I hope folks will excuse this question; I'm asking because I think it's of
general interest and has come up before on Tweeters and lists like it. I
have received one of those e-mail petitions asking for support of NPR,
PBS, and NEA by signing your name and passing copies on, rather like a
chain letter. Although I support these organizations, as I suspect many
of us do, the petition gives hints of being phony and useless, perhaps a
hoax that merely clogs the wires. For instance, it purports to be a way
to urge Congress to continue its support, yet it is supposed to be sent
on to the President. It begins with a statement that Nina Tottenberg
[sic] of NPR stated "last week" that if the Supreme Court supports
Congress, it in effect means the end of funding for NPR, NEA, and PBS.
Yet a check of the NPR web site shows that none of Nine Totenberg's
reports in 2000 are likely to have touched on this issue.

If anyone knows about the status of this kind of e-mail, I'd appreciate
hearing about it.

Birds: The Wood Ducks have found the new feeder and use it regularly,
but the box I put up for them seems to be occupied by squirrels, and I'm
not sure how to get rid of them.

Burt Guttman guttmanb at elwha.evergreen.edu
The Evergreen State College Voice: 360-866-6000, x. 6755
Olympia, WA 98505 FAX: 360-866-6794

Reunite Gondwana!