HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: klm@cme.nist.gov (Ken_Manheimer_x3539)
Newsgroups: dc.general
Subject: Cat urgently needs a home!
Date: 11 Dec 92 18:39:00 GMT
Reply-To: klm@cam.nist.gov
Distribution: dc
Organization: National Institute of Standards and Technology

My friend, gail, has a sweet cat, misha, for whom she is desperately
seeking a new home.  Misha has a respiratory problem, which has made
it difficult for gail to find someone to take her.  Gail is moving
soon to go to school, and cannot take misha along.  If she doesn't
find a new home very soon, she is going to have to leave her with the
ASPCA, which will probably wind up putting her to sleep.

Misha has tested negative to all the serious cat diseases (eg, feline
leukemia), and has been kept indoors for at least the last half year.
Please, if you may be interested, give gail a call at

  202 265-3938

and she'll fill you in.

Thanks,

Ken Manheimer
klm@cam.nist.gov, 301 975-3539  
Newsgroups: dc.general
From: avlb@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu (A V Louis Biggie)
Subject: Computer Rental
Reply-To: avlb@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu (A V Louis Biggie)
Organization: JHU/Applied Physics Laboratory
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 21:46:16 GMT

Does anyone know of a good place to rent computers (IBM compatibles) in the 
DC area (for a workshop)?

Louis




Xref: sparky dc.general:3199 dc.driving:71
From: larry@cs.umd.edu (Larry Herman)
Newsgroups: dc.general
Subject: Good Auto Body Shop?
Date: 17 Dec 92 20:21:53 GMT
Distribution: dc
Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742

Hi,

  I'm looking for a recommendation for an auto body shop for a friend.
Someone hit her car while it was parked; since the accident is not her
fault and the driver of the other vehicle is responsible for the
damage, my friend is primarily interested in getting repairs of high
quality, rather than at low cost.

  Shops in Northwest D.C. or Montgomery County would be most
convenient for her.

  So if you know of a good shop that would like some extra business,
please let me know their name!

  Thanks very much,

  Larry Herman
-- 
    /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
    |  Larry Herman      University of Maryland Computer Science Dept. | 
    |    (lack of witty phrase here is sorely felt) larry@cs.umd.edu   |
    \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Xref: sparky dc.general:3222 misc.wanted:10293
From: Mike Pearl <mpearl@pes.com>
Newsgroups: dc.general,misc.wanted
Subject: Re: Want to buy 80486
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 92 22:53:05 EST
Organization: Professional Exchanges Services, Inc.

lgollub@snoopy.umd.edu (Lewis R. Gollub) writes:

> I have a limited budget, but would spend $$$ for keeping
> the machine running rather than in the repair shop.

There are my two favorite PC places.... both are run under a sort of mom 
& pop atmosphere, and both are stocked with very bright computer literate 
folks (not just con artists).  The first is in Bethesda... it's called
VF Associates (they always help me out in a pinch, and I'd appreciate you
mentioning that I referred you...)  I don't have the number off hand, but
they are fantastic!

The second (and they wouldn't know my name if you yelled it at them) is
City Computer, up in Rockville.  They have a great selection of fairly
priced name brand products.  One that you didn't list, which I consider
a great value is Austin computers.  I bought one for my 
computer-illiterate family, who have used it consistently for about 4 
years now... not a single problem!

I hope that helps...

Michael
From: cawilco@afterlife.ncsc.mil (Chris A. Wilcox)
Newsgroups: dc.general
Subject: Re: Dial 911 and die
Date: 17 Dec 92 17:40:07 GMT
Organization: The Great Beyond


This is proof? Why don't we bring in the Ku Klux Klan on a
breezy dissertation on why whites are superior?

( :-) for the sarcasm-challenged... )

-- 
Chris Wilcox                | "Can we have a table closer to the plot?"
Dept. of Defense            |                      Crowe T. Robot
cawilco@afterlife.ncsc.mil  |                          MST3K
  The views represented here probably aren't held by the DoD. Get over it.
From: mulvihil@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Lawrence Mulvihill)
Newsgroups: dc.general
Subject: No documentation, again
Date: 14 Dec 92 16:27:24 GMT
Reply-To: mulvihil@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Lawrence Mulvihill)
Organization: Carderock Division, NSWC, Bethesda, MD

In dc.general, purtilo@cs.umd.edu (Jim Purtilo) writes:

stuff deleted

>I quote what another county
>officer told me to my face after trying to track these people down,
>
>        ``I'm sorry, Dr. Purtilo.  But these officers have
>          no obligation to help you.''
>

Leaving off the case no., the officer's badge number, and the date
do not make your post more credible.  This is not the first time
that the police have been smeared in this newsgroup without proper
documentation.  While I'm no great fan of the people carrying the
badges, I don't trust posts when no source is given.  It reeks.

Most of the postings that show in this newsgroup would be strengthened
by some documentation.  Without facts, your post is just an opinion,
and who the *&#$@ are you anyway?
From: crosson@cam.nist.gov (Robert Crosson)
Newsgroups: dc.general
Subject: Re: ALERT! Anti-gun meeting in NoVA
Keywords: knothead
Date: 17 Dec 92 14:31:42 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: National Institute of Standards and Technology

I just thought it was interesting that one report on one of the
major news networks' nightly news programs reported from Somalia
that, after the US Marines arrived and most of the population had
disarmed, the crime rate actually went up because the criminals
knew their victims were no longer armed.  At least, that was the
conclusion of the reporter.  This was about robbery, etc., not
gang warfare.

Bob Crosson
crosson@cam.nist.gov
From: fhuang@eng.umd.edu (Feng Huang)
Newsgroups: dc.general
Subject: Need a ride to Columbus, OH
Date: 20 Dec 92 02:38:25 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Project GLUE, University of Maryland, College Park

Hi;

My brother is looking for a ride to Columbus, Ohio on 26,27,28,29 or 30.
He is willing to share gas and driving plus chatting, he is a funny guy.

Please email me or call (410)-235-0673.

P.S. It would be fine as long as you are in DC, Baltimore area on those days.


Thanks.
From: gjones@gateway (Gordon Jones)
Newsgroups: dc.general
Subject: SKI BLOWOUT AT BLUE KNOB -- Jan 8-10
Date: 18 Dec 92 15:50:57 GMT
Expires: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 05:00:00 GMT
Organization: Mitre Corporation, McLean, VA




             S K I  B L O W O U T  A T  B L U E  K N O B  !


Get ready for an outrageous skiing adventure at Blue Knob, January 8-10 !
For as little as $155.00 per person you can ski the highest vertical drop in
Pennsylvania (1052').  The trip includes:

   two nights lodging at RAMADA w/ tropical indoor courtyard
   parties each day (plus refreshments on the bus)
   FREE equipment rentals
   jacuzzi and pool
   round trip transportation
   free meals
   roller skating
   horseback riding

Two of the ski trails are "double diamond" trails for experts, and there are
several long, level slopes ideal for beginning skiiers.

Blue Knob is only 2 hours 45 min from D.C., so an early return home on Sunday
is possible.  For further details, contact Gordon at (703) 204-0768 or
leave message.
From: jim@options.uujobs.com (Jim Johnson)
Newsgroups: dc.general
Subject: Washington Area Unix Users' Group meeting, Jan. 7, Tyson's Cor.
Keywords: schmoozing munchies Object Management Group UniForum WAUUG
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 92 16:59:51 EST
Followup-To: poster
Distribution: dc,md,va
Organization: Options Unltd., Silver Spring, MD

The Washington Area Unix User's Group will hold its monthly meeting on
Thursday, January 7th, 1993, at the Marriott Hotel, 8028 Leesburg Pike,
Tyson's Corner, VA. Munchies & yakking at 6:30pm, presentation at 7pm.

Christopher Stone, President & CEO of the Object Management Group, is
the featured speaker. OMG is a non-profit international corporation
dedicated to establishing industry guidelines and object management
specifications to provide a common framework for distributed application
development. OMG is funded by over 280 information system vendors,
software developers, and users in the information processing business.

This is a FREE event; *note* that the meeting is not at NIH as it has
often been, and is not on the usual Tuesday night. The old NIH location
is expected to be available to WAUUG again starting in February. Call
WAUUG at (301)953-3626 if you need directions.

WAUUG is a great group, deserving of support. Federal employees get a
membership discount. Call (301)953-3626 for more info. Meetings
generally happen the 2nd Tuesday of each month.


--> Options Unlimited                            Jim Johnson, CPC <--
--> Unix Personnel Services              Internet: jim@uujobs.com <--
--> Voice: (301) 587-2338              uucp: ...!uunet!uujobs!jim <--
--> FAX: (301) 585-4779                    Compuserve: 72357,2473 <--
-->         USmail: PO Box 11023, Silver Spring, MD 20913         <--
From: andie@cs.umd.edu (Diane J. Donaldson)
Newsgroups: dc.general
Subject: moving companies/moving trucks
Date: 15 Dec 92 15:45:41 GMT
Distribution: dc
Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742

I need to move two large church pews (each 12' long!) from Springfield
to College Park.  Obviously these are not going to fit in my hatchback!
I'm looking for recommendations for or against local moving companies
and places that rent trucks.  Price is an issue, but I'm more concerned
about how careful movers are and whether companies deliver what they
promise.  Thanks!

						Diane Donaldson
						andie@ada.umd.edu
From: tad@intercon.com (Tad L. J. Pierson)
Newsgroups: dc.general
Subject: Re: EveCon 10: Jan.1,2,3 '93 toy Gun policy
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 16:12:39 -0500
Organization: InterCon Systems Corporation
Distribution: world
Reply-To: tad@intercon.com (Tad L. J. Pierson)
NNTP-Posting-Host: tad.intercon.com
X-Newsreader: InterCon TCP/Connect II 1.1b21

Hmmmm.....in rereading my message, I think I explained everything except the 
official policy.  Here it is:

No firearms, replica firearms, toy plastic guns, paintball guns, fake "ray" 
guns or anything even remotely resembling a gun will be permitted at any 
FanTek convention.  

The only exception will be during the Costume Call where it may be worn in 
the Green room and on stage only.  After the Costume Call, the weapons must 
be returned to the participants car or room.  The weapon must be transported 
to and from the Costume Call in a bag of some sort so that it is not visible.

If there is any question as to whether something resembles a firearm, the 
decision of FanTek Security will be final.  Violators will have their 
convention membership revoked and may be removed from the hotel. 



Tad L. J. Pierson

"Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodies?"

These are my opinions only!  Reasonable people here at InterCon probably do not share them.
From: dougnews@access.digex.com (Doug Humphrey)
Newsgroups: dc.general
Subject: Re: EveCon 10: Jan.1,2,3 '93 (was Re: Needed - Ideas for New Year's Eve)
Date: 19 Dec 1992 23:24:11 GMT
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA
NNTP-Posting-Host: access.digex.com

The existing statutes say that if you are committing a crime, and
the victum believes that the toy gun is a real one, it will be 
treated as a real one for the purposes of the trial and judgement.

A "brandishing law" means that the toy can be considered a real 
weapon outside of the situation of your committing a crime.  Walking
down the street for example, or wandering around a convention hotel, 
or maybe walking to or from your car.  In fact, while the term 
"brandishing" would tend to mean "waving it around" I will bet the 
law makes no such statement, and that a holstered "weapon" can fall
under the law as well.

Most conventions have had a weapons policy of some sort (even 
WEAPONSCON had one ;-)  in recent years, but in the beginning
this was to deal with edged weapons mainly, since there are 
often some serious blades around cons.  As any survivor of the 
famed "Hostility House" convention (where the Arlington country 
SWAT team hit the con because they had reports of a sniper on 
the roof) can tell you, this can be a serious business.  

Of course, given the VA law on open carry, maybe this law means
that you are safer, and more within the law if you carry a real 
weapon than a fake...  food for thought.

Doug

-- 
Doug Humphrey    Express Access Public Access Internet   Voice (301) 220-2020
doug@digex.com   Dialup: (301) 220-0462 Login as "new"   Email info@digex.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"I say it again, in the land of the free; use your freedom of choice." - DEVO
From: purtilo@cs.umd.edu (Jim Purtilo)
Newsgroups: dc.general
Subject: Re: ALERT! Anti-gun meeting in NoVA
Date: 14 Dec 92 14:34:58 GMT
Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742

In article <1992Dec14.015421.19823@nsisrv.gsfc.nasa.gov> karl@thuja.gsfc.nasa.gov (Karl A. Anderson) writes:
>In article <1874@tnc.UUCP>, m0102@tnc.UUCP (FRANK NEY) writes:
>|> And the sad truth of the matter is that under law and judicial
>|> precedent, the police are not obligated to protect any citizen from
>|> criminal activity.
>OK, I'll bite.  I'm curious to see what kind of proof (of anything) a person
>could simply post.

Would a supreme court decision qualify?  I'm sorry not to have at my
fingertips the full case to cite, but on monday mornings the only thing
that should be near my fingertips is a strong cup of coffee.  I believe
the essense of the case, some years back, was someone sued the cops for
failing to protect them (from a murderer? details murky) after repeated
threats had been made to the ultimate victim.  The case went the distance
and the supreme's ruled that the police have no obligation to protect, 
and so could not be held liable for the damages which ensued when someone
called 911 and nobody came.  Perhaps one of my less-caffine-dependent 
colleagues here can come up with the citation on this so you could look
it up.

On a more personal level, I know this first hand.  My wife was recently
in an auto accident, shaken but unhurt.  She swerved to avoid hitting a
senior citizen who believed that stop signs are only for young people, 
and hence barreled out from a side street onto 29 south going into Silver
Spring.  Chris missed the car, avoided oncoming traffic, and managed to
stop the car at only the expense of some body work and a sign.  Witnesses
--- and a *Montgomery County Officer* who was on patrol and only a short
distance back down the road when it happened --- praised her for the defensive 
driving which probably saved the senior's life.  While the clever officer
was checking out my very pregnent wife to ensure she was okay, the senior
citizen took off, after having stopped;  the cop did not yet have the
license plate, and made no chase.   NOW: let's review so far (sorry this
is a long example).  We have damage to our car, an officer that would not
fill out a report since only one car was technically involved, no bad guy
to cite, and an insurance company that needs to make a profit.  Guess who
gets to eat huge rates?  We do.  What? You say the officer need only tell
our insurance agent what she told us???  That would help us, wouldn't it.
But nope.  Nobody can break down the protective barrier, insulating us 
from talking with that officer.  Because, and I quote what another county
officer told me to my face after trying to track these people down,

	``I'm sorry, Dr. Purtilo.  But these officers have
	  no obligation to help you.''

I now think of this quote every time some politician tries to tell me what
great services I'm getting for my high taxes in Montgomery County.
Xref: sparky dc.general:3206 dc.talk.guns:21 va.general:176 talk.politics.guns:25240
From: purtilo@cs.umd.edu (Jim Purtilo)
Newsgroups: dc.general
Subject: Re: One-car accidents (was: Re: ALERT! Anti-gun meeting in NoVA)
Date: 15 Dec 92 02:51:21 GMT
Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742

In article <51642@seismo.CSS.GOV> stead@skadi.CSS.GOV (Richard Stead) writes:
[about an accident in which he is clearly lucky to be alive]

Our original thread was "the police are under no obligation to help us".  But
since my post, to which Richard Stead responded just now, I've been contacted
by several people (particularly in Montgomery County) who have had similar
experiences.  [One colleague here, in fact, described an accident caused by
another driver, contact all around ... in which the officer on the scene did
not fill out any accident report, but only supervised the exchange of info.
Later the other driver "discovered a witness" who let the other driver reverse
a story to avoid blame in the insurance company's eyes; because the officer did
not document the accident, my colleague was dropped as being at fault, even
though told at the scene that he did everything right.]

There is an interesting pattern here.  Are there more experiences out there
to share?

Among the cases I've heard about so far, including Mr. Stead's note to which
I am replying, it sounds like none of us have any quibble with the service at
the scene, at least as far as safety, protecting against further injury, etc.
It seems we are let down in the administrative followthrough and paperwork.
The key tragedy is that unsafe drivers either get away or cannot be stopped 
(yet) and so will live to possibly cause another accident.  Secondarily we 
suffer financial loss which should rightfully be assessed against those who
really caused the accident.

I should mention a less urgent, but no less important, frustration I have
with police insulating us from officers; I would like, through info we believe 
the officer helping my wife obtained, to contact and THANK two kind witnesses 
who stopped and helped my wife too.  One in particular checked that our auto 
was drivable, got it off the curb and sign, and was especially helpful in 
calming my wife down.  Somewhere out there in the DC metro area is a middle 
aged black male driving a new shiny black foreign-made small pickup truck with 
loads of light bars on top and bottom ... a driver who needs to be thanked 
again for his service.
Newsgroups: dc.general
From: ice@socrates.umd.edu (Fredrik Nyman)
Subject: Re: ALERT! Anti-gun meeting in NoVA
Organization: University of Maryland University College
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 18:24:19 GMT

crosson@cam.nist.gov (Robert Crosson) writes:

>If this is true, that DC citizens have been denied their
>constitutional rights, why hasn't the NRA contested the
>constitutionality of the ban in the courts?  Or has it and
>I just missed it?  Either the constitutionality of the ban
>has been resolved by the courts or the NRA doesn't care to
>test the issue, it seems to me.
As far as I know, the Supreme Court has consistently refused to 
hear 2nd amendment-related cases for decades.

>On another issue, is registering guns still opposed by the NRA
>on the grounds that it would give the gov't a list of people to
>be rounded up if it ever wanted to?  It shouldn't be an issue
>because the NRA membership lists probably would be more
>comprehensive.
Hardly.  The NRA has about 3 million members.  There are about
100 million guns owned by private citizens.  So even if NRA members
own five guns each on average (which I think is a very high figure)
they only have 15% of the guns.

Sometimes I wonder if people avoid joining the NRA because of the risk
that the gun-grabbers subpoenaing the NRA's membership records and
then using those records to know where there are guns.

Interestingly, on a mailing list (firearms-politics@cs.cmu.edu)
there's a discussion going on about Somalia.  Some people have
commented on how media is dealing with it, i.e. blaming Somalia's
problems on the guns (they're a factor, but the problem is a *TAD*
more complicated than that, IMO) and encouraging the military to
disarm all citizens, never mind the questions of whether the US or the
UN has any business in Somalia.  Anyway, if the operation in Somalia
is successful, it makes you wonder if the gun-grabbers won't advocate
a similar operation in the US, doesn't it?
From: Mike Pearl <mpearl@pes.com>
Newsgroups: dc.general
Subject: Re: Best banks in DC?
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 92 00:06:50 EST
Organization: Professional Exchanges Services, Inc.

cs106406@umbc8.umbc.edu (cs106406) writes:

> I'm looking for info on checking accounts in DC for a friend 
> who just moved here -- anyone know which banks have the best 
> services and lowest fees?
> Thanks!

I've always found credit unions to offer me the best deal, that is
if you can get into one.  My credit union offers me free, interest 
bearing checking account, an ATM card (only two locations, but close to 
DC) and the only minimum balance I have to maintain is $5 in my savings 
account.  The interest rates are good to boot!

Michael
From: waksman@.umd.edu (Adlai Waksman)
Newsgroups: dc.general
Subject: Re: EveCon 10: Jan.1,2,3 '93 (was Re: Needed - Ideas for New Year's Eve)
Keywords: EveCon, FanTek, SF, fantasy, gaming, art, science, computers, fun!
Date: 11 Dec 92 22:02:28 GMT
Organization: U of Maryland, Center for Automation Research, Coll. Pk., MD 20742


I take back what I said about FanTek being "noncommercial".
Their cons are still well worth going to, though!

-- 
___________________________________________________Adlai Waksman(@cfar.umd.edu)
     ...The Universe is thronged with fire and light,		 (301) 474-0523
 And we but smaller suns, which, skinned, trapped and kept	     w:405-1745
Enshrined in blood and precious bones, hold back the night.  (Ray Bradbury)
Newsgroups: dc.general,rec.sport.fencing,um.general
From: sorsha@wam.umd.edu ()
Subject: Fencing in D.C./Maryland area
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park
Distribution: dc
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 04:41:47 GMT


Hi... I'm looking for a fencing club or salle in the Maryland
area (anywhere between DC and Columbia MD, really).  Opinions 
and advice are most appreciated... :-)
-- 
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Send burnt offerings to....."If love is a grenade,.........Ahead groove......
..sorsha@wam.umd.edu......I'll pull the pin." B-52's....factor five! -Holly..
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Newsgroups: dc.general,va.general,dc.talk.guns