Re: IRS sending warning notes, violating ECPA?

[Kent Crispin <kent@songbird.com>]

On Tue, Jul 22, 1997 at 11:54:39PM -0700, Tim May wrote:
> At 10:46 PM -0700 7/22/97, Anonymous wrote:
[...]
> >  Tim May's rants are not done in ignorance. He understands the legal
> >differences between saying "The criminals in D.C. _should_ be nuked.",
> >and saying, "I _am_going_to_ nuke the criminals in D.C., someday."
> >(Friday, at 4 o'clock.)
[...]
> >  I am just as certain that Tim has made a conscious decision as to
> >what level of risk he is willing to take to speak his mind and perhaps
> >make a difference in the events of his time, without merely being
> >egoistical, stupid, and suicidal.
> 
> If I wanted to be "safe" and "secure," I'd just stay silent like a good
> little sheeple. I'd get off this list, I'd cluck appropriately at those
> darned cypher-terrorists, and I'd volunteer some time at the local
> Demopublican Party machine.
> 
> All of us on this list, except the plants and shills, are risking a certain
> amount. (Several corporate types have sent me e-mail saying that now that
> they are in positions of respectability within their corporations, they can
> no longer say what's on their mind, for fear of repercussions of various
> sorts, however mild.)
> 
> Speaking out is what separates us from sheeple.

Actually, nothing whatsoever separates Tim from sheeple.  

As anon clearly points out, Tim toes the line with his speech,
carefully avoiding saying anything that escapes constitutional
protection.  In fact he frequently sprinkles his posts with comments
pointing out that some outrageous thing he just said is
constitutionally protected. 

And Tim doesn't have to worry about an employer, unlike the "corporate
types" he mentions, but he (as he noted in a recent post) pays his
taxes like everyone else.  He said, as I recall, that he of course
didn't like paying, but essentially that it was too much trouble to
avoid it.  Tim sees the Man, and Tim knows who's boss.

Yes, Tim talks a brave talk.  But, though the parameters of his 
slavery are different than most of ours, he is part of the flock, 
nonetheless. 

-- 
Kent Crispin				"No reason to get excited",
kent@songbird.com			the thief he kindly spoke...
PGP fingerprint:   B1 8B 72 ED 55 21 5E 44  61 F4 58 0F 72 10 65 55
http://songbird.com/kent/pgp_key.html