Rosie Mendez: “The First Amendment is Our Permit”

I just noticed the April e-newsletter of my council member Rosie Mendez in my inbox. It reports that Mendez introduced an excellent piece of legislation that would override the parade permit rules adopted by the NYPD a year ago requiring any group of 50 or more to obtain a permit. Currently, anyone in such a group without a permit is subject to arrest. And she’s using some very familiar language:

“Groups wishing to assemble and stay within the limits of the law should not be required to obtain a permit; the First Amendment is our permit” stated Council Member Mendez.

Now where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, I said it in 2004. But that’s cool. Now if only Rosie could take that same attitude toward the Second Amendment and gun permits.

Perhaps we have some friends in the videogame industry?

Disgraceful

This is one of those stories that makes me spend the day wondering what the hell is wrong with this country. A new study from the Pew Center shows that 1 in 99 adult Americans is behind bars right now. Not has been been incarcerated at some point in their lives. In prison or jail today, as you read this.

 And of course, the stats are even worse for minorities:

One in 36 adult Hispanic men is behind bars, based on Justice Department figures for 2006. One in 15 adult black men is, too, as is one in nine black men ages 20 to 34.

One in fucking nine!

And they wonder why Michelle Obama isn’t prouder of her country.

The United States, the land of the free, imprisons more of its population than any other country on earth, both in percentage terms and absolute terms. Communist China, with over a billion people, only has 1.5 million prisoners. We have 2 million.

Germany imprisons 93 out of every 100,000 of its citizens. We imprison 750 out of every 100,000.

So is there something intriniscally criminal about the American people that requires locking them up in so much greater numbers than any other people on earth? Are other countries allowing dangerous fiends to run wild? Or maybe, just maybe, do we have too many stupid laws — especially our insane drug laws – and a FUBAR justice system?

Hunter Thomspon was right. We have become a nation of jailers.

Warrantless Door-to-Door Gun Searches — Coming Soon to a Police State Near You

 

I usually try to keep local stories on this blog confined to New York City or New York State. But this new program in Boston is so mind-boggingly fascist and ingeniously evil, I had to share. Plus, it’s only a matter of time before a similar program makes its way to New York, so you can say you read it here first.

So the stormtroo–um, I mean police officers–in Beantown have initiated a new “voluntary” program where they knock on doors of private houses and ask if they can come inside without warrants to search for illegal guns. Presumably they are counting on the sheeple being too intimidated to just say no, and naturally they are preying on minority and immigrant communities first.

And woe be the minority or immigrant who has the courage to refuse entry. Think they won’t be targeted for a little extra “community policing” surveillance and enforcement?

Yeah, This Will Reduce “Unwarranted Anxiety”

The NYPD wants you to have to come to them for “permission” before you can own a machine to detect biological, chemical and radiological weapons:

And it’s not just devices to detect weaponized anthrax that they want the power to control, but those that detect everything from industrial pollutants to asbestos in shoddy apartments. Want to test for pollution in low-income neighborhoods with high rates of childhood asthma? Gotta ask the cops for permission. Why? So you “will not lead to excessive false alarms and unwarranted anxiety,” the first draft of the law states.

Ah yes, so research scientists and community groups will soon have to seek the blessing of cops before doing their work. Everybody sing, “I Looove New Yorrrk!”

Eminent Domain: Just face it Bruce Ratner is more important than you are

And the City’s politicians and bureaucrats just like him better.  And why shouldn’t they - he’s providing tax revenue that helps pay for their salaries and their pensions. Of course so does your tax money - but you have no choice and Bruce Ratner does.  Don’t like it? Who cares?  You are just an ordinary citizen.  Bruce has friend’s in the government.

Eminent Domain is no longer about replacing slums with hospitals (if it ever was). Admit it - It’ s now just the latest trick politicians use to feed their unquenchable thirst for more money and more power over every aspect of your life. 

Michael White has a great piece “Columbia Pulls a Kelo”in yesterday’s New York Sun (online version) that points out how there is money to be made in the business of seizing what you thought was your property.

A few actually seem to believe the process is moral or productive. Mayor Bloomberg once commented that potential federal limits on eminent domain would limit NYC’s ability to control it’s own future.  Our mayor seemed to miss the point that eminent domain rather limits property owner’s ability to control their futures.   Our mayor is famous for thinking he knows best how we all should live.
 
But even good soldiers in the war against personal freedom seem to admit that the process by which government seizes people’s homes and businesses is flawed at best.  In August, Supreme Court Justice Stevens lamented his Kelo position saying that “the free play of market forces is more likely to produce acceptable results in the long run than the best-intentioned plans of public officials.”   DUH!  Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Dan Doctoroff  - the guy that said the free market and the interests of the city were incompatible -  has now admitted that he never should have agreed to let Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project ignore the City’s ULURP process.   OOPS - None Killed.  A few people lost their homes but who’s counting? We have to assume the government knows best right?  If they don’t like the law - they can just get the Supreme Court to “clarify” it or ignore it altogether.
 
It almost looks as if they aren’t even trying to hide it anymore.  They will take your home or your business - because they can.  Big government costs big money.  Somebody has to sacrifice.  And you can bet it won’t be Bruce Ratner, or the New York Times, or Columbia or Michael Bloomberg or Dan Doctoroff.

Presidential Candidates and Medical Marijuana: Republicans flunk except Ron Paul and Tom Tancredo

I just received a mailer from the Marijuana Policy Project.  If you are not a member - sign up now.  This is one of the most effective organizations anywhere promoting an issue important to libertarians.

The mailer includes a report card for 16 Democratic and Republican presidential candidates and the results are pretty interesting.  The only real surprise is that Hillary Clinton got something right for a change - indicating (according to the report card) that she would end federal raids on legal medical marijuana users.

Did you know that the federal government ignores state law in medical marijuana states and arrests and imprisons law abiding citizens?   After you read this you might want to take a look at what’s happening Pakistan.   Constitution? - we don’t need no stinking Constitution.

 The Democrats actually do pretty well in the report card.  Only Joe Biden scores less than an A.   Chris Dodd seems to have read the Constitution and says he would leave it to the states - yeah Chris! .  Mike Gavel says he would legalize marijuana - yeah Mike!.

Then we have those pillars of small government the Republicans.  Of course Ron Paul scores an A+.  No surprise there.  As a doctor an a libertarian Dr. Paul hits yet another bulls-eye referring to people making their own choices and to state law.  Tom Tancredo also earns an A+ referring to state law.  Good work Tom - I can see you read the Constitution too.  

Every other Republican earns an F.  FDR would be proud.  Shouldn’t the candidates of the party of small government read the Constitution and resist using the federal government to enforce their own view of morality - especially when the will of the people in those states has been made clear in the democratic process? 

Giuliani, the big “liberal Republican” in the bunch proves his big government instincts referring to the FDA’s assessment that marijuana has no medical benefit.   Well Rudy - a lot of doctors and a lot of voters think the FDA is wrong.  Rudy is big on obeying the law. Perhaps he should make it clear whether he would obey the law in this case.  Rudy - does the FDA over-rule the Constitution?

Romney’s comment is classic.  “I don’t want medical marijuana…”  Well Mitt - no one is forcing you to take it are they.  And I don’t think the sick people in medical marijuana states really care what a Governor of some other state thinks as long as he doesn’t become President.

I really can’t believe this is the crop the Republicans have raised up.  Except of course for our hero, Ron Paul, there isn’t an ounce of leadership in the batch.  I can’t wait til after the primary to change my registration back to Libertarian. 

Mitt, Rudy and you other flunkies - just keep pandering to your “big government conservative” base.  Hillary is counting on it.

Serf City in amNew York

Matt Lysiak, a frequent contributor to Serf City, wrote an article for amNew York about some new cellphone app that sends you targeted ads based on where your phone GPS says you are. Matt plays the Big Brother card, but quotes me in the last paragraph as saying it’s no invasion of privacy, since users voluntarily install and run the application.

Hell Hath No Fury Like a Radical Homosexual Scorned

The rabble-rousers at the Radical Homosexual Agenda are going to keep rubbing Christine Quinn’s nose in her own hypocrisy when they “Parade Without a Permit” this Saturday. Good for them!

Big Brother in the Big Apple

In today’s Washington Times, former congressman and current Libertarian National Committee member Bob Barr calls out Mike Bloomberg for trying to turn New York City into the ultimate surveillance society:

Even though officials in other cities are embracing and installing surveillance cameras in huge numbers — Chicago, Detroit and Washington, D.C., to name a few — the latest plan unveiled by Mr. Bloomberg and his equally surveillance-enamored police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, leaves these other American cities in the surveillance dust. Truly what we are witnessing being created here is a 21st-century Panopticon.

The Panopticon, according to Barr, was a theoretical society hypothesized by 18th century philosopher Jeremy Bentham. “Control was exercised not by being surveilled continuously but by each person knowing they might be under surveillance at any time, or all the time.” Sounds about Bloomberg’s speed.