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 THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE Number 451, January 13, 2008 "Words have power."
Send Letters to editor@ncc-1776.org
Another Letter from A.X. Peres Yet Another Letter from A.X. Peres Re: "War is a Racket" by General Smedley Butler, USMC Let us not forget that war is also used to take peoples' (Not a typo!) liberty. WWI (The one used as a case study in War Is a Racket) had the following results in the US alone: 1. Suppression of the Workers of the World International (Wobblies)
Strangely enough, according to my wife's stepfather, no law was passed or enforced to prevent German spies from joining the US Army during the war. According to him, many German spies got stranded when the Kaiser fell and were left behind to become the sergeants who trained the inter war army, the professional cadre who prepared us to defeat Hitler's Germany. Since he enlisted in the Thirties, I consider his word reasonably reliable. So the war effort took people's liberty in the US (Similar things happened to the British people, the German people, etc.) yet failed to keep foreign agents out of our military. One is left to ponder what the goals of our leaders during WWI were and at the same time shake one's head over their inefficiency at protecting the US from foreign agents. A.X. Perez
In reply to "Yet Another Letter from A.X. Perez, with Replies from John Taylor, L. Neil Smith, and A.X. Perez" in TLE #450, I would say regarding the politicians: Kill them all. The gods will know their own. Michael Bradshaw
Scott Bieser I had to take a few minutes and write about the great Scott Bieser. I don't know why there is not more said about him. As a graphic artist his work is superlative. It is fun, engaging and his women always commend your attention. In addition he has great perspicacity and insight. He can use words better than most, but his drawings shout where most men only speak. Anyone not familiar with his work should take some time and be prepared to be awed. Charlie Acker
P.S.: I am constantly seeing references to Shrub's "Global War on Terror." I always wonder why the obvious typo is never corrected. Surely the 'n' should be an 'f'. The Insult of It All Crummy scum sucking ratfinks! The Real ID cards are finally set to go into effect in 2009. Apparently, at that time everyone born after 1964 will have to provide all sorts of ID to to get an "unforgeable" driver's licence type identification card to be able to do all sorts of things. If you were born after 1954. I was born after 1953 so I guess I, like millions of other baby boomers, will be held to a lower standard to get my ID. Maybe there was a change in '54 of how kids were IDed at birth and it wouldn't work with those born before that date. Maybe they think that we baby boomers are so tied into the system that we can't afford to make trouble. Maybe the 44 and older bunch have enough political clout that they "grandfathered" us out to avoid trouble, or maybe they think we're too old and decrepit to be a problem and don't want to bother inflicting the new ID cards on us. Our rights are trammeled, our prosperity is squandered, and our lives and those of our progeny unjustly endangered by the folly of so many who abuse the power the electorate trusted them with. And then they have the nerve to tell us we are too old to be worth fully persecuting. I haven't felt so discriminated against since the first time I tried to disengage the safety on an old style GP-35 Browning left handed. A.X. Peres
Re: "Ron Paul... Our Last, Best Hope To Restore Freedom" by Linda Cirincione Today, the golden handcuffs of grants and subsidies often change the actions or reactions of 'private' groups, whether charity, religious or single issue. Recently I watched a PBS show called 'the last abortion clinic' about the rules, restrictions and expenses States pass into law driving the clinics out of business. And this is happening WITH Roe V Wade on the books. One State is requiring all the same equipment of an emergency room even though the clinic is down the block from a hospital. I also remember Planned Parenthood switching from providing birth control or abortion information or not, back and forth, from administration to administration. What poppycock. So, it occurs to me: 1) contraceptives are very effective now. 2) morning after pills can avoid a 'whoops' pregnancy. 3) if the worst happens and a woman is not able to have access to the medical procedures she feels necessary, we have the Internet now. Is it legal to give away morning after pills? Why couldn't Planned Parenthood or a new group take donations or pledges or vouchers for travel? Some States will always be legal. The site could link up women in need for access to the procedure where it was legal, and no hassle of picketing, or worry of doctors and staff being stalked or physically harmed. Because we tend to see things in the framework of today's laws, we forget what a force we have available voluntarily. And the women could sign a note to repay part or all of the expense causing them to be more self-reliant and responsible in the future. What do you think? We are women, we are strong... lol.... Somewhere I read, if we wanted the murder rate in New Orleans to go down, we should legalize drugs there. In my warped mind, I had a mental picture of Amsterdam, where I visited in 2004. The ninth ward is made for canals. New Orleans is called 'the big easy' for a reason and Amsterdam has those daunting gates to keep out the tide—just the thing for Lake Pontchartrain. The revenue from the New (Amsterdam of the Americas) Orleans sin taxes would build real levees. But instead we have big gambling casinos out on the Gulf. Have you ever been on a cruise ship? Did you note the canisters that look like oil drums and contain an inflatable life raft, water, sometimes a tarp roof, and food? Why didn't they drop one on each block instead of tossing water bottles? People could have taken their dogs then. And paddled out. Should FEMA stockpile some around low lying areas just in case? They wouldn't work in fast moving water, but they would in cases like New Orleans. Ron Paul is the last, best hope to allow the dollar to skid to a stop rather than crash among other things. I totally agree. My feminist friends who went through the years before Roe V Wade with me really balk at the Pro-Life stance, however, similar to the Women on the View. Here is my answer to them. Nydra
Slippery Slope Needed: Pitons, heavy duty rappelling rope, boots with hobnails or cleats, and mountaineers pick axes. Reason: Keep people who are standing on slippery slope from sliding down hill. About one third of all Americans (including my humble self) are government employees (public school teacher in my case). Others are dependent on government purchases and contracts even if they are nominally in the private sector ( medical professionals who accept Medicare/Medicaid for example). If you will, we've accepted the King's penny. It is real tempting to con ourselves that this excessive reliance on the government is the way it should be and not an aberration created by the government establishing a monopoly over our professions (yes there are private schools, they don't pay as well and my creditors would not be real understanding of me taking a cut in their paycheck) and the ability of bureaucracies to expand. It's real easy to go from there to forgetting that the government exists to protect the people's rights and start thinking that the people exist to serve the state. Until we can disassemble our government and transfer as many as possible of its vital function to private hands (at a profit) those of us who have taken that royal pence must remember that we are here to serve the people, not vice versa. Even or especially the King (OK so we don't really have a king in the US [yet, the millennia is young still] but you get the point). Meanwhile many of us are on a slippery slope and need help not falling into the abyss. And maybe we need to be there, to keep the ones who would be happy to jump into the abyss from getting thelr chance. So somebody throw me another rope. A.X. Peres
New Motto I am sure that I am not the first to be flabergasted by the results of the New Hampshire primary. Obviously the political composition of the state is quite different from what we have been led to believe. This state is NOT the remnants of liberty lovers. This is the state of willing and anxious slaves. The winners of the contest were the worst personification of evil that could have been chosen. I feel that the free state project has made a terrible choice for a home state. I think that the state motto should be changed from "Live Free or Die" to "Tread on Me". If this trend persists we should be prepared for universal ankle bracelets, a cold home, no car, and no voice. But mandatory state TV. Now, where have I read about this before... Charlie Acker
With the conclusion of Roswell, Texas, fans of L. Neil Smith's fiction will not have long to wait—in fact, only about 5 days—before they can enjoy yet another Smithian tale. TimePeeper a new graphic novel written by L. Neil Smith with art by Sherard Jackson, will debut on the Big Head Press web-site January 15, 2008. The URL will be released the day the site goes live. This new story presents the tale of three teen-aged friends living 75 years in the future, who have "borrowed" and then lost a time-traveling recorder device. To avoid being found out and sent to the iridium mines on Titan, they must travel back to 2005 and retrieve the gadget. Artist Sherard Jackson is a fresh young talent and devotee of "world manga" style art. He has contributed art to role game playing systems published by White Wolf, and various comic books including the "Cthulhu Tales: Tainted" one-shot from BOOM! Studios and the four-part "Assembly" series from Antarctic Press. Big Head Press has also announced that Roswell, Texas will be released as a trade paperback this June. But advance copies will be available for sale, and Smith will be available to sign them, at the Libertarian Party National Convention to be held in Denver on Memorial Day Weekend. L. Neil Smith
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