[4170] in Central_America
New quotes for Thu Mar 19
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Initializer.SysDaemon)
Thu Mar 19 02:03:28 1992
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 92 01:32:28 EST
From: root@charon.MIT.EDU (Initializer.SysDaemon)
To: ca-mtg@bloom-beacon.mit.edu
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alitass (Mohammad Ali Tassoudji):
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amgreene (Andrew Marc Greene):
P U R I M
---------------
Purim means "lots," which gives rise to the question, "Lots of
what?" Long before Halloween, the Jews dressed up in costume to
celebrate Purim. Why? Because it is lots of fun --- that's why
the holiday is called Purim. The story behind the holiday is
that Queen Esther of Persia, a Jew, saved her people from de-
struction at the hands of the evil vizier, Haman, by getting her
husband, King Achashverosh, drunk on lots of wine --- that's why
the holiday is called Purim. Esther's uncle Mordechai was named
to take Haman's place. From his high post, Mordechai bought up
all the available real estate, particularly undeveloped lots,
which is why the holiday is called Purim.
- "Growing Up Jewish,
or Why is This Book Different
From All Other Books?"
by Rabbi Jack Moline
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The Ganze Megillah -- a Purim Fantasy for 1992
Andrew Greene
Disclaimer: As with much political satire, the incumbents get the
worst of it. Any political views implied herein are not necessarily
anybody's. OK?
Narrator: It was in the third year of the reign of King
Ach-So-Where's-Bush?, the King ASWB who ruled over 50 provinces and
the District of Columbia, that the King looked out upon his land, and
at the party that he had been throwing for the princes thereof, and at
the new taxes he had levied in the land. Hey -- it says so in the
Megillah!
[Enter ASWB]
ASWB: Vashti! Oh, Vashti!
[Enter Vashti]
Vashti: Yes, sir?
ASWB: Danny, it's time for you to parade your boyish good looks before
the electorate again. [Vashti preens]
Vashti (struck with a sudden idea): But, sir, you said I could play
golf this afternoon!
ASWB: Danny, y'know, this disobedience thing, we must put an end, and,
to it, it must not stand any longer, no, a stand against it, and, the
people, like I said, apple pie.
Vashti: Huh?
ASWB: You're off the ticket, Vashti!
[Vashti exits]
Narrator: Meanwhile, off to ASWB's right...
[Pat Puke-Haman and the Duchess Zeresh enter, stage extreme right]
ASWB: Greetings, my fellow conservative Pat Puke-Haman. Who's this
with you?
PPH: Oh, this is my wife, Zeresh, Duchess of Louisiana.
ASWB: And what can I do for you, Puke-Haman?
PPH: I'd advise you to seek out a new mandate from Esther Electorate,
King ASWB. And I intend to challenge you for it. I wouldn't have,
but you raised taxes, you know. It says so in the Megillah.
[ASWB exits]
PPH [to audience]: Because there is a people in this land who are not
like us, and who do not follow this kingdom's laws.
[PPH exits]
Zeresh [to audience, as a chant]: Further to the right! Further to
the right! Kill them all if they're not white! The right is gonna
win! The left is gonna lose! Kick them out if they are Jews!
[Zeresh exits]
[Esther enters]
Narrator: King Ach-So-Where's-Bush tried to woo Esther Electorate; but
so did Pat Puke-Haman and Zeresh, Duchess of Louisiana.
[ASWB, PPH, and Zeresh enter.]
ASWB: Oh, Esther, what is it you want, and what is your desire? Jobs,
jobs, jobs, I know. And a strong kingdom. Even if your wish is
Arnold Schwarzenneger, I shall give it to you.
Esther: I'd like you all to come to a primary I'm holding tomorrow.
ASWB and PPH and Zeresh: OK.
[The four turn their backs to the audience]
Narrator: The next day...
[The four face front again.]
ASWB: Esther, what is it you want? Whatever it is, it shall be yours.
Esther: Well, I can only support you 70 per cent, and Pat Puke-Haman
gets 30 per cent of my vote.
Zeresh: What about me? What about me? Further to the right! Further
to the right!
Esther: But come back again tomorrow for another primary and we'll see
how I feel then.
[The three exit]
Narrator: Meanwhile, Esther Electorate found out about two men who
were trying to get rid of King Ach-So-Where's-Bush.... Bill Bigton
and Paul Teresh. But neither one caught her fancy -- she still had
her eye on Mordecho Cuomo.
[Mordecho enters]
Esther [swooning]: My hero!
[Mordecho exits]
Narrator: Meanwhile, at the next primary...
[ASWB, PPH, and Zeresh enter]
ASWB: What is it you want, Esther Electorate? It shall be yours.
Esther: I still only support you 70 per cent, but come back in
November for the general election.
[All but Narrator exit]
Narrator: Meanwhile, Mordecho Cuomo deftly eliminated Bill Bigton and
Paul Teresh, and confronted King Ach-So-Where's-Bush in the general
election.
[Enter Esther, ASWB, and MC]
ASWB: OK, Esther Electorate. What is it you want, and what do you
desire?
Esther: I desire my future! You let Pat Puke-Haman talk you into
thinking that we're all different, but we're not! I am ethnic, and I
choose to make Mordecho Cuomo prime minister!
Narrator: And, as it says in the Megillah, Mordecho raised taxes, and
they all lived happily ever after.
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aras (Sheldon Robinson):
{From system: This user's .plan file is a symlink!}
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jtkohl (John T Kohl):
Date: Wed, 18 Mar 92 10:20:40 CST
To: extropians@gnu.ai.mit.edu
From: twb3@midway.uchicago.edu (Tom Morrow)
Subject: New Molecule
The New York Times (March 17, 1992) reports that Dr. A. Castleman, Jr., et
al at Penn State U have discovered a novel ball-shaped molecule that may
revolutionize the storage of information by computers. This is *not* a
buckyball, but something new. The molecule cosists of 8 titanium atoms and
12 carbon atoms symettrically arranged in a 12 sided cage (a dodecahedron).
The molecules spontaneously assemble themselves from mixtures of methane
and titanium heated to a high temperature by a laser.
The compound, one a new class called metalo-carbohedrenes ("met-cars"), is
likely to have unique electrical and chemical properties that might find
uses in computer information storage, pollution control, and as catalysts
in making fuels.
The presence of metal atoms at the points of the dodecahedron allows the
metal-carbon bonds to bend more sharply than those found in the all-carbon
fullerenes. This means that met-cars can be smaller than buckyballs; the
main fullerene molecule has 60 carbon atoms while the new met-car has only
20.
Look for the full report in a recent issue of SCIENCE (no cite offered).
T.O. Morrow twb3@midway.uchicago.edu
Publisher, Law and Politics Editor
EXTROPY The Journal of Transhumanist Thought
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kenneths (Kenneth J. Schneider):
Address at Theta Chi: Address at Home:
528 Beacon Street 4005 Birdwell
Boston, MA 02215 Tyler, TX 75703
(617) 267-1801 ext. 142 (903) 581-0216
Last logged on Wed Mar 18 01:44:57 EST 1992 on host e40-008-13 .MIT.EDU
Last logged on Wed Mar 18 04:32:22 EST 1992 on host m37-332-3 .MIT.EDU
Last logged on Wed Mar 18 13:29:08 EST 1992 on host M1-142-2 .MIT.EDU
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leungg (Garlen C Leung):
{From system: This user's .plan file is not world readable}
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liu9yong (Alan):
{From system: This user's .plan file is not world readable}
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raja (Ramnath Subramaniam):
(1) graduate and become a real person
(2) find a princess kiss her and her into a frog
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rjbarbal (Richard J. Barbalace):
...Despite what some psychologists say, no one really has the slightest idea
what a woman (or, for that matter, what a man) is. We do know that whatever
a woman is, it is hidden under thousands of years of oppression. We will need
at least a century of living in a society devoid of prescribed role divisions
to begin to answer that question. Since everyone is operating in the dark,
the two prevalent views among feminists, and the views of others, are all
simply opinions, or perhaps intuitions.
The opinion of many women today is that there are no important differences
between men and women, with the exception of anatomy; all the rest is simply
conditioning. In most societies that we know about, child raising and domestic
chores are done by women, but there are a few societies in which this is not
true; anthropology has shown us societies where women exhibit those character-
istics we tend to think of as "male": concern and involvement in warfare,
politics, and so forth. And there are societies where men exhibit character-
istics we tend to label "female". The advantage of this view is that it
produces a great amount of freedom from role stereotyping. It leaves us free
to become what we want to become. [One woman], for example, once told me
that she had been raped by a woman, one of the most horrible experiences of
her life. To repeat her words, "I think that the great mystery of our society
is that men and women are exactly alike and this truth is hidden from us...."
Another view, accepted by many feminists, is that there is, in fact, a
specifically female nature. Freud, we know, said that biology is destiny.
And while most feminists would oppose his interpretations, not all of them
oppose his idea. Feminist writer Sally Gearhart has repeatedly said that
women are receptive; they are nurturers; they are the source of life, the
symbol of creativity; they are more intuitive and more magical than men.
"We are not only those things," she writes, "but neither is it accurate to
say `we are also aggressors, penetrators, attackers, etc.'" The advantage
of this view is that it gives a convincing explanation for the present rape
of the earth, the abuses of technology, and the desperate need to return to
a world centered on woman.... A world ruled by women would be a better world,
the argument goes; end male dominance, and human beings will live again in
harmony with nature.
_Drawing_Down_the_Moon_
Margot Adler
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starflt (Derrick Kong):
THEY DON'T MAKE PEDESTRIANS LIKE THEY USED TO
In Steve Jackson Games' Car Wars, two pedestrians who run into each
other at full tilt stand an even chance of dying from the impact.
from Murphy's Rules
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therese (Therese):
Don't dream too wild, and shoot for the moon
Don't ride your heart like a balloon
Don't blow away to places unknown
Cause when you finally come knocking, there'll be nobody home
Nobody home
- Heart
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thoth (Albert Hong):
{From system: This user's .plan file is not world readable}
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tompalka (tom palka):
this is no plan, but if you want to get in touch with me it might be
useful. try calling:
first 253-3641 --> in media lab
then 253-1923 --> one athena office
then 258-7047 --> another athena office
then 225-9493 --> home, least likely place i'll be
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wasiq (Wolfgang P Primordially):
I don't know dude/dudette, leave an email/telephone message or something,
I am off to Alam-e-Wehshat ...
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% wasiq@athena.mit.edu %
% wasiq@mitlns.mit.edu %
% 617-621-0122 (Home) %
% 617-253-0524 (Office)%
% MITLNS 24-033 %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% wasiq@fnalp.fnal.gov %
% wasiq@cdfe.fnal.gov %
% CDF,MS-223,Fermilab %
% Batavia, IL 60510 %
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--- End of Central America ---
