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THE VILLAGE CHOICE - Volume 4, Issue 28
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Manhattan Libertarian Party
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Jul 22, 2005 13:10 PDT
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THE VILLAGE CHOICE
A Weekly Rundown of News, Views and Events Affecting Freedom in NYC
Volume 4, Issue 28 * July 22, 2005
THE VILLAGE CHOICE is brought to you by the Manhattan Libertarian Party.
http://www.manhattanlp.org
In this issue:
* NYC police state goes into overdrive!
* Pedestrians ticketed for standing!
* MTA finishing Al Qaeda’s job downtown!
* Your calendar of pro-freedom events!
* Much more!
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* News Bites *
Baaaa
Some New Yorkers praised random bag checks as a necessary evil, while
others denounced the move as an ominous invasion of privacy — but
straphangers submitted to the searches without protest at subway
stations yesterday. "I think it's a good idea," said Mark Spaulding, 26,
whose bag was inspected as he entered the subway at Union Square
station. "We're not used to this as U.S. citizens, but it's our reality
now." At Union Square, Rockefeller Center and the Staten Island Ferry
terminals, teams of cops began searching backpacks and other large bags
yesterday, just hours after Mayor Bloomberg announced the new security
checks, which police had said would start in earnest today. "Cool! Let
them search," said Johnny Eggz, 31, of Staten Island. "We're at war.
What are you going to do — cry about being searched or cry about being
blown up?" Umm, both?
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/50239.htm
No Stopping... Even on Foot
Two men who had just disembarked from a thank-you cruise for gay pride
volunteers were stunned when they were slapped with $50 tickets for "no
stopping or standing" in a fire zone. They weren't in a car. "It's so
ridiculous that it's hilarious," said a perplexed Jason Eng, 25, of
Manhattan who received the summons Sunday evening at Hudson River Park.
"I can't believe this actually happened," the software programmer said.
"There's no reason I should get a ticket. ... We were walking to the
subway."
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/329870p-281875c.html
Poker Recap
“All in —” that dramatic poker call when a player moves all of his or
her chips in the pot, would have meant only about 25 cents in this
penny-ante political game outside Police Plaza last Thursday. Leaders of
New York’s Libertarian Party staged a “no poker, no peace” demonstration
to protest a May 26 bust at two Manhattan poker clubs. Police
confiscated $100,000, much of it owned by individual players, even
though it is not illegal to play poker, party officials said.
http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_115/penniesforprinciples.html
Thanks for Staying, Now Leave
Crews had only begun clearing the debris from ground zero when
legislators, neighbors, and loyal customers asked him to keep his store
downtown. Harry Sutton, the owner of the New York Stocking Exchange,
listened. Almost four years later, after taking out loans to rebuild his
lingerie store at 189 Broadway, the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority has begun the legal paperwork to seize the unassuming
two-story building at the corner of John Street where Mr. Sutton and
eight other tenants have their small businesses. As a state authority,
the MTA is using its powers of eminent domain to take the titles of six
properties, including the historic Corbin Building, and evicting 120
tenants to construct the $825 million Fulton Street Transit Center.
Another 27 buildings in the area will surrender some aspect of their
property in service of the public facility, to be completed by 2008.
http://www.nysun.com/article/17334
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* Rant of the Week *
Fourth Amendment R.I.P.
by Jim Lesczynski
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,
supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place
to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
-Amendment IV to the U.S. Constitution
Well, it was a good idea while it lasted. The War on Drugs put the
Fourth Amendment in intensive care, and the War on Terror finally killed
it. Maybe it had been dead for awhile, but it left such a good-looking
corpse we just didn’t notice. But there’s no denying it any longer. The
random bag searches in the NYC mass transit system started yesterday and
will continue into the foreseeable future. No probable cause is
required. You draw breath, you’re a suspect.
The random searches aren’t without precedent, of course. In Boston, they
randomly searched people entering the subways during the Democratic
national convention last year, following the Madrid subway bombings. In
New York, we had random searches of vehicles entering the city by bridge
and tunnel. Ever since the authorities discovered five-year-old
surveillance of Citigroup Center by suspected terrorists, most large
office buildings now x-ray bags at the entrance. Now the London bombings
have made subway security the flavor of the month, so it’s down with the
4th Amendment on trains and buses. The terrorists must amuse themselves
watching our protectors flit from trend to trend in order to make us
“feel safer”.
It’s a wonder the terrorists don’t leak plans to hide high-powered
explosives in their rectal cavities, just to watch the sheeple willingly
submit to random anal probes. I guarantee you one such incident of a Mad
Butt Bomber, and you would see cops with a rubber glove on one hand and
a tube of K-Y in the other on every street corner.
Yes, the threat of another terrorist attack is real. When you build an
empire that puts military bases in 170 countries around the world and
routinely invade sovereign nations and kill the locals by the thousands,
you tend to make a few enemies. (“Ooh, he’s blaming America.” No, I’m
blaming our stupid-ass government.) While the likelihood of any one of
us being in the next exploding subway car is remote — even here in NYC —
any loss of innocent life is deplorable, and we should seek to prevent
it. But it’s important to keep in mind that these searches do _nothing_
but comfort the stupid. Approximately 4.7 million people ride the
subways each day, entering 468 different subway stations, many of which
have up to six entry points. There are about 40,000 cops. Do the math.
LPNY Vice Chair Blay Tarnoff puts it into even better perspective: “Iraq
is under military rule. Anybody's bag, clothing, or body cavities can
be searched at any time for any reason or no reason at all.
Terrorist-style bombs are nevertheless going off every day, killing all
sorts of people, including the most heavily armed and technologically
advanced and highly trained soldiers in the world... Given all that, how
intrusive will searches have to be to be effective in New York City?
Take your time.”
What I find hilarious is that whenever the news reports do get around to
mentioning civil liberties concerns in the 7th or 8th paragraph, it's
always some ACLU talking head or other liberal weenie fretting that the
searches could lead to racial profiling. Yes, god forbid they focus on
people who look like they might actually be terrorists. Nobody _ever_
gets down to the fundamental 4th Amendment issue of unreasonable
searches or the presumption of innocence. The standard now is that civil
liberties violations are fine as long as they are done consistently and
"fairly".
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* Upcoming Events *
Monday, July 25, 10:30 p.m.
"The Libertarian Alternative"
A Libertarian political talk show
Time Warner Cable Ch. 34, RCN Cable Ch. 110, MNN Ch. 1
http://www.libertarianalternative.org
Thursday, July 28, 7:00 p.m. (postponed from July 21)
SCOPE-NYC meeting
Monthly meeting of the New York City affiliate of the Shooters'
Committee on Political Education, a pro-RKBA organization
Jade Mountain Restaurant, 197 Second Avenue
http://scopeny.org/NYC
Saturday, July 30, 9:00 p.m.
Fundraiser for Jak Karako, Libertarian/Democrat for City Council
Tango shows, live music, raffle, cash bar and dinner available
$20+ suggestion donation
Ukrainian East Village Restaurant, 140 Second Avenue
http://www.electjak.org
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* Manhattan Libertarian Party Honor Roll *
Benefactors (have given at least $1,000 to the MLP in 2005)
Ron Moore
Victor Niederhoffer
Founders (have given at least $500 to the MLP in 2005)
Your Name Here?
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* News tips, rants and events wanted! *
Help us improve THE VILLAGE CHOICE. Send news bites, rants and event
announcements to village-@manhattanlp.org. Please include a web
link whenever possible. We will occasionally consider broader topics,
but our strong preference is for items pertaining to freedom (or the
lack thereof) in New York City.
THE VILLAGE CHOICE is edited by Jim Lesczynski.
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If you're offended by anything in this newsletter, you're obviously a
humorless socialist of either the right-wing or left-wing variety.
See you next week!
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