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 RANDOM THOUGHTS MAGAZINE                           (C) 1994  D.P. McIntire 
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 Issue XIII - March, 1994                                  by D.P. McIntire 
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 RANDOM THOUGHTS MAGAZINE may be distributed freely via CBBS, the Internet, 
 or other networks such as FidoNet.  It may be used by System Operators of  
 CBBS' as a door, bulletin, or by any other means at their disposal.  It    
 may also be distributed via CD ROM diskette without copyright violation.   
 ANY OTHER DISTRIBUTION OF THIS PUBLICATION IS PROHIBITED AND WILL BE       
 CONSIDERED AND PROSECUTED AS A VIOLATION OF FEDERAL COPYRIGHT LAWS.        
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 IN THIS MONTH'S ISSUE OF RANDOM THOUGHTS...                                
 (1) Hurry up and think of something!                                       
 (2) AmeriBoards Nationwide BBS List to be revamped.                        
 (3) Why we combined everything into one big lump.                          
 (4) The XVIIth Winter Olympic Games are over... Thank God.                 
 (5) The way the system should work:  Part IV of the series.                
 (6) Parting Thoughts.                                                      
 (7)                                                                        
 (8)                                                                        
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 HURRY UP AND THINK OF SOMETHING!                                           
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   For nearly a month, I've been procrastinating... trying to put off writing
this month's issue of RT.  Well, I put it off until the 28th, and would've
forgotten about it entirely if not for what I did on December 6, 1993.
   Huh?  How could something I did in December remind me to write the March
issue?  Simple.  I bought one of those day-by-day pocket calendar/things to
do today list gizmos.  Today had "work on March RT issue."  As Paul Harvey
would say, "that's the rest.... (really pregnant pause)... of the story."

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 AMERIBOARDS NATIONWIDE BBE LIST TO BE REVAMPED.                            
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   The national BBS listing I put out each month, AmeriBoards, has become so
outdated that I no longer can trust it myself.  So, I and a few friends have
taken to task a bold project - the complete reorganization of the list, from
Area Code 201 in New Jersey to Area Code 919 in my new home state of North
Carolina.  I estimate the project will take between 12-19 months, and will 
cost us about $ 3,200 to complete.
   When finished, the "new" version of AmeriBoards will hopefully be leaner
and meaner (due to the nature of BBS'es to come and go, we expect to drop
about 1,000 systems), and at some point we will be changing to a state-by-
state listing format rather than purely by area codes.

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 WHY WE COMBINED EVERYTHING INTO ONE BIG LUMP.                              
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   I've received some mail from downloaders of our publications asking why we
put AmeriBoards, Random Thoughts and SportsBeat magazines into one combined
.ZIP file.  Well folks, there are two reasons why this new format was chosen:
   (1) MONEY.  Uploading as many places as we do, its expensive as hell to
upload three separate files, even at 14,400 baud.
   (2) DISPARITY.  Most people who know of our BBS listing aren't familiar
with our other publications.  So, in order to familiarize them to RT and to
SportsBeat, we combined them into one .ZIP file, giving readers a chance to
take a peek at all three.

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 THE XVIIth WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES ARE OVER... THANK GOD.                     
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   The XVIIth Winter Olympiad, in Lillehammer Norway is over.  Thank God.  If
I see one more story about Tonya Harding, Nancy Kerrigan, Dan Jansen, the King
of Norway, or for that matter if I see Greg Gumbel between now and September,
I'm gonna throw up.
   Whatever happened to the days when the olympic games were on ABC?  When ABC
broadcast the games, they broadcast the games - not a bunch of "insights" of
stuff like buying a hot dog in Lillehammer, then trying to pawn it off on some
poor schlep who doesn't even understand English.  Tis truly sad.
   Sadder still is that we'll have to put up with it again in Nagano, Japan,
just four years from now.  Ugh.

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 THE WAY THE SYSTEM SHOULD WORK - PART IV OF THE SERIES.                    
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   Over the past few months I've been writing about what I would do if I were
the dictator (not President) of the U.S.  Last month I tackled the national
welfare system.  This month I'll tackle another problem we have in America,
but have seemed to set aside because of our past traditions.  That problem is
immigration.  Here we go.

PROBLEM:  Immigrants come to the United States, be it legally or illegally,
with no knowledge of the English language, or respect for our traditional
values and customs.

PROBLEM II:  America has always been considered as the "melting pot" of the
world, with many diverse cultures and peoples.  Our traditions are such that
the refugees of other nations are welcome here in America.  Because of this
our government doesn't make a serious effort to curb the problem.

SOLUTION:  No immigration to the United States allowed, period.  No political
refugees, no prisoners from Cuba, no Mexicans, no Asians, no Germans, no more
Irish, nobody period - UNLESS they speak English.  Granted that nearly a
century ago, the Irish and German and Italian immigrants which came here in
all likelihood didn't speak the language.  A recent survey by a national
polling agency showed that almost 30% of immigrants now coming on our shores
do not speak a word of English.  I'm sorry, but this is fundamentally wrong.
   I, as dictator, would also require that these immigrants coming into America
be required to prove that they have employment waiting for them once they
are within our borders.  This would be a very difficult thing for most, but
this would greatly help both them and us.
   Part 3 of the solution would be to curb illegal immigration from Mexico.
How?  Create the "Great Wall of the Rio Grande".  This sort of ties in with
my public works for prisoners project I mentioned a couple of months ago...
a 30-foot wall, starting at the Gulf of Mexico and running clear through to
the Tijuana border.  It would take a couple of years, but there would be NO
illegal immigrations from Mexico by just "sneaking across the border" after
the wall was constructed.

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 PARTING THOUGHTS.                                                          
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   I'm debating re-establishing my bulletin board system down here in Raleigh,
North Carolina.  AmeriBoard, as it would be called, would be the new home of
AmeriBoards, "The Nationwide BBS Listing."  
   Unfortunately, there are other things that I have to take care of, such as
food, finding a new apartment down here in Raleigh (I'm living with a friend)
getting phone lines set up, etc.
   So, for the time being (and probably for at least two or three months more)
I'll be sans board.  But, hopefully, good lord willin' and the crick don't
rise, I'll be back on the boards very, very soon.

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