NOTE: The following is an email discussion between me and CyberMag folks when I asked them to link to this forum. I found it interesting, and I hope it clears up misconceptions.

To: Cybermag

From: Lighthouse Keeper

Hafa adai,

Congratulations on your great website -- you're all that people talk about at my work. I'm writing to you all for some help. I've just started a new Guam elections forum (because Kuentos shut down) and I need to get people to know about the forum. Obviously, with the elections not so far away, I don't have the luxury of waiting to build up a crowd.

So -- I'm asking you all to please put a link to my election forum from your page. My forum is not a commercial site (as evidenced by the horrible URL), so I can't pay for an ad. But if you could help me out, I'd be forever grateful.

If you absolutely can't put a link to my page, I'd appreciate it if you could forward my address to as many people as possible.

1998 Guam Elections Forum:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a.tcl?topic=1998%20Guam%20Elections

Thanks for your help!

-- Lighthouse (light@aol.com), October 01, 1998

Answers

To:Lighthouse Keeper

From: CyberMag Webmaster

Who are you?? You didn't put your name on this message.

-- CyberMag Webmaster (webmaster@cybermag.net), October 01, 1998.

To: CyberMag

From: Lighthouse Keeper

Hafa adai,

Thanks for your reply to my message. Unfortunately, I can't really make my real name public, so I have to try to remain cloaked by a pseudonym. I have a government job that I'd rather keep.

What are your thoughts on my request to add a link from your page to my new forum? Or about forwarding the address to as many people as you can? I can really use any traffic you can throw my way -- I don't have any money for advertising or anything like that.

Thanks again for your help.

-- Lighthouse (light@aol.com), October 01, 1998.

To: Mr(s). Lighthouse Keeper

From: Dave Sykes, owner of CyberMag

I looked at your forum and it seems you made up most of the discussion topics to suit your own feelings about the current administration. CyberMag has intentionally not placed forums on it's site for probably the same reasons that Kuentos took theirs off. We feel it serves no purpose other than a stage for personal vendettas and would rather not play any part in this sort of discussions, even directing our readers to it.

We also feel that in order to level severe accusations at any candidate some hard evidence should exist and be presented to substantiate these allegations. Further, the individual doing the accusing should identify themselves so that the accused have a source to direct a rebuttal. Firing or otherwise discriminating against a person for his or her opinion is not legal and can easily be overturned with compensation. If you have concerns of wrong doing, gather your facts and evidence and present them through proper legal channels.

As an impartial media Guam CyberMag does not publicly support ANY candidate, however we do support the basic human rights of ANY individual, candidate or not, and we don't feel that unsubstantiated anonymous attacks on a persons character are suitable content for our website or for any link we place on our pages.

My name is David Sykes from Guam CyberMag and as owner of CyberMag, that's my opinion for what it's worth.

You can direct further comments to dave@cybermag.net

-- Dave Sykes (dave@cybermag.net), October 01, 1998.

To: Dave Sykes, CyberMag owner

From: Lighthouse Keeper

Thank you for your reply, and thank you for reading my forum.

You point out that I made up the discussion topics to suit my own feelings. Yes, this is true, but just so you have all the facts, on this forum ANYONE can make up discussion topics to suit their tastes. So far, I'm one of the only people who have started a topic, although I'm getting more responses every day. This is why I was hoping you'd link to my page -- because the more people who come to the forum, the more balanced it will be. I still feel this is so, and I'm sorry you've chosen not to opt for encouraging this free discussion.

If you'd offer another free forum, I'd be glad to go there. Unfortunately, there is no other, so I had to start my own and hope that people would come to it. I think they will, but without your help it will just take a little longer.

You also talked about needing hard evidence to level accusations, and the need to a named accuser. First, there is hard evidence and I've pointed to much of it in my posts on the forum, which I hope you've read. There is much more hard evidence and if there was an open accounting of the government we'd all know that. Second, I've already said that I won't name myself because I would instantly lose my government job. I agree that accusers, ideally, should name themselves. But when every person who does come out openly with information about wrongdoing mysteriously gets fired, sued, threatened or pressured, then where is our ideal of free speech and open government? I say the problem isn't with me, it's with the climate of fear that exists in our government.

You also state: "Firing or otherwise discriminating against a person for his or her opinion is not legal and can easily be overturned with compensation." Thank you very much. Now point out what recourse a government employee has if this happens? Civil Service Commission? Controlled by the governor. AG's office? GPD? Dept. of Labor? Controlled by the governor. The Legislature? Sued by the governor. The media? Manipulated by the governor (see my posts on the forum for cited sources). For your information, there have been some brave employees who've come forward, but the agencies they go to are controlled by the governor and to prove their allegations they'd need evidence, and when all other employees are afraid to talk it's one person's word against the governor, directors and other employees.

You further state: "If you have concerns of wrong doing, gather your facts and evidence and present them through proper legal channels."

I've already addressed this, except for one proper legal channel: federal authorities. Believe me, I've already talked to the FBI and so have many other scared employees and government vendors. Indictments are coming soon, and your hard evidence and named accusers will follow quickly.

Mr. Sykes, your message seems well-intentioned but it shows a lack of knowledge of how our government works. That's not your fault, because not many people have this information. This is why I'm trying to open up public discussion without fear of reprisals.

With this new knowledge, I'll make one last request, perhaps in vain: please publicize or at least pass on the link to my forum, so that the growing and very interesting discussion going on now can grow faster and become more balanced. Here's the address:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a.tcl?topic= 1998%20Guam%20Elections

Thanks, Lighthouse Keeper

p.s. I'm adding our discussion to our forum. I hope that it will be illustrative and clear up misconceptions similar to yours. Thank you.

-- Lighthouse (light@aol.com), October 01, 1998.

NOTE TO EVERYBODY READING THIS FORUM:

Thank you all for reading and participating in this forum. I'm doing this to encourage free discussion, from ALL viewpoints, about the elections and the issues surrounding them.

CyberMag doesn't seem to want to provide a link here, so I'm asking you all to do it through word of mouth or by forwarding the address to everyone you know. The more people discussing, the better. And I encourage people from all sides, whether they be from the 98 camp, the Ada camp, or just neutral observers.

The address to this forum is on your web browser when you're at the "top level" of the forum. An easier way to tell people how to get here is to go to the "links" page at elections.guam.net and link to the new election forum.

Thanks again for your participation.

-- Lighthouse (light@aol.com), October 01, 1998.

Lighthousekeeper, will this forum continue after the general election to provide a continuous avenue to discuss ongoing issues? Or is it strictly meant to stay within the life cycle of this year's election?

If longevity is intended, maybe you can circulate the forum's exposure by entering the speakout.guam.org site as a member of several Guam related web rings. That can increase the chances of web cruisers coming upon it.

Also along that line, consider this: a small graphic logo that represents the forum, and HTML code that will make this logo a clickable link directly to the forum. Then pass this HTML code around among any/all Chamorro related (and not) web page owners who may want to display this hypertext linked logo on their pages in the same way that wearing a lapel button for free speech would be worn.

This is a very active and, so long as it's moderated so we don't go off track, constructive forum that fosters discussions that need to be aired. It would be nice to get a strong promotion for it going to get people to see it.. not just the politically active. Every resident has an opinion and a vote.. not just the campaigners!

BTW, good job at providing it!

-- Toming (TomingGuam@aol.com), October 09, 1998.

Toming,

Thanks for your interesting ideas! I have been trying to promote this by sending out some flyers and sending out a couple hundred emails to business and government officials, and asking them to forward the message. I'm hoping that people on this forum will pass the word on. I think this forum is a great thing, and it is really made by people like you guys.

Please let me know how to find this Chamorro web ring (haven't run across it myself) and how to find other Chamorro web site owners. Thanks for your help.

To answer your first question, yes I do plan to keep this forum after the election, although I'm sure the traffic will die down. This forum was intended to replace Kuentos' election forum that closed down a couple weeks ago, but I'm sure there'll be other issues to debate after the elections. This forum will be what its users want it to be.

-- Lighthouse (lighthouse1999@yahoo.com), October 09, 1998.

Lighthousekeeper, go to http://members.aol.com/chamring/ to find the homepage of the Chamorro Web Ring. From that page you can submit the forum's page for membership, and also see an index listing of member sites.... all Chamorro related tho some are not necessarily Guam tied (ie, Saipan, Rota, etc.).

You can also search the web for another web ring called The Ring of Guam which also has a bunch of member sites that are (supposed to be according to their membership requirements) Guam based of connected. Touching bases in this way will probably accelerate the word of mouth factor.

On a lighter side, who knows the traffic here may stay the same or pick up after the election depending on who wins!!!

-- Toming (TomingGuam@aol.com), October 10, 1998.

NOTE: The following few messages are a continuance of the conversation between me and CyberMag. Apparently the CyberMag owner subscribed himself to the daily summaries of this forum and doesn't know how to take himself off the list.

To: Lighthouse Keeper

From: Dave Sykes, CyberMag owner

if this is some kind of mailing list, take me off of it. this is a violation of the new e-mail bill: SECTION 301, Paragraph (a)(2)(C) of s. 1618 Sender : REQUIRED Phone : REQUIRED E-mail : REQUIRED To be removed from our mailing list, simply reply with "REMOVE" in the subject. is also REQUIRED send no further correspondance of this nature to ANY customer at CyberMag=

if I want to read your material I will go to your forum site

-- Lighthouse (lighthouse1999@yahoo.com), October 13, 1998.

To: Dave Sykes, CyberMag owner

From: Lighthouse Keeper

I didn't put you on any mailing list. I'm not sure what you're talking about. If you've subscribed to a daily summary of my forum (which is what you seem to have received) you can remove yourself at http:// speakout.guam.org

BTW, I'm still waiting for a reply to the message I sent to you. You gave me a few paltry, uninformed opinions and have failed to reply to my response to your points. Do I take it that by your lack of response, you agree, and are willing to link to the forum from your website, or are you going to give me some real answers?

Lighthouse

-- Lighthouse (lighthouse1999@yahoo.com), October 13, 1998.

To: Lighthouse Keeper

From: Dave Sykes, CyberMag owner

last chance dick head.. exactly what part of STOP SENDING ME E-MAIL don't you understand? comply with federal law! cease and desist! consider yourself warned.

-- Lighthouse (lighthouse1999@yahoo.com), October 13, 1998.

To: Dave Sykes, CyberMag owner

From: Lighthouse Keeper

I don't think profanity and threats were called for here, although I thank you because it gives me an indication of your intelligence. What part of "I didn't put you on any mailing list" don't you understand? I told you how to remove yourself from receiving daily summaries of the forum, and you don't seem to know how to do that. I think I can remove you from the AUTOMATICALLY sent email, but to repeat: I didn't put you on the list. How hard is that for you to understand?

And I guess since you haven't sent me intelligent answers to my replies, despite my repeated requests, you don't have any. I'm not surprised.

Lighthouse Keeper

-- Lighthouse (lighthouse1999@yahoo.com), October 13, 1998.

Dave Sykes is an idiot. I don't know why you even wasted time posting a message to him.

-- (nowhere@none.com), October 23, 1998.

I think it is interesting that the cybermag electronic online poll hasn't been up dated since Oct. 23. Why is it that all of a sudden it stopped, especially when it's so close to election day.

-- (abc86@usa.net), October 31, 1998.

I just saw the remote site poll for cybermag. It has Nobert Perez as being #13 in the senatorial race. Get real people. Nobert Perez will be lucky if he makes it to #25. That poll is inacurate and should be void.

-- (abc86@usa.net), October 31, 1998.

Mr. ABC

Mr. Nobert Perez may just receive more votes then Joe Ada on election day. That would be sweet for Debbie.

-- (care@kuentos.com), October 31, 1998.

If Norbert Perez gets more than 20,000 than I'd be quite surprised. Actually if he is elected it will be time for me to move elsewhere because he is a freaking idiot. I think someone needs to give that guy some prozac.

-- (abc86@usa.net), October 31, 1998.