================================================ |*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*| Old Dominion Liberty Letter Issue #40 |*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*| ================================================
In this issue: 1. Can 5th District Democrat Tom Periello Appeal to Libertarians? 2. Libertarian Environmental Ideas 3. Speaking of Environmentalism... 4. Are Nations Going Extinct? 5. US Government Dumps Toxics and Bombs 6. Yet Another Spawn-of-Government Bubble: Municipal Bonds 7. The Power of One Libertarian, Revisited 8. This issue's Criminal 'Crat: Lisa Durham 9. EXPLORING LIBERTY: The LP's "4.0. Omissions" Plank 10. NATIONAL NEWS: LP Issue Bumper Stickers 11. VIRGINIA EVENTS 12. Libertarian Radio in Virginia Interested in taking over ODLL? Contact us to volunteer. Click: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=volunteerodll> ================================================ 1. Can 5th District Democrat Tom Periello Appeal to Libertarians? ================================================ Uh.... http://www.examiner.com/x-43619-Charlottesville-Libertarian-Examiner~y2010m8d11-Congressman-Tom-Perriello-explains-his-appeal-to-libertarian-voters-in-Virginias-5th-District No comment. ================================================ 2. Libertarian Environmental Ideas ================================================ For a long time I have considered myself an environmentalist. Not the usual kind, of course, who wants The State to come along with its whips and garrottes to force *other* people to reduce demand & consumption (think Algore). So how can Libertarian ideas improve the environment? Libertarians favor the efficient use of resources. It is almost always government that forces people to waste what they would normally not, had they been simply left alone. Land use policy is a good example, because it *forces* people to waste land. Let's examine the causes driving much-lamented "sprawl", for instance. First of all, nothing prevents sprawl like allowing people to pay every penny of the full costs involved in them "sprawling out" further and further. Abolishing "free" roads that allow people to continue moving futher and further out under *heavily* subsidized conditions would be a great starting point. Builders should pay the full cost of road expansion and improvement, and the owners of privatized roadways should be responsible for the full cost of maintenance (by the way, I do think there should be some expectation of free movement along roadways -- at least for pedestrian access). But beyond removing the *incentives* for sprawl, one must also remove the *disincentives* for compact growth. As a start, Libertarians would attack zoning regulation, which prevents people from building their storefront downstairs and their living quarters upstairs. Libertarians would attack exclusionary zoning which favors "clean" businesses (like offices and high tech manufacturing) over "dirty" businesses (landfills, chicken rendering plants, etc). This unfairly *forces* the results of the massive appetites of urban areas to be spilled into less-politically powerful rural areas (and thus transfers the costs of the vices (like eating) of urban dwellers on rural residents, even though the urban dweller derives all the benefits of those vices). Libertarians would favor eliminating minimum lot size requirements that force land into being chewed up into housing developments at faster and faster rates. Libertarians would favor eliminating minimum house sizes (take a look at the Henrico County, VA zoning code, for example -- you can't build a home of less than 1,100 s.f. or so, now). Compact houses on small lots, like the one I used to own in Lakeside, are **against the law** to build in Henrico nowadays. Libertarians would favor eliminating setback requirements that make huge chunks of land neither available for people to live on, nor big enough for wildlife to inhabit. The Libertarian solution to "sprawl" is to allow the free market to return land use "planning" to what it was prior to the advent of socialist-style "planning" adopted in the early 1900's. Look at The Fan in Richmond, for example. It was compact and conducive to walking, biking, and mass transit; and none of it was built under zoning, setbacks, or other land-use controls. Less important than subsidization and land-use planning are other factors that encourage sprawl. Building new schools, fire stations, and other "services" costs money. Were government not robbing Peter to pay Paul, these costs would be borne much more by those who choose to move into "greenfield" areas. Unfortunately, this is going to be a difficult sitution to reverse, as all of the above government activities has taxed compactness and re-use/re-habbing of older areas, while subsidizing new building. The people who then move into the new developments then have an incentive to become "door slammers" -- they become advocates of slamming the door on others who want to follow them into the greenfields. Paradoxically, their door-slamming actually accellerates the sprawl process. Government is not the solution; it's the problem. ================================================ 3. Speaking of Environmentalism... ================================================ My family and I are about to embark on a journey of severing ourselves from the electrical grid, replacing it with a standalone wind and solar plant. In the process, we're replacing both the fossil-fuel furnace and traditional central air unit with a geothermal heat pump. Geothermal makes a lot of sense. With a traditional heat pump, to heat the hosue in winter, the unit must take heat from outside air and move it inside. This becomes more and more problematic as the outdoor air temperature declines. Besides the lack of heat to transfer in very cold times, the unit must be built to work in all temperature ranges -- a built-in inefficiency all by itself. With geothermal, the temperature of the earth is known and constant (sudden flows of lava notwithstanding), so the heat transfer equipment can be optimally designed to work at its highest efficiency level *for that known temperature*. Hugo Chavez, you statist card: you can say goodbye to seeing *my* money. Wish us luck. ================================================ 4. Are Nations Going Extinct? ================================================ Our conception of what constitutes a "country" is deteriorating. Say hello to post-national entities -- "other guys" that stand outside of the dominant system. http://www.alternet.org/world/147660/are_nations_going_extinct?page=entire ================================================ 5. US Government Dumps Toxics and Bombs ================================================ WTVR in Richmond sends up this gem of a story: http://www.wtvr.com/sns-ap-us-dumped-weapons,0,612722.story or: http://www.wtvr.com/sns-ap-us-dumped-weapons,0,5309762,print.story So in other words, it's OK for the U.S. government to dump poisons into the ocean on purpose, but if an oil company has an accident... ================================================ 6. Yet Another Spawn-of-Government Bubble: Municipal Bonds ================================================ If you have any retirement funds in municipal bonds, the below article is for you: http://www.city-journal.org/printable.php?id=6331 I printed off copies for the local Board of Supervisors members in Rockingham County, and wrote each member a cover letter asking them to read -- and act -- on its warning and advice. ================================================ 7. The Power of One Libertarian, Revisited ================================================ Nathan Larson wrote in some notes about Virginia's drug penalties, in response to the article about Roy Scherer in the last issue: >As for Virginia cannabis law, you can get jailed for any amount (it's not >decriminalized here; see ><http://leg1.state.va.us/000/cod/18.2-250.1.HTM>http://leg1.state.va.us/000/cod/18.2-250.1.HTM), > but normally in a first-time possession case, they will offer the defendant a >year's probation if he pleads guilty. A nasty side-effect to this is that his >license will automatically (the judge has no discretion on this; see ><http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-259.1>http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-259.1) > be either suspended or restricted for 6 months to driving to/from work, >school, home, etc. Plus, while on probation, he has to take drug tests, which >a lot of people end up failing. Those who plead not guilty and get convicted >usually get a 30-day suspended jail sentence and the same license consequences >mentioned above. A second conviction is a class 1 misdemeanor, which means you >can theoretically get sentenced to a year in jail. But the r eally nice thing about Virginia law is that you can cultivate any amount you want, and as long as the court deems it to be for your own use, you won't get hit with a felony cultivation charge; they'll just count it as possession. Legend has it that there was a guy who grew about 100 plants and was able to convince the jury that it was for his own use. In that regard, Virginia has some of the most lenient cultivation laws in America. See section 18.2-248.1(c): <http://leg1.state.va.us/000/cod/18.2-248.1.HTM>http://leg1.state.va.us/000/cod/18.2-248.1.HTM ================================================ 8. This issue's Criminal 'Crat: Lisa Durham ================================================ "Richmond, Va. -- The former coordinator of a Virginia Commonwealth University community-outreach program that helps chronically and terminally ill patients with their expenses was convicted yesterday of embezzling $144,000 from the program over three years." Read the rest: http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2010/jul/29/vcuu29-ar-353766/ ================================================ 9. EXPLORING LIBERTY: The LP's "4.0 Omissions" Plank ================================================ This issue, we bring you the Libertarian Party's platform position #4.0, "Omissions", which reads: -------- Our silence about any other particular government law, regulation, ordinance, directive, edict, control, regulatory agency, activity, or machination should not be construed to imply approval. -------- ================================================ 10. NATIONAL NEWS: LP Issue Bumper Stickers ================================================ And now, a word from our sponsor: Wear the LP colors! Check out these bumper stickers: http://www.zazzle.com/immigration_is_also_called_moving_bumper_sticker-128096227542326068 http://www.zazzle.com/abolish_the_irs_vote_libertarian_bumper_sticker-128151456887305334 http://www.zazzle.com/repeal_prohibition_libertarian_party_sticker_bumper_sticker-128231895702692440 http://www.zazzle.com/abolish_the_fed_bumper_sticker-128034935072085282 How about a "Libertarian Precinct Captain" sign: http://cl.exct.net/?qs=60dd440acd057ed8274bd68a30fd9bb390791c8b8cf1435503819d525e340ec05bd645539a27a964 Or a "Repeal the Income Tax / Abolish the IRS" sign: http://cl.exct.net/?qs=60dd440acd057ed8274bd68a30fd9bb390791c8b8cf14355a536f38defdc0d72181e66827dc4f9e8 ================================================ 11. VIRGINIA EVENTS ================================================ To stay current on upcoming activities of Libertarians across the state, check out the Calendar: http://lpva.com/Calendar/events08.asp ================================================ 12. Libertarian Radio in Virginia ================================================ What's on your mind? Unlike those right-wing or left-liberal extremist shows, Free Talk Live is talk radio that ANYONE can take control of. Yes, even you. Free Talk Live is the next generation of issues oriented talk. What is the meaning of freedom? This show is about Liberty with a capital L. Check out some of the archives on the FTL Main Page http://freetalklive.com/ to get an idea of what this all means. FreeTalkLive ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Call Freq Band City Affiliate Live? Days Hours Sign Since On On ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WCHV 94.1 FM C'ville 2008-10-18 Yes Sat 7-10p ET WCHV 1260 AM C'ville 2008-10-18 Yes Sat 7-10p ET WSVG 790 AM Mt. Jackson 2008-08-23 Yes M-F Sat 8-10p 7-10p ET WTAR 850 AM Norfolk 2009-10-31 Yes Sat 7-10p ET ================================================ The editors of Old Dominion Liberty Letter are always seeking stories for our regular features: STATE NEWS: The "Government Behaving Badly" Files: This Issue's Criminal Bureaucrats VIRGINIA TASER TALLY: Something for the Police State to be proud of FEATURED LINK ================================================ ================================================ |*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*| Old Dominion Liberty Letter Issue #40 |*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*| ================================================ Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License by Marc Montoni. ================================================ Publishing Schedule: Every couple of weeks - But it depends on YOU! Publisher: LPVA Communications Committee Editor: Marc Montoni Distribution: 500 + readers, via LPVA-Announce ================================================ Sign up for the latest news from The Libertarian Party of Virginia: http://www.LPVA.com/html/EmailLists.asp ================================================ Got a news tip? Click: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=vlw> Allow me to emphasize this: We prefer Virginia news to news you can get elsewhere. If you have a good liberty-oriented story centered in Virginia, please alert us to it. ================================================ WHAT'S GOING ON where you live? Make sure all Virginia Libertarians are informed of your activities. Send announcements and news to <[email protected]> or <mailto:[email protected]?subject=vlw> ================================================ JOIN THE PARTY - Never been a member of the Libertarian Party of Virginia? 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