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THE VILLAGE CHOICE - Volume 4, Issue 30
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Manhattan Libertarian Party
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Aug 05, 2005 12:18 PDT
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THE VILLAGE CHOICE
A Weekly Rundown of News, Views and Events Affecting Freedom in NYC
Volume 4, Issue 30 * August 5, 2005
THE VILLAGE CHOICE is brought to you by the Manhattan Libertarian Party.
http://www.manhattanlp.org
In this issue:
* Lawsuit to bag the searches!
* 13-year-old fined $1100 for skateboarding!
* Police continue Critical Mass crackdown!
* Your calendar of pro-freedom events!
* Much more!
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* News Bites *
The War on Straphangers
Brendan MacWade barely escaped the devastating World Trade Center
attacks — but he says that doesn't mean we need to randomly search for
terrorists in the subways. The 32-year-old Brooklyn man yesterday joined
four other plaintiffs and the New York Civil Liberties Union in a
lawsuit to stop the NYPD's bag searches, which officials say are
designed to prevent attacks like 9/11 from ever happening again. The
lawsuit against the City of New York and Police Commissioner Raymond
Kelly, which was filed in Manhattan federal court yesterday, argues that
the random bag searches are unconstitutional and seeks an immediate
injunction stopping the searches.
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/50812.htm
The War on Skateboarders
Skateboarder Andre Stoltzus, 13, thought it was just another fun day of
doing cool stunts and jumps in Union Square last Thursday, when he found
himself being ticketed by undercover Park Enforcement Patrol officers
and hit with a colossal fine. He received three summonses, including a
$100 fine and a $1,000 fine, for reckless skateboarding and his
skateboard was confiscated, according to Robert Peters, Stoltzus's
father. Photographer Tomas Melchor photographed the event. Stoltzus was
first skating on the steps at the south side of the park by 14th St.,
but then moved to the north side of the park, Melchor said. There,
undercover officer allegedly grabbed the youth's shoulder and tried to
force him into an unmarked van. The youth would not cooperate since the
officers were not in uniform and the car was not marked. According to
Melchor, officer threatened to handcuff the young skateboarder, causing
the boy to be in tears, and also took his skateboard away. “The cop said
he was going to give the skateboard to his son,” Melchor said.
http://www.thevillager.com/villager_117/skateboarderflipsout.html
The War on Bicyclists
Police arrested at least 34 people Friday night in one of the more
active crackdowns in months against a group of cycling enthusiasts who
pedal through the streets of Manhattan en masse to call for more
bike-friendly roads. Officers riding scooters corralled and grabbed
dozens of cyclists among the hundreds participating in the once-a-month
rides hosted by the group Critical Mass. The city wants the group to
apply for a permit to stage each ride. The cyclists say they shouldn't
have to, because riding a bike on city streets is legal.
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/manhattan/ny-bc-ny--bicycleprotests0729jul29,0,1953683.story
Tunnel to Nowhere
Hours after the House of Representatives approved a big transportation
bill last Friday morning, Representative Jerrold L. Nadler informed the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey that it would get a $100
million federal grant to design and engineer a freight tunnel under New
York Harbor. Usually, news of such largesse would be cause for
celebration. But the Port Authority did not ask for the $100 million,
says it did not know about the grant, and is not very interested in the
project. "For us to say that we're committed at this point in time and
can commit any funds to it would be premature," the authority's
executive director, Kenneth J. Ringler Jr., said this week. The unusual
circumstances surrounding the $100 million grant - which dwarfs all
other individual appropriations for New York - reveal much about the
peculiarities of federal transportation spending, in which huge
appropriations are approved every few years in a manner that some deride
as a pork opportunity for individual lawmakers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/03/nyregion/03rail.html?
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* Rant of the Week *
Two More Weeks of Hell
by Jim Lesczynski
I admit it. I HATE collecting ballot access signatures. Hate it!
Petitioning season is always the hottest, sweatiest time of year, I’m in
a foul mood, the people I approach are in a foul mood, and the whole
ordeal generally sucks.
But it has to be done. That is, if we want to see Libertarian candidates
on the ballot this November, the only way we can make it happen is by
sucking it up and getting thousands of signatures.
I am generally a firm believer in Ernie Hancock’s axiom, “If you’re not
having fun with activism... you’re doing it wrong!” That’s why I always
try to come up with activism events that are fun and require almost no
effort for people to participate and make an impact – the Penny Poker
Tournament, Guns for Tots, the Butt-Out Bloomberg Pub Crawl, The
Unauthorized Protest in Central Park, etc. If you don’t enjoy what
you’re doing to fight for freedom, then find something else you do
enjoy, and do that instead. Write a letter to the editor, or help us
distribute Serf City, our new Manhattan Libertarian Party tabloid. Have
fun with it.
But I’m willing to make an exception for petitioning. If you are that
rare individual who actually enjoys petitioning, then we are really
lucky to have you. For the most part, however, none of us like it, but
we do it anyway. We do it because we are Libertarians, and we understand
There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. Value for value. If you value
having someone to vote for besides the usual statist idiots, you have to
pay for it.
Please go right now to:
http://www.manhattanlp.org/elections.htm
and download our petition forms. Use the form that is most convenient to
your location. If you are in or near the East Village/Lower East Side,
use Claudia Flanagan's petition form. If you are in or near East Midtown
or the Upper East Side, use Jak Karako's petition form. If you are in or
near East Harlem, use Alan Markopoulos' petition form.
Please spend at least an hour or two each week for the next two weeks
collecting signatures to get our candidates on the ballot. I generally
get about 40 signatures an hour in the park or on subway platforms. If
you collect even 20 signatures in an hour, it will tremendously help us
reach our petitioning goal.
You can return your completed petition forms to us at next week's
meeting, or mail them to me: Jim Lesczynski, 455 FDR Drive #B1205, New
York, NY 10002. We need to receive all our petition forms no later than
Saturday, August 20.
Two more weeks of Hell. Then we can all go back to enjoying activism
again.
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* Upcoming Events *
Friday, August 5 - Sunday, August 7, 8:00 p.m.
Busted Jesus Comix
Theater production loosely based on shocking court case of the first and
only artist ever convicted of obscenity
$15 admission (20% off for members of MLP or LPNY and their guests.
Email in-@BlueCoyote.org for ticket information.)
Access Theater, 380 Broadway
http://bluecoyote.org
Monday, August 8, 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Forum on Social Security Reform
Sponsored by Rep. Charles Rangel
Speak out against government Ponzi schemes
Milstein Hospital Auditorium, 177 Ft. Washington Ave.
Monday, August 8, 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
Wednesday, August 10, 6:30 p.m.
Manhattan Libertarian Party monthly meeting
Guest speaker: Henry Stern, former Parks Commissioner and founder of NY
Civic
Business meeting starts at 6:30; guest speaker at 7:30
Ukrainian East Village Restaurant, 140 Second Avenue
http://www.manhattanlp.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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