At 02:08 PM 6/7/96 +0100, P.J. Ponder wrote:

Or they automatically delete any posts that come from or relate to the puerile bullshit Bell is infamous for, and choose not to get dragged into this type of time- and bandwidth- wasting garbage. Of which this post is just another, of course, but i get so damn sick and tired of the constant imposition of 'AP' and related nonsense on this list.

It is to be expected that among the citizens of this world, there would be those who have so much moral or economic stock in the current order that they would strongly resist any serious change. (maybe they're already on top, or they hope to be in a few years, etc.) Until a few years ago, almost everybody probably figured that the main effect of computer networking (and the Internet) on politics would be to allow people to send letters to their Congressmen faster while destroying fewer trees, or letting people send in their votes by email rather than travelling to a voting booth. Simple changes. Non-threatening. Don't rock the boat. Don't upset the apple cart. Don't make a wave. It will be a great shock to most of you to hear that the real changes will not only be figuratively "revolutionary" but also LITERALLY revolutionary.

...

3. Congress would have no problems passing a law outlawing AP, if one does not exist already.

I would be satisfied if they just outlawed e-mail about it.

I guess this guy never heard about the 1st Amendment. Or maybe he did, but he concluded that it must have been a mistake, because it's not the kind of thing that the people in charge today would vote for if they had a choice in the matter.. Jim Bell jimbell@pacifier.com