Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Strasbourg Tea Party T-Shirt


The Strasbourg Tea Party T-Shirt is available here. Thank you to Fabio at Europe4RonPaul for getting this going. - Allan

Strasbourg Tea Party Ad

This is a great advertisment for the Strasbourg Tea Party. - Allan

Ron Paul Tzu

Sent over by Ben, founder of Americans in Europe for Ron Paul (A group for all Ron Paul supporters in Europe). - Allan


Dear Americans in Europe for Ron Paul and Paulites all over Europe:
Here is an article on Ron Paul that is truly different---Ron Paul is even making a hit in Asia!Cheers,
Ben


The Seoul (South Korea) Times, Wednesday, October 17, 2007, at:
http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=5775

Ron Paul Tzu
By Joshua SnyderSpecial Contribution

Dr. Ron Paul of Texas is our American sage. He merits the honorific tzu, meaning "master," given to the great thinkers of Chinese antiquity: K'ung Fu Tzu (Confucius), Meng Tzu (Mencius), Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, Sun Tzu and others. Ron Paul Tzu is both a Confucian gentleman and a Taoist sage.

Dr. Paul's advocacy of constitutional principles and the thought of the founders would gain approval from Confucius, who said "I transmit but do not innovate; I am truthful in what I say and devoted to antiquity (The Analects, VII, 1)." The Paul Administration will serve to "transmit" the ideas of our founders and their documents, which are our classics. There will be no officials who "innovate" upon them with creative interpretations or dismiss them as "quaint." Indeed, Dr. Paul's strict adherence to the letter of the Constitution is reminiscent of the Confucian devotion to the "Rectification of Names," i.e. the restoration of original interpretations of words and the rejection of arbitrariness. Said China's first teacher, "When words lose their meaning, people lose their liberty (ibid. XIII, 3)."

The Confucian statement of the Golden rule€"What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others (ibid. VX, 24)"€is remarkably similar to the "no harm" principle that guides Dr. Paul's libertarian philosophy. While the Confucian version may be less active than the Christian version, it is perhaps more suitable to governance, in that it allows individuals and voluntary associations more leeway and incentive to carry out mutual aid and charity work.
Confucius would applaud Dr. Paul's opposition to rule by a unitary executive with unchecked powers. Confucius rejected rule by force, going as far to say, "Barbarian tribes with their rulers are inferior to Chinese states without them (ibid. III, 5)." Instead, he proposed leadership by example, which is what the Paul Administration will offer America, at home and abroad. Confucius offered this admonition which could have been levelled at the current occupant of the Oval Office: "Sir, in carrying on your government, why should you use killing at all? Let your evinced desires be for what is good, and the people will be good (ibid. XII, 19)." Indeed, Confucius, like Dr. Paul, was an arch-enemy of tyranny: "An oppressive government is fiercer and more feared than a tiger (The Record of Rites II, 2)."

If Dr. Paul is the consummate Confucian gentleman, he is even more of a Taoist sage. Here, Lao Tzu presages Dr. Paul's social and economic platform of individual liberty:
The more prohibitions there are, the more ritual avoidances, the poorer the people will be... The more laws are promulgated, the more thieves and bandits there will be... So long as I 'do nothing' the people will of themselves be transformed. So long as I love quietude, the people will of themselves go straight. So long as I act only by inactivity the people will of themselves become prosperous. (The Classic of the Way and Virtue II, 57).

The essence of Dr. Paul's economic ideas are that "by [governmental] inactivity the people will of themselves become prosperous." When Thomas Jefferson famously reminded us that "the government is best which governs least," he was expressing a Taoist sentiment.
This "inactivity" or "do-nothingness" is the Taoist ideal of wu-wei, or non-action. What is the non-interventionism Dr. Paul proposes for America, and which he reminds us was our original foreign policy, if not wu-wei writ large? In warning us of "foreign entanglements" and "entangling alliances," Washington and Jefferson showed themselves to be Taoist sages as well. Like the Chinese, Dr. Paul knows that it is wise to listen to one's ancestors.

Dr. Paul is a man of peace, but his thoughts echo those of that greatest theorist of war, Sun Tzu, who, not a chickenhawk, warned that unnecessary wars should never be waged. Certainly, a Congressmen Sun Tzu would have voted with Dr. Paul against invading a country that neither attacked us nor had the means to do so: "Unless endangered do not engage in warfare. The ruler cannot mobilize the army out of personal anger (The Art of War XII, 11)." Dr. Paul's call to bring the troops home immediately from what has been foolishly but accurately advertised as "The Long War" would have been seconded by Sun Tzu, who observed, contra Randolph "War is the Health of the State" Bourne, "There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare (ibid. II, 4)."

Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Sun Tzu all lived and taught in pre-imperial China. In 221 B.C., Ch'in Shih-huang united the various Chinese states into an empire and set about to burn the Confucian classics and bury their scholars alive. The Legalism of Han Fei Tzu, which centered on the totalitarian power of the ruler, replaced the humanistic teachings of Confucianism and Taoism.

The situation is not unlike our own today. The only difference between our Republic's transformation to Empire and that of ancient China is that ours has been more subtle. (Ours is the "soft tyranny" spoken of by Alexis de Tocqueville.) Our Declaration of Independence and Constitution have not been burned (yet), nor have their defenders been buried alive (yet), but our founding documents and those who defend them have been ignored, scorned, circumvented, and trampled upon.

Confucianism survived the suppression and became the governing philosophy of the Han and all subsequent dynasties until 1911. Our constitutional republic, too, will survive and be restored. And there is one man calling upon our country to return to its founding principles, Ron Paul Tzu.
Mencius, Confucius' great heir, carried on and elaborated his master's theory of benevolent government, calling for a sage-king to lead, not rule, the people. Who among the current crop of Republicrat candidates, or even those of the last generation, has even an ounce of sagacity, save for Dr. Ron Paul, in whom it abounds. Ron Paul Tzu, the Confucian gentleman and Taoist sage, stands alone offering "Hope for America" and the restoration of our Republic.

An American Catholic son-in-law of Korea, Joshua Snyder lives with his wife and two children in Pohang, where he serves as an assistant visting professor of English at a science and technology university. He 'blogs at The Western Confucian.

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1393593835&size=t

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

From our man Jano

This was sent from a journalist in our group. - Allan


Hi Allan,
I'm not sure if you've already seen these two videos
but both of them are interesting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg8M2JBIoqo
- According to Glenn Beck you're a domestic terrorist,
and I might be a foreign one, so that brings me to the
same category than Al Qaeda :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07TVBLFroSM
- The word about Strasbourg Tea Party is spreading

Anyway, it looks like www.teaparty07.com will be a
bigger money bomb than November 5th. If subscribing
goes this way Ron could really receive his 10millions
in a single day.

jano

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Sent in From Matej

MUSLIMS DISCOVER RON PAUL
http://www.rense.com/general79/musron.htm

US TODAY ADVERTISEMENT TO BE PRINTED NOV.21 !!!http://mysite.verizon.net/nathanielyao/USA_Today_Ad.html

Congressman Paul's support among African-Americans is much higher thanwhat Republicans have received in recent presidential elections.
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/press-releases/15/ron-paul-is-highest-polling-republican-among-black-voters

and little topic out of R.P., FRUIT OF MULTICULTURALISM IN GB - Recordnumbers leave the country for life abroad
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/nov/16/emigration


see ya wednesday fellows.
matej

Saturday, November 17, 2007

A Note from Lisa In Brisbane

This was sent in from Lisa, who runs the Brisbane Ron Paul group. The first lines of the email are most important - the link to the website, but I've also included the rest of the email, something I intend to steal from Lisa and share with potential friends and Ron Paul supporters. I hope you will join me in doing the same. The remainder of the email does a great job mentioning positive things from Ron Paul's legislative history that many people can appreciate. Thank you, Lisa. - Allan
--

I've finally got http://www.ronpaulinternational.com/ up and running and in the process of adding more ChipIns. Please pass it on.

Thank you,
Lisa C.
Brisbane, Australia RP Meetup Organizer

______

Watched over 600,000 times.
"Ron Paul: A New Hope"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG2PUZoukfA
_______

IN MEMORY OF AARON RUSSO (1943-2007)
______

I am proud to support Ron Paul for President in 2008.
www.ronpaul2008.com

______

Dr. Paul is an OB/GYN and has delivered over 4,000 babies. He is
an Air Force veteran. Congressman Paul and, wife, Carol have
been married for 50 years and are the proud parents and
grandparents of five children and 17 grandchildren. They live in
Lake Jackson, Texas.

*Congressman Ron Paul has never voted to raise taxes.

*He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.

*He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.

*He has never voted to raise congressional pay.

*He has never taken a government-paid junket.

*He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.

*Ron Paul voted against the Patriot Act.

*He voted against regulating the Internet.

*He voted against the Iraq war.

*Ron Paul does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.

*He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budgetto the U.S. Treasury every year.

*He DOES NOT accept campaign donations from corporations.

*Ron Paul also received MORE donations from members of themilitary than ANY other candidate (Houston Chronicle)
______

Message board comments following the Fox News Republican debate on 10/21/07.

"I am a career Naval officer who has been politically neutral
for my entire life, but this is about voting for America and our
Constitution, which I took an oath to preserve! I am now
supporting Ron Paul with my wallet--and my heart."


". . . I've done my homework and one thing is for sure Dr Paul
is a brave, honorable, and honest man. He deserves to be
listened to, his views are very in-depth. It is actually
refreshing to me that he can't do 30-second sound bites, I want
to know what's really going on with our country. I have learned
so much. . . GO RON."


"Congratulations to Ron Paul for being honest, educated and
determined. Living in England, I find it shocking the amount of
bias Fox news has against Dr. Paul. . . Dr. Paul is the
candidate who the world would be better off with and a lot
safer. Please America, Vote for Ron Paul and ignore the
propaganda of the media who continue to try and scare the public
for their own good."


"You would think with an audience of FOX viewers that they would
not boo the only true conservative Republican on the stage. Yesterday
was kind of a sad day for the Constitution because
so-called conservatives were booing Ron Paul who is a strict
Constitutionalist. They were booing the American Constitution."
______

Please support Americans in their fight to reclaim the U.S.
Constitution by donating to Congressman Paul's presidential
campaign. No amount is too small.

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

Monday, November 12, 2007

Strasbourg Tea Party Meeting Call

This is our first video, calling all European Ron Paul supporters to Strasbourg. Great job, D !
- Allan


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCUEGTiHX4Y


Friday, November 9, 2007

Post-Nov 5, a GOP insider who has gone "Ron Paul Neutral"

From the Evans-Novak Political Report - Allan

4. Rep. Ron Paul set fundraising records on Monday, pulling in $4.2 million in online donations in one day. This is the largest single day of online fundraising in political history, and the largest single day of donations for any Republican candidate ever. The donations, averaging a little more than $100 each, reflect the unmatched enthusiasm of Paul's supporters, who range from anti-war activists to libertarians to fed-up Republicans.

5. Interestingly, it was volunteer supporters with no affiliations to Paul's campaign who organized the fundraiser. For all the talk of candidates' using the Internet in 2008, Paul's campaign is the only one that is really doing it -- and he is doing it mostly by stepping back and letting his enthusiastic backers form their own networks of support.

6. Raising this sort of money could increase Paul's support. First, it suggests that he is a legitimate candidate and not the Dennis Kucinich of the GOP. This might make some potential supporters less wary about "throwing away their vote." Also, going into the early states, he will have a huge cash-on-hand advantage over everyone but Romney and McCain.

Great Article - Paul v. Bernake

This article is just excellent. A video accompanies it, which is also good. Who cares about the snide tone towards Paul in the first page of it and throughout, who cares about the fact that the author of the article does not share Paul's opinion, this article is part of what makes Paul's presidency excellent - his ideas are spreading. For thirty years the man has been talking about these policies, but today it is becoming news. Ron Paul, thank you for shedding light on your allegedly crackpot grievances, which so many other people out there share and wish they could get legitimately redressed.
- Allan



Paul vs. Bernanke on Value of the Dollar
Candidate Rep. Ron Paul Faces Off With Fed Chairman


When you are Ron Paul, your public enemy No. 1 is the chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Because when you are Ron Paul, although you are technically a Republican, you are really a libertarian, and your strict adherence to the gospel of the Constitution leads you to question why the Federal Reserve -- the consortium of 12 reserve banks that acts as the U.S. central bank -- even exists.

Please read the ENTIRE article at this link:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=3839318&page=1

Thursday, November 8, 2007

14 lines of Ron Paul

Thank you to the author. - Allan


How to Whip This Ron Paul Character and All His Whacky Followers.

Ron Paul can be defeated by ignorance. Ignore him if you can.
By lies. Misrepresent his positions whenever possible.
By word gaming. As Lenin advised, "First, confuse the vocabulary."
By contempt. Dismiss him as amusing and pathetic.
By smearing his supporters. Find the worst and spotlight them. Call them a cult.
By consensus. Dismiss him with peer-pressure ridicule.
By false accusations. Spread them quickly and far.
By never discussing his policies. Change the subject to his person.
By the polls. Ask the right people the right questions and get the answer you want.
By reporting his most unpopular votes. But don?t report his reasoning.
By rudeness. Wreck any debate where his ideas are winning.
With all these tools, he can be easily defeated. Use them generously.

But Ron Paul cannot be defeated by refuting him in an honest and courteous technical debate. Avoid that.

- Moderno Machiavelli

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

4.2 million ! !

Added by Matej:

Ron Paul will certainly now always remember the 5th of November as upon the day's conclusion his campaign raised more than $4.2 million dollars from more than 37,000 different contributors. That is more than Mitt Romney raised in one day in January, which was previously the top day in fundraising for a Republican candidate.

Maybe the most amazing part about the amount of money raised is that it was all raised online.

Paul's website reports that his campaign only needs $12 million by December 31st in order to win the primaries in New Hampshire, Iowa, Michigan, South Carolina, and Nevada. As of midnight November 6th they were at $7.1 million and the numbers were rising quickly by the hundreds of thousands.
http://www.casinogamblingweb.com/gambling-news/gambling-law/ron_paul_goes_over_4_2_million_raised_mark_as_november_5th_ends_47749.html



Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, aided by an extraordinary outpouring of Internet support Monday, hauled in more than $3.5 million in 20 hours.... The $3.5 million, he said, represented online contributions from more than 22,000 donors.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hyQLduiFMFTNmeUdgpf5cMvLi6awD8SNSIJG0
__________________________________________________

Monday, November 5, 2007

Compliments from across the Pond

A great comment to our video on you tube - Allan

"Good work, Ron Paul Europe Meetups. It would be great if Dr. Paul could take time off from his packed schedule in the U.S. to visit you guys. Your support is making a big impression here in the United States. You have created something that NO other candidate has with your European support team. And, of course, Dr. Paul is of vital importance to the future of all Europeans."

Legally Getting around the $2300 Limit and prohibitions on Foreign Donations

Topic: Presidential Campaign 2008
North Carolina Libertarian Forming 527 "Soft Money" Organization

Jerry Collette, a libertarian from North Carolina is attempting to create a 527 "soft money" liberty-advocacy organization to support Ron Paul's candidacy and other, similar causes in support of liberty.
by Walt Thiessen
(Libertarian)

Libertarian activist Jerry Collette of North Carolina has announced that he is forming a Section 527 organization for the purpose of providing an avenue for large contributors to continue to independently support the campaign of Ron Paul and other pro-liberty causes legally outside the restrictions established by the Federal Elections Commission. His new organization is tentatively planned to be called Liberty527.org, and he is in the initial planning stages as this article goes to press.

Liberty527.org will be targeting people who have maxed out giving to Ron Paul's campaign. Jerry's plan at this point is to only accept donations in excess of $1,000, since there are plenty of avenues (particularly at the Paul campaign website) for small donors to support Ron Paul. There is no limit to how much money you can give to a 527, which is why this vehicle is the new darling of the soft money crowd. Collette will be checking with the IRS this week to learn about what restrictions there are on collecting corporate and foreign money with his new brainchild. He is especially hoping that Liberty527.org can be a vehicle for foreign donors who want to do their part within America's borders to support the fight for liberty.

A 527 group is a type of American tax-exempt organization named after a section of the United States tax code, 26 U.S.C. § 527. Such groups cannot be run by a political campaign or a political action committee (PAC), and indeed this is where most of the current controversy with such groups comes from. For instance, the Swift Boat Veterans came under fire for their support of George Bush against John Kerry in 2004, primarily because of alleged overlap between their organization and the Bush campaign itself.

Wikipedia has an interesting article on the subject. As the article points out, "Under federal election law, coordination between an election campaign and a 527 group is not allowed." The article includes a very interesting table showing the largest 527 groups that participated in the 2004 campaign. Curiously enough, while both the Swift Boat Veterans and MoveOn.org are on the list, neither are at #1. That distinction belongs to now-defunct "America Coming Together," a liberal group devoted to get-out-the-vote activities. A watchdog website, www.discoverthenetworks.org reported:

"On June 23, 2004, the Associated Press revealed that an undetermined number of ACT's fulltime canvassers were felons, convicted for crimes ranging from drug dealing to burglary, assault, and sex offenses....
"In August 2007, Politico.com reported that the Federal Election Commission (FEC) was fining ACT some $775,000 for having used unregulated soft money to help John Kerry and other Democratic candidates in 2004. The FEC determined that most of the $137 million ACT had raised for its get-out-the-vote effort that year, was derived from contributions that violated federal limits. The settlement was the third largest enforcement penalty in the FEC's 33-year history"

Collette has been a libertarian since the Berlin Wall came down, and he was briefly Dick Boddie's campaign manager in 1992. He is a paralegal and has considerable legal expertise which will obviously come in handy with this new venture. He plans to do all the legwork necessary to make sure that Liberty527.org doesn't fall into the same traps as America Coming Together and the Swift Boat Veterans found themselves in. Much of the controversy surrounding 527 groups comes from legal interpretation of the IRS rules. For instance, Liberty527.org would have to be careful not to run ads using the exact slogans that Ron Paul's campaign uses in their ads and marketing. Collette believes that the Paul campaign gives plenty of opportunity to successfully maintain its legally defined separation from the Paul campaign given the fact that so much of the campaign has been spontaneously developed from grassroots efforts.

Collette plans to target a number of libertarian and conservative famous names to help provide a popular face for the organization. For instance, he it thinking about contacting such notables as economist Walter Williams, author Robert Ringer, investment guru Doug Casey, and author/politician Pat Buchanan to see if he can gain the support of any or all of these relatively famous people within the liberty movement. This is all old-hat to Collette, who used to be a headhunter for about six years. He also says that because of his paralegal experience he is very used to being in situations where you have to tip-toe around laws. He says that you have to make sure your 527 is not behaving like a PAC or a campaign, and he hopes to build the positioning and leverage needed to attract such notable support and build his organization's visibility. He notes that he just started contacting potential supporters this weekend, and already he is finding that lots of people are interested in what he is doing and have given at least tacit support to the project.

Collette is looking to hear from people who work behind the scenes in the fight for liberty and who do not have the big money to give but would like to help promote Liberty527.org. He is looking to fill a number of roles, including someone with 527 administrative experience, spokespeople, promoters and supporters. If you would like to participate in his project, visit his help wanted page for additional information. All others are invited to visit his website at www.liberty527.org to learn more about the project.


Link: http://www.nolanchart.com/article266.html

Saturday, November 3, 2007

The Strasbourg Tea Party

This is Ben Novak's call for a meeting that has been dubbed "The Strasbourg Tea Party" by our friend at Europe4RonPaul. If you have any input, on this matter, please feel free to post here or to contact Ben or I at AmericansInEuropeForRonPaul@gmail.com. - Allan



Dear Ron Paul Supporters all over Europe:

One way we could help the Ron Paul campaign is to create an event showing wide support for Ron Paul in Europe. I suggest a meeting that brings together Ron Paul supporters from all over Europe. This will allow us to get greater publicity for Ron Paul, and allow us to meet each other, network, and plan greater activities to support Ron Paul.

What about a meeting in Strasbourg or Munich in December to kick things off, and maybe another in early February to really give a boost to his campaign?

I, for one, would really like to meet other Ron Paul supporters. I think we have a basis for a European-wide network of people dedicated to freedom.

I would also like to hear from as many of you as possible, to begin dialog, discussion, friendship, and networking across the continent. The Ron Paul phenomenon will last for a long, long time.

Ben Novak

Ron Paul Ballot Access Bill

As an incumbent, this bill could have made it harder for Ron Paul to be elected to Congress in the future, because it would offer more competition for seats, yet Paul has introduced it 8 times. Very respectable. - Allan

Link

Libertarian Party Endorses Ron Paul Ballot Access Bill

November 2nd, 2007

The Libertarian Party national committee endorsed HR 3600 on November 2. This is Congressman Ron Paul’s bill to outlaw restrictive ballot access laws for U.S. House elections. The bill sets a ceiling of 1,000 signatures for candidates for the U.S. House. A similar bill has been introduced in 8 previous sessions of Congress. The sponsors have been Congressman John Conyers, former Congressman Tim Penny, and Paul himself.

From the Belly of the Beast

This one is sent to us from the Belly of the Beast meetup group in Washington DC.


Ben,
Thank you for sending that email. As I think you already know, members of our group have already pledged $1,100 for this event. I have promised secrecy, so I will not ever be making any sort of announcement (publicly or privately) about who those members are. I simply wanted to point out that this was happening and to say thank you, as a fellow supporter, for your donations. You are helping to bring Ron Paul and his message closer to victory, and you are helping to ensure that we have Ron Paul as a messenger long into this campaign cycle. As I have been shown time and again by those in our group - this message is bigger than just 2008 and is a very important one.
- Allan

Ben Novak <americansineuropeforronpaul@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Americans in Europe for Ron Paul Lists:

I am forwarding a message sent by Sean which he asked be sent to everyone we know.
Ben

--------------

FWD: URGENT, FINAL PUSH: Ron Paul supporters, now is the time!

Most of you have probably already heard about the www.
ThisNovember5th.com movement for the largest one day political
donation event in history. They already have over 15,000
signatures pledging to donate $100 this Monday at www.
RonPaul2008.com, and that list was impressively gained in under
2 weeks!

However, even though that will be over a massive million and a
half dollar boost in one day, we are near the tipping point of
literally making history by achieving something no other
candidate, Republican or Democrat, could pull off.

Every one of the 62,607 Ron Paul Meetup members will get this e-
mail so the ball is in your hands. Please consider the
responsibility. Be able to tell your children and
grandchildren you were part of the Ron Paul revolution!

I guarantee everyone reading this e-mail is capable of getting
$100 dollars to donate, it just comes down to how devoted are
you? .....I have met people who are on the verge of losing
their homes, having trouble making ends meet even to put food
on the table, and yet still pledged a $100 for freedom. That
is devotion!

This will shock the media senseless and will be talked about
for years to come! Please join us, www.ThisNovember5th.com

By the way, do you have anyone from Ireland in this group. I
have many family members in the North and South of Ireland. I
was born in London and lived there for about eight years. If
you haven't already I know there are a couple of classical
liberal think-tanks around Europe that might be interested in
Ron Paul and his campaign if you have not already contacted.
Have a nice day.

Sean

Friday, November 2, 2007

A Note of Gratitude

I just wanted to put this letter up from a very active Ron Paul volunteer in the US. He makes a good point that every little thing we do here is multiple times more significant than the same action taken in the US. The fact that we have become a group of many nationalities supporting Ron Paul's ideas abroad echoes strongly through the Ron Paul's legions of volunteers. Our work is being recognized. Let's keep it up. - Allan


Allan:

Keep up the great work on those videos! Be sure to tell everyone there that anything/everything they do is so much more important and VERY much appreciated because you guys are rooting us on from foreign lands. It's very mutally inspiring!

Peace and God Bless,

Fred