Judging by the how-to books on incendiary devices, and slogans such as “My heroes have always killed cowboys”, destruction style tactics have not gone out of style. Followers of Che, Chomsky, and various “liberation fronts” are well represented here.

Gandhian anarcho-capitalists such as myself found few commonalities within this lot. Just the same, I dropped a handful of Free State Project flyers and stickers on the orphan propaganda table. Maybe one or two of them will eventually come around.

If you didn’t get your fix of revolutionary angst, there is more to be had tomorrow, from the BASTARDs in Berkeley. It runs from 10 am to 5 pm, at the UC Berkeley Dwinelle Hall.

As required by the proposition, the supervisors Wednesday approved a set of penalties for violating the law that include imposition of a $1,000 penalty and a jail term of between 90 days and six months.

This is assuming that it holds up in court, of course. Note that enforcement has been delayed once more, this time until June 19, while the Judge considers the arguments.

Update 11:30 PM: Exclusive! The Superior Court hearing to challenge Prop H was scheduled for Wednesday but has now been postponed by the Judge. The new court date is 2/23. Remember folks, you heard it here first.

Update 2/14 7:45 AM: I’ve been bumped from today’s show. :( Hopefully I’ll be rescheduled later.

Former Libertarian Party gubernatorial candidate Steve Kubby is literally fighting for his life against an overzealous political machine here in our very own Northern Cali.

You can get the whole story at the kubby.com website, but the bottom line is this: Steve needs the green to keep his cancer symptoms and growth in check. The government, in the words of one law enforcement officer, “has a real hard-on” for him. After being denied clemency by the Canadian Government, he returned to SFO last week to turn himself in to authorities, but Placer County officials nabbed him as soon as the plane landed. Since being incarcerated, he’s getting some relief from through an isolated THC drug called Marinol, but it isn’t as effective as the real plant.

This is wrong on so many levels, I don’t even know where to start. If you want to try to help save a cancer victim from the cold clutches of government, please, get involved. Show up at his court hearing on Friday. Tell the bureacrats you disapprove of using our tax money for harassment of peaceful citizens.

UPDATE 2/3: DO NOT CALL THE JAIL. Conditions there have improved dramatically. His treatment there is no longer life threatening. Thanks to those who called – it worked!

The latest from KUBBY.COM:

Friday the 3rd will be the preliminary hearing to set the date for the trial which is estimated to be around February 15th. Bill McPike, Steve’s attorney, met with the DA in hopes to be able to work with Placer County Probation Department ot reinstate Steve’s probation.

Although Steve is thin and mal-nutritioned, he was pleased to see all of his friends and family in the courtroom, today. A little bit of good news is that he is now being given some Marinol but not the full dose amount he should be getting; 3 instead of 6 and he is has yet to be seen by a doctor.

Michele and the girls set out to cross the border and transport their belongings to the states. There is a little light at the end of the tunnel where Canada is concerned, but more on that at a later time. She and the girls made it across the border without any troubles of any kind, thankfully.

Unfortunately, Steve will be incarcerated the entire time.

Local boy, Sun co-founder, and staunch civil libertarian John Gilmore was there trying to stop the police state now in affect at the airports. Tim Cavanaugh shares his impression of how it went. Be warned that it isn’t particularly cheery.

Someone with understanding of our legal system once remarked “You may be right, but you’re not necessarily the right one [to challenge the law.]” The first to challenge a law sets the precedent. If it isn’t done right the first time, then we’re usually stuck with the much more arduous legislative route to change. Not a promising situation, since that branch is from whence the evil originated.

It ain’t over ’til it’s over. Stay tuned.

Fremont PD, having already cleared the streets of every rapist, murderer, and thief, has an excess of manpower. They have so much free time, that they actually have to lure non-violent alleged law breakers to their little utopia. Thank you, Fremont taxpayers, for spending your money on saving the greater bay area from the horrors of consensual sex for money.

Read on for a first person account of the incident. I have made only slight edits to protect the innocent pending retention of counsel.

I am writing to you from the Fremont City Jail, where I have been
since last night when I was arrested — I believe on a prostitution
charge, although I was never actually told the cause of my arrest or
what I was being charged with.

The arrest took place around [time] at [local motel]. I am an escort based in San Francisco.
During the time I have practiced this profession, I have never come to
Fremont to see a client in my memory, and I would not have been here
last night if I had not been solicited to come by a police sting
operation.

Yesterday morning I was contacted by a policewoman posing as a client,
who told me that she and her girlfriend wanted to see me that night. She said she was attracted to
what I said in my ad. Shortly after I arrived
and was welcomed into their room at the [motel name], six men burst
into the room. One of them had a big police dog, and another had a
video camera. The two female officers, who had been drinking beer when
they invited me in, immediately got up and left. The intruders
identified themselves as Fremont police. A couple of them started
searching me and going through my things, while another asked me
questions, including whether various things belonged to me, all before
I was arrested or read my rights.

Meanwhile the guy with the video camera was pointing it in my face.
When I asked him who he was filming for, he said KRON TV Channel 4. [BA iStalking, are you listening?] I
told him I didn’t want to be vilified, and asked him to take one of my
business cards and contact me later to get my side of the story. But he
refused, saying “I’m here working with these guys,” or words to that
effect.

Is this kind of refusal to even attempt to report the news in a fair
and balanced manner appropriate conduct by a member of the mainstream
media? I have often seen TV footage of people being arrested and
portrayed as unsympathetic criminals, and wondered, “Why do we never
see these men and women telling their side of what happened?” Now I
know the answer may well be, “Because they are not given the
opportunity to do so.”

But there is something here that people, especially Fremont taxpayers,
should be even more concerned about, and that is misplaced priorities
and waste of law enforcement resources. How many hours of police time
went into finding and selecting my online post, contacting me,
exchanging telephone messages, having seven police officers waiting
around at the hotel for me to show up, taking me to jail and booking me?

Is there so little actual crime being committed by people already in
Fremont — rapes, murders, robberies, and the like — that the Fremont
Police have to resort to luring and entrapping people from out of town
for allegedly planning to participate in peaceful transactions among
consenting adults, in order to justify their salaries and funding?

Sincerely,

[I am withholding the name for the time being -MS]

Fortunately, he did not suffer any permanent scarring during his short stay. I’ll save a couple of choice jailhouse vignettes for another entry/update.

To celebrate my having achieved further advancement through the aging process, my sweetie surprised me with a night on the town. After devouring a most delicious piece of medium-rare bovine flesh at Acme, we began an evening stroll. It took roughly a second after I saw the big hersheys kisses of merchandising in the parking lot of Candlestick Park, to realize what we were in for. She must have cashed out our retirement fund and bought tickets to the newest Cirque du Soleil show! I didn’t even know they were in town!

CdS shows are always based on a story. That story is usually about a francophone dreaming about a troupe of acrobats, and Corteo is no exception. One could say that when you’ve seen one of them, you have a pretty good idea of them all. I won’t say that, because their performances never cease to amaze me. I find myself looking all over the place, trying to catch all of the myriad of simultaneous action. It isn’t just the often manic main floor that I watch. The musicians, though under dim lighting at the edges of the stage, are always amazing. And then there are the ceiling and sides where props and performers enter and later vanish. The coordination of the show is nearly as impressive as the acrobatic feats.

“What was your favorite part so far?” she asked during the break. “The one with all the bouncing and flying and spinning in the air”, I replied. I’m notorious for avoiding straight answers, but in this case, it was adequate. Every one of the acts is incredible.

Cirque du Soleil is doing their west coast leg in San Francisco through the end of the year , and then (oddly) one hour south in San Jose for some weeks. Sorry, Socalites and Northwesterners!

As I’ve said before, I’m strongly opposed to the idea. I like having choices. I’m very happy with my small, geek-friendly ISP, while others may prefer raw download speeds and still others are happy with cheap dialup access. Monopolies, by definition, eliminate choice.

PRI’s paper raises other concerns such as the availability of content blocking for children. I find that one a bit dubious on the surface, since most parents employ such tech at the host (individual computer) level. However, it is entirely possible that the city could buckle to public pressure and block access to content that some find objectionable throughout the network. Or they may employ a new layer of bureaucracy by segregating access – and managing permissions for every user in the city would be an absolute nightmare. Or we may simply find ourselves losing our first amendment rights, since we no longer have the second amendment here to back up the rest.

If you prefer to make your own choices about Internet access click through and let City Hall know that they’re making another big mistake.

I was surprised, walking along Geary on the way to work this morning, to
observe two DPW workers, in orange vests, going along with a long pole
taking down all Calvin Louie for Treasurer signs, and leaving those of
his competitors. I asked them why they were doing that; they said they
were just doing what they were told, that they had asked the same
question without getting an answer, and that if I wanted an answer I
could call 695-2727 (which looks as though it could be a DPW number,
though I didn’t find it listed). I just called the Louie headquarters;
the woman I spoke with was unaware the signs were being taken down,
right in front of the campaign office.

Who would stoop that low?

Update: This story has now been covered by both the Chron and the Sentinel.