Welcome to UNKNOWN NEWS "News that's not known, or not known enough."
Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion.
   
Stickers are $3 each, and that's postage-paid to any address in the world.

To order one sticker ($3) by PayPal (using Visa, MasterCard, or your checking account), just click the sticker you want.

If you'd like more than one sticker the price gets better, but PayPal's system is a little clunky. You can click one of these buttons and then send an email to unknownnews@ inbox.com to let us know which stickers you want.

Or if it's easier, just click the stickers you want -- PayPal's system isn't bright
     
Any two stickers, $5
Any five stickers, $12
Any ten stickers, $23
Any 20 stickers: $45
enough to give you your discount so you'll be overcharged, but we'll refund the difference electronically as soon as we receive your order.

If you'd rather, you can pay by check or money order, you can reach us by mail at this address.  Update:  Sorry, the hate mail and death threats have grown tiresome, so we've closed our PO box. If you're philosophically opposed to PayPal or unable to use it, drop us an email at unknownnews@ inbox.com and we'll work something out.

We're also selling some used books and other junk, and we'd be happy to send you a sandwich and a refreshing beverage.


This sticker half-price,
while supplies last -- $1.50 post-paid

This sticker half-price,
while supplies last -- $1.50 post-paid




All prices for items listed below include postage to American addresses, but sadly we must charge for International shipping.

A book (Pick any title from the list below)
$6, postpaid within USA (add'l fee for int'l shipping, sorry)
Three books (Choose any three from the list below)
$15, postpaid within USA (add'l fee for int'l shipping, sorry)
After clicking the button or sending your check, please send us an email (unknownnews@inbox.com) and tell us which book(s) you want.

All books are "pre-read," occasionally scuffed but completely readable. If you have questions about the condition of a particular book, just drop us a note (unknownnews@inbox.com) and we'll provide complete details.

Basic Fun: Computer Games, Puzzles, and Problems Children Can Write
by Susan Drake Lipscomb and Margaret Ann Zuanich
176 pages, softcover, 1982, so-so condition.
"This easy-to-follow guide can serve as an introduction to any computer which uses the BASIC programming language"       --cover blurb

The Camera Never Blinks
by Dan Rather with Mickey Herskowitz
362 pages, softcover, 1977, OK condition.
Dan Rather needed a ghost writer to write his autobiography.       --H&HH

Christian Boy's Problems
by Bertrand Williams
78 pages, hardcover, 1943, OK condition.
"I pledge upon my honor that I shall treat my body as God's temple ... "       --from Chapter 1

It's Happening: A Portrait of the Youth Scene Today
by J.L. Simmons and Barry Winograd
174 pages, softcover, 1966, so-so condition.
"LSD and marijuana, Bob Dylan and the Stones, a freer kind of sex, anti-Vietnam sentiments, and the proliferation of protest, are shown as only symptoms of deeper-running shifts in the American ethos."       --cover blurb

Prayers to Pray Wherever You Are
by Jeanette Struchen
64 pages, hardcover, 1969, OK condition.
"The author has made a hobby of writing prayers about daily life."       --Foundation for Christian Living

Rambo 3
by David Morrell, based on a screenplay by Sylvester Stallone and Sheldon Lettich
244 pages, softcover, 1988, OK condition.
"John Rambo. The most dangerous man alive. His country has called him once again ... "       --cover blurb

The Unfolding Drama of The Bible
by Bernhard W. Anderson
124 pages, softcover, 1957, OK condition.
"Where we fit in God's plans ... eight studies introducing the Bible as a whole."       --cover blurb

Women in Baptist Life
by Leon McBeth
190 pages, hardcover, 1979, OK condition.
"Should women take leadership roles in the church? Are they to do God's work alongside men or subordinate to them?"       --cover flap


Helen and Harry's genuine junk
$25, postpaid within USA (add'l fee for int'l shipping, sorry)
A bigger pile of genuine junk for $40, postpaid within USA (add'l fee for int'l shipping, sorry)
We're not particularly neat people, but with your encouragement we'll tidy up the apartment and send a piece of our clutter to you. The price includes postage (within USA). The only catch is, we won't tell you what junk you're getting -- it's a surprise!

It might be a broom that no longer sweeps clean, a Christian-themed gift we received from a Christian-themed relative, or a T-shirt too stained to wear in public. We can't guarantee it'll be what you expect or what you want, and we can't guarantee you'll like it, but we guarantee it'll work (if it's electronic or mechanical) and we guarantee it's junk to us.


Helen will make a tunafish sandwich for you
$5, postpaid within USA (add'l fee for int'l shipping, sorry)
My husband Harry says I make a 'mean' tunafish sandwich. The secret is using just a few crumbs of cheap generic tunafish and a thin layer of imitation Miracle Whip, plus your choice of either yellow mustard or store-brand thousand island, on the cheapest not-so-fresh white bread we could find last weekend.

If you'd like a delicious tunafish sandwich, we suggest you make one yourself or visit a deli. If you'd like a lousy and probably squished-in-transit tunafish sandwich, made by me and delivered by the US Postal Disservice, I'll make one for ya, stick it in a plastic baggie, and mail it for just $5. Price includes postage (within USA) and lots of handling! Disclaimer: Allow 7-10 days for delivery. Sandwich is borderline edible when I make it, but probably not be edible upon arrival. [For entertainment purposes only.]


Would you like a refreshing beverage?
$7.50, postpaid within USA (add'l fee for int'l shipping, sorry)
As David Letterman says, there isn't a man, women or child who doesn't enjoy a refreshing beverage. Well, we'll mail you a refreshing beverage mix (just add water, and/or other fluids) for a mere five dollars. We'll choose the mix you receive -- it might be coffee, might be tea, might be powdered milk, might be something else, but whatever it is, it will still be sealed in its original factory-fresh container, and it will cost us a lot less than $5. Your thirst will be quenched, and your fivespot will be appreciated!


International shipping:

Tragically, heavy items cost more to mail, especially internationally. So on international orders we figure out what the postage will cost, and ask the customer to pay that extra expense. Sorry.



   


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  Unknown News
This is who we are,
what we do, and why we do it
.

Like the URL says, this website is about unknown news.

We present a concise once-weekly wrap-up of news that was underplayed, ignored, or simply lost in the non-stop news cycle. Our news comes only from mainstream, professional journalists or (rarely) other sources we trust entirely, with no nuttiness and no interest in the same news you see everywhere else.

What we believe

We believe in liberty and justice for all, so of course, we oppose many US government policies. This doesn't mean we're anti-American, redneck scum, pinko commies, militia members, or terrorist-sympathizers. It means we believe in freedom, as more than merely a cliché.

We believe you have the right to live your own life as you choose, and others have the equal right to live their lives as they choose. It's not complicated.

We believe freedom leads to peace, progress, and prosperity, while its opposite -- oppression -- leads to war, terrorism, poverty, and misery.

We believe it's preposterously stupid to hate people because of their appearance, their race or nationality, their religion or lack of religion, how they have sex with other consenting adults, etc. There are far more apropos reasons to hate most people.

We believe in questioning ourselves, our assumptions, each other -- and we especially believe in questioning authority (the more authority, the more questions). We believe obedience is a fine quality in dogs and young children, but not in adults.

Like America's right-wingers, we believe in individual responsibility, hard work to get ahead, and stern punishment for serious crimes. We believe big government should not be blindly trusted.

But unlike most right-wing leaders, we mean it.

Like America's left-wingers, we believe in equal treatment under law, war as a last (not first) resort, and sensible stewardship of natural resources. We believe big business should not be blindly trusted.

But unlike most left-wing leaders, we mean it.

Like libertarians, we believe it's wrong and reprehensible to arrest people for what they think, believe, look like, wear, eat, smoke, drink, inhale, inject, or otherwise do to themselves.

But unlike many libertarians, we're not obsessed with the gold standard, we don't believe incorporation is humanity's highest achievement, and we don't believe everything in life comes down to dollars and cents. We've read and enjoyed Ayn Rand's novels, but we understand that they're works of fiction.

We're skeptical, and we're sick of so-called 'journalists' who aren't skeptical at all.

A reader asks, what are our solutions?

We propose no solutions except common sense, which is never common. We like the principles of democracy, and the ideals broadly described as 'American'. The US Constitution is a fine and workable framework for solutions, when it's actually read and thoughtfully understood by intelligent statesmen and women. So, no manifestos from us. We don't dream that big, and if there's one thing the world doesn't need it's yet another manifesto.

Our suggestion is: think.

A fact-based instead of faith-based approach leads to solutions for most of the recurring issues of our time, from abortion to global climate change, pollution to universal health care, careful but real regulation of industry and economy, hunger, war, terror, human rights for humans not for corporations, science not religious doctrine in public schools, equal protection and prosecution under law, etc. Approach problems without glorifying stupidity, without demonizing intelligence, and answers usually come into focus.

These pages are published by Harry and Helen Highwater, happily married low-income nom de plumes and rabble-rousers from Madison, Wisconsin (with a few friends scattered around the world helping out).

We try to spotlight news that hasn't gotten enough (or appropriate) attention in American media, along with our opinions and yours.

We bang our keyboards against the wall, because it doesn't hurt as much as banging our heads.




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      We welcome readers' comments, questions, or criticisms. Just send us an email <unknownnews at inbox.com>, and if it adds to the dialogue we'll publish it.
      If that email address ever fails you can also reach us at these back-up addresses.