Things Vince wrote me, in chronological order. Any comments by me are preceded by "CB:" and in a different typeface (Courier New); I left a few typos and such uncorrected, simply in order to not touch the original text at all:

Give kitty a pat for me. :-)

Wish we had more time (and money) to visit you. In the meantime it will have to be cyber-pats for pussy. :-)

Excellent. Just let me know when you are ready. Glad that the crisis has been averted. Good to have friends in our cyber community.

Sorry to hear about Raffi's passing. 22 years is a pretty exceptional lifespan for a pussycat though. Love makes a big difference I think.

There are two kinds of bank robbers: people who rob banks, and banks that rob people. And there's a whole lot more of the latter then the former. :-)

I had assumed that you would be representing yourself as working on the ISIL Freedom Network. Sure reveal yourself—but don't go as far as Harry Potter. :-)

CB: Vince had previously been so kind as to send me *Warning! this unique picture, you unlikely will find uncensored anywhere on the Web; I have tried to find it, found it many times, but never in full splendor like this... ;-) For those still uninformed: The picture shows English actor Daniel Jacob Radcliffe of Harry Potter film fame, in a scene of Peter Shaffer's play "Equus" in a production at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End. It is scheduled to transfer to Broadway this autumn. *Do not look at this picture if you live in a country where the despots, sorry, the law imposes certain age limits or other restrictions. They must do that in order to rule. If I spend so many lines on this matter, it is because this is a libertarian site, and Vince was a libertarian, if there ever was one. When on Sundays, as Sunni Maravillosa and others have reported, he was "going to Church," he meant to the shooting range. So let those bickering Christian-Taliban hypocrites and bigots simply vaporize or choke to death on their own saliva...

Super neat column today. Great pix of critters—and nice commentaries—particularly Justin Raimondo's.

CB: Here Vince is referring to the following:
http://www.butterbach.net/...
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=7226

Lois is a long time friend. She used to operate an animal sanctuary on her ranch in northern California. An Australian (butch) dyke, she used to teach economics at San Francisco State University & send her students to our bookstore (when we operated Freedom's Forum Books in San Francisco) to buy copies of "Human Action" and "Mises Made Easy". She is an absolute character. At the beginning of the school year she would tell her students: "There are three things you need to know about me: 1. I'm a lesbian, 2. I'm an anarchist and 3. I'm a member of the National Rifle Association. This at a liberal college. :-) She's a real gun nut—but obviously not a hunter. When she moved to Virginia I drove truck for her from California—along with her three (huge) rottweilers.

Happy Easter backatcha. Will be busy searching for Easter Eggs this weekend (where's the papriika?)—but may squeeze some work into my schedule.

I recall a quote of a friend who was a journalist/humorist. He wrote: "The politicians in Washington DC are supposed to represent the people of this country. Sometimes one gets the ghastly feeling they do." :-) or make that :-(~

Very interesting. I'll definitely add this to my health research files.

CB: Here Vince is referring to some alternative health info (Dr. Tullio Simoncini, Rome, of the International Medical Veritas Association on Sodium Bicarbonate Lessons in Cancer and General pH Management) I had forwarded to him. His remark shows that he was quite open to alternative treatments and much interested in health research, though this might already have been obvious from the fact that he had opened the ISIL site to such considerations. The Medical Freedom Channel is one such instance among several. I therefore deeply regret that I have not continued and flooded him with more such information. He would have been better prepared when the crisis came.

Which Queen. There are so many of them. :-)

CB: You don't say! One of them was even sending me nasty "compliments" while you were in the coma...

OK. Didn't mean to snap the whip. :-)

If you could give us plug now and then on your site it would be very much appreciated.

Wow!! That's really neat. Love it. Thanks.

CB: The above is regarding
http://www.butterbach.net/...

Yeah, that's why I brought the subject up. OK will remove from copy. The war and foreign policy are definitely a divisive issue among libertarians. David Friedman told me that the split went right down the middle of his parent's dining room table with Milton opposed and Rose pro war. I think from what I've seen that the issue is one of irrational fear of the enemy—exacerbated by a constant torrent of racist scare propaganda in the media. Taking principled stands has hurt many of movement people—including us Bumper Hornberger's Future of Freedom Foundation etc. The bigger foundations in order to get big have done a lot of schmoozing with conservatives and pander to them in order to keep the bucks flowing. You won't find too many rich libertarians—particularly hardcore anarcho-capitalists. BTW you heard the joke about how to become a libertarian millionaire? You start out with two million. :-)

CB: I have nothing to add, sir! :-)

It's a bloody mess. I think someone out there is out to get us. :-)

CB: This was about some serious server problems.

Oh I'm fine for an old bugger. I turn 69 this year. Good number, eh? :-) My back isn't the greatest (if I was a horse it would be easy). :-) Other than that I'm in pretty good shape. It's the resveratol from all the red wine I drink. :-))

CB: Poor Vince, if only those doctors in the hospital had opened some of their best bottles (that Château Margaux they bought through Sotheby's...) for you instead of drinking them themselves and leaving you only that pharma stuff... :-)

It looks fine now—except for the first item "Global Resources" doesn't work. Thanks. Whew! For a moment I thought I might have destroyed the world. :-)

CB: Regarding some computer wizardry and those HTML shenanigans, two experts :-) working together should help each other where they can: No one knows all and no one is experienced with everything. Well, in this case, in that daily stress at headquarters, Vince had made one of those tiny mistakes happening so easily and being sort of inevitable in FTP-ing, but, in spite of being so tiny, still have the BIGGEST consequences. Fortunately, in not too many steps, I could help rather quickly and resurrect the large parts of the site that had gone... Vince was relieved indeed.

Maybe I should just throw in the towel and retire in fabulous luxury on the vast sums I've made as a libertarian activist. (Now you know I'm joking). :-)

Glad you are looking after so many details. The cleanup of the network has been a far bigger and more complicated job than any of us could have imagined—but then, it was neglected for years. In any case we seem to have found the best guy for the cleanup job. That's you. :-)

CB: Thanks, mister! Let's hope that the right people will listen to this!

Sounds like we're committed. :-)

CB: You may tell that to this mourning survivor in black veils... :-(

I'm down in the basement on the printing press today.

Your call—but I tend to think the more information the better—including some data of possible historical interest.

Also, the movement is in the doldrums. The LP is moribund and the members disillusioned & returning to their caves to lick their wounds.
Hey, I came to cheer you. :-)) What are friends for?

Ohmygod we now have prices on our heads. :-)) One suggestion. I don't think a negative piece should lead the discussion (however much I agree with [CB: snipped]). Would you bury this a bit deeper in that section?

[CB: snipped] don't laugh at this because being the dour, sour folks many of them are the poor things don't have a sense of humor.

In this context it means (roughly) approval, or recognition of your right to exist . They are always doing this. Arrogant, wot?

I was cleaning out my in-basket and found this message from (gasp)over a year ago. What do you think about their site?

Looks good to me too. Thanks for taking the trouble to check this out.

She is now living in Victoria. I visited her and [CB: snipped] earlier this year for a salmon barbecue. Yummmm.

CB: It is so utterly sad that it was not the salmon, but you this time who were roasted in that Vallejo barbecue joint and it sure wasn't yummy this time, neither for you nor for us. :-( All depends on the restaurant and the ingredients they use. Next time make a better choice. I want to be your Michelin Guide. There is one for San Francisco, as you should know. :-)

I guess we should be thankful for small mercies. :-)

This guy is a hoot. "Rebellion is easy, just get off your arse and shout BUGGER OFF." :-) What should he be listed under?

Yeah, what a shocker. I suspected murder as soon as I heard, but I guess it wasn't. A handsome dude, eh?

CB: The handsome dude is Heath Ledger of "Brokeback Mountain" and much other fame.

Hope you're feeling better. [snip] will go out on Monday. Anyway, the following organization seems like a rich source of info on Africa. What do you think?

Excellent. Good people. The beer is good too (Sam Adams). Bring back the Sons of Liberty!!

I was impressed with Nouh Harmouzi when I heard him speak at the Atlas Economic group in Philadelphia a few years back. A devilishly handsome fellow too. :-)

Hey, neat. I don't think it's too long.

CB: The above had been Vince's reaction to my following concern:

"If you can spare the time, please have a look at the following updated entry in the Network:

http://www.isil.org/network/...

It's almost an essay. I sometimes get carried away [and the directory becomes a blog ;-)], when again I have encountered a good important link that has become broken and nothing more can be done than to link to an old archive in the Internet Archive. So I do some research and try to improve on the informational value of the entry. Some may not like it. As some do not like it hot, but cooler. :-)

You are a cool person and like it hot, so I hope to get away with it. If not, the staff at my complaint desk is in. Though at a rate somewhat different from the one of Lucy in Peanuts. :-)"

The cool, kind man who likes it hot, is not anymore, except in his great work and in our sweet memories.

Our dialog has been cruelly interrupted.

<to be continued>

Copyright © 2008 Christian Butterbach—and Vince Miller ;-)

Reprinted with the kind permission of Christian Butterbach from
www.butterbach.net/vince/homage.htm