The Free Journal/ASCII Edition Volume II, Issue 4 Copyright 1992 The Free Journal (Individual articles copyright by author) Editor-in-Chief: Sameer Parekh (zane@ddsw1.mcs.com) This is the Free Journal. Submissions are welcome. Some characters have the high bit set. Distribute at will; cite authors. (Or editors if no author is given.) This is not meant to be an electronic newsletter. This is meant to be an example of on-paper underground newspapers to educate the masses about freedom and similar issues. _______________________________________________________________________________ -- The Bill of Rights 1990 Edition -- As they say, the Constitution is a living, breathing document, which changes with time. Let's see how the government interprets our Bill of Rights today. Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion unless the majority is a part of that religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, unless that would include an action which society considers immoral; or abridging the freedom of speech, unless enough money does not exist to pay for lawyers; or of the press, unless the opinion expressed is contrary to that of the government, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, unless they don't have enough money to pay for a permit, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances and be put on a list of subversive people. Amendment II A well-regulated militia, being dangerous to those in power, the right of the people, unless they lack enough money and political influence, to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Amendment III No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, taken by any means, nor in time of war, but in a manner prescribed by law. Amendment IV The right of the people, unless a minority, disliked by the police, too poor to pay for lawyers, or lacking friends in high places, to be secure in their persons, houses, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, but upon the suspicion of a police officer or the word of an anonymous or paid informant, and vaguely describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Amendment V No person, unless a minority, disliked by the police, too poor to pay for lawyers, or lacking influential friends, shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person, unless a minority, a dissident, or disliked by the authorities, be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; no shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, not be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without the suspicion of a police officer or anonymous informant; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation unless the owner is too poor to pay for lawyers to get it back. Amendment VI In a few criminal prosecution, except those where the accused is a minority, disliked by the police, or poor, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an jury of slaves to State, in any district, and to be kept ignorant of the nature and cause of the accusation, unless the police feels predisposed to inform; to not know the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, unless he can't afford to pay them, and to have the assistance of bad counsel for his defense. Amendment VII In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, unless the person lacks the education to be informed of this right, and any fact tried by a jury may be reexamined in any court of the United States. Amendment VIII Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted, unless the accused is a minority, poor, or without influence. Amendment IX The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to grant these rights unconditionally. They may be taken at any time. Amendment X The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the Federal government, and to no one else. -- Sameer Parekh -- General Stuff -- Thoughts of a renegade firefighter as he neared the Oakland fire of 1991: ÒAs my speeding motorcycle slid underneath the greasy black cloud underneath the east end of the Bay Bridge, the early afternoon sun became an orange orb. A voice inside my helmet asked if this was what it was like to descend into hell. Instantly another voice replied, ÔNo, no one will be shooting at you.Õ There was a comfort knowing that nature is a much less efficiently deadly foe than man.Ó -- Tom Ness ÒThe Bible speaks of the postwar conversion of swords into plowshares. If the metallic plowshares had been produced in the first place, sufficient food production for everybody would have been possible. Lack of food and other life support brought about the fighting to begin with. Those suggesting production of metal plowshares before the war were always given the brush-off by tribal or state leaders and told, ÔMetal plowshares are far too expensive. We shall make do with wooden ones.Õ In the long view, however, heroic expenditures for basic life-support needs make good economic sense.Ó --R. Buckminster Fuller Cosmography In the name of obeying the law, the Parent CATS newsletter is advocating a very dangerous practice. The newsletter warns of parties at which the parents are home and alcohol is served. These parties are responsible in that people must turn in their keys at the door. However, the newsletter urges that parents disallow their children from attending these parties. If this is done, then the result will be students drinking alcohol in much less safe environments, and driving. In addition, the newsletter claims that the parents should set an example. The only example a parent can set is to not drink alcohol himself. A parent telling a teenager not to drink alcohol just because he is under a certain age limit while the parent drinks himself is sheer discrimination. When a law is wrong, it must be defeated. Respect for values should be fostered, not for illogical laws. A drinking age is mere age discrimination. The government can afford to discriminate because young people do not actively fight for their rights. If the people fight for their rights, freedom will be gained. -- Strength in Groups -- I have decided to start a group of people who are devoted to the cause of preserving freedom in this country. In order to start this group, I am looking for some people who are willing to help. I am looking for an assistant who will help me run the group. This person needs only to have a strong wish to preserve the nation's freedom. I am including the mission statement for the group. Please offer any suggestions. Meetings will be held at Cook Memorial Library. This will provide the symbolic idea that we hold information in high esteem. If you are interesting in joining the group, please contact me. Informationon a date and time is forthcoming. Thank you. | The Partnership for a Free America | Mission Statement The Partnership for a Free America has been established to protect the fundamental rights of the people of the United State of America. Currently, the government has been rapidly removing the civil liberties of the people in this country. This trend must be stopped before all is lost. Society is taking a trend which leads to more governmental influence in the personal lives of the people. This influence, although at times may be good, often leads to violations of the people's fundamental freedoms. These freedoms are the basis of this country's prosperity. In a free society there is generally more prosperity. In most societies in which the people are hampered by control, there is generally less prosperity. Thus, freedom must not be ignored during times of economic hardship. In order to effect these goals, the following actions will be taken. 1) Educate people about the actions which the government is taking towards the destruction of the rights in the country. Expose that which this nation's leaders have been doing to speed the trend towards more governmental control. 2) Put an end to the major excuse the government has for violating these rights. The War on Rights, called by some the War on Drugs, provides an excuse for unreasonable search and seizure, racist policies, and suppression of information. The suppression of information will be countered by providing information which is being suppressed. 3) Create a support for those who have had their rights violated. A person with support from others will be able to fight for his or her rights much more effectively, and thus these rights will be protected. In addition, when the people are divided, it is much easier for the government to take away their rights. 4) Fight for civil liberties in the high school itself. The Partnership will demand due process, the right to privacy, and other such rights as outlined in the Constitution. Thus, the Partnership for a Free America has been established to protect the rights in this country. The preceding actions will provide a strong basis for that protection, as well as a general refusal to let one's rights be violated. -- Just Say No -- If someone comes up to you and offers to analyze your urine, just say no. ÒThe right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated. . .Ó -- The United States Constitution There is a growing trend in society towards a more police state atmosphere in this country, as regular readers of The Free JournalÊhave seen. Drug testing is another step the country is taking which is making it more like Orwell's 1984. The most striking indictment of urine testing is the inaccuracy and trust which people have in the test. The urine tests which are in wide usage have at best a 5 percent error rate. (This means if one thousand clean people are tested, fifty innocent people will be blamed, and possibly fired from their jobs.) However, this error rate is an optimistic number. Most testing facilities do not take the proper precautions such as cleaning the equipment properly or sufficient organization of the specimens when testing the urine, and thus the error rate may be increased to about thirty percent. This error would not be as great a problem if people recognized the error, and verified results with more than one test. However, this is not done, and companies fire people with one false positive result on a test. In addition to being inaccurate, the tests infringe on a person's privacy. A person's employer has no right to determine what the employee does off the job as long as it does not impair the employee's performance. These tests have been used to fire people who are epileptic, although the epilepsy created no impairment on the job. The tests will determine if a person is taking psychiatric drugs, and thus the employer may fear an ÒunstableÓ worker and fire him for using these legal prescription drugs while not at work. Urine tests do not check if a person is impaired so that he may not be able to do his job correctly. A person may be fatigued and not concentrating. This person is more impaired than someone who smoked a joint a week ago. Tests exist called impairment tests which see if a person is too fatigued to do his job properly. This only tests the person's ability to concentrate while at work. There are ways to fight this. One way if to simply refuse to be tested. If enough people refuse to test, the company can simply not afford to fire the entire workforce. Thus, if testing appears eminent at your workplace, convince other employees to refuse the test. If you were unable to convince others to refuse and do not wish to lose your job, there are ways of defeating the test. The night before the test, drink as much water as possible. This will dilute the urine. Piss at least once in the morning before the test because the first urination of the day is the dirtiest. Drink even more water. If you have good concealment skills, you may be able to replace your urine with ÒcleanÓ urine. You can buy powdered clean urine from Byrd Laboratories, 225 Congress #340, Austin, Texas 78701, (512)-480-0085. Just add water, for experimental purposes only. Only $24.95 for clean urine powder. The urine is pre-checked so that it will come up negative on the tests. Be sure the urine you replace is warm, from 90 to 98 degrees Fahrenheit. To conceal the urine and replace it, purchase a Bard Dispoz-a-Bag¨ or similar product. Fill with clean urine and tie around your abdomen. Snake the output tube to your crotch. Then when it is time to urinate, discreetly release the cap on the bag, and the urine will empty out of the tube into the jar. Other methods exist. Get the book Steal this Urine TestÊby Abbie Hoffman for more information. (Available from Cook Memorial and the College of Lake County Libraries.) If you are unable to conceal urine, or have no warning, you can say you have used certain over-the-counter drugs which are cross-reactive with the politically incorrect drugs the tests look for. There is usually a place on the form to fill such things out. For amphetamines, you can put down Nyquil or Sudafed. For marijuana, you can put down any ibuprofen drug, such as Advil or Motrin. More information is available from Abbie's book. -- Guilty Until Proven Innocent -- Your community group has just held a successful bingo game, where the income for the day was in the thousands of dollars. You are driving to the bank to deposit the income when a police officer pulls you over. He claims that you look suspicious. The officer searches your trunk, and find the money from the bingo game. He waves the money and says that no honest person would carry that much cash. You must be a drug dealer. The money is taken, and you are given a receipt specifying only Òan unspecified amount of cash.Ó Despite all efforts to get it back, you can't. You are sleeping peacefully in your home when intruders break in. Due to your groggy state, you do not recognize the intruders and try to defend your home. You are unarmed. You are shot and killed. The police had suspected that you had firearms in your house because of an informant. There were no firearms. You arrive at O'Hare International Airport. An agent has a suspicion that you are a drug dealer and you are subject to a strip search, including rectal examination. Your money is sniffed by a dog, and the dog wagged its tail. It is seized. (96 percent of United States currency is contaminated with cocaine.) You are on vacation when the police pull you over. They search your car and find a white stick of bubble gum. They claim that it is cocaine, bring you and your kids into the station, and seize $2,300 in cash. This is the War on Drugs. In 80 percent of all cases where property was seized, no charges were filed. Innocence is no protection from losing your property or life.