Freedom Network News (December 1995)

CONTENTS:

  1. Inspiration from “Who Is Ayn Rand”;
  2. Classified advertising;
  3. Roger Douglas on the New Zealand “Miracle”;
  4. ISIL’s world wide web site now operational;
  5. ISIL Athens 1995 conference report;
  6. Congress Launches All-Out Attack on Basic Freedoms;
  7. ISIL international report;
  8. Letters to the Editor;
  9. Minuteman Declaration;
  10. The “Neverendum” On Quebec Secession;
  11. News From Across the U.S.;

FREEDOM NETWORK NEWS

December 1995

Editor: Vincent H. Miller
Assistant Editors: James R. Elwood, Anton Sherwood, Tim Starr, Mark Valverde
1800 Market St., San Francisco, CA 94102 • Tel: (415) 864-0952 Fax: (415) 864-7506 • CompuServe 71034,2711 • BBS (415) 864-0908

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Inspiration From “Who Is Ayn Rand”

by Barbara Branden

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At ISIL’s World Conference in Athens, Greece this past October, Barbara Branden and ISIL Director Bruce Evoy both agreed, in the course of a discussion on inspirational literature, that the following excerpt from the long out-of-print “Who Is Ayn Rand” was their favorite – by far the most memorable part of this book.
It is here reprinted with express permission of the author and is dedicated to the heroic among us who struggle against similar adversity – as did Ayn Rand.

It was a world of irresistible gaiety. It was made of the music that tinkled arrogantly against crystal ovals of brilliance strung across the vast solemnity of the ceiling – music that danced defiantly on the soft, faded elegance of velvet drapery and on the stern white marble of glistening walls – music that surged upward through the stately grandeur of the opera house, carrying, in its rise, the laughter of a weightless exultation. It was made of graceful bodies whirling in effortless motion on a stage held in light rays, of silk gowns and radiant smiles and gleaming top hats – against the backdrop of a huge window which framed the painted image of lighted streets and the skyscrapers of a foreign city, sparkling and beckoning in the distance.
Beyond the walls of the theater – beyond the reach of the operetta – was a city of unending grayness: the grayness of crumbling buildings and crumbling souls, of stooped shoulders and bread lines and ration cards, of chronic hunger and chronic despair and the odor of disinfectants, of steel bayonets and barbed wire, and marching feet moving in a grim parade of death to sudden arrests in the night, of weary men crushed to their knees under waving flags and clenched fists. Only the flags and the fists relieved the grayness: the fists were stained, by a different dye, the same red as the flags. The city was Petrograd. The year was 1922.
A slender young girl with large eyes sat high in the last balcony of the opera house, leaning forward tensely, listening to the meaning of the most ecstatic sounds she had ever heard. The bright notes sparkling and leaping in the air around her and the reckless gaiety of the scene spread out on the stage below, were carrying a message to her, and a promise. They told her there was a sunlit, carefree world – a world of unobstructed action, of unobstructed fulfilment – somewhere beyond the dark night and the darker horrors, and it waited only for her to claim it. She listened with grave solemnity to the promise – and she gave a promise in return: that if she could not be the physical citizen of that glittering world, she would be its spiritual citizen. She took her oath of allegiance, with passionate dedication – with the gay score of an operetta as the holy bible on which she swore – an oath never to let the reality of her true homeland be dimmed by the gray exhaustion of a life lived under the alien weight of the ugly, the sordid, the tragic; to hold the worship of joy as her shield against the sunless murk around her; to keep burning within her that fuel which alone could carry her to the world she had to reach, the fuel which had kept her moving through her seventeen years: the sense of life as an exalted, demanding, triumpant adventure.
Thirty-five years later, and more than five thousand miles away, the young girl was to erect a monument to that music, and to the sense of life she had never lost or betrayed. The monument was Atlas Shrugged. The girl was Ayn Rand.

 

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

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Attention International Survivalists. Live Free, Intl. provides a big information packed, monthly survival and self-reliance newsletter plus organizing and networking support now at 25% off the normal rates. I year $15.00 USA, Canada, Mexico, $18.75 Europe, Asia, etc. Live Free, P.O. Box 1743, Harvey, IL 60628, USA. Don’t Wait.
Ayn Rand Video: Phil Donahue interviews Ayn Rand at Madison Square Garden. Fascinating repartee, unique insight into the mind and personality of the famous philosopher. Probably her best video appearance. Also: Donahue interviews Milton Friedman on publication of “Free to Choose.” Both outstanding interviews on one VHS video. Mention ISIL for special price of $24.95 ($29.95 outside of USA). Price includes shipping, sales tax). Send payment to “No Free Lunch Distributors,” 2219 West Olive Avenue, Suite 218, Burbank, California 91506 (allow 4 weeks for delivery).
Ballot Access News, newsletter of the struggle to end official USA government discrimination against political parties other than the Democratic and Republican Parties. Subscribe for only $7 per year ($12 overseas, airmail) for 13 issues. P.O. Box 470296, San Francisco, CA 94123. Phone (415) 922-9779.
Claustrophobia, a philosophical libertarian journal. Published monthly. $10/year ($20/overseas), $1 sample. 400 N. High St. #137, Columbus, OH 43215. For sample copy, send 29-cent stamp. Also looking for contributors.
Conus Helmetus: This popular three-color map of the Continental US (CONUS) shows helmet laws across the country. One glance says it all. Send $9 check or money order (10% of proceeds go to established freedom organizations) to DC Findlay, P.O. Box 44988, Washington, DC 20026
Did Gun Control In Germany Start With Hitler? You be the judge, read “Gun Control in Germany 1928-1945” by William L. Pierce. Write to National Vanguard Books, Dept NJ, P.O. Box 330, Hillsboro, WV 24946, for ordering information.
Discover the secrets of dual nationality and obtain ultimate privacy for yourself and your assets. Learn how to avoid taxes, wars, currency controls and red tape. Also hundreds of other explosive facts and insights are revealed to make you richer and more powerful. Yes, I would like to receive a free brochure and privacy newsletter that reveals all! Write to: Scope, Box No. 4343, 62 Murray Road, Waterlooville, PO8 9JL Great Britain. Tel: 44 705 592255 Fax: 44 705 591975.
“Egghead libertarian intellectuals” read the only publication that takes libertarian ideas seriously enough to debate them and test their limits. In Critical Review, the best free-market scholars in the world debate eminent writers of other persuasions in every social science. Forthcoming and recent authors: James Buchanan, Harold Demsetz, Roger Garrison, Nathan Glazer, John Gray, Robert Higgs, Charles Kindleberger, Israel Kirzner, Leszek Kolakowski, Donald McCloskey, Charles Murray, Jan Narveson, Richard Posner, Anna Schwartz, David Ramsay Steele, James Q. Wilson. Four 160-pp. issues/year. $15 students with copy of ID; nonstudents: $29 U.S., $35 foreign, $50 foreign air; check, m.o., or Visa/MC number and expiration date to: P.O. Box 1254, Dept. I, Danbury, CT 06813, USA; (203) 794-1312; [email protected]
Free Cassette Tape, “Who Stole America’s Health?” by Dr. Erwin Gemmer, tells you how to get: more consistent physical and mental energy all day long; greater mental clarity, memory, concentration; improve your attitude and eliminate mood swings; relax more and reduce your stress level; look & feel better & have a greater sense of well-being; improved digestion and assimilation of food; lose weight by reducing junk food cravings; heightened self-healing and accelerated recovery time. Send $2 for shipping and handling to Free Health Tape Offer, 113 Elm Street, Stoneham, MA 02180
Free Money, Free Banking. Money and Debt: A Solution to the Global Crisis describes the true nature of money, how it’s created and extinguished, how official money pumps wealth form the middle class to the rich ($10 ppd). New Money for Healthy Communities shows how voluntary local groups can create exchange alternatives that are equitable, effective, and liberating ($18.95 ppd.). Free information. Thomas H. Greco, Publisher, P.O. Box 42663, Tucson, Arizona 85733.
Freedom Lovers Connection. Tired of fighting the battle alone? Contact other singles who are aware, active, concerned, and knowledgeable about patriot movement, liberty, Constitution, politics, Second Amendment, and restoring America and personal freedoms. For free information, write today: FLC, P.O. Box 987 Dept. IS, Alamogordo, NM 88311
Extropy: The Journal of Transhumanist Thought is a high-IQ publication with deep thoughts on futurist topics: Transhumanist philosophy, physical immortality, intelligence augmentation, artificial life intelligence/persons, nanotechnology, spontaneous order, cryptoanarchy, free communities, human-computer integration, self-transformation, ultimate limits of physics, Hans Moravec, articles, reviews. $4.50 for sample of #10; $13.50 for 3 issues sub. ($15 Canada; $22 overseas) from Extropy Institute, P.O. Box 57306, Los Angeles, CA 90057-0306. 213-484-6383 [email protected].
How Are You Unique? The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator proves we libertarians are different! How do others perceive and mis-perceive you? What can you do about it? Complete indicator and personality feedback session only $150. Full no-questions-asked money-back guarantee. Doug Thorburn, (818) 360-0985 or P.O. Box 7301, Van Nuys, CA 91409
Keep What You Own: Protect Your Money, Property, and Family From Courts, Creditors, and the IRS, a 161 page book, is $19.50 (including shipping & handling) from: Paladin Press, Box 1307, Boulder, CO 80306. Visa or MasterCard customers may call 1-800-392-2400
Learn about Common Law Business Trusts: Operate your business, protect your assets, increase privacy. Can be used anywhere. This is how wealthy people do it. Send $20 to Business Alternatives, 750 Cone Avenue, Cañon City, Colorado 81212 for three essay package produced by professionals. Includes sample declaration and legal references.
Libertarians Wanted to live in Fort Collins, Colorado. For information send $1.00 and SASE to: Mary Margaret Glennie, FREEDOM NOW, 1317 Lakewood Dr., Fort Collins, Colorado 80521 USA.
Lithuanian Free Market Foundation is a recently-established organization promoting the ideas of liberty and capitalism in Lithuania. Being genuine libertarians, we do not ask for your help and support. Just loan a sum of money to us – the interest rate per annum is 20-30 per cent. For more details call us: Tel/Fax: (370-2) 624218.
My body has abandoned me but my brain has not. Seeking thinking libertarians for light, friendly mental sparring (use it or lose it). Some subjects are boring but none are taboo. Mathematics and professional sports make good sleep aids. Philosophy, skepticism, the sciences and history are candy for the soul. All letters will be answered. Alice Jukes, 107 Morning Glory Drive, Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 USA
Now unreduced print in The (Libertarian) Connection, open-forum magazine since 1968. Subscribers may insert two pages/issue free, unedited. Lots of stimulating conversation. Eight issues (year) $20. 101 South Whiting, #700J, Alexandria, VA 22304.
Offshore Corporations, asset protection trusts, tax planning by American-qualified CPA. Entities in most tax haven jurisdictions can be administered at low cost from Panama. For information on services offered write to: The Harris Organization, Attn: Traditional Client Services, Apartado Postal 6-1097, Panama 6, Panama.
Pursue High-Earning Career in the health field. Easily become certified primary health care provider. Operate from your home. Free booklet: Never be Sick Again! Reveals totally effective health system. Overcome ailments naturally. Wellness Network, W1P-1, Wellsboro, PA 16901
Restore The Bill of Rights with Fully Informed Juries. When you serve on a jury, vote your conscience. You cannot be punished for your verdict. Call 1-800-’’TEL-JURY’’ for recorded message.
Stanczyk has been published since 1986. It is the oldest Polish journal edited by Polish defenders of laissez-faire capitalism. We have been looking for people, organizations, foundations, ready to give us any help in publishing our journal. The contact with the editorial board is: STANCZYK, ul. St. Pietaka 9, 51-140, Wroclaw, Poland.
TERRA LIBRA! Freedom-boggling breakthrough! Free and enrich yourself with Freedom Technology. Personal Power beats bureaucrats. Free Details. ZENO Press, Box 170-I, Sedalia, CO 80135
The Voluntaryist, edited and published by Carl Watner since 1982. The only pure free-market newsletter to eschew electoral politics and violent revolution. $18 for 6 issues/yearly (add $5 overseas). For Table of Contents and sample copy send $5 or $1 per sample issue. Box 1275, Gramling SC 29348
The Philosophy of Firearms: Reality and the Right to Arms ? Philosophical foundation of the right to arms. Liberal and conservative movements incompatible with the right to arms. Right to bear nukes? Rebellion? Civil disobedience? Gun Control Mentality. Irrationality of Gun Control. Why pro-gun organizations are powerless. Why the right to arms will be lost and what is required to win it back. Extensive bibliography, index, 190+pp. 30-day money back guarantee! Send $17.95 + $2.00 S & H to: Broad Reach Publishing, P.O. Box 145, Dept ISIL, Evanston, WY 82931.
Turn your computer and modem into a cash machine with an Internet Access account. Includes full Internet access, your own WWW Home Page, transaction clearing for credit cards and checks, and a sales opportunity. For details send SASE to Mercury Internet, 9 Clinton Plaze Drive, #243, Oneonta, NY 13820.
Vote Libertarian – www.efn.org/~davud_p 1-800-682-1776.
West Coast Libertarian: Canada’s premier Libertarian publication. Read the News from the North. 6 issues (1 year): $15; U.S. send $15US; Overseas l$20 or 25 IRC’s (International Reply Coupons). Sample: $2 or 3 IRC’s. Greater Vancouver Libertarian Association, 922 Cloverley St., North Vancouver, British Columbia, V7L 1N3 Canada.
Why Are Certain Aspects of World War II History Still Taboo? To find out write for information from, CODOH, PO Box 3267, Visalia, CA 93278
PEN PAL SECTION
There is no charge for Pen Pal Ads for ISIL members. Be sure to inform us when you would like your ad removed or changed.

Boy (17) pupil of Mathematic grammar school interested in computers, basketball and music would like to correspond with boys and girls of his age. Please send answer to the address: Radmilo Racic, Ozrenska 13,11000, Belgrade, Serbia
An 18-year-old boy from Estonia is waiting for all kinds of letter from all over the world. Interested in libertarianism, computers, business, politics, and many other things. Address: Yüri Kaljundi, P.O. Box 68, Tallinn, EE0900, Estonia.
Retired Professional man seeks challenging excuse to travel anywhere here or abroad. Invite me to stay at your place a couple of days. Let’s discuss Libertarian ideas and see if there are any examples of them in action to videotape in your town. My photo, phone, and full particulars from Charles Yale, Box 27198, Las Vegas, NV 89126
I would like to correspond with libertarians in Hungary, Poland, Russia, Peru and Argentina. Write: Robert A. Markley, 2515 E. Thomas Rd., Ste 16-742, Phoenix, Arizona 85016 USA.
I am a man, 29 years old and single. I am interested in free markets and free societies. I like travelling, meeting people of all races, religions and political understanding. I also like keeping artifacts. I would like to make contact with any libertarians in any part of the United States of America. Nkadi Azuh, 111 Road, Block 5, Flat 2, Festac Town, Lagos, Nigeria.
A Young Adult. Business oriented. Would love to hear from sociable open-minded persons from the U.S.A. and all around the world. I promise to reply to all correspondents. Shina Oluyemi, P.O. Box 4975, Shomolu, Lagos, Nigeria.
I am 31. I am married and have two children. I am an economist dealing with marketing but I am also interested in free markets and societies. My hobbies are: psychology, astronomy, home computers (Especially Titan) and I also keep some exotic species of fish. Boguslaw B. Kolata, UL. Trzech Diamentow 36/27, 43-300 Bielsko-Biata, Poland.
I love writing and music. I’m interested in science, particularly biology; and art, especially speculative fiction. Animated films and stand-up comedians rock my world. All letters will get some kind of reply. Altairn Edwards, 8155 Jamacha Rd., San Diego, CA 92114.
Libertarian Male, 33, interested in Free Market and Environmental Economics wishes to exchange ideas with other independent minds, preferably single, free-thinking female libertarians. Europeans please write. Scott, P.O. Box 41, Oakton, Virginia 22124, USA.
Libertarians in Netherlands, especially Amsterdam, wanted for correspondence and friendship. Please write: Raymond Kiely, 4981 Springhill Dr., Pensacola, FL 32503, USA
Monetary researcher, writer desires to communicate with anyone who has information or knowledge of scrip issues or alternative exchange systems, current or historical, especially European. Thomas H. Greco, P.O. Box 42663, Tuycson, Arizona. E-mail: [email protected]
Oregon South Coast or Cal-Ore border. Correspondence desired with anyone near there, moving, or interested. Other interests: ultralight aircraft; primitive skills; home power. Lea & Dave Thomas, P.O. Box 309, Monroe, OR 97456.
Robert Litwinczuk, aged 25, of Zielona 6/2, 78-449 Borne Sulinowo, Poland. Hobbies: writing, literature, modern languages, ecology. I wish to come into contact with people for exchange of opinion. All letters will be answered.
(submitted Sept 95)
Single Libertarian Male, 25. Very business oriented and into a vegetarian lifestyle. Originally from Liberia, West Africa. Looking forward to meeting and corresponding with other independent thinkers and doers! I will reply promptly! Reg, 31-1 Clinton St., Milford, New Hampshire 03055
Single, Christian would like to correspond with other Christians. Also interested in love songs and would like to find out other people’s love songs. Ken Miller, RD4 Box 11 Curtis Dr., Vernon, NJ 07462
Van dwelling libertarian anarchist desires communication with other individuals having or wanting a mobile residence. Especially interested in hearing from anyone who is interested in being involved in the formation of a mobile community. Bill Fargo, 3000 East Colfax Avenue 600, Denver, republic of Colorado (80206), voice mail 800-915-5688

ISIL Classified ads are a great way to reach the world liberty community. Rates are only 10¢ per word. Minimum ad $5.00.
There is no charge for ads in the “Pen Pall Section”.
For display ad rates write ISIL for rate sheet at:
1800 Market Street, Fax (415) 864-7506

San Francisco, CA 94102 USA

When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel
alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law.”
FREDERIC BASTIAT

 

ONCE IN POWER

Roger Douglas on the New Zealand “Miracle”
By Ken Schoolland

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Roger Douglas has some extraordinary advice for dismantling government – once one gets into that seat of power. This article is based upon a talk which was delivered at the Hawaii Small Business Congress on November 10th.
Douglas ought to know what he’s talking about – he was the Minister of Finance in New Zealand from 1984 to 1988 and was primarily responsible for the reversal of the welfare state down under.
According to Douglas, New Zealand was suffering from a stagnant economy as a result of legendary government-imposed subsidies and economic barriers. Inflation was 50% higher than the OECD average – indeed everything was higher than average: debt, unemployment, trade deficits, regulation, and taxes. The only thing that wasn’t high was the quality of goods produced.
His new government was able to remove a great many controls and make comprehensive changes that greatly improved the quality of living in his country. Says Douglas, “you have to make good use of resources and that can only be done when the price signals are allowed to make that possible. New Zealanders have finally achieved a 6% annual growth rate with inflation, debt, unemployment, and taxes all falling to dramatic lows.”
Douglas’ gang also accomplished reforms toward freeing the labor, farm, and capital markets. Government underwent privatization on a grand scale and set up the first case of profit-and-loss accounting for the government itself. It is now operating in surplus.
How was it done?
Douglas says that politicians generally avoid reform until they are absolutely forced by crisis to do something. Up to the minute of crisis they will pretend that their opponents are merely being deceitful in order to trick the populace into changing captains. But when the crisis comes, Douglas believes that politicians can be successful if they adopt the following points of advice.

Point #1:
“Avoid compromise. Whenever we compromised the problem remained.” Politicians like to get a consensus before acting. Don’t! Take the leadership and the consensus will build afterward. Compromise policy always comes back to haunt one.
Point #2:
“Implement reform in quantum leaps, otherwise interest groups will stop you.” Speed is essential. There are always costs and benefits with any change. Since the costs come first, a slow implementation will allow the interest groups time to build resistance before people can experience the benefits. Once you have momentum, don’t stop. It is difficult to shoot a moving target.
Point #3:
“Don’t underestimate the ability of people to adjust.” People will underestimate their own abilities, but they must be challenged. Farmers once received a third of their incomes from government and now get nothing. The result today is that the farm sector is strong and growing and no one wants to go back to the old subsidies. In fact, once the privileges are removed from one group, they work hard to help remove the privileges of others. The farmers were fiercely opposed to change until they lost their subsidies, then they became the greatest of allies in targeting the subsidies of other sectors. “If I can’t have it, then nobody can!”
Point #4:
“Credibility is everything and you must be consistent to be credible.” Outline your goals as far as possible and don’t underrate the public. Explain everything. Above all, don’t blink. The public’s confidence depends on your composure and the perception that you fully believe what you are doing.
When?
This may be helpful advice to some crew that suddenly finds itself in the seat of government. But what about getting into that seat in the first place? Douglas was a little more vague on that point – probably because he isn’t convinced that he followed point #4 to get into power in the first place. Indeed, I think he believed it was an accident that his people got to power at all.
Douglas’ socialist Labor Party was whisked into office following a snap election and the populace didn’t really know what they were getting. “I wrote a little book beforehand called There’s Got to Be a Better Way, but only about three thousand of the five thousand printed copies had been sold.” Basically his party did what they had to because the New Zealand government finally ran out of credit and foreign exchange. Rich countries eventually get into trouble just as poor countries do, they’re simply given more rope to hang themselves.
One wonders if it is possible to get elected if you tell the voters beforehand that you will not compromise, that changes will come in quantum leaps, that the populace will have to adjust dramatically, and that you will be consistent in applying the changes to everyone. I suspect that people will vote for radical responsibility if they personally feel the severity of the crisis, but people in the US, unlike Eastern Europe or Mexico, are far from such a visible crisis yet. So the extent of debate in the US revolves around balancing the budget after 3 or 4 more congressional elections.

Ken Schoolland, Assocate Professor of  Economics and Political Science at the Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu, is a member of ISIL’s Board of Directors.

 

ISIL’S WORLD WIDE WEB SITE NOW OPERATIONAL

http://www.isil.org

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Many thanks to Scott Banister for his help in getting us up and running – also to Tim Starr for his many hours devoted to programming and maintaining our web pages.

 

ISIL ATHENS 1995 CONFERENCE REPORT

Libertarians from 23 Countries Gather To Promote the Ideas of Liberty

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By Vincent H. Miller
Our conference this year was held in the cradle of democracy, Athens, Greece, at the luxurious Hotel Zafolia owned by ISIL Rep Jason Zafolias. This proved to be a convenient location for many of our members from Central and Eastern Europe, who were able to attend in greater numbers than at our past few conferences.
We were particularly pleased to see ISIL correspondent and Rep. Tomislav Krsmanovic from Belgrade, Yugoslavia (Serbia) this year. For the past two years, he was kept from our conferences by just the sort of evils we libertarians are always fighting: Russian border guards on the way to Estonia, bureaucratic demands for transit visas to the U.S. just because his plane en route to Mérida, Yucatan, touched down in New York City, etc. Tomislav brought two delightful young people with him, Radmillo Racic (17) a math major and his cousin Rada Lucie (19) – both very keen libertarians. Radmillo has pledged to form an ISIL chapter in Belgrade.
Also accompanying Tomislav was Mr. Iliya Iliyevski, chairman of the recently outlawed Party of Human Rights of Macedonia (more on this in future FNNs) and translator Dusan Pokorni. We had not seen either Tomislav or Dusan since the conference three years ago in Poprad, Czechoslovakia and were delighted to see that they were carrying on the work of promoting freedom in such a dangerous environment – as we often say “planting seeds of freedom on battlefields.”
Foreign Publication of Many Libertarian Books
One of the more gratifying aspects of the Athens conference was seeing so many libertarian books coming into print in other languages. Tomislav Krsmanovic proudly presented me with a Serbian copy of Healing Our World (by ISIL Director Mary Ruwart) – hot off the presses. ISIL Rep Valdis Bluzma from Latvia presented me with copies of Karl Hess’s Capitalism for Kids and Ken Schoolland’s The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible in Latvian. ISIL members can take great pride in knowing that their donations and memberships have helped produce such inspirational results.
Maria Pia Paganelli of Milan, secretary of the Adam Smith Institute of Italy, and her friend Nicola Iannello from Massa, Italy surprised us with an Italian translation of Albert Jay Nocks’ classic Our Enemy The State (Il nostro Nemico, lo Stato) which they presented to me – the first of many libertarian books they plan to publish in Italian.
Aristotle Makes An Appearance
The speaker lineup was far too extensive to cover in any detail but included many inspirational presentations (my sincere apologies to any I may have missed). Professor Tibor Machan appeared daily at the opening sessions attired in a toga as Aristotle – dispensing pearls of wisdom (from Aristotle, of course). This was a great hit with the attendees.
There was a veritable smorgasbord of international activists. Costa Rican Movi-miento Libertario co-founder Rigoberto Stewart told of his work to create a government-free zone in his country. Michael van Notten reported that negotiations to purchase an archipelago off Somalia from his wife’s tribe to form a libertarian country were all but completed.
Barbara Branden gave a remarkably effective condensation of her “Principles of Efficient Thinking” seminars and later enchanted everyone with an “Evening with Barbara Branden”.
ISIL Rep. Stefan Blankertz (Ger-many) spoke about how peoples’ psychological well-being is improved by liberty and harmed by the lack of it.
University of Athens Economics Professor George Bitros told us how Greek privatization policies have failed due to the corruption of the Greek government.
Linda Abrams (USA) explained how voluntary arbitration is a better way to resolve disputes than courts owned & operated by the State.
Surprise speaker Steve Mooney (UK), a grad student at the London School of Economics told us how information technology is causing the decentralization of economic and political systems around the world.
Bertrand Lemennicier (France) and Victor Davidoff (Russia) both gave excellent presentations. Other speakers included Constantine Christide, George Bitros (both from Athens), Linda Abrams (USA), Louk Jongen (Holland).
Fred Stitt, founder of the San Francisco Institute of Architecture and a member of ISIL’s advisory board gave a fascinating presentation on the design and symmetry of the Parthenon just prior to a field trip in which the entire group visited this site.
ISIL Director Bruce Evoy gave an enormously popular seminar on public speaking techniques especially for those whose main language was not English and later performed his now-famous rendition of Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech.
New Reps/Correspondents Confirmed
At meetings in Athens, we confirmed many new Reps: Kalina Hadjiilieva (Bulgaria), Laszlo Seres (a journalist from Budapest, Hungary), Maria Pia Paganelli (Italy), and Tomislav Krsmanovic (Serbia).
Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead Published In Russian
. . . and Other Surprises
At our closing banquet, a call went out to raise funds to publish Ayn Rand’s novel The Fountainhead in Russia. Christian Michel, our alternate rep for Switzerland, responded by pledging to pay for the entire first printing. We have since received a fax (through ISIL contact Glenn Cripe) from Dmitry Costygin in St. Petersburg informing us that The Fountainhead has indeed gone to press and will be finished by the time you receive this newsletter. With its powerful theme of “the individual vs the collective” it is a natural for Russians. This follows on the heels of Rand’s We The Living which was published last year.
In another surprise move, ISIL Rep Valentina Nicolae from Bucharest, Romania presented the banquet attendees with the cover art for Ayn Rand’s novelette Anthem which she informed us would be published in Romanian before the end of the year.
Barbara Branden remarked to me later, “If only Ayn could have been here to see this.”
At the fund-raiser we also raised funds for a fax machine for Tomislav Krs-manovic and a small amount to fund a meeting in Macedonia so that Iliya Iliyevski could report to local people about the ISIL conference. We hope that our humble efforts in this area will produce results.
Side Trips – More Than Just Sightseeing
As in past conferences we always include a generous level of sight-seeing so that conference attendees will have the opportunity to meet in a relaxed, informal atmosphere. Many a project has been hatched during these tours. This year we visited the Parthenon, which Steve Mooney said was even more impressive in person than he thought it would be, the Temple of Poseidon on the Aegean coast, and feasted riotously at a seaside restaurant. What high spirits! The post-Athens tour took us to visit the site of the Oracle at Delphi and 14th century monasteries atop 1450 ft rock formations in Meteora. All in all a satisfying end to an inspiring event.
Our thanks to Jason Zafolias for being an excellent host; to Hubert and Rita Jongen for doing the lion’s share of organizing; to ISIL Rep Henrik Bejke (Sweden) for designing and printing the conference booklet; to Bruce Evoy (Canada) and Glenn Cripe (USA) for liaison activities in handling North American registrations, and last but not least to Mary Lou Gutscher (Toronto, Canada) who was conference manager and whip (an excellent job Mary Lou).
A special thank you to all those who have sponsored individuals from Central and Eastern Europe. I think that when you see the inspirational work these people are doing you will agree it was money well spent. See you in Whistler, British Columbia in 1996!

 

HORROR FILE

Congress Launches All-Out Attack on Basic Freedoms

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Congress Approves Massive Censorship of Internet
By a razor thin margin, members of the House Conference Committee on Tele-communications Reform have approved a broad proposal to censor constitutionally protected speech on the Internet. The provisions adopted today would make the Internet and Interactive media the most heavily regulated medium in the United States, and severely threaten the future of free expression in the information age.
The proposal, if agreed to by the full conference committee, would impose $100,000 fines and prison terms for anyone who posts any “indecent” material, including the “7 dirty words”, the text of classic works of fiction such as The Catcher In The Rye, or Ulysses, artwork containing images of nudes, rap lyrics, in a public forum.
The so-called “7 dirty words”
The Catcher In The Rye
Sex and AIDS Education literature
Photographic, sculpted, and painted images of nudes
Rap Lyrics
Posting any of the above materials in a public forum would be illegal under the provision approved today. Although it is unrealistic to expect that Federal law enforcement has the resources to go after each and every violation, the threat of $100,000 fines and 2 year prison sentences will no doubt have a chilling effect over all online communications.
Writ of Habeas Corpus
under attack by Congress
The debt-ceiling resolution now in Congress contains a Republican provision that would virtually repeal the “great writ” of habeas corpus. In a procedural sleight of hand, the House Republican leadership included a habeas provision – already approved by the Senate – into the debt-ceiling resolution that is being sent to the President.
As it is now worded, the “debt-ceiling” resolution!? contains the following provisions:
1. The bill would force Federal courts to defer to state court determinations of federal constitutional law, even when those decisions are clearly wrong. Both bills would prohibit federal judges from enforcing the Bill of Rights in the face of clear constitutional violations. Federal courts would not be allowed to grant relief unless the state court’s legal determination is “arbitrary” or “unreasonable.” Recent surveys show state court judges often fail to enforce fundamental constitutional rights – the reversal rate for capital habeas cases is roughly 40%. This profound change would unwisely transfer the enforcement of constitutional protections from life-tenured federal judges to elected and politically vulnerable state court judges.
2. The Bill would not allow Federal courts to hear new facts, even those that demonstrate egregious constitutional misconduct, unless the petitioner shows that he or she is innocent. In past years, federal habeas courts have been required to listen to new facts. These powers have allowed these courts to find and remedy serious instances of racial discrimination, police and prosecution misconduct, reprehensible defense representation, as well as vindicate the innocent. Under the proposal in the debt-ceiling resolution, federal courts would be forced to close their eyes to such illicit conduct unless the prisoner is innocent. This unprecedented limitation would only be a windfall for corrupt law enforcement agents, not for the American public.
3. Federal courts would be barred from hearing any claim, even from innocent prisoners, if the application is filed late. For the first time in the history of the US the habeas provisions in the debt-ceiling resolution would slam the federal courthouse door shut forever to even the most unjust incarceration one year after state court proceedings end. There is no provision for indigent prisoners or those without lawyers and no provision for a prisoner who is mentally disturbed and unable to represent him or herself, or are otherwise unable to file a petition within this period.
4. Federal courts would even be barred from hearing most innocence claims, and all claims concerning sentence, after the original proceeding has concluded. The debt-ceiling resolutions would allow a second proceeding only for innocent petitioners who can demonstrate their innocence by clear and convincing evidence. Condemned inmates like Lloyd Schlep, who has amassed overwhelming evidence of innocence, would be executed under this standard. People like Florida inmate Raleigh Porter, who learned that this trial judge was biased and had decided to sentence him to death prior to the trial only after his original habeas proceeding concluded, would have no right to any review and would be executed.
ACLU Action Alert – Nov. 95

 

ISIL INTERNATIONAL REPORT

=============================

Earth
Secession Sentiments Spread
Throughout The World
The following information was gleaned from the November 15th issue of Investor’s Business Daily.
Canada’s province of Quebec isn’t the only place where the idea of secession is being bandied about. High taxes, runaway government spending, overbearing authority are taking many nations to the brink. Indeed the end of the cold war has brought secession out of the realm of history books:
In Western Europe, new or long dormant secession movements have cropped up.
The Lombard League of prosperous, industrious northern Italy wants to cut loose from the Mafia-ridden, subsidy- swallowing south.
The British Labor Party is committed to establishing local governments for Scotland and Wales if, as expected and as current polls indicate, it wins the next general election.
Basque and Catalan separatists are renewing their demands in Spain.
In the United States the most dramatic recently-proposed secession came in 1993, when Staten Island voted overwhelmingly to secede from Greater New York and form a separate city. It has been a part of New York City since 1898. (State government must approve Staten Island’s move, but it hasn’t done so yet.)
In November another secession movement got under way in eastern Suffolk County on the tip of Long Island. Its advocates want to secede and form a new country called Peconic.
Some residents of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which has long nursed a feeling of neglect by the rest of the state, have begun agitating to form a new state called Superior.
Nine counties in western Kansas have petitioned Congress to be split off and constituted as a separate state.
Southern California and Northern California have long been at odds with the former believing that it subsidizes the latter. The two parts of the Golden State also are convinced they are culturally distinct, despite being settled by the same immigrant stock.
Public Choice economist Gordon Tullock has argued that California has simply grown too large to be governed as a single entity and ought to be broken up.
“Even the threat of secession is enough to keep egregious government behavior in check,” says Mark Thornton, an econo-mist at Auburn University who has been studying modern-day secessionist movements.
“The right to part company is a most effective safety valve,” he said.
So don’t throw away that Confederate money yet.
The South may rise again. Or maybe the East, or the West . . .
China
Chinese Pro-Democracy
Dissident Arrested
BEIJING, Nov 21 (Reuters) – China on Tuesday announced the arrest of its most prominent pro-democracy dissident, Wei Jingsheng, on the capital charge of trying to overthrow the government.
Wei, 44, regarded as the father of China’s tiny democracy movement, was formally arrested after Beijing city police found evidence he was allegedly involved in activities aimed at toppling the communist state, Xinhua news agency said. “An investigation by Beijing’s municipal public security departments showed Wei had conducted activities in (an) attempt to overthrow the government after his release on parole,” the official agency said.
Conviction on the charge, which is virtually assured in China’s justice system, could be punishable by death. The brief announcement was the first official word in 20 months on the whereabouts of Wei, who disappeared into police custody on April 1, 1994, after a meeting with a senior US human rights official.
He has been held incommunicado ever since, with no notice given to his family or the numerous foreign leaders who have inquired about his status.
“His actions were in violation of the criminal law and constituted crimes,” Xinhua said. Wei, nominated for the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize, was released on parole in September 1993 after serving 14-1/2 years of a 15-year prison term on charges of selling military secrets and “counter-revolu-tionary” crimes, or subversion. During his six months of freedom, the unrepentant Wei said he had no regrets about taking a public stand and frequently and openly attacked the government.
Members of Wei’s family dismissed the new charges as absurd, questioning how one man could overthrow the Communist Party while under constant police surveillance. “What evidence is there?” one relative who asked not to be identified said. “It’s a frame-up.”
“Such a big country, such a big party and yet they cannot tolerate one or two words of criticism. They’re too fragile,” the relative said. Xinhua said police formally arrested the former Beijing zoo electrician after sufficient evidence had been obtained by police and with the approval of the Beijing Municipal People’s Procuratorate.
“The authorities did not let him out of their sight for one minute during his release,” the relative said. “They could have easily collected evidence against him. But they came up with evidence only after almost two years since his disappearance.” It is the second time Wei has faced the capital charge of counter-revolution.
Wei’s first arrest in 1979 stemmed from his criticism of the communist government and paramount leader Deng Xiaoping during China’s tumultuous Democracy Wall period in the late 1970s. Wei had been one of Chairman Mao Tse-tung’s revolutionary Red Guards during the ultra-leftist 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. But he turned against the Communist Party and publicly demanded what he called the “fifth modernisation” – Western-style democracy – adding a new twist to Deng’s Four Modernisations drive.
Wei’s relative scoffed at the charge that Wei was attempting rebellion. “If he did actually attempt to overthrow the government, who were his accomplices? It would be crazy for one person to try singlehandedly to overthrow the government,” he said.
Article by Jane Macartney
From: [email protected] (Bo Xiong)
Organization: Dep. Computer Sci. & Information Eng., Chiao Tung Univ.,
Taiwan, R.O.C
Newsgroups:
talk.politics.china,soc.culture.hongkong,
alt.chinese.text,soc.culture.taiwan,
soc.culture.china
Germany
US Soldier Refuses To Wear UN uniform
Specialist Michael New, medic with the 3rd Infantry Division in Germany, has refused to wear a blue beret or blue helmet in his unit which has been deployed in Macedonia (Yugoslavia) to conduct a UN “peacekeeping mission” there.
New says, “I took an oath to the Constitution of the United States, and I can find no reference to the United Nations in it anywhere.”
The Army says, “You took an oath to obey legal orders and you WILL comply, or you will face possible court martial, possible imprisonment, and certainly a less-than-honorable discharge.
New says, “It is not clear to me why I have to change my uniform in order to represent my country.”
The Army says, “You are not there to represent your country. You are there to represent the U.N.”
New says, “By what authority can you transfer my loyalty without my permission?”
On Monday, 28 August, New met with a JAG lawyer (military) and discuss his options. His future looks bleak unless there is an outcry of anger from constituents to Congressmen over this issue.
Supporters of New have pleaded that Americans ask their Congressman to take a public stand on this issue – and to explain by what constitutional authority can an American citizen and soldier be forced to serve in the UN or any other foreign army?
This is reminiscent of Nazi Germany, or the Soviet Union, where men are told to forget their consciences and to obey any and all orders without regard for their previous oaths.
Privately, many officers and non-coms agree with Michael New. Publicly, they all have careers and retirement to consider.
Posted to the Internet by [email protected]

 

Letters to the Editor

=============================

Fond Remembrances of
Roger MacBride
Your remembrance of Roger MacBride was lovely. It really gave me a visceral sense of the Roger I remember. I flew with him in the 4-passenger plane to New Orleans once – what a thrilling ride. There were a few DC-3 jaunts as well. What a guy – what a sparkle in those eyes.
Thanks for letting us share.
Andrea Millen Rich
New York, New York

To The Internet With Love
From Russia
Hello Editor!
I live in Russia. Usual ‘snail’ mail is very slow and unreliable here, and phone calls abroad are unaffordable.
So my only connection to the world is the Internet. It is through the Internet that I found the LP (I was searching for the Republicans!) and ISIL. It is through the Internet that I send this letter. And I believe there are many people like me. And for such people, I think some changes are required in the way the Freedom Network News is made.
Many articles are labeled ‘seen on the Internet’, ‘posted to Libernet by …’ etc. Most have the address and phone number of the sender. Yet none has the e-mail address, although it is always seen in an article in a newsgroup or mailing list.
Unfortunately, I (and many others) do not have the time and resources to read all the newsgroups. The FNN is a very valuable source of filtered information. But one of the main advantages of the Internet – the ability to answer easily – is not there. The FNN loves the Internet. So why not give the e-mail address of the author when it’s available? This may improve communication between libertarians a lot. (I, for example, would have answered 3 or 4 news articles in the last issue, requesting more info, if the e-mail addresses were there).
Also, many new Internetters come as getting access becomes easier in the former Soviet bloc. So why not make a brief intro for them, with e-mail addresses of main libertarian ‘places of interest’ and mailing lists like Libernet? It could be one more of the pamphlets coming with the introductory package.
What the Internet is for libertarians is well known. So the FNN, in my opinion, should act accordingly. Especially since it’s a great thing in nearly everything else.
Mikhail Ramendik
Moscow, Russia – [email protected]

A Retail Sales Tax Instead of Income Tax?
I wanted to reply to a letter to the editor entitled “Comment On Taxes” in the Freedom Network News of October 1995. Your correspondent quite rightly pointed out that a national sales tax could be used as another way for the government to go after our hard earned dollars by simply making it an additional tax to the current income tax, or worse could introduce it as a VAT which taxes at all stages of production.
But what the correspondent failed to look at is this: a national retail sales tax as a replacement to income tax would be an enormous step towards greater personal freedom by effectively cutting off the intrusive tentacles of Federal Government which force their way into our lives every year on April 15th.
An income tax return, whether of the present complex kind or of the simpler flat tax kind, is still a wonderful instrument of surveillance and data gathering and the ability of the IRS to arbitrarily audit anyone in the entire country for no reason is an incredible weapon for silencing of dissidents. Even the FBI and ATF have to find or create a good excuse to go after someone, not so the IRS. They can call an audit at will and attack every line on a tax return. The victim is then faced with a large tax bill, possible criminal prosecution and the cost of attorneys needed to fight back.
So how would a national retail sales tax stop this? Simple, a retail sales tax does not require every citizen to report his or her income and expenditures. The only reporting required is from the retailer – gross sales x tax percentage = amount due. No personal details, no chance of attacks on individuals, and no IRS as we know it. The only problem left is how to get the vested interests in Washington to go along with the idea of a national retail sales tax as a replacement to income tax. That may not be easy but it is possible.
What drives Washington? Public opinion or more accurately perceived public opinion. If a politician thinks something will get him votes he will back it. He will scream and yell about it and emphasize his support for it in his mailings and speeches come next election. So those of us who want to see less government and more freedom had better get writing to our “representatives” and tell them what we want: a national retail sales tax as a replacement to the income tax. Stress “retail” and “replacement” and they will get the idea. Freedom doesn’t come easy, you have to fight for it, so please get busy.
Grahame Scott-Douglas
La Crescenta, California

 

Minuteman Declaration

=============================

 

The following editorial was originally posted to Internet by The Minuteman Press.
It is time to speak plainly for the good citizens and patriots of this nation who believe unbendingly in the Constitution of the United States of America.
Though foreign governments may disarm their subjects, we will not go down that road. We will not disarm and see our freedoms stripped away. The lessons of history are numerous, clear and bloody. A disarmed population inevitably becomes an enslaved population. A disarmed population is without power, reduced to childlike obedience to – and dependence upon the organs of a parental state. A disarmed population will lose either piecemeal or in one sweeping act, those basic rights for which the citizens of America risked their lives and fortunes over 200 years ago.
WE WILL NOT DISARM. The right to self-protection, the internal directive of every living creature, be it a mouse or man, is the most fundamental right of all. It is a right that must be exercised against the predators of the streets, against the predators hidden within agencies of law enforcement, and against the most dangerous predators of all – those to be found in government, whose insidious grasping for power is relentless and never ending.
WE WILL NOT DISARM. Not in the face of robbers, rapists and murderers who prey upon our families and friends. Nor in the face of police and bureau agents who would turn a blind eye to the CONSTITUTION, who would betray the birthright of their countrymen; nor in the face of politicians of the lowest order – those who pander to the ignorant, the weak, the fearful, the naive; those indebted to a virulent strain of the rich who insulate themselves from the dangers imposed upon other Americans and then preach disarmament.
We will not surrender our handguns. We will not surrender our hunting arms. And we will not surrender our firearms of military pattern or military utility, nor their proper furnishings, nor the right to buy, sell, or to manufacture such items.
Firearms of military utility, which serve well and nobly in times of social disturbance as tools of defense for the law-abiding, serve also in the quiet role of prevention, against both the criminal and the tyrannical. An armed citizenry, the well-regulated militia of the Second Amendment, properly armed with military fire-arms, is a powerful deterrent, on both conscious and subconscious levels, to those in power that, though they may violate our rights temporally, they will not do so endlessly and without consequence.
And should Americans again be confronted with the necessity of – may God forbid it – throwing off the chains of a tyrannical and suffocating regime, firearms designed to answer the particular demands of warfare will provide the swiftest and most decisive means to this end.
Any law which prohibits or limits a citizen’s possession of firearms of military utility or their proper furnishings, provides an open window through which a corrupt government will crawl to steal away the remainder of our firearms and our liberties. Any law which prohibits or limits a citizen’s possession of firearms of military utility or their proper furnishings, being directly contrary to the letter and spirit of the Second Amendment, is inimical to the Constitution, to the United States of America, and to its citizens.
Now, today, we are witnessing the perilous times foreseen by the architects of the Constitution. These are times when our government is demanding – in the guise of measures for the common good – the relinquishment of several rights guaranteed to Americans in the Constitution, foremost among which is the right to keep and bear arms for our own defense. These are times when our government has abdicated its primary responsibility – to provide for the security of its citizens. Swift and sure punishment of outlaws is absent, and in its place is offered the false remedy of disarming the law-biding. Where this unconstitutional action has been given the force of law, it has failed to provide relief and has produced greater social discord. This discord in turn now serves as the false basis for the demand that we give up other rights, and for the demand for more police, more agents of bureaucratic control to enforce. Legislators, justices and law officers must bear in mind that the foundation of their duties is to uphold the fundamental law of the land – the Constitution. They must bear in mind that the unconstitutional act of disarming one’s fellow citizens will also disarm one’s parents, spouse, brothers, sisters, children, and grandchildren. They must bear in mind that there are good citizens who, taking heed of George Washington’s belief that “arms are the liberty teeth of the people” – and will not passively allow these teeth to be torn out.
Those who eat away at our right to own and use firearms are devouring the roots of a plant over two centuries old, a plant whose blossom is the most free, most powerful nation ever to exist on the face of this planet. The right to keep and bear arms is the taproot of this plant. All other rights were won at the point of a gun and will endure only at the point of a gun. Could they speak, millions upon millions of this world’s dead souls would testify to this truth. Millions upon millions of the living can so testify today.
Now – today – is a critical moment in our history. Will we Americans passively lie down before a government grown disdainful of its best citizens? Or will we again declare: WE are the government, government functions at our behest, and it may not rescind our sacred rights?
LEGISLATORS: Do your duty to your country. Uphold the Constitution as you swore to do.
JUSTICES: Do your duty to your country. Examine the origins of our right to weaponry and uphold the letter and spirit of the Constitution.
LAWMEN: Do your duty to your country. Your task is to serve and protect – not to oppress, to disarm, and to make helpless your countrymen.
THE MINUTEMAN PRESS
P.O. Box 15491
Tallahassee, FL 32317-5491
MINUTEMAN INTERNET ADDRESS
http://www.afn.org/~afn32033/MP/

The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.
JAMES MADISON

 

The “Neverendum” On Quebec Secession

By Eric Duhaime, ISIL Correspondent, Quebec

=============================

Fifteen years ago, on May 20th, 1980, sixty percent of Quebecers said “No” on a proposed “Sovereignty Association” with Canada. Last October 30th, Quebecers were again asked if they wanted Quebec to secede from Canada while maintaining an economic and political partnership with Ottawa. The results were closer this time with 49.44% voting “yes” and 50.56% voting “no”. It is clear that trends are unquestionably moving in the direction of eventual secession.
The campaign preceding the referendum was very instructive from a libertarian perspective. We saw big brother pulling out all the stops. It was a fear-mongering campaign. The “No” faction filled Quebecers with fear of apocolyptic scenarios that they claimed would occur in a separate Quebec – if they voted “Yes”.
We would have lost, according to them: our Canadian dollars, our free-trade agreements, one million jobs (out of 3.2 million), our citizenship, our seniors’ pensions, our social security, etc. The weight of the entire federal apparatus was behind Canadian unity.
Even Uncle Sam came to tell us how to vote. In a stern White House endorsement, Bill Clinton warned that an independent Quebec should not take for granted that it will gain the same close relationship with Washington currently enjoyed by Canada – the President taking the American market hostage for his own political purposes. US Secretary of State Warren Christopher added more and went way beyond the usual non-interventionist stance the United States has taken on the Quebec question. The Clinton administration must have forgotten that it was Quebec’s support of the Canada-US free-trade agreement in 1988 that permitted it to be adopted.
In spite of attempts to blackmail everyone, almost 50% of Quebecers, and more than 60% of the French citizens voted “Yes”. These people seemed to understand that Canada just doesn’t make sense economically nor geographically. Fortunately the younger generation got the message – which is very encouraging for the next referendum – and there will be another referendum within a few years.
With a new approach to that old debate of independence for the French-Canadians, many of the new voters identified with the right issues. They rejected the Canadian model for what it is: a country whose fragile unity is financed and upheld only through massive indebtedness by all its citizens. Young Quebecers no longer want to support the federal government – with its mad, dizzying public debt (soon to reach $600 billion) – at the cost of their future.
Secession, therefore, seems to be the only means Quebec still has available to put an end to federal government irresponsibility, duplication, and ruinous jurisdictional overlap. Secession will, at last provide the opportunity to set in motion in-depth reforms of structures and practices to suit the nation where they originated.
For promoters of individual liberty and responsibility, Canada is exactly the kind of artificial creation that must disappear in the 20th century. Without any “raison-d’être”, it is actually an invention imposed by bureaucrats in London England. Canada is a centralized state that prevents secession by the public spending power.
The process of accession of Quebec to its independence is probably irreversible. Common sense dictates it. Quebec’s most popular politician, Lucien Buchard, currently leader of the opposition in the House of Commons, is expected to become Premier of Quebec at the end of January 1996, essentially with a reduction-of-spending plan and a promise to hold another referendum – probably in two years – after getting Quebec’s economic house in order.
We can’t expect too much from the political elite though. It will have to come from each of us. The last referendum saw both official committees promoting and defending the same concepts of statism, the only difference being which capital city would dominate – Ottawa or Quebec City. The new secessionists will have to be louder and more powerful over the next few years.
As Pierre Lemieux rightly pointed out: “The revolution that is required is a revolution for the individual against power. At the very least, there is an urgent need to shake the system. Quebecers have missed their chance.”
À la prochaine fois! A bientot . . . (Next time! Soon . . .)

 

News From Across the U.S.

“All the news the establishment media won’t print”

=============================

FBI Proposes Vast Wiretapping System Capable of Bugging One out of 100 Phones

Massachusetts
No Breasts in Cyberspace?
BOSTON – Hysteria and fear resulting from the threats by Congress to censor cyberspace has resulted in some rather bizarre happenings lately.
America Online, the nation’s largest computer on-line service, in an attempt to “clean up” cyberspace last week declared the word “breast” taboo – thereby making it impossible for breast cancer patients to contact one another for support and information.
An America Online spokeswoman said yesterday the action had been an error and promised to correct the problem within 24 hours
Several AOL customers said it was the second time in six months that the service had disrupted communication among breast cancer survivors by banning the word breast. Last summer, the offending word was prohibited as an identifier in a chat room. At the time a flurry of protests directed at AOL chief executive Steve Case caused the company to permit “breast” as a chat room identifier.
Seen in The Boston Globe
December 1, 1995
District of Columbia
American Indian Leader Calls Waco “The White Man’s Wounded Knee”
WASHINGTON, DC – American Indian Movement leader, Hollywood actor, and ISIL Advisory Board member Russell Means, appeared at a book signing for his book Where the White Man Fears to Tread. Most of his talk dealt with his personal journey and experiences as an Indian leader.
Means probably shocked the mostly leftie audience with his enthusiastic endorsement of the free market – and his attack on the welfare state and those Indians who support it. He didn’t mention his attempt to become the Libertarian Party’s 1988 presidential candidate. (Former Republican congressman Ron Paul won the nomination.) He does have a few pages about his adventures with libertarians in his book.
I got him all fired up when I asked him his opinion of what happened at Waco. Means said the following, according to my notes:
“Waco is the White Man’s Wounded Knee.” (In 1890 federal troops massacred 300 Indians at Wounded Knee). What you had was a military assault, just like at Wounded Knee, with the military coming in and killing so many people. Who cared about Waco after it happened? Who cared about Wounded Knee?
“After Waco I thought you would all bring down this fascist government. The same thing happened with MOVE in Philadelphia?
“But, no! Every one of you is walking backward stooped over towards Washington, D.C. You think, if I vote, maybe things will change. Well, I was wearing an anarchist button all through the eighties, till it rusted away. It read, ‘If Voting Could Change Anything, It Would Be Illegal.’ What you had at Waco, just like at Wounded Knee, was that the military came in and attacked someone they disagreed with because they prayed differently.”
NOTE: Because of the shoddy coverage by the mass media, Means evidently is not aware that half the residents of Mount Carmel, as well as half of those who died there, were people of color).
Posted to Internet by ISIL member
Carol Moore, Washington, DC
[email protected]
FBI Proposes Vast Increases in Electronic Surveillance
of Citizenry
WASHINGTON – The FBI has proposed a national wiretapping system of unprecedented size and scope that would give law-enforcement officials the capacity to monitor simultaneously as many as one of out every 100 phone lines.
Such a surveillance ability would vastly exceed the current needs of law enforcement. In recent years court-authorized wiretaps have been conducted on fewer than one in every 174,000 phone lines.
Privacy-rights advocates see the spectre of a Big Brother surveillance capability that is very likely to be massively abused. James Dempsey of the Center for National Security, a public-policy organization in Washington remarked: “I think law enforcement needs to be honest with the public about what its intentions are.” (Indeed. Ed.)
Seen in San Francisco Chronicle (Nov 2, 1995)
Florida
Statistics Show Armed
Citizens Contribute To
Lower Crime Rates
TALLAHASSEE – The success of right-to-carry laws (Florida’s in particular) is by now well known – to legislators as well as to the general public. According to the most recent data from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports, those states with right-to-carry laws have significantly lower overall violent and firearm-related violent crime rates per capita than other states:
Violent crime rate 22% lower
Firearm violent crime rate 29% lower
Homicide rate 31% lower
Firearm homicide rate 38% lower
Handgun homicide rate 41% lower
Robbery rate 36% lower
Firearm robbery rate 38% lower
Aggravated assault rate 14% lower
Firearm aggravated assault 19% lower
Since 1987, legislators in 17 other states than Florida have voted to adopt right-to-carry laws, and one state adopted right-to-carry through a judicial ruling. In the first ten months of 1995 alone, seven states adopted right-to-carry statutes, while three others voted to improve existing laws – this in stark contrast to the ongoing attempts by the federal government to disarm the citizenry.
Posted to the Internet by Matthew Gaylor
[email protected]
Minesota
Cops Have No Time For
Slick Willie
MINNEAPOLIS – Every time President Clinton needs a boost for his legislative “crime” agenda, he arranges for a collage of policemen to fill the background of his propaganda pieces to suggest police support his Draconian measures. Ever wonder where these cops come from? The July issue of the American Rifleman revealed all.
In one example from Minneapolis last year, Clinton sent out a call to off-duty cops through an ex-police commissioner to come to a “photo-op.” When a dissapointing number of police officers turned up, the President’s security detail was then drafted. Still not enough cops on stage to create the desired effect. According to one 20-year veteran, “they then cleaned the ‘office rats’ out of headquarters and ordered them to pose with the President.”
New Jersey
New Law Will Send 60% of Cars Now On The Road
To The Crusher
TRENTON – Republican Governor Christine Whitman has signed into law #SCA-1700 – a Draconian piece of social engineering designed to force people out of their cars and multiply police powers.
Centralized and state-certified testing facilities for “Enhanced Emission Inspections” are designed by the EPA to fail 60% of all cars now on the road. Almost no vehicles over 10 years old are expected to pass. Vehicles failing dynamometer tests cannot be sold and essentially must be forfeited to the state. Owners of failed vehicles must surrender their license plates within 45 days – and since New Jersey laws already prohibit you from having an unregistered vehicle on your own property, local law enforcement can then seize it at will.
As part of SCS-1700, roadblocks will be established throughout the state to randomly test vehicles. Severe penalties, fines and jail time have been attached to all violations of this new legislation. In fact, the state will begin kicking back a commission to local police for their help in seizing your car.
SCS-1700 is designed to take your car off the road. Collector, hot rod, and hobbyist cars are history. That classic Mustang convertible has been redefined a “gross polluter” and is now targeted by the state for the crusher. Many car and truck related businesses will suffer or fail. Ironically state officials are recommending you start saving your money now to buy a new car – an impossibility for most individuals given our current tax levels.
The issue here is increasing government control not only of your mobility, your life and your freedom, but even your ability to work and earn a living. It has almost nothing to do with clean air. EPA Region 8 commissar William Yellowtail states: “Cleaning up cars and the roads is only half the solution . . . the much more difficult half involves getting people out of their cars.”
From Ronn Jackson’s New Republic fax network
Fax (702)727-7496
New York
Police Escalate Attacks On New York Artists
NEW YORK – A Federal judge has denied painters, photographers, printmakers and sculptors who display original art on New York city streets First Amendment protection from police persecution. The artists, who range from teenagers to senior citizens, are being routinely arrested and dragged away in handcuffs for not having a license – which the City admits in its legal brief is “unobtainable”. Confiscated art is sold at police auctions or destroyed regardless of the outcome of each artist’s case.
The Federal judge ruled that the lack of First Amendment protection is based on the conclusion that:
“…Art is farther from the core than the written word…. Plaintiffs’ art does not carry either words or the particularized social and political messages upon which the First Amendment places special value…written matter is the heartland of the First Amendment”.
Kathryn Freed, the N.Y. City Council Person for SoHo, N.Y.C.’s main gallery area, is pressuring police to make more artist arrests. Freed calls artists “parasites” and claims they ruin the quality of life in the city.
Police officials claim they are being pressured to arrest artists by members of an art dealer/landlord coalition, the “SoHo Alliance” and by the powerful “Fifth Avenue Association” which represents major retailers in Midtown New York.
Both the “SoHo Alliance” and “Fifth Avenue Association” are active in attempts to limit constitutionally-protected rights such as free speech on public streets and in parks. Both groups are filing amicus briefs in this case.
According to Robert Lederman, president of a protest group called A.R.T.I.S.T., the ruling ignores 50 years of Supreme Court and appellate cases which affirmed visual arts equal status with the written word. Lederman is urging individuals and organizations in the legal, cultural and arts communities to join in the case by filing their own amicus briefs for an appeal challenging the ruling. If this ruling is not overturned, all visual artists, in whatever media, will have a lesser First Amendment protection than the authors of a VCR manual or car wash leaflet.
Posted to the Internet by Robert Lederman
[email protected]
Texas
National Citizen Militia
Organizaiton Established
Petition of Grievances Filed
With Congress
DALLAS – In October, 1995 a group called the Tri-State Militia Alliance met near Dallas, Texas. In its second meeting since its founding in July, 100 Militia commanders from 45 states met to elect General John Parsons as its chairman, and to draft a Petition of Grievances to Congress. The document, which borrowed heavily from the Declaration of Independence, was distributed to every Senator and Representative, in addition to the President.
posted to the Internet by R. A. Mann
Tel: (800) 688-5278
Washington State
Rebellion Heats Up
In Northwestern States
SPOKANE – Gun control, land-use regulations and taxes are fueling a growing hostility in the Inland Northwest toward the federal government.
Counties have threatened to seize control of federal lands. Armed posses vow to fight federal abuses of power. A Colville plumber prays for the president’s death-on the radio.
The movement is uniting different factions who share a common enemy: the federal government. Signs are everywhere, the Spokesman-Review of Spokane reported:
The Washington secretary of state reports a surge of petitions from people asking to relinquish their U.S. citizenship and become sovereign residents of the Republic of Washington.
In Eastern Washington, the number of home-schooled children has doubled in the past four years as parents reject government-driven curriculums.
In the Columbia Basin (WA), the IRS watches a spreading tax revolt that includes a Grant County deputy assessor who refuses to pay her federal income tax.
In western Montana, Noxon rebels turn their militia into a mail-order cottage industry, and county planners get death threats for trying to tell people what do do with their land.
Many in this broad movement call themselves “new patriots”. Distrust of the U.S. Government has always run deep here where much of the land belongs to the government. Carle Raschke, an authority on subversive groups, said the anti-govern-ment refrain is loudest in rural Western states. “Wherever there are pine trees and mountains, you’re going to find it,” the University of Denver professor said.
The list of subversives again, according to the press: Home Schoolers, Libertarians, Militias, Randy Weaver, Birchers, county leaders, and local radio talk show hosts.
The good guys? Jack Booted Government Thugs and Kid Killers.
Remember: bad subversive guys = Homeschoolers, Libertarians…
Remember: good guys = federal government, government sycophants…
Posted to Libernet Digest by [email protected]
From an original AP story out of Spokane

Washington State County Faces Off With Feds
OKANOGAN – If FBI and other federal agents want to follow a case into Okanogan County, they’ll have to get the sheriff’s written permission first, according to a new county resolution.
The Okanogan County Resolution which passed unanimously by Okanogan County’s three commissioners on August 14th, grants the sheriff final jurisdiction over any federal police activity in this county. It cites the 5th Amendment’s “right of the people to be free from deprivations of life, liberty or property without due process of law.”
“We don’t want another northern Idaho or Waco or even another smaller scale thing going on here,” Commissioner Ed Thiele said. (Okanogan County is just 75 miles from Ruby Ridge, with a similar population)
“We are sending a message,” Commissioner Spence Higby said, “that we aren’t going to sit idly by anymore, but we are going to take control back. Some may call that radical, but I call it responsible.” The commission said it wanted a legal basis to try to prevent in Okanogan County a federal seige such as those which occurred at Ruby Ridge in Northern Idaho (75 miles from their office) and at the Branch Davidian compound in Texas.
Not unexpectedly the Feds are unyielding in this matter. The head of the FBI’s Eastern Washington region in Spokane said his agents will ignore the order and continue on – business as usual.
Local libertarians have reportedly called for public support of Fourth District Congressman Richard “Doc” Hastings, who represents Okanogan County citizens in Congress. Hasting’s office may be reached through (202) 224-3121.
There are 3,048 counties in the U.S. If each resolved to do as Okanogan County has done, the resolution would quickly gain national importance.
Source: Associated Press article in Kennewick, Washington, Tri-City Herald
Posted to Libernet Digest by [email protected]

The tyrant, who in order to hold his power, suppresses every superiority, does away with good men, forbids education and light, controls every movement of the citizens and, keeping them under a perpetual servitude, wants them to grow accustomed to baseness and cowardice, has his spies everywhere to listen to what is said in the meetings, and spreads dissension and calumny among the citizens and impoverishes them, is obliged to make war in order to keep his subjects occupied and impose on them permanent need of a chief.
ARISTOTLE