From our Mailbag 03/19/00 - 03/26/00

And You think WHAT?

Wolf:

The problem with politics, in my opinion, especially in the USA, is that there is no centrist, reasonable value. The pendulum either swings too much one way or the other. There is no real moderate ground. Personally I do not mind my taxes going to support abortions for teenagers who make a mistake, or young mothers abandoned by irresponsible fathers. I do support the death penalty quite fervently for serial killers and cold-blooded murderers, but not as a sweeping cure-all. The example of all that is bad about Trade Unions is one I do not disagree with, but if one man digs 4 holes and another only three, it is likely the employer will assume all men are capable of digging 4 holes and demand such, probably for the same money. Unless one advocates piece work, but my experience of piece work is of being paid very little per piece and being forced to produce vast amounts of work for a decent wage. Surely you do not advocate a return to piece work sweatshops (if indeed they are truly gone away, which I doubt)? I must say, you do not come across in your writings in this "dictionary" as a Liberal Anarchist; you could be confused with Ronald Reagan or some other ardent Thatcherite, but none the less I found the little definitions very useful, as I'm sure will my students.

Sincerely
Phil M.


WOLF REPLIES: The ådictionary¼ that Prof. M. mentioned is free online at http://www.cthonia.com/economic_isms/ or in paperback from G21 Barnes & Noble (I think).


Ed C. (No City Provided,) USA:

Yo Rod, every guard needs rest, so he can do a good job on his next shift.Take a well deserved rest. Follow through with your plans to see the "shrink"(it'll make you a bigger person).

Contemplations of this cyber-friend: I doubt Rod Amis has done anything THAT terrible in his prior life, maybe there are a few things he should have done or things he should have done different, maybe there are things that should have been done to HIM differently. Rod seems like a survivor(he doesn't sound suicidal so I guess he has no choice,huh?) so he will probably look back on this as a time of great transition. New millenium (yeah,yeah it starts in 2001), new job, a well deserved rest from guard duty(the heliocopter is landing for a refueling!! Oh, Joy!). "Heliocopter" over Rod, take care of Rod, make him into the stronger, faster, happier,more contented Rod that he was born to be: the old Rod will be just fucking amazed.

With Love and best wishes,
Ed C.

P.S. Get one set of new rags(clothes) and maybe some "dogs" to match.

P.S.S. Make the transition complete - use a new picture of yourself for your online personas(and not some pic you have now, something truely new).


From Martha A., Warwick, BERMUDA:

I have been intriguedÝby your unbound "My Glass House." Sorry to see it end but I know there will be a happy conclusion in life. Enjoy your new position and keep in touch. By the way: Happy Birthday!ÝA good time to make a change.

Love


From Valerie S., (No City Provided,) MEXICO:

Brother Andy sent me your statements on rosemary and Pat F's investigations. It is all so frustrating.Ý keep us all informed as information opens up. Next time I'll try to be snide. I don't have it in me to-day.

Valerie S.


ÝFrom Jennifer Blue, Amsterdam, HOLLAND:

dear rod,

it is officially your birthday in holland, so i wish you a happy birthday! we aries seem to be celebrating our birthdays w/major pivots, pirouettes and turns. i like change very much and i am interested in how wolfie does the g21 thing. of course you will be sorely missed!

meow,
mistress b


ÝFrom Steve Vivian., New York, New York, USA:

Rod! Ý

So you really have left the building...but unlike Elvis, you've left only figuratively, not literally!Ý (That's good!) Ý

Congratulations on making G21 such a fun read...it's got a blend of good writing *and* humor (and a blessed lack of pretentious hand-wringing moralism that so often wrecks other publications). Ý

Stay healthy and happy, buddy. Ý Ý

Your longtime reader and occasional writer,
Steve Vivian


ROD RESPONDS: Thanks, Steve. We're too busy to wring hands in these parts, too much world-shaking to do! --- RA




From Ed C. (No City Provided,) USA:

Dear Rod:

The story was......uhhhh......entertaining. Unfortunately, it did contain an awful lot of [negative]stereotypes that many people(group A) think other people(group B) think that the first group(group A) actually lives. Personally, I would be refreshed by reading an unpredictable tale of a black brother that spent very little time "just chillin", hung with a few cool whities because he knew his anger & dissapointment with the assinine few(whites) did not take away from the decency of the better whites, lived a lifestyle that matched his income and realistic hours of "play"(what is left after work,eating,sleeping,bathing,fucking.......) and who would NEVER think of bonking his friends wife - even if she had the "big pink" right there in front of his ass( I was a member of a touring rock band,complete with groupies in the late 70's-early 80's;I know restraint CAN be maintained). ? Does fiction reflect reality or create reality?

Happy B-Day.

C-YA,
Ed C. {the following is compliments of Dear Abby} ROFLMAO ;O From Twenty to Thirty,if a man lives right, its once in the morning and once at night. From Thirty to Forty,if a man lives right,he cuts out the morning,but performs at night. From Forty to fifty,its now and then, From Fifty to Sixty, it's God-knows-when. If after Sixty, he's still inclined, don't let him fool you, it's all in his mind.

Rod,

We do not want to miss you, anyway if it has to happen we accept the reality. We welcome Wolf De Voon. Where he lives?

We also welcome Anayat Durrani. I have some fears please clarify :-

1. What about our future with new editor? Will he still prefer us?
2. What about our present unpublished articles with you ... and of future ones?

please clear

thanks & regards
piyush


WOLF REPLIES: Piyush asks great questions. Let¼s see if I have any great answers.

(1.) The future of this magazine depends on its contributors, as much as it may depend on my skill as an editor. If I get well-written articles from Africa and Asia, I promise you that they will be published in G21 with plenty of enthusiasm. Rod has okayed a major publicity push to alert Third World readers and writers that G21 exists for the purpose of uniting the rainbow of humanity, allowing people to talk to one another across HUGE barriers of race, religion, sex, culture, and political persuasion. At times, it¼s amazingly hard for me to accept that anyone could conceivably disagree with Wolf DeVoon, because I¼m obviously RIGHT about liberty and the rule of law. Unfortunately, as editor of G21 it is my job to solicit and feature alternative viewpoints, and that specifically includes people who disagree with me. So, the bottom line, Piyush, is that you and I are stuck with G21 the way Rod created it --- balanced, optimistic, wry, and deeply candid.

(2.) Rod gave me a few articles "queued" for publication. Most of them will be used up next week. The problem for me is NEW SUBMISSIONS. Write well about subjects you care about. Include a pile of facts and organize them so that readers understand what happened and why. Writers sometimes say too much about too little, and on those occasions, I have to question whether our readership will sit still for it. Web readers are lightning fast on the Back button (or worse: their next Bookmark). You have five sentences to grab them.

(3.) As far as payment for articles goes, I¼m putting the entire staff on a starvation diet for at least three months. Rod needs us to pitch in, and that includes me. The World¼s Magazine is no longer an infant. It¼s time to send it out to make a living and start paying its own way. As soon as I can convince Rod to let me hook up a major advertiser to subsidize this growing Event, trust me, any net revenue will go to pay ALL of our columnists and global contributors, share and share alike. Until then, nada. What we write for G21 has to be a labor of love. Not such a bad deal, when you think about it. There are a lot of ways to make a living. There is only one way to speak the truth and engage your fellow men, i.e. free speech. We provide a free forum because we believe in the power of speech. If you have something important to say, I submit that money doesn¼t matter, does it? Because the truth is not for sale. Wellä not until we have G21 advertisers, anyway. Then I¼ll start cutting checks, beginning with Rod, who¼s owed $1.2 million in back pay. Hmmä how about an initial public offering, boss? G21 Global Media Corp sounds pretty good. Think of the stock option moral dilemmas, especially for our incorruptible socialist writers. New libertarian editorial policy: Ask not what G21 can do for the happiness of the Six Billion, ask what The World¼s Magazine can do for its staff. Just kidding. Sometimes my sense of humor is sunk by bitterness, that it should be so goddamn hard for good work to get accomplished. I assure myself that it was far worse for Gandhi and ML King, Malcolm X and Nelson Mandela, Phoolan Devi and Emiline Pankhurst, so shut up, Wolf, go back to work and quit complaining. Be patient with me, Piyush (and everybody else). I¼ll get the G21 cash flow pumping as soon as possible, right after I figure out what a discussion list is.

Th-th-that¼s all, folks!

THE WORLD'S MAGAZINE, THE WORLD'S MAILBOX

Wolf,

This is not a joke. I personally know a Chemistry Nobel Laureate (Kari Mullis) who is one of the people fighting to get the truth out about this public brainwashing by self-serving interest groups. I highly recommend taking a brief look at the following link.

http://www.truthbeknown.com/aidslinks.htm

Regards,
Johann


From Kari F., (No City Provided,)USA

Hola,

I just wanted to notify you of a few major anarchista news items.

The first is that I have opened up my own groovy pita weblog site at ( http://tiny.pitas.com/ )

Glow in the pretty pink layout and ad some of your favorite wacky sites.

My second bit of news is that I am having a scheduled chat on Thursday evening 6pm PST / 9pm EST at my Yahoo Club ( http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/anarchistacam )

Please stop by and say hi.

The third order of business is that I don't yet know when the Ricki Lake show will be airing, but there is no reason for me to try to shoot for getting on the show again - and I need your help. The show topic I am looking to get on is "Have you ever dreamed of meeting your favorite celebrity?"

Soooo... I'm looking for anyone adventurous enough to write the show a glowing letter about how much they want to meet me. In return, you and I get a free trip to NYC and of course the chance to hang out and meet. How cool is that? I am totally serious about this, so BCC me if you decide to write Ricki :-) I also encourage you to call the show too at: 1-800-GO-RICKI

The Ricki Lake email address is celebrities@ricki.com

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

kari



From Kemp, (No City Provided,) TX, USA:

take the dubya test: gwbdiary.home.texas.net


From Floyd H. P., (No City Provided,) USA:

Phil, I read all this below and have noted with great relish how many other people are outraged by the census. I couldn't agree with you more. I always get outraged when anyone starts yapping about getting/giving public funds- especially federal monies. I can not see why that we must let the federal government taketh away one dollar, filter it through a half gazillion buearucrats' hands, and hand us back a dime- then expect us to be unduly grateful! One of the promos that bugs me the most is the one that mentions getting money for day care centers. I am really outraged by this little "gimme" program. I am 59 years old. When we had a little one my wife stayed home and took care of him. At the time I was a lowly 3 striper in the USAF and military pay back in them days was like 100 bucks a month and a small pittance for quarters and an even smaller pittance for separate rations. We did a lot of doing without so that she could stay at home and raise boy. Now that I'm older and almost making a living along comes Unca Sammy and steals money from me so that others can have two jobs and send their kids to daycare- some of whom are making twice as much as I and my wife- even with my Air Force pension thrown in. How is this fair? Now that I have my own raised, why do I have to pay to raise others???

But I diverge, I intended to fill out the census with one answer and send it along mostly blank- I forgot to tell my wife. She was merrily filling it out and asking me questions- until I got curious. When I found out what she was doing she had marked about the first five or six questions- age, date of birth, residence. I hollared "Stop" looked at it, decided no harm done just yet, picked up the form, wrote on the back page: "This already has a lot more information on it than the U.S. Constitution requires." Signed it, folded it up and told her to send it out. She did. The other day, I mentioned the fact that we would probably get fined $100 for my little escapade with the census. This did NOT make her happy!! We are not long on money- did our taxes the other day, beleive it or not we have to pay taxes on part of her social security, and since she didn't work a lot of years, while raising children, her SS is pretty dismal, as you can imagine - so now her SS is about one month's worth short- so that others can work two jobs and drag their kids to daycare!

-----Original Message-----

From: Phil M.

Subject: Fwd: Sinsus

In case you've forgotten...

No, I don't have $100 to pay the fine, but they're getting *exactly* what the Constitution requires. Two residents. That's it.

If all of you haven't seen the Fed's never-ending television ad campaign threatening the talking monkeys with "unnatural financial disaster" if they don't answer the census, you have missed out the single most disgusting Marxist sales pitch in America's history.

Not since FDR's reign has there ever been a more blatant campaign intended to sell the talking monkeys the idea that WE NEED GOVERNMENT TO TAKE OUR MONEY AND REDISTRIBUTE IT AS THEY SEE FIT SO WE ALL DON'T DIE WITHOUT THEIR LOVE AND PARENTAL GUIDANCE.

If you find my analysis somehow "extreme" or "rhetorically strident" in its tenor, tough. If you don't already get it, this forwarded post can't even start to save your sadly immoral (not "immortal") political soul. If you don't find the Fed's campaign an anathema to every single principle this country once held dear -- and that our fighting men paid for with their lives -- then you're a real, honest-to-God communist sympathizer.

I don't mean that as some back-peddling McCarthyesque slam, no. I mean it as a very real appraisal of where your political belief structure lies. You are a collectivist and have no inkling to do for yourselves... or your family. You want *other* people to take care of you and you will fall on your knees to worship Great White Father in DC to make sure his wrath isn't released upon your pathetic, tax-fed teepee. You are nothing but a bona fide Clintonista, and all I can say to you is:

"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your consul, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains set lightly upon you; and may posterity forget ye were our countrymen."-- Samuel Adams

+++ THE PREVIOUS VOX POPULI +++ THE NEXT VOX POPULI +++

We want your feedback on this stuff. Go to the TALK BACK page and tell us what you think!

via e-mail