|
THE VILLAGE CHOICE - Volume 4, Issue 43
|
Manhattan Libertarian Party
|
Dec 02, 2005 14:20 PST
|
THE VILLAGE CHOICE
A Weekly Rundown of News, Views and Events Affecting Freedom in NYC
Volume 4, Issue 43 * December 2, 2005
THE VILLAGE CHOICE is brought to you by the Manhattan Libertarian Party.
http://www.manhattanlp.org
In this issue:
* Subway searches approved!
* Political welfare upheld!
* Gun makers get no immunity from NYC!
* Your calendar of pro-freedom events!
* Much more!
==============
* News Bites *
Stupid Judge #1
A federal judge ruled Friday that the city's random bag searches in the
subway system are constitutional, in a suit brought by the New York
Civil Liberties Union on behalf of straphangers. Lawyers for the city
and NYCLU delivered closing arguments in the case Friday at Manhattan
Federal Court. The judge said in a 41-page ruling that the government's
interest in preventing a terrorist bombing of the subway system is
vitally important. The NYCLU, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of four
plaintiffs, says the searches violate commuters’ constitutional rights,
arguing they invade riders’ privacy and do little to improve security.
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=55338
Stupid Judge #2
The chair of Manhattan's Libertarian Party, James Lesczynski, told the
New York Sun he "expects" he will soon appeal Judge Paul Feinman's
recent ruling that Mr. Lesczynski lacked the standing to challenge the
city’s campaign finance rules. Mr. Lesczynski had asked the judge in
August to declare the city's campaign-finance rules unconstitutional. He
argued that the campaign-finance rules, which give candidates matching
funds from taxpayers' dollars, force him and other taxpayers to fund
speech they object to – a violation of their right to free speech under
the state and federal constitutions.
http://tinyurl.com/9fl8x
Stupid Judge #3
A federal law designed to give the gun industry broad immunity from
lawsuits filed by crime victims and violence-plagued cities does not
apply to a pending suit by the city of New York, a federal judge ruled
Friday. If upheld, the ruling would raise questions about the
effectiveness of the federal legislation, which was championed by the
National Rifle Association and signed into law by President Bush in
October. U.S. Judge Jack B. Weinstein said in a 97-page opinion that the
legislation contained an exception wide enough to allow New York's claim
to go forward.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1310AP_Gun_Lawsuits_New_York.html
No Fun City
Faster than you can say "I'm on the list," the freewheeling fun granted
to the city's bars for the past few years seems to be over. On November
12, a combination of police, fire, and health and buildings inspectors
(the dreaded MARCH—Multi-Agency Response to Community Hotspots) raided
eight bars around the East Village, issuing 79 violations to six of
them. The MARCH squad arrived at the Library at 2 a.m., peak bar time,
and stayed for an hour while turning on the lights, turning down the
music, carding all the patrons, and issuing 16 tickets. The task force
cited the venue for minor offenses such as lacking soap in the soap
dispenser, as well as for a more serious problem—overcrowding. Nick
Bodor, one of the Library's business partners, says the task force was
"very disruptive to business. They effectively shut us down at 2 a.m."
Because as everyone knows, nothing says "crazy party" like 30 uniformed
officers in a bar.
http://villagevoice.com/nyclife/0548,romano,70486,15.html
====================
* Rant of the Week *
Hurricanes & Shooting Wars
by Matt Siegel
When I spoke to him, Eddie's arm had just been taken out of a cast. It
was broken in several places when he tripped and fell on his porch two
weeks before the hurricane hit. Eddie isn't a young guy, probably in
his late fifties, and not in the best of health, but he has one of those
really self-sufficient personalities. He's been around guns since he
was six years old, he has a HAM radio license, and he fixes his own
house. There was no way he was going to evacuate his home in the French
Quarter when he was told to leave. He had ridden out other hurricanes,
and he was going to ride out Katrina as well.
After sitting through the storm, Eddie turned on his short-wave radio,
and began checking the usual frequencies. He couldn't find the National
Weather Service, nor the truckers on citizen's band. There was no
chatter at all. He went outside his home in the French Quarter to have
a look around. Things weren't too bad, aside from some wind and water
damage. There was no flooding, and so he decided to take a walk towards
Canal Street.
Eddie saw no other people in the Quarter. This is when he began to
realize that everything was not okay. Normally, lots of people ignore
evacuation orders, and the Quarter is open for business within a week.
This time things were different. He began feeling like the Omega Man,
the last man on Earth. This changed when he got to Canal Street.
This street, so named because it was originally supposed to be a canal,
was living up to it's name. It was flooded waist-high with muddy water,
and all around him people were smashing windows, looting stores, and
beginning to realize that there were no police to stop them. Eddie saw
things beginning to get ugly, and so he made his way back to the
Quarter.
There he found other residents who had also weathered the storm
beginning to trickle into the streets. They all talked, exchanged
information about who was in town, who had left, which streets were
passable and which ones weren't. Shortly thereafter, the shooting
started.
“Who was shooting at you?” I asked.
“The two hundred thousand people who live on one side of the Quarter,
and the two hundred thousand who live on the other side.”
Apparently, local criminals and gangs wanted to get at each other as
well as get into the French Quarter to loot homes and businesses. Eddie
armed himself with his custom Glock handgun that he used in target
matches. It wasn't the ideal tool for the situation, but it was the
only firearm he had bothered to keep after various girlfriends over the
years had convinced him to get rid of his other guns.
The locals, armed with assorted handguns and rifles banded together and
became the Militia. Luckily, the looters were not good shots.
Criminals usually aren't, because they have no training. On the other
hand, the Militia consisted of hunters, Viet Nam veterans, and target
shooters. These people were by no means professional soldiers, but they
were able to repel random attacks from disorganized looters.
On the second day, Eddie saw a large white unmarked military vehicle
towing a trailer. All around it were men carrying high-powered rifles
with scopes. They were moving slowly down the streets, scanning the
rooftops.
“I just hung back and watched.” Eddie said “These were some of the
meanest looking people I've ever seen.”
When they were close enough, Eddie heard they were speaking in Hebrew.
At some signal, they all hopped onto the trailer's running boards, the
vehicle sped up, and they left the area.
“I think they were some private security force that had been sent to
remove a VIP from the area. I don't think they were Israeli military,
but I don't know.”
When the majority of the New Orleans Police Department turned and ran
away, they didn't have the decency or forethought to remove all the guns
from the precinct houses. More interestingly, they didn't think to
remove their stockpiles of body armor. So by the third day, the looters
began showing up with Class III body armor. This made defending the
French Quarter a much harder job.
Being a HAM radio operator, Eddie had several walkie-talkies that the
Militia was using to communicate. These needed to be charged up along
with a few cellphones and police scanners, but there was no electricity
in the Quarter. Outside the Quarter, some residents had generators, so
they had electricity, but they also had much more trouble with looters
and gangs who were now wearing body armor. A barter system was worked
out where the Militia came up with a few boxes of armor-piercing rifle
ammo in exchange for permission to charge up their electrical devices
when they needed to.
Around this time, the National Guard showed up. Their presence
consisted of two Humvees. Nobody saw more than that for several days
even though the news media was reporting that the National Guard was in
New Orleans.
Conventional wisdom dictates that when the National Guard finally did
establish itself in bases around the city, things would quiet down a
little. But on the evening news we all saw National Guardsmen and other
law enforcement officers pinned down inside a hospital, taking fire from
snipers in nearby housing projects. The snipers were eliminated by a
Blackhawk helicopter.
Eddie and the rest of the Militia were out in the streets when this
happened. They saw the Blackhawk open fire with it's 50-caliber guns.
Then the gun turret swung around and pointed towards them.
“Everyone threw down their guns, and was waving their hands in the air.”
Eddie said.
Luckily, the pilot didn't fire.
At some point, Eddie did an interview with a major news network that had
come into the French Quarter. His interview appeared on television and
was seen by someone who works for Homeland Security. This certain
someone recognized Eddie as his sister's old boyfriend. The certain
someone then got in touch with his sister, who got in touch with Eddie
via cellphone.
Eddie's health was beginning to fail. In addition to still having his
arm in a cast, he was malnourished, dehydrated, and hadn't been able to
get his prescriptions filled because the pharmacies had been looted.
Eddie was asked if he could be at the Sheraton Hotel at exactly 8pm.
He arrived at the hotel before eight, and at exactly three minutes after
eight, a Special Operations team shows up with a personnel carrier. The
commander got out and asked Eddie his name. Then he said “I have orders
to get you out of here in a hurry.”
Eddie was extracted from the French Quarter inside the personnel
carrier. This was the first time he'd experienced air conditioning in
weeks of hot & humid weather. Every time the personnel carrier would
reach a checkpoint, they would be asked if anyone was inside. The
commander said the vehicle was empty.
Eddie was taken to a house, and given a medical exam. He contacted his
sister, who asked him where he was. He checked the outside of the
house, but there was no address, so he didn't know. The next day, he
was moved to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with exposure, and some
sort of stress disorder. When Eddie had put on some weight, and become
less stressed-out, he was released to his family.
There is much to be learned from Eddie's story, and from the things I
saw on my recent trip to New Orleans.
First, however advanced our civilization may be, things can go to shit
in a matter of minutes. I'm ashamed at how fast this can happen, and by
people's behavior in these situations. This doesn't mean that we should
be afraid, it means we should be prepared. When life is good, the
survivalists sound like they're paranoid and crazy. When things get
bad, you realize they're not.
How paranoid would people think you were if you had a stash of armor
piercing ammunition? What the hell do you need that for? Can you
imagine trying to explain to your girlfriend why you have armor piercing
ammo in the house? There is no good reason anyone needs to have that
stuff lying around. Until one day there's a very good reason for it.
The looters stealing weapons? Anyone could have predicted that. But I
don't think anyone had the foresight to realize the threat lay not in
stolen weapons, but in the body armor. And the biggest joke here is
that the guy who had the armor piercing ammo lying around his house
probably had it because of it's macho bad-ass appeal, not because he
thought he'd ever need it.
Next, who the hell do you have to be to get a bunch of Special
Operations guys to come rescue you? Furthermore, who do you have to be
to get clearance from the United States Government to allow a bunch of
foreign troops to come rescue you? Two other people besides Eddie
confirmed seeing Hebrew-speaking troops operating in the area. I wonder
what kind of strings had to be pulled to allow that to happen.
As fas as I'm concerned my girlfriend is a VIP, but the police and
National Guard would never allow me to take my rifle, enter a disaster
area, and rescue my girlfriend. How rich or well connected do you have
to be to get that kind of access? In Eddie's case, the fact that he
dated the sister of some important person saved his life. He said he
would have died from exposure otherwise.
So what about the rest of us? You can bet that no one will be coming to
save you unless you're rich or related to a politician. And that's
pretty much the point I take away from this whole thing. It doesn't
matter who you vote for. Whoever it is will not be there to help you
when bad shit happens. That person, their family, and anyone that
matters to them will all have been evacuated, using public resources,
like law enforcement and the military, at the expense of helping the
general public.
In this instance, the only thing worse than the hurricane itself was the
media spin. I'll leave the racial politicizing to those who have a
professional interest in diverting our attention from what really went
on. Instead, I'll just say that when control is lost, and it was lost,
all those things that make us a bunch of paranoid gun nuts suddenly
become appropriate. And in fact, our politically incorrect behavior in
good times can, in bad times, wind up saving a lot of people.
===================
* Upcoming Events *
Monday, December 5, 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, December 6, 8:30 p.m.
"Hardfire"
A Libertarian political talk show focusing on NYC
Time Warner Cable Ch. 56
http://hardfire.net
Monday, December 12, 6:30 p.m.
Manhattan Libertarian Party monthly meeting
Guest speaker: Adam Yomtov, NYS Director of Americans for Fair Taxation
Food and drink service available
Ukrainian East Village Restaurant, 140 Second Avenue
http://www.manhattanlp.org
================================
* 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?
================================
* 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.
* New editor wanted! *
THE VILLAGE CHOICE is edited by Jim Lesczynski. But he’s ready to pass
the baton. If you’d like to see THE VILLAGE CHOICE published on a weekly
basis again, you may have to step forward and do it yourself. Seriously,
we’re looking for a new editor. If you’re interested, please email
village-@manhattanlp.org.
To subscribe to THE VILLAGE CHOICE, simply send a BLANK email to:
villagechoic-@topica.com
Read the current issue or back issues of THE VILLAGE CHOICE on the web
at:
http://www.topica.com/lists/villagechoice/read
If you like THE VILLAGE CHOICE, please FORWARD it to your friends and
encourage them to subscribe.
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!
|
|
 |
|
