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As many of you know, when you email a letter to the editor, you get a short acknowledgment from the auto-responder, notifying you that your message has been received. Several of these auto-responder messages recently bounced, meaning that the return addresses contained in the letters was invalid. We don't know if this was intentional or not, but we will not print letters to the editor that have invalid return addresses. We print all non-libellous letters to the editor after correcting punctuation and grammar, so if yours was not printed, then you should check the settings in your email program to insure that the return address is valid.
Date: Sun Jul 2 02:44:24 2000
Subject: FREE online database of silly / dumb laws . . .
From: Robert Bakhaus
To Jackson Progressive,
DECRIMINALIZATION DAY, JULY 3RD
protests ridiculous state laws
WASHINGTON, DC -- If you think the politicians in Washington, DC are bad, you should see what your state legislators are doing! And you can, by visiting our free online database of dumb laws at: http://www.silcom.com/~taxabo
Over the past year, states have tried to pass bills that would create the post of Secretary of Barbecue, ban the sale of cat-fur clothing, require horse-and-buggy operators to have a driver's license, make big bottles of beer illegal, and mandate that insurance companies pay for toupees for bald guys.
And that's just for openers.
"States have been called the laboratories of democracy -- but they're actually Frankenstein's laboratories, churning out a monstrous series of meddling laws, foolish dictates, and preposterous pronouncements."
"The worst part is that you -- and your fellow state taxpayers -- have to finance all this legislative malarkey."
Over the past year, according to an expose from the National Journal, state legislatures have considered or passed bills that would:
* Make it illegal to breastfeed someone else's baby without permission. (Maryland)
* Create the official government position of Secretary of Barbecue. (Florida)
* Require a driver's license and insurance to operate a horse-and-buggy on public roads. (Virginia)
* Make it illegal to sell beer bottles that are larger than 32 ounces. (Florida)
* Prohibit the sale of dog-fur or cat-fur clothing. (New Jersey)
* Require insurance companies to pay for the cost of toupees for men suffering from alopecia -- the medical term for baldness. (Missouri)
* Allow underage cooking school students to taste (but not drink) wine. (Florida)
* Honor NFL quarterback Kurt Warner for being named the National Football League's Most Valuable Player. (Missouri)
* Scold Late Show host Craig Kilborn for calling Kentucky "Kensucky." (Kentucky)
* Prohibit auto dealers from selling cars or trucks on consecutive Saturdays and Sundays. (Utah)
* Name the green frog the official "State Amphibian." (Indiana)
* Designate the Purple Loosestrife plant a "noxious weed." (Virginia)
* Mandate a dress code for teachers. (South Carolina)
* Force tow-truck operators to accept at least two major credit cards. (Delaware)
* Make it illegal to shine a laser pointer at a law enforcement officer. (Indiana)
* Prohibit any mention of non-Christian religions when teaching Colonial history. (Kentucky)
What do all these bills have in common? They are simply not necessary.
"All these bills are solutions in search of a problem. Has there been an epidemic of crazed, bald horse-and-buggy operators wearing cat-fur and drinking 64 oz. beers, who are shining laser pointers at police while breastfeeding other people's babies?
"If not, these state politicians could improve the quality of their legislative output by following the old advice: Don't just do something, stand there."
Robert Bakhaus
chief legislative analyst
LIBERTARIAN SOCIETY
PO Box 22930
Santa Barbara, CA 93121
805-965-2741 voice/fax
taxing1@juno.com
http://www.silcom.com/~taxabo
Editor's note: We in Mississippi have our share of silly and counterproductive laws. In fact, the JP gives weekly awards for the most idiotic bills introduced into the Mississippi legislature during the legislative sessions. On the other hand, nobody said that representative government was particularly efficient, wise or even ideal. It shares with all other human institutions those unfortunate frailties memorialized by writers throughout human history. On the other hand, it is the one form of polity that holds out the possibility that citizens have at least some voice on matters that affect them without taking to the streets.
Readers of the Jackson Progressive will understand that this publication has little respect for libertarianism, either as a system of ideas or as a just and reasonable basis for a political system, for the simple reason that it attempts to justify the abdication by citizens of their responsibilities. Letters to the Editor espousing libertarian principles, however, will always be published.
From: "Robert E. Nordlander"
Subject: Thomas Jefferson's 4th of July Wish!
July 2, 2000
A 4th of July wish expressed by Thomas Jefferson to Roger C. Weightman, in a letter written on June 24, 1826.
"May it" (the 4th of July) be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all,) the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self- government.
"That form which we have substituted, restores the free right to the unbounded exercise of reason and freedom of opinion.
"All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man.
"The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God.
"These are grounds of hope for others. For ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them."
Robert E. Nordlander
nord@famvid.com
Menasha, WI
Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2000 20:13:43 -0700
Subject: Reject PNTR to punish Chinese nuclear and missile proliferation
China supplies nuclear technology and expertise to Pakistan. China supplies missile and missile technology to Pakistan and other countries.
China modernizes its armed forces with a plan to fight the US. China develops asymmetrical warfare capabilities to utilize cyber-terrorism as a means of exploiting US vulnerabilities.
China threatens to engage the US in nuclear conflict over Taiwan. China subverts the US electoral process by illegal campaign contributions. China uses ethnic Chinese citizen of Indonesia - James Riady - and others for this purpose.
China uses its obscene trade surplus with US to build up its military machine, and build up puppet regimes. American trade dollars subsidize the People's Liberation Army which controls thousands of front businesses in China and USA.
The biggest strategic threat to the US is a militarist, totalitarian, expanding China. The Chinese government knows whom it is getting ready to fight.
But all that the US officials want from China is yet another pledge to stop proliferation.
Hello! Did anybody ever hear of Munich?
The US Senate must reject PNTR to China. It is time to put our national security interests above short-term profits.
Sincerely,
Mac Kher
Bloomington IL
July 14, 2000
For the third time a test of a proposed missile defense system suggested that this $60 billion project ought to be abandoned.
The failure of the interceptor rocket to come near the targeted incoming missile indicated that this project is simply a boondoggle designed to enrich defense contractors and enable politicians to convey a false sense of security to the American people when no such security is possible.
It is my hope that people like physicist and missile expert Theodore A. Postol will be listened to by Congress and those who are in a position to decide the fate of this ill-begotten missile defense fraud being perpetrated on the American people.
Postol has pointed out that it is impossible for the missile defense system to differentiate between decoys and bona fide missiles in outer space.
On July 10 The New York Times pointed out in an editorial that there are international repercussions that could ensue from a hasty decision to go ahead with the missile defense hoax:
"Given the latest test failure, Washington has every reason not to rush its decision on building the system, especially since ordering construction now would unravel existing arms control treaties."
As a person who has spent the major part of his professional life working as a scientist in industry, it is my conclusion that the missile defense fraud should abandoned.
Sincerely,
Tom Hutt
Menasha, WI 54952
July 16, 2000
AN OPEN LETTER TO
The Honorable Ronnie Musgrove
Governer
State of Mississippi
We, the members of Major General William T. Martin Camp 590, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Natchez, humbly wish to question your course of executive action in addressing the issue of our 106 year-old state flag. This beloved flag was designed in 1894 by a joint legislative committee chaired by our own General Martin. Now it is being questioned by others in this long-passing age of political correctness and we feel confident that a majority of Mississippians are for keeping our only state flag that we have ever known and served.
However, we question not your course of action, but your choice of representation. Who represents the citizens of Natchez, the state's first city? Does Rep. Ed Blackmon, who presented a bill to remove our flag, represent an impartial committee member? Does William Winter, who is a renowned reformist of single minded opinion, represent a fair chairman? We have observed Mr. Winter at many Natchez forums and festivals, and we know his ill intentions for our flag. Is he a fair and impartial chairman for such an important committee?
The patriotic people of Mississippi chose on January 9, 1861 to suffer a new war for the independence of a new nation. They suffered four years of extreme sacrifice and suffering for a "Lost Cause." They then suffered twelve years of humiliation and hardship by occupation of Union troops sent to punish the people of Mississippi. Did this Reconstruction Era not doom our chances for a smooth transition between our citizens at the end of the last awful vestiges of slavery in these United States? Yes, we recognize that the days of Jim Crow were unfair, but are the people of Mississippi not leading the way and setting the standards of racial harmony for this great nation? Do we not have the greatest diversity of race, with the best relations yet? Will your committee address that this ongoing process is being made under the same 106 year-old flag? Will they ask if those who attack this great flag of Mississippi have an agenda of continued divisiveness?
Finally, we ask if the citizens of Mississippi will be allowed to make this momentous decision, or are your public statements understood correctly that your appointed committee will put this beloved flag behind us?
Respectfully submitted,
Members of MG William T. Martin Camp 590 in attendance for our regular monthly meeting.
July 23, 2000
Editor
Letters to the Editor
Jackson Progressive
editor@jacksonprogressive.com
The recent resurrection of the Good Friday Agreement has suggested that peace has finally come to British-occupied Ireland. And yet, there are certain elements within the Unionist constituency of David Trimble that continue to engage in acts of terrorism against the Catholic/nationalist population.
In June two arson attacks on Catholic churches were perpetrated by Unionist bigots who would have been very comfortable in the American Ku Klux Klan.
In the County Antrim attack tires were piled up outside the door of St. Mary's church in Cushendall before being set alight. The blaze spread into the sacristy, causing part of the roof to fall in before it was spotted around 4:am.
On June 5 St. John the Baptist Catholic Church on the Garvaghy Road was also damaged in an arson attack, which damaged the foyer.
One is reminded of the arson attack of July 12, 1998 on a Catholic home in Ballymoney in which three little boys aged eight through ten were burned to death. Fortunately, there were no fatalities in the arson attacks discussed above.
These are only three of the many acts of terrorism that are committed routinely against the Catholic population of occupied Ireland. They are rarely reported in the international media which much preferred to highlight and label Provisional Irish Republican Army activities as "terrorism" during the years the latter waged guerrilla warfare against British rule in the north of Ireland.
If these acts of terrorism against the Catholic population of the north continue, of what real value is the GFA? How can it be said that "there is peace when there is no peace."
Surely, it is time for "perfidious Albion" to leave Ireland in order that true peace, peace with justice, will finally come to the people of a united Ireland.
Barbara Fink
Menasha, WI
July 29, 2000
I found your site thru conducting a search on the dangers of the prison industry. I am shocked!! I must admit I bought into the white fear mentality that mainstream media throws our way. No more.
Although I have not been able to read everything, I've bookmarked your site and will continue to check your web site more frequently.
Paul Dietrich
San Francisco
It's nice to be appreciated. We believe that the prison buildup is only one of the more obvious symptoms of a far more general social disorder that can only be described as apocalyptic, both in scope and in seriousness. - Editor