########################################################################### ########################################################################### FREEDOM NETWORK NEWS -- July/August/1994 ########################################################################### ########################################################################### CONTENTS ========= * AMERICA AT CRITICAL CROSSROADS .... by Vince Miller * OBITUARY - KARL HESS * US NEWS REPORT - Revolution in America * CLINTON'S WAR ON THE SELF EMPLOYED .... by James Bovard * REFORMS THAT WILL SOLVE AMERICA'S HEALTHCARE CRISIS ... by Mary Ruwart * THE GOVERNMEN'S WAR ON YOUR LIFE & PROPERTY ... by Jarret Wollstein * CLASSIFIEDS INTERNATIONAL REPORT ==================== -- Report on South African Elections by Jim Peron -- Free Market/Libertarian Swedes Take Limelight -- More Reports on publishing of Ayn Rand's Novels in Russia -- Country by country report (lots of choice goodies) Lead editorial .... AMERICA AT CRITICAL CROSSROADS ... by Vince Miller ******************************************************************** As Thomas Paine wrote over two centuries ago in America In Crisis, "These are the times that try men’s souls." This historic phrase and the urgent message Paine’s essay conveyed in 1776 has come echoing down through the centuries to dog us again as the world collapses into seeming chaos all around us. Until as little as a few years ago we Americans have viewed the implosion of the Soviet Empire and the violence in former Yugoslavia as distant abstractions -- entirely separated from the day-to-day realities of America. That, I'm afraid, has all changed. A few weeks ago I read an article in a Fairbanks, Alaska paper about State police and the National Guard going around from house to house in armored personnel carriers (bristling with machine guns) intimidating the inhabitants into submitting to police searches of their houses (ostensibly for drugs or illegal guns). I thought, "Is this America or some third-world banana republic??" As an devout American patriot, I must say that the above incident and other information I've gathered for this issue of the Freedom Networks News have truly shocked and alarmed me -- as I'm sure they will you. The unbelievable fact is that America now finds herself teetering on the brink of revolution . . . and perhaps even more alarming is the fact that this news has been scrupulously excised from the national media. Joseph Sobran in a nationally syndicated column wrote recently that since the massacre at Waco and the siege of Ruby Ridge things are very, very different in America. Many Americans now distrust and hate their government. Alienation, disaffection and sheer disgust with the criminal excesses of the U.S. government have reached people who until recently were among the most reliably patriotic Americans. A recent survey in California showed that only 17% believed that governments were capable of solving social problems. Sobran went on to say that large numbers of Americans, many of whom have already looked down the barrel of government's "compassion" are spontaneously forming a new coalition: large, energetic, principled, and mad as Hell. A political earthquake will soon shake the country to its foundations. There is little hope that Eastern Europe or other third world countries will overcome their current problems. Americans on the other hand, with their sound heritage of individual liberty and an ingrained distrust of central authority, are now about to rise up in fury against the excesses of a government and a Congress that have become certifiably criminally insane. During this decade the world will cheer as they watch Americans abolish the IRS, CIA, DEA the FBI and all those other tyrannical and violent busybodies who have bullied and brutalized free Americans for too long. MAGNA CARTA - II ================ While the spontaneous proliferation of local citizen militias that has been occurring around the country (described in this issue of the FNN) provides a good indication of the mood of the citizenry, a direct armed conflict with federal forces is something to be avoided at all costs. It may be that ultimately force may be required to back off the tryrants but for now, let us hope that an armed and angry citizenry will provide sufficient warning to the president and Congress to tread lightly. A more likely, and eminently more civilized scenario may be a modern-day replay of Magna Carta in which the States force a constitutional showdown with the federal government and drag the president and Congress to the plains of Fort Collins, Colorado and deliver an ultimatum. Under such a scenario a new division of powers more in keeping with the intent of the original Constitution may be forged. A major devolution of power away from Washington down to state levels is no doubt very desirable as federal mandates are currently bankrupting state governments and impoverishing people within the states. ISIL'S MERIDA CONFERENCE . . . . . Libertarians need to take the lead in creating a new political framework in which individuals' rights are protected, a framework that will endure and one that people will understand and accept. The restructuring of America will be high among the topics discussed at ISIL's world conference in Merida, Mexico this coming October (2nd to 7th, 1994). The major building blocks of a revitalized America to be discussed by the world's foremost authorities will be: 1. Devolution of power back to States -- or even community levels 2. Establishment of a Swiss-styled citizen veto (via referendum) on all tax or spending bills 3. Establishment of proportional representation 4. An increase in the number of electoral districts in order to reduce the built-in advantage to incumbents. 5. Replacing standing armies with a network of voluntary citizen militia groups similar to those employed in Switzerland. NOTE: In the US News section of this newsletter we failed to deal with the battle over ownership of Western public lands (often referred to as the Sagebrush Rebellion). This is a battle between Washington and the Western States that is now gathering considerable steam. The States, faced with mounting assaults from various federal agencies (particularly the Bureau of Land Management) are mounting increasingly more fierce constitutional turf battles in the courts. The BLM has been using "junk science" EPA rulings to harass and seize the property of Western ranchers such as one man who is being harassed out of business because the BLM is charging that his livestock are competing with tortoises for forage. We will cover these in some detail in the next issue of the FNN. ######################################################################## KARL HESS DIES ######################################################################## On April 22, 1994 Karl Hess, one of the most beloved figures in the movement, died in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was 70. Karl led a extraordinarily colorful life. He was speech writer for Barry Goldwater and ghostwriter for Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford. Among other things he was a gun-runner for anti-Communist groups in the Caribbean, and an editor of Newsweek and Playboy magazines. He was a tax rebel with a lifetime 100% IRS lien against all his income and assets. He was a champion pistol shot. In the 1970s an Academy Award-winning documentary on his life (title, Toward Liberty) was produced. Although he was author of the 1960 Republican Party Platform, he grew disillusioned with politics as usual and joined the SDS and Black Panthers. In 1969 at the historic split between Goldwater conservatives at the Young Americans For Freedom (YAF) conference in St. Louis, Hess found himself in the libertarian wing of the split. At that time he was referred to as "the Field Marshal of the revolution". The very same year he published his now-famous "The Death of Politics" essay in Playboy magazine. Karl was also a very dear friend. He accompanied Jim Elwood and me to our world conference in Stockholm in 1986 and we spent a most enjoyable time together in Reykjavik, Iceland. He totally charmed the Scandinavians and ultimately became somewhat of a cult figure there. An autobiography is about 3/4 written. Fortunately an extensive collection of taped interviews by Charles Murray will provide the material to complete the story of Hess's remarkable life. Murray has reported that Hess's life story is so unbelievable that nobody would believe it -- but he went on to say "how could anyone make up anything this wild?" A special memorial is being held by his wife Therese at their home in West Virginia on June 11th. People are gathering from around the world to honor this great man -- including myself and Jim Elwood. We will bring you a full report on this event in the next Freedom Network News. ########################################################################## NEWS FROM ACROSS THE U.S. "All The News the establishment media won't print" ########################################################################## *********************************************************** REVOLUTIONARY PRESSURES BUILD AS STATES DECLARE SOVEREIGNTY *********************************************************** ============== CALIFORNIA ============== WAKE-UP CALL TO THE CITIZENS OF CALIFORNIA Senator Don Rogers (R-17th Sen. District) announced in late April the introduction of a resolution declaring Californian sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Senate Joint Resolution 44 has 21 Senate coauthors in that 40-member house and 41 Assembly coauthors in that 80-member house. "This is a wake-up call to the citizens of California to reaffirm their rights under the Tenth Amendment," Rogers said. "What we are doing here is reclaiming rights which have been taken from us over many years." ============ COLORADO ============ OUT WEST, THIS LAND IS OUR LAND DENVER: In February over 350 governors, legislators, county commissioners and officials of varying capacities from 18 Western States gathered to excoriate Washington beltway bureaucrats. Discussions centered on Western issues of grazing, water rights and timberlands and of course, devolution of power back to the States. Richard Ruelas of the Associated Press gathered together an interesting cross-section of grievances and remarks by conventioneers In Arizona, they want to sue the federal government. In New Mexico, they want to rewrite the 10th Amendment to the Constitution. In Utah, they're willing to give up millions of dollars (in funded mandates -- too many strings attached). All want relief from federal control. "I think it has something to do with Western mentality and Western culture," said Graham County Sheriff Richard Mack, whose lawsuit over the federal Brady gun law prompted Arizona to consider joining him. "We don't want our lives dictated to us, especially by Eastern, Washington bureaucrats," Mack said. Arizona Governor Fife Symington urged the participants to join him in earmarking funds to sue the federal government over intrusive regulations Symington joked that the only reason he isn't for secession from the union is because his state doesn't have a seaport. But there were serious discussions regarding secession. The West's independent mentality extends beyond land issues. It also seems to apply to gun control, seat belts and helmet laws. In Utah, for example, the Legislature has decided against requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets, despite federal pressure. Utah also is battling with the Environmental Protection Agency over its push for Utah to build a light-rail system instead of improving freeways. That's exactly opposite of what constituents want. NOTE: As we pass our press deadline another meeting of Western States is being held in Phoenix, Arizona. More on this in later newsletters. COLORADO LEGISLATURE TO WASHINGTON: CEASE AND DESIST YOUR MANDATES ================================================================== The State Legislature of Colorado is up in arms about unconstitutional federal mandates. They've passed the 10th Amendment State Sovereignty Resolution (HJR 1035). The Bill passed the Colorado House by a margin of 51-13 and the Senate 27-7. The resolution gives notice to the Federal Government to cease and desist any and all mandates that are beyond the scope of their Constitutionally authorized powers. The resolution invokes the 10th Amendment which limits the power of the Federal Government to those specifically granted it by the Constitution. Some say that the resolution has no "force of law," but Colorado State Representative Charles Duke reminded all critics that the Declaration of Independence had no force of law either. He remarked that it is a big step in the direction of recreating constitutional government. Duke went on to attack federal looting by pointing out that in Colorado, with just a few million people, Washington takes a tax bite of nearly $7 billion and gives back only about $1.5 billion . . . "It's called "revenue sharing" he remarked cynically." COLORADAN "FRANCHISES" SOVEREIGNTY RESOLUTION ============================================= If your state is not yet engaged in this growing confrontation with the imperial powers in Washington, Representative Charles Duke (no relation to David) will provide a copy of the Colorado Resolution plus a sheet of instructions and nuts-and-bolts procedures on how to proceed with a State Sovereignty Resolution in your own state. For information write Jackie Patru at The Council On Domestic Relations, P.O. Box 3362, Springfield, IL 62708. Tel: (217) 854-4008 or fax 854-4343. Jackie Patru is heavily engaged in networking regarding this movement and is probably the leading authority on the subject (she was very helpful in helping us gather data for this newsletter). If you write for info I'm sure she would appreciate a donation to cover copy and mailing costs. =========== FLORIDA =========== GUN OWNERS RALLY: "WE COME UNARMED -- THIS TIME" ================================================ In February, following a call for a demonstration on Mike Willy's talk show in Orlando, a huge crowd estimated between 10,000 and 32,000 people converged on the steps of the capital in Tallahassee to express their disgust and anger at the arrogance of politicians and their unrelenting assault on the US constitution -- particularly the 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms. The mood of the event was perhaps best summed up by a sign carried by one protester: "We Come Unarmed, THIS TIME!" A statement by John S. Burns Sr., an organizer of the protest, read as follows: "This was not a Rally about family values, or outcome-based education, of abortion, or welfare, or of taxes. This was not a gathering of any political party, or of any political action group, though many were well represented by their members. This was instead, The Armed Militia of The Great State of Florida, as defined in title 10, section 311 of the Code of the United States -- called to its sacred duty to defend the Constitution of the United States of America, against ALL enemies, foreign and domestic, and the defense of the rights and civil liberties guarantied under it." "Now let this message go across this great country: WE WILL MARCH ON WASHINGTON! And we formally request the assistance and accompaniment of the Militias of our 49 sister states and the U.S. territories. Gather your friends and relatives. And meet us in Washington D.C. to deliver this message: We are free men, And we will STAY THAT WAY! ALL gun control legislation will be stopped and repealed!" NOTE: Late breaking news is that in three Florida counties they've passed a resolution re-affirming that all the law-abiding adults are members of the militia. ============ MISSOURI ============ MISSOURI ADOPTS SOVEREIGNTY RESOLUTION ====================================== Disgust with federal meddling has led Missouri to join the growing number of states adopting "Sovereignty Resolutions". The Missouri Resolution passed 72 to 0 in the Senate and 151 to 1 in the Assembly. We also understand that the State of Hawaii has passed a similar resolution in both houses. ============ MONTANA ============ TAX PROTESTER RED BECKMAN'S HOME BULLDOZED BY FEDS -- WITHOUT TRIAL ==================================================================== Red Beckman, of Montana, the founder of the Fully-Informed Jury Amendment movement (FIJA) and a long-time patriot and constitutionalist has had a long-standing battle with the IRS. Faced with threats of seizure over a purported IRS lien on his property, Beckman earlier this year demanded a jury trial to contest the merits of the original taking order. The judge ruled that he had to be off his property or be forcibly removed. A large number of patriots sympathetic to Beckman's plight threatened to meet at the Beckman ranch for an armed showdown with federal agents following the Easter Sunday deadline -- however, government agents chose not to show up. Meanwhile Beckman pressed on with his demand for a jury trial. On May 20 it became obvious that Beckman was not to have his day in court. Early in the morning a heavily-armed sheriff's SWAT team arrived in force and escorted Beckman and his wife off their 15-acre ranch. The Beckman's belongings were seized and their home was then bulldozed flat into the ground. Patriot representatives asserted that the violent destruction of Beckman's home by federal agents was clearly meant to be an act of intimidation that served no practical purpose other than to show what happens to those who resist -- no matter how rightfully or reasonably they argue their cases within the "system". Given the rising secessionist sentiments in Montana, the treatment of Beckman, a peaceful man of considerable integrity, has been described as a modern day "Bunker Hill". CITIZEN MILITIAS FORMING IN MONTANA =================================== A recent telephone conversation with ISIL member Gary Marbut of the Montana Shooting Sports Association confirmed that there are many heavily-armed citizen militia units popping up spontaneously throughout the state. Some have been formed to be politically active (to fight the arms bans being drafted in Congress) and others have been formed literally to defend their communities from federal police agencies if necessary. Several of these groups have called a meeting with the state Governor expressing their cold fear of federal thugs from BATF, FBI, DEA, BLM, etc. They want the governor to tell their group what the State government of Montana is prepared to do to protect them from Washington. At the political level a massive push is under way to launch an initiative to recall Senator Baucus who has sided with the feds on citizen disarmament. Marbut's organization has run 4000 radio spot ads denouncing Baucus and calling for his recall. We are informed that Baucus's standing in the polls is plunging. Other curious developments include the shipping of vast numbers of tanks and armored personnel carriers into Montana. Marbut informed us that several reliable witnesses (including a friend who took color photos) saw a 50-flatcar train with four vehicles on each car. Inquiries to the federal government about this brought explanations of: 1) they had been bought for scrap metal by an unidentified US company and 2) they were being refurbished for deployment in Europe. (In Montana?? Ed) ============ NEVADA ============ STATE OFFICIALS TAKE BADGES AND GUNS AWAY FROM BLM AGENTS ========================================================= The Nevada Lincoln County District Attorney has taken away the guns, badges and all symbols of police authority from Bureau of Land Management and National Forest Service agents. After Waco and Ruby Ridge, Westerners are running out of patience with officious, overbearing bureaucrats with guns. (Seen in Strategic Investment Newsletter) =================== NEW HAMPSHIRE =================== LIBERTARIAN LEADER SAYS STATES SHOULD DECLARE THEIR INDEPENDENCE ================================================================ New Hampshire House Libertarian leader Donald Gorman called for the federal government to shape up or be dissolved. He has called for resolutions telling the federal government to get the national debt under control or else the states should declare their independence at a constitutional convention. Other states including Arizona, New Mexico, Mississippi, and Utah, are considering similar measures. Gorman told ISIL Pres. Vince Miller last year that there isn't one member of the New Hampshire legislature who isn't completely outraged over ruinous federal mandates. ============= PENTAGON ============= "HOW WOULD YOU FEEL ABOUT TURNING YOUR GUNS ON US CITIZENS?" ============================================================ We have heard from a number of reliable sources that new recruits into the U.S. military are being asked this question. One of ISIL's members reported that he heard this matter being discussed on a radio talk show in Arizona. One military officer who called in to the show, when asked about what he would do if ordered to shoot American citizens, replied, "I would be inclined to shoot the one who gave the order." ======== UTAH ======== 'STATES MUST BE PREPARED TO ACT IN UNISON AGAINST WASHINGTON DC' ================================================================ The Utah-based Committee for 50 States , chaired by ex-governor J. Bracken Lee is actively studying a modified secession proposal. If three quarters of the US states (38) vote their approval. The "Ultimatum Resolution" would kick in when US debt reaches $6 trillion. At that point the entire federal apparatus -- president, Congress and judiciary would be dissolved and fired. It's constitutionally legal since the 13 original states (sovereign nations) created the federal government and can legally take back all delegated powers and dismantle it. The resolution is currently being introduced in legislatures across the US. Joseph Stumph, current director of the organization was invited by Jack Coghill, Lt. Governor of Alaska and the Alaska Independence Party to be the banquet speaker at the Party's state convention in Wasilia, Alaska. Both Mr. Coghill and Walter Hickel, the present Alaskan governor, are both serving as members of this "third party". The Party adopted the Ultimatum Resolution as an official part of their platform. In the current newsletter of the Committee for 50 States Stumph writes: "We can all plainly see that the federal government and many states are proposing one radical gun control bill after another. The insider elitists are trying desperately to legislate away the right of Americans to own firearms. If they fail, I think we can anticipate the president will attempt by Executive Order, or declare martial law. There is every reason to believe a desperate Administration will attempt (this) if they fail to confiscate by legislation. When that day comes, the states had better be ready to act in unison to overpower or destroy the agency of Washington to act in their behalf, or we can kiss our liberty good-bye." The goal of the organization is to get the Ultimatum Resolution introduced in all 50 states. For 1996, the short-term goal is to actually get it passed in at least 38 states. Anyone interested in being kept informed about the progress of this organization are asked to send $5.00 to the editor, Lila Aagard, 406 Parkway, Tooele, Utah 84074 Tel: (801) 882-1630. ======================================================================== "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? . . . I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me Liberty or give me Death." Patrick Henry ======================================================================== ######################################################################### CLINTON'S WAR ON THE SELF-EMPLOYED By James Bovard ######################################################################### The Clinton administration is on the verge of racheting up the IRS's 20-year war against the self-employed. Clinton has asked for the power in his health-care bill to give the Treasury Department and the IRS the power to unilaterally redefine who is and is not an independent contractor. If Congress grants Clinton this power, the results will likely be catastrophic for America's entrepreneurs. Clinton's power grab is especially shocking, considering that the IRS has for decades been carrying out a campaign to slash the number of Americans permitted to be self-employed, and to severely punish the companies that pay them. Since 1988, the IRS’s attack has devastated thousands of small businesses and is undermining high-tech industries, the health-care industry, and even freedom of religion. The IRS is enforcing with a vengeance legal standards that even the U.S. Treasury Department admits are vague and unpredictable. The IRS's attack on the self-employed is an effort to fundamentally change millions of American’s way of life -- simply to make people more subjugated to tax collectors. This controversy originates in arcane federal regulations on the proper classification of workers. If a person is an employee, the employer must withhold payroll taxes and remit them to the IRS and pay half of the employee's Social Security taxes and all of the unemployment insurance tax. But, if an individual is an independent contractor, a business need only send a Form 1099 to the IRS reporting how much it paid that person, and the contractor pays his taxes directly to the IRS. The IRS has long striven to minimize the number of self-employed. The General Accounting Office reported in 1977 that the IRS "tends to classify as many persons as possible as employees, thereby subjecting their earnings to (tax) withholding." GAO stated that the IRS's heavy penalties on companies relying on independent contractors imposed "many hardships and inequalities on unsuspecting businesses" and subtly noted that "Congress has given no indication that it believes the distinction between self-employed workers and employees should be eliminated." In 1978 Congress enacted a provision to prevent the IRS from penalizing companies that had a "reasonable basis" (such as "standard industry practice") for classifying people as independent contractors. Despite Congress’ effort to restrain the agency, in 1988 the IRS launched a new campaign, targeting small businesses with less than $3 million in assets -- in most cases, businesses without in-house counsel that cannot afford a lengthy court fight against the agency. The IRS makes its classification decisions primarily based on a list of 20 questions on the relation between the employer and the contractor /employee derived from common-law precedents dating back to the Magna Carta era. An official Internal Revenue Commissioner advisory group report concluded in 1990 that "the process of classifying workers is confusing, complex, antiquated, and unfair." The House Government Operations Committee concluded in a 1992 report that "IRS enforcement activities [on independent contractors] present small-business taxpayers with a veritable nightmare of problems and policies that defy common sense." IRS agents ask a businessman the twenty questions, after which they sometimes destroy his business. Once an IRS agent announces that the company misclassified its employees (as happens in 9 of 10 audits), the company often faces a staggering tax bill, largely because the IRS intentionally forces businesses to double-pay taxes already paid by independent contractors. The House Government Operations Committee noted, "The assessments are based on the use of preset mandatory formulas which even the IRS admits result in double tax collections. These back-tax assessments have been responsible for putting a number of those businesses out of business . . ." IRS agents have assessed over $500 million in penalties and back taxes since 1988 (averaging $68,000 per company) and forced businesses to reclassify over 400,000 independent contractors to employees. The IRS is now "converting" almost 2,000 independent contractors into employees each week. The IRS crackdown is disrupting the health-care industry. Marc Catalano, president of the Private Care Association, an association of health-care agencies, accused the IRS of following a "search and destroy posture with respect to businesses that use independent contractors." Comprehensive Care Corporation, a St. Louis based company, was hit in 1991 with an IRS demand for $19.4 million in back taxes and penalties for treating psychologists and physicians as independent contractors. The IRS is launching a high-profile assault on the use of independent contractors in the film industry. Pamela Christensen, an IRS chief field examiner in Los Angeles, told a meeting of Hollywood attorneys and accountants in 1992: "The Entertainment industry is on the hit list." The IRS launched a similar crackdown on the Minnesota film industry. Patti Fuller, owner of Fuller Productions, a Minnesota film company, complained that IRS agents "want me to classify a lighting tech who works for two hours and who I never see again as a part-time [employee]. That's absurd." IRS officials have encouraged private companies to secretly betray their competitors. At a 1990 meeting in California, an IRS agent distributed "snitch sheets" to businessmen and asked them to make allegations of illegal independent contractor use by their competitors. The IRS agent told the attendees to mail the completed "snitch sheets" to him in unmarked plain envelopes and promised to follow up on all leads. Considering that an IRS audit imposes extremely heavy burdens on a company, the IRS agents behavior was effectively an invitation to business to have the government ambush their competitors. The IRS estimates that there are 3.4 million Americans now working as independent contractors who should be reclassified as employees. The Small Business Administration estimates that there are roughly 5 million independent contractors nationwide. Thus, if the IRS achieves "total compliance," over half of all the current independent contractors in the United States could be forced to abandon their own businesses. Some observers believe that the IRS is attempting to single-handedly abolish Americans' right to work for themselves. David McFadden, president of a New York referral agency for architects, declared last year: "I believe that the IRS wants to make every working person in America someone's employee." Rep. Richard Schultze declared in 1989, "The mind-set of the IRS is to eliminate any . . . independent relationship to ensure that all American workers are easily tracked through corporate payroll accounting." Luckily, Clinton's power grab over the self-employed is meeting resistance -- even from liberal Democrats. Rep. Charlie Rangel declared on February 9 that the administration was asking for a grant of "unprecedented authority" and that "they are not going to get it." Even the American Bar Association has spoken out against Clinton's proposal. Being self-employed and starting one's own business has long been part of the American dream. But the Clinton administration and the IRS have apparently decided that it can no longer afford to permit people to pursue their dreams. James Bovard is the author of Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty (St. Martin's Press, April 1994) ########################################################################## FOUR EAST-TO-IMPEMENT REFORMS THAT WILL SOLVE AMERICA'S HEALTH CARE PROBLEMS By Mary J. Ruwart, Ph.D ########################################################################## As Jarret Wollstein has demonstrated, Clinton's plan is the cure that kills! In this article, I’ll explain four simple reforms that do all the things the Clinton plan promises, but can't deliver. These easy-to-implement reforms give you high-quality health care at lower cost, lets you take your health insurance from job to job, and assures that the poor will be taken care of. Best of all, you don't have to pay for these reforms with the high taxes, loss of privacy, or the health-care rationing implicit in the Clinton Plan. ************************************************************************* FOUR REFORMS THAT REALLY SOLVE THE HEALTH CARE CRISIS ************************************************************************* REFORM #1: ========== Eliminating State Mandates Slashes Your Insurance Premiums by 40% ***************************************************************** State laws frequently demand that insurance policies cover specialized medical procedures. Even if you'd rather pay a lower premium for less extensive coverage, you are not allowed to. Such inflated coverage increases your insurance premiums an average of 40%. By forcing you to buy insurance you don’t want or need, state lawmakers simply give big insurance companies a subsidy at your expense. Such costly state mandates should be dropped so that you can tailor your insurance coverage to your needs, rather than third-party pocketbooks. If you can't afford to buy insurance, maybe it's because you are being forced to buy more than you need. REFORM #2: ========== MEDISAVE ACCOUNTS ***************** One of the best reforms being considered by Congress is the Medisave Account (MSA), which would work much like IRAs. Every dollar you put into your MSA would be tax-deductible and allowed to grow tax-free, just like in your IRA. Withdrawals before retirement would only be permitted for medical expenses or insurance premiums. -> If you fund your own MSA, you get a tax break. If you are self-employed, you would fund your own MSA, just as you now pay for medical insurance. However, the entire contribution would be tax-deductible. Today, the self-employed can only deduct a small part of their health insurance premiums. -> You can take MSAs with you when you change jobs. Employers already get a tax deduction for the full contribution towards health insurance that they make on your behalf. Employers could continue to fund your MSA and receive the deduction. If you left the firm, the MSA would go with you. Thus, your medisave account would always be portable. You would never have to be afraid that changing jobs would cost you your health insurance. Only half of the people who are without insurance remain uninsured for more than 4 months at a time. Most of these individuals are between jobs. With MSAs, they need never be uninsured again. With one simple reform, almost half of our uninsured are taken care of. MSAs Cut Wasteful Spending by Billions of Dollars ************************************************* -> MSAs pay you for comparison shopping. After retirement, some of the unused funds in the MSA could be transferred to your IRA, to spend as you please. Naturally, you'd want to shop for the best medical deals to make this transfer as large as possible. One study estimates that such consumer comparison shopping would save over $200 billion. -> MSAs Slash Paperwork. Since your MSA can be used to pay your deductible, you can buy inexpensive insurance that has a high deductible and still have first-dollar coverage. If you had a family of four, and bought a policy that had $1000 deductible instead of $250, you’d save about $1300 this way! Because your deductible would be paid directly from your Medisave account, your insurance company would save money processing your claims. It costs almost $50 in paperwork to process a $50 claim. Many of these small bills would be covered by your deductible, resulting in less paperwork for your insurance company. Some economists estimate that administrative costs would be also reduced by as much as $33 billion by Medisave accounts. You’ll experience these savings as lower insurance premiums as administrative overhead is reduced. MSAs give you the same insurance rates as the corporate giants ************************************************************** You and other individuals with MSAs could form pools to purchase insurance at group rates. MSAs could give individuals the same bargaining power that employers have enjoyed in the past. Thus, the insurance premiums that you pay with your MSA dollars would be even lower than you would pay today. MSAs lower your insurance premiums in many ways: allowing you to bargain as a group rather than an individual, letting you buy higher-deductible insurance while keeping first-dollar coverage, lowering administrative costs, and reducing wasteful spending. In addition, ending state mandates (Reform #1) will cut your premiums by an additional 40%. Not only do you pay less, you or your employer can deduct the full cost. MSAs pay you to stay healthy **************************** Lower costs are only one of the benefits of an MSA. Better health is likely to be a most welcome side effect. Since you can use excess MSA funds in your golden years on anything you wish, you'll have additional incentive to aspire to a healthy life-style. Preventative measures, such as nutritional supplements and exercise under professional supervision, might eventually be covered by your MSA as well. By encouraging healthful practices, MSAs might keep you from needing your health insurance at all. MSAs protect you from health care rationing ******************************************* If you do find you need medical care, you are more likely to get it with an MSA. MSAs act as a shield against the health-care rationing that you will be subject to when you become eligible for Medicare/Medicaid. Currently, the law forbids covered individuals to make up the difference between what the government grants them for a particular procedure and what their doctor charges. By permitting you to use MSA funds for supplementary insurance or payments, you can avoid the discrimination Medicare/Medicaid patients currently undergo. Ideally, Medicare/Medicaid would be phased out over the next several years as MSAs are implemented and become widespread. You would no longer pay a heavy payroll tax to fund your health coverage in later years. Instead, you'd get a tax deduction for preparing for the future. MSAs insure the poor so you don't have to ***************************************** Even without ending state mandates, MSAs will make health insurance so affordable that experts estimate that at least 50% of those who "fall through the cracks" in our current system will be insured within 5 years. If state mandates are eliminated, even fewer people will be left without health insurance. MSAs give us a way to help those too poor to establish their own. If you contribute to another's MSA, the tax deduction would be yours to keep. Instead of giving to a charity, you could aid your less fortunate friends and relatives while reaping an equivalent tax deduction. Where else should charity begin if not at home? A few individuals might still be left without health insurance. Today, these people crowd into emergency rooms to get the free treatment that every public hospital and many private hospitals routinely give to those in need. If MSAs were established, however, fewer people would be in need. Today's system of charitable care could easily help the remaining few without MSAs. With reduced need for charitable care, people whose medical costs exceeded the capacity of their MSAs could be helped as well. Of course, many of the people who are uninsured today are that way by choice. For example, almost two-thirds of the uninsured are under thirty years of age. This group has very low health costs. Frequently, it is more economical for them to pay as they go rather than purchase high-priced insurance with state-mandated extras. Reforms #1 and 2 may make insurance a more viable option for the young. Forty percent of the uninsured have family incomes in excess of $20,000 and could afford catastrophic insurance even today. With MSAs, insurance will be even more affordable. Reform #3: ========= Protecting you and your loved ones from exposure to AIDS ******************************************************** In the U.S., the primary cause of the spread of AIDS is shared needles by drug users. Needles are shared because their purchase is illegal. Such laws do not stop drug use, but only encourage the spread of disease. Repeal of the drug paraphernalia laws will help us lessen the chance that you or your loved ones will contract AIDS. REFORM #4: ========= OPTING OUT OF REGULATIONS THAT KILL *********************************** -> INNOVATION CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE Effective health care begins with innovation. Earlier in this century, life expectancy was approximately 20 years shorter than it is today. Most people died of infections. Today, in large part because of the medical innovation of vaccines and antibiotics, we live longer than our great-grandparents. No amount of money could save a person dying from infection before these medical advances were made. Yet today, a few dollars worth of vaccines and antibiotics save countless lives. Freedom of choice is a major prerequisite for the development of such innovation. Inventors of new medical technology must be free to test new ideas; those in need of new medical advances must be free to try them. Without this freedom, innovation is stifled and effective health care becomes unavailable at any price. The few advances that are made are more expensive than they need to be. As a society, we have become very fearful of freedom of choice in the medical sector. We are afraid that without licensing boards, the doctors we go to might really turn out to be "quacks." Without the FDA, a negligent pharmaceutical firm might sell us an unsafe drug. Yet this kind of regulatory protection is extremely costly, not only in terms of dollars, but in terms of our health. FDA Regulations are killing thousands of Americans needlessly ************************************************************* AIDs patients are acutely aware of the lethal consequences of FDA regulations. People with AIDS cannot wait for complete testing of new therapies. As a result, AIDs patients have started buying clubs that import, synthesize, and distribute potential AIDS cures. These clubs are illegal because the drugs they handle have not received FDA approval. Some drugs are imported from other countries, where the approval process is faster. Others are new pharmaceuticals that are still undergoing clinical testing. The FDA's reluctance to shut down these buyers' clubs is clear evidence that regulation can harm instead of heal. We are harmed by the FDA regulations that make attempts at disease prevention a crime. For example, B-vitamins have been shown to prevent liver damage caused by alcohol. However, the regulatory agencies forbid distillers from adding protective B vitamins to their alcoholic beverages. Without these destructive regulations, many of the 100,000 people who die each year from liver disease might still be alive today. What the FDA doesn't want you to know is hurting you **************************************************** In addition to banning drugs, the FDA censors health information as well. For example, cardiovascular disease is the #1 killer of both men and women in the U.S., taking an annual toll of 500,000 lives. However the FDA prohibits manufacturers from advertising that aspirin, properly taken, reduces the incidence of first-time heart attacks by over 40%. Men who increase their daily vitamin C intake to 25 times the minimum daily requirements extend their lives up to six years longer. Yet the FDA refuses to let vitamin manufacturers tell people about such studies. By curtailing dissemination of this life-giving information, the FDA sentences millions of Americans to an unnecessary death. The poor are harmed the most, since they are least likely to be aware of such information. You should be able to take whatever medicine you want ***************************************************** Whenever medical decisions are made, it is ultimately your life that is on the line. Since it’s your life, you should be able to choose what drugs you should take. Naturally, you'll want the advice of a trusted health professional, but the final decision should be yours. If you are uncomfortable with freedom of choice, you can always defer to the FDA and medical regulations. However, if you wish to choose for yourself, you should be able to sign an affidavit "opting out" of the government licensing process. By opting out, you could try any unapproved medical or pharmaceutical therapy. You would accept full liability and agree not to sue the provider, except for fraudulent representation. It's your life at stake when medical decisions are made. YOU should be the one to choose. Real health care reform is just four steps away These four easy-to-implement reforms would vastly improve our health care system without invading our privacy, taxing us beyond our means, or mandating health care rationing. To learn more about Clinton's devastating plan and the ways to real health care reform, order your copy of Lethal Compassion (see ad below). ====================================================================== Mary J. Ruwart Ph.D is a research scientist at a major pharmaceutical firm and author of Healing Our World: The Other Piece of the Puzzle, available from ISIL. ====================================================================== NEW BOOK ======== NATIONAL HEALTH CARE: THE CURE THAT KILLS . . . Learn why in our new, 120-page Special Report -- LETHAL COMPASSION by Jarret Wollstein and Dr. Mary Ruwart. You'll learn how Clinton's health care plan will make it a federal criminal offense to spend your own money on the health care of your choice . . . how government bureaucrats will be able to deny you and your family at will medicines and operations necessary to keep you alive . . . Clinton's health security card will let bureaucrats track you from birth until death . . . and health police will be able to seize your home or business for failure to pay mandatory health care premiums. You'll learn also why everywhere in the world national health care has been tried -- including Canada and Britain -- it has resulted in severe shortages of medical care, life threatening delays for operations, and overworked, indifferent medical providers. And you'll find out how we can cut health care cost 60 - 95% and increase our medical freedom through individual Medisave accounts and tax reform. LETHAL COMPASSION by Dr. Mary Ruwart and Jarret Wollstein is just $45. Order from ISIL, 415 864-0952, fax 864-7506 VISA/MC ######################################################################### THE GOVERNMENT'S WAR ON YOUR LIFE AND PROPERTY By Jarret B. Wollstein ######################################################################### Your most fundamental right as a U.S. citizen is the right to be left alone by the government. So long as you harm no one else, you should be able to live your own life as you see fit, peacefully enjoy your property, and to be free from assault by your own government. Respect by authorities for your fundamental human rights is the essential difference between a police state and a free society. In a police state, the government can legally ransack your house or your business at will, seize anything you own, and assault you with impunity. In a free society, government is prohibited by law from assaulting you or taking your property. Nearly 800 years ago, the Western world rejected unrestricted search and seizure by government agents as barbaric and intolerable. In 1215, the English nobility forced King John to sign the Magna Carta which greatly expanded human rights and sharply limited arbitrary arrests, searches and seizures for the aristocracy. Gradually, these protections were strengthened and extended to ordinary citizens. By the early 17th Century, the sanctity of hearth and home had become recognized in England as a fundamental human right. This right was eloquently stated by William Pitt: The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all of the forces of the Crown. It may be frail -- its roof may shake -- the wind may blow through it -- the storm may enter -- the rain may enter -- but the King of England cannot enter -- all his force dares not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement! Accustomed to the protection of English law, our colonial American fore-fathers were outraged when British soldiers entered their homes at will, searched for contraband, and seized their property. Twentieth-Century Supreme Court Justice William Brennan called these invasions, "the single immediate cause of the American Revolution." After America's successful revolution against English tyranny in 1776, our Founding Fathers sought to ensure that Americans would never again be subject to the abuse, destruction and degradation of random searches and seizures. To protect us from such government violence, they enacted the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It reads: ======================================================================== [Amendment IV.] The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person or things to be seized. ========================================================================= Today, 200 years after the enactment of the Bill of Rights, our 4th Amendment protection from destructive government searches and seizures is nearly gone. Anything you have is now fair game for the state to search or seize. The Internal Revenue Service -- for example -- has virtually unlimited power to search our records and seize our assets. If the IRS decides you are trying to avoid taxes, they can issue their own administrative subpoena to get your bank records, the files in your office, the information in your home or office computer, and even intercept your phone calls -- all without any court order. If the IRS thinks you owe taxes, their agents can seize your bank account, your paycheck, your car or your house, without a warrant, trial or indictment. If tax agents believe that you might be able to avoid paying taxes they demand, they can impose a "jeopardy assessment" and seize everything you own and will ever earn -- without trial, hearing or indictment. Under the Anti-Injunction Act of 1924, you are even barred from filing a lawsuit to restrain the IRS from seizing your property. IRS seizures can have deadly consequences. In February, 1989, to collect back taxes, the IRS seized all of the funds of a nursing home in Toledo, Ohio. The home was forced to close immediately, in freezing winter temperatures. Eighteen of the 199 residents died during relocation. When Senator Howard Metzenbaum demanded an explanation, he was told by the IRS the seizure was "extremely routine." Here's how one former IRS collection agent describes the mentality of his fellow collection agents: "Some [agents] were vicious -- they'd brag back at the office, "Boy, did I make that guy jump," or "I had that woman crying when I told her I'd put her on the street with her kids." One agent who bragged about padlocking some guy's business said the man was so upset he asked, "How do you expect me to pay now?" The agent said, "I told him, Go get your wife to peddle [herself]." [Source: Statement of former IRS collection agent Mike Klein, quoted in Art Harris, "The Tax Man and the Big Sting," Washington Post, April 16, 1989, p. F4.] In 1990, the IRS placed liens and levies against the bank accounts, homes and cars of over 2,631,000 taxpayers. Today the IRS can legally seize everything you own, except for $1,650 in personal property and $1,100 in business assets. Two hundred thousand-dollar homes have been seized for the alleged non-payment of as little as $107 in taxes. Million-dollar businesses have been confiscated because of disputes over a few thousand dollars in taxes. Many people have been driven to suicide because of the contemptuous way the Internal Revenue Service treats we, the people, who are its supposed employers. The IRS has become a law unto itself, a government agency with nearly unlimited power, unrestrained by the Bill of Rights or common decency. America was founded in a revolution against precisely such tyrannical power. Over 2,000 federal, state and local government agencies can now seize your property. In the last 20 years, many other agencies have been given almost unlimited power to search our records and seize our assets without trial, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Marshall's Service, the Department of Customs, the FBI, the Coast Guard, your local police, and even the Department of Housing. Where did these agencies get such power? In 1970, Congress enacted the "RICO racketeering statutes" (greatly expanded in 1984). Promoted as a weapon against organized crime, RICO statutes greatly broadened the power of civil asset forfeiture. To be charged with a crime you must be indicted by a Grand Jury. You are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. You have the right to an attorney and to a trial by jury. You have the right to confront your accusers and subpoena witnesses in your defense. In contrast, civil forfeiture laws permit government agencies to seize your property and cash -- without trial or indictment. You are, in effect, presumed guilty until you prove your innocence. You have no right to a public defender and no right to a trial before your assets are seized. This makes getting back seized property extremely difficult, if not impossible. Few people can afford to spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight the government in court. If you do manage to scrape up the money to hire an attorney after your property has been confiscated, authorities can now legally seize any monies you pay your attorney, either before or after trial. All they have to do is simply allege that those funds are "tainted". Consequently, even the wealthiest defendant can find it impossible to hire competent counsel if the prosecutors even hint that they might seize attorney fees. When the SEC froze the assets of multi-millionaire Robert Altman in Washington, D.C. last year, he suddenly found he couldn't even pay his utility bills or afford to have his lawn cut. No matter how wealthy you are, if the government can freeze or seize everything you own without trial, you can be economically destroyed overnight. And it's not just the wealthy who are targets. You, your family, anyone can be a victim of a police confiscation. In Boston, Minneapolis, Washington, D.C. and other cities, police have begun seizing -- on the spot -- cars of men accused of trying to pick up prostitutes. Even if the men are found innocent of solicitation in court, their cars may still be subject to confiscation. How can that be? The reason is the standard of proof for civil forfeiture is much lower than the standard for criminal conviction. A policeman's statement that "he saw a man talking to a known prostitute" is often good enough. In most cases the prostitutes are costumed policewomen who do everything they can to entrap the men. In Utah in 1986, a woman resisted the confiscation of her cars on her property by armed men in plain clothes who refused to identify themselves. Seven months pregnant with twins, she was beaten to the ground with the butt of an automatic rifle. One twin was born dead, the other brain-damaged. Her assailants turned out to be IRS agents and U.S. marshals. A few weeks after this incident, the female agent in charge of the operation received an official commendation. [Source: Larry King Show, 7/31/90.] In December 1988, Detroit police raided a supermarket to make a drug bust but failed to find any drugs. After police dogs reacted to traces of cocaine on three $1.00 bills in the cash register, the police seized the entire contents of the store’s registers and safe, totalling $4,384. Using "drug residue" as a criteria, police could seize virtually all of the cash in the country. According to a seven year study by Toxicology Consultants, Inc., "An average of 96 percent of all the bills we analyzed from 11 cities tested positive for cocaine." ["Drugs Contaminate Nearly All The Money in America," Presumed Guilty, The Pittsburgh Press, August 1991, p. 15.] Houston police stopped 46-year-old Ethel Hylton at Houston's Hobby Airport and told her she was under arrest because a drug dog had scratched at her luggage. They searched her bags and strip-searched her, but found no contraband. In her purse they discovered $39,111, which they seized. The money was a settlement from an insurance claim and her life savings, accumulated through more than 20 years of work as a hotel housekeeper and hospital janitor. Despite complete documentation of where she got the money, despite never being convicted of any crime, Ms. Hylton never got her money back from police. [Source: Presumed Guilty by Andrew Schneider and Mary Pat Flagherty, The Pittsburgh Press, August 1991.] The U.S. Marshall’s Service now has a inventory of over 30,000 seized cars, boats, homes and businesses, valued at over $1.2 billion. Virtually all of this property was taken without indictment, trial or conviction. Asset seizures have increased from $27 million in 1985 to over $2 billion in 1992 -- an increase of 3,700%! Police and other government agencies are now targeting Americans, not based upon what crimes they might have committed, but how much property might be seized. Police are personally keeping the property they confiscate from innocent Americans -- like you. What happens to your property once police confiscate it? They keep it and use it. Often for whatever they want. As the San Jose Mercury News stated on August 30, 1993, "Rules are few; audits are fewer. In many counties, independent oversight is virtually nonexistent." Here is how some police use money they confiscated: Nueces County, Texas. According to the New York Times of August 2, 1993, Sheriff James T. Hickey, awarded himself a $48,000 retroactive pay raise from the forfeiture fund. He also gave his lawyer $100,600 for legal services to be rendered after he left office. Warren County, New Jersey. The chief prosecutor allocated himself a confiscated yellow Corvette (from "Presumed Guilty"). Little Compton, Rhode Island. According to a May 18, 1993 article in USA Today, the seven member police force awarded its officers two new Pontiac Firebirds, a four wheel-drive Jeep, a new 28-foot boat, and $500,000 in salary and benefits for the police lieutenant. But these cases of outright robbery are comparatively minor! Former sheriff's sergeant Robert Sobel told the Los Angeles Times (4/13/93), that officers in his unit alone had stolen $60 million in seized property during 1988 and 1989. At the current rate of growth of government seizures, within 17 years all property in America will belong to the state. The growing use of violent police state tactics against innocent Americans. Even when police searches don't economically destroy their victims, the emotional damage can be devastating: In Florida armed state police boarded Greyhound buses, blocked exits and asked passengers for "permission" to search their luggage for drugs. Those who refused were immediately arrested on the grounds that their refusal constitutes "reasonable suspicion" of guilt. The Florida State Supreme Court ruled this procedure unconstitutional and compared it to the tactics of Nazi storm troopers. The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the summer of 1991, the U.S. Supreme Court said that such police searches are permissible, for the "greater social good" of combatting drugs. Armed police across the country are now randomly searching buses and trains, and may soon start searching airplanes. Dozens of police officers and civilian volunteers occupied the junior/senior High School in Highland, Indiana to search for drugs. Exits were blocked and all 2,780 students were "summarily ordered to sit with their books and purses and bags between their feet and their hands on their desks in plain view." The police had no search warrant, and no students were ever advised of their rights. During the three-hour raid, sixteen drug-sniffing dogs examined every student. "Four junior high school students -- all girls -- were removed from their classes, stripped nude, and interrogated. Not one of them was found to possess any illicit material." [Source: The Great Drug War by Arnold Trebach, Macmillan Publishing, 1987, pp. 221-222.] Police can now kill you with impunity. ===================================== Acting on a "tip" that illegal drugs had been used in his house, on the night of August 25, 1992, heavily armed DEA agents broke down the front door of the home of San Diego corporate executive, Donald Carlson. According to attorney Brenda Grantland, they were searching for drugs so they could seize his home. During the DEA raid, Carlson was shot at least three times, and seriously wounded. No drugs were found. For six weeks, Carlson was kept alive by a respirator tube down his throat. He's now permanently disabled. Prosecutors refused to file charges against police. Here's another recent example: The National Park Service had unsuccessfully tried to buy Donald Scott's ranch to incorporate it into a surrounding park. According to the report of Ventura County DA Bradbury, police lied about seeing marijuana on Scott's property, and "the Los Angeles County Sheriffs' Department was motivated...by a desire to seize and forfeit the ranch for the government. This search warrant became Donald Scott's death warrant." Legalized murder is becoming legalized mass murder. In May 1993, over 200 heavily-armed BATF and FBI agents attacked the compound of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, to serve a search warrant for firearms. A letter of June 11, 1993, signed by President Bill Clinton, reveals part of their motivation: "The compound had been under surveillance for some time and federal agents determined that cult members were illegally stockpiling weapons. The large number of guns and ammunition, and the presence of children . . . led agents to begin seizure of the compound." [emphasis added] After ordering fire trucks out of the area, the FBI fired hundreds of projectiles of poison gas into the wooden buildings filled with kerosene lanterns, propane gas tanks, and innocent women and children. Then they drove a tank through the building. The siege ended with over 100 people being either shot to death or burned alive. Attorney General Janet Reno said, "We had to act to protect the children," and "The FBI acted properly." Bill Clinton and our courts agree. They have ruled that police can use deadly force to "protect" themselves, during a raid. So if they have a valid search or seizure warrant for your house, that now means they have a virtual license to kill you -- particularly if you own a gun or are even suspected of having any illegal drugs. The murderers of Don Scott were never indicted. The butchers of Waco have been hailed by President Clinton as heros. If police can get away with the murder of Don Scott and scores of innocent women and children in Waco, how safe are you and your family? It is obvious that not just the 4th Amendment, but our entire Bill of Rights has been destroyed. A government that we entrusted with protecting our lives, rights and property, has become their greatest enemy. A tidal wave of uncontrolled governmental power is threatening to destroy the tattered remnants of our liberty. What you can do to fight it? =========================== What can we do? What can any one person do in the face of such enormous and growing police power? First, inform yourself. Read publications like Freedom Network News, Liberty magazine and other groups fighting for your liberty. Second, speak out. Give articles like this one and ISIL issue papers to your friends and neighbors. Show them videos like "Waco, The Big Lie" distributed by ISIL. Speak up at town hall meetings. Arrange for articulate, pro-liberty spokesmen to appear on radio and TV. Third, work with others. Form a local action groups. Start a letter-writing campaign. Organize meetings. Find out who the victims of police confiscation are in your area, provide them with emotional support and do what you can to help them. Picket and demonstrate sheriff's sales of confiscated assets. Challenge politicians at public meetings. And make sure and get media coverage. Freedom or slavery for America? =============================== Today America is at the end of a historic cycle. Every nation goes from liberty to complacency to bondage. In 1791 Benjamin Franklin predicted that liberty in America would not last more than 200 years. Now his prophecy is coming true. In the end, the only power that government has is the power that we give it. Even the Soviet tyranny could not survive once many people actively opposed it. If we don't take back control of our lives now from the growing American police state, we will have no one to blame but ourselves for the deadly consequences. ======================================================================= JARRET B. WOLLSTEIN is a Director of the International Society for Individual Liberty and one of the founders of the modern libertarian movement. He is the author of five books and hundreds of articles. His ISIL issue papers have sold over 2 million copies. Some of the material in this article was presented in a speech before the Libertarian Party National Convention, September 1992. 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It's easy and it's educational. Searching gives you ideas. The method has been available for decades. Buy the Guide to Patent Searches. Usually $19.95 + S&H but only $15.00 for ISIL members, CoralSystems Co., 79 Commonwealth Ave., Massapequa, N.Y. 11758. CSC will answer your letter if you have questions. Learn how different you are! The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator proves we libertarians are different! How do others perceive and mis-perceive you? What can you do about it? Complete indicator and personality feedback session only $150. Full no-questions-asked money-back guarantee. Doug Thorburn, (818) 360-0985 or P.O. Box 7301, Van Nuys, CA 91409 Libertarian Attorney, male 35, married, interested in correspondence with Czechs concerning the development of free societies. I am also interested in firearms, Aikido and epiphyllum cactus cultivation. I am considering international migration for my self and family. 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For information send $1.00 and SASE to: Mary Margaret Glennie, FREEDOM NOW, 1317 Lakewood Dr., Fort Collins, Colorado 80521 USA. Lithuanian Free Market Foundation is a recently established organization promoting the ideas of liberty and capitalism in Lithuania. Being genuine libertarians, we do not ask for your help and support. Just loan a sum of money to us _ the interest rate per annum is 20-30 per cent. For more details call us: Tel/Fax: (370-2) 624218. Living Free newsletter promotes self-liberation, practical methods to increase personal freedom, and has provided a forum for freedom-seekers, libertarians, survivalists, anarchists, outlaws, since 1979. Lively, unique. $8.00 for 6 issues, $12.00 overseas, sample $1.00, overseas $2.00, USA funds only. Jim Stumm, Box 29F, Hiler Branch, Buffalo, New York 14223, USA. Male Libertarian, 25 years old, MSc degree in Business Administration,studying for my CMA degree, currently employed as a planner at an information systems department, wants to start a living in Texas. Sick of living in a collectivist society such as Holland. Who is willing to employ me? Open to any arrangement. Available August 1994. Adrian Struijk, Lijsterbesplein 8, 2563 KZ, Den Haag, Netherlands. Open Relationships, Group Marriage, intimate friendship, multi-lateral marriage. Sound interesting? Touchpoint is a discreet contact service for those who wish to develop long-term emotionally as well as sexually intimate, non-monogamous relationships. SASE for details. Current issue $4.00. Touchpoint, P.O. Box 408-FN2, Chloride, AZ 86431 Panarchy. Government by choice, not chance. People-oriented Government, not government-oriented people. Idea whose time has come. Investigate a political system offering both freedom and security. Ultimate Libertarian Newsletter, $8/year or $3 for sample. Checks to LeGrand E. Day, Editor, Panarchy Dialectic, Box 353F, Reseda, California 91333, USA. Privacy books for the 90’s! Over 300 unique books explore all aspects of privacy, financial independence, credit repair & cash income opportunities. Also how to be working in 48 hours. College degrees by mail. Legal name change. How to find missing persons. Self protection. Independent business opportunities. Financial privacy. Asset protection. Offshore banking. Legal foreign passports & more! Eden Press, Box 8410, Fountain Valley, CA 92728 Protect Your Privacy! Phone scramble (works in matched pairs) usable with cordless or wired phones. Anti-Theft (shocking) briefcase. Either item US$1600 + US$25 freight in USA. Will quote foreign orders. Books: Security/privacy protection books/devices, free list with SASE. In NY add tax. Catallaxy Corporation, Dept. FNN1, 662 Franklin Avenue, Suite 449, Garden City, NY 11530, USA. Restore The Bill of Rights with Fully Informed Juries. When you serve on a jury, vote your conscience. You cannot be punished for your verdict. Call 1-800-"TEL-JURY" for recorded message. SALON. This is the zine that explains libertarianism to artists and art to libertarians. Become a more knowledgeable and discerning private-sector consumer of art while having a hell of a good time. It’s kind of like going to a party with a bunch of interesting, amusing and intelligent people, with stacks of original art work and other goodies thrown in. Send S.A.S.E. for a handful of sample pages, or $5 for an issue or $20 for a year, payable to Pat Hartman. SALON: A Journal of Aesthetics, 305 West Magnolia, Ste. 386, Fort Collins, CO 80521. Sell American. $100,000+ per year possible helping "Bring Our Money Home Again!" Learn insider secrets of earning huge profits in your own homebased exporting business from a self-made millionaire with over 30 years experience. 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Box 3101, Berkeley, CA 94703. Stanczyk has been published since 1986. It is the oldest Polish journal edited by Polish defenders of laissez-faire capitalism. We have been looking for people, organizations, foundations, ready to give us any help in publishing our journal. The contact with the editorial board is: STANCZYK, ul. St. Pietaka 9, 51-140, Wroclaw, Poland. Tax Havens are one of the most important subjects for an international entrepreneur or investor, yet few understand and use them properly. One group discount them as hiding holes for dirty money, which is not a legitimate use for tax havens. Others think they are only for banking money after you have made it. Not true either. Tax havens are a very complex subject, but the hours you spend studying their use will probably pay you more per hour than the hours you spend directly earning an income – an unfortunate commentary on the confiscatory taxation policies of most governments. For the best detailed information on tax havens, order The Tax Haven Report by Adam Starchild, from Scope International Ltd., 62 Murray Road, Waterlooville, Hants., PO8 9JL, United Kingdom. The price is $125, including airmail postage worldwide, ($100 if you want it by slower surface mail) and they accept Visa or MasterCard. Just stop and think for a moment how much faster your money can grow if you are not paying out an average of 40% to a taxing government somewhere. TERRA LIBRA! Freedom-boggling breakthrough! Free and enrich yourself with Freedom Technology. Personal Power beats bureaucrats. Free Details. ZENO Press, Box 170-I, Sedalia, CO 80135 The Voluntaryist, edited and published by Carl Watner since 1982. The only pure free market newsletter to eschew electoral politics and violent revolution. $18 for 6 issues/yearly (add $5 overseas). For Table of Contents and sample copy send $5 or $1 per sample issue. Box 1275, Gramling SC 29348 West Coast Libertarian: Canada’s premier Libertarian publication. Read the News from the North. 6 issues (1 year): $15; U.S. send $15US; Overseas $20 or 25 IRC’s (International Reply Coupons). Sample: $2 or 3 IRC’s. Greater Vancouver Libertarian Association, 922 Cloverley St., North Vancouver, British Columbia, V7L 1N3 Canada. The Consulting Opportunities Journal, published by the Consultants National Resource Center, has for eight years been the information source for thousands of first-time and "old pro" consultants alike. For more information, write to Consultants National Resource Center, Dept. 2001, P.O. Box 430, Clear Spring, MD 21722 and ask for membership information. The Philosophy of Firearms: Reality and the Right to Arms / Philosophical foundation of the right to arms. Liberal and conservative movements incompatible with the right to arms. Right to bear nukes? Rebellion? Civil disobedience? Gun Control Mentality. Irrationality of Gun Control. Why pro-gun organizations are powerless. Why the right to arms will be lost and what is required to win it back. Extensive bibliography, index, 190+pp. 30-day money back guarantee! Send $17.95 + $2.00 S & H to: Broad Reach Publishing, P.O. Box 145, Dept ISIL, Evanston, WY 82931. What Happened to the slavery clause in the original Declaration of Independence? WHO wrote the first draft? Provocative new book, A Personal Declaration of Independence, explains this and more. $10 postpaid/moneyback. Free personal declaration with/without order. ZENO Press, Box 170-I, Sedalia, CO 80135. You can have financial freedom but you have to earn it! Let us show you how to earn $500,000 or more with on-going residuals by sharing with others the Terra Libra Total Freedom Portfolio. Request the free Terra Libra marketing information package from DKS Publishing, Dept. D261-7, Box 465, Fellsmere, FL 32948. Your Ticket to unlimited discount travel. Full-service travel agency, guaranteed lowest available airfare, up to 60% savings on hotels. Before you book elsewhere call toll free to see what you can save. 1-800-966-CLUB and refer to Discount Travel Number 12639. Option (no obligation) to join travel club and earn referral commissions. ====================================================================== =========================PEN PAL SECTION ============================= ====================================================================== There is no charge for Pen Pal Ads for ISIL members. Be sure to inform us when you would like your ad removed or changed. ====================================================================== An 18-year-old boy from Estonia is waiting for all kinds of letter from all over the world. Interested in libertarianism, computers, business, politics, and many other things. Address: Yuri Kaljundi, P.O. Box 68, Tallinn, EE0900, Estonia. College libertarians seeking contact with other students interested in joining our new Student Individualist Network (SIN) and writing for and/or distributing our monthly classical liberal / libertarian / anarchist / objectivist paper. All correspondence should be sent to: Brian Taylor & Justin Weinberg, Editors: Guillotine, EMO, Binghamton University, P.O. Box 6000, Binghamton, NY 13902 or E-mail c/o Mike Darcey BB09769BingSuns.ccBinghamton.edu. Retired Professional man seeks challenging excuse to travel anywhere here or abroad. Invite me to stay at your place a couple of days. Let’s discuss Libertarian ideas and see if there are any examples of them in action to videotape in your town. My photo, phone, and full particulars from Charles Yale, Box 27198, Las Vegas, NV 89126 I would like to correspond with libertarians in Hungary, Poland, Russia, Peru and Argentina. Write: Robert A. Markley, 2515 E. Thomas Rd., Ste 16-742, Phoenix, Arizona 85016 USA. I am a man, 29 years old and single. I am interested in free markets and free societies. I like travelling, meeting people of all races, religions and political understanding. I also like keeping artifacts. I would like to make contact with any libertarians in any part of the United States of America. Nkadi Azuh, 111 Road, Block 5, Flat 2, Festac Town, Lagos, Nigeria. A Young Adult. Business oriented. Would love to hear from sociable open-minded persons from the U.S.A. and all around the world. I promise to reply to all correspondents. Shina Oluyemi, P.O. Box 4975, Shomolu, Lagos, Nigeria. I am 31. I am married and have two children. I am an economist dealing with marketing but I am also interested in free markets and societies. My hobbies are: psychology, astronomy, home computers (Especially Titan) and I also keep some exotic species of fish. Boguslaw B. Kolata, UL. Trzech Diamentow 36/27, 43-300 Bielsko-Biata, Poland. I love writing and music. I’m interested in science, particularly biology; and art, especially speculative fiction. Animated films and stand-up comedians rock my world. All letters will get some kind of reply. Altairn Edwards, 8155 Jamacha Rd., San Diego, CA 92114. Libertarian Male, 33, interested in Free Market and Environmental Economics wishes to exchange ideas with other independent minds, preferably single, free-thinking female libertarians. Europeans please write. Scott, P.O. Box 41, Oakton, Virginia 22124, USA. Libertarians in Netherlands, especially Amsterdam, wanted for correspondence and friendship. Please write: Raymond Kiely, 4981 Springhill Dr., Pensacola, FL 32503, USA Married female 33. Experience in business start-up, patents, and natural sciences. Degrees in Biology, Psych, and Geology. I would like friendship and correspondence in English with people of free market spirit in the Soviet Commonwealth or adjacent republics. Will reply to all correspondence. Laurie Johansen, 4938 Pennsylvania Ave., La Crescenta, CA 91214, USA MIT student, male, would like a pen pal in (or from) Iceland. I am interested in libertarianism, space exploration and development of Icelandic bands such as the Sugarcubes. What is it like to live in Iceland? Scott Carpenter, 69 Chestnut St., Cambridge, MA 02139 Single, Christian would like to correspond with other Christians. Also interested in love songs and would like to find out other people’s love songs. Ken Miller, RD4 Box 11 Curtis Dr., Vernon, NJ 07462 ####################################################################### ####################################################################### ISIL INTERNATIONAL REPORT ####################################################################### ####################################################################### Massive South African Election Fraud Makes Country Ripe for Tyranny =================================================================== WEEP FOR SOUTH AFRICA by Jim Peron The South African election was a bitter disappointment to many people. The Federal Party, founded by ISIL Advisory Board member Frances Kendall, was not able to obtain enough votes to secure a seat in the new parliament. The reasons for this were numerous. For one thing, election fraud on a massive scale shocked the nation to its foundations. This fraud took place on three levels. First, no effort was made to identify voters before they were given voting i.d. cards. All that was required was a baptismal certificate which could be easily purchased on the black market for just a few rands. Once voting had been finished, ballot boxes ended up stuffed with bogus votes. The system set up to guarantee that votes couldn’t be tampered with was abandoned by the Election Commission because it was too slow. As it was, even after abandoning the safeguards, it still took a full week before final results were released. To further compound the fraud, thousands of voters were bussed around the country by the ANC to cast their votes in those regions where the ANC was weak. As a direct result of this the ANC narrowly won the Northern Cape. Following a computer "breakdown" at the Election Commission headquarters, communications were cut off for a while. When the computer came back up things had mysteriously changed. Many of the smaller parties were sidelined with up to 15,000 votes disappearing in one case and thousands more in others. The major parties then met behind closed doors and agreed that "in the interests of the country" no charges of vote fraud would be investigated. The final tallies were more the result of behind-the-scenes deals to carve up the country than they were of actual counting. In some areas of the country the total votes cast exceeded the total number of voters by as much as 300%. Out of an estimated 22-million voters nationwide nearly 23-million votes were cast! The election commission, which spent much of its time trying to cover up problems, announced that the number of voters must have been under-estimated. Another major problem faced by the Federal Party was the lack of media coverage. While the party did phenomenally well, considering it had been formed only eight weeks prior to the election, the lack of television coverage was devastating. The FP's attempts to obtain coverage were thwarted by officials at the government-owned television network who ignored them and refused to return phone calls. Of the many parties contesting the election, the FP was the only one denied a one-to-one interview with the party leader by the South African Broadcasting Commission. With the three major television stations all owned by the government, the FP was stymied. At one point a debate was promised, but permission was withdrawn at the very last minute . . . and government regulations made it illegal to purchase air time. A total freeze-out. Because television is a socialist enterprise, the FP filed a complaint with the Independent Media Commission (IMC), which was ostensibly established to ensure equitable coverage for all political groups. At the beginning an SABC official lied outright by saying that the FP had been told how to secure air time but didn’t bother to do so. The head judge turned out to be the father of one of the most outspoken opponents of the FP. He himself introduced arguments on behalf of the commission. It came as no surprise that the IMC ruled that the SABC was not biased. Another problem the FP faced was that South Africa had for the first time moved to proportional representation. The problem was that voters did not understand that every vote cast could elect individuals to parliament regardless of how small the party was. A party would need 0.0025% of the vote to secure a seat. But voter education was in the hands of the government, and they chose to leave voters in the dark as to how proportional representation actually works. Most importantly the National Party of F.W. deKlerk campaigned by deliberately misinforming voters about proportional representation. They told voters that voting for "small" parties was a wasted vote – or was actually a vote for the ANC. The ANC, also concerned about losing support, never countered these arguments with the truth. The Democratic Party (DP), which was closest to the Federal Party in its views, conducted an orchestrated smear campaign against the FP. When it first became known that the party might be formed, the DP approached FP leaders and offered them spots on the DP ticket. FP leaders discussed the proposal and accepted -- only to have the DP reject the offer they had just made. Negotiations continued while DP officials continued to smear the FP in the press. Finally the FP withdrew from the negotiations. The DP then spread the story, which was repeated by the DP-leaning press, that the FP was formed by sore losers from the DP who were denied a spot on the DP ticket. The DP also used their friends in the media to discredit Kendall by questioning her nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. The claim went out that she nominated herself for the prize or that anyone can easily be nominated. When the FP sent out a press release explaining the entire procedure for nomination, with a letter from the officials in the Norwegian Parliament who had nominated Kendall, the attacks stopped. But no apologies were printed and the press just changed smear tactics. A final factor that dramatically reduced the FP vote was the last minute entry of the Zulu Inkatha Freedom Party. Prior to this, large numbers of Inkatha supporters had contacted the Federal Party, pledging their support. But when the IFP jumped in a few days before the vote, that support vanished. The FP did accomplish some remarkable goals in the few weeks it had to organize. With only six days to petition, the party gathered the 15,000 petition signatures necessary for ballot access (the party had originally been given only one day to accomplish this task). The party campaign brochure was widely distributed. Around 600,000 copies went out in just a matter of a few weeks. And on the final Sunday before the election about 700,000 homes received a four-page tabloid explaining the various decentralist positions of the party. Before the election the various parties who negotiated the new constitution publicly pretended that a decentralist federal constitution had been created, when in reality the document was heavily centralized. Those parties that leaned toward federalism didn't want to admit their own failure to fight for devolution of power, so they continued to deceive the public. Only Inkatha refused to go along with the sham. Because the FP pushed the federal issue many people became aware, for the first time, how seriously flawed the new constitution is. South Africa is now facing a new crisis. The communist-dominated ANC controls the central government and all powers are concentrated there. The central government here has far more powers than does Washington, DC, and the regions have virtually no powers over local affairs. Several dozen members of the Communist Party were elected to office, though none ran openly as SACP members. They were all on the ANC ticket. NOTE: Both Federal Party leader Frances Kendall and Leon Louw will be featured speakers at ISIL's World Conference in Mérida, Mexico (October 2 - 7th, 1994). For details see ad in this issue of the Freedom Network News. ************************************************************************ FREE MARKET SWEDES TAKE LIMELIGHT A special report by Henrik Bejke, ISIL Rep Sweden ************************************************************************ STOCKHOLM: We have just moved our Frihetsfronten (Freedoms Front) organization to downtown Stockholm in the middle of the government buildings. I don’t think the landlord is very happy about us, since the minister himself, Per Unkel, is the same person who some years ago kicked Christian Gergils and the FMS* out of an office in a building owned by the conservative party (for operating a pirate radio station there). This is indeed sweet revenge. Our new meeting place is called “The Liberal Laissez Faire House”. With that name we are trying to create a connection between the words Frihetsfronten, laissez faire, and liberalism. We are trying to reclaim the word liberalism from the left and to give it back its original meaning. The new headquarters includes a large meeting room, cafeter-ia, and a bookstore with the largest collection of libertarian/free market books in Sweden. If anybody is travelling to Sweden, this is absolutely a "must" place to visit. The address is Herkulesgatan 11, Stockholm. There are now a growing number of libertarian-oriented individuals rising to prominence in Sweden. In the latest issue of the Z Magazine a list of the 100 most influential persons in Sweden under the age of 35 was published. Several of the persons listed are libertarians (even if some of them may be somewhat reluctant to use that label, at least in public). Included among them were Christian Gergils (Chairman of Frihetsfronten), Oscar Swartz (writer), Alexander Bard (Pop star and human rights activist), Cecilia Stegu (writer & journalist), Ulf Kristersson (former chairman of the young conservatives. Member of Parliament), Lars-Henrik Molin (magazine publisher, former vice chairman of the FMSF), and Anders Borg (speech writer for conservative prime minister Carl Bildt and former vice chairman for the FMSF). Several others on the list are working to promote greater freedom even if they are not libertarians. Number one on the list, is Anders Borg. When younger he was very radical and argued for the legalization of drugs, among other things. When he became speech writer for the prime minister, however, he avoided such controversial ideas. He is now running for parliament, and might very well be the person to replace Carl Bildt as chairman of the conservative (moderate) party. Some people regard Anders Borg as a coward for abandoning his pure libertarian ideas. But it would be impossible for him to keep his position in the party if he espoused unpopular positions. His own explanation is that he thinks it is so important to achieve economic freedom that you must build coalitions with conservatives. To be able to do that, you must avoid issues (like gay rights and drug legalization) that might upset your coalition partners. In the end, when we have economic laissez faire, we can work on the other issues. Personally, I don't agree with him on this, but the prospect of having a chairman of the conservative party who has a picture of Friedrich Hayek hanging over his desk is not all that bad. And if he in the future becomes prime minister, we can at least hope that he will fulfil the promise he made in a television appearance in 1989, that as prime minister he would do absolutely nothing. *FMSF is the student organization of the Moderate Party. FMS is the Stockholm chapter. Report from Russia . . . ======================== YOUNG RUSSIANS STRUGGLE TO BRING AYN RAND'S NOVELS HOME ******************************************************** In 1993, ISIL sponsored a speaking tour of the USA and Canada for Dmitry Costygin and William Milonoff of St. Petersburg, Russia. The two young Russians had learned of the works of Ayn Rand from ISIL Director Ken Schoolland, and ISIL members Glenn Cripe (USA) and Nicolai Heering (Denmark) who met the two young Russians while visiting St. Petersburg two years earlier. Since that fateful visit, many of Ayn Rand’s novels have been translated and We The Living, her first novel which chronicled the horrors of collectivism and the moral depression of the Russian Revolution has been published -- ironically by the Russian Department of the Navy (there are as yet no private publishers in Russia). The following is an update by ISIL roving correspondent Glenn Cripe, who has worked closely with Dmitry on the project and who recently visited us at our offices in San Francisco: "After a monumental struggle and numerous delays all 50,000 copies of Ayn Rand’s novel We The Living have now been printed, assembled, and are ready to ship. "Dmitry just returned from Moscow, where he visited 40 book wholesalers trying to stir up interest there. Ayn Rand, whose novels have sold over 25-million copies in the West, is still virtually unkown in her homeland. Her novels are still perceived as a gamble for booksellers. The uniform response has been 'we'll study the market and call you in a month.' Dmitry did leave a copy of the book in each office he visited. There are two international book fairs coming up in St. Petersburg in the next few months, so Dmitry plans to attend and talk to publishers and buyers. In the past few months we bought advertising space in publishing trade journals and employed all manner of promotional schemes (including recorded announcements in the subway systems) to make Russians aware of Rand's message of individualism and freedom. We sold a few more books in April, bringing the total so far to only 2400. As a result of this somewhat disappointing response we have decided to change our strategy in order to move the project along more quickly -- and then move on to publishing the remaining books. First of all, we think Rand’s works themselves are their own best advertising. They sell themselves. Second, our ultimate goal is to sell many thousands of all her novels and non-fiction, not just this first one. I’ll bet all of us reacted the same way after finishing our first Rand novel: we immediately and eagerly looked for another, then another, until we’d read all we could get our hands on. I’m willing to gamble that Russian readers will react the same way. We think, therefore, the best way to stimulate demand for all the books is to distribute We The Living as widely and quickly as possible. To introduce people to the works of Rand, we are doing two things. First, we are cutting the wholesale price to $0.50 until the end of May. Secondly, we are immediately implementing a program of donating books to schools and libraries. We will deliver over 5000 books throughout the country, several hundred in St. Petersburg area alone. Now we would now like to find sponsors to help underwrite this program. If you know anyone who might be interested, please have her or him contact me. A $500 contribution will pay for 1000 books and the sponsor will be acknowledged in a letter accompanying the books, and in the opening pages of future books. We will also send them a copy of the book. If the donation needs to be tax-deductible, that can be arranged. I'm confident that our patience will eventually pay off. Remember how long it took in America. Glenn Cripe, California Business Institute PS: I'm sure there are quite a few people in the West who would be interested in buying these books. If they live in the U.S. or Canada, please have them contact R.W. Bradford, Invisible Hand Foundation, P.O. Box 1181, Port Townsend, WA 98368, fax (206) 385-3704. If they are in the Baltics, Poland, or Scandinavia, they should contact Dmitry Costygin in St. Petersburg, fax (7812) 554-1066. All others should contact me in San Francisco by fax # (415) 695-0389. ####################################################################### ISIL WORLD NEWS REPORT ####################################################################### *************** CANADA *************** SEPARATION FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA? ================================ VANCOUVER -- British Columbians must consider separating from Canada, says former B.C. Liberal leader Gordon Wilson. Wilson reported that plans are under way to make his new party, the Progressive Democratic Alliance, the vehicle for B.C. independence. He said Canadians will respect West Coast interests only if they know British Columbians, like the Quebecers, are ready to go it alone. "They have to know that people in British Columbia are serious," he said. "If we don't deem that our interests will continue to be served in Canada then . . . we would have to set up some kind of independence status for the province." Lucien Bouchard of the Quebec Bloc Party has made it clear at the offset of the parliamentary year that secession of Quebec was high on his agenda. The West, long disenfranchised by the arrogance of the Eastern political realm, may have even stronger reasons to secede. TRUE STORY OF REPRESSION OF MOHAWKS NOW A FILM CLASSIC ======================================================== Alanis Obomsawin's Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, a story of the Mohawk Indians' struggle against repressive authority, won Canada's CITY-TV award as the best Canadian feature film at the 1993 Festival of Festivals. The two-hour film looks behind the barricades at the 1990 Oka crisis in Quebec. There for 78 days Mohawks staged an armed occupation of disputed land while Quebec police, and then the Canadian military, faced them with superior firepower. It was a war zone. Obomsawin was there to record the tense standoff for all but the initial shootout which left a policeman dead. When the film won its award, some observers cynically dubbed it a political victory, not a cinematic one. How wrong they were. This is a startling and provocative documentary that should be seen by everyone interested in native rights. All sides in the conflict are given their voice in the film -- native peoples, politicians from three levels of government, sympathetic and hostile non-native residents of the area, the police and the military. The police and military officers emerge, at best, as ill-equipped, heavy-handed idiots, and at worse, as brutish monsters. It’s not just that people say nasty things about their behavior, but that the camera shows them in the act. There is no escaping responsibility. But neither does Obomsawin deify the native peoples on screen. They are allowed their passions, their anger, their faults, their excesses. They are given a human face. The mask is removed. The film also makes an attempt to delve into the history of the Oka area and explain why this is a 270-year struggle, not a recent squabble over plans to build a golf course on land the Mohawks hold sacred. Excepted from an article by Bruce Kirkland in the Toronto, SUN. ======================================================================== The issue of native sovereignty is to become an important part of the radical restructuring of Canada that will occur as Quebec and then the Western provinces secede. This is also a subject that will be studied (along with other decentralist strategies) at ISIL's world conference in Merida, Mexico, October 2 - 7, 1994. ======================================================================== REFORM LEADER VOWS TO LEAD TAX MUTINY OTTAWA -- Reform Party leader Preston Manning said he is ready to lead a "full-blown tax revolt" out of the Reform Party headquarters in Ottawa if Finance Minister Paul Martin raises taxes to finance the government’s out-of-control spending. Manning unfortunately waffled somewhat on his position by saying he would take "every legal means conceivable to convince the government that the taxpayers had had enough." Even Finance Minister Martin scoffed at the idea of a "legal" tax revolt as being mere sophistry. Manning, caught in a trap, could not publicly counsel people to rebel against the tax system without committing a criminal act under Canadian law. Manning, while he didn't advocate breaking the law, did say that there is a very real threat of violence erupting if the government continues to loot as it has in the past. "I think there is a danger of (violence) yes," he told reporters. ========== CHINA ========== CHINA SELLS PUBLIC HOUSING ************************** BEIJING (UPI) -- China has begun to sell off most of its urban public housing this year, removing yet another plank from the country's social welfare platform. "The state-run China Daily announced that buyers will pay 12 percent of their income each year for 25 years until they attain full ownership, it said. A two-tiered price system will charge high-income buyers market prices while low and middle-income buyers are allowed to deduct construction costs, sewage fees, utilities fees and real estate development profits. Most homes are now owned by state work units, which rent them to employees at heavily subsidized rates. China Privatizing Public Schools ******************************** Once outlawed, private schools now have the blessing, albeit reluctant, of Beijing officialdom. The public education has been grossly underfunded and generally neglected, and performance has been deteriorating. Most of the private institutions now emerging are run by teachers who fled the state-run system. Beijing's Zhengze high school, for example, specializes in remedial courses for government school dropouts. As in other parts of the world, socialists denegrate such activities as "elitist," but they are perhaps more alarmed by the fact that the private schools do not engage in the heavy political indoctrination that is so common with government schools. Private-school owners admit quietly that they steer clear of socialist dogma. It is estimated that 1.5 million students are now enrolled in private institutions which include 17 universities, 54 secondary and 655 primary schools. Many private schools have long waiting lists of students anxious for a better education. The Beijing bureaucracy grudgingly goes along with these reforms, but so far has balked at extending certification to religious schools. ************** COLOMBIA ************** Colombia High Court Legalizes Use of Cocaine ******************************************** BOGOTA -- The high court of Colombia, in a surprise ruling, legalized drug use as a route to stopping a drug war that was killing thousands of people. The ruling, however, has put Colombia on a collision course with politicians in Washington, DC. President Cesar Gaviria responded defiantly when asked by reporters about negative reactions from Washington. "I think that's irrelevant. It's an internal issue." After the ruling, Constitutional Court President Carlos Arango told reporters the court "does not judge laws based on the opinion of the United States." Prosecutor-general Gustavo de Greiff drew fire from the U.S. because of his advocating legalization of the entire drug trade. "I suffer from a rare illness of the spine which prevents me from bowing before the powerful," de Greiff told Congress this week. Colombians have found, as the U.S. seems not to have discovered, that the ill-fated war on drugs leads only to a rapid escalation of violent crime, corruption of government officials and police, and massive loss of personal freedoms. Submitted by Neal Donner -- Los Angeles, CA -- From Santa Monica Outlook ============ ESTONIA ============ Estonia's Young Leaders Stick To Radical Reforms ************************************************ TALLINN. Estonia is looked upon as being the first economic success story in the former Soviet Union. At a lunch meeting with ISIL execs Vince Miller, Jim Elwood, and financial newsletter guru Harry Schultz last year, Estonian Member of Parliament Aaps Neljas confirmed that Estonia has done a lot of the right things: established a stable currency with 20% gold reserves, had low taxes, a balanced budget and substantial foreign investment. Neljas, along with many of his associates in the Estonian parliament, is very young -- in his 30s. As a matter of fact, Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar, who is a mere 33-years old, was recently turned away from a European Summit meeting by a doorman because, with his rosy cheeks and wavy blond hair he appeared to be far too young to be a prime minister. "There is a very close connection between the youth of this government and its success," Laar remarked. "Younger people were willing and able to learn market principles . . . sometimes it's not possible to teach an old dog new tricks." Many of Estonia's leaders, including Laar, say they were influenced by free market economists like Milton Friedman. Reforms have often been painful and unpopular with the population, but biting the bullet is paying off. Estonia can point with pride to a remarkable 3% economic growth in 1993 and forecasts 4% this year, which would make Estonia the fastest growing economy in Europe. =============== KAZAKHSTAN =============== Kazakhstan Launches Landmark Privatization ****************************************** ALMATY: In late April Kazakhstan launched a mass privatization program by auctioning off shares in 49 state-owned enterprises, including a pasta factory, an oil refinery plant and a road maintenance service. "Today is a historic day for the economy of Kazakhstan as we move in an orderly manner along the road to a full market economy," said Deputy Prime Minister Janibek Karibzhanov, chairman of the state property committee. Of the 49 companies up for grabs, 22 were sold off completely. Shares remaining from the others are to be auctioned off at a later date. Under the privatization scheme, each Kazakh citizen was given a booklet of 100 coupons which they invest in various funds licensed to buy shares at auctions. The Kazakh privatization program is widely considered to be the most progressive in Central Asia -- some would argue in the entire former Soviet Union -- and its success could encourage other governments in the region to follow suit. Submitted by David Morgan, ISIL Correspondent for Saudi Arabia (seen in Arab News) =============== LITHUANIA =============== Baltic States React To Crime By Legalizing Gun Ownership ******************************************************** VILNIUS: Lithuanians now have the right to pack a pistol as one means of self protection against rising acts of burglary, armed robbery and rape (many linked to organized crime) in the Baltics. With a new gun law that went into effect in April, Lithuania has joined Estonia as the only former Soviet republics where citizens may legally carry firearms for personal protection. ============ MEXICO ============ FDA's Tentacles Reach To Mexico ******************************* Earlier this year, cancer and alternative therapy clinics were raided by Mexican officials on orders of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This was made possible through some of the powers hidden under NAFTA. It has been reported that some clinics have been forced to close down, while other were closed but reopened with new members on staff. Dr. Donsbach's clinic, Contreras and American Biologics are just a few of those victimized by these raids. This follows upon a series of FDA commando-styled SWAT team raids on alternate healthcare clinics and vitamin stores in the U.S. last year. ==================== NORWAY/DENMARK ==================== New European "Liberty Network" Newsletter ***************************************** ISIL members Palle Steen Jensen (Denmark) and Jan Sommerfelt Pettersen (Norway) have formed a new bi-monthly newsletter called LINE. They describe it as a European newsletter for free-thinkers, classical liberals and libertarians. The introductory price for European subscribers in 1994 is DKK 100 or $20 US outside Europe. One of the services being offered is the "Index On Liberty" directory of freedom organizations and publications which in the past has been produced jointly with ISIL. Current issues of LINE feature a bulletin board of European events from London to Moscow, book reviews, articles by prominent classical liberals and libertarians. Palle and Jan have asked that if you have information on free market seminars, publications, activities or new institutions that might be of interest to their subscribers to please inform them via letter or fax (+45-35 43 85 02 or +47-55 31 80 87). Palle Steen Jensen, Rahbeks Allé 8 St Tv, DK-1801 Frederiksberg C, Denmark Jan Sommerfelt Pettersen, Box 1134, N-5001, Bergen, Norway ================= SWITZERLAND ================= ISIL Swiss Rep Publishes French Language Book On Healthcare *********************************************************** PARIS: ISIL Rep Alphonse Crespo (Switzerland) has published a book entitled Esculape Foudroye (translation: "The assassination of Aesculapius, Greek god of medicine") on the subject of the destruction of medicine by the state. Since the book was published late last year Crespo has been voicing his opinions at every opportunity. He reports: "My publisher organized an eventful press tour last year. My affiliation with ISIL was notably picked up by Jean Francoeur in Montreal's Le Devoir. Canadian journalists were not always friendly, but fending off attacks by collectivist hacks on radio and TV talk shows turned out to be a fruitful experience. The book was also reviewed in the French press and was honored by an attack from a Le Monde columnist. I am now not infrequently called on by journalists in need of iconoclastic opinions on health care (for some odd reason Swiss media have mostly called upon me to voice views on alternative medicines -- probably as a result of an article on black markets in the health field). I have also been busy helping launch a Swiss economic quarterly called Medicine & Economie and use its columns to propagate libertarian views." ISIL Rep. Alphonse Crespo is a medical doctor and a representative for IATROS, the international association of independent physicians. He is also a strong advocate of home schooling. He will be a speaker at ISIL's world conference in Merida, Mexico (Oct 2-7, 1994). ==================== UNITED NATIONS ==================== International Gun Seizures Planned By UN **************************************** We just learned today that the UN is proposing sweeping global disarmament via an international ban on guns (except for their own boys, of course). We also learned that this decree is designed to supercede U.S. laws, and that US President Clinton is studying the idea. As Michael van Notten, ISIL Advisory Board member and correspondent for Somalia reported recently, when U.N. forces attempted to bring peace in Somalia by disarming the citizenry, they found that they were unable to stop the flow of black market guns into the country. As a result, heavily-armed gangs of bandits swept into the towns, looted virtually unimpeded, easily slaughtering the people who had been stripped of any means of self-defense by UN troops. It is highly unlikely that Americans will peaceably surrender their sovereignty and guns to UN multi-jurisdictional task forces. We suspect that the typical American response will be "Go ahead, make my day!"