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\twelvepointconcreteroman
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\footline={\hfill\twelvepointsanserif\folio\hfill 21 July 92}

Teg --

\dropcap{O}h boy you're not gonna like this -- you have finally done�
it. {\it You} have dragged me across a line that {\it I} do not wish�
to cross. Regarding BOS\#6. Specifically kid's sexuality. More�
specifically, erotica with a boy-child in it. The problem is not the�
linear one. Don't jump to conclusions. 

Let me analogize the point before I illustrate it.

If we were monkeys living in the trees, confined to the trees because�
dangerous large cats will eat us down there in the plains, you can�
scream your bloody head off that yes, we have the right to be down in�
the plains as they do. I will agree with you, as I do now. However,�
the fact remains -- in the current environment -- if I go down there I�
will be killed.

You have thrown me, and others, out of the tree, without asking me if�
I want in on this battle. I don't. The righteousness of your battle is�
not cause enough to drag others in with you unwittingly. 

Consent, Teg! You have involved me, and anyone else you correspond�
with that receives your zine, in high-profile not-legal stuff. The�
bottom line is -- I'm now far more likely to have the police show up�
at my door, or add me to another list I don't want to be on. {\it I�
will choose} what I become involved in. 


\bigskip
\dropcap{H}ere I am going to be a bit unpleasant. This is criticism of�
your process. I genuinely like you, and admire you. I follow BOS and�
therefore your thought processes (to some degree) and generally admire�
the path you are following. 

Remember in another letter I outlined Don Juan's barriers in the path�
of a Warrior? {\it FEAR}, the mind-killer, nearly every human on the�
planet keeping themselves ``in their place'', in closets of all kinds.�
The relatively few that overcome fear do so only in limited areas,�
such as the sexual coming out of the closet, and never extrapolate�
that process to larger life. Some few realize that instead of�
``overcoming'' fear, that it is just another wall, a curtain, that is�
ever present and must be gone through over and over. These few pass�
through one trap, only to fall into another even more insidious if�
less populated.

The next trap is what Don Juan called {\it power} itself. While that�
makes poetic sense, I am embarrassed to say only recently I realized,�
in our Western world, this means {\it RIGHTEOUSNESS}. Logic that says,�
because I do in fact wield this power, my actions and decisions are�
correct. My plan has a totality of connectedness. Because my idea is�
good, I can do no wrong, and people who object are standing in my way,�
and I will push them aside.

\bigskip
\dropcap{T}aking other people into account means being self-effacing,�
Teg. It means you sometimes have to back off, even when it feels�
wrong, even when you know you are right, because others have equally�
strong thought-systems in {\it their} heads. Even if they are wrong�
ones, they are valid {\it because they think them}. It means not�
correcting every wrong impression. Not insisting on being right all�
the time!

Further, even if some persons thoughts and actions are fucked today,�
doesn't mean they are not on some path you cannot even recognize. Or�
even suspect the existence of. You admire me, but if the Teg of July�
1992 met the Tom Jennings of even 1985, chances are you would not have�
liked the apolitical technical person I was. 

My advice (worth what you've paid for it) -- do the good things you�
see and desire to have happen, and ignore or work around the bad�
things and people. Because people are not static objects. Making�
enemies is a bad sign, Teg, not a good one. Any fool can make enemies.

\bigskip
\dropcap{Y}eah, I'm angry at you, but you are still welcome to visit�
and crash in my house. Nothing else has changed. I'm writing this the�
day after I talked to you on the phone; if these thoughts were fully�
formed then I would have brought them up (just in case you were�
wondering why I didn't). 

I do look forward to hanging out with you when you get to San�
Francisco. I don't hold grudges. And if you can somehow convince me�
that BOS\#6 won't hurt me, I'll change my mind.

\bigskip
\line{\hfill Tom Jennings}
\line{\hfill P.O. Box 77731}
\line{\hfill San Fagsicko}
\line{\hfill CA 94107 USA}

\bigskip
\dropcap{PS:} There's no way this will sound right. You'll just have�
to believe me, that it is not a symbolic act, but a physical one to�
hopefully save my mortal ass: if you have a BOS mailing list, I'd like�
you to remove my name from it. I believe that strongly that you'll get�
busted. As a matter of fact, if I was you I'd consider destroying it�
outright or at least putting it somewhere very safe, which means not�
in your house.

Someone I know had all of his property seized by the cops because, it�
turns out, he was corresponding with someone who, the Feds claimed,�
was ``suspected'' of trafficking in ``child porn''. No charges filed.�
Never got any property back. This person is a gay man, quite out, even�
when he worked on a very famous massively-secret project during WWII. 

Shit happens, Teg. You are casting spells that will invoke demons you�
think you know, but do not. Danger!


\bye
