From: Christeos Pir Area: Mundane To: Rose Dawn 26 Feb 94 17:02:34 Subject: Dress Codes UpdReq Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. I've moved this conversation here, 'cause we were getting pretty far away from Nightside stuff, I thought. RD> Yuck--I'm not real hot on parenting this morning...thankfully the RD> debbilchild is still crashed (George W's lesser feast, no school)...if RD> she was awake we'd probably be banging heads again already. Exhausting, sometimes, ain't it. RD> Any practical thoughts on how to go about something like that? Send RD> her in with her pentagram earrings to get popped again, then register RD> a complaint with the local mucky-mucks? Call the ACLU? Contact other RD> pagan/occult types in the area? As far as I know, the rest of the RD> parents think no 'occult symobolism' is peachy...LOL, it's not RD> something that'd get a lot of support at the next PTSA meeting! I've never had to do it, so I'm not really sure. There are probably some around who can give you the benefit of their personal experience, you might try the _Burning Times_ echo, and we could ask Grendel -wasn't it he who posted the AMER info some time back?- or even Dr. Aquino, who I believe is also involved with AMER. As far as you know, there have been no other complaints in this matter? Are any other established religions or philosophies similarly affected -- the school have problems with representations of Kali, or Shiva, or Guede, or even Masonic symbols? Y'see, if it's not to be as simple as going to the PTSA meeting or the School Board meeting and speaking out, then it may take some work, and some help. Which means first of all, making up your mind how much you're willing to put into it -it may involve making a stink, involving the newsmedia, etc.; and second of all rounding up some support: AMER, ACLU, People for the American Way, a sympathetic reporter, a sympa- thetic politician (State Rep, County Boardmember, whatever), and so on. As you can see, it'd be a LOT easier if you could get things done at the simple level of: "Hey, you folks are guilty of discrimination here, and perhaps you ought to do something about it before the newspapers and lawyers get involved, ifyaknowaddimean!" RD> the judge found that the bar hadn't proved that the patch in RD> question was a red flag for trouble; there hadn't been RD> any history of bike club hassles there, it was all speculative. And yet that ruling had widespread results, mostly as a result of Dick Lester's taking up the crusade... in fact, the colors issue was a big factor in my retirement from ABATE Region Coordinator, not to mention a number of key, founding members retiring from the State positions here, and the resulting decline of ABATE as a political force in this State. RD> All of which has nothing to do with the religious expression RD> question, got carried away with nostalgia or something! Better than carried away by the trashman, eh? RD> I know of specific instances where individuals or organizations have RD> successfully sued for libel, etc., but are you aware of any US RD> 'watchdog' groups that transcend boundaries the way fer-instance, NCOM RD> has done for motorcyclists? Is that a or the focus of "A.M.E.R.?" I RD> know of many instances where NCOM and similar org's were able to get RD> offensive stereotypes of motorcyclists removed from advertisements and RD> such, and we were all purdy good at generating positive publicity! Keep in mind that the way the AMA, NCOM and BAM have been able to do that, is by mobilizing the mass of bikers throughout the country. I know that we must have written letters at ABATE meetings every month for a year, on various issues, from the State Farm bike blacklist, to the American Express commercials, to SR 1007 (the blackmail bill -- you see how effective we were in holding that one off: it passed last year), to getting Virginia to declare May to be Motorcycle Awareness Month. I don't know off hand what, if any, organizations there are for this sort of thing... you'd have to ask around. RD> She made the semester Honor Roll again, as well as "outstanding RD> citizen;" all I can say is that if she's not taken off "risk of RD> educational neglect" status after this year, I *will* find some way to RD> raise hell about that. It's complete and utter bullshit. In the RD> meantime though, it's kind of an albatross in that I feel like RD> anything I say or do regarding the kid at school will be looked at in RD> light of "oh, it's some neglectful trouble-making parent." I did RD> demand that the doctor's statements & my personal statement be placed RD> in the "risk" file, but I have a feeling it's like putting an RD> 'explanation' in with your TRW credit file. :/ I know what you mean... I have that kind of rep at work (which can actually work to your advantage when you're a Union shop steward ). You did right in putting the documentation in the file, just in case. You'd be surprised the kind of cases the Union has to try and do for people who did absolutely nothing in the way of CYA. Or maybe you wouldn't. As for the credit file thing: tell me about it! I'm waiting to hear from the Credit Union now on a car loan. They turned me down for a personal loan of $3000 two years ago... a few months later, I was approved by the mortgage company for a $130,000 house! You probably handled the situation with her teacher better than I might have -- I'd have been tempted to send Jeff Gillooly after him. (Or Lorena!) Love is the law, love under will. - CP ... be the end far distant as the stars that lie in the navel of Nuit, ... let the Towers of the Universe totter, and the guardians hasten away! 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: David Arnold Area: Mundane To: Drui 27 Feb 94 08:16:02 Subject: request for aid UpdReq * Reply to message in area "Metaphysical" > Once there were these wizards who lived in this high tower. [...etc....] > Now - so OK, I admit it, the wizard is me, there are two questions the > wizard would like help answering, much much more simple than quedstions > about things like how the eco-system of a civilisation helpd determine its > cosmology: > 1) why do the people think HE (and his friend wizards up in the tower) > are "bigots" because they want to talk about such things, and the people > don't consider themselves equally so for scorning such topics? > 2) should he climb back up the tower and he and his friends just go on > as they were before he tried coming down? my opinionated answers: 1) i don't see any "bigotry". if you want to talk about such things, do so; i'm sure you'll find *someone* who wants to talk with you. depending on what the subject is, you may have to search, though. if someone doesn't want to talk about it, that's fine too. but if you're informed and you're not flaming, (and not off-topic in an echo) no-one has the right to tell you not to talk about it. IMO there's no such thing as a "sensitive issue". nor one that is high-brow. as for the topics you mentioned, i suspect you're being facetious. they were very funny! :-D but that's my opinion too. 2) if you feel that way. as i said, if you look hard and long enough, you'll find someone on the ground that will talk with you about it. after all, where did your friends in the tower come from in the first place? one more thing: you portray yourself and your friends as being in a tower. that suggests that YOU think of yourself as a "high-brow elitist", rather than everyone else picturing you that way. maybe the complaint you have against other people is one you yourself foster. people see you as you portray yourself. now is there really a tower? david 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: Kayla Block Area: Mundane To: Richard W. Handel 28 Feb 94 22:03:50 Subject: post? UpdReq 93 richard, RWH> That's weird. It's still up here (dated 2/16/94). RWH> BTW, I've started hearing back from schools. So far, RWH> I have three rejections and two interviews within the as of yesterday, it still didn't make it here. i will check again today. congratulations on your upcoming interviews! (sounds like a great ratio so far!) 93, --kayla 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: Albertus Magnus Area: Mundane To: All 28 Feb 94 04:05:32 Subject: Olympic reflections UpdReq Dan Jansen - He finally won a gold. Not in his best event, but he still did it and there is no one more deserving. He avoids joining the likes of the Buffalo Bills as the great bridesmaids of the sporting world. Bonnie Blair - If she was from any other country, she'd be a National Hero. But she's not... so she will be forgotten in just a couple of weeks. Her accomplishments, however, speak for themselves at any rate... she is the great one. USA Hockey - They were out-skated and out-toughed. I think it's time for the NHL to take this venture over much like the NBA took over USA Basketball. Then we'll see who is boss. Nancy/Tonya - When it was all said and done, neither won gold. Kerrigan had a fantastic final showing, but was edged by the favorite (Baiul from Ukraine) by 1/10th of a point in a tie-breaker. Harding finished 9th, all but forgotten now. Kerrigan happy with the silver? Not really... in the display of crassness most would have expected from Harding, Kerrigan complained about Baiul taking the gold .."What? So we can just see her cry again?" Ahhh... god bless America! Torville & Dean - They were robbed. Sure, they're British and I was talking about all Americans above, but I'll make an exception here. The judges had their minds made up ahead of time. Some of those judges should have been shot on the spot with those score. Anything less than a 5.5 on that program was insane. .\ .\.\ ... Dogmatism: Puppyism come to its full growth. 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718