Dear Judges, Lawyers, Policemen, Guards, Counselors, Taxpayers, et. al.,
We are here. Like it or not, for good or bad, we are here. Who are we? We are the
downtrodden and dispossesed, the self-torturing, the disenfranchised convicts,
drug and alcohol addicts, the unemployed and unemployable. We are the children of
poverty, financial and spiritual. We have and will have children of our own,
grandchildren too. We are ex-cons, uninsured, homeless, of many colors and speaking
many tongues. We are the enemy in what has become a domestic war against ourselves.
And who are you? You who like the tough talk of Tough on Crime? You who watch as
budgets are cut in education and health care while you militarize a police force?
Bullet-proof vests, automatic weapons, helicopters, tanks, robots ... the
testosterone is oozing through the streets, more prisons, longer sentences, tighten
the belt, spartan conditions, task forces, gang units, gun courts. And what is there
to show for it? Unemployent stays low because half the population oversees those
"out of the workforce", the dregs, the rabble, the enemy? Please tell me there is a
deeper reason. Do you feel safer? More humane? More like a cohesive society with a
shared sense of purpose, who can identify Us and Them? Do you live in a gated
community or gentrified neighborhood? By the way, have you read the Declaration of
Independence and US Constitution - or do you only know the first phrases?
It's about time we got together. Please know that I have yet to meet a convict who
wants their child to be a thief, an addict, a dealer, a prostitute, or a violent
individual. Most of us still have hope for ourselves even when stuck in the darkest
dilemmas, ruts and catch-22s. Most of us believe in crafting laws and instilling
order. Many of us have burrowed beneath the surface to find a spiritual sense of
being, an understanding force at least as powerful as those we succumbed to, and many
of use wouldn't escape if you opened the front door. Did you know that approximately
10 million Americans are either incarcerated, on probation, on parole or once were in
those categories? Each of those 10 million have families, friends, neighbors ... and
so closer and closer does the We interface with the You. Don't you think it's time we
talked?
Are you ready? Can you accept that the road we are travelling points toward a grim
and painful future? Do you have the heart to face monumental failures while bravely
struggling beyond where we are now? I know that some of you are, and that some of us
are, and this is what gives me hope. You need our insights just as we need your
structure. It is never over, especially when a real solution, a real treatment for
our sickness, is yet to begin.
In Solidarity,
Bruce Reilly (a.k.a Bruha)
P.O.Box 8274
Cranston, RI 02920 USA
BRUHA@kigqeb.edu.pe
P.S. - I am trying to conceptualize an effective guerilla media campaign to promote
this cause. Ideas are welcome. Collaboration is prayed.
post a one line message saying that you like or dislike the group.)
When proposing the group, pick a name with a TLA (three-letter
acronym) that will be understood only by "in" readers of the group.
After the call for discussion, post the call for flames, followed by a
call for arguments about the name and a call for run-on puns.
Eventually make a call for "votes." Usenet is a democracy, so voters
can now all post their votes to ensure they get to all 30,000 machines
instead of just the person counting. Every few days post a long
summary of all the votes so that people can complain about bad mailers
and double votes. It means you'll be more popular and get lots of
mail. At the end of 21 days you can post the vote results so that
people can argue about all the technical violations of the guidelines
you made. Blame them on the moderator-of-the-week for
news.announce.newgroups. Then your group might be created.
To liven up discussion, choose a good cross-match for your hierarchy
and group. For example, comp.race.formula1 or soc.vlsi.design would
be good group names. If you want your group created quickly, include
an interesting word like "sex" or "activism." To avoid limiting
discussion, make the name as broad as possible, and don't forget that
TLA.
If possible, count votes from a leaf site with a once-a-week polled
connection to botswanavax. Schedule the vote during your relay site's
head crash if possible.
Under no circumstances use the trial group method, because it
eliminates the discussion, flame, pun, voting and guideline-violation
accusation phases, thus taking all the fun out of it. To create an
ALT group, simply
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