Re "NY Tel cutting off payphone service in *some areas.*"

You can bet those areas are black. You can bet that high up in some corporate office tower, the opinion was voiced, "what the hell do those pickaninnies need phones for anyway?!" Call it Information-Age Apartheid if you wish, you won't be off the mark by much.

Oh, *bullshit*. Decisions like that are almost always driven by monetary concerns. In this case, the vandalism rate for pay phones in certain areas is too high, so they just pull the phones. It's a statistical fact that vandalism is higher in predominately black areas. -- Ed Carp erc@apple.com 510/659-9560 "Disagreements are not meant to be challenges. They are just a different reality." -- Risa D'Angeles DISCLAIMER: I work for me ... what's it to you? :)

I ran into one that boiled by blood over a year ago. I was on the north side of Chicago having just gotten off the L, and walked about a block to find a payphone to call the friends I was visiting to have them pick me up. I had problems dialing, the phone seemed broken and would not dial right, even when I used more then enough money. I decided to report the problem to the operator (and hopefully get my call thorough). She told me that the phone was not broken, but was in an area that was not allowed to make coin calls from 7pm to something like 8am! I was welcome to make phone card or collect calls if I wished. Right. You can be sure that I did not do any biz with that phone company again if I could avoid it! Hard though, as it was Illinois Bell. This is in no way the worst part of Chicago, the area around the L is a bit grungy, but within blocks there are lots-o-YUPPIES. I wonder if this could be used against anonymity on the nets? Maybe this is something that should be fought in the courts now so as not to set bad presidents(sp?) for anonymity in general. ||ugh Daniel