THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE #266

January 1, 2003

Produced by Jim Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327 USA, (401)351-0287

Accessible through Internet at burgess of world.std.com; FAX to (401) 277-9904

Web Page Address: /Postal/Zines/TAP/index.html

We have a full set of subszines below. Check them all out! And I've pushed the deadlines back to line up with World DipCon and this delay. I shouldn't have tried to slip in another Christmas deadline, boy did THAT not work. Plus I've been very involved with the WorldMasters E-Mail tournament, taking another round on the Tournament Management Committee, and Stephen Agar and I are looking for someone to head up Diplomacy World. And in your spare time, send me nominations for this year's Hobby Awards! I'll see YOU at World DipCon because you're all going to come. Only 66 bucks a night in the Denver Hyatt Tech Center for Internet bookings and cheap airline prices, how can you miss it??? February 14-16, be there or I'll not bother to speak to you ever again.... mostly kidding, but come along.

I had this ALL done to all practical purposes on January 1, the date at the top here, but I'm typing this on January 17, the first day I've had time to get back to this and finish it. Yuck, if I can't turn this around, perhaps I do need to consider other things. One thing is that I'm in WAY too many games, I'm cutting that back toward zero as of right now!!

"Our discontent, Ooooh! these lonely cries; Seasons change, why do you never ask why?; Winter, winter, I'll put the wheels back on; In the winter." Excerpts from "Winter" by the Mekons, the best rock and roll band in the whole damned world, and one of the few that still LIVE it; from their 2002 Best Rock Album of the Year, Oooh!.

And now I get to the usual header stuff. I decided to can the sub price increase, the postal rate increase really is peanuts, or it seems so at the 3-5 ounce level that I live it. So, no problem, let's keep selling subs when I can at this price. You all know that I'm an incredible softie anyway. The postal sub price is still $1.50 per issue in the US and Canada, with double that for other foreign subbers (or $3.00 per issue sent airmail). Players in current games and standbys will continue to get the issues for free, and future game starts (except for Nuclear Yuppie Evil Empire Diplomacy, which is free) cost $20.00 ($15.00 for a life of the game subscription and $5 for the NMR Insurance See the revised game start announcements below!

Check out the connections in the Diplomatic Pouch with all of the information you need to play Diplomacy on the Internet at: /

I also have taken over the Postal portion of the Pouch: /Postal/

and TAP on the web is there at: /Postal/Zines/TAP/index.html

where the szine resides in html format. Presently, issues from #190 to the current issue are there, and I will be updating the back issues gradually someday. Also, check out Stephen Agar's more extensive efforts at: http://www.diplomacy-archive.com and http://www.diplomacy.co.uk

David has grabbed and reserved the HIGHLY prized name: www.szine.com!! David Wang's site used to be the best place to follow John Caruso's postal baseball league that I am in. BUT, the site has not been updated as well in recent times. THE place to follow the league now is DICKIE-POO Martin's website: http://www.phantomempire.com where in the "files" section, "baseball" sub-section, you can see all of the individual and team level stats. Use the Telnet button in the upper left corner, that's the easiest way to do it these days. You need to sign up as a "member" to see all of the files. You, too, can chat with John Caruso there, especially on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Really, you can. John's E-Mail address also is commishjohn of att.net if you want to send him E-Mail after all that. John still has openings! Contact him at commishjohn of att.net if you're interested in joining us or ask me for more details, this is THE most fun thing I do in the hobby at the moment, find out why!!!

Peter Sullivan's subszine is currently "in stasis", although all the back issues can be accessed via :

http://www.burdonvale.co.uk/octopus/index.html.

Peter was saying that he would be unlikely to be starting any new games in the Octopus until "at least the start of 2002." He is now hereby declared to be in official indeterminate stasis and that date is now a "whenever". In the meantime, Rip Gooch and Dave Partridge are picking up the choo-choo game slack in TAP. Contact Rip at xyropedes of canada.com or Dave at rebhuhn of rocketmail.com for more info.

By electronic mail, through the Internet, subs are free and can be obtained automatically by sending the message: subscribe tap

to majordomo of diplom.org and messages can be sent to the entire electronic mailing list by mailing them to tap of diplom.org which will forward your message to all of the people currently on the list. The message:

unsubscribe tap

sent to majordomo of diplom.org gets you off the list. Please make careful note of that as well since you generally can get yourself off the list a lot easier than I can, and NOBODY likes to see unsubscribe messages sent to the entire list. A big, big thank you for David Kovar for setting this all up!!

THE SEARCH FOR ED HENRY (AND BERRY RENKEN IS FOUND!!!)

Find him and win the fifty buck prize!! You have until Issue number 270 to find him. I want to tell Ed about Kathy and all sorts of other things. There is a "full board" there now, help me out and earn yourself some cash!!! Ed Henry was very active in the hobby in the 1980's. I don't think he's the same Ed Henry who's so famous right now working on Kiplinger's magazine (writes the Car reviews and is African American), but he could be. Ask him and find out! But also, Berry Renken found himself and we have a hint about Bill Quinn!!

Feel free to spend the time looking for some of the backlog. Let's get Tom, Bill, Gregory, Kevin, Al, and Jerry found too!!! Note that Brenton Ver Ploeg would love to find Leslie Obata, the woman that Jerry Lucas used as his front too. This could be an easy way toward finding Jerry, though as Brenton notes, who is to say she has the same name now. This is a regular continuing feature of the szine and I will be introducing a new "search for" every five issues. Moreover, you can win a $25 prize for finding some previous target who went unfound in the original $50 period. That means that if Berry Renken or Tom Hurst or Bill Quinn or Gregory Stewart or Kevin Tighe or Jerry Lucas or Al Pearson is "found" from now on it is worth $25.

Winners will receive credit for Dip hobby activities that I will pay out as requested by the winner. Subscribe to szines here or abroad, run your own contests, publish a szine, finance a web page, GO TO A DIPLOMACY CONVENTION or whatever. Spend it all right away or use me as a bank to cover hobby activities for years. What must you do to win? Get me a letter to the editor for TAP from the person we're searching for.

This is very important, just finding them doesn't do it. They have to write me a letter. The final judge as to the winner of any contest will be the target himself and I reserve the right to investigate the winning entry. When you find someone I'm looking for, you should ask him to send me a letter for print that includes a verification of who "found" him.

Berry Renken (Fri, 13 Dec 2002 16:08:40 EST)

Subject: The Search for me...

Hello Jim!

This is Berry, the Dutch guy you have on your list in TAP of "Dip People To Be Found" - it's time for me to be found, I guess... I'm very sorry for not contacting you earlier, and thanking you for continuing to send me your zine so faithfully without hearing back from me for almost 3 years. Explained in a nutshell, I was too much of a hermit at first and too busy later to seek contact with you or anyone else in the gaming hobby again. I did write to Chris Dickson a while ago, thanking him for wanting to find me while also asking him not to find me yet, so to speak... but I didn't hear anything back from him on that, I hope nothing horrible happened to him?

((No worries, Chris is A-OK, at least he was the last time I heard from him a month ago or so.))

I am currently being very happy together with a wonderful lady, my sweet Melinda. She's American, we're living in Gresham, a suburb of Portland, Oregon. She and I "met" via the internet about half a year ago, we got to know each other very well writing multiple e-mails to each other each day, and now we're living together. And, if Goodness allows, we'll continue to do so for the remainder of our lives. Such things do happen. Apparently. :) A year ago I wouldn't have believed for a second this would be possible, let alone for me, but stubborn pessimists can be wrong too sometimes, I guess...

Please consider the $25 "reward for me finding me", so to speak, payment for all the TAP issues you sent me. I'd very much appreciate it if you would continue to send me your zine, to where I am now (765 SE Mt. Hood Hwy., # B210, Gresham, OR 97080), though I'd understand very well if you wouldn't, as I can't send you any money yet - funds will be kind of low for Melinda and me until I get residential status here, and a job, hopefully that'll happen within a few months from now.

((No need, this ensures you KEEP getting the szine for free! Welcome back, we've missed you, far more than you could know.))

As to the gaming hobby, I'm not going to have either the time or the inclination to do any sort of zine publishing again, but I'd very much like to get into contact again with several people in the hobby, and get into a game or two as well.

All the best to you and yours, Berry, Berend02 of aol.com

((Yes, well, look around and you can find something. The new WorldMasters Tournament needs standbys and perhaps you even can get a postal game in here. Michael Lowrey's game just started but David Partridge (you remember him!) has games open.))

Doug Kent (Sat, 23 Nov 2002 11:02:12 -0600)

Subject: Finding Bill Quinn

I found Bill a few years ago..when I was sending out hundreds of postcards to colleges and old Dip players, he was one of the people who wrote me back...that was 3 addresses ago (for me) so I don't have his info anymore, unless its in my storage unit, but I know he was findable back then...

Doug, dipworld of ix.netcom.com

INTERNATIONAL SUBSCRIPTION EXCHANGE NEWS

The British representative is the editor of Mission From God, John Harrington. John may be contacted at 1 Churchbury Close, Enfield, Middlesex EN1 3UW, UK.

E-Mail: fiendish of operamail.com, John.Harrington of tfeurope.com

Please include the full name and address of the foreign publisher with your order, if possible, as well as the szine title. Make your check in US dollars out to me personally or in GBP to John if you're doing things from that end. I will conduct business for Canadians as well, if I can, but prefer to deal in US dollars with them if possible, or Canadian dollars cash. To subscribe to American szines, the system works in reverse.

We have added a European continental representative, most of this traffic likely will occur between Ronald Camstra (in the Netherlands) and John Harrington, but if anyone here in the US wants to get money into Euros, we'll try to help you out. Ronald Camstra can be contacted at siedler of zonnet.nl and his home address is: Wielingenplein 48, 3522 PE Utrecht, the Netherlands. But in Holland it is most common not to send checks but to transfer money by bank. Dutch people can pay directly to Postbankaccount 4652247 of Ronald Camstra in Utrecht. Since he can see the name and address of the sender in his bankreceipt, people only have to mention the name of the zine and the editorial address along with their bank order. Ronald is obviously a huge Settlers of Catan fan. If you're interested in playing that game internationally by mail, I think Ronald can help you out.

We also have reopened a branch office of the International Subscription Exchange in Australia!! Brendan Whyte, the publisher of the excellent szine Damn the Consequences will be doing the honors, taking over in some sense from John Cain, who was the Australian rep for many years. You can contact Brendan to sub to Australian szines from the US or to sub to US szines from Australia, converting Australian dollars into American ones. We are now maneuvering deals to Europe from the other reps as well. You can find Brendan Whyte at b.whyte of pgrad.unimelb.edu.au (same university where John Cain works!) or by mail to send checks at: Geography Dept., University of Melbourne, Vic 3010, AUSTRALIA. This should help out my Australian subbers!!

WORLDMASTERS02 SECTION

WorldMasters 2002 Email Diplomacy Tournament First Round is Underway!!

See http://www.cat23.com/wm02 for full details. Since I didn't get sufficient interest to get a team in, I am back on the WorldMasters Tournament Management Committee again. There already is a big flare up between a GM and a player where the player now says he doesn't "trust" the GM, and it's only 1901! But in general, things seem to be going PRETTY smoothly for a tournament that got way overwhelmed with 73 teams of 7 players, for a total tournament player roster of 511!!! All seventy-three games are up and running with GMs in mere days, an amazing feat in itself. Kudos to Tournament Director Rudi van Hal for a yeoman job thus far!!!! Special thanks to Dave Partridge and Steve Hutton, who I conned into joining the Tournament Management Committee as well.

DIPDOM NEWS SECTION (with letters)

Obscure and not-so-obscure ramblings on the state of the hobby and its publications, custodians, events, and individuals with no guarantee of relevance from the fertile keyboard of Jim-Bob, the E-Mail Dip world, and the rest of the postal hobby. My comments are in italics and ((double quotation marks)) like this. Bold face is used to set off each individual speaker. I should also make a note that I do edit for syntax and spelling on occasion.

The game Diplomacy is a copyrighted product owned by Hasbro and all reproductions or other use of that material in this szine is intended to be personal use and not infringe on those rights in any way. All reproductions are done at a heavy financial loss to the editor and thus are without the remotest possibility of commercial intent, except to promote THE game, the Game of Diplomacy, which you all should purchase from Hasbro or other duly licensed distributors.

In what I believe is a RECENT change, Hasbro also has been putting the rules to Diplomacy up on their web page along with rules for most of their other games. Not only that, but they have the "current" as well as an older version of the rules there. Stephen Agar has matched that and more with some of the even older rulebooks. Check these out if you like:

http://www.hasbro.com/default.asp?x=cc_gameandtoyinstructions

http://www.hasbro.com/instruct/Diplomacy.PDF

http://www.hasbro.com/instruct/Diplomacy(OlderVers).PDF

Nice of them to make BOTH of these available. And all seven different US rulebooks for Diplomacy can now be found here courtesy of Stephen Agar:

http://www.diplomacy-archive.com/old_rulebooks.htm

Check out back issues of Diplomacy World - www.diplomacyworld.org

As we tried to get together the Fall issue, it became clear to all of us that the current editorial structure has failed. The new issue is almost put together, but needs a new lead editor. Stephen is backing away, I'm not at all prepared to go it alone, and certainly Dave Partridge isn't ready to take it over. But the framework is there. Rather than publish a substandard issue of what we have, let's declare failure and see if anyone cares enough to step forward as lead editor. It probably doesn't help that the new lead editor for the Diplomatic Pouch, Edward Hawthorne, has ten times my hobby energy and is running around like a vacuum cleaner scooping up all the writers (even me, I'm writing for him first, he's SO persuasive!) for the expanded and back on schedule Pouch. I do think there is more than enough room for both, especially since the Diplomatic Pouch is ONLY available on the Web, but if someone else doesn't think so, then so be it.

If you want to subscribe in paper form at $3 per issue, North American subs should be sent to David Partridge, 15 Woodland Drive, Brookline, NH 03033, USA. Stephen Agar is handling international postal subscriptions and you can write to him at: 47 Preston Drove, Brighton, BN1 6LA, UK. Issues from Stephen will cost you 2 GBP in the UK and 3 GBP for the rest of the world. Or subscribe electronically at diplomacyworld at Yahoo Groups! But I realize that most of you will wait for some notice about the future.

The 2002 Hobby Awards balloting is completed. See the ballot at:

/Postal/Zines/TAP/BALLOT02.html

See the results at: /Postal/Zines/TAP/ANNOUNCE02.html.

We're just about ready to start soliciting nominations for 2003, for activities during 2002. Think about it, I already have some nominations in hand.

Let me stick in a note I just got from Fred Davis next. It is a copy of a letter sent to Phil Reynolds that Fred also wants me to publish here. Phil has been trying to finish a final issue of the Zine Register.

Fred Davis (December 26, 2002)

Dear Phil,

I have been trying to get certain information about the status of the North American Variant Bank and the "Hoosier Archives" out to the Diplomacy people ever since last April. I sent this information to both Jim Burgess and Stephen Agar, who are the co-editors of Diplomacy World. I asked them to print this in the next issue of DW, and also to print it in Burgess' own zine, The Abyssinian Prince, when they had time to do so. Unfortunately, there hasn't been an issue of DW since March 2002. And, for some reason, Burgess has not printed it in his TAP (He may be waiting for it to first appear in DW, but he hasn't given me any reason for the delay).

((I'll clear all of that up pretty quickly right now, the notice that Fred wanted published, I thought was more appropriate (as I think did Stephen) for Diplomacy World, but you can see above where that is. Given that problem, it seems I should get off my butt and publicize Fred's note, which I do below.))

If you haven't already gone to press with the next issue of the Zine Register, I'd appreciate it if you could print this information therein. People ought to have this information. I've sent word to a few people, but not to the whole hobby.

((I hope Phil can publish soon too, so I can go ahead with my plans to update the postal section of the Diplomatic Pouch. I've finally taken off some REALLY old stuff there, but other things need updating badly. Now to what Fred wants us all to see... and remember that I send this to pretty much all of what remains of the US postal hobby, so that probably publicizes it better than ZR would.))

CURRENT STATUS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN VARIANT BANK AND THE HOOSIER ARCHIVES

Lee Kendter, Jr., gave up the NAVB. It's been consolidated with the United Kingdom Variant Bank (UKVB) run by Stephen Agar. Orders for maps and rules of Dip Variants should be sent to Agar at: 47 Preston Drove, Brighton BN1 6LA, ENGLAND. ((Or looked up on the Internet at: www.variantbank.com where 455 of the 1410 variants in the Bank are online and searchable.))

A few of the most popular Variant designs, as well as copies of his own designs, are still available from Fred Davis, 3210-K Wheaton Way, Ellicott City, MD 21043.

The Hoosier Archives, a collection of most of the World's Diplomacy zines published between 1963 and 1978, have been donated to the following institution: Popular Culture Library, Jerome Library, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403. Telephone: (419) 372-2450. Ask for Linda Babcock.

((I correspond with Linda frequently and much of TAP is on file there as well. I urge all remaining postal szine editors to send Linda copies of your szines. Since they are an official non-profit, you can even deduct the cost of THAT mailed issue from your taxes, minor for sure, but hey, why not? I plan to visit Linda there someday and spend a day or two going through the archives.))

Certain other archivists have also sent their material to be associated with the Diplomacy file at Bowling Green. For example, Fred Davis has sent them a copy of his anthology, The Best of Bushwacker, covering the publication of that Dipzine from 1972 to 1991. Anyone else wishing to dispose of Diplomacy files is asked to donate them to Bowling Green University instead of throwing them away. These files are available for review, and photocopies can be made, if the interested party will submit a request in advance.

Fred Davis, 3210-K Wheaton Way, Ellicott City, MD 21043

((And, as noted, if you DO this you can deduct the cost as a tax deduction, and I think that includes shipping costs, I know I deduct the cost of the postage when I send Linda things. So, if that matters to you enough to tip the scales, overload Linda with more material. Thanks, Fred, sorry again for the delays in getting this out.))

Peter Sullivan (Thu, 14 Nov 2002 12:29:06)

Subject: Change of e-mail address and Octopus' Garden status

Well, to dispose of the second bit last, Octopus' Garden is still in official indeterminate status (or should that be stasis)?

However, in the meantime, note that my e-mail address is changing, from peter of manorcon.demon.co.uk to: peter of burdonvale.co.uk

The story behind this is that my cable company, NTL, have finally got broadband internet available for my area. I did consider staying with Demon and getting broadband from them instead, but the cost of ASDL from them is significantly more. It will be a big wrench to leave Demon, as I have been with them for about ten years, and their service was always fine (well, except for maybe the Great Modem Shortage of 1994, but then I was just doing Usenet anyway, so it didn't affect me).

Since I have no idea how long I may stay with NTL, I've splashed out on a proper domain name which I can take with me if necessary. This is also a way of "parking" a co.uk domain for if I ever actually have the nerve to start up that one-man consultancy firm I keep threatening.

This also means that the Octopus's Garden web site will also be moving. I have no idea why anyone might want to refer to old Railway Rivals game reports going back eight years, but given the ephemera that is today's World Wide Web, I feel an obligation to keep these up somewhere. For the foreseeable future, that somewhere will be:

http://www.burdonvale.co.uk/octopus/index.html.

Peter Sullivan, peter of burdonvale.co.uk

((Thanks, Peter, and you stay in MY good graces with publicity for your archive as long as I may have breath in this pokey old szine! Thanks.))

MUSIC AND MOVIES SECTION (WITH COMMENTS ON OTHER ARTS AND SOCIETY)

Tell me anything you like about the year of 2002 or other recent past in music. List a top two, a top ten, or a top 100, I don't care, just tell me something!! I've got a bunch of things to say that will pop in shortly, but right now I am mourning the loss of Mary Hansen of Stereolab in a cycling accident. She apparently was riding her bicycle on a London street, was hit, and that was it. Her backing vocals and multi-instrumental talents were part of the connoisseur's adoring view of the band's brilliance. Stereolab has been amazingly consistent through their dozen or so albums in the last decade or so, and have been one of my favorite bands since their debut, though they don't rank number one.... My beloved Mekons continue to show that they remain THE best rock and roll band on the planet with their latest release, "OOOH! (OR, Out Of Our Heads!)". I will have more to say soon on what should be everyone's record of the year. Boo and hiss me for hitting you with "should's" if you like, but it is still my claim. They really are amazing in their continuing depth and breadth, on which I will pontificate more soon.

Mike Barno (Thu, 21 Nov 2002 18:44:16 -0500)

Hi Jim... I saw this exchange in the comments on the Slashdot weblog about Armadillo Aerospace's amateur rocket launch. (It failed when a slip-on battery connector came off, cutting power to the guidance computer.)

"Yeah, why would any one name a rocket after an animal that doesn't even fly."

"The armadillo may not fly, but it can "launch" very well. Its defense mechanism is to jump straight up when frightened, and adults can jump three to four feet into the air. This, and its habit of wandering down roads at night, has made it a major cause of highway fatalities in Texas IIRC. It's not like having a dragonfly hit the windshield at 70 mph - more like an armor-plated bowling ball."

Did you see that in your Texas days, Jim? Jeez. It would be worth buying a Ferrari just to have such a sloped windshield.

- Mike, mpbarno of lightlink.com

((I saw dead armadillos, but no live ones. And I've ridden the "dillos" in Austin, but those are trolleys. You have to remember that when I lived in Texas I didn't have a car and rode my bicycle everywhere. I think even I could have avoided any dillos that crossed my path at bike speed.))

Eric Brosius (Sat, 14 Dec 2002 09:05:28 -0500)

Jim-Bob,

I received the "Jazz" DVD set for my birthday this fall and have been viewing/listening to it ever since. As I mentioned before, I enjoy listening to most of the repertoire up to the introduction of be-bop, which I'm still not able to fathom. I also dislike the over-use of the cymbals in more recent jazz.

However, I was surprised by the segment on Thelonious Monk. I went out and got a CD of Monk's solo piano from the library, and I really enjoyed listening to it. For one thing, there are no cymbals, and for another, piano is my principle instrument, so I can probably "hear" it better than most other instruments. But the music also made sense to me at some level (I'm sure I'm still missing a lot of it, but there's no harm in understanding only a part of something.) You can tell just by listening that this man was a thinker.

I'm looking for another suggestion from you or your readers. If I want to purchase some music by Monk (I'm thinking solo piano but I'm willing to take suggestions,) what would you recommend?

Thanks, Eric Brosius, 72060.1540 of compuserve.com

((I'm sure there are those around here more expert than I am. My big jazz days were when I was in college in the late 1970's and learned jazz on the air with a morning radio show that I had for a year paying dues while I was trying to get on one of the coveted late night Progressive Rock slots. I think the one you got out of the library is probably the record called Pure Monk and that was as I recall a late career thing from the early 1970's. I didn't like it all that much. Better, I think is the Alone in San Francisco album that I used to play a lot. I don't own either of these and haven't heard them in over twenty years, but I looked up the SF solo record on the Internet to remind me that I hadn't been misremembering and a Monk website has this review of that record: http://home.achilles.net/~ howardm/sfnotes.shtml that about matches the way I remember it. A more with-it expert comment would be welcome. Monk is wonderful, but quite weird. His "band" records are an exercise in confusion at times, since the band is always trying to keep up with the strange notes that come from Monk. I agree with you, I generally like his solo stuff better and I'd highly recommend the one I know, but have no idea if he did anything better elsewhere.))

Steve Langley (Sat, 30 Nov 2002 19:30:38 EST)

"The Emperor's Club" === a movie

Kevin Kline is good. He really is a comedian. But he is also a fine actor. He demonstrates that in "The Emperor's Club". The buzz was that this could have been titled "Dead Poets' Society 2". An easy mistake to make if you haven't seen the two movies. There are similarities, of course, but then they share those similarities with "Dawson's Creek", and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", don't they?

This is a story about a man whose whole life is about teaching, and a boy whose whole life was about privilege, and not needing to be taught. Theirs was a clash of character. There was no winner. The teacher learned something. Sadly, the boy didn't.

Steve, Steflan of aol.com

Steve Langley (Sun, 24 Nov 2002 19:41:06 EST)

"Die Another Day" === a movie

The "Bond" formula still works for me. Toss a secret agent into a complex situation and watch him simplify it by blowing things up, while doing all sorts of extraordinary stunts with cars, plane, skis, et al. Hollywood came up with a new very good idea in "Tomorrow Never Dies" when they made a counterpoint to "Bond" with Michelle Yeoh as a female super agent.

Halle Berry plays "Jinx" a female "James Bond" who was trying to kill a man that "Bond" wanted to question. Neither of them actually succeeded when they first met.

The story starts with a surfing scene and moves on to an undercover operation where "Bond" is infiltrating a North Korean arms merchant's base. He is betrayed, and so has to fall back on plan `B' where he blows up everything in sight. Plan `B' is more or less successful except that "Bond" is captured and tortured for the next fourteen months.

He is traded for one of the men who escaped the plan `B' operation, a Korean spy. The reason the trade was made is because "Bond's" side think that he broke and was starting to leak secrets. He is essentially traded from one unpleasant prison to another. Once the situation is explained to him, he escapes and starts his own campaign to uncover his betrayer, and regain the traded Korean Spy.

Cut to the opening credits...

Pierce Brosnan is really good as "James Bond". He has the charisma, and is convincing as an action hero. Too bad he is going to be too old to keep doing it. Time to dig into the next generation for a brand new "James Bond".

Steve, Steflan of aol.com

((I don't see all the Bond movies, but I did see this one. I'm not sure the plot points are all that important. They copy stunts from some old Bond films, invent a few pretty interesting new ones, and don't use Judy Dench or John Cleese for much of anything. But lots of things were blown up, it was exciting and lots of fun.))

Steve Langley (Sat, 23 Nov 2002 23:38:04 EST)

"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" === a movie

It is difficult to know quite what to say. If you are a fan of "Harry Potter" then you have already seen or are about to see the movie, and you are already familiar with the story. If you are not a fan, then you probably have no interest, so my telling you about the story would be a wasted effort.

The three kids are amazingly good. Especially Rupert Grint who has "Ron Weasley" nailed.

Kenneth Branagh was perfect as "Gilderoy Lockhart". I'm still wondering why "Dumbledore" didn't see right through him from the start. "Harry and Ron" certainly did. I've had the thought since I read the book.

I though Jason Isaacs' "Lucian Malfoy" was excellent. Just the right amount of arrogance. Tom Felton's "Draco Malfoy" was just as good. The two of them drip evil.

The next movie is in production, and I can hardly wait.

Steve, Steflan of aol.com

((Right on, though it's Lucius Malfoy, not Lucian. And you're precisely right that Jason Isaacs (who I last saw as the foil in "The Patriot") was brilliant and nearly stole the movie. We can look ahead to Book Four and look forward to more evil from Isaacs, though I can't see how they can't split Book Four into two movies (I hope they do). The special effects were better in this movie, and the kids were great, but I really missed the staging of scenes like Nearly Headless Nick's "party" with our three heroes. In what I'll call a mini-theme, John Cleese again was heavily underused here. I worry about what they'll cut in the next two books, but I too can hardly wait.))

Steve Langley (Sun, 17 Nov 2002 19:06:24 EST)

"The Ring" === a movie

When "The Ring" first came out I resisted it. The trailers laid out the premise. There is a video tape that if you watch it you die seven days later. Not even a good urban legend I thought.

This weekend I worked part of the time and decided not to buck the "Harry Potter" crowds, and, inexplicably, "The Ring" was still showing. I figured maybe there was more to it than I had first thought.

There was. Excellent writing for one thing. The movie starts with two teenage girls together, alone at night and slightly bored. One tells the `seven days' urban legend, and the other panics slightly. She thinks she has seen the video. Things are quietly spooky with good camera work, and good mixture of tension and relief, and more tension. Without being too explicit, the girl who saw the tape dies and her friend loses her sanity.

Enter Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts), investigative reporter, aunt to the dead girl. Rachel's sister asks her to find out what happened. Rachel starts asking questions. She soon discovers that her niece and three friends had watched the tape together. All four of the kids are dead. One, a suicide, two in a car accident, and one possibly frightened to death. They all died at the same minute of the same day, seven days after watching the tape.

Rachel follows the teens back to where they saw the tape. She finds the tape, and watches it. Then she gets a phone call. A voice whispers `seven days' and hangs up. Rachel is spooked and is finding the whole thing hard to understand and harder to believe.

Bit by bit she uncovers a tale of madness and death that explains part of what is going on. Only part. But then, she only has seven days and is starting to go a little mad herself.

Lots better than I expected, and then some.

Steve, Steflan of aol.com

((I'm probably going to have to rent this since Charlotte continues to resist going to see it with me. I'm still thinking about it though...))

Steve Langley (Tue, 12 Nov 2002 20:24:23 EST)

"8 Mile" === a movie

It has been a few days since I saw `8 Mile' and I have been thinking about it a lot. Before it hit the big screen there was a lot of controversy over whether Eminem could make the move from rapper to movie actor.

The concensus seems to be that he has, in spades.

"Jimmy Smith Jr aka Rabbit aka B Rabbit aka Jimmy Rabbit" starts out in the movie so nervous that he heaves. He is about to go up on the stage and do battle in front of a crowd of his peers. He is white and the crowd is black, and that isn't what this is about at all. They are his peers.

This is 8 mile, the part of Detroit where poor blacks and poor whites live lives of desperation. They live off day dreams of going platinum. Some rap star will hear them and be so impressed that they will give them a contract. That's the dream.

One way to chase the dream is to go up on the stage and do battle. Two rappers have 45 seconds to develop a rap riff to destroy the other. Rabbit wins the toss and elects to go last. His opponent raps a bit about how Rabbit really has nothing to say. Then Rabbit steps up to the mike and chokes. He has nothing to say.

He has just broken up with his girl. She wanted him to marry her and played the pregnancy card. Bad move on her part. He bailed. He did leave her his car.

He moved back in with his mom, who lives with his little sister in a trailer. She also lives with her current lover, who is a kid that Rabbit went to high school with.

Kim Basinger really deserves a best supporting actress nomination for the role of Rabbit's mom.

His friends back him up, even though he choked. They know he can rap.

The world of 8 mile is bleak. Living off dreams is sad.

Can Eminem act? Hard call. The character Rabbit was totally three dimensional. Compelling! But was it acting? Eminem lived in the 8 mile neighborhood. He rapped his way out. Got to wonder if he was acting or just being himself.

Either way he made an outstandingly good movie.

Steve, Steflan of aol.com

((Yeah, I have to admit that I am intrigued by the idea of this movie, even as I am not directly intrigued by Eminem. Good story about the movie!))

Steve Langley (Mon, 11 Nov 2002 20:19:27 EST)

"Santa Clause 2" === a movie

Eight years have passed and Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) has become the best Santa ever. Then, a month before the deadline he finds out about the other Santa Clause, the Mrs. Clause. He has to be married by Christmas Eve of his eighth year on the job. It isn't exactly clear to me why the elves waited so long to let him in on the news.

The movie seemed to have all the same people. At least the head elf, Scott and son Charlie, Scott's ex-wife and her new husband were all there. Scott has a niece now, who with the inexorable logic of a small child, has him pegged as Santa.

This is a kid's movie mostly. There are a couple of adult jokes that were probably over the kids heads. The first third of the movie was a little slow. One small girl sitting right behind me even went so far as to say "I'm bored".

Then we got to the scene where Scott discovers Comet who has been pigging out on Christmas Sweets. Comet is magical, and so is able to eat a whole lot of sweets. Just seeing him with his reindeer legs sticking out from his huge body was pretty funny, but when he farted he really got the kids into the movie. From that point on it was nothing but laughs.

Steve, Steflan of aol.com

Steve Langley (Sun, 8 Dec 2002 18:06:35 EST)

"Empire" === a movie

"Empire" isn't the sort of Empire that say Bush is setting up, no, it is the name of the product that Vic Rosa (John Leguzamo), an independent businessman, provides to his clientele. Vic has people who sell for him, he has his family of friends who keep things running smoothly, and he has the people he works for (in this case independent businessman isn't all that independent) who supply him and his competitors with the product. It is a complex business full of internal and external pressures. And, as Vic puts it, it's the sort of business where if you make a mistake you stand to lose more than your stock options.

Vic is ambitious. He has a woman he loves, and a child coming, and he wants a better more secure life for them. That means he will have to somehow become legitimate, and, even more challenging, sever his ties with his business associates. Business associates who don't like change.

The story has a complex plot. The trailers gave away a small part of it. Too bad actually. The trailers are something of a spoiler. The story is also (credit here to Leguzamo) an interesting character study.

There is some very graphic violence.

It's a very good movie.

Steve, Steflan of aol.com

Mark D. Lew (Tue, 26 Nov 2002 21:36:02 -0800)

Hey Jim-Bob,

Prompted by an overnight power outage, during which both my usual work and my usual play became unavailable, I went through a huge backlog of mail last night. It is one of my quirks that I rarely even look at my mail and it will pile up literally for months. (Among other things, I discovered last night that I've been driving without insurance for a month and a half ... but I'm renewed again as of this afternoon.) TAPs tend to pile up even longer.

I've been busy for the past few months, corresponding almost exactly to the end of the baseball season - if you count the first round of the playoffs as the end of the season, which I do - so I'm only just now starting to catch up on the A's. I had totally missed that there was a weekend when it looked like Billy Beane really would go to Boston. By the time I heard about it, it was already resolved and he was back in Oakland.

A brief retrospective on last season: Now that it's happened three years in a row, people are starting to seriously wonder if there's something about the A's team strategy that makes it not just a coincidence that they compete well in the regular season and consistently choke in the playoffs. It was a little different this time, though. The past two years against the Yankees, the series were close because both teams played well, so you can't really say that the A's choked. But in Minnesota this year, we just played bad. I don't know if it looked that way to the national audience, but I've watched enough games to know what the A's can do, and they were playing way under their potential in Minnesota, even in the games they won.

It raises an interesting question, about whether the A's need to really splurge one year so that they can win a World Series. It probably *isn't* an either/or proposition, but supposing it is - supposing that you have a choice between being a team that is a perennial contender but never goes all the way, or a team that wins the World Series and then has a fire sale and sucks for the next five years - which would you choose? As a fan, I'd rather have it like the A's and be always competitive even if they never win the whole thing. From a business point of view, I'd guess that's the better approach as well.

I don't think it's quite that simple. I don't think there's anything inherent in the team strategy that makes it so they *can't* win a WS. On the other hand, it's definitely the case that the team is structured around a plan for staying competitive year after year, as opposed to the boom and bust pattern that some teams follow.

Art Howe has moved on and Ken Macha is our new manager. This came as no surprise to anyone. It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that Macha was going to be a team manager somewhere. The smooth way in which it played out suggests that the ownership had a pretty good idea it would be here. My guess is that they gave Art the green light to see if he could find a better offer, with the succession plan already in place in case he did. Among other things, this would explain why the A's had been fairly stingy about letting Macha interview elsewhere, even at the beginning of this season. That's not the typical style for this team, so it seems probable that they had something like this in mind even then.

Also no surprise was trading away Cory Lidle, though it was moderately interesting that it happened sooner rather than later. This move was entirely about money. The minor-leaguers we got in exchange are OK, but not even close to equal value. The problem was that the A's just had too much money sunk into top-rank pitchers. Even with the remaining three we're still at the top of the league in terms of starting pitching. Lidle had an ERA of zero in the month of August, for chrissake, with almost 30 innings pitched, but he was still our *fourth* pitcher. That's just crazy. Not that there's anything wrong with having an abundance of good pitching, of course, but Lidle was due to make $4 million this next year, and we've got plenty of more important places we need to put that money.

That he went to Toronto is no coincidence. You're going to continue to see lots of trades between Toronto and Oakland; last year's Koch-Hinske deal was just the beginning. J.P. Ricciardi was Billy Beane's top assistant before he took over as Toronto's GM last year. They know each other well, and they think alike. Ricciardi was key in getting Lidle from Devil Rays two years ago, so it's only natural that he take an interest him for the new team which he's trying to build more or less along the Oakland pattern. I think you'll see the A's team-building strategy slowly spread around the league through its disciples, sort of like you saw with coaching in the NFL in the Bill Walsh era. Beane's current right-hand man, Paul DiPodesta, will probably be a GM somewhere in 2004. (Hopefully not here, though if Beane does leave, I certainly hope he doesn't take DiPo with him.)

The main thing the A's will be looking for with the $4 million they freed up is an outfielder with a big bat. I never did hear the final word on Justice, but I assume he retired as planned (and even if not, he wasn't going to be a regular starter). That means we've got an open spot in the outfield. My guess is that they'd prefer to get a CF and move Long to LF. No one wants to openly say that the attempt to turn Long into a CF failed, and he shows sparks just often enough to keep hope alive, but it's pretty much tacitly understood by all that he just doesn't have those CF instincts, and he plays better in LF. But I don't know who they'll be able to get, so if a good LF becomes available, maybe Long stays in CF another year.

Incidentally, can you believe that Randy Wynn went to the Mariners? With so many teams dying for a decent CF, and the prize one goes to a team that doesn't really need it. Will they hang on to Cameron and Wynn both? If it were the A's you could be sure that one of them would be dealt back out, but with other teams, I don't know. Minnesota had *four* players who could reasonably play CF as a starter, so go figure. (This year around the trade deadline I was thoroughly expecting the A's to trade Minnesota a starting pitcher (probably Harang, or possibly Lidle) in exchange for Bobby Kielty.) I never did hear about Torii Hunter. Were the Twins able to hold on to him? If not, I suppose Kielty is the natural choice to take his place.

The other spots on the A's team potentially open are 1B and C. Hatteberg is re-signed, but he's not a shoo-in to start the season as 1B. I think we're comfortable with him there, but if an upgrade is possible, that's fine, too. No one is a lock at 2B either, but there are enough guys in the system at the AAA level for that spot that I don't think we want to block their path. I think the team is happy keeping Ellis at 2B for now, and (although they won't say so) I think the tentative plan is for Ellis to move over to SS after we lose Tejada. Ray Durham hasn't been traded yet, but he's as good as gone. He has stated what he wants in terms of salary and playing time, and it's not something that the A's are prepared to offer. Some other team will; it's just a matter of time.

Our backup catcher, Greg Myers, wasn't re-signed, which is interesting. Myers is old enough that he may well be back anyway if no one else wants him. What's interesting is that the A's have opened the door to getting a starting-quality catcher to compete with Ramon Hernandez for the spot. Hernandez gets a ton of criticism from the lesser-informed because they only look at his stats, which aren't good. What generally doesn't get taken into account is that he is deeply involved in calling the game and he has been a significant part of Oakland's pitching success. (Which is to say, he's the exact opposite of Pudge Rodriguez, who has fantastic stats but is a contributing factor to Texas's lousy pitching.) In addition, Ramon is unusually durable, he's been working with our three main starters all through their times in the minor leagues, and Hudson is notoriously difficult to catch, and you can see why the A's have been willing to tolerate Ramon's subpar offense. The message that's going out now is that the A's want to have it both ways (which is not unprecedented; consider Posada, for example), whether that means finding a better hitter who can run a game as well as Ramon does or else getting more offense out of Ramon.

Along with Myers, another bench guy not re-signed was Olmedo Saenz. That's no big surprise, since he's sort of past his prime, but it raises an interesting question. One of the key factors in the A's success was its attitude toward filling the bench. On a lot of teams, it's just assumed that you get as many good hitters as you can, and the ones who are second best end up on the bench. That doesn't quite work because most players hit better when they can play every day, and a many players get fussy if they think they're of starting quality and don't get to start. Platooning doesn't always solve the problem because it frequently just leaves both players without the advantage of being a starter.

The A's took a different tack. Instead of just looking for good hitters, they looked specifically for players who would play well even in a situation where they are only coming off the bench. The reasoning is that you have to have someone on the bench, and if you've got two players in the same position who are only at their best when starting, then one of them is going to waste - and if there's a prime directive in the A's organization, it's that talent is never allowed to go to waste. If there is untapped potential in our system, we figure out who needs it most and we shop it off; if there's untapped potential in someone else's system, we go try to get it - either for ourselves, or as a catalyst in a three-way trade. (The Jeff Weaver deal was a classic Billy Beane arbitrage. There was no way in hell we were going to keep him, but we made a tidy profit shopping him off to someone else.)

It so happens that there are those rare players who can go a week without playing and then still come off the bench and hit something like .275. We had three of them last year. Saenz we've had for several years, and he's always been better as a pinch-hitter than as a starter. The other two were Myers and Mabry, both of whom we sought out precisely for this quality. Mabry came in the trade for Jeremy Giambi, who plays essentially the exact same positions. As a starter, Jeremy's stats are slightly better than Mabry's, but as a bench player he was bad. We knew that once Dye's injury healed we wouldn't have a starting spot for Jeremy any more. That's what motivated the trade.

The one thing that you're NOT hearing anyone say around Oakland, but which is true nevertheless, is that Miguel Tejada will not be re-signed after his contract runs out at the end of next season. In interviews, both sides are talking a good game about how they hope to make it work out because it's important for the team blah blah blah. Maybe they even believe it, but it's not going to happen. In one of the interviews, somebody said something like "we don't want to make the same mistake we made with Jason Giambi last year" - and there's the rub. The deal with Jason Giambi was no mistake at all. Sure, a lot of tears were shed seeing the team favorite go, and it'll be the same with Tejada, but the bottom line is that it was the right move made for the right reasons and, to top it all off, the move *worked*.

Letting go of Jason Giambi was a complete success. Casual observers were all saying how the A's would fall apart without their star. (I, you may recall, said that the sans-Giambi team was "about as good as last year", which turned out to be almost exactly the case.) This team is built on grooming young talent and shopping for value. Part of that strategy is to grab stars while they're still young and underpriced and sign them for long-term deals, but it is decidedly not part of the strategy to hang on to a player once he can command a superstar wage. If Jason Giambi were willing to play in Oakland for half of what he could be paid elsewhere, then sure we would have kept him, but it's just not in our budget to pay his market value once he reaches all-star stature. Equally important, we were not willing to give him a no-trade clause. Giambi himself says this was the deal-breaker, and I believe him. It's one thing for the A's to sign a superstar for big money, but know that they can still shop him around when it makes sense to do so. It's quite another to commit to big money and then be stuck with it for years to come no matter what happens.

When Tejada's turn comes along, it will be the exact same story. We will offer him a generous one-year deal, and we'll offer him a reasonable multi-year deal without a no-trade clause, but if he's looking for more than that - as well he might - we simply won't match the offers he will surely get from other teams. If he decides he'd rather play elsewhere and get a better deal, we'll all say congratulations and we'll miss you, but it's time for you to move on. The fans will cry, and many will say that the team can't survive without him, but the A's will stay competitive, precisely because they continue to use their money smartly.

mdl, markdlew of earthlink.net

((You're absolutely right here, the Red Sox are now starting to join that style, at least partly. Though it will take years since we're still stuck with contracts like Manny Ramirez's. The balancing act of starters and bench players was shown to the Red Sox big time in the last few years, especially in 2001 when it was a primary reason for them losing. I hope they manage it better next year, since we picked up Jeremy Giambi, perhaps not unless he actually starts. But then, when you look at the szine quickly, see what happens....))

Mark D. Lew (30 Nov 2002 21:42:26 -0800)

Hey, I'm actually reading a TAP promptly for a change.

A's: I was not surprised by Rick Desper's observation that the Red Sox had a better record vs the AL than the A's did. Interleague play is a huge blessing for the A's. For whatever reason, we always clobber the NL teams. This year we were 12-0 against the NL Central. Our only losses to the NL were two against the Giants, and even against them we won both series. It's not just against the easy teams; we do well against good NL teams, too. In the 2001 season I remember we went 3-0 against the Diamondbacks, including back-to-back shutouts right before the all-star break. In the entire history of interleague play, the A's record against the NL is something obscene like 75%. Subtract the interleague play and I don't think the A's make the playoffs any of the past three years.

((And precisely the reverse is true for the Red Sox, let's see what happens with the scheduling changes this year.))

Iraq: I remain undecided about whether it is good policy to go to war with Iraq. I do think that all of the good reasons to do so are geopolitical, and not the moral ones that are frequently bandied about. The administration has been less dishonest about this than one might expect, if you just read between the lines. Although everything is being coated with a sort of righteous moral propaganda, it's not an all-out deceit. The real reasons are right there standing behind all the slogans. We say that it is unacceptable for Iraq to have nuclear weapons, and that is essentially true. We say that we want to promote democracy in Iraq, and that is essentially true.

You, too, mention democracy. I think it's worth pointing out that this is a tricky term that can mean several things. ((I know, I actually was talking about democracy, equality of women, and at least a toning down of cultural imperialism, but there are other definitions.)) Literally it means rule of the people. More often, in American usage, it's synonymous with the whole collection of Western political values, some of which aren't literally democratic at all (eg, property rights, freedom of speech). When we say that we want democracy in the Middle East, what we mean is that we want a Western style regime. Note the change from past policy: We want not just a pro-Western regime, which was always sufficient during the Cold War, but a regime which is itself Western, so that the country is politically modeled on America and politically aligned with it. In a sense (and certainly in the minds of many) there is no such thing as a "democracy" which is not politically aligned with the United States.

This is essentially colonialism, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. One can make a reasonable argument that the American/Western way really is the best way and therefore now that we have the power to do it, we ought to impose our system on other countries whether they like it or not, and in the long run it will be in their best interest. For many years, such an imperial argument was verboten, but it has become respectable again. Policy wonks are saying it openly, and pointing to Japan and Germany as examples. Once one suppresses the liberal reflex that gags on anything so imperialistic, it's a convincing argument.

This is what they're really talking about when they discuss bringing democracy to the Middle East. How close it aligns with democracy in the dictionary sense of the word is something which remains to be seen. It might be more democratic, or it might be less democratic, but I don't think that's the heart of the United States's political interest. If, for example, a post-Saddam Iraq democratically chose a political direction which was aggressively non-aligned, favoring strengthening the nation over economic participation in the international community (say, like Peron's Argentina, or even De Gaulle's France) I don't think that would be acceptable to America's political interest. If a democratic Iraq still sought to be a regional superpower with a strong military (which I believe it very well might) I'm certain that would not be acceptable to America's political interest.

I also don't think that America would easily accept a regime which doesn't cloak itself in Western language and customs, regardless of whether the regime is fundamentally democratic in its own non-Western way. We saw how America responds to that sort of democracy in 1991-92 in Algeria (which I continue to believe was a grave and profound error in our foreign policy), and I see no evidence that Bush the son is any different from Bush the father on this.

Another stated concern of both the president and of you is that Iraq not be allowed to have nuclear weapons. This seems obvious enough on the face, but it invites scrutiny. It is acceptable for China to have nuclear weapons. It is acceptable for Israel to have nuclear weapons. It is acceptable for France to have nuclear weapons. It is acceptable for Pakistan to have nuclear weapons. Yet it is not acceptable for Iraq to have nuclear weapons. Either this is a completely new direction in U.S. foreign policy, or Iraq is a special case. I believe it is both. ((Yes, I agree, you are explaining it better than I did.))

Why does Iraq want a nuclear weapon anyway? If one buys into the implication of the rhetoric, one might easily imagine that Saddam is trying to nuke the United States or to blow up the whole world. That is probably what a majority of the American public believes, but that's not at all credible. Saddam wants a nuclear weapon for the same reason that every aggressive nation wants a nuclear weapon - because it carries a great deal of military clout. Saddam wants Iraq to be a regional superpower in the Middle East. He wants to lord over Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf states just as China could lord over southeast Asia, Russia could lord over Eastern Europe, and the United States could lord over the Caribbean. He wants to have a credible deterrent as insurance against domination by his rival state Iran, just as America and the Soviet Union wanted it against one another, France wanted its own separate clout independent from the rest of NATO, China wanted it against Russia, India wanted it against China, and Pakistan wanted it against India.

One might argue that it is always a good thing to prevent the nuclear club from getting any larger, no matter who the applicant may be. Surely that's true, but it fails to explain the fact that the United States never contemplated going to war against Israel, nor South Africa, nor India, nor Pakistan. It still remains to be explained why Iraq is different.

One thing that the administration has been very clear about is that this is not just about policing the world or having an active foreign policy. Rather, he says, it is a fundamental matter of national security. This statement is highly instructive. The common inference, no doubt encouraged by the propagandists, is that Iraq poses a military threat to American soil, but this is not credible. If Iraq poses no military threat to the United States, why is it a fundamental matter of national security to us?

There is the rub. The administration is stating - somewhat cryptically, but openly nevertheless - that it is fundamental to our national interest that Iraq not be allowed to be a regional superpower in the Middle East. Whether it is ruled by Saddam or by someone else, and whether the clout is gained through nuclear weapons or a more conventional military, Iraq cannot be allowed to have the military strength to dominate its neighbors. That's what stopping the invasion of Kuwait was all about, and that's what American military presence in Saudi Arabia is all about.

In 1991 we went to war because Iraq invaded Kuwait. That seems normal enough: We always go to war if one nation invades another, right? In fact, we don't. Throughout much of the 1990s Rwandan troops occupied a portion of Zaire larger than Rwanda itself, but not only did America not lift a finger to intervene, but hardly anyone in America even noticed. If a small and undemocratic nation like Kuwait gets invaded, why should we care?

The reason, of course, is oil. Once the topic of oil is raised, the argument often gets redirected to familiar political ground: the liberals make it an anti-corporate complaint, accusing the government of going to war for the sake of "big oil", and the conservatives respond by dismissing the liberal argument altogether. The truth is it surely is about oil, but it's not just for the CEOs in big corporations; it's for the entire country. Like it or not, oil is an enormous economic resource which our modern society depends on. And like it or not, the largest portion of that economic resource sits in the region of the world around the Persian Gulf. ((And we cannot let some single country EVER control it all.... but the question remains how close is Iraq and Saddam to anything close to this sort of power?))

Hence our fundamental national interest. Regardless of whether the leader is Saddam Hussein or someone else, regardless of whether the regime is democratic or totalitarian, regardless of who may or may not support terrorist attacks against the United States, regardless of Islam and any of its varieties, Iraq is a nation which is well-positioned to take command of that economic resource. It is a profoundly powerful position. In spite of a corrupt and dictatorial regime, in spite of a protracted and bloody war with its neighbor, in spite of an overwhelming bombing attack and invasion by a global superpower, and in spite of several years of economic sanctions from the international community - any one of which would have bankrupted a lesser nation - Iraq still remains economically strong enough to threaten its neighbors and possibly even develop high-technology weapons. That it can do so it a testament to the powerful position it holds.

Iraq and its environs is, in fact, the single most geopolitically important region on the entire globe. Any nation which wants to hold power in the world must control such a region. The leaders of the United States understand this, and that is why they want to declare war on Iraq.

mdl, markdlew of earthlink.net

((Let me finish up this section with a little 2003 local college basketball preview. I'll start with the semi-local women's team across the border in Storrs. Unfortunately, it looks like MY new favorite UConn Husky, Nicole Wolff, has a stress fracture in her foot and will be out for much of the Big East season, this is a bad trend where my favorite Husky always tends to be injury prone! But maybe Nicole will be back for the NCAA's and the Taurasi and young kids team is still doing great so far. They play Tennessee on Jan. 4th (which is after I type this, but happened before you read it). I'll still think that UConn can challenge Duke for the Championship until proven otherwise. The men's RI teams are extremely surprising and I look forward to exciting seasons. Jim Baron came in from St. Bonaventure to start building the URI team right, not the dodgy ways that the last couple of good teams had been built. The URI team is amazingly tough on defense and unselfish. In a very poor Atlantic 10 league, they could challenge for a Division or even League title - I don't think I'm overextending here, watch for it. The PC team has been very up and down, with lots of injuries, but on the eve of the Big East season is coming together with a brilliant freshman point guard Donnie McGrath, who is going to be a real solid star. With Romuald Augustin getting back in shape after missing a whole year from injuries, and some improving returnees (led by 20 point, 10 rebound banger Ryan Gomes), I think PC can challenge for an NCAA berth. Like UConn, look for PC's first big game - against Boston College at BC this week - for a hint of what the season will look like. PC already almost beat Alabama in Alabama. The crowd and the officials and the pressure left them just short, but that will serve them well later. I'm very optimistic, so it looks like a fun season around here! Other thoughts from other locales always welcome....))

LAWYERS: THE AMATEUR DIVISION - 2000G - GUEST GM: RUSS RUSNAK

2000G, No Lawyers Welcome, Fall 1914

Austria Bob Osuch ROsuch4082 of aol.com A ANKARA support A smyrna-armenia, A Smyrna - ARMENIA, F CONSTANTINOPLE - black sea, A VIENNA - galicia, A SYRIA support A smyrna - armenia, A GALICIA - silisia, A RUMANIA support A vienna - galicia, A BOHEMIA support A galicia - silisia, A BULGARIA support A rumania, A BUDAPEST support A vienna - galicia

France Paul Rauterberg trauterberg of wi.rr.com A paris (destroyed) - picardy, F mid atlantic ocean - ENGLISH CHANNEL, F BREST support F mid atlantic ocean - english channel

Italy Jim Burgess burgess of TheWorld.com F Eastern Mediterranean - AEGEAN SEA, F Tunis - NORTH AFRICA, A TYROLIA support A Bohemia, F WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN - mid atlantic F Marseilles - SPAIN SC, A Spain - GASCONY

Russia Brendan Mooney bkmooney of comcast.net F NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN - mid atlantic ocean, F Liverpool - IRISH SEA F english channel (dislodged) - brest, A BURGANDY support A picardy - paris F NORTH SEA convoy A yorkshire - belgium, A picardy - PARIS, A SILISIA support A warsaw- galicia, A MUNICH support A silisia, A WARSAW - galicia, A BERLIN support A munich, F BLACK SEA - rumania A armenia- SEVASTOPOL, A Yorkshire - BELGIUM, A sevastopol - UKRAINE A MOSCOW support a sevastopol - ukraine

Russian retreat & build due on Thursday, November 28

Spring 1915 orders are due on Wednesday, December 18

Winter 1914 supply center chart

Austria 10 even Smyrna, Contantinople, Vienna, Budapest, Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ankara, Trieste, Rumania,

France 2 even (due to destroyed unit) Brest, Marseilles

Italy 6 even Rome, Naples, Venice, Tunis, Spain, Portugal

Russia 16 + 1 Berlin, St. Petersburg, Sevastopol, Sweden, Denmark, Warsaw, Norway, Moscow, Edinburgh, Kiel, Holland, Belgium, Munich, London, Liverpool, Paris

2000G, No Lawyers Welcome, Winter 1914

Russia Brendan Mooney bkmooney of comcast.net Retreat F English Channel - London Build A St Petersburg

2000G, No Lawyers Welcome, Spring 1915

Austria Bob Osuch ROsuch4082 of aol.com A Ankara - SMYRNA, F Constantinople - ANKARA, A VIENNA support A Galicia, A SYRIA support A Armenia, A ARMENIA support F constantinople - ankara, A GALICIA support A Rumania, A BOHEMIA support A galicia, A BULGARIA support Italian F Aegean - Constantinople, A BUDAPEST support A Galicia, A Rumania (dislodged) support A Galicia,

France Paul Rauterberg trauterberg of wi.rr.com F English Channel - WALES, F BREST - english channel

Italy Jim Burgess burgess of TheWorld.com F Aegean Sea - CONSTANTINOPLE, F North Africa - MID ATLANTIC, A TYROLIA support Austrian A Bohemia, A GASCONY - marseilles F WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN - F north africa - mid atlantic F SPAIN SC support F north africa - mid atlantic,

Russia Brendan Mooney bkmooney of comcast.net F NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN - mid atlantic ocean, A MUNICH - bohemia, F IRISH SEA support F north atlantic - mid atlantic, A BURGUNDY -marseilles, F NORTH SEA support f london - english channel, A PARIS -brest A SILISIA support A warsaw - galicia, F london - ENGLISH CHANNEL A WARSAW - galicia, A BERLIN support A silisia, F black sea - RUMANIA A SEVASTOPOL support F black sea - rumania, A BELGIUM - burgundy, A UKRAINE support A warsaw - galicia, A St Petersburg - LIVONIA A MOSCOW support A sevastopol,

Summer 1915 retreat due Thursday, December 26

Fall 1915 orders are due on Wednesday January 15th

2000G, No Lawyers Welcome, Summer 1915

Austria Bob Osuch ROsuch4082 of aol.com Retreat A Rumania - Serbia

Russ Rusnak 1551 High Ridge Parkway Westchester, Il 60154 GM 708 409-0718 RRRRRUSNAK of AOL.com

Bob Osuch 19137 Midland Ave. Mokena, Il. 60448 AUSTRIA 708 478-3885 ROsuch4082 of aol.com

Bruce Linsey PO Box 234 Kinderhook, NY 12106 ENGLAND GonzoHQ of aol.com

Paul Rauterberg 3116 W. Amer. Dr. Greenfield, WI 53221 FRANCE 414-691-4264 trauterberg of wi.rr.com

Mike Barno 634 Dawson Hill Road Spencer, NY 14883 GERMANY 607 589-4906 mpbarno of lightlink.com

Jim Burgess 664 Smith Street Providence, RI 02908 ITALY 401 351-0287 burgess of world.std.com

Brendan Mooney bkmooney of comcast.net RUSSIA

THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE GAMES SECTION

"So I called up George and he called up Jim, I said let's make a deal.

He said he'd talk to him. Gonna start a church where you can save yourself,

You can make some noise, When you've got no choice...

You told me useful things, what people think of me, I guess I should thank you.

It's true, then I agree... I'm all alone, I've got no choice,

I'm all alone, I've got no choice."

From "Got No Choice" by the incomparable Mark Cutler, from the CD Mark Cutler and Useful Things.

If you want to submit orders, press, or letters by E-Mail, you can find me through the Internet system at "burgess of world.std.com". If anyone has an interest in having an E-Mail address listed so people can negotiate with you by computer, just let me know. FAX orders to (401) 277-9904 if you let me know in advance to be sure the fax machine is set up.

I am continuing to note cut or failed support orders with a small "s" instead of a capital "S". This will make it easier on the E-Mailed version of the szine to see what happened, since the italics don't show there. The italics DO show on the web page just fine.

Standby lists:

Bruce Linsey, Mike Barno, Dick Martin, Brad Wilson, Jack McHugh, Glenn Petroski, Steve Emmert, Mark Kinney, Vince Lutterbie, Eric Brosius, Paul Rauterberg, Bob Osuch, Doug Kent, Sean O'Donnell, Kevin Wilson, Heath Gardner, Phil Reynolds, Paul Kenny, and Dan Gorham stand by for regular Diplomacy.

Brad Wilson, Jack McHugh, Jim Sayers, and Kurt Ozog stand by for the Modern Diplomacy game.

Let me know if you want on or off these lists, especially OFF. Standbies get the szine for free and receive my personal thanks.

GAME OPENING INFORMATION

We've got lots of openings in the subszines, check them out!!! Especially, contact Rip Gooch for Railway Rivals as the following maps are available. Following each in parenthesis is the suggested number of players: Isle of Wight (3 or 4); Netherlands (3 or 4); Northern Italy Map P (4 to 8); Spain Map SP (4 to 7); China Mk. I (6 to 8); Austria (3 or 4); Belgium and Luxembourg (3 or 4); Southern Italy Map Q (4); South Sweden Map SWE (3 or 4); Switzerland (3 or 4). Ripping Yarns Mk III will take the form of a tiny subszine in Word as soon as Rip gets some people interested. Come on, help me out!!! Contact Rip Gooch directly at xyropedes of canada.com.

I also am starting a game of the variant I designed, Spy Diplomacy. Signups for that are now open. I'll publish the rules shortly. You also can sign up for the next Breaking Away game, which is starting now. Tom Howell currently is signed up, knock off the superstar, come on, you can do it!! So far, Eric Brosius wants to challenge Tom.

John Harrington is offering to guest GM a game of Office Politics. Any interest in that?? Let me or John know! Jody McCullough is still interested, anyone else?

Harold Reynolds is willing to start a game of Colonia and one of Aberration. I think the signup list for Colonia includes me, David Hood, Paul Rauterberg, David Partridge, and (Yes, really!!) Konrad Baumeister. That means we only need four more. In the meantime, Konrad, Paul, and David are playing a "demo game". I'll try to get a web address for it in here next time.

Also, I am going to design some postal rules for Devil Take the Hindmost, and Chris Lockheardt is pulling out of that opening too, so I need three players. Eoghan Barry is signed up. Postal rules from me will be forthcoming shortly, on my never ending to-do list. I will get them in SOON! I'm more likely to get these things started if I see some interest..... Eoghan is getting tired of waiting....

Right now, the other thing I am contemplating getting going is the Modern Diplomacy game with Wings. Rick Desper and Kurt Ozog are the only ones signed up for that.

Stephen Agar runs a British Diplomacy mailing list at: http://www.diplomacy.co.uk

and if you are interested, contact Stephen Agar at stephen of meurglys.com or join the Brit hobby mailing list at (aw, you guessed it, another new address): http://www.diplomacy-archive.com/

I CAN'T FIND MY MONEY!: 2001F, Regular Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR SUMMER 1904 IS FEBRUARY 1ST, 2003

THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1904 IS FEBRUARY 22ND, 2003

Spring 1904

AUSTRIA (Lockheardt): a TRI S a boh-tyo, a boh-TYO, a RUM S a ukr-gal, a ser-GRE,

a BUL S a ser-gre, a ukr-GAL, f gre-ALB.

ENGLAND (Heikkinen): f lon-ENG, f MID S f pic-bre, f NTH-bel, f PIC-bre.

FRANCE (Kent): a MAR-bur, a PAR S f bre, f BRE S a gas-spa (imp), f POR-mid,

a gas-SPA, a bel S a mar-bur (d r:ruh,otb).

GERMANY (Sayers): a kie-BER, f BAL S a kie-ber, a HOL S a bur-bel, a bur-BEL.

ITALY (Méhkeri): a VEN h, f ION C a tun-smy, f AEG C a tun-smy,

a MUN-bur, a TUN-smy.

RUSSIA (Desper): a stp-NWY, f ber-mun (imp; d r:pru,otb), a MOS S a war-ukr,

a war-UKR.

TURKEY (Miller): a ank-ARM, a SMY S f con, f CON S ITALIAN f aeg-bul(sc) (nso),

a SEV h.

Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: Chris Lockheardt, 54 Butler Avenue, Maynard, MA 01754, +1 978-897-1547

clockheardt of yahoo.com

ENGLAND: Allan Heikkinen, c/o S.HELEY, 7 / 77 Phillip Street, Waterloo, NSW 2017, AUSTRALIA

aheikkin of ram.net.au

FRANCE: Doug Kent, 1404 E. Lamar Blvd #106, Arlington, TX 76011

dipworld of ix.netcom.com

GERMANY: Jim Sayers, 15 Holdsworth Street, Woollahra 2025, AUSTRALIA

jimp of magna.com.au

ITALY: Dan Méhkeri, 26 DeQuincy Blvd, North York, Ontario, M3H 1Y5, CANADA, +1 416-631-0492

mehkeri of neon.polkaroo.net

RUSSIA: Rick Desper, 5440 Marinelli Road, #204, Rockville, MD 20852

(301) 977-7691, rick_desper of yahoo.com

TURKEY: Tim Miller, 5454 South Shore Drive, Apt. 222, Chicago, IL 60615, +1 773-834-4597

btmiller of uchicago.edu

GM: Jim-Bob Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327, +1 401-351-0287

burgess of world.std.com

Game Notes:

1) The Concession to the Fool and the TIRE draw are both rejected, I guess you haven't TIREd of this game yet.

Press:

(R - > BOARD): The mailbox is empty...

(BOOB to RUSSIA): Interestingly, the rest of the crowd is NOT empty....

(BARON to THE UNITED NATIONS): I will concede that Dan is a fool, but I will not concede to the Fool. I will also not concede to those who TIRE of the game, because I can not conceive how a game without press or negotiations can possibly tire anyone.

(SILENT SULTAN to HAL9000): How come you never drop in for tea?

(HAL2002 to SILENT SULTAN): First of all, I ***did*** stop in, but you weren't there! And besides, you have my model number wrong, so you clearly haven't been paying attention. And of course, the America's Cup race is far more exciting than anything I've seen in any Diplomacy game you've been involved with lately, and that's as each match continues to be a blowout and we get closer and closer to the unthinkable idea of a landlocked country as host.

(BARON to TOM RIDGE): In the face of Turkish entrenchment, Russian intrigue, and Italian indifference, Austria is preparing to institute its own Homeland Security Bill. Please send advisors to offer suggestions on legislation, early-warning systems, snappy letterhead, cumbersome bureaucracy, etc.

(SILENT SULTAN to BABBLING BLURBIST): So, I've ignored you into submission finally, eh?

(FRANCE - GERMANY): Your nose is like a river: its always running.

(FRANCE - ENGLAND): Your Diplomacy play reminds me of an onion: the deeper I go the less there is, until I uncover nothing at the center. You probably are one of those people who take a bite out of each chocolate looking for the "good" one. I might even o so far as to suggest that you touch every donut in the box with your grimy hands, licking your fingers after rejecting each one. I just pray you don't double-dip your chips.

(SILENT SULTAN to FLIPPANT FOOL): Those fleets are a sign of love right, loove like a bad '50s musical? Oh great ...

(BARON to DONALD RUMSFELD): As per your administration's request, Austria amassed troops in Silesia and Bohemia in preparation to sweep the border for Rote Armee Faktion training camps. Then the Chechens blew up Warsaw. Please send advisors to share intelligence on all Chechen tactics, Chechnya force build-ups in St. Petersburg, trillion-dollar anti-ballistic boondoggles, etc.

(CHICAGO to NEW ZEALAND): Are we there yet?

(NEW ZEALAND to CHICAGO): Bwa haha ... dream on

(BARON to JOHN ASHCROFT): Thank you for all your advice on right-wing demagoguery and war hysteria manipulation. The World Media has been completely cowed into silence. Please continue to send advisors to help draft laws defining treason as voicing an opinion, joining the ACLU, dining at ethnic restaurants, etc.

(FRANCE - AUSSIES): Is your name not Bruce?

(BOOB to FRANCE): It seems there is a crack in the armor this turn, even if you still were dislodged from Belgium. And then there was the Fool.....

(FRANCE - GM): Go Mavericks. ((Seems like a fun team to root for!!!)) Go New York Football Giants. ((I think they're in trouble against the 49ers....)) And die a painful, slow and miserable death, Dallas Cowboys. ((Death, thy name be Tuna....))

SOMETHING TO BE SCARED OF: 2001D, Regular Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1906 IS FEBRUARY 1ST, 2003

Winter 1905

ENGLAND (Sundstrom): rem a ruh; has f NWG, f HOL, f NTH, f DEN, f NWY, f NAO.

FRANCE (Tretick): bld a par; has a PAR, f MAR, a BEL, f MID, a BRE.

GERMANY (Williams): has a KIE, a BER, a MUN.

ITALY (McCullough): bld f rom; has f ROM, a TYO, a VIE, f GOL, f NAF, a TRI, f SPA(SC).

RUSSIA (McHugh): has f STP(NC), a SWE, a GAL, f SKA, a BOH, f RUM.

TURKEY (O'Donnell): bld f con; has f CON, a GRE, a BUL, f WES, a BUD, f BLA, a SER.

Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: Doug Kent, 1404 E. Lamar Blvd #106, Arlington, TX 76011

dipworld of ix.netcom.com

ENGLAND: Matt Sundstrom, 1760 Robincrest Lane South, Glenview, IL 60025, (847) 729-1882 ($5)

Matt.Sundstrom of bbdoch.com or mattandzoe of directvinternet.com

FRANCE: James Alan (Jim) Tretick, 13267 Coppermill Drive, Herndon, VA 20171, (703) 713-1328 ($4)

JTretickGames of aol.com

GERMANY: Don Williams, 27505 Artine Drive, Saugus, CA 91350, (661) 297-3947 ($3)

wllmsfmly of earthlink.net

ITALY: Jody McCullough, 1071 Brown Avenue, Lafayette, CA 94549-3153

jodymc of telocity.com

RUSSIA: Jack McHugh, P.O. Box 427, Claymont, DE 19703, (302) 792-1998

flapjack of comcast.net or Xatsmann of comcast.net

TURKEY: Sean O'Donnell, 1044 Wellfleet Drive, Grafton, OH 44044, (440) 926-0230

sean_o_donnell of hotmail.com or talonstalkingprey of yahoo.com

Game Notes:

1) I hope this game is back on track now..... we need spring orders though! That will tell!!

Press:

(EDINBURGH-MOSCOW): Welcome back. I'll try the Archduke's advice and mention how impressed I am by the Eagles. The Bears have proved they deserved to lose last year.

(SEAN-BOARD): I believe that this is the first time I've come across any of you. Let this be a fun game.

(EDINBURGH-PARIS/CONSTANTINOPLE): Having to pick a disband, the army just didn't fit well for me.

FANTASTIC VOYAGE: 1999K, Regular Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR WINTER 1910 IS FEBRUARY 1ST, 2003

Fall 1910

AUSTRIA (Rauterberg): a TRI S a bud, a VEN S a rom, a ROM h, a bud S a tri (d ann).

ENGLAND (Biehl): f HEL-nth, f nth-EDI, f mid-IRI, a YOR S f nth-edi.

GERMANY (Emmert): f hol-NTH, a KIE-hol, a boh-GAL, a bur-MAR, a gal-BUD, a TYO-tri,

a VIE S a gal-bud, a BEL-hol, f CLY-lvp, a gas-BRE, a spa-POR.

RUSSIA (Tretick): a lvn-PRU, f NWG S GERMAN f hol-nth, a DEN-lon (imp), a war-SIL,

a mos-WAR, f NAO-lvp, a NWY h.

TURKEY (Lutterbie): f BLA S a bul-rum, a rum-UKR, f TUN h, a nap-ALB, f tyh-WES,

a SER-tri, a bul-RUM, f ION C a nap-alb.

Supply Center Chart

AUSTRIA (Rauterberg):

TRI,ven,rom

(has 3, even)

ENGLAND (Biehl):

LON,EDI

(has 4, rem 2)

GERMANY (Emmert):

BER,KIE,MUN,par,mar,

(has 11, bld 2)

bre,vie,por,lvp,hol,spa,bud,bel

RUSSIA (Tretick):

MOS,STP,WAR,SEV,nwy,swe,den

(has 7, even)

TURKEY (Lutterbie):

ANK,SMY,CON,bul,rum,

(has 8, bld 1)

gre,nap,ser,tun

Neutral:

none

(Total=34)

Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221, (414) 281-2339 (E-Mail)

trauterberg of wi.rr.com

ENGLAND: John Biehl, 8809 Delwood Drive, Delta, BRITISH COLUMBIA, V4C 4A1 CANADA,

(604) 589-9124 ($7); jeen of telus.net

FRANCE: Rick Davis, 2420 West Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95407, (707) 544-5201,

redavis914 of aol.com

GERMANY: Steve Emmert, 3317 Hershridge Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23452

steve.emmert of cox.net

ITALY: Terry Tallman, PO Box 782, Clinton, WA 98236, (360) 710 9613, cell (360) 710-9613 ($2)

terryt of whidbey.net

RUSSIA: Buddy Tretick, 9607 Conaty Circle, Spotsylvania, VA 22553, (540) 582-2356 (E-Mail)

batretick of earthlink.net

TURKEY: Vince Lutterbie, 1021 Stonehaven, Marshall, MO 65340-2837

melvin of cdsinet.net

Game Notes:

1) This year should be an important one for the game. I know I'm wondering what comes next....

Press:

(RUSSIAN MOSCOVIAN PRESS): Would it not be more simpler to write Steve? Must I be kept guessing. Merely sending me what I said some time back is not telling me what you are to do. So, a bit of a compromise, without a stab. My units move back into Russia if you moved as I think you said you might move if you said anything at all.

(Sometimes I Feel Like) FLETCHER CHRISTIAN: 1999Cgh013, Colonia VIIb Diplomacy

Game Notes:

1) The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed draw passed and I still didn't have a chance to do the final Endgame chart. You have until then to do Endgame statements.

2) Harold Reynolds has done a lot of work with the maps and is guest GMing a new game of Colonia. This fits with my desire to have Spy Diplomacy be my next "big" game to GM, so I accept his offer. I also volunteer to get it started by signing up to play. There are nine players in the variant, could Harold give me an exact count of how many are signed up? Also, Harold ran a test game with Konrad Baumeister, Dave Partridge and Paul Rauterberg that you could look at on his website. See the note above about the Diplomacy A to Z, which also is there.

Press:

SECRETS: 1999D, Regular Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1912 IS FEBRUARY 1ST, 2003

Summer 1912

ENGLAND (Sayers): has f LON, a GAS, f NAO, a KIE,

f MID, f ENG, f HOL, f POR.

FRANCE (Sasseville): has f MAR, f SPA(SC), a MUN, a BUR.

GERMANY (Barno): has a BUD.

RUSSIA (Reynolds): has a MOS, a LVN, a BER, f BAL, a STP, a PRU.

TURKEY (Linsey): has f ION, a UKR, a WAR, f WES, a SEV,

f TYH, a SIL, a TYO, f NAF, f TUN, f TUS,

a PIE, f GOL, a GAL, a BOH.

Addresses of the Participants

ENGLAND: Jim Sayers, 15 Holdsworth Street, Woollahra 2025, AUSTRALIA ($10)

jimp of magna.com.au

FRANCE: Roland Sasseville, Jr., 38 Bucklin Street, Pawtucket, RI 02861, (401) 481-4280 ($0)

roland6 of cox.net and ICQ: 40565030

GERMANY: Mike Barno, 634 Dawson Hill Road, Spencer, NY 14883

mpbarno of lightlink.com or mbarno of claritas.com

ITALY: John Schultz, 692 Crest Dr., Valparaiso, IN 46383, (219) 614-1406

probo of 695online.com

RUSSIA: Phil Reynolds, 2896 Oak Street, Sarasota, FL 34237, (813) 953-6952

preyno of yahoo.com

TURKEY: Bruce Linsey, PO Box 234, Kinderhook, NY 12106

GonzoHQ of aol.com

Game Notes:

1) The FREGT draw is rejected. There actually are no new proposals (which may or may not be on purpose by players). Any proposal for the Fall goes back to the "failure to vote automatically vetoes the draw" rule as a result. If this was not on purpose, by Spring we can go back to where we had been on the draw proposals if I get asked to do it. And clearly there is no interest in speeding up the game, so we'll stop proposing that.

Press:

(PHIL to MIKE): Oh, you're such a hoot! But I know it's just the residual LSD talking. How about taking some Ecstasy and showing me some love?

EDWARD TELLER: 2002?rn42, Nuclear Yuppie Evil Empire Diplomacy - Black Hole Variant

THE DUE DATE FOR WINTER 1903 IS FEBRUARY 1ST, 2002

THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1904 IS FEBRUARY 22ND, 2002

Fall 1903

AUSTRIA (McHugh): f TRI h, a VIE h, a BUD h; and 5 nukes dismantled.

ENGLAND (Kenny): f EDI h, f LON h, a LVP h; and 5 nukes dismantled.

FRANCE (Schultz): f BRE h, a PAR h, a MAR h; and 5 nukes in their silos.

GERMANY (Rauterberg): f den-SWE, a pru-BUD, a ruh-HOL; and nuked SIL, LVN, ARM, GAL, GOB.

ITALY (Muller): f NAP h, a ROM-ven, a VEN-tri; and 5 nukes dismantled.

RUSSIA (Andruschak): f FIN h, a UKR h; and nuked CON, SMY, ANK, GM (abuse!).

TURKEY (Kendter): has f bla-RUM, a BUL S f bla-rum;

and nuked SEV, MOS, WAR, STP, "The whole frelling game".

Current Standings

TOTAL

JOHN SCHULTZ

PAUL RAUTERBERG

KARL MULLER

HARRY ANDRUSCHAK

LEE KENDTER, JR.

JACK MCHUGH

SANDY KENNY

Black Holed

Neutral

Totals(eventually)

238

Times GM Nuked

Whole Frelling Game

Addresses of the Participants

John Schultz plays on in our memories....

Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221, (414) 281-2339

trauterberg of wi.rr.com

Karl Muller, 75-17 60 Place, Glendale, NY 11385-6044, (718) 416-1103

karlmuller of alumni.lemoyne.edu or pegandkarl of mindspring.com

Harry Andruschak, 734 West 214th Street, Apartment 12-A Torrance, CA 90502

(Phone number not established yet), harryandruschak of aol.com

Lee Kendter, Jr., 1503 Pilgrim Lane, Quakertown, PA 18951

lkendter of speakeasy.net

Jack McHugh, P.O. Box 427, Claymont, DE 19703, (302) 792-1998

flapjack of comcast.net

Sandy Kenny, 23 East Coulter Avenue, Collingswood, NJ 08108-1208 (609) 869-3160

KennyShire of aol.com or possibly sakenny of net-gate.com

Game Notes:

1) A couple of adjudication notes.... when you guys nuke the same province more than once, I put in parentheses the number of nukes that hit that spot. Also, if your move to a space succeeds and THEN you are annihilated, I capitalize the first letter of that space where you are annihilated. The reverse happens if your move bounces where I capitalize the first letter of the place you started.

2) The rules I have been using for this game have been that there are no replacements or standbies. Nukes for the positions John has will remain unfired in their silos. None of his units will move or support anything. They can be attacked and dislodged and his centers can be nuked. John could win the game this way, conceivably, but likely would not.

3) Paul Kenny tells me about his wife Sandy: "The best e-mail address to use for Sandy is our temporary aol account, Kennyshire of aol.com. I set her up with a net Net-gate account, but as far as I know she hasn't used it, sakenny of net-gate.com.

4) The NMR's continue, you have a while to get in Spring 1904 orders, but do it NOW!!!! Lee Kendter moves up to Austria; Jack McHugh becomes England; Sandy Kenny moves across the Channel to France; Germany is the Schultz position; Paul Rauterberg is in Italy; Karl Muller gets the four nuke Russian position; and Harry Andruschak moves into the corner in Turkey. Send me Spring orders for those countries right away or not.... it is your choice after all.

Press:

(ITALY-ALL): No nukes, man! Peace out. We've taken a more-or-less non-aggression stance this year (vague apologies to Jack) to let some feuds clear. Next year, game on (again)!

(BOOB to ALL): Remember that the "Yuppie" part of this game is supposed to acknowledge that people are busy and might get bored or not have time to submit orders. As you all can see, this doesn't totally trash your position. You can come back and play any time you like. In the current vernacular, this makes it a feature, not a bug!

FEAR AND WHISKEY: 1998Ers31, Modern Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 2010 IS FEBRUARY 1ST, 2003

Summer 2010

BRITAIN (K. Ozog): has a FIN, f ENG, a LAP, f NTH, f BAL, a STP, f BRN, f GOB.

EGYPT (J. O'Donnell): has f LBS, f EME, f ALG, f MAL, f APU, a SYR, a LIB, a IRK, f IZM.

GERMANY (Rauterberg): has a SIL, a SAX, a MUN, f PRU, f HOL, f GDA, f BOR, a VEN, a PAR,

f PIC, a AUS, a CZE, a SWI, f BEL, a TUS.

SPAIN (S. O'Donnell): has f SOG, f MOR, a AUV, a NAV, a MAR, f MAO, a NAP, f TYS, a MON.

UKRAINE (Partridge): has a ANK, a GRE, a SER, a MOS, a GOR, a EST,

a KRA, a POD, f WBS, f IST, a MUR, a SLO, a WAR, f ION, a ADA, a URA, a HUN,

a LAT, f AEG, a LIT, f ADR, a IRN, a CRO.

Addresses of the Participants

BRITAIN: Kurt Ozog, 391 Wilmington Drive, Bartlett, IL 60103, (630) 837-2813

heyday6 of yahoo.com

EGYPT: Jeff O'Donnell, 402 Middle Ave., Elyria, OH 44035-5728, (440) 322-2920

or (440) 225-9203 (cell) ($2)

FRANCE: Harry Andruschak, PO Box 5309, Torrance, CA 90510-5309, (310) 835-9202 ($5)

Tapmdfrance of aol.com

GERMANY: Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221, (414) 281-2339 (E-Mail)

trauterberg of wi.rr.com

ITALY: Eric Ozog, PO Box 1138, Granite Falls, WA 98252-1138, (360) 691-4264 ($3)

ElfEric of Juno.com

POLAND: Roland Sasseville, Jr., 38 Bucklin Street, Pawtucket, RI 02861, (401) 481-4280 ($5)

roland6 of home.com and ICQ: 40565030

RUSSIA: Randy Ellis

SPAIN: Sean O'Donnell, 1044 Wellfleet Drive, Grafton, OH 44044, (440) 926-0230 ($3)

sean_o_donnell of hotmail.com or talonstalkingprey of yahoo.com

TURKEY: Kent Pollard, 1541 W. San Jose, Fresno, CA 93711, (209) 225-0957 ($10)

UKRAINE: Dave Partridge, 15 Woodland Drive, Brookline, NH 03033 ($8)

rebhuhn of rocketmail.com

Game Notes:

1) I'm going to start a quiet interest list down here in the next Modern game. I don't want to start it until this game is done or nearly done, but with ten players it may take awhile, so I'll start now. Rick Desper and Kurt Ozog are in to be two of the players. Any more??? We are going to do it with "wings".

2) The Ukraine/Germany draw is rejected.

Press:

(THE MEKONS QUOTE OF THE MONTH): "When we say we've had enough; We know we really want more." From "Hate is the New Love", from Oooh!, the Mekons stellar new CD, go out and get it NOW!

(KLINGONS-STAR TREK PRESSES): Say what??

(SPANISH TRIBUNE): Summer 2010, Spanish Commander O'Donnell 20 years ago led the Spanish people into one war to another when will this conquest end? The million dollar question that has of yet isn't answered. The Spanish Generals currently are optimistic with this war's result. Spain overall is working with the combined nations against Ukraine in much the same way the United States has for the past forty years. Unfortunately the United States as of yet has not entered the war. The Americans seem to be enjoying their renewed policy of isolationism. The Spanish people seem to be overjoyed with the aiding program that has been set up during this campaign. Will peace come again in the near future. (In other news is anyone else aware that this war in real life time is taking as much time as a real war has?? Think about it, I was 17 four years ago. i.e. when this game started,)

(SPAIN-MEKONS): Sing it. Could we get another singer for press??

(MEKONS to SPAIN): No.

(SPAIN-BOOB): You know what this game so far reminds me of? Would you believe a song and a commercial? Its the song that never ends some people started singing it not knowing what it was blah blah blah. For the commercial it would be the duracell it keeps going and going and going.

(EGYPT-UKRAINE): Is it too late to be friends??

(STAR TREK): It's Christmas Eve, a Paramount studio executive is asleep having a Star Trek dream. In the first dream, he goes back in time to the first Mars colony. He is on the top of the highest Mars mountain, urinating on a rock. Suddenly the dream changes and he is on Earth making love to Britney Spears. This is a Star Trek dream because our sleeping executive is going where no man has gone before. Suddenly he is awakened by an angry smashing noise on his front door (KNOCK, KNOCK). He gets out of bed to see a large unshaven fat man dressed in red standing on his front porch and he can clearly see, this man is pissed. He opens the door only to find himself in complete shock when he realizes that the man on his porch in none other than the one and the only; Gene Roddenberry dressed in a red captain's uniform from Star Trek II. The Paramount executive (PE) remembering a line that Khan used in that movie, grabbed Gene (GR) by the throat, held him up in the air, and asked, "Why are you here?"

GR: We need to talk!

PE: Talk! It's almost midnight, Christmas fricking Eve!

GR: I'm not leavin' until we talk!

PE: OK, talk!

GR: I thought I had complete control of the Star Trek program! I want to know who authorized a Romulan episode not written by me.

PE: You have to admit, it was a pretty good episode.

GR: That's not the point, I'm supposed to have complete control.

PE: You have complete control over what you write. That doesn't mean we can't have an independent writer produce a separate episode.

GE: You can't do that!

PE: Truthfully, Gene, we had to do it.

GE: Why?

PE: Because lately the episodes you've been writing pretty much suck! Your obsession with the Boston Red Sox is boring and the opening song to the new Enterprise series is an embarrassment. ((That's for damned sure, it makes me unable to even watch the show casually!!! In this dialog the Gene/executive thing I find REALLY cool, captures things perfectly!))

GE: Well, you've got me there, but I only used that song because I lost a bet. I am not going to allow any more unauthorized Romulan or anything else episodes. If you run another one I'm going to sue the studio.

PE: You can't sue, you have no standing.

GR: What do you mean?

PE: You're still dead, aren't you?

GR: You've got me there. Maybe I could write a Star Trek Christmas Carol. I could play the ghost of bad episodes past. Now that Babylon 5 is done, I could get Commander Chekov to play Tiny Tim and Worf could play Scrooge.

PE: Nice try, but Worf would probably end up killing Tiny Tim in some brutal Klingon ritual. By the way, how's Dr. McCoy?

GR: Still dead!

PE: Tell him to have a Merry Christmas!

GR: Merry Christmas!!

PS: Dr. McCoy's response to St. Peter when he is asked to join the heavenly choir, "Damn it, Pete, I'm an angel, not a choir boy!"

(CAPTAIN'S LOG SUPPLEMENTAL): Our battle with the Romulans has begun and it's not going well. In a desperate attempt to keep additional Romulan forces out of the Neutral Zone, I ordered Captain Sulu to abandon our only Starbase on the Romulan side of the Neutral Zone to engage the advancing enemy. The Romulan commander anticipated my move by adding an additional warbird to the fight, forcing Sulu to withdraw back into the now surrounded Starbase. We have no hope of holding out and can only hope to continue the fight while we withdraw and wait for Klingon reinforcements. To make matters worse, the Romulans are mocking me in their government controlled press. Ever since I mistook a Romulan war cruiser for a troop transport, almost causing the fall of the Federation to the Ferengi/Romulan alliance, I have not gotten a lot of respect from the Empire. Thank God for the Ferengi flipflop. On the bright side, Mr. Spock has calculated that with the Klingon reinforcements and the Federation, Cardassian, Klingon, and Bajoran alliance should (if the alliances hold, a big if) eventually wear down the Romulans. I still feel bad about the Federation Council decision to attack the Romulans. I worked very well with their Commander.

Personal Note to You (peace and health to all, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!):

File translated from T_EX by T_TH, version 3.30.
On 21 Jan 2003, 19:42.