/#######################################################################\ | | | T h e N e w P o l i t i c s O n l i n e M a g a z i n e | | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | | Volume 2, Number 2 | | June, 1995 | | | | Editor-in-Chief/Publisher ........................ Josh Renaud | | | | Programming Consultant .......................... * We need one!! | | | | Columnists ....................................... Kevin Salks | | ....................................... Josh Renaud | | ...................................... * We need more!! | | | | Contributing Writers ............................. Shai Sachs | | ............................. Joe Antonucci | | ............................ * We need more!! | | | | Distributed by .......................... GrossWorld Publishing Co. | | | \#######################################################################/ /#######################################################################\ | | | T h e N e w P o l i t i c s O n l i n e M a g a z i n e | | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | | Table of Contents | | | | | | Introduction to Politics Online Magazine ......... The Editor | | Freedom of Expression: Religion In Schools ....... Josh Renaud | | The Oklahoma Bombing ............................. Excerpted | | Derailed Train of Thought ........................ Kevin Salks | | Reaching POM ..................................... The Editor | | | \#######################################################################/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | Introduction | | | | The Editor | \==============/ We began 1995 with our largest issue yet! After that, severe internal conflict plus a diminished interest by our writers (and even our readers) combined to halt POM from being made. As the sole member of the editorial staff who remained, I decided to let the magazine go. But recently, there has been a minor thirst for a magazine such as ours, and so I decided to get POM back together. Unfortunately, POM is all the result of one man: me. And I _know_ can't do this by myself. I need people who are DEDICATED who can write me an article every month or two months. I also need contributers, who can write every once in a while. And most importantly, I need more distributors who can take POM to places like Compuserve and America Online. POM has been cleansed, that is for sure. If this mag continues, it will be because of dedication. But I need help, and I need it bad, so please try and do something if you want to see this magazine succeed. Stay tuned to POM for more news, info, and thought-provoking articles. After four issues, I am beginning to see a light ahead of us. Perhaps this mag will make it after all. We'll see you next month! ... The Editor ... (Hopefully that will be plural by next issue) %************************************************************************% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | Freedom of Expression: | | Religion in School | | | | Josh Renaud | \========================/ Well, I am back again! This month we deal with a fiery topic: religion in school. Some people are completely against any type of religious expression being displayed in school. Other say it is unconstitutional for students to not be allowed the freedom to express themselves religiously. Let's go ahead and plunge into the topic! Ever since prayer was removed from school in 1962, illegitemacy rates, juvenile crime rates, drug usage rates, and high school dropout rates have increased dramatically. Many people attribute this to coincidence. But does it make sense to say that every stastistic that measures immoral activities has increased since prayer was removed? When this fact is pointed out, some will respond "It makes no difference. What about 'seperation of church and state?'" Here's what: That phrase is found no where in the Constitution. It isn't found in the Declaration of Independence. Not even the Articles of Confederation. No Founding document from our country contains the phrase "seperation of church and state." Would you like to know where it DID come from: A letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to a Baptist church. You see, this Baptist church had heard rumors that the Congrationalist sect of Christianity was about to become our national sect. They fired off a letter to President Jefferson, who replied, telling them that no official sect would be established. Indeed, look at this quote: "Our nation was founded as a Christian nation. The Constitution protects us from coming under the rule of any one sect. You are in no danger. There is a protective wall seperating the church and the state." Have you ever heard the first half of that quote before? Probably not. In the case of Christian Science Church vs. United States, the Supreme Court provided 87 precedents that upheld the Unite States' support of Christianity. Religion was a normal part of all society, even government, until the humanistic era began. When Franklin D. Roosevelt became a king by serving almost four terms and enacting numerous pro-government, anti-religion, pro-humanist bills, he set the stage for humanism to roll in. Because of this, by the 1960s, people were getting hooked on humanism, and almost didn't care that prayer was being removed. Unfortunately, it would seem that that removal of prayer and religion from all aspects of the school has backfired in the extremists' faces. Why is it that world religions classes are allowed to teach about Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and other religions, but NOT Christianity? What is wrong here? Here's what's wrong: There is an out-and-out attack on Christianity. By keeping the generation of the '60s from receving reinforcement, they grew up and kept their children from receiving any religious instruction. And now we are suffering the consequences. The solution? Allow voluntary prayer. Put Christianity back into world religion classes. Give the students a time after the Pledge of Allegiance to have a "moment of silence" where they can pray if they wish. There need not be a "generic prayer" that all students could pray without some being offended. That idea is ridiculous. By _allowing_ Chrisitianity and other religions to be taught and excercised, we allow our children to grow and make up for the mistakes of a generation past. %*************************************************************************% /\/ Flash BBS /\/ -= Running on an Atari ST with FoReM ST software =- What do we have to offer? How about this: Over 45 subboards on the Fnet and CrossNet, with nodes ranging all over America! 15 online games like Space Trade Elite, Space Empire, Football Pool, and Assassin. THOUSANDS of files for your downloading pleasure! [314] 275-2040 14.4 USR modem %***************************************************************************% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | The Oklahoma Bombing: | | Racism, Ethics, & Politics As Usual | | \===================================/ Racism on the rise? You had better believe it! ...At a point when the world has seen communism falter as an imperfect system to manage people, democracy seems to be headed down the same road. No one is seeing the "big" picture. Maybe we have to combine ideologies to achieve the perfect utopian government. Remember, government-sponsored health care was a communist idea. Should only the rich be allowed to live long? Does that say that because a person is poor, he is a lesser human being and doesn't deserve to live as long, because he doesnt wear a tie to work? [Ed: This is from a letter by Timothy McVeigh to the Union-Sun & Journal in Lockport NY.] Does this sound like the rambling of a right wing extremists... or perhaps a voice from the far left? Some serious questions are emerging from the bombing that need to be answered, yet the FBI nor the media are even addressing them. These questions are as follows. 1. What caused the second explosion? Scientists familiar with seismographic recordings can find no explaination other than a second bomb to satisfy the second blip. It was assumed at first the second blip may have been the debris hitting the ground, however the demolition of the entire structure didnt even register. 2. Why were there no ATF agents in the building that day? 3. There was an unexploded bomb found in the building by the ATF, what type of device was it and why was it there? 4. The FBI put out an all points bulletin for the capture of two men in a brown Chevy pickup recorded on an ATT video setting this bomb and leaving in the truck. Who were these men, now never discussed? 5. McVeigh was arrested at a time and location from Oklahoma City that demanded he drive a minimum of 85 miles per hour on a well patroled interstate hiway[sp], with a vehicle ('78 mercury) that had no license plates and carrying a loaded pistol for which he had no permit. McVeigh offered no resistance and volunteered the information that he was armed, this after he should have been aware of the bombs destruction and the death of at least 5 people. 6. The cost of making this bomb, renting the vehicle and motels is in excess of $10,000 dollars. Where did McVeigh, who had been working for minimum wage, get this kind of money? 7. Ramsay Clark who has been hired to represent the Waco survivors in a law suit against the government has subpoenaed all government records and phone calls concerning Waco. Were all these records stored at the Alfred P. Murrah building? The government has recently asked for more time in building a case against Nichols, [as] they have no substantial evidence to present as yet that would assure an indictment. The same is true of Timothy McVeigh even though he does have some ties to this case. Since I have written this I have found out that one of the suspects who was driving the brown Chevy pickup has been found. From reports he is an Iraqui[sp] soldier, a survivor of Desert Storm who was brought to this country along with many thousands of Iraquis[sp] by our government. There are a number of witness[es] who place him at the scene of the bombing and a barmaid who served him at a tavern said he was there with McVeigh. She remembers this because the Iraqi kept asking her if she was married and sho could not understand him because of his accent which she recognized from TV coverage of Desert Storm. This person has been found by a TV reporter and private investigator working under contract for the TV station, they have kept the FBI informed of all they do and what they observe. The FBI has ordered them to turn over all videos they take during surveilance but so far the FBI has not seen fit to arrest him; the national media as of today are maintaining a complete silence about this. This has been going on since April 23, and has been on local news media in Oklahoma City. Could there be some political considerations here? Could it be that some politicians felt there would be less impetus to pass Clinton's terrorist bill if this was known and also detrimental to Clinton's push against the militia? This could explain the FBI's reluctance to arrest and question this man. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | Derailed Train Of Thought | | | | Kevin Salks | \===========================/ Well, I'm back, and happy to be with you again. I'm sure you're wondering about the title of my column... Well, it suits me best. Instead of focusing on one single topic, I'm going to switch back and forth over several. First of all there is the Oklahoma bombing. Much of the furor surrounding this incident has died down. However, it riled many people up to realize that an American would commit such an act against his own country. Much concern arose concerning militia involvement in the attack. Which brings me to militias. What _are_ they? Well, I am fully for the militias, however, it is important to realize they do not all fit in the same category. Many religious and racist militias are evil in their intents. However, the question is; what does the government do? Well, nothing yet. The problems from militias won't arise for a few years. Republicans in Congress continue to dominate American politics. President Clinton is finding himself forced to agree and appear to be cooperative towards the Congress. Even so, the President issued his first veto on an economic bill he called "more pork." In truth, this bill cut funds that government departments hadn't used this year in next year's budget. I have yet to find the "pork" portion of the bill. And in related news, President Clinton half-jokingly requested that Speaker Newt Gingrich attend an open-forum polite debate in New Hampshire. To the White House's shock, Gingrich agreed, and the two men came together to discuss issues with a group of senior citizens. The dialogue went smoothly, and both were very courteous, even sharing some laughs together. This was too short of notice and to surprising to have been planned... Could a new cooperation be on the horizon? Maybe so.. And finally, I can't leave you without mentioning O.J. Simpson and his officially one-year old murder trial. Frankly, this case is ridiculous, it's gotten far too out of hand, and it has shown us just how far out of whack the Jury Selection System is. A politically correct jury? Did the thought ever occur to the powers that be in the judicial system that perhaps they could choose RANDOMLY? This case has cost more than any other in U.S. history, and most Americans are tired of it. One last soundbite: To shows like American Journal -- STOP CAPITALIZING ON O.J.! I now call American Journal "O.J. Journal" because all they do is talk about the day's progress in the O.J. case. I wonder what would happen if the case adjourned for a day... Would they have anything to talk about? I hope you enjoyed my rambling thought processes... I'll see you next time!! %***************************************************************************% | Reaching Politics Online Magazine | | | \=====================================/ If you want to write a letter to someone at POM, send in a Reader's Write letter, or just to make comments or suggestions, please call the following BBSes and EMail the Contact listed. POM also now has an Internet EMail address! Internet EMail: kirkman@bsbox.com Please use "POM" in the subject line! BBS Locations: In Area Code 314 Fire Escape's BBS ... (314) 741-9505 Contact: "Josh Renaud" B.S. Box ............ (314) 861-3902 Contact: "Captain Kirk-- The Real One" * Flash BBS ........... (314) 275-2040 Contact: "Josh Renaud" * -- Flash is our main hub. If possible, try to correspond at Flash. %***************************************************************************% Copyright (c)1995 GrossWorld Publishing Company %********************************* THE * END *******************************%