# Notes and Tips

## Method

Briefly, here's the way I do it. Unless I'm looking for specific information, I just send a simple query letter, like "I'm interested in learning about your organization. Please send any information you can"
With just this and a few stamps (well, a few hundred) I've gotten yards of letters and magazines, books, audio and even video tapes. It's probably the cheapest hobby around, and here are the benefits.

- Hours of reading, providing entertainment and information.
- Scoop the big guys! Find out about fringe groups months or even years before they show up on CNN as a "growing new movement" .
- Cut through the bull. Learn about fringe movements first hand. Media coverage is almost always over-simplified. There is a huge amount of diversity even within a movement. Some groups aren't as bad as the media makes them out to be, and some are much worse
- Discover the extremes of human belief. Not only is it an education, it can almost be a spiritual discovery. Like the Greeks encountering the Orient, some of the material found here will force you to question your own beliefs.
- Make contacts with folks of similar tastes, or maybe you'll finally find your ideological home.

Because of my method (generic query, no money), my entries are naturally biased. I've tried desperately to get anything from the Jewish Defense League or the Nation of Islam, but they never write back. Therefore, I exclude any addresses that I know are accurate but don't garnish any information. If you can think of anything I'm missing, let me know.

### Cost

I was going to include subscription costs, but they change so quickly. Instead, I've found that asking for generic "information" will get you subscription rates at the minimum, and maybe a free sample. Even if a price is listed in classified ad or magazine like "Factsheet Five", try to get it for free anyway - it usually works. If you spread your cash around to thin at first, you'll go broke. Wait for the gems before you decide to buy.

## Security

You might want to consider renting a PO or private mail-box if you intend to contact one of the scarier groups. Personally, I use a mail-drop to write to those types, and use my home address for more innocent groups (UFO, alternative medicine, etc.). The only personal contact I've ever received was a phone call from a Bigfoot hunter in Oregon trying to sell me his book. Still, I've been freaked out by some of the vanity-press lunatics having my home address - getting handwritten notes like "broke, desperate, need money to continue God's work"

As for the Feds, they will be watching you. Or at least their computers will. It's called a mail-cover: if a group like the Aryan Nations are being watched (and they are), the machines that read the address on the envelopes at the post office will flag when reading the address in question and store the return address on a database.

Next time you get your mail, check the back for an orange bar code. Once you find one, you'll be surprised that you've never noticed it before. This code tells the sorting machines to kick out the envelope for hand sorting. It's used when someone wants to read your mail, but it also happens if the machine can't read the address. This happens 40% of the time, so don't get paranoid. The best way to avoid a mail cover is to not write down a return address, but then you can't keep track of defunct addresses.

And yes, sometimes your mail will be open when you find it in the box. But they can also reseal the envelope without you knowing, use bright lights and computers to read the inside without opening it, or even use miniature cameras and slide it under the folds.

Your best defense is to not write anything incriminating. Acting like a lunatic, hoping to get a better payload in return, may sound like a good idea, but you'll think twice when the feds come knocking at your door (which has never happened to me). Some groups even turn in violent crazies, expecting a set-up or out of genuine concern.

This may sound strange coming from me, but mail-covers are a part of legitimate law enforcement. Not long ago, right here in Austin, the feds caught a bomber before he could kill anyone because he ordered a book on explosives. I'm surprised they didn't come to me, looking for explosives, but it could happen to you. Just keep your nose clean and order literature from all sides of the political spectrum. This will let them know that you're just a hobbyist (or suffering from multiple personalities)

### Addresses

Some of the groups, especially the Patriot and Militia groups, have odd addresses: Postal Zone 78705, Sovereign State of Texas, c/o's when they're not needed, etc. This will only confuse the post office, and is sure to call attention to yourself. I suggest sticking with the old-fashioned way.

Back to MFC Index | Back to Hambones Index