Note from the Editor
It is with great pleasure, and a little awe, that I submit to you the
200th issue of The Libertarian Enterprise. When Neil first began
talking about this on the Lever Action bulletin board -- back about
'92, if I recall correctly -- it sounded like a great idea to me. I
was looking forward to seeing it, and perhaps even making a minor
contribution to the effort.
• FULL STORY
Letters To The Editor
Letters from Gene Strong with reply by John Taylor, Bill Walker,
Bill Hartwell, MacGregor K. Phillips, Charlie Clayton, and Equifax Support, Fox News,
and Robert Lallier:
• FULL STORY
"Close" Enough is Good Enough? -- Time to Get a Rope!
by Carl Bussjaeger
Americans who still value freedom and privacy cheered back in May when
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ruled that Herr Ashcroft's
little infringements of the Constitution - warrantless wiretaps,
infiltrations, and the like - were just that: Illegal infringements,
violations of the Constitution.
• FULL STORY
Big Brother is Here!
by Dennis Kabaczy
They couldn't wait, could they? They just had to show their power by
passing the new Homeland Security bill before this session of Congress
was over. And this bill, is worse than I thought it would be. As
William Safire states in the New York Times, "Every purchase you make
with a credit card, every magazine subscription you buy, every web
site you visit and e-mail you send or receive, ... will go into what
the Defense Department describes as a virtual centralized grand data
base."
• FULL STORY
The BIG Tax Form
by Rodney Harris
As the year comes to a close, I have received a few letters from
charities asking for tax-deductible donations, which presumably would
reduce my taxes. It is sad when a charity's best selling point is that
it can reduce your taxes. The government's theory is that a small
deduction will induce more people to give to charities. It is nice to
know that the government cares so much. As a thought-experiment, one
wonders if the tax deduction were one for one, how much money would be
given to charities and how much sent in as taxes? This led me to the
concept of the BIG tax form.
• FULL STORY
Rights and Responsibilities
by Wendy McElroy
Politically correct feminists seem determined to manufacture gender
conflict by packaging women and men as separate classes with
antagonistic political interests. The truth is we are all just human
beings with the same political interest: to have our individual rights
respected under laws that treat us the same as the person next door.
• FULL STORY
Welcome to the Police State: Now Shut Up and Do As You're Told
by Carl Bussjaeger
How can anyone doubt it anymore?
• FULL STORY
Knowledge Is Power
by Jim Duensing
A new military office, the Total Information Awareness (TIAO),
is currently working towards eliminating personal privacy in our lifetimes.
• FULL STORY
"Poor Oh Poor the Pirate Sherry!"
by James J Odle
In terms of machismo, it's a show whose dialog at times rivals that of
Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry. "Forward my men and seize that General
there! His life is over!" In terms of silliness and absurdity it's the
nineteenth century's answer to Airplane and The Naked Gun movies --
without the vulgarity, of course. Along with its companions, it's
a show that provided inspiration to early 20th century comedians such
as Laurel and Hardy, the Keystone Kops, and others. Its libretto was
penned by the foremost wordsmith in all music comedy -- a man justly
famous for his use and abuse of the English language. Not only
that, but it contains a song that may very well be considered the very
first 'rap' song. That is, if 'rap' can be considered to be
speaking a great deal of words, in a very rapid fashion according to a
particular cadence. Performed properly -- with innocence, gusto and
free-wheeling, reckless abandon -- the show is nothing but pure,
mindless merriment from start to finish with nary a serious moment.
Oh, Joy! Oh, Rapture!
• FULL STORY
Repeal the 17th Amendment
by John MacMullin
After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the federal
government announced that it would preempt all state jurisdiction over
airport security. The federal government preempted state powers
without regard to balancing federal and state responsibilities so that
these responsibilities, and related costs, could be distributed across
federal, state, and local governments. To carry out this preemption,
the federal government recently reported that it will employ more than
47,000 federal recruits in the fight against terrorism as newly
trained security screeners. They are to begin working at 424 airports
nationwide.
• FULL STORY
LibBits/LibBytes
by the Editor
Items of interest:
• FULL STORY
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Back to 2002 Issues Archive
