2:47 AM -:- Posted by Allen   5 comment(s)   View or Comment! -:-  

Only Five

It's been said that you should never underestimate the power of a small group of determined people to get great things done.

The US Supreme Court has proven the point beyond the wildest of expectations:

It only took five stupid justices to galvanize the nation and give coherence to the Libertarian Party.

Thanks, dodo-heads. I'll make sure we give you your due in history. And when you get there, say "Hello!" to Benedict.

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        2:43 AM -:- Posted by Allen   0 comment(s)   View or Comment! -:-  

NOTICE:

My associates on the CA LP Executive Committee assisted me to prepare and enact this resolution. (Some of the assistance was in giving it a bit more of a civil tone than I originally projected!)


THE CALIFORNIA RESOLUTION:

WHEREAS, the US Supreme Court has ruled (Kelo v. New London, CT, June 23 2005) against private property in American Cities, allowing that cities and other government agencies may exercise eminent domain against virtually any property for virtually any allegedly public-service purpose, even a purpose as nebulous as increasing government tax revenues; and,

Whereas, the Kelo decision allows corporations and politically-connected developers to collude with governments to seize property from unwilling owners instead of having to negotiate voluntary sales; and

Whereas, the Kelo decision greatly increases the incentives for local corruption; and

Whereas, the Kelo decision is effectively the death of private property in the United States; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the Libertarian Party of California condemns the US Supreme Court's decision in Kelo v Ne London, CT. to effectively destroy private property in American cities; and, be it further

RESOLVED, that the Libertarian Party of California will hereinafter direct its efforts toward the removal of any legislator who sponsors or votes for enabling legislation and any member of a local government agency who votes for an eminent-domain "taking" for economic development purposes; and, be it further

RESOLVED, that the Libertarian Party of California urges Congress to quickly pass, and State Legislatures to quickly ratify, an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States overturning this deplorable decision.

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        8:11 AM -:- Posted by Allen   0 comment(s)   View or Comment! -:-  

Stupid Court - Stupid Court - Stupid Court

Bad news:

'Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random," O'Connor wrote. "The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms."

'She was joined in her opinion by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, as well as Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.'

That was CNN, commenting on the dissent in the New Haven eminent domain case, which broke today.

The Supreme Court has ruled against private property:

'"The city has carefully formulated an economic development that it believes will provide appreciable benefits to the community, including -- but by no means limited to -- new jobs and increased tax revenue," Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority.

'He was joined by Justice Anthony Kennedy, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer.'

Communist thinking, pure and simple.

Maybe it's time to unincorporate cities. That's the nexus that surrenders property rights.

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        7:54 PM -:- Posted by Allen   1 comment(s)   View or Comment! -:-  

Read and Heed

    QandO

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        6:25 PM -:- Posted by Allen   0 comment(s)   View or Comment! -:-  

What If?

What if every night when you went to seep you slipped smoothly and unawares into the same terrible nightmare that just picked up where it left off the morning before, and you didn't even know while you were dreaming that you were dreaming?

Wouldn't it be a relief every morning to wake up and discover that it wasn't real?

Wouldn't you, after a while, begin to look for some 'cure' to this "sleep disorder"?

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What if every day when you woke up, usually from a normal night's sleep, you returned smoothly and unawares into the same terrible reality that just picked up where it left off the night before, and as each day progressed, you became gradually and increasingly aware of the terrible nature of that reality?

Wouldn't it be horrifying to think that there might be no relief?

Wouldn't you, after a while, be seriously looking for, and determined to commit your all to, a solution?

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        11:30 PM -:- Posted by Allen   2 comment(s)   View or Comment! -:-  

I'm Talking, BACK

Hey, I'm back; WITH comments!

Boy, what a year!

I served as Michael Badnarik's (Libertarian) Presidential Campaign CA Coordinator, and then resumed the past 8 months involved in both the county and state level of the Libertarian Party. Boy, have I learned a lot.

You see, I was a Libertarian Party (Nevada) founder back in the 70's. But in the early 80's I got tired of the infinite debate, and bailed. Until 2 years ago; I decided to give it another whirl.

It's been Heaven and Hell on the head of the same pin, and worth it (but damned expensive!) so far.

I'm pleased to note that the days of endless debate are winding down. Of course, there are a lot of dead debaters walking (don't know it yet), but the days of wasting time will soon be history. A new attitude is taking hold, one that's about actually putting performance first. I'm hoping that the times of leadership being thwarted at every turn by do-littles and nay-sayers is dead. And doing what I can to make it so.

Anyway, one of our best achievements last year was that the Atlanta Convention ratified the Platform Committee's reformatting of the LP Platform. Broke each plank into 4 parts discussing issue, principle, transitional actions, etc., and made the whole thing make more sense.

Of course, there remain a few items that could use a little more than mere re-formatting, but that will come, I'm sure.

Meanwhile, I think I've got comments enabled now, so... does anyone have any questions?!!!

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