From: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com (roc-digest) To: roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: roc-digest V2 #352 Reply-To: roc-digest Sender: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk roc-digest Wednesday, June 7 2000 Volume 02 : Number 352 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 5 Jun 00 14:18:33 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: ALERT - American Policy Center (APC) News (fwd) On Jun 5, RichSlick@aol.com wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] << Sender: LadyLiberty@Visto.Com<= /A> Please post to everyone's list. *****APC NEWSWIRE***** http://www.americanpolicy.org/ June 2, 2000 Volume 3, Issue 9 A Publication of the American Policy Center Tom DeWeese, President Peyton Knight, Editor 13873 Park Center Road Herndon, VA 20171 703-925-0881 FAX: 703-925-0991 apc@americanpolicy.org ***Fight Against National ID Being Heard in Congress Texas Representative Ron Paul's bill to prohibit the use of the Social Security number as an all-purpose identifier is beginning to move forward in the House. Ways and Means subcommittee chairman Clay Shaw held hearings May 18th on Paul's Freedom and Privacy Restoration Act (H.R. 220). The bill forbids federal or state governments from using the Social Security number for purposes not directly related to administering the Social Security system. The bill now has 35 co-sponsors. As Rep. Paul explained to the committee, Government agents have committed most of the major invasions of privacy, from the abuse of the IRS files to the abuse of the FBI by administrations of both parties. This legislation is designed to stop the use of the Social Security number as a national ID number. Rep. Paul pointed out that the Social Security number has been transformed from an administrative device used to administer the Social Security program into a de facto national ID number. Most people cannot get a job, get married, or open a bank account without a Social Security number. The Clinton Administration has made numerous moves to use the Social Security number to keep tabs on the nation's workforce, combine data banks on school children, record travel habits, create data banks on medical care, organize gun registration and control the flow in bank accounts. Representative Paul is working to put a stop to this invasion of personal privacy in our modern society. To move the bill to the House floor for a vote, Rep. Paul must have more co-sponsors. Your calls, letters and emails are needed! ***ACTION TO TAKE*** 1. Call your Congressman and ask him to co-sponsor and support H.R. 220, The Freedom and Privacy Restoration Act. Capitol Hill House Switchboard: 202-225-3121 2. Tell your Congressman to continue to oppose H.R. 3429 (Congressman Bill Barrett's Legal Employment Act), which authorizes federal databases to share information using the Social Security number. 3. Also, tell your Congressman to continue to oppose Rep. Bill McCollum's H.R.191, which would change the nature of the Social Security card, opening the way for it to become a national ID card. ***Property Rights Battle Rages As Rep. Young/CARA Take Hit Encouraging news for property rights advocates! Rep. Don Young's property-snatching bill, The Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA), has been overwhelmingly rejected by his own states Republican Party. Recently, The Republican Party of Alaska adopted a resolution opposing S. 25 (CARA) at its state convention. The resolution demands that the land-grabbing bill be amended to reflect principles of individual liberty and the freedom to own property. S. 25, in essence, would create a massive billion-dollar annual trust fund for the Federal government to use for land acquisition. Although CARA passed in the House, there was a strong core of opposition to it. Now, our inside sources tell us that there is a good chance that CARA will die a rightful death in the Senate. But your Senator needs to know how strongly you oppose this destructive piece of legislation! ***ACTION TO TAKE*** 1. Call both of your Senators and let them know you're adamantly opposed to S. 25! Capitol Hill Senate Switchboard (202) 224-3121. 2. Call Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Sen. Frank Murkowski (202-224-6665) and voice your opposition to CARA. ***Much Needed Privacy Amendments Coming Up for Vote Two extremely important privacy amendments to S. 2107, The Competitive Market Supervision Act, have been introduced by Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL). This bill will be voted on in the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on June 5th, so the time to act is now! The first provision is the Medical Privacy Amendment. It would require your bank or financial institution to obtain your consent prior to requesting health information about you from third parties. Most banks seek this sensitive medical information in order to comply with "know your customer" regulations and help them decide which financial plans they will or will not offer their clients. The second is the Freedom from Behavioral Profiling Amendment. This would stop banks and financial institutions from building your behavioral, psychological profile based on your most private spending habits without your consent. As you can see, these amendments are vital to protecting YOUR right to privacy as a financial customer! ***ACTION TO TAKE*** The Senators listed below are members of the Senate Banking Committee. Call and tell them to vote YES on Shelby's amendments. Capitol Hill Senate Switchboard (202)224-3121. Sen. Phil Gramm (R-TX); Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT) Sen. Connie Mack (R-FL); Sen. Rod Grams (R-MN) Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY) Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) Sen. Richard Bryan (D-NV) Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- RKBA! ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** RKBA! - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- Constitutional Government is dead, LONG LIVE THE CONSTITUTION!!!!! - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Jun 00 14:19:47 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: Davidians sentences set aside (fwd) On Jun 5, Bruce Chesley wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bruce Chesley Truth is a terrible cross to bear. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.". Thomas Paine Treason for $$$: ccrkba, jpfo, leaa, nra, saf. Davidians' Sentences Set Aside By RICHARD CARELLI .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court today set aside the lengthy prison sentences given to five Branch Davidians who survived a 1993 siege at the sect's Waco, Texas, compound. The court ruled that a federal judge misused an anti-gun law to increase their punishment. The unanimous decision makes it harder for courts to find lawbreakers deserve extra time behind bars because they used or carried machine guns during their crimes. A federal law subjects anyone who used or carried a ``firearm'' during a violent or drug-related crime to five years in prison. The term jumps to 30 years for anyone who used or carried a ``machine gun'' during that same crime. Federal appeals courts had split on whether determining use of a machine gun is an element of the offense a jury must find beyond a reasonable doubt, or merely a sentencing factor a judge gets to determine by a preponderance of the evidence. The nation's highest court said use of a firearm must be determined by the jury. ``We believe Congress intended the firearm type-related words it used ... to refer to an element of a separate, aggravated crime,'' Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote for the court. Five Davidians were convicted in 1994 in the killings of four federal agents during a botched Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms raid on the compound outside Waco. The raid led to a 51-day standoff that ended when flames swept through the compound. David Koresh and some 80 followers died during the inferno, some from the fire and others from gunshot wounds. A federal jury acquitted the five Davidians of murder and conspiracy-to-murder charges but convicted them of voluntary manslaughter. Each was sentenced to 10 years in prison for that conviction. The jury also found them guilty of using firearms. The presiding judge tacked on 30-year sentences for four of them and a 10-year sentence for the fifth after finding that each had used a machine gun. Renos Avraam, Brad Eugene Branch, Jaime Castillo and Kevin Whitecliff drew the 30-year sentences; Graeme Craddock the 10-year term. Craddock also was sentenced to a consecutive 10 years for using a hand grenade. The jury never had been asked to determine what types of firearms the five had used. The judge made that determination during sentencing. In appealing their sentences, the Davidians relied heavily on a decision in which the justices last year said carjackers cannot be given tougher sentences unless a jury, not a judge, determines that victims were seriously injured during that federal crime. The case presumably will return to a federal trial court where new sentencing hearings will be conducted. Today's decision did not suggest appropriate new sentences. The case is Castillo vs. U.S., 99-658. On the Net: For the decision: http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/ Click on ``this month's decisions'' or http://www.supremecourtus.gov [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- RKBA! ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** RKBA! - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- Constitutional Government is dead, LONG LIVE THE CONSTITUTION!!!!! - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 10:12:06 -0500 (CDT) From: Paul M Watson Subject: Supremes Rule for Davidians...New Waco Video! Rebuilding the Church (fwd) - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2000 22:19:47 -0400 From: Carol Moore To: -Waco List from Subject: Supremes Rule for Davidians...New Waco Video! Rebuilding the Chur= ch This means Smith will have to cut 25 years off 4 Davidian's sentences and 5 years off one's sentences. If he has any mind or heart he COULD reduce the 5 year sentences for the gun charge to time served and we should consider a polite write-in campaign for him to do just that. Preferably one with high profile attorneys, religious leaders, etc heading it. (You know who you are :-) Livingstone Fagan, who did not appeal, still can file a habeus corpus appeal when his fifteen year sentence is completed. Carol Moore in D.C. http://www.kreative.net/carolmoore/davidian-massacre.html > ------------------------ > Davidians' Sentences Set Aside > > By RICHARD CARELLI > =A9 The Associated Press > > WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court today set aside the lengthy prison sentences given to five Branch Davidians who survived a 1993 siege at the sect's Waco, Texas, compound. The court ruled that a federal judge misused an anti-gun law to increase their punishment. > > The unanimous decision makes it harder for courts to find lawbreakers deserve extra time behind bars because they used or carried machine guns during their crimes. > > A federal law subjects anyone who used or carried a "firearm" during a violent or drug-related crime to five years in prison. The term jumps to 30 years for anyone who used or carried a "machine gun" during that same crime. > > Federal appeals courts had split on whether determining use of a machine gun is an element of the offense a jury must find beyond a reasonable doubt, or merely a sentencing factor a judge gets to determine by a preponderance of the evidence. > > The nation's highest court said use of a firearm must be determined by the jury. > > "We believe Congress intended the firearm type-related words it used =2E.. to refer to an element of a separate, aggravated crime," Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote for the court. > > Five Davidians were convicted in 1994 in the killings of four federal agents during a botched Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms raid on the compound outside Waco. > > The raid led to a 51-day standoff that ended when flames swept through the compound. David Koresh and some 80 followers died during the inferno, some from the fire and others from gunshot wounds. > > A federal jury acquitted the five Davidians of murder and > conspiracy-to-murder charges but convicted them of voluntary manslaughter. Each was sentenced to 10 years in prison for that conviction. The jury also found them guilty of using firearms. > > The presiding judge tacked on 30-year sentences for four of them and a 10-year sentence for the fifth after finding that each had used a machine gun. > > Renos Avraam, Brad Eugene Branch, Jaime Castillo and Kevin Whitecliff drew the 30-year sentences; Graeme Craddock the 10-year term. Craddock also was sentenced to a consecutive 10 years for using a hand grenade. > > The jury never had been asked to determine what types of firearms the five had used. The judge made that determination during sentencing. > > In appealing their sentences, the Davidians relied heavily on a decision in which the justices last year said carjackers cannot be given tougher sentences unless a jury, not a judge, determines that victims were seriously injured during that federal crime. > > The case presumably will return to a federal trial court where new sentencing hearings will be conducted. Today's decision did not suggest appropriate new sentences. > > The case is Castillo vs. U.S., 99-658. > > On the Net: For the decision: > > http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/ Click on "this month's decisions" or http://www.supremecourtus.gov > ++++ I got a copy of the video below and it's defintely got some good stuff on it. Committed volunteers produced the video and will get the money to the Davidians. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D God Bless The New Mt. Carmel Church! Collectors Edition 2000! Never before seen video footage of Mt. Carmel! Interviews from survivors and volunteers who helped rebuild Mt. Carmel! Take a tour of the beautiful property and see the church rise before your eyes. Hear for yourself what Robert Rodriguez had to say when he showed up at the April 19, 2000 memorial. Your $20 contribution will go towards the septic and air conditioning systems still needed. Your contribution will also go towards building housing for the elderly ladies who were left homeless after the slaughter. These beautiful ladies have been living at the Salvation Army in a communal apartment for many years and wish to finally come home! Please share this amazing video with friends, family, community leaders, patriot groups and others! PLEASE, send your donation in today and receive this awesome video. RebuildTheChurch.Com PO Box 19061 Austin, TX 78760 www.rebuildthechurch.com - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Jun 00 00:46:24 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: Notice: Peter Weissbach Radio show Today, between 3-6 PM PST, on 570 AM KVI Radio, one of the topics on the Weissbach show, will be how CPS, (Child Protective Services), is repsonsible for more child fatalities than guns. I think there's an 800 number, but I don't know it. The number in the Seattle area is 206-421-5757. This program _might_ be on the net, but I'm not sure about that, _some_ KVI shows are. You should be able to check it out through: www.570KVI.com - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- RKBA! ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** RKBA! - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- Constitutional Government is dead, LONG LIVE THE CONSTITUTION!!!!! - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 08:48:06 -0500 (CDT) From: Paul M Watson Subject: [PROVE] Fw: Vaccine Article in Offspring Magazine (fwd) - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 22:30:08 -0500 From: Dawn Richardson To: "Undisclosed-Recipient:"@lion.esosoft.net Subject: [PROVE] Fw: Vaccine Article in Offspring Magazine The June/July Issue is on the newstands now. The article is decent. Offspring is a new parenting publication owned by Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal. I was quoted in the article referenced below too. Unfortunately they did not put the whole article online. I've pasted the portion the did put online for you to see below. Dawn - ----- Original Message ----- From: Kathi Williams Subject: Vaccine Article http://www.offspringmag.com/highlights/excerpts.cfm?story=shots Offspring Magazine This is an incredible article on the vaccine safety movement. They only have part of it on the website. Everyone should buy this magazine for the full article. Kathi Williams National Vaccine Information Center - ---------- Who's Calling the Shots? By Walecia Konrad with Emily Harrison Ginsburg When Brenda Anderson, a mother in Northern Cambria, Pennsylvania, took her daughter Brittany to the doctor at four months, she'd already fallen behind in her immunizations. So the pediatrician's nurse suggested a quick fix: They'd give the baby girl both doses of her DTP shot (for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis), which are routinely administered at two-month intervals. Anderson balked. "Isn't there a reason they space them apart?" she asked. When Anderson offered instead to bring her daughter back one month later, the nurse called the doctor in. Despite her protests, the pediatrician gave her daughter the second shot anyway. Anderson stormed out of the office, vowing to find another doctor. When she didn't come back for her next scheduled visit two months later, she got a call from the pediatrician's office. An apology? Hardly. The staffer warned Anderson that she'd be reported to child services for neglect if she didn't get her daughter vaccinated properly. "The doctor is the one who should have been reported," fumes Anderson. "She didn't want to deal with anyone who asked any questions." Threats? Harassment? Over childhood immunizations? There was a time-not so long ago, either-when vaccinations were a simple, routine part of child care, as nonconfrontational as diaper changes. And there's no denying that vaccines have been one of the major medical triumphs of the last forty years: Smallpox has been eradicated, and both polio and diphtheria have been all but wiped out in the Western Hemisphere. It's estimated that before 1963 there were as many as 4 million cases of the measles and 500 deaths from that disease annually in the U.S.; in 1999 there were just 86 occurrences. The Hib vaccine has helped stem the number of cases of Haemophilus influenzae type b-once the leading cause of childhood bacterial meningitis and postnatal mental retardation-from 20,000 a year in the early '80s to 54 in 1998. But vaccines have become the subject of a fierce debate between a growing cadre of anti-vaccine activists and the medical establishment. The activists claim that vaccines can, in fact, hurt children-causing brain damage, autism, even death-and they want to allow parents to opt out of the mandatory immunization schedule and to improve the safety of the shots children get. "Parents have a right to informed consent-to get all the information and then make a decision," says Dawn Richardson, founder of Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education (PROVE). Doctors and public health officials, by and large, have reacted with patronizing dismissal, characterizing advocates as a fringe element-"misguided folks" peddling "misguided information," as one doctor says. Then last summer there was a flurry of news that brought attention to the anti-vaccine case: Safer versions of two core vaccines-DTP and polio-were put on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's schedule, a move that backhandedly acknowledged the activists' claims. After that came the rotavirus debacle, in which the new vaccine, supposed to guard against a severe form of childhood diarrhea, was found to cause life-threatening bowel obstructions in infants. Just nine months after introducing the vaccine, the Federal Drug Administration recommended that it be pulled. As rotavirus made headlines, more and more parents began wondering what was going on. If the doctors had made a mistake this time, maybe they didn't really know that much after all. Maybe we should all be worrying about immunizations. Suddenly, the vaccine safety movement had gone mainstream. Where does that leave you? Most likely in your pediatrician's waiting room, wondering how seriously you should take the anti-vaccine claims and whether your doctor is (a) really up on this debate and (b) telling you all you need to know about the side effects of the twenty-four shots of vaccine your child will likely get over the next four years. The vaccine whirlwind starts literally at birth, when many hospitals inoculate infants against hep-atitis B, an incurable disease that causes severe liver damage, but one that is usually transmitted sexually. By your baby's two-month checkup, he's due for an onslaught of shots: a second dose of hep B and the first shots for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis; polio; and Hib. Just watching the needles piercing your infant's thigh is painful. Whatever happened to the polio vaccine we drank from a cup as kids? That's the one the CDC took off its vaccination list last year, after vaccine safety advocates spent years publicizing what the government already knew: The tiny number of polio cases occurring annually in the U.S. were actually caused by the oral vaccine, which contained the live virus. By the time of your child's four-month well-baby checkup, you're full of questions. Your son ran a slight fever after his last shots-a common minor reaction. But do you need to worry? Like many parents, you turn to the Internet for reassurance. Your search only raises your anxiety. At the National Vaccine Information Center's Web site (www.909shot.com), for example, you read about a Swedish study of 215,000 children who received the DTP shot. One in 17,000 either died from a reaction or ended up with permanent brain damage. The CDC site (www.cdc.gov/nip) says, "The risks of serious disease from not vaccinating are far greater than the risks of serious reaction to the vaccination," but how are you to judge the real danger to your child? It doesn't help that all your Web surfing has landed your name on a couple of e-mail lists. Your inbox is full of dire messages with scary subject lines like "The Damning Evidence That the Medical Establishment Has Chosen to Ignore." One, headlined "Dirty Vaccines," implies that vaccines made with bovine material might be carrying mad cow disease. Every doctor visit is starting to feel like a game of Russian roulette. Meanwhile, your son, now one year old, is due for his first measles-mumps-rubella shot, and frankly, you're terrified. This is the vaccine that some activists claim is linked to the skyrocketing incidence of autism in the U.S. and Britain. Scientists dispute that there's any such connection, but what if . . . ? FOR THE COMPLETE STORY, PICK UP THE JUNE/JULY ISSUE OF OFFSPRING AVAILABLE ON NEWSSTANDS TODAY - --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dawn Richardson PROVE(Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education) P.O. Box 1071 Cedar Park, TX 78630-1071 (512) 918-8760 prove@vaccineinfo.net (email) http://vaccineinfo.net (web site) - --------------------------------------------------------------------------- PROVE provides information on vaccines, and immunization policies and practices that affect the children and adults of Texas. Our mission is to prevent vaccine injury and death and to promote and protect the right of every person to make informed independent vaccination decisions for themselves and their family. - --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe to PROVE Email Updates: http://www.vaccineinfo.net/subscribe.htm - --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This information is not to be construed as medical OR legal advice. - ----- Original Message ----- From: Kathi Williams To: Aidan and Shelley Reynolds Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2000 11:50 AM Subject: Vaccine articles http://www.offspringmag.com/highlights/excerpts.cfm?story=shots This is an article from Offspring Magazine. The magazine is available on news stands and contains much more material including a profile on Barbara. http://www.fedbuzz.com/vaccine/articles/mother.html This is a new website that has the VAERS database online. This is an article about NVIC and my contribution. Kathi Williams National Vaccine Information Center - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Jun 00 14:00:43 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: YES- I knew it, I knew it, ...... I just knew it..... (fwd) Allright ladies, no more of that Feminist visual assault trash, it's a health matter! On Jun 7, Bruce Chesley wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] Works for me;-))))) Bruce Chesley Truth is a terrible cross to bear. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.". Thomas Paine Treason for $$$: ccrkba, jpfo, leaa, nra, saf. - --------- Begin forwarded message ---------- From: bobworn@aol.com Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 22:52:05 EDT Finially an exercise men will do without hesitation and as regularly as possible. I'm gonna live to 150. This news is almost as good as Red Wine lowering cholesterol. From the New England Journal of Medicine: Great news for girl watchers (Cardiff & Co) Ogling over women's breasts is good for a man's health and can add years to his life, medical experts have discovered. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, "Just 10 minutes of staring at the charms of a well-endowed female is roughly equivalent to a 30-minute aerobics work-out," declared gerontologist Dr. Karen Weatherby. Dr. Weatherby and fellow researchers at three hospitals in Frankfurt, Germany, reached the startling conclusion after comparing the health of 200 male outpatients - half of whom were instructed to look at busty females daily, the other half told to refrain from doing so. The study revealed that after five years, the chest-watchers had lower blood pressure, slower resting pulse rates and fewer instances of coronary artery disease. "Sexual excitement gets the heart pumping and improves blood circulation," explains Dr. Weatherby. "There is no question: Gazing at breasts makes men healthier." "Our study indicates that engaging in this activity a few minutes daily cuts the risk of stroke and heart attack in half. We believe that by doing so consistently, the average man can extend his life four to five years." [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- RKBA! ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** RKBA! - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- Constitutional Government is dead, LONG LIVE THE CONSTITUTION!!!!! - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Jun 00 13:57:45 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: Libraries don't censor, do they?... (fwd) The war on another front..... On Jun 7, House, David Alan wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] ...or, ALA and libraries have identity crisis. "The message of Banned Books Week is more than the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular. The essential message of Banned Books Week is the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them." We've heard plenty lately about the ALA and attendant lackeys who have decided entirely out of hand, (re: recent C-Span face off), that libraries cannot be required to restrict access to pornographic and weapon instruction web sites, since that might represent a loss of freedom of speech, regardless of the age of the viewer. Well here is at least one example that one library does indeed qualify their exercise of 'freedom of speech'. I would be interested in learning just how widespread such an attitude is. Please, for my benefit only if for no other reason, call your local library and ask them if they have this book or would consider adding it if offered as a gift. I will be doing the same as soon as my local library opens its doors today. Private responses on this will be highly appreciated! If you want an eye-opener, try reading from the following link; http://www.ala.org/bbooks/challeng.html Two brief quotes; "Books usually are challenged with the best intentions-to protect others, frequently children, from difficult ideas and information." ... "Throughout history, more and different kinds of people and groups of all persuasions than you might first suppose, who, for all sorts of reasons, have attempted-and continue to attempt-to suppress anything that conflicts with or anyone who disagrees with their own beliefs." The Library Association itself, according to the article, is materially involved in this issue, is guilty of violating its own preferences, and must in all honesty add itself as a censor. Both the ALA and the library, noted in the article below, is guilty of, in the definition of the ALA, a 'challenge' to the book by Grant. i.e.; "A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others. The positive message of Banned Books Week: Free People Read Freely is that due to the commitment of librarians, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens, most challenges are unsuccessful and most materials are retained in the school curriculum or library collection. " If you would like to file an ALA provided 'Challenge Database Form' in order to report the intent to restrict and remove this material, use the following web site. If you need it sent to you, contact me. It is also available in Adobe Acrobat '.pdf' format at the web site. http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/chall.html "To report a challenge, please print the Challenge Database Form, complete it, and fax it to Beverley Becker, associate director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom, at 312-280-4227. For assistance with actual and possible challenges to books, Internet access, magazines, and other library materials, you also may contact Beverley Becker at 800-545-2433, ext. 4221, or bbecker@ala.org" Pursuing this action, particularly in a massive manner, cannot help but bring this to the attention of the decision makers, as they will have to consider it as a candidate for the 'banned books' list. "Whatever the censor's motives, attempts to suppress certain library materials may also stem from a confused understanding of the role of the library and of the rights of other library users. The censor's concern about library materials is based upon a view of the library as an important social institution. But the censor may fail to see that the library fulfills its obligations to the community it serves by providing materials presenting all points of view and that it is not the function of the library to screen materials according to arbitrary standards of acceptability. Would-be censors may think that it is the role of the library to support certain values or causes-which are, of course, their values and their causes." It seems to me that the ALA and supportive libraries are suffering 'from a confused understanding of the role of the library and of the rights of other library users'. In this case, the libraries are the ones who are the 'would-be censors' referred to. In my opinion, they are long overdue for a revamp of their mission statement and what might constitute a reasonable access to information which can be, and is commonly, misused by those of insufficient emotional maturity. This of course opens another huge can of worms, but our society needs desperately to put this topic into the public debate. David housed@indiana.edu Source: WorldNet Daily; June 6, 2000 Toledo Library Censors Pro-Life Book on Planned Parenthood Toledo, OH -- A Toledo, Ohio, family is looking for answers after officials at the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library rejected their pro-life book donation for being "too political." Dean and Melanie Witt, regular library patrons, submitted the book in question, "Killer Angel," George Grant's critical biography of Planned Parenthood's founder, Margaret Sanger, after they discovered that none of the nearly two dozen books on Sanger held by the library mentioned her racist views or her association with high-ranking Nazi eugenics officials. Melanie Witt said that she had donated the books (two copies) to help promote an academic balance to the library's weighted collection on the topic. "We purchased the books ourselves and didn't ask them to remove anything from the library. We just thought that they at least ought to be providing another perspective," she said. Officials at the library initially accepted Grant's biography, but central office staff intervened and rejected the book donation. Anthony Schafer, manager of the library's history, travel and biography travel section, said in a letter to the Witts that "the author's political and social agenda, which is strongly espoused throughout the book, is not appropriate." The Witts have sent several letters to library officials asking for clarification of the library's selection criteria, but have yet to receive a response. Call to Clyde Scoles, director of the Toledo library, for comment on this story were not returned. George Grant, who has co-authored books with pro-life Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and presidential candidate Alan Keyes and has more than 70 books in publication, rejects the notion that the Sanger biography is too political. "I find it odd that when it comes down to my research or other biographies that fawn over Sanger and neglect her racist ideology, I'm the one painted as driving a political agenda," he said. The American Library Association, which ironically co-sponsors the annual "Banned Books Week" in defense of prohibited literature, has stepped into the debate -- throwing its support behind the library's decision to ban Grant's book. Judith Krug, director of the ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom, said libraries should be able to deny book gifts and librarians given wide discretion in determining what materials are included in the library's collection. When asked whether that view conflicted with the ALA's stand against book banning, Krug replied that the organization's policy only applies to books that have passed librarian muster. When told of the ALA's stand on the controversy, Grant responded, "Their position is simply Orwellian. In the name of intellectual freedom, they man the barricades anytime someone suggests the removal of child pornography from a library, but if anything conflicts with their political agenda, then censorship imposed by the library hierarchy is completely acceptable. They're encouraging libraries to set up their own Politburo to test books for political correctness." The Toledo library may be violating its own policies in rejecting Grant's book. The library's material selection statement (adopted in 1972) states, "the Library collection shall include representative materials of all races and nationalities, and all political, religious, economic and social views." While Grant said that his work is permissible under that criterion, he isn't surprised at the Toledo library's reaction to his book. "Any discussion regarding her racist intentions in founding Planned Parenthood have to be quickly put down," Grant indicated. Grant's book states that prior to World War II, Sanger was fairly outspoken about her views on other races. The book cites a 1939 proposal for Sanger's "Negro Project," a plan developed at the behest of public health officials in southern states, where she writes, "the most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population and the Minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members." The book also documents her plans to set up birth-control clinics in poor New York City neighborhoods to target "Blacks, Hispanics, Slavs, Amerinds, Fundamentalists, Jews and Catholics." Also noted in the book is Sanger's close association with Ernst Rudin, who served as Hitler's director of genetic sterilization. An April 1933 article by Rudin, entitled "Eugenic Sterilization: An Urgent Need," for Sanger's monthly magazine, "The Birth Control Review," detailed the establishment of the Nazi Society for Racial Hygiene and advocated its replication in the United States. A subsequent article by Leon Whitney published the following June by Sanger, entitled "Selective Sterilization," praises and defends the Third Reich's pre-holocaust "race purification" program. After the war had concluded and Nazi atrocities came to light, Sanger quickly changed the name of her organization from the Birth Control League to Planned Parenthood -- to distance herself from her earlier Nazi associations. Grant says that he doesn't expect his book will be the last to be censored by librarians motivated by political agendas. "We can expect more of this behavior," he said. "Their views are becoming so unpopular that they are having to turn to outright totalitarian tactics and coercive taxpayer funding to plug the holes in the ship to keep their agenda afloat." In an odd twist, another of Grant's books, "Grand Illusions: The Legacy of Planned Parenthood," now in its fourth edition, is the single best-selling book, either pro or con, on the organization. Melanie Witt's fight with the library has left her distrustful of the library's objectivity. "We are forced to pay for this library through our property and sales taxes," she said. "It is unconscionable that taxpayers have to foot the bill for them to exercise their brand of censorship. It's a breach of the public trust." ACTION: Send your objections to the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, 325 Michigan Street, Toledo, OH 43624; Phone (419) 259-5381; Fax: (419) 474-1387 PURCHASE GRANT'S BOOK: You can purchase Grand Illusions: The Legacy of Planned Parenthood at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1888306521/roevwade26yearof/103-02105 85-6683819 [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- RKBA! ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** RKBA! - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- Constitutional Government is dead, LONG LIVE THE CONSTITUTION!!!!! - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - ------------------------------ End of roc-digest V2 #352 *************************