HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: claire@NeoSoft.com (Claire Sanford)
Subject: Re: Gecko plague
Organization: NeoSoft Communications Services -- (713) 684-5900
Distribution: houston
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 19:00:05 GMT
Summary: Gather them up!! bring them to my house!!!

In article <1992Aug18.124649.22677@NeoSoft.com>, claird@NeoSoft.com (Cameron Laird) writes:
> Is anyone out there articulately familiar with the
> natural history of this week's "gecko" (I think
> they're actually of the genus Anolis, but I'd be
> happy to learn something more definite) invasion?
> Baby lizards are falling from the sky (well,
> jumping on me from my garage ceiling), darting
> across computer room floors, peering out from
> typewriters, and so on.  Is it known that this
> population explodes occasionally, or was I not
> paying attention in previous years, or what?
> Published references welcome.
> -- 
> 
> Cameron Laird
 
As a homeowner with 2 dogs I swear by them!  it is August and
I have *NO* fleas!!  these wonderful little lizzards eat fleas
and mosquitos.  They started showing up in force two summers
ago when there were a lot of california cantalope shipments
(this is what they told me when I called A&M about them.)
My dogs leave them alone.. I guess they realize how nice
they really are to have.  
 
They do stay away from people... mostly... I guess they
just like Cameron a lot!!
 
Claire
-- 
claire@sugar.neosoft.com
Xref: sparky houston.general:889 tx.politics:4275
From: exuptr@exu.ericsson.se (Patrick Taylor)
Newsgroups: houston.general,tx.politics,rice.politics
Subject: Re: Anti-choice vs. Pro-abortion (was Re: Houston Defending Choice Coalition needs you)
Date: 20 Aug 92 23:40:30 GMT
Distribution: tx
Organization: Ericsson Network Systems, Inc.

In article <1992Aug20.144033.2939@menudo.uh.edu> moore@uhibpd.phys.uh.edu (Lorra L. Moore) writes:
>In article <1992Aug20.000853.12407@cactus.org> rdd@cactus.org (Robert Dorsett) writes:
>>
>>Being unhappy or poor isn't punishable by death, the last time I checked.

>What a great life to commit a child to.  You are really sick.  Do you
>enjoy watching people suffer in misery?  Do you like hanging around
>ghettos and the wards watching people beg and debase themselves?  Do you
>get off to it?

As long as we're on the subject of experience, when's the last time you 
were ripped apart with surgical instruments?

>I think we have gotten into the basic difference.  I am not christian
>and the constitution of this country gives me that freedom.  

Fine.

>I don't believe that having an abortion damns a soul to eternal
>nothingness, I believe that it allows that soul to move onto another
>vessel that, perhaps, will dwell under better circumstances.  

Are we talking the fetus's soul here or the mother's?  Certainly the fetus 
would not be damned to anything.  Seems like you have some misconceptions 
about the Christian view here.

>In my
>belief, allowing an unwanted child to be born is damning that soul to a
>lifetime of misery, unnecessary misery.

Attributable mostly to those who "unwanted" the child.  Certainly it was not 
the child's decision.

>So, it really comes down to this, if you believe that you are damning a
>soul to eternal nothingness, then don't have an abortion.  

This is not what it's about.  Inform yourself about the other side before 
you presuppose or prejudge (or guess?) the motives.

>That is your
>choice and you can practice your beliefs all you want.  My beliefs,
>which are supposedly protected in this country, consider it an
>abomination against my higher power to not have an abortion if the
>pregnancy is not planned on and desired.

Whatever.

>Lorra
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    "This must be Thursday.  I never could get the hang of Thursdays"
                                                       - D Adams
  - Patrick Taylor
    Ericsson Network Systems
    exuptr@exu.ericsson.se                       "Don't let the .se fool you"
    alternately, exuptr@ZGNews.Lonestar.Org
From: drg@biomath.mda.uth.tmc.edu (David Gutierrez)
Newsgroups: houston.general
Subject: Advice from a cop
Date: 17 Aug 92 17:27:08 GMT
Organization: Univ. Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

A friend who's a Houston cop offered this advice: Get yourself a gun and be
prepared to defend your property this week, because HPD won't be able to.

I'd be curious to see if there's any variation in local crime this week.

David Gutierrez
drg@biomath.mda.uth.tmc.edu

"Only fools are positive." - Moe Howard
Newsgroups: houston.general,houston.music
From: kossack@taronga.com (Jordan M. Kossack)
Subject: Re: Advice from a cop
Followup-To: tx.politics
Organization: Taronga Park BBS
Distribution: houston
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 04:08:33 GMT

Someone wrote:  
- > >A friend who's a Houston cop offered this advice: Get yourself a gun and be
- > >prepared to defend your property this week, because HPD won't be able to.
- >  
- > Guns, guns!  Always guns are the answer to every problem.

        You may believe so, but I disagree.  42 is the answer!   :-) 

        As a TSRA and NRA member, I think that guns are _an_ answer 
   to _some_ problems.  Obviously, the police agree that guns are, 
   in some situations, an appropriate tool.  Otherwise, they would 
   not carry firearms.  You are, of course, free to think of every 
   situation as binary, but rational thought suggest that there are 
   shades of grey.  

        Do you want to ban police use of firearms?  Why or why not? 


edc@dna.bchs.uh.edu replied:
- .. so I shot him!
- (to quote that wonderful Feo Y Loco song Donna McKenzie played on Sunday
- because it was "somewhat appropriate with all the Republicans in town)
 
	Assuming that you're referring to the song "Living in America"
   I don't believe that 'quote' is actually a lyric.  But since we're 
   on the topic, what do you think of "Killer Transvestite"  ... or is 
   that song too politically incorrect?  Personally, I'm rather fond of 
   "Roadkill Boogie" but it may help that I know the guy who wrote it.  

	OBTW, I think Feo Y Loco is at Micky's Mardi Gras on Saturday.  
   They're not playing on Friday, but I doubt it has anything to do with   
   the ELP concert.   :-)   

-- 
  kossack@taronga.com  |  "One has a moral responsibility  
  Jordan M Kossack     |      to disobey unjust laws."    
  +1 713 240 2073      |   -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.    

Xref: sparky houston.general:910 tx.politics:4373
From: jcn@rice.edu (Jeff C. Nichols)
Subject: Re: Advice from a cop
Organization: Rice University
Distribution: houston
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 17:39:49 GMT

edc@dna.bchs.uh.edu writes:

>> Guns, guns!  Always guns are the answer to every problem.

>.. so I shot him!
>(to quote that wonderful Feo Y Loco song Donna McKenzie played on Sunday
>because it was "somewhat appropriate with all the Republicans in town)

Oh yes, bad mean ol' Republicans and their desire for guns, but
good ol' IceT for using such to dust some cops.  Bad ol' nasty 
Republicans.


--
*  Jeff Nichols                 |   I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay. * 
*  DoD#0402         AMA#568571  |   Ride:  GS500E    		   *
*  It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, and I'm wearing milkbone    *
*  underwear--  Norm Peterson					   *
Xref: sparky houston.general:866 tx.general:613 tx.politics:4168
From: rbutera@owlnet.rice.edu (Robert John Butera)
Newsgroups: houston.general,tx.general,tx.politics,rice.galor,rice.general,rice.comp
Subject: Re: Houston Defending Choice Coalition needs you
Date: 19 Aug 92 17:43:38 GMT
Distribution: tx
Organization: Rice University

In article <Bt7nFq.BKL@xcluud.sccsi.com> paul@xcluud.sccsi.com (Paul Hutmacher) writes:
>
>That's one of the things that has bothered me about the 100 ft distance limit
>imposed by whover that Judge was.  Up until two weeks ago I or anyone else
>could have wandered all over the sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood
>and done whatever I wanted to in the name of legal protest.  However, now
>we have a judge who decides OR's not allowed close to the premises to hold
>their lawful protests.

I think I understand the judge here - their track record and own
statements about what they're going to do when they get to Houston
confirms the fact that elements of their protest are not going to be
lawful.  They WANT to get arrested.  One of the approaches clinic
defenders use is how to "defend" the clinic and at the same time
minimize the number of OR arrests. 

>I support anyone's right to peacefully gather in a public place.  A Texas
>judge apparently does not and on the first day busted six OR types for
>praying on the sidewalk because they were closer than 100 feet.

I think the 100' rule should have been worded in such a way that it
would be put into effect if the protestors became non-law abiding.
i.e. as long as they are "peaceful" don't worry about.  Of course,
they never stay peaceful ...

>I really wish the convention had gone elsewhere.  I like George and company
>but wish I could watch other people's cities come apart for a week.

I like the convention here, and I don't like George and Co.  I think
that other than a few protests, the net effect for the city has been
positive, both eonomially and for its image.  Its funny - I lived in 
Atlanta during the 1988 Democratic convention and I don't remember
seeing this much protesting, although OR was out in strong force that
year and caused me to get stuck in a few traffic tie-ups (there should
be laws about fitting only so many people on a sidewalk ...)

>-- 
>"There is nothing to history.  No progress,          | Paul Hutmacher 
> no justice. There is nothing but random horror."    | Houston, Texas
>"Jupiter" in _The Difference Engine_ Gibson/Sterling | paul@xcluud.sccsi.com


-- 
Rob Butera - ECE grad student   Rice University, Houston, TX   rbutera@rice.edu
"In the worst case scenario, investigators would find a direct link to
 financing Iraqi military expenditures." - George Bush, February 13, 1990,
 in a memo to his secretary of Agriculture
Xref: sparky houston.general:896 tx.politics:4316
From: cosc16tt@menudo.uh.edu (Dennis Gray Jr.)
Subject: Re: Advice from a cop
Reply-To: DGray@uh.edu
Organization: /posole/cosc16tt/.organization
	<1992Aug18.150809.20291@lgc.com>
Distribution: houston
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 16:12:22 GMT

In article <1992Aug18.150809.20291@lgc.com> jsj@lgc.com (Jeffrey Jeffress) writes:

	   Well, I will admit my vast gun ignorance up front so don't flame
   me too hard... but...

I don't want you to think that this is a flame.  If you want to know
more about this then I suggest you page on down to rec.guns.  

   Don't you think shotguns are much more useful as a home protection tool.

   1) You are less likely to miss when you are standing there totally terrified
	   and shaking like you are going through withdrawl.

   2) You are less likely to kill your neighbor in the next apartment if you
	   miss.

   3) Your two year old is slightly less likely to be able to wreck havoc 
	   with your shotgun.

These are all valid points, but they also help make clear the original
point I was making.  Most people are not prepared to deal with the
things involved with self defense.  Remember this can actually involve
shooting some one.  The choice of weapon is vital to your success
under pressure, and your training with that weapon is just as
important.  So, to restate my point:  DO NOT go out and buy a gun on
the advise of some cop popping off.  Take more precautions this week
perhaps; make sure the doors are locked, etc.  If you want to get a
gun then get help in selecting a gun right for you and your family --
don't forget, your wife or older child may find themselves faced with
the same horrible situation you are anticipating, and they should have
as much training as you.  If you are not going to get training, and
you are not going to practice AT LEAST once a month, then please do
everyone a favor (yourself included) and don't buy a gun.

   Just some thoughts. Feel free to correct any bad assumptions or errors.

For better perspective, buy the book "In the Gravest Extreme" from The
Police Bookshelf.

-dennis
--
Dennis Gray, Jr.                 "What the hell were you doing???"

DGray@uh.edu                   "Attempting the hell to communicate."
                                     -from The Voyage Home


Xref: sparky houston.general:830 tx.general:597 tx.politics:4107
From: hari@NeoSoft.com (Doug Andersen)
Newsgroups: houston.general,tx.general,tx.politics,rice.galor,rice.general,rice.comp
Subject: Re: Houston Defending Choice Coalition needs you
Date: 17 Aug 92 23:38:13 GMT
Distribution: tx
Organization: NeoSoft Communications Services -- (713) 684-5900

In article <Bt2w14.9wq@xcluud.sccsi.com>, paul@xcluud.sccsi.com (Paul Hutmacher) writes:
> What a noble but misguided comment.  Operation Rescue is the work of 
> religious fundamentalists and not your federal government.  Your federal
> government is not allowed to participate in such shenanigans.
 
Perhaps.  But the federal government has made it clear that they will
administer the law according to how they think it should read, rather
than how the SC says it reads.  A good example is the case of RU486,
where the FDA and other federal government bodies have decided to ban
it from the US, even though it's clearly as safe as surgical abortion
and abortion is clearly legal.  And yet they are quite honest about
the fact that they oppose RU486 simply because this administration 
opposes abortion.
-- 
Doug Andersen
hari@Sugar.NeoSoft.com
Xref: sparky houston.general:815 tx.general:583 tx.politics:4052
From: corywest@rice.edu (Cory West)
Newsgroups: houston.general,tx.general,tx.politics,rice.galor,rice.general,rice.comp
Subject: Re: Houston Defending Choice Coalition needs you
Date: 15 Aug 92 06:00:38 GMT
Distribution: tx
Organization: Well, none really, but I know where my socks are!

In article <wasg.713825815@titan> wasg@cs.rice.edu (Eric Salituro) writes:

>  Let's Boot Operation Rescue Out Of Houston!

	HOORAY!  There are many many opportunities to get involved
in various political activities over the next week or two, so
don't be left out!  Call the numbers that Eric posted or call
the ACLU Texas for more information.

	It's time that the government kept their hands off of our
bodies and out of our sex lives.


				Cory West
Xref: sparky houston.general:892 tx.politics:4305
From: sbyrnes@rice.edu (Steven Byrnes)
Newsgroups: houston.general
Subject: Re: What happened to bitsink?
Date: 20 Aug 92 04:46:05 GMT
Reply-To: sbyrnes@rice.edu (Steven Byrnes)
Organization: Yeah, right, sure!

On Mon, 3 Aug 1992 00:25:52 GMT, Peter da Silva said:

> I've been feeding a number of groups to bitsink for some time, and suddenly
> it's turned into bitbucket. It hasn't answered the phone in over a week.
> Has anyone sighted this site recently?

I saw it.  :)

Yeah, bitsink started living up to its name while I was away, much to my
annoyance.  Typical.  (I know it was waiting for me to go away on a
vacation to do this to me.  <sigh>)

It was just a simple matter of: spool filling up, expire expiring (in the
sense of dying, *not* in the sense of doing its job), and, when I get back
and try to fix the problem, my monitor biting the dust.  Ugh.  Luckily
everything's back to abnormal....
Xref: sparky houston.general:908 tx.politics:4361
From: citer@jetson.uh.edu (Sanders, Raymond L.)
Subject: Re: Advice from a cop
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: University of Houston
Distribution: houston
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 11:30:00 GMT

In article <7135@lib.tmc.edu>, drg@biomath.mda.uth.tmc.edu (David Gutierrez) writes...
>A friend who's a Houston cop offered this advice: Get yourself a gun and be
>prepared to defend your property this week, because HPD won't be able to.
> 
>I'd be curious to see if there's any variation in local crime this week.
> 
>David Gutierrez
>drg@biomath.mda.uth.tmc.edu
> 
>"Only fools are positive." - Moe Howard
Ray Sanders (citer@jetson.uh.edu)
Guns, guns!  Always guns are the answer to every problem.
From: rchafetz@cephalo.neusc.bcm.tmc.edu (Ross Chafetz)
Newsgroups: houston.general
Subject: Re: Advice from a cop
Date: 18 Aug 1992 18:30:39 GMT
Distribution: houston
Organization: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston,Tx

In article <18AUG199206303017@jetson.uh.edu> citer@jetson.uh.edu (Sanders, Raymond L.) writes:
>In article <7135@lib.tmc.edu>, drg@biomath.mda.uth.tmc.edu (David Gutierrez) writes...
>A friend who's a Houston cop offered this advice: Get yourself a gun and be
>prepared to defend your property this week, because HPD won't be able to.
> 

Actually I've never been safer.  Here in the medical area and rice u.
there is a cop on every street corner.  Too bad about the rest of the
city :).

Ross
Xref: sparky houston.general:884 tx.general:619 tx.politics:4225
From: lawera@stat.rice.edu (Martin Lawera)
Newsgroups: houston.general,tx.general,tx.politics,rice.galor,rice.general
Subject: Re: Houston Defending Choice Coalition needs you
Date: 20 Aug 92 18:36:18 GMT
Distribution: tx
Organization: Dept. of Statistics, Rice University

Hi there,

I tried to avoid getting into this debate, but since it does not seem to die out,
here is my $0.02 of input:

1. I am pro-life

2. I don't like the OR methods. From what I hear, some of their protests really get
nasty, especially when they bring their children along.

3. I know that OR is not the only group using violent or almost violent methods of
protest to achieve their political goals. Just think about Act Up or Queer Nation.
Remember the SF riots and the desacration of St Patric's Cathedral?

4. I don't see those other groups being treated as harshly as OR. Yes, they get
manhandled by the police, but nobody tried to fine them $10,000  or declare
churches protest-free zones. Also, nobody tried to prosecute the leaders.

5. Therefore, it seems to me that OR is being singled out, which must have something
to do with the contents of their message, and thus violates the First Amendement.

I agree that the clients of abortion clincs have the right not to be harassed
(although what exactly constitutes harassment is open to debate) but so do
the customers at Randall's. How about some liberty and justice for all?
Xref: sparky houston.general:871 tx.politics:4180
From: exuptr@exu.ericsson.se (Patrick Taylor)
Newsgroups: houston.general,tx.politics,rice.politics
Subject: Re: Anti-choice vs. Pro-abortion (was Re: Houston Defending Choice Coalition needs you)
Date: 19 Aug 92 20:17:02 GMT
Distribution: tx
Organization: Ericsson Network Systems, Inc.

In article <1992Aug19.141416.17804@menudo.uh.edu> moore@uhibpd.phys.uh.edu (Lorra L. Moore) writes:

>Prolifers are great at bringing children to term... and then they tend
>to dump mother and unwanted child out into the street to fend for
>themselves... or they end up on welfare and the rest of us pay for their
>existance.  

Sad but true.  This will change, though.  Frankly it's the only way for
the pro-lifers to succeed.  We're being rather hypocritical if we don't
follow through, and no one listens to a hypocrite.

'Cept maybe the news media.

>Want to know what happens to unwanted children that aren't
>planned on and really wanted by healthy people?  Listen to the news.
>when was the last time a baby was found in a dumpster? Last week, a
>month ago?  Well, the prolifers helped bring it to term.  

So did an irresponsible mother, don't forget.  The babies don't just
materialize out of the political soup.

Your implication is probably correct.  Some of these instances would
probably have been abortions.  My contention is that neither solution is
a good one.  So rather than give someone a choice of abortion, let's give
them plenty of palatable, living solutions.  And don't tell me it will
never work.  That kind of negativism is part of the problem.

>Aren't they
>proud of themselves?  Just think, they brought it into this world so it
>could suffer.. .what a noble cause [This is sarcasm for those that
>missed it].

Just think...the mother conceived it so that it could suffer in the hands of 
a physician or in a dumpster, alone...what wonderful choices.

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    "This must be Thursday.  I never could get the hang of Thursdays"
                                                       - D Adams
  - Patrick Taylor
    Ericsson Network Systems
    exuptr@exu.ericsson.se                       "Don't let the .se fool you"
    alternately, exuptr@ZGNews.Lonestar.Org
From: jct@se33.wg2.waii.com (Jim Thompson)
Newsgroups: houston.general
Subject: Re: Gecko plague
Date: 18 Aug 92 16:03:48 GMT
Reply-To: thompson@wg2.waii.com
Distribution: houston
Organization: Western Geophysical Exploration Products
In-reply-to: claird@NeoSoft.com's message of 18 Aug 92 12:46:49 GMT

In article <1992Aug18.124649.22677@NeoSoft.com> claird@NeoSoft.com (Cameron Laird) writes:

> Is anyone out there articulately familiar with the
> natural history of this week's "gecko" (I think
> they're actually of the genus Anolis, but I'd be
> happy to learn something more definite) invasion?
> Baby lizards are falling from the sky (well,
> jumping on me from my garage ceiling), darting
> across computer room floors, peering out from
> typewriters, and so on.  Is it known that this
> population explodes occasionally, or was I not
> paying attention in previous years, or what?
> Published references welcome.

I can't answer your question, but am also curious about the recent
proliferation of these beasties.

In what part of Houston do you live?  In the Clear Lake area (we live
in Piper's Meadow) we have lizards pretty much all year long, mostly
the green type with the red throat-sac.  But lately we've seen an
awful lot of the little black ones (I assume these are the ones you're
calling geckos--they look like salamanders to me, but my wife assures
me they're lizards) all over the back yard and porch.  None in the
computer hardware yet (maybe they support the LPF's ban on Apple), but
they've definitely invaded the living room.

I don't think there's anything wrong with your attention span; I've
noticed the increase too.  I can think of lots of silly reasons for it:
they're a supernatural side-effect to Elvis sightings, they're fleeing
in advance of the killer-bee invasion, or they're nature's defense against
unusually high concentrations of conservative Republicans; but I'd like
to know the *real* reason.

Email me, please, if you learn anything interesting.

Jim
--
   _    Jim Thompson           |  Wanted:
 _| ~-  thompson@wg2.waii.com  |	Nick Park's "Grand Day Out"
 \,  _} Western Geophysical    |	on VHS-format videotape
   \(   Houston, Texas         |  Email me if you know where I can buy it.
Xref: sparky houston.general:854 tx.politics:4141