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THE VILLAGE CHOICE - Volume 4, Issue 39
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Manhattan Libertarian Party
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Oct 07, 2005 14:40 PDT
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THE VILLAGE CHOICE
A Weekly Rundown of News, Views and Events Affecting Freedom in NYC
Volume 4, Issue 39 * October 7, 2005
THE VILLAGE CHOICE is brought to you by the Manhattan Libertarian Party.
http://www.manhattanlp.org
In this issue:
* Silk ignites mayoral race!
* Lesczynski looks to demolish Public Advocate office!
* Cowboy cop rides for legalization!
* Your calendar of pro-freedom events!
* Much more!
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* News Bites *
Smoke Bloomberg
A long-shot Libertarian Party candidate for mayor, Audrey Silk, is
trying to fire up her campaign. Ms. Silk, a vocal opponent of the
smoking ban Mayor Bloomberg won in 2002, is passing out cigarette
lighters with the phrases “Smoke Bloomberg in ‘05” and “End Prohibition”
in red letters. Ms. Silk, who heads a group called Smokers Lobbying
Against Smoker Harassment, has raised only about $2,000 for her campaign
– not much of a match for Mr. Bloomberg’s millions. She is calling on
him to repeal the smoking ban, which his administration considers a
major accomplishment, and contends that he is distorting facts about how
well restaurants and bars are doing in post-smoking ban New York.
http://tinyurl.com/bhq2m
I Come to Bury the Public Advocate, Not to Replace Her
Jim Lesczynski is running as the Libertarian party’s candidate for
Public Advocate, not because he thinks he’ll do a better job than the
current advocate, Democrat Betsy Gotbaum, but because he hopes to
abolish her office. It’s a costly office, he says, with a $3 million
annual budget which pays for very little. According to the PA’s own web
page, it features an Ombudsman Services Unit, which assists constituents
with complaints, problems, and inquiries involving government-related
services. The unit provides information and referrals and works closely
with City agencies to find solutions to problems. In other words,
everything a call to 311 or your community board would have taken care
of, but with no real power. “The Public Advocate used to be next in line
to succeed the mayor,” Lesczynski argues. The advocate was a kind of
councilman at-large with a vote. But since the city wrote its new
charter, the office has been stripped of its council vote. “If I am
elected Public Advocate, I promise to report to work just long enough to
fire the staff and padlock the office,” promises Jim.
http://grandstreetnews.com/scripts/grand/paper/Article.asp?ArticleID=324
Policeman and Pony Against Prohibition
After blowing into town on a one-eyed painted pony, a lanky Texan named
Howard Wooldridge looked a bit beleaguered. He had just arrived in
Manhattan from the West Coast, but not on the red-eye, having left Los
Angeles on March 4 on horseback and riding some 3,300 miles to New York.
He rode, he said, about 25 miles a day, six days a week. Mr. Wooldridge
and Misty, his 11-year-old pony, took the Broadway Bridge from the Bronx
and rode down the West Side on Broadway. Mr. Woolridge, 54, a former
police officer in Michigan and seasoned horseman, made the trip to gain
publicity for his campaign to legalize drugs, the same reason he and
Misty rode from Georgia to Oregon in 2003. As mothers pushing strollers
came up to pet Misty, Mr. Wooldridge handed out cards with the name of a
group he helped found, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/05/nyregion/05cowboy.html
Bad Bet
The New York Racing Association, warning it could go bust as soon as
next month, is planning a fire sale of assets - including 80 parcels of
land around Aqueduct Racetrack that it may not even own. "We have a cash
crisis and need immediate cash flow to get us from now until video
gaming is introduced at Aqueduct next fall," said Bill Nader, a senior
NYRA vice president. But Carole Stone, who heads the oversight board
that Gov. Pataki created to keep tabs on the racing agency, said the
agency has no right to sell the land. State officials contend that the
state, not the agency, owns the land. Even if the agency did own the
acreage, it may need approvals from the Legislature.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/352613p-300675c.html
====================
* Rant of the Week *
An Open Letter to all my Jewish elected representatives on Rosh Hashana
Regarding the myriad of "New Year Greetings" cards I receive this and
every October:
I understand that with a last name like "Siegel" how most people would
think I'm Jewish. Certainly I don't object to people thinking I'm a
member of the tribe, regardless of what my spiritual beliefs may
actually be. My objections to you wishing me a happy new year in October
are as follows:
First, I never hear from you for the rest of the year, and then you wish
me a happy new year a full two months before January 1st. The cards you
send contain pictures of the wailing wall in Israel, some happy Rabbis
dancing, or some other such ethnic-pandering nonsense that I find really
offensive.
Second, I'm stuck paying for this unwanted correspondence. Isn't it rude
to use my tax dollars to send me a greeting card at the wrong time of
year? I don't pay money to be on anyone else's greeting card list.
People who send me greeting cards do so at their own expense.
Third, I am very disturbed by the fact that the one African-American,
and two Italian families that live in my building didn't get a card from
you. This indicates to me that you have a computer program that has the
ability to scan a master list of addresses and filter out the Jewish
names. Doesn't it bother you that a list of Jews can be created at the
push of a button? The Nazis had to work pretty hard to find everyone
they wanted to exterminate. I guess Hitler's job would be a lot easier
now.
Furthermore, most of the elected representatives who send these greeting
cards are Jewish themselves. Does no one see the irony in Jews creating
master lists of other Jews? If you can access a master address list
(probably from the US Post Office) and filter out various ethnicities,
this means other people can do the same. If you're stupid enough to have
created a master list of all the Jewish people in your district, please
remove me from that list, as well as any other mailing lists you have me
on.
Lastly, do you think I'm dumb enough to vote for you simply because
you're Jewish, and you assumed I was too? That's as good as me NOT
voting for you simply because you're Jewish.
FYI- The New Year occurs at exactly 12am January 1st. Please don't get
in touch with me then either.
--Matt Siegel
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* Upcoming Events *
Monday, October 10, 6:30 p.m. (NOTE NEW NIGHT!!!)
Manhattan Libertarian Party monthly meeting
Guest speaker: Preston Peet, editor of DrugWar.com
Ukrainian East Village Restaurant, 140 Second Avenue
http://www.manhattanlp.org
Monday, October 10, 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
Tuesday, October 11, 8:30 p.m.
"Hardfire"
A Libertarian political talk show focusing on NYC
Time Warner Cable Ch. 56
http://hardfire.net
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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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