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THE VILLAGE CHOICE - Volume 4, Issue 45
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Manhattan Libertarian Party
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Dec 16, 2005 13:15 PST
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THE VILLAGE CHOICE
A Weekly Rundown of News, Views and Events Affecting Freedom in NYC
Volume 4, Issue 45 * December 16, 2005
THE VILLAGE CHOICE is brought to you by the Manhattan Libertarian Party.
http://www.manhattanlp.org
In this issue:
* Nanny-state takes on diabetics!
* Brooklyn election big-wig busted!
* Rockefeller drug law reform fails!
* Your calendar of pro-freedom events!
* Much more!
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* News Bites *
Adding Insult to Insulin
New Yorkers with diabetes who aren't taking care of themselves may get
an unexpected call from a doctor prodding them to pay attention. That's
the result of a regulatory change announced this week that will allow
the city to track thousands of people with diabetes. New York is now
becomes the first American city to monitor diabetes in the same way
health departments commonly track people with HIV or tuberculosis. The
change potentially raises some privacy concerns, by collecting
information about people who have a chronic disease that isn't
contagious or caused by a toxin. New York's health commissioner, Doctor
Thomas Frieden, says the program's potential to save thousands of lives
outweighs what it gives up in medical privacy.
http://wcbstv.com/local/local_story_348154052.html
Republicans in the Hood
District Attorney Charles Hynes is considering criminal charges against
a Brooklyn Board of Elections chief clerk who allegedly lied about her
voting address. Diane Haslett-Rudiano - a high-ranking board official
who is also a district leader and officer in the Kings County Republican
organization - has used an East New York address as her residence in
voter registration records since 1988. But she actually lives in Forest
Hills, Queens, according to a city Department of Investigation report.
The address flap came to light after Sam Sloan - whom Haslett-Rudiano
knocked off the Republican ballot in a congressional race last year -
approached the Department of Investigation. Sloan had walked past 258
Schenck Ave. and started to question whether Haslett-Rudiano - who is
white - actually lived there. "It's a small wooden frame house in an
entirely black neighborhood," Sloan said. "It didn't look like a
prominent member of the Republican Party would be living there. I asked
neighbors. They said they'd never seen her."
http://www.nydailynews.com/12-12-2005/boroughs/story/373881p-317848c.html
Rock Doesn’t Drop Far
When Gov. George E. Pataki signed a law a year ago reducing what he
called "unduly long sentences" for drug crimes, he predicted that
hundreds of nonviolent drug offenders would be released from prison. But
so far, only 142 prisoners - about 30 percent of those originally
eligible for new sentences under the revised law - have been freed,
according to a report released yesterday by the Legal Aid Society. The
new law "has not resulted in a whole heck of a lot in terms of real
impact on folks who were serving long sentences," said Gabriel Sayegh, a
policy analyst for the Drug Policy Alliance, which supports further
changes in the drug laws and organized a news conference to publicize
the Legal Aid report.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/15/nyregion/15rocky.html
Goodbye, Underground Railroad
Joy Chatel fears she will lose the house that has been her life for
decades. The four-story brick building on Duffield Street in Brooklyn
serves as her home, a classroom where she home schools her seven
grandchildren, and a business where she operates a hair salon. Under the
city’s plan to rezone and develop downtown Brooklyn, approximately 130
residences and 100 businesses, including Chatel's, would be condemned.
Chatel argues there is more at stake than her private property. She and
several other building owners in the area say that their houses are
historic treasures where slaves found sanctuary as part of the
"underground railroad," a claim the city disputes. "Oral history is all
we have to prove there was an underground railroad," she told the Daily
News. "It's not like they have a neon sign outside."
http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/issueoftheweek/20051212/200/1678/
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* Rant of the Week *
Coca-Cola Blues
by Joel Turner
From a recent article in the New York Times: "In a lawsuit they plan to
file in the next few months, [Stephen] Gardner and half a dozen other
lawyers, several of them veterans of successful tobacco litigation, will
seek to ban sales of sugary beverages in schools."
These lawsuits will infringe the liberty of both consumers and the
owners of Coca-Cola, et al. Their futility is made clear by the fact
that the same kids can buy all the soda they want outside of schools.
The real solution to the so-called child obesity problem? Let parents
and children decide whether to put money in the soda machines. There is
no requirement to buy soda in a school or anywhere else.
This response is the proper libertarian answer to those who want to ban
minors' access to all allegedly dangerous products, such as harmful
drugs, electronic games with violent content, pornographic imagery, or
whatever. In a free society, parents must decide what is best for their
children, and enforcement of such family rules is strictly the
responsibility of the individual parents. Getting compliance, for the
child's own good, requires honesty, clear boundaries, truth, love,
respect and parenting skills. As a stranger, I have no right to
intervene in this negotiation, so how can I transfer a right I lack to
my government?
The companies offer a legal product. How can they be held responsible
for who, regardless of age level, buys or abuses it?
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* Upcoming Events *
Monday, December 12, 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 13, 8:30 p.m.
"Hardfire"
A Libertarian political talk show focusing on NYC
Time Warner Cable Ch. 56
http://hardfire.net
Saturday, January 21, 3:00 p.m.
Manhattan Libertarian Party annual convention
Speakers include James Bovard, author of _Attention Deficit Democracy_
and _The Bush Betrayal_; Fred Cookinham, author of _The Age of Rand_;
and City Council Member Letitia James.
Dinner and cash bar.
$40 for early-birds; $50 after January 7
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.
* 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.
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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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