Thumb Prints for Rentals. Not!

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Tue, 10 Apr 2001 12:00:00 GMT

There's a new issue of The Libertarian Enterprise, Happy Birthday, Eleanora Fagan!

Close the Department of Education by Vin Suprynowicz - $44.5 million per year for pushing paper around and gathering power. It's time to keep Reagan's promise to close the DOE.
Don't Just Free John Thoburn, Vindicate Him by Vin Suprynowicz - Fairfax County, VA, has thrown John Thoburn in jail for refusing to move some trees on his property. Which trees and where they want them moved they didn't say. Vin rightly concludes that this came about because we've allowed zoning boards to exist.
One does not solve the problem of "30 percent sewage in the drinking water" by reducing the sewage level to 20 percent and announcing "There: much better!" No, the solution here is to restore the property rights which lay at the heart of the free-market system which made ours the hardest-working, most prosperous nation in the world. Every planning and zoning code in America must be abrogated and repealed, just as we would hitch a tractor to the tail of a rotting whale and haul it away from the beach where our children swim.
Letter from Alexei Kurupatin - Mr. Kurupatin refused to give a thumb print to rent a bag mower. He wonders how to manufacture a thumb sheathe. Maybe it could even say "F*** YOU" Bravo!
Letter from E.J. Totty - a good reminder about why possession of materials that could be used to commit a crime is not sufficient evidence for a search warrant.
Yet Another Letter from E.J. Totty - why we should fight government issued ID.
Well, I maintain that any kind of ID system invented by government is the 'bootstrap' by which all other forms of tyranny may -- and will -- be instituted. Really, it's just that simple. If you cannot prove who you are, then what rights have you?

...

So, basically, any law which blocks your ability to conduct private commerce without producing government accepted ID, is in essence a violation of the Fourth Amendment, for it is demanding exposure of private information without a declarative warrant, expressly in the face of the edict of said amendment.
Letter from Mark and Tina Terry - an answer to the dog whistles' (see L. Neil's new book) victim disarmament whining. Hehe.
We suggest that someone who is concerned about the national epidemic of overweight Americans - which epidemic is clearly caused by a dangerous overabundance of spoons, as well as widespread irresponsible use of, and easy access of everyone including children to spoons - write an urgent letter to Rosie O'Donnell, and suggest the following:

We obviously need to form an organization called SCI - Spoon Control, Incorporated. We desperately need a 5-day waiting period and licensing for all spoons... and those large "assault-spoons" absolutely need to be banned immediately.

There are three new articles in The Libertarian series by Vin Suprynowicz:

"Surprise complete in theme park opening" - Vin's April Fools piece that TLE printed last week. Worth a look if you didn't read it then.
"Close the Department of Education" - This was printed in yesterday's TLE. Comments above.
"Don't just free John Thoburn, vindicate him" - Ditto.

The Church of the SubGenius has a website! Go, Bob. [brianf]

Jim Vertuno of AP via The Dallas Morning News - W. Texan's road sign ruled protected speech: Pat Barber has won in a Texas appeals court, affirming his right to post a political sign on his property. Texas nazis didn't like the sign since it told people to "Just Say NO to Searches!" where they could read it along Interstate 20, and provided a phone number to call for more information. Mr. Barber burned the sign back in 1999. He's waiting to see if the state will appeal before putting it back up. [market]

Malcolm Ritter of AP via Nando Times - Fingerprint evidence loses credibility - Good. Bill says: no victim, no crime; no witness, no conviction. I know this lets lots of professional criminals, like slick Willy, off the hook, but I'm sick of people being jailed on purely physical evidence. This goes double for DNA. You should be able to use physical evidence to encourage or discourge the jury to believe witnesses, but physical evidence alone does not suffice to deny someone's liberty. [market]

Christine Reid at Scripps Howard News Service via Knox Studio - Student may face felony charge over unloaded BB gun - some meddling fascist searched a 16-year-old student's car in a high school parking lot and found an unloaded BB pistol that the guy had forgotten was there. I wish it had been a loaded .45. I wish it had gone off and killed the pig. I'm sick of this twisted garbage. Every responsible student at every school should carry a loaded gun on his/her belt if he/she wishes. Our schools would be safer. Much safer. This is government property. The right to keep and bear arms may not be infringed. [market]

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Spring 2001 in South Carolina
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For the Children. Yeah, right.
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The Incumbent Re-election Act of 2001
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Quotes

Government doesn't work. Never did. Never will. Can't. But there are lots of good people. Love them.

-- Bill St. Clair

The Atlanta Declaration

Every man, woman, and responsible child has an unalienable individual, civil, Constitutional, and human right to obtain, own, and carry, openly or concealed, any weapon -- rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- any time, any place, without asking anyone's permission.

-- L. Neil Smith

Reread that pesky first clause of the Second Amendment. It doesn't say what any of us thought it said. What it says is that infringing the right of the people to keep and bear arms is treason. What else do you call an act that endangers "the security of a free state"? And if it's treason, then it's punishable by death. I suggest due process, speedy trials, and public hangings.

-- L. Neil Smith

A Penalty Clause for the Bill of Rights

Any official, appointed or elected, at any level of government, who attempts, through legislative act or other means, to nullify, evade, or avoid the provisions of the first ten amendments to this Constitution, or of the Thirteenth Amendment, shall be summarily removed from office, and, upon conviction, deprived of all pay and benefits including pension, and sentenced to imprisonment for life.

-- L. Neil Smith

Based on 253 journal articles, 99 books, 43 government publications, and some of its own empirical work, the panel couldn't identify a single gun control regulation that reduced violent crime, suicide or accidents.

-- John Lott, commenting on the National Academy of Sciences report on gun control laws.

Who is a libertarian?

Zero Aggression Principle ("Zap")

"A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being, or to advocate or delegate its initiation. Those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they realize it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim."

-- L. Neil Smith

(Formerly called the "Non-Aggression Principle", or "NAP")

Why Did It Have to be... Guns?

Make no mistake: all politicians -- even those ostensibly on the side of guns and gun ownership -- hate the issue and anyone, like me, who insists on bringing it up. They hate it because it's an X-ray machine. It's a Vulcan mind-meld. It's the ultimate test to which any politician -- or political philosophy -- can be put.

If a politician isn't perfectly comfortable with the idea of his average constituent, any man, woman, or responsible child, walking into a hardware store and paying cash -- for any rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- without producing ID or signing one scrap of paper, he isn't your friend no matter what he tells you.

If he isn't genuinely enthusiastic about his average constituent stuffing that weapon into a purse or pocket or tucking it under a coat and walking home without asking anybody's permission, he's a four-flusher, no matter what he claims.

What his attitude -- toward your ownership and use of weapons -- conveys is his real attitude about you. And if he doesn't trust you, then why in the name of John Moses Browning should you trust him?

-- L. Neil Smith

Concise

"Tell me," I was once asked, "What do you think about gun control? Give me the short answer." To which I replied, "If you try to take our firearms we will kill you."

-- Mike Vanderboegh

Also from The Atlanta Declaration:

... like going to the bathroom, breathing, eating, sleeping, or making love, it turns out that self-defense is a bodily function one cannot safely or effectively delegate to a second party.

-- L. Neil Smith

This does not mean that "Marijuana should be available by prescription." It means that morphine sulfate should be available in five pound bags at the supermarket for a couple of bucks, like sugar... but probably in a different aisle, to avoid confusion.

-- Vin Suprynowicz

If you refuse to pay unjust taxes, your property will be confiscated. If you attempt to defend your property, you will be arrested. If you resist arrest, you will be clubbed. If you defend yourself against clubbing, you will be shot dead. These procedures are known as the Rule of Law.

-- Edward Abbey

The state can only survive as long as a majority is programmed to believe that theft isn't wrong if it's called taxation or asset forfeiture or eminent domain, that assault and kidnapping isn't wrong if it's called arrest, that mass murder isn't wrong if it's called war.

-- Bill St. Clair