"Peter Yim" <peter.yim@xxxxxxxx> writes: (01)
> ... May I cordially request that you refrain from including your
> footnote when posting to this forum, as it is not directly relevant to
> the issue being discussed. I hope we continue to pursue our
> professional discourse and stay away from politics as much as we can. (02)
Of course you may cordially request it! My cordial reply is, "No,
never." Let me explain. (03)
My footnote is a reminder that the foundations of our republic are
crumbling in a way that directly impacts everyone's ability to manage
private and public knowledge. True, that's not directly relevant to
the subject of my note (that's why it's a footnote -- such is the
proper role of footnotes), but I would argue that it *is* directly
relevant to any public-spirited motivation for participating in this
forum. (04)
My footnote appears on nearly all my correspondence, and it
*especially* appears in my correspondence with my government customers
and prospects. If we do not seek to save our republic in our daily
business, we deserve to lose it. Does this make my client list
shorter? Almost certainly! But I'm not interested in using any of my
short life to further the cause of tyranny. I'm only interested in
supporting *freedom*, and particularly in respect to information
management. (05)
When our republic -- I mean, its people, namely us -- does cease to
struggle to maintain its focus on the freedom of human beings, it will
not be *we* who censor the discussions in Ontolog. It will be other
people -- faceless people in a faceless, out-of-control,
non-accountable bureaucracy. It will be like the current situation in
the People's Republic of China. I hope you will like that situation,
if it occurs. But I'd really rather that we avoid that situation, and
consciousness-raising, especially among those charged with
responsibility for information management, is vital to avoiding it. (06)
(As I write this, I'm half-watching Tom Blanton, Director of the
National Archives, on C-Span, discussing what he calls the current
"perfect storm" of our republic's amnesia with respect to what the
Executive Branch has done or ever will do, under President Bush's
patently illegal Executive Order requiring perpetual secrecy of
presidential records. What is a government worker supposed to do,
when confronted with a choice between the law of the land, and the
order of a president? The confusion alone is monumentally chilling.) (07)
So, does this forum seek to support communication between diverse,
free people, or does it serve some other purpose, to the exclusion of
the former? Peter, there are only two possible answers to the
foregoing question. If the answer is "other", that's fine, but what
is this forum's purpose? Please be specific. I need a
publicly-disclosed basis for my decision as to whether to participate
in it. (08)
-- Steve (09)
Steven R. Newcomb, Consultant
Coolheads Consulting (010)
Co-editor, Topic Maps International Standard (ISO/IEC 13250)
Co-editor, draft Topic Maps -- Reference Model (ISO/IEC 13250-5) (011)
srn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.coolheads.com (012)
direct: +1 540 951 9773
main: +1 540 951 9774
fax: +1 540 951 9775 (013)
208 Highview Drive
Blacksburg, Virginia 24060 USA (014)
(Confidential to all US government personnel to whom this private
letter is not addressed and who are reading it in the absence of a
specific search warrant: In keeping with the publicly-confessed
criminal conduct of the Bush administration, and with the
irresponsible actions of the pusillanimous and corrupt 109th Congress,
you are co-conspiring to subvert the Constitution that you are sworn
to defend. You can either refuse to commit this crime, or you can
expect to suffer criminal sanctions in the future, when the Executive
Branch of the government of the United States of America once again
demonstrates respect for the rule of law. I do not envy you for
having to make this difficult choice, but I urge you to make it
wisely.) (015)
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