1 If you are in need of help, you need but ask.... 2 *************************** INSTALLED: 11 NOV 85 ********************** 3 Welcome to BWMS (BackWater Message System) Mike Day System operator 4 ************************************************************ 5 GENERAL DISCLAIMER: BWMS IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INFORMATION 6 PLACED ON THIS SYSTEM. 7 BWMS was created as an electronic bill board. BWMS is a privately owned 8 and operated system which is currently open for use by the general public. 9 No restrictions are placed on the use of the system. As the system is 10 privately owned, I retain the right to remove any and all messages which 11 I may find offensive. Because of the limited size of the system, it will be 12 periodically purged of messages. (only 629 lines of data can be saved) 13 To leave a message, type 'ENTER' and use ctrl/C or break to get out of the 14 ENTER mode. The message is automatically stored. If after entering the 15 message you find you made a mistake, use the replace command to replace 16 the line. To exit from the system, type 'OFF' then hang up. 17 Type 'HELP' to see other commands that are available on the system. 18 **************************************************************** 19 20 Prometheus: Don't give me facts, you'll spoil my emotion bound argument. 21 Besides, they ain't facts anyway, just the twisted mumbo-jumbo of scientists. 22 They use theory that they themselves promote to prove their facts with. 23 You're just basing it all on a bunch of conjecture about things. I don't 24 care if it is base on thousands of years of self-proving back patting. 25 ***************************************************************************** 26 Hee Hee! I like it! JF $$$$$$$$$$$$$ 27 :-]Well, almost at the top... Max[-: 28 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 29 I blinked, rubbed my eyes, then looked again. "Stan?" 30 "Yep. Go ahead and sit down. The Doctor and Milchar left early this morning, 31 told me to say goodbye for them. Have some breakfast." 32 I sat, but skipped breakfast. "Can you fill me in? How did you get here?" 33 Stan smiled, amused. He handed a small device to me. It looked almost 34 exactly like the modified passkey that I had in my pocket, except this one had 35 my personal identicode on it. "All yours, Bert. Even registered with DS. 36 They had one hell of a time classifying it, though. That little grey IC is a 37 clever little gadget. The Wendill Space Turbine, I call it." 38 My brain stopped, rewound, then played that last sentence back for further 39 study. "You call it that? Isn't naming the prerogative of the inventor? 40 Or..." I stopped. "Yours?" 41 Stan's smile widened to a large grin. "Couldn't have done it without ya, 42 Bert. After I got your note, I sulked for a few hours, then got mad and 43 decided to tackle the problem without a model. I used a hell of a lot of the 44 DS research budget in computer time, too. Finally figured out what made it 45 tick, then made a few of them." 46 "If you invented it, how...?" 47 "...Did the Doctor get it? Just as he said. From Gallifrey. The first test 48 run we made landed the tester there. We did some technology swapping. Some 49 of this new stuff will blow your mind. Anyway, they sent a couple to the 50 Doctor as he seems to be one of their favorite field testers. He sold one to 51 you (at a bargain, I might add), and you know the rest." 52 I tried to absorb it all, failed, then decided it was too early in the morning 53 to try. "Just how does it work, Stan?" 54 Stan finished off the last of his sausage, then spoke. "Know how we keep a 55 traveldoor open?" 56 I shrugged. "Sure. That's part of training. I may not be an engineer, but I 57 soak up some stuff. Basically you get a computer to punch a series of little 58 holes in the space fabric, which are positioned in such a way as to let matter 59 leak through." 60 "Correct. The Space Turbine is something like that, only it doesn't punch 61 through the fabric, but dents it. Any way we want. In this application, we 62 want to form a bubble of space completely cut off from your starting universe, 63 with passenger and Turbine inside. In this state, shifts in- oh, never mind, 64 it'll take hours to go through the math. What it amounts to is a space bubble 65 carrying you from universe to universe. Neat solution, only problem being the 66 Turbine occupies about sixteen cubic meters." 67 I drew a blank. "Hold it." I held up my new passkey, and pointed to the 68 little IC. "That ain't sixteen cubic meters, bub." 69 "That's the best part. We found out that the interior of a bubble of space 70 could be any size we wanted, up to power limits. The bubble could have holes 71 out into regular space, or not. What we did was build two separate Turbines, 72 then made one encapsulate the other. Lo and behold, sixteen cubic meters 73 becomes sixteen cubic millimeters. Or whatever. Once encapsulated, a Turbine 74 can maintain its own bubble." 75 I shook my foggy head, tried to imagine what this would mean to commerce. And 76 me. The Dimensional Supervisor's job would increase manyfold- 77 "Stan, do me a favor. Don't make any more of these things. Don't release 78 them outside of DS. We've got enough trouble mucking around in our own 79 universe without messing up our neighbor's. Not that this place minds 80 visitors. I'm just imagining what would happen if smugglers found out about 81 this." 82 Stan considered. "Hmmmm. Eric?" 83 I only now noticed that Eric was laying next to Stan. "Ready." 84 "Your evalutation?" 85 "Computed probability of 83.47% that smugglers would find out about Wendill 86 Space Turbine within 14 days. Probability increases to 96.11% after one 87 Terran lunar. After discovery, the Turbine will permit smuggling of any item 88 with near zero chance of detection." 89 "Hmmmm again. Gotta be something we can do. It seems so USEFUL to be able to 90 travel to other universes-" 91 "Not to mention being able to fit a pleasure dome Kubla Khan would envy into a 92 closet." 93 94 %%%%%% rebalsa %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 11/11/85 95 %%%%%% Attribute any garbage in the above to line noise during upload. %%% BR 96 whoowhee|||| What a way to welcome a newcomer to the board|||||| 97 98 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 99 100 Leroy McKane? I can say for a certainty he is absolutely honest.... 101 (or at least as honest as I am). As for that funny Frenchman, you know 102 how worked up the French get over sex. 103 104 Hooray Frank! Whoever you are this time. 105 106 Mohammed Wassir 107 108 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 109 110 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\THE DESTROYER\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\18 111 Would that his waking had been as peacful as his sleep. There was a screech in his ear and suddenly he was being 112 unmercifully pummeled. Danger-trained reflexes had the body moving before the mind was even concious of what was 113 happening. He did a quick roll to gain a couple yards from whatever was attacking him and got to his feet instantly, 114 the sword held out before him, ready to start slicing. 115 The first thing his mind registered was that it was full daylight. The second thing was that the clearing was empty 116 except for him and Tariya, who was half standing and staring at him indignantly. Seeing nothing else around, he 117 lowered the blade and demanded, "What the f-" 118 "YOU!" she snapped, obviously mad about something. "What... what did you think you were doing?!" 119 "Sleeping!" he yelled back, confused and starting to get a little pissed himself. 120 "You were doing more than just sleeping! Who do you think you are, crawling over to me in the middle of the night 121 and taking advantage-" 122 Oh, for $%&'# sake! Now he knew. He released the sword and it vanished before it touched the ground. Keeping his 123 voice level so as to sound more rational (and less guilty. What had he done to feel guilty about, anyway?) than he 124 felt, he said, "I think you're flattering youself, sweetheart. I didn't go to you, you came to me." 125 "You're lying! I would never do something like that! I woke up and you had your arm around me and... and... Did you 126 try something!?" she felt to see if her clothes were all there. 127 James threw his hands up in exasperation, "I was too tired to try anything last night, and I seriously doubt you 128 were tired enough not to notice if I did." She glared at him, obviously not believing a word of it. He sighed and 129 said, "Go ahead and believe what you want. You will anyway. But I'll tell you this: getting shocked out of my sleep, 130 and then being called first a pervert, and then a liar, well, that's a hell of a way to start the day. I'm hurt that 131 you would even think that about me, after all we been through. If I was the type, I could have joined in with those 132 creeps back at the inn. I didn't even... oh crap!" he saw that she wasn't buying it so he gave up in disgust. He went 133 off into the bushes to relieve himself and when he got back he saw that her attitude hadn't changed much. Staying well 134 away from her, he walked over to the path. 135 "Where do you think you're going?" she wanted to know. 136 "Well," he said with more than a trace of sarcasm, "I'm hungry. Molesting sleeping women at midnight always leaves 137 me hungry. And since I don't see any Minit Marts about, I guess I'm going to have to go find something. You can come 138 along if you want, but as far as I'm concerned, we can just part company right here. I don't need this grief, and I 139 certainly don't need you." and without another word he turned and left the clearing. 140 "Wait!" she hollered, getting up and running after him. "Damn you, wait! You're not leaving me here!" 141 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\THE DESTROYER\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 142 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 143 French toast: Yes, I have looked over the messages in question, both yours and 144 mine, and from my view point, I still feel that you have been promoting a 145 hysterical viewpoint of the AIDS problem. It is a dredful desease, yes, it is 146 currently not currable yes, but it is not spreading in catastrophic 147 proportions. Currently it is limited largly to the gay male population. With a 148 few exceptions elsewhere. Currently the most important means to fight AIDS is 149 education. Not conjecture, not trying to panic everyone into thinking that it 150 is a runaway epidemic. (14,000 known cases is an epidemic?) The major problem 151 currently is that within the male gay community because of the sexual practic 152 it is reaching epidemic proportions. But, outside of the know transference 153 methods, AIDS is not known to be easily tranferred. It appears to be damn 154 difficult to transfer the desease. Yet because of the general hysteria that 155 the media has generated, people are believing all sorts of horror stories. 156 Like you can catch it just by being in the same room with someone who has 157 AIDS. There is absolutely no proof of this, and in fact the information so far 158 is that even direct contact with a person will not transfer AIDS. It appears 159 that it MUST be transferred through the body fluids. Why is it that every time 160 some new desease comes we go through this same hysteria "We're all gonna die! 161 We're all gonna die!"? 162 As a side note, I find it very disturbing that people who state that their 163 basis for their religon is love and concern for their fellow man would use the 164 problems of the gay male community as justification for upholding their 165 prejudice for that group. With hypocrisy like that you wonder why I don't 166 follow your beliefs in a sheep like fashion? 167 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ fred ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 168 thanks,dave. 169 exit 170  171 172 #$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$ 173 174 Phantom 429 175 by 176 John Silverman 177 (Part 3) 178 179 I stayed with Jennifer that night. Nothing sexual, that would have seemed almost incestuous. We spent most of the 180 night talking about Roy. Finally she dozed off about three. I carried her to her room and grabbed a blanket and crashed 181 on her couch. Tired as I was, my sleep that night was uneasy at best. 182 I dreamed I was sitting at my radio, listening. The channel was empty, but buried deep in the background static I 183 heard... something. It was too faint and distant to make out but it left me with an uneasy feeling. In fact, as time 184 went by, it terrified me. I hoped and prayed that it would stay in the distance. But I knew it wouldn't. Something bad 185 was coming. What form it would take my mind couldn't or wouldn't tell me but it was coming all the same. Then I 186 realized that whatever I was hearing wasn't just on the radio. It was in the wind, blowing outside my window. Something 187 was coming and the most horrifying thing was that it wasn't coming for me... 188 I awoke in a cold sweat, Jen's face staring down concernedly at me. Early daylight streamed in through the window. 189 "Are you okay?" she asked. "Your groaning woke me up." 190 I sat up, trying to shake the cobwebs. My stomach felt like I'd swallowed a cannonball. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. 191 Just a bad dream. I'm still upset too, you know." 192 "I know." she said, sitting on the couch next to me. "I dreamed that Roy had somehow managed to come back. For me. 193 Ididn't want to wake up." 194 Her subconcious had given her a cheap shot. I looked at my watch, still trying to wake up. "Oh, cripes. I'm late 195 for work. I hafta go." I fumbled for my jacket. 196 At the door I stopped, "You want me to come by later?" 197 "Please." she replied. "I don't want to impose but I really-" 198 "Say no more. You CAN'T impose on me. And I think we could both use the company. For a little while." 199 A litle while was more than it took me to get to work. The 205 bridge had been closed for repairs and the traffic 200 on I-5 was beyind belief. Well, Roy had always said he wanted everybody to know when he was gone. I arrived at work 201 still disheveled and three hours late. My ass was chewed out royally, of course. 202 203 (TO BE CONTINUED...) 204 205 #$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$ 206 (((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))((( Ripple ))) 207 pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp 208 Speaking of cheap shots... 209 Religion: The spiritual TRUTH as revealed in my culture's sacred traditions. 210 Superstition: Those erronious practices to which you still adhere after 211 being shown the TRUTH. 212 Religious freedom: My freedom to eliminate all vestiges of superstition, 213 especially those which conflict with the TRUTH. 214 pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp 215 MIKEY: Here's a modest proposal---why not incorporate the phrase "WHOOPEE !! 216 I'M AT THE TOP AGAIN!!!" in the lower border of system instructions each time 217 you re-establish DA? That will maybe satisfy the children's need to orient 218 themselves...and stretch the ca Even some 'regulars' seem to feel SO 219 SUCCESSFUL, but falsely so, just because they happened to call after your 220 attention to housekeeping. 221 ===================WHOOPEE! I'M AT THE TOP AGAIN!!! ========================= 222 ************************************************************************** 223 Greetings: If it makes any difference, I think being at the top of 224 the disk is neat. Not earth shattering, just neat. Why not say 225 AT THE TOP? Sort of put's the start of the disk in a up mood. Something 226 it never hurts to have more of around her. ok, that's my two cents. 227 ******************************kathyD****************************************** 228 229 When Bear had lunged underneath the dragon during its leap, he had done so wit 230 h an instantaneous decision in mind. He had noted the timing and direction of 231 the dragon's first leap, and also knew 232 that the underside of the creature was softer, it's organs unprotected by hard 233 bone or skin. 234 235 After the beast had landed on top of him, the crushing weight had nearly 236 killed him. But there was enough cushion into the dragon's stomach that it 237 was more like a big pillow as opposedto a large rock. As it was, he could 238 barely breath. But his face was just inches from the butt of his sword, which 239 still protuded from the dragon's belly, dug into the ground. 240 241 He pulled his arm from his side as best he could, the dragon's blood and lack 242 of air combined to make it so he could hardly breath. Finally, he was able to 243 grip the sword. As he did so, he 244 thrusted upwards with all the strength left within him. He pushed the sword 245 into the dragon's belly, his hand disappeared into the black-red muck. 246 247 The awful stench of hot blood surrounded him, buried him. He was swimming in 248 a sea of putrid blood, fed by the evil devouring of hundreds of men. 249 250 Still he thrusted upwards, and he felt the dragon shudder. His entire arm was 251 now inside the dragon, the blood poured out like a waterfall. He held his 252 breath and tore his blade to the side, making the gaping hole even wider. 253 254 He was now able to get on his knees, and still he thrusted up, and over, and 255 up again. He started cutting in a frenzy. His entire body was drenched in 256 blood as the dragon's innards fell around him. Still he could not breathe, but 257 still he cut, slicing higher and higher, smashing through bone, and then skin. 258 259 The dragon lay still, its last breath gone. A large pool of bllood grew under- 260 neath it and sppread out over the entire floor of the cavern. Suddenly, in its 261 scaly back protruded a sharp point. 262 The point grew, and came upward. 263 264 The sword pierced the skin and then sliced downward. With a final outpouring 265 of hot black guts the dragon's side was rent with a loud tearing sound. And 266 the Bear emerged, completely black-red, steam rising from his body. Only his 267 two bright eyes shown from the awful stuff covering him. But he stood, sword 268 held high in triumph. 269 270 In the other hand, he held a round white object, about the size of a large 271 rock. 272 273 The egg from the dragon of Fendarr. 274 275 0000000000000000 THE BEAR 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 276 277 This is a test, this is only a test. It is a test designed to test the fie hf 278 not a test for use in 279 iding 40-column text, or 280 indeed for 22 co- 281 ext. But for 80-column text, nothing more, nothing less. Thank You. 282 This was only a test. 283 (needs some work!) 284 ............................................................................ 285 286 her one of those tests. Terrible, I know, but when I 287 288 et one ready to work, everything will be pretty well wrapped up 289 s far as communications goes. Blah, blah, blah-blah! 290 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 291 Andy: You have asked me to prove evolution. No, make that *prove* evolution. 292 Hmmmmm.....if someone could lend me their Tardis, I'd be happy to give 293 it a shot. 294 But first, let's talk about fairness. It's only fair that you then be 295 asked to prove, make that *prove*, creationism. Fair, right? But, 296 there's no way you can. Perhaps you could have someone send me a small 297 but well placed lightning bolt with a note attached saying: "He's 298 right, PEN NAME, he's right", then maybe I'd believe you. 299 But as for the bible's truths, are we then to assume that perhaps 300 sometime in the future (is there is one to speak of) someone will run 301 accross some hard copies or diskettes full of various stories about 302 the INN, collect them, bind them, and then sojourn through the world 303 saying something like: "Behold! God, our cyber in the sky, has sent 304 down His lessons on life in a book, and a good one at that, through 305 his messengers here on Earth!!!" and then start a religion called: 306 "The Church of BWMS"??? And claim tax-exemptions and the like??? 307 The bible: A collective anthology of fables of obvious worth with 308 a gimmick to secure them. 309 And evolution. I think that perhaps, Andy, you should spend as much 310 time reading up on Biology as you do your bible. 311 312 I'm about to disclose a very valuble secret, one that has been hidden 313 for most of time, and yet a very important one at that. Here goes: 314 315 -->Religions have only one purpose: provide hope<-- 316 317 When a close relative dies, no-one wants to think they are dead, and th 318 's that. No, we want to think that they have gone to a ~higher~ place, 319 a ~holy~ place. Not just planted in the ground and marked by marble. 320 And since we humans, most of us, are not able to find enough of that 321 hope we need within ourselves, we have to turn to outside sources. 322 First, we turn to families. Then to friends. The to hobbies. And 323 then, when all is exhausted, to religion. 324 Some of us skip all the before and go right to religions. 325 And when we can generate this hope ourselves, especially that day-to- 326 day hope we all need, we no longer have a need for relligion. 327 Religions provide other services; social, economical, etc., but they 328 only provide one of climactic degree: Hope eternal. And for very 329 little cost to the reciever. "Believe this, and you are applicable" 330 And so they do, over and over again. 331 332 One final word. As far as this didcussion goes, one thing should be 333 placed out in the open: No one is trying to change your views, you 334 have to do that alone. 335 I am reminded of one of my favorite peoms, by Stephen Crane: 336 "Think as I Think" 337 338 "Think as I think," said a man, 339 "or you are abominably wicked; 340 You are a toad." 341 After I had thought of it, 342 I said,"I will, then, be a toad." 343 344 Yours with warts, PEN NAME 345 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 346 No, you could not have gone back and re-read those messages and come to the same conclusion. Something must be 347 wrong fred, but I find it useless to quibble with you, and I will do no more. Do not confuse me with others who state 348 AIDS is a form of the wrath of God. I *NEVER* said that. Perhaps someone near my signiture did and you confuse the two. 349 I say one thing and one thing only. Ignoring a problem will not make it go away. If you sirrah, find that this is the cry 350 of a hysterical man, then indeed I must be so, no other truth is possible. 351 352 Well said PEN NAME. A quote from Crane is a most timely thing now. Next we need Dickens and Twain. For now, St. 353 Augustine, THE CITY OF GOD, 21.16. 354 The story of most people, however, is this, that, after they have 355 become conscious of responsibility to law, they are first overcome by 356 passion and become violaters of the law, then they have recourse to grace 357 which helps them to grieve bitterly for the past and to struggle bravely 358 against passion until, at last, with their will in subjection to God and 359 their reason in control of the flesh, they conquer themselves. 360 361 Temperance in all things... 362 French Toast 363 ______________________________________________________________________________ 364 Desole' 365 366 EXCUSE ME...Does anyone here speak English? 367 *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 368 369 A steady, sullen drizzle blanketed Santa Cruz, the cocaine capital of 370 Bolivia. In the center of the city, the Plaza de Alfonso was a collage of 371 muted greys and browns. The afternoon siesta was at hand, and the streets 372 were empty save for two armed militia guarding the entrance of the secret 373 police headquarters. The headquarters was a massive stone building on the 374 south side of the plaza. Centuries ago, the building had been the residence 375 of the Spanish governor, now it housed an overlord of a different sort... 376 perhaps just as corrupt. 377 On the east side of the plaza, a man squatted beneath the awning of a 378 fishmonger's stall, almost invisible in the shadows. Dressed in a faded 379 blue work shirt and tattered dungaries, the man's face was hidden by a 380 floppy straw hat. Intense brown eyes could be seen peering under the brim 381 of the hat, their attention focused on a tan Mercedes sedan parked in front 382 of the headquarter's building. The man was an Albanian known as Mohammed 383 Wassir. 384 As Wassir waited, a young woman clad in tight black satin pants and a 385 low-cut blouse approached the stall. She glanced nervously at the militia- 386 men across the square. Seeing they paid her no heed, she ducked into the 387 shadows and seated herself next to Wassir. 388 "Mohammed," she said. "Why did you have me meet you here? This is 389 a dangerous place for you with the bounty on your head." 390 "Colonel Perez and I have some unfinshed business which must be 391 taken care of this afternoon." Wassir said. 392 "Important enough to get yourself killed? The Colonel will shoot you 393 on sight." 394 "Ah, Maria, you worry too much. Any news?" 395 "Leroy McKane has been sighted in Zaire. Rumor has it that he is 396 raising capital for another of his schemes to rule the world." Maria smiled 397 "It's ridiculous, how can one man rule all of humanity?" 398 "Don't sell McKane short. He is capable of more than most give him 399 credit for. If not for his hunger for small, fuzzy animals, his dreams of 400 world conquest may have succeeded last time," Wassir said. 401 "You'll oppose him, of course?" 402 "I haven't decided yet. There is the matter of my toilet plunger 403 factory that mysteriously burned down. I hated to see that enterprise 404 flushed down the toilet, and I'm sure Leroy was involved." Mohammed scowled 405 "Who's to say the sightings in Zaire are accurate? An imposter perhaps, or 406 McKane may just be toying with us all....with no intention of making a 407 comeback." 408 "I will have to meet this Leroy McKane," Maria said. "He sounds like 409 a most interesting person." 410 "Yes, he is.....Wait." Mohammed placed his hand on Maria's arm. 411 Across the plaza, four militiamen walked from the entrance. In their midst 412 was a stout, dour man in a full-dress uniform draped with gold braid. 413 Wassir smiled wolfishly, "The Colonel is on time.... a most punctual man." 414 The Colonel and his bodyguards climbed into the Mercedes. The car 415 swung into the cobbled street, turned left and neared the fishmonger's stall 416 Wassir pulled an oversized garage door opener from a small knapsack at his 417 feet. "But sometimes, punctuality can be a man's downfall," he said. 418 As the car passed the stall, Wassir pushed the button on the opener. 419 An orange fireball engulfed the Mercedes. The blast signaled the end of 420 the afternoon siesta. Armed militia poured from the headquarter's building 421 and flooded into the plaza. The Mercedes was a twisted sculpture of 422 blackened steel. The fishmonger's stall was empty. Mohammed Wassir was 423 gone. 424 425 *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Valinor *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 426 427 @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!@$#^@)#_@#*)@#&(^#*%@&#@%$#Scu'z this 428 429 430 In the flickering light coming from the five or so tallow candls 431 under the fragile tables of rough wood, burned and scarred,ad 432 looked around the cages and crates, full of dead, dying, an 433 undead animals and others scattered about here and there. He 434 could spend all day looking, what with the varieties of dusty 435 436 life with dancing shadows. 437 And he found it, what he was looking for. A human sul 438 brightly polished and grinning forever. It had had the adct 439 to roll off a high shelf as he was busy working. 440 441 "Heads will roll!" he murmured to the moonlight, and ake 442 as he does so well. Usually he would not have given it a secod 443 could go wrong. Tonight he could not be interrupted. 444 445 The old man shuffled over to his lit desk. A ston ol 446 shallow and dark, rested on a bed of straw there. Though h 447 bowl was shallow, the bottom could never be seen. He reache 448 high onto a top shelf that hung precariously on the wall abv 449 his desk. There, he removed a small vial corked with cloth ht 450 Removing the stopper, he poured the contents of th il 451 into the stone bowl in front of him. Steam or smoke rose from 452 453 ^Z 454 _____________________________JD 2446382.8131_______________________________ 455 :::::=====:::::===== 456 And I waited. A small rabbit in a large world. And I look to the 457 elven mystic, still sensing the other presence that I cannot see, and 458 question him about it. 459 :::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::==Zephyr::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::===== 460 Hey now, this is THE test. The FINAL test, because me'thinks to 461 Ah, Wassir, my old friend-up to your old tricks again I see. We have something 462 to talk about, you and I. And the two men who hang around a Pizza Parlor in Northern 463 California. What say? 464 Delta V 465 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 466 pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp 467 Ahh, the joy of seeing a smiling Albainian face in the mind's eye... 468 Welcome back, Wassir! 469 pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp 470 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 471 472 Piper: Thanks for the welcome on my return. Actually, I've been 473 lurking in the shadows all along, waiting for the right mood. But it's 474 nice to have one with your talent offer a friendly word. 475 476 Delta 5: I'm always willing to talk.... you've hooked my curiosity. 477 What about the pizza parlor in Northern California? 478 479 Mohammed Wassir 480 481 482 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 483 484 Ah, how soon we forget. Remember the last time we wre to meet? It was 485 at a sleazy little bar in Bizerte, but you didn't show, leaving me to 486 fight off a horde of androgynous creatures intent on rounding out my 487 sexual experiences. That was right after the unfortunate 'accident' 488 in which your yacht was lost, remember? Well, I've been 'retired' for a 489 year or so, and long to be in 'the field' again. How is your good friend 490 McKane these days? 491 Go back, Wassir, and remember. A small town in Northern California. A 492 place where McKane once had an uh "installation". 493 Wassir, remember: The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises 494 to keep, and miles to go before I sleep---Wassir, remember. A V 495 ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]tiredoftapping]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] 496 PenName: After reading your arguments amidst all the friendly letters and 497 stories it occurs to me, too, that the subject is tedious at best on a pub- 498 lic board such as this. 499 500 Obviously, there is neither time nor room for you to convince me of u 501 unassisted evolution. 502 No, I know the mutations and time and gasses forming and tests which have 503 produced the beginning amino acids of life forms and so on. But it just 504 could never happen. And I notice that rather than try and argue the point, 505 you simply take your jabs at religion instead, as if making a harsh state- 506 ment against religions in general actually proves they cannot be true. 507 508 Actually I just feel sorry for you. In your bitterness and "wisdom" you are 509 living in a very lonely place indeed. You have closed your mind completely, 510 and would only strike out at any arguments presented about the presence of 511 God rather than actually hear them and ponder their meaning. 512 513 You will know soon enough, my friend, and again, I feel sorry for you. I 514 don't feel it's my place to be your "converter," but God has said he giv es 515 everyone a chance at least once. But your eyes have to be open to step 516 forward. Even God can't talk to closed ears. 517 518 Anyway, let's let others proceed with their discources of less bitter spoken 519 words. There is a right or a wrong. In a shorter time than you may think, 520 the answer will be regrettably clear. At that time... remember that I tried, 521 would have liked to have tried further, and feel compassion for your 522 unfortunate decision. 523 524 Best regards, 525 Andy 526 ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] 527 I NOTICE THAT WITH 'ALL ALLOWED' IT SEEMS THE LINES ARE BUSIER LONGER WITH 528 PEOPLE PERFECTING THEIR ENTRIES. PERHAPS 'ENTER ONLY' HAS MORE BENEFITS THAN 529 ORIGINALLY THOUGHT????? 530 ??????????????????????????????????????????????? 531 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\perhaps so\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 532 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 533 Andy: Nay, nay, you need not feel sorry for me. Instead of closing 534 my mind, I have opened it to other possibilities, and found them to 535 be more to what I consider the truth. 536 We spend much of our lives seeking the truth, I'm glad to have found it. 537 I grew up under two of the most (out of all the) lousy religions around. 538 Catholic and Mormon. 539 There is nothing you can tell me about either. 540 As far as proving my (or at least what you consider to be my) point about 541 evolution, you would have me banter in Biology and not attack religion? 542 I would do so, if you could show me two things: 1) That you know even a 543 shread about the level of Biology needed to comprehend what I say, 544 2) That there would be any point to my "proving" it, since you would 545 refute even the most *obvious* of facts. 546 No, no point to it all, you are brainwashed into one wagon track of 547 thought, and that, is sad. 548 But, in any case, don't expect me to go sulking away, just because 549 you seem to have put yourself in a "there is nothing you can teach me 550 about" attitude, no indeed, you need not worry about "saving" me, for 551 I'm saved already, secure in my belief. 552 Solidly yours, PEN NAME 553 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 554 The Lord said unto Noah,"Where is the ark which I have commanded thee to 555 build?" 556 And Noah said unto the Lord,"Verily, I have had three carpenters off ill. 557 The gopherwood supplier hath let me down--yea, even though the wood hath 558 been on order for nigh unto twelve months. What can I do, O Lord?" And 559 God said unto Noah,"I want that ark finished even after seven days and 560 seven nights." And Noah said,"It will be so." 561 And it was not so. And the Lord said unto Noah,"What seemeth to be the 562 trouble this time?" And Noah said unto the Lord,"Mine sub-contractors hath 563 gone bankrupt. The pitch which Thou commandedst me to to put on the outside 564 of the ark hath not arrived. The plumber hath gone on strike. Shem, mine 565 own son who helpest me, hath formed a heavy metal group with his brothers 566 Ham and Japheth. Lord, I am undone. Bring on the rains." 567 And the Lord grew angry and said,"And what of the animals, the male and 568 female of every sort, I ordered to come unto thee to keep their seed alive 569 upon the face of the Earth?" And Noah said,"They have been delivered unto 570 the wrong address but should arrive Friday." And the Lord said,"How about 571 the unicorns and the fowls of the air by sevens?" 572 And Noah wrung his hands and wept, saying,"Lord, unicorns are a discontinued 573 line; Thou canst not get them for love nor money. And the fowls of the air 574 are sold only in half-dozen lots. Lord, thou knowest how it is." 575 And the Lord in his wisdom spake:"Noah, My son, what about insurance in case 576 thous should run this ark aground atop Mt. Ararat?" 577 And Noah was downcast, saying,"My independent insurance agent telleth me 578 there doth exist a market crunch. Companies liketh not writing insurance 579 for an ark---they fear it will be misused for water skiing. They doubt my 580 wisdom as Captain. Only one company hath said they would insure my vessel, 581 and they would charge 70 times seven pieces of silver with a 250-pound 582 sacrificial lamb deductible. Verily, the tribute is higher than Heaven, and 583 yet we cannot get delivery of the policy for three months, as the company 584 hath changed to an abacus and the beads are stuck fast!" 585 Having spoken thus, Noah wept, and the Lord went forth and did likewise. 586 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 587 588 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 589 HEY, WHOEVER WROTE THE STORY ON THE TOP OFF THE DISK WHERE THERE WERE 590 FAR AWAY NOISES ON THE RADIO, HAVE YOU EVER READ "THE STAND" BY 591 STEPHEN KING? JUST WONDERING...... 592 ALL RELIGION DEBATERS: 593 LETS DROP IT WHILE WE ARE HAVING A PSEUDO-CEASE-FIRE, AS NO ONE IS 594 GOING TO CONVINCE ANYONE ELSE OF ANYTHING, AND THIS SPACE COULD BE 595 USED SOO MUCH MORE PRODUCTIVELY...... 596 JCP1 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 597 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 598 599 600 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 601 SO TRUE, FRENCH TOAST, THAT THERE IS NO TRUTH OR DEFINITIVE REALITY, 602 SO SAD IT IS TO SEE ONLY IN BLACK AND WHITE AND TO MISS THE COLORS......... 603 JCP1 604 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 605 >>> It's all in the track of humanity. Science, the footstep that 606 follows religion, is one more way to guide perception. What next? 607 <<< I can find no name. Sorry. You try. 608 ______________________________JD 2446383.7750______________________________ 609 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 610 HOW FOOLISH WE ARE TO THINK THAT WE CAN EVEN COMPREHEND REALITY....OUR 611 REALITY IS WHATEVER OUR SENSORY INPUT SENSES CHOOSE TO MAKE US AWARE 612 OF, WHICH IS REALLY SO LITTLE. WE ARE "CONCIOUS" OF SO VERY LITTLE OF 613 OUR OWN MIND AND BODY, THINK OF IT, TRILLIONS OF CELLS AND NERVES AND 614 ASSORTED BODY MATTER WORKING IN HARMONY,AND WE FEEL ONLY PLEASURE OR 615 PAIN FROM THEM, ELSE NOTHING... HOW FOOLISH WE ARE TO THINK THAT WE CAN 616 UNDERSTAND OURSELVES, MUCH LESS THE WONDERS OF OUR UNIVERSE. WE CAN ONLY 617 DETECT LIGHT ON THE SCALE OF 0.00038 - 618 0.00081 CM, AND YET THE ENTIRE WAVELENGHT IS INFINITELY LONG...CONTRAST 619 OUR VASTLY LIMITED SIGHT WITH THE REST OF OUR SENSES, AND YOU HARDLY 620 COME UP WITH A CREATURE THAT COULD EVEN HOPE TO COMPREHEND SPACE OR TIME 621 OR THE UNIVERSE...WE CANNOT EVEN DEFINE TIME OR SPACE OR MATTER, AND 622 YET WE SEEK TO EXPLAIN THEM AND ARE SMUG IN OUR EXPLANATIONS.....PUT THAT 623 IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT............ 624 I SHALL PREVAIL...... 625 I SIGN MYSELF: JCP1 626 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 627 J.C.Penney 1 ? 628 ************************************************************** 629 Made it to the BottomNatasha TOTAL NUMBER OF LINES = 629