Re: Paul Allen's latest venture is looking for engineers

[http://www.vintners.net/~mikel (Mike Lempriere)]

Wrong side of the lake -- I'd take a job emptying trash cans in Seattle
before I'd commute across Lake WA to Kirkland again!  Thanks for thinking
about me though.  I do have a couple other Unix friends I'll pass it on
to.







>From http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert  Mon Dec 11 19:37:09 2000
Encrypt: on
To: noelle
Subject: Fw: Op Ed for Monday
Bcc: noelle
From: http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert (Robert)
Date: Mon Dec 11 19:37:10 EST 2000
Message-ID: <uptPWf97zbX9v27//7P/Zw@robert>
Status: O

--- Forwarded mail from Margaret <http://www.juno.com/~margaretch>

To: http://www.yahoo.com/~arbyraines
Cc: http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 15:12:51 -0500

Hello- I thought you might find this interest'
,Margaret Jim Walsh's sister.
--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jim Walsh <http://www.leadinspection.com/~jimwalsh>
	 
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 10:18:24 -0500
Subject: Op Ed for Monday
Message-ID: <v03010d01b6594d0a062a@[24.128.128.12]>

<excerpt>Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 10:07:08 -0500

To: http://www.shore.net/~lynnitem
From: Jim Walsh <<http://www.leadinspection.com/~jimwalsh>

Subject: Op Ed for Monday
Bcc: 

X-Attachments: 

On Irreparable Harm

Jim Walsh is Vice Chairman of the Nahant Democratic Committee and a
former Selectman

The possibility of "irreparable harm" was the basis for the Bush
campaign's appeal to the US Supreme Court and a bare majority of the
Court said, in essence, it could happen.  But as the weekend's events
unfolded and swirled like a cyclone of briefs and ballots, I found
myself, at the end, indeed worried about "irreparable harm" but not the
way Justice Anthony Scalia meant it.

As with many who turn to CNN or C-Span at times like these, I followed
Judge Terry Lewis's hearing Friday night as he put in place procedures
to accomplish the order of the Florida Supreme Court to systematically
determine if, in every precinct, votes which did not register on
machines truly were non-votes.  There was a reasonable belief and
demonstrated record that some machine systems simply did not record
every vote.  As has been the practice in Florida and in Ma,
when an election is very close, a careful recount is appropriate and
called for.

On Saturday morning I watched as Florida officials began the process of
counting the votes.  Where local boards and judges began the actual
counting, they sat in quiet rooms, looking at each card with two
individuals looking at each ballot.  Where they could not agree,
setting aside that ballot for final review by a third.  Outside, there
was <italic>media</italic> chaos as hundreds of reporters seemed to
fall over one another to get a sound bite.  Raucous partisans noisily
chanted and blew horns at the Vice President's home and outside
buildings where ballots were being counted.  Some local boards debated
ferociously and others more calmly, the exact requirements of a
decision which had been issued late the previous evening.  I commented
to my wife that between the internet, fax machines, and the broad
Floridian human infrastructure, I had the feeling that most of the
votes would be counted by the 2 PM Sunday target deadline set by Judge
Lewis.

For weeks, it seemed, the main topic in America was the election. 
People had positions, families debated over the dinner table, friends
argued and laughed in restaurants and coffee shops.  There were
headlines in newspapers and lead stories on TV daily.  The media wanted
a "crisis" and looked for it anxiously--perhaps hopefully.  It didn't
come.  There seemed to be a consensus among the people that the system
would work it out.  Partisans had their up days and their down days but
most agreed that "it was still too close to call".

Early Saturday afternoon I attended an art exhibit at the Ellingwood
Chapel in Nahant.  The artist, Stojan Maksimovic, had emigrated from
the former Yugoslavia, an area of the world where political life was
often deadly.  But as we looked at the peaceful water colors of Nahant
scenes we talked American politics and most of us felt that, at last,
there was going to be a full count and there would be a legitimate
winner.  Forget the idea of a "certified" winner, what we all really
longed for was a "legitimate" winner, one that we could accept, happily
or unhappily.

Enter "irreparable harm".

When five Justices of the US Supreme Court stopped the final resolution
of this campaign on the basis that, to make certain that every
legitimate vote was counted would cause irreparable harm to George
Bush, the real harm was done to all of us.  And while it may not be
completely irreparable, the harm is deep and the repercussions will be
long lasting and frighteningly unpredictable.

Late on Saturday, already distressed at the turn of events, I read on
the op-ed pages of the <italic>Item</italic> Attorney Neil Howland's
unfortunate and intemperate attack upon "the assorted villainies of the
Clinton-Gore crime family".  The only thing missing was a reference to
"Democrat wars" . Not missing were suggestions that the Democratic
Party runs systematic "vote scams to steal elections" and that our
instruments are "Haitian non-citizens" and "disfranchised felons". 
These accusations, Attorney Howland assures us, are based on "verified
reports".  What a shocking and embarrassing piece of writing!

Yet, it is possible that this is just the beginning.  Until Saturday
afternoon I thought that things would work out, that we would end up
with a <italic>legitimate</italic> President, a President who might
have been Mr. Bush.  If Mr. Bush wins by not counting legitimate votes,
it will be a hollow victory and the beginning of a particularly
troubling time in America, one where people of Attorney Howland's
clouded and distraught frame of mind will lead the dialogue.  Now
there's the "irreparable harm".

</excerpt>

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--- End of forwarded message from Margaret <http://www.juno.com/~margaretch>