From: bobk@dogear.spk.wa.us (Bob Kirkpatrick)
Newsgroups: pnw.general
Subject: The Caller Manifesto
Date: 9 Sep 92 23:48:39 GMT
Article-I.D.: dogear.RNyuqB1w165w
Reply-To: alt.flame
Organization: Dog Ear'd Systems of Spokane, WA

mrc@Ikkoku-Kan.Panda.COM (Mark Crispin) writes:

> *Begin Flame*
> 
> The horror story about the call blocker does indeed suggest that something is
> badly wrong, but it has nothing to do with the call blocker or Caller ID.  It
> has to do with a runaway government bureaucracy gone amuck.
> 
> Note what Herr Haupt-Stuerm-Fuehrer Government Bureaucrat is saying:
> >we're required to have direct contact...[we] either use a phone [or] we send
> >a State Trooper to go get them or bring them to the court offices.
> >*in my case*, if the call isn't answered, the person not answering
> >is going to be taken from what they're doing, and brought under material
> >witness warrant to the office.
> >[he] was the only one who could refute the charges against the parents [and
> >so a baby was taken away from its parents for a month.  "It wasn't our
> >fault!"]
> 
> Do you see what is wrong with the above?
> 
> There is a presumption that a government bureaucracy is filled with kindly
> people who only have the best interests of the entire citizenry in mind, and
> so must be given unlimited power to trample over everyone's civil rights to
> accomplish these noble goals.
> 

If Mr. Crispin would have bothered to investigate his charges before he
made them, he would have discovered that the exact OPPOSITE of his view
is true. But then, throughout this entire discussion, Mr. Crispin has
only been able to use name calling, innuendo, and Straw Man arguments to
defend his opinion.

So that Mr. Crispin might be able to let the light of reality shine...

A). Those involved in the 'bureaucracy' to which Mr. Crispin alludes are
NOT a part of a bureaucracy. Instead, they work AGAINST the bureaucracy 
on the whole. They are present in cases of child abuse to prevent runaway 
policies on the part of installed agencies. (A for-instance would be CPS).

B). When one of these omsbudsmen calls for information, it is to protect
a child --not a portion of the government. They're civillians (for wont
of a better term) who're chartered by Federal Mandate because of abuses
in the various agencies which were at times as bad (or worse) than the
abuse the kids were supposed to be protected from.

C). You can bet that when one of them resorts to using law enforcement to
get a witness, the circumstances are critical.

So, Mr. Crispin has miserably confused the circumstances. His perspective
allows the government to be the facist Herr_Haupt_Stuerm_Fuehrer model he 
claims to despise. In fact, it supports and propells it to be so.

Mr. Crispin also apparently believes that those engaged in this particular
field shouldn't need the added protection of having their phone numbers
blocked, even though, in the past, revealed phone numbers have led violent
people to their homes. Mr. Crispin is unmoved that property has been van-
dalized, pets killed, family members assaulted, and in one case, killed.
No, Mr. Crispin is all for having it his own way, and the many or the few
who disagree can be damned.

Excuse me for asking, but isn't THAT the attitude of a facist?

--- 
Bob Kirkpatrick <bobk@dogear.spk.wa.us>
Dog Ear'd Systems of Spokane, WA