Guest Editorial

News from the Black Helicopter
Ruth Argust <ruth@doorgames.org>

Although I wrote it, I could not have done without the help of many in the S-b echo with a very special thanks to Steve Asher of Zone 3 for his invaluable co-conspirator input :)

Let's clear up a misconception here. I am fully convinced that Thom LaCosta is a real person. There are several reasons behind this which I am not going to publicly disclose at this time.

Yes, the BBS list said that real names must be used but that is not always the case as we know.

It is my opinion that Tom Knowles is the alias or handle that LaCosta uses and has used for several years. This is probably why some searches for the name Tom Knowles turned up empty. However, even if Tom Knowles is a co-sysop, his grabbing the echoes, in my opinion, is proof that the ELIST has been compromised by the ELIST keeper since the co-sysop will have more access than the average user of the system. Additionally, there has never been any reports previously of a co-ELIST keeper and if Tom Knowles is the co-sysop, that is precisely what we have. But see more on that below.

However, I strongly doubt that Tom Knowles exists other than as an alias for LaCosta.

Have you all noticed how conveniently Tom Knowles has been elevated from a simple user on LaCosta's system (with no knowledge on how to operate the system to even quote a message by his OWN admission) to having had co-sysop status for the last several years? This happened ONLY after the information contained in the USBBS List was made public. LaCosta had AMPLE time in advance to say that Knowles was a co-sysop on the system and never did so. In fact, if you all recall, the first post made by Knowles anywhere was in the Moderator echo and it was not even from LaCosta's BBS. Additionally, LaCosta said something very different indeed (below).

This all shows that LaCosta has been hiding something and possibly continues to do so.

Now, let's do a bit of echo digging on the subject of Tom Knowles which is from Thom LaCosta's own post which clearly states that Tom was never a user of the BBS until recently:

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Area : MODERATOR
Date : Sun Aug 22, 14:10
>From : Thom LaCosta 1:1/21
To : Bob Kohl
Subj : Echolist reply
----
@MSGID: 1:1/21.0 7c03e2a0
@PID: timEd 1.10+
@TID: GE 1.11+
@CHRS: IBMPC 2

Bob Kohl wrote in a message to Thom LaCosta:

BK> You know Thom, I do find it interesting that you've got someone
BK> working off your board to grab the expired echoes... right after
BK> you purge them. ;)

Well, it would seem that the person first logged into a system that wasn't mine...I think if you look at the posts, you'll see that he logged on from another system in net261...it's the one that belongs to the NEC and is also available via telnet.

All of the update messages from the user were submitted from an internet address....not a Fido address....and all were a good period of time before he ever became a user of this board.

So, until someone who uses my board actually submits an update message from the board to the echolist, I'd say, like so many of your posts, you're all wet.

Thom LaCosta
hon@baltimoremd.com
http://www.baltimoremd.com
-!-
! Origin: Home of The Other Robot (1:1/21)
====

All of this "a good period of time before he ever became a user of this board", but apparently a good deal of time after he became the sysop of the same board... five years later, in fact. :) Remember that the name Tom Knowles appeared 3/1/94 in the US BBSLists.

And don't miss this part:

"So, until someone who uses my board actually submits an update message from the board to the echolist, I'd say, like so many of your posts, you're all wet."

Isn't that what supposedly happened when the BBS had crashed and Tom Knowles was the only person who was able to update and grab three echoes from the board to the echolist just at the precise time they were burned? According to Carol Shenkenberger he was able to do this because he had logged onto the BBS to update expiring listings. Does this mean that in this case, Bob Kohl is NOT all wet?

But I don't believe that LaCosta is the only one trying to hide something. I am of the opinion that SOME of the ranking members of FidoNet are aware of the alias and were fully aware of "the plan" that was used. I think further that LaCosta is calling on his "buddies" to assist him try to prove his credibility and get himself out of the hole he has dug himself into. I think you will see this in action so be advised.

I have seen an admission by someone who has known LaCosta for many years to the point of face to face contact and he stated that he had never heard of a Tom Knowles. This person has run a BBS in the same general area for many years.

What we have here is certainly overwhelming cause for concern. We have a very suspect ELIST where underhanded tactics appear to have been used and then more lies upon more lies to try to cover up the situation. This should be of deep concern to all of you and I am hoping that we can indeed have some persons step forward to set up a new ELIST. Many of us will support a new forthright and honest system.

>From the Secret Squadron Brigade of the Black Helicopter Patrol Guarding all FidoNet Zones

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Ruth
--
Ruth Argust
DDS - DoorWare Distribution System
http://www.doorgames.org