3.01: Fixed serious layout problems, incorrect copyright date. Straightened joke column. Made submissions information smaller.
By: Barney (Barneys Assassin)
Freedom of the press. Freedom of speech. Its a wonderful thing. A right that every American is born with. I am writing my article concerning the Billerica Beating, and withholding my name for safety from prosecution by fellow students who may oppose my views. This may not even be printed because of its negative content.
The Beating is good for students to voice their opinion and get their aggression out of their system. Hell, its better than violence. I read the first issue of The Beating last week. Besides f*ck this and f*ck that, I liked a lot of the articles. The main focus of this newsletter is apparently swearing. I could say F*ck Mr. Walsh and his dog too, and people would love me. There, Ive joined the Billerica Beating bandwagon. I have said F*ck more than once and I insulted someone, all in one sentence. Gee, what fun... What I want to ask everyone is, are you just writing in to swear or what. Swear all you want but youre not, I believe, going to get your point across any more effectively. Not to say that swearing prevents you from getting your point across. It just doesnt help, and for many of the contributions that I read, it seemed to be the point.
When I first heard of this, the only thing I heard from everyone was, hey man, someone wrote Mr. Walsh is a cock. Thats pretty cool. Huh huh. People were telling me you could write in and swear and theyd print it anyway. So it seems to me the Billerica Beating is a bulletin board of swears. Not once did I hear a comment on how someone agreed with the gun control issue or anything else. Sure it Beats The Beat, and I like the articles better. All Im saying is most, if not the majority, of your readers are looking for stupid pathetic insults towards people they hate instead of informative articles that happen to be a tad too controversial for The Beat to handle. If thats what people want, youre going to be very successful. I give you congratulations on pleasing the masses, but is that what you really want to do? Just make them happy? Maybe Im thinking that this is more than it is. Perhaps some kids just threw together some of their own opinions and ideas, not expecting it to become a forum for student interaction, or maybe they do. I dont know, I wish I did.
In closing, I would like to try to get a little old message across. Not a very popular message, but a message all the same. In fact, this message has gone through a major decline in popularity over the past few years. Id be surprised if anyone at all in the High School subscribed to this particular philosophy. Anyway, here it is...
Jesus loves us all
There, maybe that will get someones attention.
By: PMK1 (Candii Appel) and Bob (Bob Barry)
Bob: Friday nights showing of Billerica Memorial High School spring musical, Anything Goes. wasnt just another ka-we-ah musical. I thoroughly enjoyed the show, and thought it was well worth the slightly steep ticket price of $10. It appears that they spent this money on props and equipment, anyway, so it wasnt like someone just pocketed it. The programs were very well done, but I didnt get one. Whats up with that? Anyway, heres a brief recap for those that missed the show. Sorry if we left you out, spelled your name or your part wrong, or any of that stuff. Bad things happen when youre in a hurry.
The story takes placer in the early 1930s entirely on the ship S.S. American sailing to England from New York. The ships somewhat reputable passengers include Reno Sweeney (played by Melissa Morris), a famous night club singer, and her 7 angels; American heiress Hope Harcourt (Karen Morrison) with her fiance, Sir Evelyn Oakleigh (Adam Leavitt) and mother Mrs. Harcourt (Sarah Frederick). Also aboard is Public Enemy 13, Moonface Martin (Chris Marshall) and his girl Bonnie (Stacy Tompson), Bishop Dobson (Will Jennings) with his two Chinese converts (Joe Sgroi and Matt Joyce), Wall-Street broker Elisha J. Whitney (Bob Antonelli), and his ex-apprentice Billy Crocker (Joel Breen).
Billy doesnt decide to sail until he learns that Hope is engaged, so he disguises himself, becomes a stowaway, and plans to break up the assumed marriage. While on board, Billy teams up with old firend Reno and new pals Moonface and Bonnie to break up the marriage, aside from ducking Mr. Whitney who doesnt know that Billy is sailing.
Moonface disguises as a bishop when he learns the purser (Mike Medeiros) and others are in search of him. They arrest Bishop Dobson, in a cloud of confusion, and no one ever sees him again. Among the many disguises Billy uses to be near Hope, he dresses as Snake Eyes Johnson and Public Enemy 1. The passengers become excited and frenzied at the thought of a public enemy on board. In a confession and purging of sins, Billy admits who he is and is arrested. Moon also reveals his identity and is also arrested.
By the end the passengers find that Reno and Evelyn fall in love as do Hope and Billy. Billy introduces Mr. Whitney and Mrs. Harcourt, who hit it off immediately and in closing a telegram claims moonface is downgraded to a public nuisance.
First of all, it only takes a single well-placed bullet to kill a man. You shouldnt need an automatic or semiautomatic weapon to defend yourself (even if youre a really bad shot). It is also unreasonable to assume that someone who robs homes would also murder someone-not all thieves are murderers, and not all people who kill are thieves.
In fact, deaths due to guns are generally not due to thieves. Guns are used to kill mostly during accidents, gang violence, and suicide. If you have a gun in your home, you are more than 20 percent more likely to experience a death or serious injury from firearms. Firearms are responsible for the majority of successful suicides. If guns were restricted or banned, thieves might still be able to get semiautomatic or automatic weapons-but they wouldnt be able to buy them at the corner store. Prices would be higher, and it is obvious that the number of guns owned would go down, even if guns would still be around. Besides, if you kill a thief with a gun, you are as much of a murderer as he would be if he shot you.
...the writers of the constitution added the right to bear arms ...cause they know governments get corrupt and they know the common man needs to have an easy way to overthrow the dictatorship.
Not that phrase again!!! It seems that all these NRA and other gun advocating people never finish reading the sentence that the right to bear arms comes fromAmendment II to the Constitution says: A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
In other words, you have the right to keep and bear arms in order to maintain an orderly militia. Its fine with me if you own an automatic weapon, if I can see your militia permit. If you have a gun in your home to shoot thieves with, you are not a well-regulated militia. If you even have a gun to hunt animals, you are not a well regulated militia. The Constitution does not give you the right to shoot trespassers or even shoot buffalo. If you march around and patrol your streets with the rest of your militia, then you can keep and bear all the arms you want.
Also, there is right now no way that any one person could get enough power in America to run a dictatorship. The changes in political structure necessary to make that possible would give you plenty of time to start stockpiling all the firearms you need to overthrow the government. As it stands, the government sucks, but Id rather live under the rule of a bunch of incompetent, stupid, rich, slow, slobbish, scum-sucking politicians than a tyrannical dictator that knows what hes doing - and has the firepower to back him up.
Its 10:00 on Sunday night, and hey, theres still no Billerica Beating. Maybe I should have gotten started earlier laying this thing out? Nah.. Its more fun this way. Thanks to Aldus for including a rotate tool in PageMaker. I dont know what the Aldus weridos had in mind for it, but we used it to crookedize the columns. Lots of fun.
Sorry about the super huge delay between this and the last issue. I had some stuff in school to deal with, and I was waiting for problems with certain members of the B.M.H.S. faculty to blow over. On top of all this, I have a life too, and so does Pat, my printer.
Thanks to Pat Callahan big time for food this issue and doing a lot of the layout and typing and bringing me food.
Word to B.A.M.F.: Paul Prestia says hes never worn a Black Flag shirt in his life.
Word to PMK1: I used your preview of the musical for the information in my review of the musical. Your name appears first in the byline since you wrote most of the material.
Brother Will: Your article on Paul didnt make it. Im thinking it was a lot better than the stupid B.A.M.F. slam article I printed. Ever hear of deadline?
Someone left a copy of the B.A.M.F. distribution on the floor in the cafe with Save us all some trouble and dont read these. Rip it up now! written on it in pencil. You made me laugh.
The following foods went into the publication of this issue: Lots and lots and lots of Doritos, Diet Coke, Moms awesome brownies., 4 bottles Jolt Cola, 1 pot Dads Coffee, 22 ounce 7-11 Coffee.
The following music went into the publication of this issue: Pop Will Eat Itself. dos dedos mis amigo., Neds Atomic Dustbun: Are you normal?
The first person to translate the German from Pop Will Eat Itself will get a laminated collectors edition copy of The Beatings first and second issues.
By Orange (V.O.B. 21)
O.K.: Heres the deal. What is with the faculty here? Someone causes a problem here at B.M.H.S., and they are gone, banished, shipped off. Dennis Simmons and Dave Jervis were kicked out and sent to the Arlington school in Belmont. I talked with Dennis on Sunday about this. He said The Arlington school sucks. You guys pay 30,000 tax money to send us there, and we get no education. The school is for troubled youth and Special Ed. kids, and its on the property of a psychiatric hospital. Dennis also said, At this school, we get no detentions, you cant get expelled, you cant get suspended, and you cant get thrown out. Basically, no punishment. Now, I know other kids who were former students here, but now they come here for night classes. They didnt get sent away, or anything else, like Dennis and Dave. Now, I also know that Dave wrote something bad about a teacher, like hurting the teacher, and has been suspended a lot, and has gotten in a lot of trouble lately. Dennis on the other hand, did a lot of small things that aggravated the teachers. But being sent away to a troubled youth school, Come on! I mean what is the deal? They didnt send all the other away did they? No... they didnt! So, why did they send them away? I would like to find the answer to this question.. so now I will leave you to sit down and think about this. If you have a comments, please write and let me know. Write to ORANGE V.O.B.2.1. Adios.
By: BAMF (B.A.M.F)
You talk about people wearing Nirvana shirts tucked into their Pepe Jeans, let me tell you something: Alternative is a category of music not a fashion clique. People don't have to wear chucks and corduroy pants to wear a Nirvana T-shirt!
If what you said were true then why is it that you say you like "alternative" music. You also say that you should listen to music groups for artistic ability not because MTV tells you to, what the hell is Nirvana a back yard band?
I have also heard of Black Flag and Mudhoney, but I can only recall one time that you wore a Black Flag shirt. The rest of the time you wear Nirvana, Green Day, and Dinosaur Jr..
By: SADIE (Sadie)
Do you think that power abuse is an issue that is present in B.M.H.S? Do you think that searching someones car or locker is right? I dont and I dont care of the school system or the government says its OK. I dont feel its OK. What if there is something important in your locker and it gets broken while the locker is being searched? Who reimburses you? No one! Who cares if the school owns the lockers? They lend them to us, dont they? When we are freshmen and we get our lockers for the first time, no one tells us that the school has the right to search them at any time, for any reason!
And what about my car? Its my property, isnt it? I did buy it, and my names on the registration. How is it that a school official can open the doors and search it? I would call that breaking and entering, wouldnt you? Who says theyre not going to take anything? When I park my car on the street, I never see a sign that says The school has the right to search any car for any reason in anyplace within 100 yards of the school. ...And if I did, I sure as hell wouldnt park there. [Editors note: The parking lot behind the old town hall appears to be outside the 100 yard range.]
Now lets talk about power abuse in the classroom. We all know that its present, right? Sometimes, its like a war going on in the classroom. If there is a teacher - student conflict, who is always believed, who gets the last word, and is never doubted? The teacher, of course. I do feel teachers should amount of power, but not so much that they can terrorize us and get away with it. If a teacher taunts or threatens a student, nothing happens. But: If a student taunts or threatens a teacher, the student is suspended or even expelled. We all know of teachers who terrorize their students. The teachers who make fun of a student in front of the class or threatens them by saying things like Im gonna make your life a living hell while your in my class. Or what about the teacher who thinks that he/she has the right to hit or grab a student. Students cant hit teachers, so why can teachers hit students? Any teacher or school official will deny that any student has ever been hit. They also say that if any teacher did hit a student he/she would be reprimanded. How? A student would be expelled or suspended for hitting a teacher and at worst a teacher who hits a student probably gets a slap on the wrist. We all know of cases or stories of teachers hitting or hurting in a way a student. And what have we always heard happens to the teacher? NOTHING!
I feel that we have a right to go to school without being hassled, threatened, or hit by a teacher and without having our rights violated. But anyways this is just my opinion. If you have anything to say about what Ive written feel free to write. Id love to hear it even if it is bad. Just write to me, SADIE.
And if youve ever been hurt or threatened by a teacher or witnessed a teacher doing it or had your locker or car searched, make sure you write. You dont have to include your name and we might be able to do something about it. Everyone has a story to tell and we want to hear it.
By: ChadG (Chad Gammon)
In July of 1977, two unmarked FBI cars drove into Jumping Bull territory on the Aglawla Souix Reservation and began a war that will never end so long as the AIM drum beats are heard.
A gunfight soon ensued. The leader of the American Indian Movement, Leonard Peltier, was imprisoned for defending his culture, land, and family. He has sat in prison without any chance of a retrial because many documents that are crucial to his gain of appeal are withheld for reasons of national security. The government is not going to listen to just a few people, so lets try to get something together and stand up for the beliefs that Leonard Peltier went to jail for. Its time to stop the FBIs formal genocide.
By: xtreme (X--TREME)
The death Dancer to the Deaths Drums beat / His eyes shines like fire in the darkest night, / While he moved around on his huge horse feet. / When people saw him they ran in fright. // His skin paler than Winters snow / And his teeth covered with his enemies blood. / Wherever he wants, he does go, / While we are drooling in the sea of blood. // All his hate shines through his eyes, / while all others will show there love. / Life and love are what de does despise, / And he killed peace, the dove.
By SASOB (Sasob)
In this institution, they lock us up. / They tell us knowledge is the key. / (To freedom as a mindless zombie) / If youre different, youre a freak. / If you thirst for knowledge, youre a geek. / If you party hard and blow off the year, / Youre a burnout and people stare. / They watch you and search you, / They tell you they care! / They dont care, they dont like fun, / In this place, education is number one. / This is the question I ask / What kind of key is the knowledge of hate? / Why do we teach the hate of a race? / Everyone should hear this little bit, / The knowledge they give is a crock of sh*t / The knowledge you need is dont look for a face, / Theres more to a person than just a race / Look for a life, a human, a person, / Look for the soul that lies under the face.
End of document.