215 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
215 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
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Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 10 Num. 59
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=======================================
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("Quid coniuratio est?")
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INSIDE CONGRESS
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===============
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Author Ronald Kessler Interviewed On C-Span
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"IF THE CAPITOL POLICE ARREST SOMEONE WHO'S POWERFUL OR IF
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THEY ARREST A CONGRESSMAN, THEY HAVE TO *UN-ARREST* THAT
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PERSON... AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THEY DO ON A ROUTINE
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BASIS TO THIS DAY. THAT IS UNBELIEVEABLE; IT'S LIKE A
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THIRD WORLD COUNTRY. IT MAKES A MOCKERY OF THE WHOLE
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JUSTICE SYSTEM." -- Ronald Kessler, 5/26/97
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Ronald Kessler, author of the recently released book, *Inside
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Congress*, was interviewed by Brian Lamb on C-Span, May 26th,
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1997. (Thank God for C-Span.) Following are abbreviated
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excerpts of that interview.
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(A note: Conspiracy Nation recalls a conversation with Mr.
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Sherman Skolnick when, apropos of nothing, that courageous
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crusader said, "Oh Brian [sighs], there's so much blackmail going
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on these days." Do Kessler's revelations have anything to do
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with increasing temperatures in the so-called "Whitewater"
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investigations, brought on in part by Rep. Dan Burton of Indiana?
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Does Kessler's book have anything to do with "tit for tat," in
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which warring factions throw dirt at each other? Answer: not
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known by this editor, but worth considering.)
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(One other note: In light of Kessler's book, recent allegations
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of misconduct lodged against Rep. Luis Gutierrez (see CN 10.53,
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archived at http://feustel.mixi.net and, under "Hot News," at
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http://www.shout.net/~bigred/cn.html, "Reputed Blackmailer and
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Dopehead Gets Pass") by Mr. Skolnick gain credibility.)
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RONALD KESSLER:
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...the corruption of the Capitol Police. Here's the Capitol
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Police, that are told by Congress if they arrest someone who's
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powerful or if they arrest a congressman, they have to
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*un-arrest* that person. It was covered up. I mean, "Forget it
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ever happened." And this is something that they do on a routine
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basis to this day. That is unbelievable; it's like a Third World
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country. It makes a mockery of the whole justice system. {1}
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BRIAN LAMB:
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[Reads from book] "...Senator Edward M. Kennedy allegedly once
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almost ran over a Capitol Hill police officer."
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RONALD KESSLER:
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Yeah. This is based on 350 interviews, almost all on-the-record.
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And one of the interviews was with a Capitol Police officer who
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said that Ted Kennedy, in the 1980s, was totally drunk and went
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through a red light and almost ran over this officer. And when
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the officer tried to get him in a taxi (because, of course, he
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wouldn't arrest him; you do not arrest a congressman), his
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superior came over and said, "Do you know what you're doing?
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This is Ted Kennedy. Let him go."
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So he did. He gave him his keys and Ted Kennedy went off,
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totally drunk: could have killed someone; could have killed
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himself. This is the way the Capitol Police operate. This is
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the way the Capitol Police operate to this day.
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BRIAN LAMB:
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Here's a picture [from your book]: "Rita Jenrette(sp?) had sex
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with her husband, Rep. John W. Jenrette, Jr., on the steps of the
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Capitol. She later posed for Playboy [magazine.]"
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RONALD KESSLER:
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Well that's certainly a well-known story. I did interview her,
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to get the mechanics down of just how it happened.
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The Capitol Police and other "little people" -- that's, e.g.,
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the doorkeepers and people like that -- see these
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behind-the-scenes activities. It's things... For example, in
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the Dirksen Building there was a female staffer who used to have
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sexual trysts on a regular basis during coffee break time. The
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Capitol Police officers themselves were engaged in sex, at night.
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And to this day... [Rep.] Sonny Bono, for example, sexually
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harassed an intern on his staff. And just recently, the Capitol
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Police came across a former (very powerful) Representative Member
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having sex with a prostitute in broad daylight, at 5 pm, in his
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car. And this former Member had his expired congressional tag,
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and waved it. And that was enough to scare off this Capitol
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Police officer. He did not investigate further and, of course,
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did not arrest him.
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BRIAN LAMB:
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Let me go back to the Sonny Bono deal (because he's not here and
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can't defend himself): How do you know that? Do you take her
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word for it?
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RONALD KESSLER:
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I take her word for it; also, she confided in 4 congressional
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employees at the time it happened, which was last June. And I
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confirmed with all 4 of them that she had, in fact, confided to
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them at that time. She did not go public; did not file a
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complaint. Two months later, I interviewed her and she told her
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story.
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BRIAN LAMB:
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Why would she not file a complaint?
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-+- You Don't Want To Take On A -+-
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-+- Congressman; You'll Ruin Your Life -+-
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RONALD KESSLER:
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She was advised by a lot of people in Congress, "You don't want
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to take on a congressman; you'll ruin your life." And at the
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same time, someone who's a friend of hers knew me and felt that I
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was a responsible journalist. And I convinced her that this is,
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you know, for a *book* (it's not for the National Enquirer) and
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that it's part of a look at this whole institution and what makes
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it tick and what's wrong with it. And so she felt that, in that
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format, she felt comfortable coming forward.
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BRIAN LAMB:
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Here's another picture: Rep. Charles Wilson introduced
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legislation to cut defense appropriations after being told he
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could not take his girlfriend, Anna Lee Eschlinko(?), a former
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Miss U.S. World, on a Pentagon plane.
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RONALD KESSLER:
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Well this is typical of the just out-of-control arrogance of
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Members of Congress. And it extends to, for example, today
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having custom-made furniture made for them by Senate and House
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employees to the tune of $20,000 *per* *chair*! Literally.
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We're talking about just a little chair, not a big chair.
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Silk-covered. And $12,000 stereo consoles, custom-made silk
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curtains, custom-made rugs costing two- and three-thousand
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percent more than what is available normally in the House and
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Senate inventory.
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So this is something that's been covered up until now, and
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it's typical of the perquisites that these same Members who say,
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"We have to cut Medicare/Medicaid; we have to cut the deficit,"
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engage in.
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BRIAN LAMB:
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Here's a photograph that says, "Teen-age female pages used to put
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on a show for the Capitol Police every night by undressing in
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front of open windows in this building, which became known as
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'Virgin Village.'"
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RONALD KESSLER:
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Until a few years ago, the pages were 14-years-old and totally
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unsupervised. Again: a commentary on the irresponsibility of
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Congress.
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-+- Fear Of Congress Spikes News Story -+-
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BRIAN LAMB:
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There was a story in the paper a couple of days ago that a
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feature on "20/20" (on ABC) about your book was dropped, at the
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last minute. And you're quoted in the article as saying
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something about the motive. What was the motive, in your opinion?
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RONALD KESSLER:
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If you look at the facts, it's pretty clear that the motive was
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simply fear of Congress. The piece had been in the works for
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about a month. Both the Washington Post and the New York Times
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had syndicated excerpts from this book; it had clearly passed the
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standards of the most pre-eminent journalism in the country. The
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executive producer of "20/20" gave the producer more praise about
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this piece after he saw it than at any time during this
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producer's 16-year career at "20/20," according to what he told
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me. It had also passed the lawyers. It also passed the
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standards person. And then, at the last minute, on Thursday
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night before it was to air, Roone Arledge wanted to see it -- and
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killed it. And the reason that was given was, he wanted it to be
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based on ABC's own reporting, because this was sensitive
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material. Well in fact, most of it *was* ABC's own reporting:
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it was not *me*, it was other people from the book who were
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on-camera: a couple of police officers, former-Senator Paul
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Simon... So it was, in fact, first-hand accounts by people who
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were eyewitnesses to these activities.
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Disney and ABC have a lot of issues before Congress; they have
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lobbyists who want all kinds of things out of Congress. And I
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think it's pretty clear, given all the circumstances, that they
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simply were afraid.
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---------------------------<< Notes >>---------------------------
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{1} Regarding Kessler's allegations of Capitol Police covering up
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the misdeeds of powerful persons: in light of this, recall how
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the Park Police supposedly investigated the strange death of
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Vince Foster.
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Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those
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of Conspiracy Nation, nor of its Editor in Chief.
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I encourage distribution of "Conspiracy Nation."
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Mailing List Yanked for "Policy Reasons." New Mailing List Planned.
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For information on how to receive the improved Conspiracy
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Nation Newsletter, send an e-mail message to bigred@shout.net
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Want to know more about Whitewater, Oklahoma City bombing, etc?
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(1) telnet prairienet.org (2) logon as "visitor" (3) go citcom
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See also: http://www.shout.net/~bigred/cn.html
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See also: http://feustel.mixi.net
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See also: ftp.shout.net pub/users/bigred
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Aperi os tuum muto, et causis omnium filiorum qui pertranseunt.
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Aperi os tuum, decerne quod justum est, et judica inopem et
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pauperem. -- Liber Proverbiorum XXXI: 8-9
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