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61


L. Neil Smith's
THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE
Number 61, December 15, 1999
Happy Bill of Rights Day!

Letters to the Editor

by Our Readers
Send Letters to [email protected]


Letter from Adam Harris


Letter from Jack Resch


Letter from Scott Paul Graves


Letter from Carl Bussjaeger


Letter from Adam Harris

re: "The Good Joe"]
>> I've seen a lot of folks trying to figure out how to get
>> some of the gov. free money and stuff. But, I have
>> seen no complaints or even commie
>> style allegations of 'price gouging'.
>> . . .
>> I expect better than this from you guys.

> Bub, I live about 2.5 miles away from the state legislature in
> Raleigh (and less than a mile from the Hayes Barton Baptist Church,
> where Jesse Helms goes to pray), and "price-gouging" was on the
> lips of every editorialist weasel and elected dirtbag in town for
> at least two weeks after Floyd. How many column-inches of newsprint
> or feet of videotape would you like to see?
> --
> Laissez Firearm

Dear Mark,

I have no doubt that pure crap and nonsense was spewing from the political scum in Raleigh.

But, people where the disaster actually happened were not saying such things. Your article implied that we were.

You were wrong, and asininely referring to me as "Bub", does not change the fact that you did not properly write or research your article.
---
Adam Harris <[email protected]>

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Letter from Jack Resch

I never thought I'd see it happen, but Hizzoner and I agree on something. Let me elucidate.

It was recently reported that the F.B.I. had attempted to catch Mr. Barry accepting bribes during his final months in office. Using an elaborate web of straw men (and women) to attempt snaring him, the F.B.I. pulled out all the stops.

Utilizing a MPDC police officer already being investigated (and charged) by I.A.D. for accepting bribes, the Mayor was led out to the posh Virginia suburbs to be videotaped and arrested accepting the aforementioned. All the better to get a fair jury, the Federals said. The sting never hit the mark. Mr. Barry was (for once) incorruptable.

In true F.B.I. fashion, the officer involved genuinely believed that in exchange for his co-operation in this failed attempt, he would recieve a reduced sentence for his conviction of extorting money from profitable massage parlours. He was, of course mistaken. Shocked, the defrocked officer was led out of the court to serve his full 5 year sentence.

When he found out about the attempted sting, Mr. Barry was quoted as saying, "My enemies have accused me of many things, but never of taking a bribe." Since these events have been revealed, D.C.'s former "Mayor for Life" has filed a formal letter of complaint to Herr (Dame?) Reno concerning the "total disregard for" his personal rights and liberties, and the Federals' preumption of criminal predisposition of the target of the sting.

Perhaps at least one former lawmaker distrusts the government as much as I. Thanks for a great issue (#60) this month, John.

---
Jack Resch <[email protected]>

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Letter from Scott Paul Graves

Well, after a successful move from the Denver area to Colorado Springs, done under the umbrella of "Economic Freedom of Association", I am writing again. Basically my old job sucked the sweat off a dead mans balls, and the new job is much better. Being a skilled tradesman, all I needed to do was let it be known that I was available, and in less than a month I was moved and working for a better place. So much for "Evil Oppressive Capitalists" and "You NEED a union to protect you". I just up and found a new job without anyone's help. Take that socialists, "Workers of the World unite!", my Great Aunt Martha's left butt cheek. Unskilled bums of the world band together and get jackbooted government thugs to beat up management is a better motto for those lazy losers, but I digress.

Well, all my personal matters, opinions on bums and matters of family anatomy aside, I want to talk today about roommates. You see, in the last, lets say "few years" in order to preserve my delusions of youth, I have rented rooms from people who either owned houses, or were already living in an apartment and I sublet a room. So I have always known what it is like to have others drink my beer, eat my food, and dirty my toilet. Ok, so they weren't mine, but I usually took care of those things. Those of you who know me, there are exceptions, and you know who you are and what they were.

We are at that time in the rant where you, the gentle reader, are wondering about a point and if I will wander around to one any time soon, even though my words are so enjoyable in and of themselves. Here is that long awaited point. Socialism is akin to having the whole country as roommates. Everyone drinks your beer, eats your food, and makes a mess of your toilet. No one is responsible for the mess, and everything is up for grabs, no matter how many times you try to make certain things, like the beer, off limits to those freeloaders.

Since getting a place all to myself, I have noticed how much my cleanliness, and by extension, the cleanliness of my apartment, has improved. Even though I would be able to keep my place in the worst cesspool condition that I can accept, and the management allows for public hygiene, I clean the place up. Because I know that I am the final responsibility for the condition of my abode. I can't blame anyone else if I run out of beer, I had to have drank it, unless you are a believer in "little beer drinking gnomes". If the rent doesn't get paid, I get booted, no one else to blame. This is what freedom is all about, responsible for your own actions, and the ability to live as you want.

So, those of you out there who think that maybe a little collectivism is a good idea, think about having that smelly freak who was buying whipped cream and a home enema kit in front of you at checkout yesterday as your new roomie, along with the idiot behind the counter who had to call for a price check on the candy bar you got from the rack in front of his zit covered face, and every other loser in that store. Stop for a moment, and think about how much beer they can drink.

Now, speaking of beer, I need to get off my lazy butt and get a six-pack. I am all out, and its my fault. Of course I have a bottle of Captain Morgan's, and you know what they say about ports in a storm. Now where is that carton of eggnog hiding?

---
Scott Paul Graves
[email protected]

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Letter from Carl Bussjaeger

Howdy,

I'm one of those crazies associated with the Liberty Round Table (Hunter knows who I am <g>). I just completed a little online experiment in hyperdemocracy that ran for a month and a half.

The idea was to see what sort of "social contract" or constitution could be written under the principles of unanimous consent. I was also interested in how modern communications might eliminate the need for a representative system, allowing direct participation.

I thought TLE might be interested in a report of the results. ...

Thanks,

Carl Bussjaeger <[email protected]>
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/bussjaeger

Liberty Round Table Essay Contest
http://www.lrt.org/lrt.ec4.announcement.htm

[Carl's very interesting article, which unfortunately was considerably too long to reprint here, can be found, nicely formatted and linked, at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/bussjaeger/experim.htm
-- ed.]

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ASSAULT PUDDLER

INVERNESS - A 12-year-old boy who stomped his foot in a puddle at school, spraying classmates and a school resource officer, was taught a lesson he's not likely to forget.

Kyle Fredrikson was walking back to class from lunch when Deputy Tim Langer said the boy "purposely stomped in the water" after being told numerous times by school personnel to stay with the group and out of the rain.

He didn't, and at that point, Langer took the sixth-grader to a school office where the boy was cuffed, put in a patrol car and taken to jail.

Kyle was charged Monday with disruption of an educational institution, a misdemeanor. ...

[...]

Lt. James Martone, who oversees the school resource officer program, said Langer made a proper arrest. "He did his job," Martone said. "It's a fine line any officer in the schools walk." [sic]

[...]
---
Source: http://www.tampatribune.com/news/thur100d.htm
The Tampa Tribune, 12/9/99
[emphasis added -- ed.]


WTO IN NINE WORDS

"Good causes are often lost by pursuing wrong means."
-- A.V. Ganesan, former commerce secretary of India, expressing the concerns of Third-World trade meeting delegates and, incidentally and unintentionally, defining WTO.
---
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-12/05/161l-120599-idx.html


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