3 Seconds to Stop the Mandatory Vaccine Bill

As we previously reported, there is an insidious new mandatory vaccine bill that is being fast-tracked through the state legislature. I just received the following action alert from my lovely and talented wife Dawn:

There is also another option - they are taking a poll by phone.

All it takes is two 3 second phone calls:

 

-Governor David Paterson 518-474-8390
-Speaker Sheldon Silver 518-455-3791

 

I am just putting this out there in case someone is interested. I
made these phone calls and they each take 3 seconds. You just call
and say “I am calling to oppose the VACCINE BILL, ASSEMBLY BILL
10942″, they take your zip code and you are done.

YOU ONLY HAVE UNTIL JUNE 10th - THIS BILL IS FAST-TRACKED!

Please remember that this bill will make flu shots mandatory for ALL
children up to age 18 EVERY year.

Please remember that this bill will make EVERY teenage girl in New
York State receive a papilloma virus vaccine.

I can confirm that the calls literally take 3 seconds each. So get on the phone now!

Manhattan Libertarians Select Their Standard-Bearers for 2008

The Manhattan Libertarian Party held its nominating convention last night to select its 2008 candidates. There’s one race in particular that everyone wants to know about: As the New York Times reported this morning, we selected a surprising candidate for the 13th Congressional District on Staten Island:

The Libertarian Party selected Susan Overeem on Monday night as the nominee for the Congressional seat being vacated by Representative Vito J. Fossella of Staten Island. She had nearly three times as many votes as the other Libertarian candidate, Francis M. Powers, the son of the Republican Party candidate, Francis H. Powers.

Ms. Overeem, who recently stepped down from her job as a receptionist for radio station WABC, received 17 votes from officials of the Manhattan chapter of the party. The Manhattan chapter selects candidates for offices throughout the city. Mr. Powers received six votes.

Despite the lopsided vote, I think it was a very hard choice for our members. Fran made an excellent case for himself, and in Susan’s absence, he would have easily received the nomination. It’s a credit to Fran’s character and his passion for liberty that he has committed to supporting Susan’s campaign and building a Libertarian Party organization on Staten Island.

We also endorsed Isaiah Matos to challenge Carolyn Maloney for the 14th congressional district, Bill Buran for the 72nd Assembly District against Adriano Espaillat, and Nic Leobold for the 66th Assembly District against Deborah Glick.

UPDATE: The Staten Island Advance has a nice story about Susan Overeem, and the Advance’s polit.bureau blog continues it’s non-stop coverage of the race with comments from Fran that he’s not too upset about the results.

Mayor Bloomberg Doesn’t Want you to Smoke

I’m sure that many of the readers of this site commute to and within Manhattan on a daily basis. Those who do are probably at least aware, if not avid readers, of AM New York and Metro, two free daily newspapers distributed primarily to commuters within New York City. Beginning June 3^rd, the New York City government purchased ads wrapping the outside of these two free papers proclaiming that the price of a pack of cigarettes is now over $8 a pack, and suggesting things that a smoker could spend his money on if he chose to quit smoking. Let’s for a minute ignore the fact that the municipal government is essentially paying for the printing of the two most widely distributed newspapers in the city (He who pays the piper picks the tune,) and focus instead on the fact that this is another example of Mayor Bloomberg trying to run our lives for us. The article states that New York City is spending $83 million dollars of taxpayer money to tell us how to spend what little money we’re allowed to keep. There is nothing inherently evil about smoking. As with most actions, there are costs and benefits to smoking. As a non-smoker, I can’t vouch for what the benefits are, but I can assure you that they do in fact exist. Every day, hundreds of thousands of people decide they would rather have their pack of cigarettes than whatever amount of money they are willing to trade for it. A pack of cigarettes does not cost $8, it costs around $4. The only reason it hovers around $8 is the taxes of about 100% on packs of cigarettes. Imagine what pack a day smokers could do with the $1500 a year they’re throwing away in taxes (My math: the ads claim that a pack a day smoker would save $3000 a year by quitting smoking, taxes make up about half of the price of cigarettes, if the taxes were repealed they would spend about half as much on cigarettes.) If the taxes were repealed, the smokers could have their cigarettes and whatever else they would spend the money on, even more cigarettes if they so desired. Unfortunately for New Yorkers, Mayor Bloomberg has not yet learned that cities are not corporations, and the objective is not to bring in as much money as possible. While a corporation brings gains to its associates when it increases cash flow, a government, be it city, state or federal, can do nothing but harm with increased tax receipts. The fact that Bloomberg sees us as wards which must be shaken down for every last cent is an affront to anyone who doesn’t think Mayor Bloomberg knows how to run their life. By not banning but instead heavily taxing cigarettes, New York City is attempting to micromanage the lives of its citizens while making it appear that they still have freedom.

Aforementioned Article: http://www.amny.com/news/health/am-butts0603,0,2820258.story

Fran Powers Rejects Father’s Negative Tactics

Prospective Libertarian congressional candidate Fran Powers isn’t going to let his Republican opponent talk smack about him, even when — especially when — that opponent is his dad. Today’s Staten Island Advance has a followup on yesterday’s story:

[H]is father, an MTA board member and retired Wall Street executive, said that over the years he’d tried to help his son “live a healthy lifestyle,” and said he stood ready to help his son “move his life in a positive direction.”

The elder Powers’ remarks came via a written statement and he did not elaborate on them. A GOP source said the comments were a reference to Fran Powers’ “carefree” life in the music business.

“I’m not out here doing heroin,” said Fran Powers, who fronts the Staten Island band Box of Crayons and runs an indie record label, Penny for the Guy Records. “I have a regular life. Do I have a beer? Yes. I’m having one now.”

Fran Powers said his father’s remarks were a “typical Republican tactic” to bring negativity into the campaign.

“That’s one of the things I’m trying to stop,” he said, pointing out that he’d said nothing derogatory about his father in announcing his own run for Congress.

The younger Powers, for his part, prefers to keep his campaign focused on the issues:

Powers supports the Libertarian Party’s call for smaller government, lower taxes, and greater personal and economic liberty.

“The only thing I don’t like about my father is that he’s a straight-line Republican,” Powers said.

Vaccine Freedom Rally in Albany Tuesday

There are two bills — one good and one bad –concerning childhood vaccines that are working their way through the state legislature. The good bill, A5468, is the Philosophical Exemption Bill, which would allow parents to exercise a philosophical exemption on behalf of their children from mandatory vaccines. New York State currently provides a religious exemption, but no philosophical exemption.

The bad bill, A10942, was introduced at the behest of the pharmaceutical industry and would increase the number of mandatory vaccines. It would even add mandatory flu vaccines.

There will be a rally in Albany this Tuesday, June 10, to stop A10942 and support A5468. Anyone who thinks parents are better suited than politicians to make medical decisions for their children should attend. My Kids My Choice has more details about the rally, the bills and sample letters you can send to your legislators.

McCain Staffer Tells Paul Supporters to “Get Lost”

As the Ron Paul Revolutionaries look forward to tonight’s epic debate on whether they should throw their support to McCain or Barr, the McCain camp has made it clear that Paul’s supporters aren’t welcome. Michael Goldfarb, neocon blogger at The Weekly Standard and deputy communications director for the McCain campaign, writes:

… but let me just say to Ron Paul supporters everywhere, and on behalf of the New Right (by which I assume Paul means the Jew Right), get lost. There should be plenty of room for the Paulnuts in Obama’s big tent.

Whole thing here. On the other hand, I’m certain the Bob Barr campaign would be happy to welcome the Revolutionaries home.

Hat tip: Freedom’s Phoenix

Off With Their Heads!

“If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does.”
-The Duchess in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

If you’ve never owned or operated a business, it’s easy to imagine the myriad regulations, inspections and licenses required by the city and state as benevolent. But in the real world, they are nothing but an expensive, destructive burden on the productive class. What little good they purportedly do could easily be replicated by the private sector (e.g., Consumer Reports, Underwriter Labs, Zagat, Michelin, Ralph Nader…)

Alice’s Tea Cup, a popular Manhattan tea chain, is fighting back against the regulators. They’re suing the city for closing down their upper eastside location for over a week in March 2007, costing them a ton of lost business and damaging their reputation. The inspector’s cavalier attitude towards the business’s plight is telling:

One of the franchise managers, Michael Eisenberg, asked that the restaurant be reinspected immediately and was told by an inspector to “fax Mayor Bloomberg” with his complaints. The restaurant was forced to cancel existing reservations, including a 50-member bridal party.

Go, Alice!

Bo Diddley, R.I.P.

Some things are just more important than politics, and the death of Bo Diddley is one of them. Bo died today in Florida at age 79. Known as “The Originator,” he is arguably as important as Chuck Berry in transitioning the blues to rock’n'roll.

I saw Bo Diddley perform live on four different occasion, but none in the last 10 years or so. The first time was at Peabody’s in Cleveland during the summer of 1984. My friend Casey and I arrived early, which wasn’t really necessary because even a quarter century ago Bo was way past his career prime (although nowhere near past his performance prime). We were hanging out at the bar and it was empty except for one middle-aged black guy sitting at the other end, who turned out to be the man himself. It was one of only two times in my life I’ve asked a celebrity if I could pose for a picture with him. (Hunter Thompson was the other.)

Bo’s records are awesome, but he really excelled live. Even in his 50 and 60s, he was an energetic, dynamic entertainer, kicking his leg out while riffing on his square guitar. The really cool thing was Bo never traveled with a band. He would always just pick up a local bar band in whatever town he happened to be in to back him up. It wasn’t like Bo’s songs are particularly hard to learn, despite their brilliance. Still, I always got a kick out of watching Bo briefly stop a performance to teach the band a song they’d never heard before, and of course they’d all nail it less than a minute later.

Excuse me, I need to find a roadhouse.

Summertime… And the Taxes Are High

Yesterday was June 1, and all the new laws comprising the state budget went into effect, including several new taxes. After all, what better way to relieve a recession than by raising the cost of living and discouraging spending?

The state raised its share of the cigarette tax to $2.75 from $1.50. Combined with the city’s $1.50 a pack, these taxes are now $4.25 or 50% of the $8.50 average cost for a pack of smokes. But — all together now — it’s for you own good.

This week also marks the beginning of sales tax on purchases at Amazon.com and certain other online retailers. Overstock is pulling a virtual Atlas Shrugged and just dumping their New York affiliates, which constitute the retailers’ supposed “physical presence” in the state and thus the basis for charging a sales tax.

Personally, I suspect our legislators just hate readers.

Harassed by the Census Bureau

I’ve documented the whole thing at my personal blog here, here, here and today’s event here.

To summarize: My address was chosen for the 2010 census. I received the first questionnaire booklet a few months ago and tossed it into the trash. I received a second booklet a few weeks later which also found its way into the trash. About 2 weeks ago I received a postcard (page 1) saying that since I hadn’t returned the required information that I’d have to contact a bureaucrat by the name of Edward Marcus to setup a time to provide the information in person. I ignored it and last weekend after being in North Carolina for the weekend I came home to a hand delivered envelope which had a letter (page 3) about how I was obligated to participate. On Monday I received a letter in the mail (page 4,5) again explain why I needed to give them the info they wanted, what law mandated that I did so and what would happen if I didn’t.

Today at five after six in the evening Edward Marcus rang my doorbell and I had a nice 10 minute chat with him. He went over and over about how I needed to give him my name and info and I told him again and again that I wouldn’t. After attempting to trick me into giving him my info and making sure I knew the consequences of my continued failure to participate he got back into his SUV and drove off.

He said nothing about whether or not I’ll be hearing back from him or if I’ll be summoned to explain why I won’t play nice. For the entertainment of it all I hope they continue after me.