RichmondLiberty.org

Tuesday November 6 is election day. Please make sure you go and vote (even if you have to write in someone).

Nov 6 is also the first Tuesday of the month, which means the Patrick Henry Supper Club will meet. Due to the election the PHSC will start a 7:30pm instead of its normal time. Please use this extra time to help out at the polls.

The PHSC will meet at its usual location, Eastern Buffet, 7586 W. Broad St. Richmond, VA 23294
(in Merchants Walk Shopping Center).

We look forward to seeing everyone on Nov 6.

Posted by Leonard Harris at 04:36 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Matt Martin needs election day volunteers. Even if you can only work the polls for an hour it will help.

We have three jobs on election day:
Put up signs at the polls (preferably early in the morning)
Hand out sample ballots (Before work, lunch time, and after work are very important)
Pull up signs after the polls close

Contact info@matthewtmartin.com if you can help.

Posted by Leonard Harris at 04:33 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Dennis Lennox is a junior at Central Michigan University where he is president of the CMU Young Americans for Freedom and Students Against Gary Peters, the target of his political crusade. Clips of his paparazzi-style tactics are being posted all over the web, as he follows Peters with a video camera and takes it into the school offices where Dean Pamela Gates physically lashes out at him.*

This use of free speech seems unprecedented for a student, in an institution that is accustomed to treating adults like children behind closed doors. Although students are noted protesters around the world they are expected to waive their citizenship and be submissive toward their academic superiors, most of them living on their parents' dime with nowhere else to go. Now the faces of their "educators" are on public display for what they really are (the dean's ugliness and violence reminds me of my own enrollment). Youtube and other video portals, like all new technologies, revive equality like shining a flashlight in a dark cave (just as they have affected the presidential campaign).

Lennox's cause is actually Prof. Peters' campaign for public office while remaining a prominent member of the faculty even though he teaches class only once a week. Lennox says "I'm speaking for the hundreds of students, alumni, taxpayers and even legislators who have complained because Gary Peters won't pick between Congress and campus.".* (Peters is a democrat and Lennox a conservative republican.) Personally I don't see anything wrong with keeping one's day job while campaigning, it would certainly be the least of academic mischiefs. If he is breaking his commitment to teaching it assumes that commitment itself is not bogus (much like the commitment to public office). Lennox is not antiacademic and even goes so far as to tell Peters he will attend his courses himself if the prof will return fulltime.* The school is now citing him for distributing anti-Peters flyers during one of the professor's forums, to which he responds "I'm flabbergasted my school is seeking retribution against me".**

He may be a proud member of the student body but Lennox is acting like a citizen and administrations don't like that. They can take away everything he has built for himself, it's just a matter of majority vote. They require no logic to chew him up and spit him out. Until people realize "education" is not in their own hands they will continue to walk into this trap. Hopefully his efforts will start a trend in all campuses until students realize they are citizens with no more reason to take abuse than the patrons of any other institution. Then school officials will plot specifically against student citizenship and expose themselves as un-American. Blogs about Dennis can be found through this portal, along with his videos. Many kudos to him.

*http://news.aol.com/story/_a/student-hounds-professor-seeking-office/20071025091409990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
**http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/base/politics-1/119336156676330.xml&storylist=newsmichigan

Question of the Week: How should student civic movements be organized so that they can't simply be shut down by the school? Should they be run by a non-student? Off campus? Should membership be secret so individual members are not targeted and their futures jeopardized? Send your thoughts to russo@richmondliberty.org.

If you have topics of interest to libertarians please let us know. We welcome your input!

Posted by Robert Russo at 09:03 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

by Robert Russo

Technology is regaled, and yet it does not give us better judgment, self-sufficiency or wisdom. Instead of having fewer models, less maintenance and less waste we have more than ever. Rather than simplifying our lives they are more complicated, greater information leaving us with more questions, empowerment increasing our dependency. Science fiction of the 1950's and 60's describes technology uniting mankind, supercomputers maintaining themselves, extra-terrestrials warning us to end wars, home life a carefree simplicity. This purpose does not exist. Technology is an extension of individual human ambitions over other men, seeking to divide us, enslave us and ultimately destroy us. Medical technology is a prime example. The definition of health used to be the betterment of our lives within the natural cycle, not the prolonging of life beyond its usefulness.

Much as we are born helpless and without rights, targets of untold political motives until we come of age, imagine if citizenship had an "expiration date" reducing us to nonentities again, an expected financial burden on every family. What institution would not try to exploit us? Incentives to live longer are a dime a dozen: more time to start over, build one's investments further, participate in events that would normally fall to the next generation. These two endzones of life expand until actual living is minimized to about 10 years or so (say the decade in which a President is not considered "too old" or "too young").

At the last National Jamboree I saw two old ladies crossing the street, and instead of a scout helping them, they were helping each other and wore security hats and jackets. Men the age of David Letterman and James Taylor are starting a second family. 60 is the new 50 and 30 the new 20. In whatever social events you participate (company socials, charity fundraisers etc.), have you noticed that instead of the ranks being passed down to younger people the grey hairs just seem to multiply? Many of the health care workers in nursing homes are the same age as their senile patients. Even in physical responsibilities such as lifeguarding, whitewater rafting on the James and emergency response teams that were once exclusively young men, the most certified swimmer is likely to be a woman in her fifties.

The Baby Boomers are the first generation extended by science, into the life, times and jobs that rightfully belong to generations X and Y. This reduces them to a child generation denied their inheritance, unable to influence events or make life investments while in their prime. Meanwhile our culture is advancing to where mid-20th Century views no longer apply, and in lesser countries where the wheel is still turning, one empowered generation here will equal two of theirs (if we were not godlike already). Postponing opportunities to later in life won't make young people aspire to be old no matter how much you glamorize it; they still can't relate so those goals will simply be lost.

In all traditional cultures the elders are a small group within the community that gives needed advice from experience. This reverence loses its meaning when it is monopolized into the majority of the community. Also there is such thing as having too much knowledge, as sci-fi tells us of humans and machines trying to increase their intellect and becoming the antichrist. Imagine if people from the Civil War era were still around today with their antebellum political motives.

Whenever this subject is raised older people take offense as if they've been targeted personally, so here are some considerations. Everyone eventually becomes dependent on people younger than themselves, so it is in their own best interests to foresee this and manage their future. It would be hard for a society to function if 80% of citizens were over 50. The more elite a group is the better they are treated. This is not a call to try to change factors out of our control, but a lifestyle of eating what you want, living for the moment, setting goals for the natural prime of life, is almost a guarantee of never being senile. Being aware of your place in the world instead of hogging capital as if you can take it with you is a safeguard against being swindled and your desires used against you. How you are treated in old age should be earned by the way you've lived.

Baby Boomers were one of the most rebellious generations and would not be where they are today if the generation before them hadn't relinquished the keys. Most people don't knowingly take a second helping if it means someone else won't get their first. Life belongs to the living, people of any age who respect it and allow all life to have its day in the sun.

If you have opinions to add to this thread send them to russo@richmondliberty.org. We welcome your input!
 

Posted by Robert Russo at 08:34 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

I'm sure that many Richmond area libertarians are amazed at the buzz Ron Paul's campaign for President is generating. Paul recently passed the $5 million mark, raising more so far than former front runner John McCain. Now there's an effort to coordinate what is probably the largest public fundraising drive for a political candidate in a single day on November 5th (the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot).

ThisNovember5th.com is an effort to get 100,000 people to pledge $100 to the Paul campaign on November 5th. Raising $10 million in one day from the general electorate would be an unprecedented example of spontaneous grassroots support for any candidate, let alone one with a libertarian political agenda. It would also demonstrate to all the naysayers in the elite political and media establishments that Paul is truly electable.

Libertarians have a unique opportunity right now to help make history. If you support Ron Paul and can afford it, please add your name to the list of pledgers today!

Posted by Jeremy Weiland at 04:30 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

http://www.timesdispatch.com/cva/ric/news/community/henrico.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-10-19-0204.html

Ironically Supervisor Pat O'Bannon appears to be the source of this inquiry.

Posted by Robert Russo at 12:36 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

> A cannibal was walking through the jungle and came upon
> a restaurant operated by a fellow cannibal. Feeling somewhat
> hungry, he sat down and looked over the menu...
>
> + Tourist: $5
> + Broiled Missionary: $10.00
> + Fried Explorer: $15.00
> + Baked Democrat or Grilled Republican: $100.00

> The cannibal called the waiter over and asked,
> 'Why such a price difference for the politicians?'
> The cook replied, "Have you ever tried to clean one?
> They're so full of s***, it takes all morning.

Posted by WizeMaxie at 11:47 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/id/200710090.asp

HSLDA posted this interesting article about homeschooling in the state of Idaho, one of the few states left in which there is no government regulation of home-based education. Tax credits are being offered to homeschoolers without telling them it may lead to "accountability". HSLDA is opposing this saying "Our precious freedoms are too valuable to be traded for government assistance.".* This is a very libertarian position for an organization that normally pushes for homeschool assistance. In what other areas could tax relief be offered to us as a ruse for more government control?

*http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/id/200710090.asp

Posted by Robert Russo at 04:16 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

by Robert Russo

As Virginia Tech becomes an increasing battlefield over how to deal with student violence all over the country, fifty relatives of the victims and three survivors are now pushing congress to further refine the criteria of background checks when buying a handgun, specifically mental health history.* Most Richmond libertarians and affiliates look to VCDL and other sources for info like Students for Concealed Carry on Campus founded by senior Andrew Dysart, so news of what the opposition is doing is only reported in protestation; or else it is assumed that it is everywhere, a natural reflex of the majority in their campaign for gun control that never abates; or something besides what it actually is (and it doesn't help when gun control advocates themselves misstate their issue).

The letter states "Every day that passes, dangerous people, who our laws have determined should not have guns, may be arming themselves…".* This is a sensible concern to anyone who agrees people like Seung-Hui Cho should not be armed, in fact it hurts the gun rights movement not to set apart people like Cho. That separation will lead to a distinction in the public mind between qualified gun owners and criminals. It is only when all gun owners are labeled "dangerous people" that the words have no meaning. When such judgment is lumped into the Brady Campaign it loses its integrity and we disagree where law-abiding citizens would otherwise concur. A similar bill sponsored by the NRA passed the House and is now stalled in the Senate over spending questions.* Permit holders should be at the forefront of the discussion on keeping those permits out of the hands of terrorists, it is to their own credit that they do so, so if these two groups within Virginia Tech could agree on basic tenets of mental illness it would set an example for all campuses.

If not, this rift will mark every school where any semblance of peace and tolerance still exists. Now "student militias" are forming in colleges like Georgetown.** Every gun carrier has non-carrying friends who don't overstate their preference, but families of murder victims have the justification they need for almost any course, much like James Brady and his wife. Anger destroys tolerance. Finding common ground fights intolerance and violence.

Civilian militias are a good idea (so long as they aren't actual militias that can be manipulated), but we have all seen the hand of fate that majority rule eventually brings down on any minority. Every individual gun owner sooner or later finds himself standing alone. Joint legislation and unity can change this, association with solutions instead of the problem, until misgivings about open carry are reduced to the private preference they are. Of course the simplest way to rid institutions of violence is to get rid of the institution. Schools are a breeding ground, a powder keg waiting to explode. Twelve family members of the victims are supposed to speak at a news conference at the Capitol today. There is more on this story at http://www.timesdispatch.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-10-16-0150.html.

*http://www.timesdispatch.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-10-16-0150.html
** http://www2.vcdl.org/cgi-bin/wspd_cgi.sh/vcdl/vadetail.html?RECID=1846048&FILTER=

Question of the Week: What situation would be best for extending an olive branch between advocates of gun rights and gun control, to rid this debate of unnecessary grudges and slander? Communion between victims of violence and their families? Student societies? People from opposing sides who have solid friendships? Send your opinions to russo@richmondliberty.org.

If you have topics of interest to libertarians please let us know. We welcome your input!

Posted by Robert Russo at 04:03 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

From VCDL's VA-ALERT

The Million Mom March/Bady Campaign is planning a protest this
Saturday at the C & E Gun Show at the Showplace in Richmond. They
are planning a "lie-in" (boy, isn't THAT the truth!) at noon near the
building. They plan on having women dressed in black to lie down for
two-minutes to represent how long it took Cho to get his guns.

I am going to have fun with this one! Cho had to wait THIRTY DAYS to
get his 9 MM pistol. More proof that gun control is a joke. Anyway,
I hope these women bring warm bedding for the month that they should
be lying there. ;-)

I plan on talking to the press (if any shows up) and our Executive
members are discussing some possible counter-protests, like a
stand-in representing those students who might be alive today if
they, or other law-abiding students or teachers, had been armed on
that fateful day.

The irony of this is that Steve Elliott, who runs C & E, is willing
to honor the MMM's First Amendment right at the gun show, even though
he could legally ban them from the property, as it is privately
owned. If only the MMM hypocrites could honor the Second Amendment
the same way.

Steve is going to offer to let any of the protesters in for free so
they can see a gun show for themselves. I hope they go in - they
will be quite surprised by what they see.

While we are at it, let's pack that gun show to support C & E.

And on a final note, while the MMM's wish list for gun control would
actually make crime worse if implemented, they have a right to their
beliefs and it is important that we honor that right. That means
being polite to them, while letting the media know that the MMMs are
simply wrong on the issues.

[Editor's Note: The LP still needs volunteers to help at the gun show. See http://www.richmondliberty.org/mt/2007/10/gun_show_oct_20_21.php for more details ]

Posted by Leonard Harris at 07:27 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The Henrico Business Council (http://www.grcc.com/page/name/business_councils_henrico) is sponsoring a debate for the Henrico County Supervisor Candidates.

Oct 30
Henrico Candidates' Forum
Event starts at 06:30 pm on October 30th
J. Sargeant Reynolds Community Coll
Georgiadis Hall - 1651 E. Parham Rd
Richmond, VA 23228

More details at: http://www.grcc.com/page/name/locality_events (scroll down a lot)

Posted by Leonard Harris at 08:09 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

From: Roy B. Scherer

At 7 pm on the 11th, there will be a debate on "Drug
Decriminalization". The pro side will be upheld by Doug Husak of
Rutgers, while David Krahl of DrugFree America will oppose the
proposition. This should be hugely entertaining, and even enlghtening.
It will be held at the Business Auditorium of VCU, at 1015 Floyd.

Admission is free to all.

Posted by Leonard Harris at 08:02 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Help spread the message of freedom and liberty at the upcoming gunshow.

Once again the Libertarian Party has a table and we need your help to keep it staffed.

Please contact gunshow@richmondliberty.org if you would like to help.

Location:
The Showplace
3000 Mechanicsville Turnpike.

Shifts:
9:00-1:00 and 1:00-5:00 on Saturday
10:00-1:30 and 1:30-5:00 on Sunday

Posted by Leonard Harris at 07:56 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

by Robert Russo

Libertarian wisdom is absent in today's government so we are often forced to fight an institution by backing another institution. Democrat vs. Republican, Mayor vs. City Council, public vs. private schools, these old foes are almost friends in their prevention of public intervention and solutions with their constant stalemate. Imagine you are a student wanting a useful education, and you are presented with two textbooks one of which has only even-numbered pages and the other only odd-numbered pages, and you must choose between them. That is the equation this battle has become. The fight the school board appeared to be losing has transformed into a course that will shape the future of how Richmond government works.

The funding that started the school board's attacks on Mayor Wilder passes through City Council so I for one presumed the mayor and the council were on the same side in that fight (if the council had misgivings it would have been bigger news than the school board fighting him by itself). But since the eviction of the school board from City Hall on Sept. 21 and its swift repeal, they are opposing Wilder under the lead of council president William J. Pantele, who called it "a really bleak day for Richmond"*. The objections they've had to an elected mayor from the start have found a new aspect. Last week the State Supreme Court upheld that the mayor and his top aides can be sued by city council.**

Now some might consider this ruling a separate issue, stemming from a much older grudge than the education debate. The same could be said of the eviction, which has been deferred until November 30, considering the school board has been renting their offices in City Hall at just $10 a year, essentially for free, during a time in which they were suing the mayor at astronomical taxpayer expense.***

Many mayors have seized academic control over their cities in recent years, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty running on the platform of his takeover which he brought about six months after taking office.**** We oppose dictatorial regimes whether it be classroom influence or executive power, so is their war a good or bad thing? Most of us would probably wield executive privilege to change things, but Doug Wilder is not a libertarian and he's not antiacademic, he has only a slightly different take from his opponents over things like spending. Several of the opinions I've seen are centrist, i.e. "a plague on both their houses", and this curious article which praises both Wilder and the school board including political enemies George Braxton and Keith West, calling for an end to this nonsense.***** But there is a great deal more to be said. Consider these possible outcomes...

1. Judge Margaret Spencer decided not the simple question of the Mayor's jurisdiction as asked, but postponed the eviction on the grounds that "there is substantial harm to [the school system] that has occurred and could possibly occur in the future".****** Let's say the school board is not just evicted or appointed but completely disbanded. How much of a beating can an institution take, in accordance with the law, and still be resurrected with logic such as this? Will loyal justices simply pardon each other as they make policy, until they are writing curriculum themselves?

2. If a mayor defeats both the school board and City Council hands down, making them irrelevant, imagine what form executive privilege would take in cities that have more politically overt leadership than Mr. Wilder. It would become a feud between federal and local executive privilege.

3. If the school board won a suit against mayoral or council jurisdiction there would no longer be anything to stop them. They would have the governmental authority they've always wanted, appointing their own examiners, dictating education and drawing funds directly from the taxpayer. Even if they only won the right to remain at City Hall it would be a thumb constantly in the face of city government.

4. Now that City Council is allowed to sue the mayor, a successful lawsuit could be inevitable, destroying him and the elected mayoral process itself.

The opinion I would be most interested in is that of Keith West, proud infiltrator of the school board who fought their chairman and financial plans seemingly in conjunction with the Mayor, though perhaps for different reasons. In the photos of the eviction chaos he has a rather bewildered look on his face. West says "It seems pretty clear to me that city council's intention was for us to stay here. So, it can only be a surprise that we are being forcibly relocated."******* Simple words from a normally outspoken political shaker caught in a strange situation.

It's hard to play the game when we know what the real feud is. All those in power are against all those without it. No matter which side wins the people will not have a say. So what lesser goals or opportunity to avoid something worse will fall within our grasp? There is a timeline of Mayor Wilder's dealings with the school board at http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/search.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-08-12-0259.html. Stay tuned for the next phase of this ordeal after November 30th. My original article can be read here.

*http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-09-22-0232.html
**http://www.timesdispatch.com/cva/ric/news/cityhall.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-10-01-0243.html
***http://www.timesdispatch.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-09-24-0153.html
****http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/search.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-08-12-0259.html
*****http://floricane.typepad.com/buttermilk/2007/09/richmond-govern.html
the real feud
******http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/search.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-09-27-0206.html
*******http://www.nbc12.com/news/state/9934947.html

If you have opinions to add to this thread send them to russo@richmondliberty.org. We welcome your input!

Posted by Robert Russo at 10:00 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)