From: dlv@bwalk.dm.com (Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM)
Date: Sun, 23 Nov 1997 02:05:36 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Jim Bell's Sentencing Delayed Again
In-Reply-To: <Chameleon.880205874.amp@ampugh.mcit.com>
Message-ID: <TFykge47w165w@bwalk.dm.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



amp@pobox.com writes:
>
> so saith ichudov@algebra.com ...
>
> > Looks like Jim has been sentenced to 10 years without the right
> > to correspondence.
> >
> > To those who do not understand the cultural connotations of this
> > phrase, I will explain. During Stalin's purges around 1937, a lot of
> > people were arrested and nothing could be found out about them --
> > not even when they were held. Their relatives were later notified that
> > the prisoners were sentenced to 10 years without the right to
> > correspondence.
>
> the parallels between modern america and just about an other totalitarian
> regime to date are hitting frighteningly close to home.
>
> I remember when I was told about the horrors of the nazi and russian
> children turning their parents in for whatever the state considered to not
> be proper. now we have D.A.R.E.
>
> i doubt such things are mentioned in public schools anymore.

I mentioned in a private e-mail to Igor that the though of "10 years w/o
correspondence" occured to me too.  That what a great-grandfather of mine
got.  As for DARE, it reminds me of the great Soviet hero - Pavlik (Paul)
Morozov, a 13-year-old boy who grew up in a small village in the northern
Ural mountains. One day the Soviets decided to force all the peasants to
join a collective farm by confiscating their food and causing an artificial
famine[1]. Pavlik's father buried some grain hoping to feed hid family.
Pavlik squealed on his father, who was shot. Pavlik's grandfather later
killed Pavlik with an axe. The Soviets then shot the grandfather and
a bunch of other villagers, and made Pavlik a great hero worthy of
emulation by all Soviet children.

[1] Interesting enough, anyone in the U.S. who expressed the opinion in
the 1930's that there's a famine going on in Russia, or that the public
confessions made at the show trials might be questionable, was branded
a fascist by the new York Times crowd and was likely to lose his job.

---

Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM
Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps