From: amck@mcc.com (Alan McKendree)
Subject: Re: Cablevision lies
Organization: MCC, Austin, TX
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 19:43:13 GMT

There were a couple of private responses to my posting, concerning
monopoly vs. free-markets, which I would like to address.  I am not in
favor of granting monopoly rights to any cable company, or their getting
a license (i.e., permission) from the government, in order to broadcast.
This is just using the coercive power of the government, in this case,
on the side of the cable companies, to keep out competition.  The
solution, where it exists, is to remove the government-enforced barriers
to competition -- not to introduce _more_ coercion on the side of the
consumers to "even things out".

Moving on to the ever-civil Mr. Hart...

In article <1992Sep2.170848.10491@mcc.com> amck@mcc.com (Alan McKendree) writes:
>In article <Btxpp4.C98@cmptrc.lonestar.org> andy@cmptrc.lonestar.org (Andy Hart) writes:

>And yet...and yet...he still continues to subscribe!  Amazing!  What
>power the cable companies must wield over this helpless pawn of his
>environment!

     Well, it's obvious from more than your address that YOU work in 
     the communications industry.

<Jeopardy buzzer ON> Aaank. <Jeopardy buzzer OFF> Guess your knowledge
of what's obvious or not is broken.  I don't (work in the comm.
industry). (FWIW, MCC's in high-tech research.)  Don't you think it's
possible to have a position without having a vested interest in the
outcome?

     Speaking of getting a life, how about you twisted fucks that live
     to send nasty, contentious replies over the net at every opportunity.

And this guy's calling _me_ nasty?  At least I selected vocabulary that
can be used in polite company.

>>   Do you think I'm going to pay over $40.00 a month!
>
>Why not?  You seem to have ramped up to $25+ pretty easily.  Perhaps
>you forget you're a helpless puppet in the hands of your insatiable
>craving for ever-greater doses of 24-hour news.  HAH HA HA HA HA HA .
>THEY'VE GOT YOU NOW, YOU POOR SON OF A BITCH!!!!  It's only a matter
>of time before you're reduced to sticking up 7-11s to scrounge up
>enough to get your daily Entertainment Today, sports, and hourly
>headlines.  I can almost hear the hands rubbing over the ill-gotten
>checks bilked from the proletariat (oops, sorry, a little too much
>Marx for breakfast) in the cable boardrooms.
>
>Sheesh.

  I have no response to this crap, except that I'd like to poke you 
  in the nose. 

Thank you for this remarkably candid admission.  Violence is the last
resort of those who have run out of ideas.

  It's interesting that both of the nasty followups to my innocent little
  temper tantrum come from the same address.  

A)  If you have temper tantrums, nasty responses shouldn't be that great
a surprise.

B)  I don't know what you're talking about in reference to "both
followups", but I assure you I haven't talked with anyone here about
this newsgroup.

    It seems there's alot of you pencil-necked geeks who sit 
  there in safety and say things to people you would probably never DARE
  to say face-to-face.

I said nothing in my post that I wouldn't say to you face-to-face.  If
by doing so I'm no longer safe, that says more about your powers of
argumentation and social skills than about my courage, pencil-necked or
not.

  Frankly, I don't give a rat's ass what you think.  You're going into
  the KILL file, buddy boy, so knock yourself out.

There seems to be a consistent thread in this person's thinking.  If you
don't like something, threaten it with force.  (Cable bills higher than
you feel like paying?  Try to get the government to force them down for
you.  Irritating posts?  Respond with threats of nose pokes.)  And,
hiding from argument (i.e., call out the KILL file), when his
irrationality is called into question.

Wonder if KILL files work on private e-mail?

-- 
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|   Andrew Hart                   |  CompuTrac, Inc.                 |
|   (214) 234-4241                |  222 Municipal Drive             |
|   andy@cmptrc.lonestar.org      |  Richardson, TX  75080           |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Alan
My only prayer was that my enemies be made ridiculous.