Frontiersman, January 2000

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Frontiersman, January 2000

Liberty Lost
Sam Aurelius Milam III
The alleged terrorist apprehended on December 14 while trying to cross the border at Port Angeles, Washington, has reminded me again of the casual attitude that people have toward their liberty. With appalling indifference, they've accepted the "necessity" for "tougher" surveillance at the border. Such a lack of concern makes me wonder if self-government is really such a good idea after all. A terrorist threat doesn't justify a routine presumption of guilt and a requirement that innocent people must prove their innocence by submitting to random, warrantless, and unprovoked searches. The police state that will result from such flawed reasoning will be far more harmful than the "terrorists" against which it allegedly provides protection. If people really prefer such police state security instead of liberty, then they don't deserve either the liberty or the self-government that should secure it.

Free Trade
Sam Aurelius Milam III
The Seattle WTO circus is over, but the "free trade" circus will continue. For some reason, people have accepted the stupid notion that free trade can't exist unless it's regulated by a world-spanning authority. In fact, regulation doesn't cause free trade. It prevents it. If we want free trade, then we should abolish the WTO and all of the other New World Order institutions, whatever their excuse for existence. Opposition to such monsters doesn't necessarily indicate isolationism or protectionism. Any nation that wants a trade agreement with another nation can negotiate it, just as nations have always done. The WTO won't enhance the process. It will regulate it, supervise it, judge it, and stifle it. Uniform regulation doesn't equal free trade.
More generally, if we want to return power to the people then we must begin by taking it away from the institutions. The bigger the institution, the more important it is that we remove its power.

Choice vs Prejudice
Sam Aurelius Milam III
The tedious trial between Microsoft and the "Justice" Department is another good example of the lengths to which people will go for the sake of a prejudice. In fact, there was never a need for the trial. We had a much better way to address the alleged monopoly — competition.
Microsoft has a monopoly on operating systems? Not really. Microsoft has a monopoly only among customers who refuse to buy anything but a Windows computer. Let's not call it a monopoly when the customers have a choice and refuse to use it. Windows isn't even a Microsoft invention. From the very beginning, it was an imitation of the Macintosh Finder, which was invented several years earlier, which still exists, and which still provides an alternative to Windows. If someone doesn't like the way Microsoft is designing or marketing its product, then that person can still buy from the competition — Macintosh.
Being a Macintosh user, I've been subjected to all of the lame objections to the Mac. I assure you that on my Macintosh I can select the browser that I want to run, designate whatever I want to appear on my startup screen, and set which software I want to open at startup. None of it is "controlled" by Microsoft. My Mac will do anything that a similar vintage PC will do. Neither system is perfect, but if somebody continues to struggle with the "monopoly" when buying a Macintosh would solve the problem, and doesn't get the Mac just because he doesn't "like" them, then I have to question his priorities. If he'd rather have the "Justice" Department regulate the industry than go to the trouble of changing brands, then he deserves what he gets — a regulated industry.
The "monopoly" wasn't caused by Microsoft, but by customers who refused to use the available competition. Maybe the result will be a bigger, uglier monopoly. The industry might end up being run by the government instead of by Microsoft.
For either monopoly, we have only the customers to blame.

Frontiersman@ida.net

Frontiersman, 479 E. 700 N., Firth, Idaho 83236
Also see The Pharos Connection at http://www.ida.net/users/pharos/

January 2000

Page 1

NOTICE — John Webster expects to go on trial in the near future. You can review his situation at http://www.jwebster.com/ and contact him at jwebster@ix.netcom.com or 408 972-2963. He needs $25,000 "up front" for his lawyer. Contributions or loans would be greatly appreciated.

Gullibility
Sam Aurelius Milam III

Maybe Americans are getting more gullible with every passing day. I don't know, but it is difficult to resist that conclusion.

Some people worry that cheap prison labor in foreign countries is taking jobs away from Americans. However, last month Peter Jennings reported on the ABC World News Tonight that American prisoners in South Dakota are making prefabricated houses, in direct competition with local builders, for 25¢ per hour. The governor of South Dakota plans to double production next year. For those people who might not know it, South Dakota isn't a foreign country. It's an American state.

Other people worry about the "evils" of child labor. Such worries are a lot of nonsense. When I was a child, some of my friends and I got a job digging sweet potatoes for a local farmer. We worked for 50¢ per hour and nobody accused anybody of "child labor". We were praised for finding a job and the farmer was commended for providing it. If the working conditions are intolerable or dangerous, then that's a different issue. However, there isn't anything wrong with child labor, in and of itself. On the contrary, it keeps kids off the streets, teaches them responsibility and respect, and lets them earn money and learn the value of it. In most instances, the kids are probably better off with the jobs than they would be without them. Probably, there are ten kids waiting in line for every job. As long as the kids want the jobs, then it isn't slave labor and it isn't anybody else's business.

The strident pursuit of these two issues suggests to me either ignorance or a hidden agenda. If cheap prison labor is evil overseas, then it's evil here. If it's OK here, then it's OK overseas. Those who want to condemn it elsewhere should remove it here first. People who condemn child labor are probably the same people who wonder why some kids just hang around with nothing to do until they finally get into trouble. Those people advocate policies that deprive kids of jobs, create boredom, encourage delinquency, and then they use the results to justify a police state. Ultimately, they do far more harm to the kids than would be done by honest child labor.

Exclusion
Jeffrey Charles

The following is the transcript of a conversation between me (Jeffrey Charles), an unidentified female, and the male chaperon of the LDS Shelley Idaho Singles Dance¹ on Saturday, November 27, 1999.

I was wearing a pink heavy cotton short-sleeved polo shirt and a black wool ankle-length loose-fitting skirt with black high top basketball shoes.
Chaperon: You're inappropriately dressed.
Me: Inappropriately dressed.
Chaperon: You need to go put on some pants.
Me: What about all the other people who are dressed like me?
Chaperon: You're male.
Me: What about all the females who have pants on?
Chaperon: We allow that now.
Me: You mean you allow the women to wear whatever they want, but the males can't. You are a sexist church.
Unidentified Female: We're LDS. We have standards.
Me: Standards. Your dress is a lot higher than mine and you have yours unbuttoned and I do not.
Chaperon: We don't like your kind.
Me: My kind.
Chaperon: Yes, your long beard.
Me: Let me get this straight, you want me to change into some pants to look male, but you think I should take off my true maleness.
Chaperon: I saw you come in, you didn't pay, did you?
Me: I thought it was donation.
Chaperon: You haven't shampooed your hair today, have you?
Me: No, you better check everybody else.
Chaperon: I'm through with this. I'm calling the police.
The police came and took me out and told me that if I came back, I would be arrested and taken to jail.

Send feedback to Jeffrey in care of this newsletter.

— editor

Note that this event was open to the public.

January 2000
Page 2

Frontiersman, 479 E. 700 N., Firth, Idaho 83236
Also see The Pharos Connection at http://www.ida.net/users/pharos/

Frontiersman@ida.net

Letters to the Editor
Dear Sam --

It's not for me to defend the rhetoric of the US government. However they do say: we do good where we can, not where it's not realistic or practical. I doubt their sincerity as much as anyone. But I also say from my position of limited influence as a propagandizing outsider: I try to encourage actions that will be good both in the abstract AND in the outcome. You seem to be condemning the US government, not for it's evil deeds, but for refusing to Quixotically rush in where angels fear to tread, even when the outcome might be to the disadvantage of the very people whom the US says it would like to help. For you, apparently, the principle of defending people's lives is more important than those people's lives themselves. You have the right to be that idealistic with your own life, but not with the lives of others.

But in the case of Kosovo vs Chechnya, I myself don't refuse to support the Chechen rebels because Serbia is an easier target than Russia (which may be the US government's valid point). I refuse to support the Chechen rebels because they have shown themselves to be aggressive, expansionist gangsters, not simple peasants simply trying to defend themselves, like the entire Kosovo Muslim population.

It's okay for your privacy to be invaded, so long as you don't find out about it. That's a perfect argument for covert police state surveillance. The peeping Tom is, after all, exploiting your privacy for his selfish pleasure, while the shadow government at least has the noble goal of protecting your collective "freedom," e.g. your right to privacy, & your right to freedom from exploitation. The covert cheat who is never detected is not more noble than the honest highwayman.

Sincerely,

— Elliot; N. Merrick, New York

I haven't yet seen anything which suggests that the victims in Kosovo are more noble than the victims in Chechnya. Nevertheless, I'm not criticizing the U.S. government for failing to interfere in Chechnya. I don't want it to interfere in Chechnya. I'm criticizing it for interfering in Kosovo, when it shouldn't have, and for being hypocritical about its reasons. Neither Chechnya nor Kosovo is any business of either the US or NATO.

A woman wearing a short skirt in public doesn't have a right to privacy so far as the visibility of her derriere is concerned. She terminated any such right that she might have had when she voluntarily placed her derriere on public display. It's unworthy of you to liken that to my right to privacy in my personal affairs. If the nitwits want their fannies to be private, then they'll have to secure them from public view. They can easily do it with opaque clothes that shield them from observation. They don't need repressive legislation intended to regulate the behavior of men. If they really must wear short skirts in public, then I suggest the addition of undies with smiley faces.

— editor

Dear Sam

As usual, I enjoyed the Dec. issue of the Frontiersman — I will have a copy made & put up in the Law Library — too bad the lawyers & judges & legislature don't have pg 2 (The Fundamental Principles of Liberty) framed on their desks!! And every "politician" should be e-mailed your article on pg 1 — "The New Imperialism"!!! & then have a recall election. (Having them resign is something even "God" couldn't do!).

And, of course women (female C/O's) watch the guys take showers & the male C/O's watch the female prisoners & the Prison Legal News is full of cases of the guards & admin personnel pleading guilty to having sex (coerced or uncoerced?) with both male & female prisoners! Yet "they" get PROBATION!! or suspended sentences! So what is one more "prohibition"? When people wake up, the Muffshot [The War on Muffshots, page 3, December, 1999] will go the way of alcohol!

Anyway, it proves that there is a cosmos-sized difference between Americans & U.S. Slaves.

— Eric; Calipatria, California

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising them the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over a loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's great civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to complacency; From complacency to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.

— Alexander Fraser Tytler, Scottish economist

1776
Source: http://www.homosapiens.net/

Frontiersman@ida.net

Frontiersman, 479 E. 700 N., Firth, Idaho 83236
Also see The Pharos Connection at http://www.ida.net/users/pharos/

January 2000

Page 3

Frontiersman
479 E. 700 N.
Firth, Idaho 83236

This isn't the first year of the
new millennium. It's the last
year of the old millennium.
2001 will be the first year of
the new millennium. (See
Millennial Misinformation on
page 1 of the Frontiersman for
May 1999.)

Buck Hunter Shoots Off His Mouth
Dear Buck

Do you think Ross Perot should run for president again?

— Interested Voter

Dear Interested Voter

Well, I voted for Mickey Mouse once. I guess if a bird can talk and do tricks, I might vote for 'im.

Acknowledgments
• My thanks to Sir John the Generous http://www.jwebster.com/, and Sir Donald the Elusive for their contributions.
• My thanks to The Affiliate, http://www.the-grand-barn.com/, of Vankleek Hill, Ontario for regularly printing reviews of the Frontiersman.

— editor

US Air Force Communications Difficulties
Source Unknown — forwarded by Sir John the Generous
Here are some actual maintenance complaints logged by Air Force pilots and the replies from the maintenance crews.
•     Problem — Left inside main tire almost needs replacement. Resolution — Almost replaced left inside main tire.
•     Problem — Test flight OK, except auto land very rough. Resolution — Auto land not installed on this aircraft.
•     Problem — No 2 propeller seeping prop fluid. Resolution — No 2 propeller seepage normal No 1, No 3, and No 4 propellers lack normal seepage.
•     Problem — Something loose in cockpit. Resolution — Something tightened in cockpit.

Frontiersman

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Back Issues — Back issues or extra copies of this newsletter are available upon request.

Reprint Policy — Permission is hereby granted to reproduce this newsletter in its entirety or to reproduce material from it, provided that the reproduction is accurate and that proper credit is given. Please note that I do not have the authority to give permission to reprint material that I have reprinted from other publications. For that permission, you must go to the original source. I would appreciate receiving a courtesy copy of any document or publication in which you reprint my material.

Submissions — I solicit letters, articles, and cartoons for the newsletter, but I don't pay for them. Short items are more likely to be printed. I suggest that letters and articles be shorter than 500 words, but that's flexible depending on space available and the content of the piece. I give credit for all items printed unless the author specifies otherwise.

Payment — This newsletter isn't for sale. If you care to make a voluntary contribution, you may do so. The continued existence of the newsletter will depend, in part, on such contributions. I accept cash and U.S. postage stamps. I will accept checks or money orders only by prior arrangement. I don't accept anything that will smell bad by the time it arrives or anything that requires me to provide ID or a signature to receive it. In case anybody is curious, I also accept gold, silver, platinum, etc. I'm sure you get the idea.

— Sam Aurelius Milam III, editor

January 2000
Page 4

Frontiersman, 479 E. 700 N., Firth, Idaho 83236
Also see The Pharos Connection at http://www.ida.net/users/pharos/

Frontiersman@ida.net

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