November 09, 2004

See Instructions Before Beginning
By Lady Liberty

This past week at work, we got some new equipment at the office. If you ever want to see a couple of adults act like it's Christmas and Santa Claus was very, very good to them, just show up to see us when those big colorful boxes arrive at our door! With great anticipation, my boss and I stopped what we were doing so that we could open a few packages. But the excitement lasted just until we had the first of the boxes open and its contents spread out on a table. You see, under all of the pretty pictures on outside of the box, there was some small print that said: Some assembly required.

If you've ever bought toys for a kid or some of that inexpensive pressed-wood furniture, you know exactly what the problem is with "some assembly required" goods. It's not that it's safer to ship delicate parts and pieces unassembled in in their own protective styrofoam cocoons. It's not that bookshelves take up far less room in the box when the component boards can all lay flat against one another. No, the problem typically lies with the instructions intended to help you through that "some assembly" that's required of you. (Read the rest here)

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Libertarian
By Emiliano Antunez

The 2004 presidential election has now been history for a week, but the spinning of its results will be present at least until the next one. Republicans harp on the record number of popular votes received by the President, while failing to mention the record turnout and the closeness of the race percentage wise. Democrats point to the close race in Ohio, while ignoring the fact that their candidate lost by over 3 million popular votes nationally. The Libertarian presidential candidate received a meager 379,000 votes nationwide but his camp was not above providing its own spun interpretation of the results.

The spin came hard and fast Badnarick's vote totals beat that of all "third" parties combined." With one exception Badnarick was bested by Ralph Nader by 17,000 votes. Ralph Nader was only on the ballot on 35 states while Badnarik was on the ballots in 48 states and DC. The numbers don't lie (If they are authentic), the fact is that Nader is more apt to attract votes than the candidate chosen by Libertarians at the national convention. Beating the other third parties combined (conveniently excluding Nader) means nothing electorally, especially when you receive over 100 million votes less than the two major parties combined. (Read the rest here)

Fear for the Future of the Republic
By Ivan Eland

A majority of the American people who voted has just given four more years to a man who failed to neutralize Osama bin Laden, the diabolical perpetrator of the most heinous foreign attack on our soil in U.S. history. Instead, President Bush diverted precious resources from that quest to settle old scores with the dictator Saddam Hussein, who had nothing to do with that attack. Yet the president justified the questionable invasion of a sovereign nation by falsely attempting to link the dictator with the 9/11 attack and wildly exaggerating the threat from Iraq. He naively believed that a foreign invasion and occupation force would be treated by Iraqis as liberators and that Iraq’s entire society could be easily socially engineered at gunpoint into a Western-style, free-market democracy, an alien concept in Iraqi history.

If the election were held six months or a year from now, the result might have been very different. In fact, the war may become such an albatross around the Republican Party’s neck that the Democrats may be lucky that they lost the election in 2004. The continuing Iraqi quagmire could set up an overwhelming Democratic victory in 2008. (Read the rest here)

Libertarian Commentary on The Day's News
By Nathan A. Barton © 2004

This edition of commentary is dedicated to those people who have suffered from the effects of excessive government. Of course, many of us believe that ANY government (other than the voluntary kind) is "excessive," but that's OUR opinion. This column is my own opinion, and not necessarily that of TPoL, RRND, or anyone else. We've got some neat news today!

US Should Legalize Polygamy!
With same-sex marriage now a reality in Massachusetts and a possibility elsewhere, should legalized polygamy be next? Yes, asserted George Washington University Law School's Jonathan Turley in a recent article in USA Today . He detests the practice but sees it as a matter of constitutional freedom, noting that even the Bible accepts polygamy. The issue arose when Utah's Tom Green, who has five wives and 31 children, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn his imprisonment for polygamy on grounds of religious conscience.

As predicted by many individuals and groups opposing the legalization of same-sex marriage, this is a growing issue, especially in light of the legal banning of same-sex marriages in 11 states on Election Day (decisions already being challenged in court). (Read the rest here)

Non Custodial Parent's Action Planned for DECEMBER 17th, 2004

Non Custodial Parent's Action Planned for DECEMBER 17th, 2004 (in New Orleans, LA ); and your city?. Fathers 4 Justice will hold their Christmas Protest Action in London on Saturday December 18th. in typical F4J style ;o)

Whether you support Fathers 4 Justice or not; whether you agree or disagree with our methods, we have achieved world-wide media coverage with our actions. Please capitalise on what we have achieved raising our issue in
the public arena and get involved with the following action on Friday December 17th., either in support of Fathers 4 Justice, in support of your own group, as individuals but more importantly - in support of your children and their future!

Earlier this year a member of Fathers 4 Justice placed his sons toys on the steps of the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Fathers 4 Justice - Netherlands followed with a similar action outside the child welfare office. ( Images and video can be seen here) (Read the rest here)

The American Jury Hour with
Iloilo Marguerite Jones and guests

FICAA.com Presents: The American Jury Hour with Iloilo Marguerite Jones and guests. Heard on The American Voice Radio Network , Thursday Afternoons, Noon Pacific, 1PM Mountain. The weekend rebroadcast of this week's program is at Sunday at 9:00 PM. .

Heard on The American Voice Radio Network American Voice Radio Network can be heard on:

C-Band Satellite at Galaxy 11 (formerly G-7), Transponder 12, Audio 8.1 Internet Streaming Audio (MP3 16kbps) C-Band and Internet Audio feeds are free with no subscription fee or sign up required whatsoever.

Would you like to help edit The Price of Liberty? I need volunteers willing to test links and look for other problems. If you'd like to help, or have other ideas for improving this site, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from you! MamaLiberty

Click Here for the Archives
The links for each day have been fixed. PLEASE let me know if you find a broken link!
Each day on the calendar that is underlined is that day's issue.
Just click on one for more great articles!
(Please tell me if you find a bad link!)

The Reader's Forum is expanding and many more people are finding it is a good a place to discuss their ideas. Take a look and let us know what you are thinking about the issues of today.

The Lighter Side of PoL
Humor links and items to lighten your day. Send us your humor contributions!

MamaLiberty is the owner, publisher, writer, chief cook and bottle washer for The Price of Liberty. I'd love to hear from you! I promise to delete any nasty notes, threats or other nonsense. Serious questions and comments will be answered to the best of my ability.

Serious writers are also invited to submit articles for consideration. Please see the mission statement and the writer's guidelines first, just to save you time and effort. I don't require exclusives, by any means. Please do not submit someone else's copyrighted material unless it is clearly marked for use on the external oped page. Include a link to it or we can't use it. Thanks!