Archive for July, 2006

Lockdown!

Posted in Random Thoughts by R Lee Wrights on July 31st, 2006

by Don Meinshausen

We have been under a state of siege for a while.  You could say we have been sent to our rooms for being naughty.  They don’t tell us why these things happen, they just happen.

As near as I can figure out the new warden issued a new set of rules that were a little more obnoxious than the usual petty bullshit.  They cut evening visiting hours, limited how many sets of underwear people can have and more of the usual “necessary rules for the order of the prison.”  Now some people, including some of the black inmates, said the warden was compensating for being black, short and maybe even gay.  I don’t know if this is true.  Ask Condoleezza Rice.

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A Good Week In The House

Posted in Press Releases by R Lee Wrights on July 30th, 2006

On Tuesday, GOA-supported legislation passed the House of Representatives by a whopping 322-99 vote. The bill — introduced by Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) — is similar to the Vitter amendment which passed the Senate earlier this month.

GOA has kept its members abreast of Jindal’s important bill (HR 5013), as it would legislatively block federal agents from confiscating firearms during an emergency. Jindal’s language would even give aggrieved gun owners a cause of action in federal court to recover their firearms and would recompense victorious plaintiffs for their attorney’s fees.

Both the House and Senate have passed Emergency Protection language, albeit in different forms. So GOA will keep you updated on progress related to this important legislation.

You can go to http://www.clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll401.xml to see how your Representative voted on the Jindal bill.

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NC Stumbles Toward Democracy

Posted in Back Door Politics by R Lee Wrights on July 30th, 2006

by Tom Howe, LPNC Press Secretary
 

Is your view represented somewhere on the ballot?  Perhaps an independent candidate, a citizen’s initiative, or a third party choice would be good?  Forget it!  The legislature closes this year with two timid baby steps toward open democracy, while leaving onerous barriers to any choices outside …themselves.  This fall, 65 of the 120 NC House districts have only one candidate and 23 of 50 NC Senate districts have only one candidate.

With costly barriers to independent and third party candidates among the harshest in the nation, North Carolina found itself on the losing end of one lawsuit and litigating another.  Perhaps that was the impetus behind House Bill 88, now awaiting the governor’s signature.  Assuming the bill is signed, independent candidates will “only” be treated as harshly as third parties.  The only third party to regularly achieve ballot access in North Carolina, the Libertarians, often spent nine months and $100,000 on the effort.  No third party or independent candidate has ever met the current signature requirement without the use of professional petitioners.

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North Dakota Shared Parenting Initiative Will Help Children of Divorce

Posted in Liberated Musings by R Lee Wrights on July 26th, 2006

by Mike McCormick and Glenn Sacks
 
 
A misguided collection of federal and state officials, divorce attorneys and women’s advocates have all united to oppose a simple proposition: children need both parents.
 
The North Dakota Shared Parenting Initiative is based on the belief that all parents have a fundamental liberty interest in the care and custody of their children, and that no fit parent can lawfully be denied custody of his or her children. Under the Initiative, when family law courts adjudicate a divorce, unless there is clear and convincing evidence that a mother or father is unfit, all parents will have joint legal and physical custody of their children.

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We Need to Talk

Posted in Liberty's Lady by R Lee Wrights on July 26th, 2006

by Lady Liberty

When people notice that the government is trampling all over their rights, they don’t like it much. They protest. They make calls and write letters. Horror of horrors, they show up in their representatives’ offices or speak up at public meetings and demand explanations and relief. Sometimes, they even vote en mass and craft change as a result. When people notice that the government is trampling all over their rights, they jump up and down until it stops - or at least until they’re offered some kind of mitigation (all too often mere sops, but the point is still valid).

Sometimes, though, the abridgement of freedom is far more subtle (actually, perhaps “insidious” would be a better word when we consider the probable end results of such subtle abridgements). Those are the times when only parts of rights are curbed or taken, and when the government has a reason for it that enough people are willing to buy that the abridgements stick. We can hold up the infringements of the Fourth Amendment in connection with the “war on terror,” for example.

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Portland and the LP Platform: The Perfect Storm

Posted in Sound Off Soapbox by R Lee Wrights on July 26th, 2006

by George Squyres, Chair, Platform Committee
 
Since the Libertarian National Convention held in Portland July 1&2 ended, my inbox has been filled with everything from media inquiries wanting a copy of the new platform, to laments about the implosion and death of the Libertarian Party to simple inquiries about what happened in Portland that resulted in the removal of 56 planks from the LP Platform.  With much of this I can tell you quite a bit of what has gone on, a few parts I can speak to as one who has worked on the project of redeveloping the platform since before the ‘02 convention in Indy and with the rest I am only speculating as an individual and your guess is as good as mine.

First, there is more disinformation out there than fact, so to clear up some confusion, let’s get the facts straight. There were only six planks retained unchanged from the original Atlanta Platform. Those were (old numbering) I.1 Freedom and Responsibility, I.4 The War on Drugs, I.10 Freedom of Communication, I.11 Freedom of Religion, I.13 The Right to Privacy and I.16 The Right to Keep and Bear Arms.  These now appear in the Portland Platform, along with nine planks that were passed by the convention delegates.  Five of those nine were consolidations of twelve previous planks, while four were rewrites of individual planks that the Platform Committee considered high priority.

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