From: Bruce Zambini <jlasser@rwd.goucher.edu>
Date: Mon, 1 Apr 1996 11:37:13 +0800
To: JonWienke@aol.com
Subject: Witch Hunts
In-Reply-To: <960331120551_366431213@emout06.mail.aol.com>
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.960331160359.9821B-100000@rwd.goucher.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


On Sun, 31 Mar 1996 JonWienke@aol.com wrote:

> >My preferred and soon to be permanent e-mail address:unicorn@schloss.li
> >"In fact, had Unicorn not existed,       potestas scientiae in usu est
> >Detweiler might not have had to invent him."    in nihilum nil posse reverti
> >00B9289C28DC0E55  E16D5378B81E1C96 - Finger for Current Key Information
> 
> Unicorn = Detweiler = Agent Provocateur

Well, I won't say it's impossible.

However, for those of you who are relatively new to the list, Mr. Unicorn 
has been a regular (and useful) contributor to the list. My belief in 
this has been unwavering. Excepting, of course, the recent Unicorn/Bell 
flamefest, which we all get sucked into occasionally.

My opinion of Mr. Bell on the same issue has varied widely; however, he 
has participated (in recent times) in more flamewars on the list than 
anyone, including the usual flamers (ie Perry, me, etc.).

It is also interesting to note that Mr. Unicorn talks knowledgably about 
several fields; Mr. Bell talks about one field, and there are those who 
would dispute his knowledge about it.

I have had an e-mail correspondence with Mr. Bell that lasted several 
messages. In it, we were both civil and friendly; I post this now not to 
take sides in the flamewar, but merely to note that, in my opinion, it is 
improbable that Black Unicorn is Detweiller, and that, although I missed 
the origin of this thread, it is likely a suggestion from Mr. Bell or one 
of his associates, intended to discredit him.

If Mr. Unicorn is indeed Detweiller, it is in the mold of Vlad Z. Nuri, 
who (while almost certainly Detweiller) has produced useful contributions 
on the list, while refraining from acting out.

It is also worth noting that the original Detweiller, in a sense, played 
De Sade to Tim May's Rousseau, in that he used an unorthodox, but 
effective, critical technique. (This is, in fact, one reading of De 
Sade's "pornography" -- an interesting counterexample to what was 
trumpeted on _Both_ sides of the recent Firing Line debate: that 
pornography or obscenity is, whether or not protected, devoid of any 
intellectual content.)

Jon Lasser (his own tentacle :-) )
----------
Jon Lasser (410)494-3072                         - Obscenity  is a crutch  for
jlasser@rwd.goucher.edu                            inarticulate motherfuckers.
http://www.goucher.edu/~jlasser/
Finger for PGP key (1024/EC001E4D)               - Fuck the CDA.