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TELECOM Digest     Fri, 23 Dec 2005 02:07:00 EST    Volume 24 : Issue 576

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    New York's 3-Day Transit Strike Ends (Deepti Hajela)
    Sunset Ends Transit Strike (New York Newsday Staff Writers)
    Re: NYC Transit Strike Midst Cold Weather and Christmas (Seth Breidbart)
    Jews for Jesus Files Suit Against Google Blog (Reuters News Wire)
    Amid New Orleans Ruins Churches Step in to Help (Kongsmark & Hampton)
    Blackberry: A High-Tech Ball and Chain (Monty Solomon)
    Re: Spam (was FTC Do Not Call List) (Seth Breidbart)
    Re: Letter From Russia (Seth Breidbart)
    Re: The Letter From valent@mailrus.ru (Seth Breidbart)
    Re: Missing ABN Amro Tape With Two Million Names Found (Seth Breidbart)
    Re: Dumb Question About "Do Not Call" (Seth Breidbart)
    A Mother's Love: Food For Baby Chick (Michael Casey, C.S. Monitor)

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and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest.  

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Deepti Hajela <ap@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: New York's 3-Day Transit Strike Ends
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 21:53:43 -0600


By DEEPTI HAJELA, Associated Press Writer

Faced with mounting fines and the rising wrath of millio ns of
commuters, the city transit union sent its members back to work
without a new contract Thursday and ended a crippling, three-day
strike that brought subways and buses to a standstill.

Union members were told to return to their jobs and start preparing to
restore service. Buses were expected to roll around midnight, and most
trains were expected to be running by the Friday morning rush, just
two days before Christmas.

"I'm ecstatic that it's over, but I'm still really mad that they did
it," said Jessica Cunningham, 21, who was in town for the holiday. "I
really think it's screwed up that they decided to strike the week
before Christmas."

The breakthrough came after an all-night session with a
mediator. Around midday, leaders of the 33,000-member Transport
Workers Union overwhelmingly voted to return to work and resume
negotiations with the transit authority on a new three-year contract.

"We thank our riders for their patience and forbearance," said union
local president Roger Toussaint.

While the deal put the nation's largest mass transit system back in
operation, it did not resolve the underlying dispute -- pension
contributions were the main sticking point -- meaning there could be
another walkout if the negotiations fail.

The strike cost the city untold millions in police overtime and lost
business and productivity at the very height of the Christmas rush and
forced millions of commuters, holiday shoppers and tourists to
carpool, take taxis, ride bicycles or trudge through the freezing
cold. But the strike did not cause the utter chaos that many had
feared, and traffic in many parts of town was surprisingly light.

"In the end, cooler heads prevailed," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
"We passed the test with flying colors. We did what we had to do
to keep the city running, and running safely."

The walkout, which began early Tuesday, was New York's first citywide
transit strike in more than 25 years. The workers left their jobs in
violation of a state law prohibiting public employees from striking.

The return to work was announced just minutes before Toussaint and two
of his top deputies were due in a Brooklyn courtroom to answer
criminal contempt charges that could have landed them in jail.

Earlier this week, state Justice Theodore Jones fined the union $1
million a day for striking. And under the state no-strike law, the
rank-and-file members were automatically docked two days' pay for each
day they stayed off the job.

"I'm ready to work the rush hour this afternoon if they let me," bus
driver Ralph Torres said from the picket line as the breakthrough was
announced.

The strike left bitter feelings across the city.

"I think it was all for nothing," said commuter Lauren Caramico, 22,
of Brooklyn. "Now the poor people of the TWU are out six days' pay,
and nothing gained."

Gov. George Pataki warned there was no possibility of amnesty for the
striking workers who were penalized financially. The fines "cannot be
waived. They're not going to be waived," he said.

Just before the deal was announced, an off-duty firefighter was
critically injured when he was struck by a private bus while riding
his bicycle to work. It was the first serious strike-related injury.

A chief sticking point in the talks was a Metropolitan Transportation
Authority proposal to require new hires to contribute 6 percent to
their pensions, up from the current 2 percent for all employees. The
pension proposal remained on the table despite the end of the walkout.

The vote to return to work was blasted by TWU dissidents who felt the
union had caved in.

"This was a disgrace," said TWU vice president John Mooney. "No
details were provided to the executive board. (Toussaint) wants us to
discuss the details after Christmas."

After workers returned to the job, the judge overseeing the dispute
adjourned all further action in the case until Jan. 20.

"I'm pleased on behalf of the people of the city of New York," Jones
said.  "Hopefully, we'll be able to salvage Christmas."

On the Net:

Metropolitan Transportation Authority: http://www.mta.info/
Transport Workers Union: http://www.twulocal100.org

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at
http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html

For more Associated Press headlines and audio news, please go to:
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html

------------------------------

From: New York Newsday Staff Writers <newsday@telecom-digest.org> 
Subject: Sun Sets on Transit Strike
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 21:56:50 -0600


BY HERBERT LOWE, GRAHAM RAYMAN, RAY SANCHEZ and JAMSHID MOUSAVINEZHAD
STAFF WRITERS

To the relief of millions of commuters, the city's transit workers'
union ended its 2 1/2-day strike, and bus and subway employees began
returning to work.

"This was a big test for this city, and I think it passed with flying
colors," Mayor Bloomberg said. "It wasn't easy, and certainly serious
economic harm was inflicted, but we did what we had to do to keep the
city running and running safely."

"It can't be turned on and off with a flip of a switch," Bloomberg
said of the mass transit system. "The city will be back to normal as
of midnight," with regard to dismantling the contingency plan.

Buses are expected to get rolling by about 10 p.m. tonight and taxis
should begin using meters at midnight. Subway trains will hit the
rails overnight, transit officals said, adding that tomorrow morning's
rush hour should be fairly normal.

The union has already posted on its website, under the headline
"STRIKE OVER: REPORT TO WORK", instructions for workers to report to
work immediately if their scheduled shift has already started, or to
report per usual if they're working a later shift.

"We thank our riders for their patience and forebearance," said
Transport Workers Union president Roger Toussaint.

Bloomberg, who had been incensed by what he termed the "thuggish"
behavior of striking, was more restrained at an afternoon news
conference.

Though he reiterated that the untion was wrong to strike, he said
"this time they acted responsibly, and for that I am
appreciative. When asked about what might have led to the end of the
walkout, the mayor said: "Cooler heads prevailed."

He credited the union for calling off the strike, but said they were
wrong to go on strike in the first place. He noted that the strike had
been costly for the city with an estimated $10 million in police
overtime and $12 million less in tax revenues.

"People who are struggling to make ends meet are really hurt by this
work stoppage," the mayor said.

Bloomberg took pains to differentiate between union leaders and the
rank-and-file members. "I described the behavior of the union
leadership, which hurt this city," he said.

He encouraged angry commuters to be civil as they prepare to face
members of the TWU for the first time since the strike upset travel
within the city.

"If you want to say something to the employees as you go by, what
about 'Glad you're back, I missed you,'" he said.

The Transport Workers Union Local 100's executive board gave the final
okay for the back-to-work order around 2:30 p.m., ending the crippling
strike that had stranded New Yorkers and hit businesses at the height
of the holiday season.

Thirty-six members of the 43-member executive board voted to end the
strike, five voted against and two abstained, said Eladio Diaz, a
member.

"This was a disgrace," said TWU vice president John Mooney. "No detils
were provided to the executive board. [Toussaint] wants us to discuss the
details after Christmas."

Toussaint earlier had agreed to send striking transit workers back to
work while talks with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
resumed, an arbitrator said.

"Both parties have a genuine desire to resolve their differences,"
said Richard Curreri, head of a three-member state mediation
panel. "They have agreed to resume negotiations while the TWU takes
steps to return its membership."

Curreri, who spoke at a news conference at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, said
talks held separately with each side since the strike began on Tuesday
had been "fruitful," but an agreement on a new contract for bus and
subway employees "remains out of reach at this time."

Although they didn't formally negotiate, union and MTA representatives
met face-to-face this morning for a discussion before Toussaint
recommended ending the strike, a source close to the situation
said. That set the stage for productive talks to resume once the union
agreed to go back to work.

Meanwhile, union attorney Arthur Schwartz told state Supreme Court
Justice Theodore Jones of Brooklyn that he had been advised by
mediator Richard Curreri to seek an adjournment until 4 p.m. of a
hearing originally scheduled for 11 a.m. Later in the day, the judge
postponed a hearing on whether to impose more fines until January 20.

Yesterday, Jones had ordered Toussaint, secretary treasurer Ed Watt
and recording secretary Darlyne Lawson of TWU Local 100 to come to
court and answer a criminal contempt charge for violating a court
order he issued last week -- raising the possibility that he would
consider ordering jail time for the union leaders.

New York City's corporation counsel Michael Cardozo and James Henly
from state attorney general's office consented to the adjournment.

Jones responded that "our overwhelming concern is a return to work by
the members of the union."

He said that it was his hope that by 4 p.m., when the hearing resumes,
the situation would have advanced to a point "which would make a lot
of the questions that are before this court moot."

Despite the postponement, Schwartz brought to court a copy of the
union's opposition to Cardozo's motion filed yesterday asking the
judge to issue another order directing union members to return to
work.

"No New York court has ever recognized claims of the sort asserted by
the city here," it read.

"The city's request for injunctive relief, like the underlying
lawsuit, has no basis in the law, runs in fact contrary to the law and
should not be entertained by the court."

Earlier in the day, union members picketing outside the courthouse in
Columbus Park said they hadn't heard much more than what media members
told them.

Joe Gifford, 52, said he was hopeful that the resolution would end the
strike and send workers back to their duties. "Our families are also
suffering," said the station agent. "They're also walking over the
bridge."

"We're from the neighborhoods that are suffering the most," he said.

Jeffrey Chapman, who works 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the supply and
logistics department at Livingston Plaza, said it was probably too
late for him to go back to work today, but he would go back tomorrow
if told to.

"We support our union leaders," said the Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
resident. "If they say that we should go back to work and will
continue to negotiate, then that's what we'll do. We have faith in him
[Toussaint].  That's why we went out on strike."

The reaction from commuters to news of the possible end of the strike
was swift, and for the most part predictable.

"It makes me happy," said Ansuya Patel, owner of a newshop next to the
entrance to the LIRR station in Forest Hills, reflecting the views of
others. The long line in front of the station the last few days had
cut off customer access to the store, she said, with her husband
saying business has been "very bad, down 90%".

Nathan Orzeo, 47, waiting on the Forest Hills LIRR platform to go into
his job in the Diamond District, said while it was a good thing the
strike may be ending, he understood the union's motivation in
striking -- "everyone wants to make more money."

But this being New York, there were some contrarians. Marcos DeSillas,
who grew up in Spain under a dictatorship, said he hoped the strike
would "continue a few days more -- to break the unions."

DeSillas said the additional inconvenience to commuters would be worth
it in his opinion, to "put an end to the nonsense" once and for all.

Daniel Wraga, 22, who is originally from Poland was spotted coming off
a LIRR train in Penn Station wearing rollerblades.

He said he liked the strike, because he likes "something different,
like the blackout." He's been rollerblading from Penn Station to the
West Village, and enjoying it so much he said he may keep
rollerblading even after the strike was over.

In his announcement, Curreri said the MTA had not pulled its pension
offer -- one of the main sticking points in the contract talks -- off
the table, but said the agency was willing to consider other savings
in health costs.

The MTA and the union have agreed to a self-imposed media blackout for
the duration of the talks, Curreri said.

"We have suggested and they have agreed to resume negotiations while
the TWU takes steps to returning to work," Curreri said.

No formal negotiations had been set immediately, he said. "But we
anticipate they will be scheduled in short order."

Newsday staff writer Michael Rothfeld contributed to this report.

Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at
http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html

For more news headlines and stories go to:
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/internet-news.html

------------------------------

From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: BlackBerry: A High-Tech Ball and Chain For Lawyers
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 23:00:00


December 22, 2005

Perhaps the lawyers at Burns & Levinson don't know it's nicknamed the
CrackBerry.

That might explain why a partner at the Boston firm recently e-mailed
a stern memo to his department, reminding lawyers that their
BlackBerries -- the ubiquitous and addictive wireless handhelds that
can send e-mail and make phone calls -- should be kept on after hours,
on weekends, and, in the case of ''essential" attorneys, during
vacations.

"They are not just accessories or collectors' items," Brian D.  Bixby,
cochairman of the firm's private clients group, wrote in his memo,
which became public after being sent anonymously to Massachusetts
Lawyers Weekly. "They are not to be used only when you feel like
sending an e-mail. They are supposed to make you more accessible for
receiving e-mails after hours and on weekends."

http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2005/12/22/blackberry_a_high_tech_ball_and_chain_for_lawyers/

------------------------------

From: sethb@panix.com (Seth Breidbart)
Subject: Re: NYC Transit Strike Midst Cold Weather and Christmas
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 03:43:25 UTC
Organization: Society for the Promulgation of Cruelty to the Clueless


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This strike is only against the law in
> NYC because the city of New York passed a law claiming it was
> 'wrong'.

First, it's a state law.  Second, it's the _same_ state law that
permitted public employees to have unions in the first place.  Prior
to that, the state would not recognize public employee unions.

> I suggest that the city is condoning indentured slavery.

There's no slavery involved, because nobody has said the employees
can't just _quit_.  What they aren't allowed to do is (1) not work and
(2) keep their jobs.

> No one can be _forced_ to work at a job they do not want to work at.

That's right; they can quit any time they want.

> If the city feels public transportation is so important, the way to
> demonstate that is by treating the employees who are doing that work
> in a respectful way, not by being even more oppressive with laws
> which require your work and fine or imprison you for failing to work,
> as is the case in Bloomberg's administation.

Oh, and Bloomberg has little to do with it.  The Transit Authority is
a _state_ agency.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note:

> Here is a piece of advice for you: the transit workers do not belong
> to the citizens of New York nor the politicians.  If the residents
> of New York are so damned inconvenienced by the strike (and I am
> sure they are) then their wrath should be taken out on the lousy
> political adminsitration and transit system who forced the workers
> to go out on strike to start with; either go on strike or lose much
> of their pensions; get cuts in pay, etc.

Does it matter whether or not they're overpaid?  Or that nobody is
losing any pension, but rather *new hires* will get less generous
benefit?

> How much money has NYTA lost through theft by its own workers

The ones on strike now?

> and general ineffeciency?

You mean, the inefficiency required by the union?

> A NYC judge blustered about it, fined them umpteen jillion dollars per
> day in fines, and when the court _tried_ to collect the fines the day
> the strike finally ended, the union's posture was "we still have
> umpteen millions more in our treasury, let's continue the strike a few
> more days until the money is totally gone ... who will be the ultimate
> loser?

And the judge didn't immediately issue a Court Order freezing the
union's bank accounts?  Why not?

Besides, a judgment doesn't disappear just because the defendant has
no money at the time.  The fine could be collected at any future time,
including taking union dues as they're paid by the TA (withheld from
employees' paychecks, turned over directly in payment of the fine).

Seth


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For someone who has no control over the
matter (as you claim about Bloomberg) he sure does a lot of talking
about the strike and taking credit for ending it Thursday afternoon. Why 
don't we hear him saying, "Sorry, that's not my department, you will 
need to talk to the transit workers and their managers."?

And yes, I _know_ the one is a state agency and the other is a
municipal government ... duh!  But you should know that when Bloomberg
says 'jump' everyone asks 'how high?', etc. Things like the difference
between a 'state agency' and a 'municipal government' in this instance
is just thinly veilled bullshit, just as with Chicago Transit
Authority. That was how the politicians years ago wanted to set it
up, I have no idea why. 

The union does not require ineffeciency, or no more so than the
government bosses. And why didn't the court immediatly freeze the
union's bank account? Obviously you did _not_ do your homework
assignment yesterday (read the transcripts of the 1960's court
proceeding when the union was last on strike.) At that point in time,
the reason the strike lasted eleven days instead of only two or three
was because the judge was a total blowhard, a real jerk with his fines
and punishments, etc. Yes, the 1960's judge did threaten to freeze the
treasury, freeze the employee's salaries, etc. _But the union warned
him against continuing that approach_, teling him in effect "freeze
our members wages to collect your silly fine, I'll tell everyone of
them not present now to hear me say it in person, "resign your
employment and walk off the job permanently as of now. See how soon
you have a transit system running again."  The union in those days was
_tough_ and the judge sort of wishy-washy and very much inclined to
only please the people who put him in office who wanted the strike to
end. Once cooler heads prevailed, he agreed to forgive the fine, etc.

I think the same thing will happen in this case when the court
reconvenes on January 20 after the requested adjournment today. All
the fines and the nasty language will be forgotten about. My
competitor the New York Times and the other newspapers will print a
tiny little one paragraph thing on page 79 announcing that the court
agreed to forgive all the fines.

You know, Seth, your cute little distinction between 'state agency'
versus municipal government and how, oh boo hoo, Bloomberg had no
control over it, etc sort of reminds me of how when I call ICANN to
task around here, invariably one or more readers will conveniently
forget how although damn near everyone considers ICANN to be in 
control of the net, they will say the opposite, that ICANN 'has
no control, they are just an agency to (fill in the blank.)' And
although technically, that is true, there are many people further
up the line who tell ICANN how to march and sing. Ditto the transit
agency and Bloomberg I suspect. Let's deal with realities, not
theoreticals if you don't mind.   PAT] 

------------------------------

From: Reuters News Wire <reuters@telecom-digest.org> 
Subject: Jews For Jesus Files Suit Against Google Over Blog
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 22:01:13 -0600


The Christian evangelical group Jews for Jesus is suing Google Inc.,
saying a Web log hosted through the Internet search leader's Blogspot
service infringes its trademark.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in New York on Wednesday, seeks
to force Google to give Jews for Jesus control of the site as well as
unspecified monetary damages.

"We have a right to our own name and Google has allowed the use of our
name on Blogspot without our permission," said Susan Perlman,
associate executive director with Jews for Jesus.

"Our reputation is at stake," Perlman told Reuters.

Google's Blogspot and Blogger services allow people to set up Web
logs, or online journals known as "blogs" for short, for free. A
Google spokesman declined to comment, saying the firm had not yet
reviewed the lawsuit.

The disputed blog, http://jewsforjesus.blogspot.com, was started in
January 2005 by someone taking the name "Whistle Blower" and airing
critical views of the San Francisco-based organization, which seeks to
convert Jews to Christianity.

The site has only three entries, the last of which was made on May 9.

Comments on the blog showed that Jews for Jesus attempted to persuade
Whistle Blower to transfer the domain to the group but was rebuffed.

Perlman said the critical tone was not behind the suit.

"One of the wonderful things about the Internet is that there is
freedom of expression, but there should be a protection ... so that
organizations like ours can represent ourselves," Perlman said.


Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at
http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html

------------------------------

From: Anne Konigsmark & Rick Hampton <usatoday@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: Amid New Orleans Ruins, Volunteers are Emerging as Heroes
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 22:08:58 -0600


By Anne Rochell Konigsmark and Rick Hampson, USA TODAY

In his 67 years, Howard Peterson had never seen a Mennonite. But 11
days before Christmas he stood in the ruins of his kitchen, watching a
crew of them gut and clean his flood-ravaged house.

Peterson is a retired African-American barber who lives on disability
payments. His eyes are sad, his movement listless, his voice weak. His
helpers were strapping white men from Lancaster County, Pa., dressed
in dark pants, collared shirts, suspenders and black straw hats.

Peterson and his wife couldn't afford to pay a contractor several
thousand dollars to gut the one-story house, which sat in water for
weeks after Hurricane Katrina inundated the working-class Gentilly
district. So Peterson, who looks too frail to do spring cleaning,
began trying to clear out the house himself. Then the Mennonites came
by and offered a hand.

"I can't thank them enough," he says. But he also wonders when the
professionals - city, state and federal agencies - will do their
part. "They should be trying to repair the city."

The Gulf Coast in general and New Orleans in particular have at times
felt abandoned by the American government. But they haven't been
abandoned by Americans, who have volunteered by the thousands to clear
out houses, collect trash, fight mold, cover roofs, feed the hungry,
tend to the sick and help in any way they can. Now, as disaster relief
gives way to rebuilding, volunteers are renovating and constructing
homes, restocking libraries, surveying historic structures, tracking
down voters and helping communities plan for the future.

Partly because politicians continue to dither, bicker and accuse,
non-governmental organizations -- "NGOs" ranging from large, non-profit
agencies to church youth groups -- are emerging as heroes of the
recovery effort. While the government is still trying to sort out 
who should do what and fighting about it, many kind individuals have
stepped in to take over the burden.

Habitat for Humanity, whose Operation Home Delivery has been building
houses across the nation for shipment to the Gulf Coast, received an
85% "positive" rating for its post-hurricane work in a national Harris
Poll released in November. FEMA, in contrast, got a 72% "negative"
rating.

In New Orleans' devastated Lower 9th Ward, FEMA is so unpopular that
its workers have been heckled and threatened. Some stopped wearing
anything that identifies their agency.

Past crises generally have established the limits of non-government
action; private charity proved insufficient to cope with the Great
Depression, for example. This crisis seems to have a different lesson:
Volunteers, outsiders and amateurs can help fill a void created by
what Amy Liu, an urban policy expert at the Brookings Institution,
calls "a total lack of leadership from President Bush and downward,
across all levels of government."

"There's a general sense that the charitable sector has the touch
needed, a better feel for the communities affected," says Paul Light,
a New York University government analyst.

Small steps, massive need

Pride in what non-profits are doing to help the Gulf Coast recover is
tempered by the universal acknowledgment that there will be no
recovery without a massive government effort, and it would appear for
now that President Bush does not intend to do that.

Charitable contributions for victims of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and
Wilma total about $3 billion. That's less than what the Bush
administration says is needed just to fix the Mississippi River levees
that protect New Orleans.

"Habitat (for Humanity) will build you a house, and it will build 500
other houses," Light says. "It won't build 10,000 houses." And it
won't rebuild the levees.

However, in New Orleans alone, the volunteer effort has been
impressive:

 . The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), an
advocacy group that works in low-income areas, is organizing the city's
scattered residents to give them a voice in planning their neighborhoods'
future.

 . National Trust for Historic Preservation volunteers are canvassing
thousands of flood-damaged historic houses and encouraging owners to
restore, not raze.

 . The Preservation Resource Center, another historic preservation group, is
handing out "flood buckets" with materials for cleaning up buildings and
offering classes for homeowners on how to repair flood damage.

 . Oprah Winfrey's Oprah's Angel Network is donating 50 houses for people
left homeless.

 . Common Ground, a coalition of activist groups founded after Katrina, was
among the first to go into the Upper 9th Ward, where it runs a health
clinic, a legal aid office, a homeless shelter, a free kitchen, a "tool
lending library" and a solar-powered shower.

Religious denominations are focusing on their traditional specialties
in disaster relief. They include Southern Baptists (chain sawing for
debris removal), United Methodists (tracking the needs of families),
Seventh Day Adventists (warehousing supplies) and Church of the
Brethren (emergency child care), according to Kevin King of the
Mennonites (building trades). ECUSA -- the Episcopal Church in the
United States has _poured_ tons of money into the effort, through the
other church organizations, etc.

Volunteers include Old Order Amish, who shun modern conveniences and
still dress as they did centuries ago; hippies of the Rainbow Family,
a 1960s-style, back-to-the-land group that established a soup kitchen
and medical tent in a park east of the French Quarter; and planners
from the Urban Land Institute, a non-profit research group that waived
its usual fee to study rebuilding New Orleans.

Outside help a godsend

Local non-profits do what they can, but outsiders are taking the lead.
"Everyone who lives here is maxed out dealing with their own
situation," says Patty Gay of the Preservation Resource Center. The
out-of-towners, she adds, "are so good for morale. It's easy to be
depressed."

Even NGOs that usually work overseas, such as Oxfam, the International
Rescue Committee and the Mennonite Central Committee, have sent help.

Although the role of NGOs in disaster recovery has grown over the
years, Katrina is a watershed, says Brenda Phillips, professor of
emergency management at Oklahoma State University: "We're seeing how
important they are to our country in a way we never have."

She and other analysts cite several reasons:

 . Government lost the public's confidence after the hurricane and
will have a hard time regaining it. "That leaves the non-profits,"
says Tiziana Dearing of Harvard's Hauser Center for Non-profit
Organizations.

 . The disaster's scope stretches even well-functioning government
agencies, inviting involvement by NGOs that normally focus on the
neediest victims -- the poor and elderly.

 . Lacking government's power, money and size, non-profits often are
more sensitive to people's needs. "We listen before we do anything,"
King says.

 . NGOs are relatively nimble -- an important asset if, as seems
likely, the Gulf Coast will recover a block or a neighborhood at a
time. "It's easier for light-footed individuals to move things forward
than a government bureaucracy," says Greta Gladney, a community
activist whose home in the Lower 9th Ward has been rehabbed by ACORN
volunteers.

A call to action

"True evangelical faith cannot lie dormant -- It clothes the naked. It
feeds the hungry. It comforts the sorrowful. It shelters the
destitute."

- Menno Simons, 1539

The Mennonites, the denomination Simons helped found, are known mostly
today for their belief in adult baptism, pacifism and simple Christian
living.  Some of the 400,000 Mennonites in North America favor
old-fashioned dress.  Women who dropped by the Gentilly work site wore
dresses and bonnets.

 From the start, Mennonites were persecuted in Europe. The account of
such trials, Martyrs' Mirror, is a thick volume. Yet their reaction
has not been to hate others, but to try to help them.

Katrina was a call to the action demanded by their founding fathers,
who "emphasized doing something about our faith -- putting it into
practice," says Werner Froese, a Canadian who supervises New Orleans
projects for the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS). "So we want to get
people back into their homes as soon as we can."

Since early October, more than 600 MDS volunteers have worked on 200
projects along the Gulf Coast. They've donned masks, boots and gloves
to do the dirtiest, most basic jobs -- ripping out moldy drywall and
picking through wreckage.

In Peterson's house, the flood line was halfway up the wall. The smell
of rot and mold was nauseating. A recipe for chicken salad was still
taped to a kitchen cabinet, but little else was salvageable.

"It's dirty work," says Jerry Weaver of East Earl, Pa. "But it's worth
it.  The homeowners appreciate it."

Much more work will be needed before Peterson can move back in.

Brenda Wise, a widowed teacher who lives around the corner from
Peterson, says the Mennonites were her only hope. She felt betrayed by
her insurance company, which said her flood insurance was inadequate
and homeowner's insurance did not cover her belongings, and by the
Orleans Parish school system, which laid her off.

Wise has been living in Houston, but says she must move back into her
house.  She can't afford anything else. The Mennonites are readying
the house for her return -- and lifting her spirits.

"When I first saw my house, all I could do was just turn around and
come out," she says. "I thought nothing was salvageable. I couldn't
see beyond the destruction." But the Mennonites carefully set aside
dishes, pots, pans, photographs and other items that could be cleaned
and saved.

Just a week earlier, the Mennonites' mission was in doubt.

King, executive coordinator of Mennonite Disaster Service, and five
board members had spent the day touring the city and talking with
residents. By 10:30 that night they were exhausted, but King insisted
they discuss a disturbing question: Should they commit tens of
thousands of volunteer hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars to a
community that might not survive the next big storm?

Some Mennonites favored concentrating on other parts of the Gulf Coast
and writing off New Orleans. By helping people rebuild in the city,
they argued, we might only be setting them up for the next disaster.

Nothing King saw or heard that day challenged such pessimism, especially the
residents' despair over government inaction and their uncertainty over the
condition and future of the levees that are supposed to protect the city
from flooding.

But as they sat around a table in a small, second-floor conference
room at an Hispanic church, he and the directors kept thinking about
the desolation they'd seen in Gentilly and the 9th Ward. The situation
was desperate -- so desperate they decided in the end that they should
stay.

"We have to do something," King says. "People here are desperate for
hope, the government has apparently abandoned them, so we'll take a
risk with them and walk with them."

The Mennonites expect to stay for at least two years and continue to
import work teams from around the USA and Canada each week.

King says that if New Orleans is a lost cause, it is one for which
there are many volunteers: "We're booked through March."

Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
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http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html

For more headline stories from USA Today, please go to:
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/internet-news.html



[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The Episcopal Bishop for Kansas, Dean
Wolfe visited our church -- Epiphany Church here in Independence and
asked the vestry (local church overseers) to please 'partner' with a
totally devastated housing project and church in Biloxi, MS. Our
vestry agreed to the commitment, despite the fact that we are having
problems of our own. _The major_ Episcopal Church in Kansas (Christ
Church in Overland Park, Kansas, and about 40 percent of the statewide
budget) about a year ago decided to split and go with the more
conservative Anglican Communion, I guess you know the main
reason. Dean asked us to do the best we could anyway.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: sethb@panix.com (Seth Breidbart)
Subject: Re: Spam (was FTC Do Not Call List)
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 02:19:02 UTC
Organization: Society for the Promulgation of Cruelty to the Clueless


In article <telecom24.571.13@telecom-digest.org>,
David Wolff <dwolffxx@panix.com> wrote:

> In article <telecom24.570.8@telecom-digest.org>, Seth Breidbart
> <sethb@panix.com> wrote:
>> In article <telecom24.563.14@telecom-digest.org>,
>> Jim Haynes <jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu> wrote:

>>> One scheme that seemed to me to have some promise was to detect spam
>>> in the SMTP receiving program and deliberately delay its responses
>>> to the sending program.  So that the transaction of sending a message
>>> is stretched out far longer than normal.

>> That's called tarpitting.  It would work against spammers who use
>> their own resources to send.  Those who use armies of zombies wouldn't
>> care.

> I would think that at least it cuts down on the amount of spam, if
> enough of the zombies get stuck in tarpits.

It would, if access to zombies were the limiting factor.  It isn't.

Also, a lot of spam engines are written so that tarpitting doesn't
slow them down (but the machine doing the tarpitting never gets the
message, so there's some benefit there).

Seth

------------------------------

From: sethb@panix.com (Seth Breidbart)
Subject: Re: Letter From Russia
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 02:23:39 UTC
Organization: Society for the Promulgation of Cruelty to the Clueless


In article <telecom24.570.9@telecom-digest.org>, Seth Breidbart
<sethb@panix.com> wrote:

> In article <telecom24.566.15@telecom-digest.org>, TELECOM Digest
> Editor noted in response to a message from Valentin
> <valent@mailrus.ru>:

> It's spam.

> Spam is theft.

> Therefore, it's a scam.

> If he's so hard up, where did he get the resources to spam with?

> Wasn't there just a thread on why spam continues, because so many
> idiots send money to spammers?  Some are suckers for bigger bodyparts,
> others for free money, others for helping the needy.  All of those are
> reasons that spam continues.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I suppose he probably got the resources
> to send the spam from the local public library, where he said he 
> looked up other information.

He lied.  There's no way he "looked up" all that information on so
many people.

> Many libraries are not set up on their public terminals to block
> spam from going out.

And some aren't.  Besides, my copy came from blueyonder.co.uk,
probably via a zombie in their network.

> And do you consider the occassional 'call for papers'
> printed here and at other sites to be 'spam'?

If they're posted to an appropriate newsgroup, and (more importantly)
not in excessive quantity each, they're not spam.

> Or the monthly notices
> or minutes of meetings from the EFF, ICANN and similar?  Those are
> unsolicited also, yet they keep coming out to the entire net.   PAT]

They do?  The EFF only started mailing me stuff when I requested it.
ICANN never mailed me anything (not even answers to my complaints).

Posting stuff on their own website certainly isn't spam.

Seth


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: How many people were there he looked
up information on, Seth?  PAT]

------------------------------

From: sethb@panix.com (Seth Breidbart)
Subject: Re: The Letter From valent@mailrus.ru
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 04:08:35 UTC
Organization: Society for the Promulgation of Cruelty to the Clueless


In article <telecom24.573.12@telecom-digest.org>,
Philip TAYLOR  <P.Taylor@Rhul.Ac.Uk> wrote:

>> It's spam.

>> Spam is theft.

>> Therefore, it's a scam.

>> If he's so hard up, where did he get the resources to spam with?

>> Wasn't there just a thread on why spam continues, because so many
>> idiots send money to spammers? Some are suckers for bigger bodyparts,
>> others for free money, others for helping the needy. All of those are
>> reasons that spam continues.

>It may be spam.  It may even be a scam.  Or it may be genuine.

No, it's not genuine.  Where would a broke Russian get an account at
blueyonder.co.uk?

> If it's genuine, then we -- the recipients -- are in a position to
> help soneone in genuine need.  If it's a scam, then we may end up a
> little poorer, and the scammer a little richer, but on balance, does
> it matter?

Yes, it does, if you care about the Internet mail system melting down
with this sort of spam.

> It's hardly in the same league as the Nigerian scam (and anyone who
> falls for that needs their brains tested),

Sure it is.  Spam is spam.

What do you want to bet about anybody who's foolish enough to actually
send money having his email address sold as a "live one" to all the
other scammers around?

> so isn't it worth risking losing a few rubles /kopeks/whatever ?  I
> think it is.

I don't think it's even worth risking your money on.

Seth

------------------------------

From: sethb@panix.com (Seth Breidbart)
Subject: Re: Missing ABN Amro Tape With Two Million Names Found
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 03:54:32 +0000 (UTC)
Organization: Society for the Promulgation of Cruelty to the Clueless


In article <telecom24.573.9@telecom-digest.org>, Ron Chapman
<ronchapman@wideopenwest.com> wrote:

> No question, Pat, but let's look at the facts:

0) They didn't encrypt their outgoing tapes.

> 1) they lost the tape;

Fact 0 is at best criminal-grade negligence.

Seth

------------------------------

From: sethb@panix.com (Seth Breidbart)
Subject: Re: Dumb Question About "Do Not Call"
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 03:56:47 UTC
Organization: Society for the Promulgation of Cruelty to the Clueless


In article <telecom24.571.9@telecom-digest.org>, Randall
<rvh40@insightbb.com> wrote:

> Three times a day, every day, the phone rings and a female robot voice
> says "Hello, this is not a sales call. This is about an important
> business matter. Again, this is /not/ a sales call, this is an
> Important Business Matter!"

> Then the damn thing hangs up.

I suspect it's programmed to speak to answering machines only.

Try saying "beeeeeep" while it's talking at you.

There's a way to report the call to the phone company, which costs a
little money and you only get somewhere if you follow up via the
police.

Seth

------------------------------

From: Michael Casey <csm@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: A Mother's Love: Food For A Baby Chick
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 22:05:30 -0600


Bird Flies 2,500 Miles for Baby's Food
By MICHAEL CASEY, Christian Science Monitor

Talk about a working mother. A Christmas Island frigate bird named
Lydia recently made a nonstop journey of just over 26 days and
covering nearly 2,500 miles -- across Indonesian volcanoes and some of
Asia's busiest shipping lanes -- in search of food for her baby.

The trip, tracked with a global positioning device by scientists at
Christmas Island National Park, is by far the longest known nonstop
journey by one of these critically endangered seabirds.

Previously, the black-and-white scavengers with distinctive pink beaks
and wingspans of up to 8 feet were known only to fly a few hundred
miles from their nesting sites, staying away for just a few days at a
time, officials said.

"It's a real revelation," said David James, coordinator of
biodiversity monitoring for Christmas Island National Park, the birds'
only known breeding ground.

"The thing that really surprised me is that it was a long, nonstop
journey, and that she crossed overland over volcanoes," James
said. "Normally, you would expect the seabirds to fly over the sea."

Lydia's trip started Oct. 18 from Christmas Island, an Australian
territory in the Indian Ocean about 310 miles south of Indonesia's
capital, Jakarta, and 1,600 miles northwest of Perth, in western
Australia.

Leaving a baby chick in the care of her partner, Lydia headed south
over open waters -- probably to steal fish from other seabirds, a
common habit among frigate birds.

She then circled back on Oct. 26 and flew between Indonesia's Java and
Sumatra islands. From there, she headed across Borneo island on Nov. 9
before flying back over Java and returning on Nov. 14 to her nesting
site, where she likely regurgitated a meal for her chick.

Though the journey was a record for a frigate bird, it falls short of
the top trip among birds monitored by scientists -- a 46-day
round-the-world trek by a gray-headed albatross, according to Birdlife
International, a Britain-based conservation group that keeps track of
threatened species.

Lydia is one of the first four Christmas Island frigate birds to be
fitted with a satellite tracking device. Funded by a grant from the
American Bird Conservancy, the devices -- metal boxes about 2.5 inches
long and 1 inch wide, with an eight-inch antenna -- are attached by
harnesses.

They give scientists much needed data on the flight paths and feeding
patterns of frigate birds. Previously, most such data came courtesy of
bird watchers, who have reported frigate birds turning up mostly in
Asia, but as far away as Kenya in east Africa.

Officials hope the new satellite data will help improve conservation
efforts.

"With only around 1,200 pairs confined to this small island in the
Indian Ocean, the Christmas Island frigate bird is one of the worlds
most threatened seabirds," said Ed Parnell, spokesman for Birdlife
International.  "This new satellite tracking data will add enormously
to our knowledge of the species."

James said the distance Lydia traveled raises some serious questions
about efforts to stem the decline of the birds, whose numbers have
fallen by 10 percent over the past 20 years.

"We're surprised she would have spent that long away from her nest
when she had a chick," he said. "That begs the question: Why does she
need to go that far? It raises the suspicion that fish resources
around Christmas Island are not currently adequate. That might explain
the slow and gradual decline of the bird."

James and Birdlife officials said Lydia's route also raised concerns,
since it covered industrial areas, mining sites and waters popular
with commercial fishing fleets.

"It is tragically ironic that while Lydia nests on one the world's
most remote and pristine islands, she makes her living in some of the
most degraded seas on the planet," James said. "Fishing pressure is
huge and marine pollution is severe."

Copyright 2005 The Christian Science Monitor

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------------------------------


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