tell us what it takes to move from England to France to live la vie a la francaise. http://www.francetime.com/article.php?sid=123&mode=&order=0
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Forwarded by Mardi H-d'A, Higganum, CT, USA:

SUJECT: Protest W's energy policies

ROLL YOUR OWN BLACKOUT
THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER
JUNE 21, 2001 THURS EVE,
7-10pm nationwide, all time zones

As an alternative to George W. Bush's energy policies and lack of emphasis on efficiency, conservation and alternative fuels, there will be a voluntary rolling blackout on the first day of summer, June 21 at 7pm - 10pm in any time zone (this will roll it across the planet).

Its a simple protest and a symbolic act. Turn out your lights from 7pm-10pm on June 21. Unplug whatever you can unplug in your house. Light a candle to the Sungoddess, kiss and tell or not, take a stroll in the dark, invent ghost stories, anything that's not electronic - have fun in the dark.

Read the 1999 book "Natural Capitalism" by Hawken and Lovins to learn that conservation/high efficiency technologies already ARE on-the-shelf. If implemented these revolutionary ideas would pay themselves off within five years, after which we'd be pumping far less greenhouse gas into the atmosphere and saving bucks to boot.

Forward this email as widely as possible, to your government representatives and environmental contacts.

Let them know we want global education, participation and funding in conservation, efficiency and alternative fuel efforts -- and an end to over- exploitation and misuse of the earth's resources.

Anyone knows that the Cheney-Bush team is blowing smoke when they tell us that "... conservation can't help, it'll just be too expensive to implement those technologies..." While on the other hand, technology to develop and deploy weapons to blow incoming ICBMs out of the sky are easy to come by.


Forwarded by Lloyd Morcum, Foster, Victoria, AUSTRALIA:

Subject: Petition Concerning Deforestation of the Amazon

The Brazilian congress is now voting on a project that will reduce the Amazon forest to 50% of its size.

It will take 1 MINUTE to read this.

The area to be deforested is 4 times the size of Portugal and would be mainly used for agriculture and pastures for livestock. All the wood is to be sold to international markets in the form of wood chips, by large multinational companies.

The truth is that the soil in the Amazon forest is useless without the forest itself. Its quality is very acidic and the region is prone to constant floods. At this time more than 160,000 square kilometres deforested with the same purpose are abandoned and in the process of becoming deserts. Deforestation (and the subsequent processing of the woodchips) on this scale will also release huge amounts of carbon (which is currently locked up in the wood) back into the atmosphere worsening the problem of climate change. We just cannot let this happen.

Please copy the text into a 'new email' put your complete name in the list below, and send to everyone you know. (DON'T JUST FORWARD IT THOUGH AS IT WILL THEN END UP WITH ROWS AND ROWS OF "greater-than" symbols) If you are the 400th person to sign please send a copy to: fsaviolo@openlink.com.br

Thank you for your help

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