[log in to unmask] consoles the desolate, and brings a
glimmer of hope to the jaded and confused multitudes:

> Dear Polygamist:

> .....  you must always remind yourself that every oracle ultimately
> proves to be an illusion.

> ..... Sometimes that which glitters are layers of commands and
> controls and options, but as many more poor fools than you have
> discovered, it's a fool's errand, a siren song that will ultimately
> crash your ship upon the rocky shoals.

> Regardless of what you hear, the path of virtue and integrity
> doesn't have to be hard. There are friends of the HP3000 that
> want to make its operating system and its database even simpler
> yet again by adding brains to its homegrown beauty.

...  and if and when you are about to be smashed on the rocks,
who will divine the true and fundamental cause of the sudden
descent from fair and following winds into the raging tempest
of the hurricane ?? .... and yet the oracle leads you ever deeper
into the gathering gloom on a downward-spiraling path of great
peril, becoming ever more strident in its claim that all looming
dangers on yon rocky shoals are but a mirage;  assuring the
multitudes with smooth words that the oracle alone knows the
one true path to safe harbor.  The oracle will play its seductive
song to the end, in a clever attempt to sooth the growing and
palpable sense of danger as the rocks come ever nearer.  And
having once committed body, mind, and soul to the oracle's
initially alluring seduction, the closer the prospect of total wreck
and ruin on the unyielding rocks becomes, the more insistent
the call for total trust and commitment by members of the cult.

Is there any salvation from the oracle's cunning maelstrom,
that pulls bright young souls ever closer to utter desolation ??...
Is there a way to break the tenacious grip of the oracle's endless
hunger for more and more of everything, until you have given all
in a vain attempt to reach safe harbor on the oracle's path ??...
Is there a deliverance from the endless web of complexity that
the priesthood of the oracle assures you they and they alone
can decipher ??...

Ahhhh....:  Who knows..... perhaps somewhere in the vast and
growing darkness engulfing the multitudes the match to light a
simple candle of truth with a new spark has already been struck
by wise Masters of the Old Ways, who have patiently bided their
time in far distant, dusty corners of the realm.  The surging
masses may not be able to see the light yet, but portals to safe
refuge for the weary may still appear at their most desperate
hour.  If only the throngs of searchers will find the strength to
overcome their suspension of disbelief and seize the free will
they still retain, they may be able to tear themselves away from
the grip of the oracle's dark empire before they take a final and
disastrous plunge into depths from which they can never return.
Only time will tell if the offer of justice under a newly constituted
republic lead by the old Masters will overcome the vast but now
dissolute legions of the Dark Side.  Keep the faith, and may the
Force be with you....

> ...... a machine for the ages, designed to be self-configuring and
> autoadaptive to changing conditions.   ....

Let all who can see recognize and heed the wisdom of this
mysterious and secretive AnnHP;  and the clues to the truth
hidden in the teachings of the archives of the faithful...    ;-)


SIDEBAR:

....  maybe the time for the brilliant while light of the simple truth
is nigh, after Oracle stock dropped 8-5/16 yesterday:  Closed
at 28-9/16;  lost 22.5 percent of its value in one day...  at least
the market masses appear to be getting restless....

Ken "I'm not AnnHP, but I like her column" Sletten