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:: pong #005 :: november 05, 1996 :: :: pong is a dto production ::
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:: the rebirth of pong :: :: by murmur ::
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The first issue of pong came out on November 10, 1995. Originally intended
as a platform for both music and college-natured issues, over twelve months
pong has taken various forms. Music was expanded and then dropped, and the
last issue of pong came out on April 28, 1996, making pong an e'zine with an
absurdly long period of stagnancy (slightly more than six months.)
However, pong is back, and this time the focus is very clear: political and
social issues aimed mostly at roughly the 14-28 demographic. Above all
else, we at dto productions are aiming to make pong a forum for thought, not
a place for us to hammer home our opinions. We fully encourage anyone and
everyone with any opinion on any political or social issues to submit.
The first issue back is being hurriedly prepared in an attempt to release
before Election Day. It is hoped that we can establish ourselves and what
we intend to do with a statement emanating from before the Election of 1996.
We are a young group and have not flexed our political discretion before.
In fact, most of our initial audience will participate in their first
Presidential Election here in 1996, if not in 2000.
We do not aim to sit by idly when a new (or existing) regime takes power on
January 20, 1997. As citizens of the world's longest standing democracy, we
intend to take advantage of those rights guaranteed to us under the
Constitution of the United States. Apologies to our friends in Canada,
Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and wherever else; it is quite likely that
most of what we cover in pong will scarcely be topical to you. But such is
the nature of this endeavor.
Monthly release effective immediately certainly seems to be in order and we
shall strive for just that. Hopefully it will be but a mere matter of time
before we have some decent support behind us and will therefore not have to
scrape out an issue from month to month.
The content of pong will be decided entirely by its contributors, and if
there's something you want to see covered, please, please, write about it.
Submissions may be directed to phuckelb@sun.iwu.edu until such a time as
dto.net is operational and pong will have a presence on it.
The lengthiness of this introduction is necessary for us to get across the
point that, yes, we're serious. This is our political statement. If it
should fail, then it should fail, and we have at least attempted to be a
positive motivator in American politics, albeit a tiny, tiny one.
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:: table of contents :: :: by pong staff ::
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the rebirth of pong by murmur
table of contents by pong staff
why bother? by murmur
color war by gaurd
conclusion by murmur
how to reach pong by pong staff
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:: why bother? :: :: by murmur ::
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Why bother? Because someone has to, and better it be an intelligent
generation that has some pretty good ideas what's best for it than for it be
an underinformed populace pulled by political rhetoric or an extremist
outfit with harmful goals.
Why bother? Because I don't want to see Social Security collapse on my dad,
just like you probably won't want Social Security to collapse on you.
Why bother? Because a smaller percentage of the population owns a greater
proportion of the wealth in these United States than at any other time in
our history except for the Roaring 20s. Anyone else remember what happened
in 1929?
Why bother? Because it is wrong to embrace democracy and then to let it
function around you. It is illogical to condemn a government yet not to
participate in it.
Why bother? Because the Justice Department has appealed the ruling of a
Philadelphia federal district court to the Supreme Court in an attempt to
abridge our constitutional right to freedom of speech, and without people
like us to act, they would have gotten away with it.
Why bother? Because there's no telling when your vote will matter. There's
no telling when the 40 college students you register to vote will turn the
tide of an election of U.S. Representative and someone who isn't going to
demolish college loans will have their seat preserved.
Why bother? How can you justifiably not bother? Doesn't an increase in
taxes affect you? Doesn't a decrease in day care funding affect someone you
know? Isn't there a toxic waste site within 100 miles of where you live?
Don't you want to have at least same say in whatever the hell is going on
with this complex world around you? Isn't it better to do something than to
let people control your life in so many ways every day of your life?
Why bother? Because information is a weapon, and only an information-laden
populace will be able to deal properly with its surroundings. Ignorance is
not necessarily bliss when it comes to taxes, toxins, and the like.
Why bother? It's your future. It's my future. It's the future of the
United States of America, and it's the future of the entire planet Earth.
Why pong? Because we have to start somewhere.
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:: color war :: :: by gaurd ::
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Ever seen a rally for Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition? You know, Jesse
Jackson? In case you don't remember who he is, Jesse is the man who said
"To ignore race and sex is racist and sexist." Well, if you've seen
pictures of the so-called Rainbow Coalition, the only color you'll see is
black. Why do you think that is?
"To ignore race and sex is racist and sexist."
Why do you think that almost exclusively black Americans follow Jesse's
belief that in order to build a better America, we must categorize a person
by the color of their skin? Now, to say that Jesse Jackson is simply a
racist would be so painfully obvious as to be an insult to the reader's
intelligence. I mean, if you made it past the word "coalition" without
reaching for a dictionary, then you can come to the conclusion that he's a
racist all by yourself. The question is, WHY is he a racist? Why is he
followed by other racists? Are they both merely pragmatists in their own
right, or vengeful bigots? Does Jesse hope one day to be President, or hold
some other high office? Perhaps. Would he then be merely blowing with the
political wind? Or does he have so much hate in his heart that he would
take pleasure from dividing a nation in two? Do the men who follow him feel
the same? Is their only goal to exact some sort of menial and trivial
punishment on the sons of the sons of the men who enslaved the fathers of
their fathers, or do they merely want preferential treatment because they
haven't found a break anywhere else?
"A house divided against itself cannot stand."
You may have heard about it on the news: the University of Texas went to
court some months ago. A student, applying to the Graduate program [ed. --
in law], was turned away, at a time when students of equal or lesser merit,
but a more-desired skin color were being accepted. Since this is, after
all, a government funded school that I am attending, it seemed only logical
that it would live by the rules the government had enacted. As early
(early? ha!) as 1978, the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation, or
quota systems could only be enacted in situations where a prior system of
bias could be proven. So why had the question arisen again? If the
University had not, at least in the span of an applicant's lifetime, turned
blacks away because of their race, why did they now do the opposite?
"To ignore race and sex is racist and sexist."
When it went to court, it was decided that the University of Texas could not
simply use skin color or national background as a means for determining
admission. The day after story this hit the news, a petition was passed
around in one of my classes. This was a relatively small class, and it so
happened only three blacks were in it. I'm not sure why, but the three of
them always sat together... Were they friends? I have no idea, they always
sat at the front of the room on the far right side... the furthest seats
from the door, and the closest to the professor. I rarely bothered to walk
to the far side of the room when seats near the door are just as good. Like
I said, it was a small class, so they could have sat next to anyone if they
had wanted to, but the three of them always sat right next to each other.
When the petition got to me, I noticed three signatures on it before I began
reading it. It read something like this:
Help restore the University of Texas' policy of assisting racial
minorities! The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that UT can no longer
use minority status as a qualification to allow students an equal
place in the school system. You can help by signing this petition to
the Admissions Board.
I sighed, and passed it on without reaching for my pen, as did just about
everyone in the class. The only guy I saw who didn't actually READ it was
someone wearing a NIN shirt. Heh. I laughed every time I saw him. NIN.
Haha! Even now it's funny. NIN! Hee hee! Oh, where was I? Oh yes, the
NIN guy passed the petition by, and my thoughts return to...
"To ignore race and sex is racist and sexist."
Why did so few people sign it? Why did anyone sign it at all? Racial
inequality will not be solved by intensifying the thoughts of the American
people on the color of their neighbor's skin. Perhaps it won't be solved by
attempting to ignore differences either. I've heard people say "children
aren't born racist, they're taught to hate." You know who says that.
You've met people who say bullshit like that on daytime TV. Children may
not be born racist, but they aren't born color blind either. A child must
choose or be taught either path, there is little middle ground, and you
aren't born with one path laid out for you. In the end, there may be only
one solution to the problem of racial division. And that is genetic
diversification. Personally, it would seem that nothing would bring a
faster end to racism than the blurring of racial lines through interracial
marriage. However, you don't need to blur the lines completely. You just
need to have a large enough group of racially mixed individuals such that
people stop seeing everyone as black or white, but as shades of grey, drawn
from the same palette. I suppose that's why groups like the KKK and Louis
Farrakhan are so opposed to the idea. The stare of the eyes of a man whose
race is divided would throw their arguments against the wall. Should such a
man hate himself? Hate one parent, but love the other, because of the part
of him they helped create? The very notion of racial quotas takes on a
strange meaning when 50% of you fulfills the quota, and 50% doesn't.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand."
The problem is one we have created, and continue to create, second to
second, we regenerate it. We seem to be moving in the right direction
now... quotas have become something to be avoided, at least on the surface,
and are revealed for what they are. But those three black men in my EE312
class... were they the only three to sign the petition? I've often
wondered if they were... and I've often wondered how racist it is of me to
suspect the only three black men in the class for having signed the petition
that I saw one of the three bring in. I just hope I live to see the day
when EVERYONE in America believes that it is neither racist nor sexist to
ignore race and sex... despite our baser nature to pay attention to
superficial differences. Maybe we can get a jump start on that day when Bob
Dole is inaugurated president. Until then.
"Thanks for the political applause,
and I'll see you all in Hell." -- Dennis Miller
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:: conclusion :: :: by murmur ::
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A conclusion is not something that you should become accustomed to seeing in
pong, but I felt that the special circumstances of this issue grant just
cause to the existence of this statement.
It is 2:30 A.M. CST on Tuesday, November 5, 1996. In eastern states polling
places will open in a mere two and a half hours. Voting will begin for the
men and women that will largely lead us into a new decade, a new century, a
new millennium.
It is impossible to know what to expect on this Election Day. One way or
the other, however, groups will motivate quickly in reaction to the
announcements of who shall hold the White House for the next four years,
which party shall hold the House, which party shall hold the Senate. State
races also are of increasingly critical importance as a resurgent movement
to restore power to the states has been underway the last several months.
Election Day itself is not of the most critical importance; it is
understanding the meaning of Election Day that is. It is understanding what
comes out of who holds what office, and what this means to us as American
citizens (or, possibly, to those persons who are not American citizens but
might certainly be affected.)
pong is merely one aspect of an increasing political role I personally plan
to take in the world. So far my treading in political matters has been
rather limited; I have signed on with the CIEC as part of the legal battle
over the Communications Decency Act, and I have become a deputy registrar
legally able to register people in this county to vote. These are, for me,
merely the beginning.
I'm not sure exactly where I want pong to lead us, but I know that what I am
attempting to undertake is a positive thing. Many thanks to Gaurd for
submitting a piece on such short notice, enabling me to release an issue
that is not entirely my often convoluted rambles.
Issues of the United States are issues of its people, and as one of those
people, I will voice my opinion, and I will actively take part in such
things as I deem fit to do so, in conjunction with my rights as a free
citizen in the world's longest-standing democracy.
pong is meant to be a forum for discussion, and a platform by which to get
ideas across, but it can be so much more, if people will merely bother to
help. It is of the most fundamental importance to somewhat understand the
functions of the nation you live in. Let's do it.
I apologize for the seemingly off-kilter monologue. I hope I have gotten my
point across. I hope that by January 20, 1997, there will be people behind
us at pong and dto productions enabling us to actually get a real statement
across, enabling us to speak with a bold voice. Perhaps it's a wacky dream.
So be it.
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:: how to reach pong :: :: by pong staff ::
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Currently a world wide web site does not exist.
Back issues of pong are available via anonymous ftp thanks to lemming.com.
Go to ftp.lemming.com /pub/zines/pong for back issues.
Back issues are also available by emailing phuckelb@sun.iwu.edu.
All submissions and comments maybe directed to either individual writers or
to murmur at phuckelb@sun.iwu.edu. Submissions are heavily encouraged and
we will be very liberal (small 'l' there) in what we include in pong.
Contributors for this issue are:
gaurd <jkw@koth.org>
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:: pong #005 :: november 05, 1996 :: :: pong is a dto production ::
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The views expressed in pong are those of the individual writers, and should
not necessarily be construed as the views of pong itself or any of the other
writers of pong. pong maintains the rights of all citizens to engage in
freedom of speech as guaranteed under the First Amendment of the
Constitution to the United States. pong reserves the right to refuse any
submission to publication on any grounds.
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:: copyright 1996 dto productions. :: :: all rights reserved. ::
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