From: someone@anywheret.net   
      
   "Jim D"  wrote in message news:2018120314300488477-Not@ThisAddresscom...   
      
   > Right, but if we " lost " in some big way, they, whoever they are, might   
   > have taken away my ability to stay here in the nice little house I paid   
   > for but don't really own the ground it sets on ......   
      
   It's all ends up being Abusive one way or another doesn't it?   
      
   > Yep, it can go either way. And unless a person claims some ability to see   
   > into the future, it's just a blind gamble. We could have invested some   
   > small amount, but what would be the point in that. The numbers were in the   
   > millions even at that early point.   
      
   I figure just getting behind the wheel is more than enough gamble for me!   
      
   > It was. I had done some optical graphics work, developed hardware and   
   > wrote some software for that, so it was something we had in common.  But   
   > we were friends before that. That small group spent many an all nighter at   
   > our place doing math programming, or discussing astronomy. I had this   
   > house when they were still in college, so it became a meeting place.  Ah,   
   > to be young and full of energy.   
      
   Translation: To not have wasted it ;)   
      
   > I don't know.  I was never of the mindset that I couldn't do whatever I   
   > wanted. Ok, I couldn't HAVE anything I wanted, but I controlled my own   
   > destiny, and I knew that all along.  Can't really say we were evr dirt   
   > poor, but we weren't jet set rich. Just working class, I guess, once my   
   > parents generation moved away from the farms.   
      
   I can *mostly* do whatever I want, but succeeding in achieving it is a   
   totally different matter.   
   And not being God, no creature can control its own destiny beyond those   
   parameters determined by its Creator.   
   This is where Faith is Critical! God, in His Word, the Bible, states that   
   without Him, we can do nothing, but  with Him, nothing is   
   impossible...something I live by and in.   
      
   > Right. But they do have their machines. If you happen to come into their   
   > attention, don't doubt for a second that the power of the state to know   
   > nearly your every thought comes into play.   
      
   It's a slight variation of what I like to call an "Operation Leprechaun".   
      
   In a classic kid's story - mine was in a reader in elementary school, two   
   kids somehow manage to catch a leprechaun, a nearly impossible   
   accomplishment, which somehow made the leprechaun liable, by their code of   
   honor, to tell the kids where his pot of gold was buried. So the leprechaun   
   tells them and shows them the tree it's buried beneath.   
   But kids realize that since they have no digging implements, they can't dig   
   it up, which means going home to get them and returning. Not only that, but   
   they must first mark the tree so they'll know which one to to dig at when   
   they return. So they tie a ribbon around the tree and then swear the   
   leprechaun to an oath of honor that he'll not touch the ribbon while they go   
   home for some shovels. He agrees and they part company as the kids go home   
   for the digging tools.   
   But when they return, they're horrified - the leprechaun did not so much as   
   touch the ribbon the kids tied to the tree where the gold was buried, but he   
   did tie a ribbon around every other tree in the forest, making it   
   practically impossible to locate the tree with the gold buried beneath it.   
      
   Similarly, in the case of spying, hundreds of millions of 'suspect' messages   
   will effectively hide the 'important' one(s) ;)   
      
   > Didn't the East Germans have a system to collect everything they could on   
   > everyone.  Only used it  ( as blackmail leverage or as an excuseto lock   
   > you up )  if you became a thorn in their sides ...... same thing our gov   
   > appears to be doing.   
      
   That's not quite the same thing, but rather simple Persecution, based on   
   anything.   
      
   > Did I mention the new dog ????   
      
   Yes, and I've found that food is one of the best ways to break the ice or   
   any other difficulty ;)   
      
   > Probably won't stop anyone from breaking in, but he would likely extract   
   > that " pound of flesh " as payment :-)  In any case, it wouldn't be just   
   > sneak in and quietly load up my big screen in their van.   
      
   Just train him to quietly sneak around unnoticed, to see what's happening   
   and then to quietly alert you ;)   
      
   > It's really a shame that booby traps aren't legal inside my home.  Maybe I   
   > could dig a moat and put in some spiked poles ????   
      
   JimD   
      
   My advice to everyone is to automatically assume that ANYthing you want to   
   do is 'illegal', anything at all, and Realizing that because our De Jure   
   Constitutional Republic has long since been Overthrown, and we're trying to   
   survive Under Occupation, then proceed accordingly - because it's Absolutely   
   True!!!   
      
   Ouisie   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)