To Andy - and anyone else who has the good fortune to not live under the regime of G.W. Bush.
The "Patriot Act" is legislation that the Bush administration's Gestapo, Aschroft and Rumsfeld, rammed through into law shortly after the World Trade Center destruction. It is legislation which undoes much of the freedoms upon which this country was founded. Here is a link to the actual text of the Act. Proving once again that one of the most frightening sentences in the world is "we're from the US government and we're here to help you!"
(In case I'm not being clear about this, YES, I have NEVER been more ASHAMED of my country's leaders than I am now. Since when are we entitled to boss the world around and attack countries on a whim and as a result of somebody's personal vendetta? Don't any of these fucking idiots read history?)
And on another channel, Spam? Of course it sucks, of course it's a bit of an inconvenience. So are junk mail and commercials on TV. PERSPECTIVE, people, PERSPECTIVE. The net is young, and will continue going through growing pains, but WE ARE THE ONES WITH THE POWER! I NEVER respond to people who market with Spam or pop-ups. If all users of the internet act the same way, Spam and pop-ups will die. This is economics in action, and if the methods didn't work, people wouldn't use them. I maintain that if everybody started to ignore Spam and pop-ups today, in three months there WOULDN'T BE ANY MORE!
Oh, and on the Mellotron channel - it seems that my life is changing yet again, and my parents are entering their end-game. As an only child, I am soon going to sell my house and move to my parents home to help care for them. in the next six months, I intend to be the proud owner of a (whichever I can find) Mark I, Mark II or FX Console, refurbed and specced to my desires. Anybody selling one here?
Jon E Salley
M400 #886