A Guest Article.

The Sage of Baltimore
by Charley Reese

The sage of Baltimore, H.L. Mencken, once observed,
"The urge to save humanity is almost always only a
false-face for the urge to rule it."

We could even indulge that old habit of division by
saying that people are divided into two classes –
those who are willing to leave others alone to pursue
their own happiness, and those who have a burning itch
to tell others how they should do it and, if they
don't listen, force them to follow instructions.

I've seen this in my own life. Even under the
influence of spirits, I never imagined that disliking
the flavor of brussels sprouts could spark anger in
another person, but as it turned out, I married just
such a person. She had a great many virtues, but it
did upset her to find out that people had different
tastes and opinions about things.

She thought, bless her memory, that her firm statement
that brussels sprouts were good was a universal and
indisputable fact. It frustrated her greatly when I
insisted that it was merely a matter of opinion, and
in my opinion they were not good and that their flavor
resembled the smell of sewage.

My philosophy, no doubt a result of my Celtic genes,
is that I will do what I like and other people are
free to do what they like. Differences of opinion,
tastes, even ideology don't bother me. I'm even
reluctant to give advice when people ask for it.

In fact, since the traditional definitions of liberals
and conservatives have been made obsolete by modernity
and its muddy thinking, we can even redefine them. A
liberal is person with a burning itch to run other
people's lives; a conservative has no desire to do so.

Look at our current society. People who think smoking
is bad are not content to quit the habit themselves;
they wish to forcibly prevent others from smoking.
People who think eating trans fat is bad are not
content to avoid it themselves; they want to ban it.
People who think owning a gun is a bad thing want to
prevent others from owning guns. People who think
using certain drugs is bad want to prevent others from
using them. People who dislike the Confederate battle
flag wish to prevent those who like it from displaying
it. And so on and so forth.

In every case, prevention is translated into a denial
of choice, and what is freedom but the liberty of
making one's own choices? The more areas of our lives
in which we are denied the freedom to choose, the less
liberty there is. Totalitarianism is the denial of all
choices. We haven't gotten to that point yet, but we
seem to be steadily marching in that direction, led,
of course, by liberal reformers who wish to save us
from ourselves. That's why I say that
authoritarianism, not democracy, is the direction the
world is headed toward.

Truly, I've never understood the psychology of those
people who want to control the lives of other people.
Granted, parents have to provide some guidance to
their children, but even that, I think, should be
limited to survival skills and a basic moral code.
Children come into the world their own persons, and
parents have no right to force them into some kind of
mold. Whether a child likes sports or reading should
be left up to the child, for example. All of a child's
inclinations should be encouraged, and none
discouraged. Conditional love is, in my opinion, not
love at all. No child should have to earn his or her
parents' love.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn said once that America had lost
its civic courage, and that might be our core problem.
It takes a great deal of courage to live free and to
allow others to live free. Maybe I've answered my own
question. People's itch to control others might be
motivated by fear. That's at least worth thinking
about.

May 19, 2007

Charley Reese [send him mail] has been a journalist
for 49 years.

© 2007 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

The Patriot Post Founders' Quote Daily

The Patriot Post
Founders' Quote Daily

"If a well-regulated militia be the most natural defense of a free
country, it ought certainly to be under the regulation and at the
disposal of that body which is constituted the guardian of the
national security. If standing armies are dangerous to liberty,
an efficacious power over the militia in the same body ought,
as far as possible, to take away the inducement and the pretext
to such unfriendly institutions. If the federal government can
command the aid of the militia in those emergencies which call
for the military arm in support of the civil magistrate, it can
the better dispense with the employment of a different kind of
force. If it cannot avail itself of the former, it will be obliged
to recur to the latter. To render an army unnecessary will be a
more certain method of preventing its existence than a thousand
prohibitions upon paper."

-- Alexander Hamilton (Federalist No. 29, 10 January 1788)

MRF Opposition to HR 2093

MRF E-MAIL NEWS Motorcycle Riders Foundation
236 Massachusetts Ave. NE
Suite 510
Washington, DC 20002-4980
202-546-0983 (voice)
202-546-0986 (fax)
http://www.mrf.org (website)


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeff Hennie, MRF Vice-President of Government Relations
jeff@mrf.org (e-mail)

07NR06 - MRF Opposition to HR 2093

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation reports its opposition to HR 2093, a
grassroots lobbying reform bill introduced my Marty Meehan (D-MA). HR
2093 attempts to give more transparency to how grassroots lobby groups
legally conduct business. More transparency in our government is most
certainly a good thing. However HR 2093 tramples over many of the
constitutional freedoms that our country is founded on.

Like most things in Washington, the devil here is the definitions.
HR 2093 specifically targets "lobby firms" however what or better yet
who is defined as a lobby firm. The Meehan legislation would re define
"lobby firm" to any person or entity who on behalf of "client"
(which can be any other person or entity), "receives income of,
or spends or agrees to spend a total of $100,000.00 in a quarterly
period" to engage in paid communications to influence the
general public to lobby congress. Sound like anyone you know of?

So, a single paid individual who direst the spending of as little as
$100K, from any number of sources, on public-influencing activities
would become, by definition, a lobbying firm. Once established as a
firm the individual would be required to report to congress quarterly
detailing the public influence campaigns participated in over the past
three months. The price of not reporting would be hefty campaign finance
fines of up to $200,000.00 per occurrence.

H.R. 2093 would regulate private communications to and among
the general public, and would violate five First Amendment rights;
speech, press, association, petitioning and religion

The bills sponsor initially stated that the legislation would close a
"Jack Abramoff type loophole". After reading the text of the
legislation it becomes apparent that neither Jack Abramoff nor
the kick-backs to him under the scandal would have been disclosed
under H.R. 2093.

Meehan also claims that the bill is targeted at so-called 'Astroturf'
lobbying. But the fact remains that the legislation doesn't target, and
never even attempts to define, 'Astroturf.' Instead, it regulates
genuine citizen-supported policy communications.

Not only is H.R. 2093 unconstitutional, it will leave well heeled
lobbyists, lawyers and wealthy special interests laughing all the way to
the bank.

It also fosters the creation of sham or "straw-man" entities as fronts
for corporations and billionaires, yet manages to have many harmful
consequences for genuine citizen-supported grassroots causes.

The Senate passed similar reform legislation (S 1) earlier this year.
S1 had all of the grassroots reform language stripped out on the Senate
floor. 43 Senate democrats voted in favor of heavily regulating and
punishing grassroots lobby organizations. (110th Senate: roll call vote
17)

The MRF encourages you to contact your federal elected officials and
voice your opinion on this important issue.

MRF Opposition to HR 984

07NR04 – MRF Opposition to HR 984

MRF E-MAIL NEWS

Motorcycle Riders Foundation
236 Massachusetts Ave. NE
Suite 510
Washington, DC 20002-4980
202-546-0983 (voice)
202-546-0986 (fax)
http://www.mrf.org (website)


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jeff Hennie, MRF Vice-President of Government Relations
jeff@mrf.org (e-mail)

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation announces opposition to H.R. 984

April 3, 2007

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation today announced its opposition to H.R.
984, a bill introduced into the 110th congress by United States
Representative Henry Waxman. Mr. Waxman’s bill is referred to as the
"Executive Branch Disclosure Act of 2007." This bill would require certain
federal executive branch officials to make a record of and file a report
to the Office of Government Ethics of any "significant contacts" between
the executive branch official and any private party relating to any
government action.

In announcing its opposition to the Waxman bill, MRF Vice President of
Government Relations Jeff Hennie had this to say, "Communication with
executive level officials is a cornerstone of our lobbying efforts. We
believe that having the government create a database of citizens of who
exercise this right will have a chilling effect on our ability to mobilize
our members and the motorcycling public to contact the Secretary of
Transportation for example, on issues that effect motorcycles."

The bill goes on to define a significant contact as "oral or written
communication (including electronic communication) that is made by a
private party to a covered branch official in which such private party
seeks to influence official action by any officer or employee of the
executive branch of the United States."

In section 602 of this bill it states that the Director of Government
Ethics shall make "a publicly available list of all private parties who
made a significant contact; and computerized systems designed to minimize
the burden of filing and maximize public access to reports filed under
this title." Thus our employer, local elected officials, or even a nosy
neighbor may have easy access to our views on issues and with which
executive level federal official we chose to communicate.

This legislation is increasingly being referred to irreverently as "H.R.
1984" in reference to 1984, George Orwell’s classic novel depicting a
horrific totalitarian state.

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation encourages our members, our Sustaining
State Motorcyclists’ Rights Organization partners and all concerned
Americans to contact your member of the United States House of
Representatives and express opposition to H.R. 984, the Executive Branch
Disclosure Act of 2007. Ride Free Forever

Michael Kerr
MRF Vice President

Illinois Toll Road Fines.

The following is the opinion of a
NY Freedom Rider.

http://www.dot.state.il.us/press/r033005.html

While reading the press release from the Illinois DOT,
something struck me as odd when I came to and read these
statements.

“Next week is Work Zone Safety Week and the traditional beginning to highway construction season. We want to send a message to motorists now to slow down in work zones,” IDOT Secretary Timothy W. Martin said. “If you are caught speeding in a work zone, at minimum you will be looking at a fine of $375, at worst, you can kill yourself, a loved one or a worker.”

Under enhanced penalties passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Rod Blagojevich last year, first-time work zone speeders, including those caught on camera, will be hit with a fine of $375, with $125 of that sum going to pay off-duty State Troopers to provide added enforcement in construction or maintenance zones. Two-time offenders are subject to a $1,000 fine, including a $250 surcharge to hire Troopers, and the loss of their license for 90 days.

Starting in July, State Troopers will deploy specially equipped vans that can take photographs of drivers speeding in IDOT and Tollway construction and maintenance zones. Tickets will be issued by mail to vehicle owners.

In addition, drivers who hit a worker are subject for up to a $10,000 fine and 14 years in prison.”

Now, isn’t it odd that the fines for speeding in an Illinois
construction zone and “hitting a worker” are so much more
severe than hitting or killing a motorcyclist anywhere else?

Where is the equity, the equality, the justice?

Grey Wolf
a New York Freedom Rider.

A Guest Article.

Today, a Guest Article.

EXCELLENT ANALOGY OF WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE USA!!!!

From The Marion Star

I'm greatly concerned about the agenda of Nancy Pelosi, and liberals/socialists in the new Congress. The agenda contains items that will put the security of our country at risk; proposals that will take away the freedom of speech for conservative groups; bills that would give the UN more control over the sovereignty of our country; and promises of more financial handouts from the government. In other words, the government can do a better job of leading our lives, than we can do ourselves.

I am reminded of the words of Ronald Reagan: "The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

I can best explain my concern about the new congress's agenda, by using this analogy given to me by a former student of mine.

Several years ago I was supervising a beginning teacher in a city school system. One day during our end-of-the-day feedback conference, the young man gave a facial grimace and began to rub his back. I asked him if he had strained his back in the school lab. After a long period of silence, he sat down at his desk and explained that he had immigrated to the United States because of political problems in his
native country. The discomfort in his back was caused by a bullet wound he had received while fighting the Communists who were trying to take over his country's government. He was then a member of the underground nationalist force.

Then he asked me a surprising question: "Dr. Hedges, do you know how to catch a wild hog?" The question was completely out of context regarding the day's classroom and lab teaching. I replied, "I'm not sure what you are talking about. Tell me."

"First," he said, "you find out where the wild hogs are roaming and feeding, and then you put some corn out in the field. Soon they will come to eat the corn. You keep putting out the free corn. More wild hogs keep coming to eat the corn."

"So what?" I said. "That's normal for any animal."

"Be patient. I will tell you what comes next," he said. "After the hogs get used to your free corn, you put up a length of fence along one side of the feeding area. The hogs get used to it. You keep giving them the corn. Then you put up another section of fence at right angles to the first. You keep giving them the corn. The hogs get used to the second fence. Then you put up another length of fence at right
angles to the second section. You now have a U-shaped fenced area. The hogs get used to that section of the fence. You keep giving them free corn. Then you put another section of fence with a gate in it, making a closed area except for the gate. You keep giving them corn. Now, the hogs no longer are out in the fields, working to find their own food. They keep coming into the area to eat the free corn. They get used to the fenced area with the open gate. Then, one day you slam shut the gate when the hogs are in

I understood then that the wild hogs were really the people of his native country, and that the free corn was the enticements that the Communists were giving to the people. "That's correct," the young man said. "Now, the hogs will not get anything to eat unless you give them food. You are in control. They depend on you to feed them, or they will starve. They can't get out into the fields and forests anymore to find their own food. They have probably forgotten how, as it is. They are your servants, your prisoners. They must obey you. Or else they starve.

"The hogs," he said, "were so accustomed to having the free corn, that they ignored the building of the fences that would eventually trap them. When the gate slammed shut, it was too late for them to realize what they had been blind to. The free corn was enticing, so effortless to obtain, but eventually the cause of their loss of freedom. The fence had been built; the gate had been shut."

At this point in our conversation, the young teacher, in a voice shaking with emotion and with fists hitting the desktop, loudly exclaimed, "This is what I see happening in America today! People are being offered free corn by the government. People are being blind to the fences being built around them by the liberals - the socialists - and that is what frightens me! Just like it was happening in my
homeland. The American people do not learn from history. And history shows that socialism/communism does not work. Take note of Russia . Has socialism been the best thing that ever happened to that country Absolutely not! But socialism is what the American people are being fed, and they don't realize it. All they can focus on is the 'free corn.' They want more and more of the 'free' corn. And this free corn is being fed to us little by little, and soon the gate will slam shut. I am very frightened, and also amazed.

With that said, the young man sat down at his desk and continued to rub his painful back. And I was silent in my chair. And afraid. For I could visualize the supposedly "free corn" being fed to our nation's people, and our growing addiction to the "free corn." And I could see the gate being slammed shut. We, the people of the United States of America , because of our ignorance of history, because of our addiction to the supposedly "free corn," could soon be prisoners of liberal socialism.

Along with this fighter for freedom from socialism/communism, I, too, wanted to slam my fists on the desktop and cry out in a loud voice for all to hear, "Wake up, America! The fences are being built! Don't you see what is happening to us?"

In the agenda of the new Congress governed by the liberal Democrats, there is much "free corn" being promised the American people. In our greed for this "free corn," will we ignore the incremental building of the fences, and the inevitable shutting of the gate?

As I ponder the building of the fences now underway by the new Congress, I remember the old adage, 'There is always free cheese in a mousetrap."

It seems the only thing we learn from history is that we do not learn from history.

Lowell E. Hedges is a retired associate professor of teacher education and a former superintendent of Elgin Local Schools.

http://www.academy-excellenceinteaching.org/faculty.html

from US Rider News

from US Rider News
http://www.usridernews.com/absolutenm/templates/News.asp?articleid=359&zoneid=1

In an exclusive interview with USRiderNews, GOP Presidential candidate Tommy Thompson, the former Governor of Wisconsin admitted that he’s ridden his motorcycle without a helmet and says that he would not support any type of national helmet legislation.

The Republican hopeful who was health and human services secretary during President Bush's first term announced today that he’s jumping in the crowded presidential race hoping to upset the leading GOP candidates including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Gov. Thompson said that a national helmet law isn’t something that the Federal government should worry about. “I’m against it.” Thompson said. “ It (the helmet law) should be dealt with by the states.” Thompson said the idea was off base. “Why would anyone want a national helmet law?”

The 2002 Sturgis Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame inductee also answered questions about mandatory safety training for motorcyclists, and the Air Resource Board of California and about mandatory sentencing for motorists who violate right of way laws resulting in a motorcyclist’s death.

The interview will be published in the May edition of USRiderNews.

Bob Bancroft
New York Freedom Riders