Okay, so I have to brag. As the entry below shows, I was the team captain for the Lincoln County Libertarian Party participating in the MS walk. Completely by our surprise, the National MS Society sent us a plaque for being the team with the Top Average Donations! We’re all very proud of that.
Senator Orrin Hatch has advocated "damaging" the PCs of users who illegally trade MP3s online, saying that "may be the only way you can teach them about copyrights." Well, there’s really no way you can physically damage a computer from across the wire, but you can delete and/or corrupt their files. One good question is: Whatever happened to due process, to being innocent until proven guilty?
My response is, if they can do that, then can we likewise damage the PCs of politicians who routinely violate the Constitution they swore an oath to uphold and defend? After all, that may be the only way you can teach politicians about the Constitution. Hey, what’s good for the goose…
Oops! The web server’s power supply konked out on me. I moved the hard drive over to a different computer, and things seem to be okay now. Sorry about that!
Well, we did the MS-Walk today. All total, participants from all over Lincoln County raised over $5,000 to help research treatments for Multiple Sclerosis! That’s certainly greater than the amount of tax money from the participants that would go to fighting this disease, and this money comes with no strings attached, unlike government funds.
As amazing as it might seem, sometimes politicians can be persuaded to do the right thing. The NC House has introduced H867, the Electoral Fairness Act. John Blust is the sponsor, and ten other house members have joined as co-sponsors. This bill will reduce NC’s prohibitive ballot access requirements to the national average, meaning that if the bill passes the Libertarian Party will no longer have to bankrupt itself every four years to stay on the ballot, and other minor parties may actually be given a voice.
It’s not everything I’d like to see happen; I’d like to see the state be forced to count write-in votes without the write-in candidate having had to qualify, and I’d like to see all parties be given a choice whether to have a primary or to nominate in convention (thereby avoiding the filing fees), and it would be nice if a party has to re-petition to get on the ballot that their members won’t all revert to "Unaffiliated" status. But it’s a start! If you’re a North Carolina voter, I urge you to write your representative in Raleigh and tell them to support this bill.
On April 21st, I will be presenting a resolution to oppose the USA PATRIOT Act to the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners. I’ve also set up a page supporting the claims we make in the resolution. The Senate is going to introduce a bill this week to extend these measures. I really don’t understand how we could get to the point where our politicians care so little about the freedom they pay lip service to when they’re hyping a war.
To show how wonderful our government is at protecting us, I have provided this public service page to explain the instructions our government has given us for surviving a terrorist attack.
I will be participating in the MS walk here in Lincoln County in April. This is a fundraising event for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, which is dedicated to ending the suffering caused by this disease. I’m the team captain for the Lincoln County Libertarian Party, and I really hope we make a good showing.
This event will be at the Lincoln County Senior Center in Lincolnton, NC. If you’re in the area, I’d love to have you as a member of our team! Just click this link to sign up for the MS Walk and join us on Saturday, April 12, 2003 at 9:00 am! If you can’t join us but want topledge to my walk, you can do so by clicking here. Every dollar you donate will go to the NMSS to help combat the devastating effects of multiple sclerosis.
One question I’m getting asked is, "Why are you doing this? Do you know someone with MS?" No, I don’t. That answer puzzles some people, but I say a truly compassionate individual is one who’s willing to put his time and money into helping others. Most politicians, and the people who support them, are quite willing to take someone else’s money by force (in the form of taxation) in order to research diseases, feed the poor, or what have you. But where is the compassion in force? Where is the charity in spending someone else’s money? If you choose to participate, or to pledge, that’s wonderful; but I don’t have any right to pick your pocket even if I do donate the money to a good cause.
Well, it’s the start of a new year. Like each year, I hope it’s at least a little better than the one before it. Last year was good. I received over 1000 votes in my bid as the Libertarian candidate for Lincoln County Commissioner, hundreds more than any other third-party candidate received from Lincoln County voters. That’s not as much as I’d hoped for, but more than I expected. It may not be much, but it’s a good start!
Now, I have to keep this momentum going. That means becoming even more visible, taking every opportunity to talk to people about the benefits of freedom and liberty and how government doesn’t work. With the good response I received last year, I’m convinced that people in Lincoln County are very receptive to this message. This is a county of basically good people, who can solve their own problems if government would just get out of the way. The challenge is merely in letting them see their potential.