From declanm@netcom.com Wed Jul 19 14:44:48 1995 Date: Wed, 19 Jul 1995 14:19:41 -0700 (PDT) From: D B McCullagh Subject: Rimm's Numbers: Wrong but So What? To: fight-censorship@andrew.cmu.edu Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Status: RO X-Status: In the attached message, Bob shows us how Rimm's incorrect and misleading numbers are being wielded in the cyberporn debate. I also remember Sen. Coats using the 83.5 percent figure in a Washinton Post op-ed a few weeks ago. Somehow, I expect we'll see these numbers appear again and again. -Declan ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 19 Jul 1995 16:51:20 EDT From: Bob Chatelle Subject: Know Your Enemies! Dear Friends of Free Expression: Today I received my copy of _Washington Watch_, the newsletter of Gary Bauer's group, the Family Research Council. It contains a strong endorsement of the Com- munications Decency Act and comes out in vehement opposition to the Cox/Wyden Amendment. Much use is made of the "ground breaking study" released by "a research team at Carnegie Mellon." It reports as proven fact that: 83.5% of pictorial images available on Usenet newsgroups are pornographic. 48.4% of all downloads from "adult" commercial services are child porn. The top two picture categories on the "adult" market are child porn and bestiality. The newsletter states: "Porn industry 'apologists' like the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are scrambling to minimize the impact of the Carnegie-Mellon study. In the upcoming weeks, you'll see them taking cheap shots at this comprehensive study because it seriously threatens their radical agenda." It is now irrelevant that Martin Rimm's study was worthless. When a lie is printed in _Time_ magazine, or broadcast on network television, it becomes the "truth." DeWitt's non- retraction was of no use. If _Time_ had any journalistic integrity they would've fired DeWitt and had done with him. But they didn't, and the Rimm figures will be repeated and repeated and repeated until they become permanently estab- lished as facts "that everybody knows." I subscribe to such things as _Washington Watch_ because I believe it is very important to know what the theocratic right is doing and saying. (To call these people "Christian" or "religious" is a grave insult to all sincerely religious people, Christian or otherwise.) In following the discussion about the Communications Decency Act it has troubled me that so many people are ignorant about the theocratic right and its agenda. A prime reason for this, of course, is the universal taboo in all mainstream media of criticizing religion or "religious" people. Thus authoritarian zealots like Pat Robertson are portrayed as devout "men of God" and organizations like the Christian Coalition become respected authorities. Their goal is to establish a Christian state in America, and they may very well succeed. It is vital to learn about these people and their associated groups. The big three are: The Christian Coalition (Pat Robertson and Ralph Reed), Focus on the Family (James Dobson and Gary Bauer), and Concerned Women for America (Beverly and Tim LaHaye.) The Family Research Council was spun off Focus on the Family a few years back when Dobson began to worry about losing his tax-free status. Another important group is the American Family Association, headed by Donald Wildmon. The AFA more or less started the current round of the cultural wars in 1989 with its scurrilous attacks on the National Endowment for the Arts, using Andres Serrano and Robert Mapplethorpe as the first (of many) whipping boys. One thing all of these people and groups have in common is a virulent and obsessive homophobia. In addition to my work for the National Writers Union (UAW Local 1981), I am a founder and Steering Committee meeting of the Boston Coalition for Freedom of Expression (BCFE). The BCFE has a home page at http://world.std.com/~kip/bcfe.html. Please visit it and check out the link labeled "Know Your Enemies." Familiarize yourself with these groups and people. Subscribe to their newsletters. It's painful to give these people money, but most of them will send you so many mailings asking for more money that you will end up a net loss to them. Cheers, Bob Chatelle -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bob Chatelle kip@world.std.com National Writers Union Cambridge, Massachusetts UAW Local 1981, AFL-CIO Boston Coalition for Freedom of Expression Home Page: http://world.std.com/~kip/ PGP Public Key Available on Request "Censorship is the strongest drive in human nature; sex is a weak second." --Phil Kerby --------------------------------------------------------------------------------