Johnny Carson, RIP

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Mon, 24 Jan 2005 13:00:00 GMT
# Lynn Elber at Netscape TV News - Carson Recalled As Master of His TV Craft - Johnny Carson, the host of the Tonight Show until 1992, died yesterday at age 79. I enjoyed his show. [smith2004]

# Lex Concord at The Libertarian Enterprise - If at First You Don't Succeed... - a new Constitution for America. Abolishes the national legislature and courts and replaces the executive branch with a for-show-only Grand Poobah. Great idea! [tle]

We the People, in order to dissolve an imperfect union, establish a better one, and to really secure the blessings of Liberty this time, do ordain and establish this new Constitution for the several States of America, and the various Non-Contiguous Communities (NCCs) which may be formed hereunder.

# L. Neil Smith at The Libertarian Enterprise - That Kind of Uncle - Mr. Smith is the kind of Uncle who tells his nieces and nephews the truth, no matter how hard that truth may be for his siblings to hear. America used to be a lot safer place, before they took our guns away.

The other day, my lovely wife sent me one of those e-mail folk- messages that almost seem to propagate themselves all over the net from time to time. This one called itself "People Over 35 Should be Dead!"

At first I thought it was going to advocate the killing of people over 35, after the manner of Logan's Run or Wild in the Streets. I tried for hours to discover the author of the piece, which only led me around in a big circle to the brother of the woman who had sent it to my wife--and he informed me he'd tried to find the author, without success.

Don't you just hate it when that happens?

But no, the message listed fun things we all did as children--all of us who are over 35, that is--that the Safety Nazis would be aghast at today. Things like drinking from the garden hose, or not wearing helmets when we rode our bikes. According to those Nazis, says the message, we should all be dead by now. It was pretty funny, and I could have added a few more items, myself, most of them involving firecrackers.

Hell, I used to chew on my dad's split-shot fishing sinkers, cast of pure lead, which will surprise none of the people who don't like me.

# The Libertarian Enterprise - Letter from Jim Davidson, with reply from George F. Smith - Mr. Davidson contends that though there is a law proclaiming that "this note legal tender for all debts public and private" will be printed on Federal Reserve Notes, there is no enforcement clause in that law. Hence, you are free to refuse to take them if you wish. There are plenty of free-market alternatives.

Yes, of course, it may be painful to turn people away if they offer credit cardscam or Feral Reserveless Nothings, but if you point them at a nearby exchange service that can convert their stuff to something you are willing to accept, so much the better. Gold and silver are the choice of better free market money enthusiasts, but if you want to continue taking the green, do so at your own peril.

Crouch down and lick the hand that beats you with the hidden tax of inflation. I can only show you the door... you have to be the one to walk through it.

# John Taylor at The Libertarian Enterprise - Call for Papers - if you have a first-hand account that you'd like to share of being hassled by the Taking Scissors Away folks, send it to Mr. Taylor (LiberTarHeel at triad dot rr dot com), and he'll print it in TLE. He's also collecting dates of obscure libertarian significance. [tle]

# Jackie Spinner at The Washington Post - In One Night, Iraqi Turns From Friend to Foe BugMeNot - the U.S. Army spreads democracy, turning on Iraqi from a friend to an enemy. If they raid my house, they'll turn me into a moral enemy, too. If they hurt my kids, they'd better kill me, because if they don't, I'll be serving lots and lots of cold dishes. [smith2004]

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