December 29, 2003

About Lance Brown

Lance Marshall Brown

Born: August 20, 1972 -- Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Hometown: Dalton, Massachusetts

Present:

Lance Brown is the CEO of PeoplesForum.com, an online debate and discussion community which he co-founded in 1998. He is also the Director of Future Solutions, a non-profit organization dedicated to finding non-coercive, non-governmental solutions to society's problems. He lives in Nevada City, California.

Lance is extremely active in political causes devoted to advancing individual liberty. He is the Chairman of the Nevada County Libertarian Party, and a co-founder of the Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committtee. He appears regularly as a panelist on "The Nevada County News Hour" on the local community access TV station, FCAT, and has received coverage in all of the local print and broadcast media.

Lance has also created a number of online projects and web sites, which are at various stages of development. Some of Lance's online projects include:

  • E-Actions For Freedom -- Easy online actions for advancing the cause of freedom, frequently updated.

  • PNAC.info -- An effort to investigate, analyze, and expose the Project for the New American Century, and its plan for a "unipolar" world.

  • HowToStopTheWar.org -- An effort to compile, evaluate, and rate ideas for effective anti-war actions

  • CampusLP.org -- Free web sites for campus Libertarian clubs

  • GreenLiberty.org -- Pursuing Green values using Libertarian principles

  • StopCarnivore.org -- Dedicated to stopping the deployment of the FBI's Carnivore Internet spy tool
  • Past Highlights:

    2002 - Co-founded Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
    2001-2003 - Chairman, Nevada County Libertarian Party
    1998 - Co-founded PeoplesForum.com, moved to California
    1996 - Founded Future Solutions
    1994-95 - Public Relations Officer, UMACRC/PV NORML
    1994 - Launched presidential campaign
    1991-94 - President, UMass Cannabis Reform Coalition (UMACRC)/Pioneer Valley NORML
    1993-94 - President, Van Meter House Council (UMass)
    1990-91, 1992-94 - Attended University of Massachusetts at Amherst
    1989-90 - Attended University of Southern California
    1989 - Attended Presidential Classroom Scholars Program
    1988 - Delegate to National Junior Achievement Conference
    1988 - Junior Achievement - regional President of the Year
    1987 - Junior Achievement - regional Vice President of the Year

    Contact Lance

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    Bill of Rights Day LTE in SF Examiner

    The San Francisco Examiner also printed my Bill of Rights Day Letter to the Editor, though they carved it up so much that I don't really like what was left. It makes me sound like a teenager. (EDIT: No offense intended to teenagers-- I should have said "It makes me sound like I would have when I was a teenager". That's closer to what I had in my mind when I said that.)

    Here's the letter they printed:

    Happy Birthday, Bill

    DEC. 15 is Bill of Rights Day -- the anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights.

    I've concluded that I think that's pretty cool, and if there's a holiday deserving a spot in my annual calendar, it's Bill of Rights Day.

    I know the timing's not great, but what can you do? You can't change a birthday.

    Lance Brown
    Nevada City

    ...and here's what I sent in:

    December 15th is Bill of Rights Day - the anniversary of the ratification
    of the Bill of Rights.

    I only became aware that it was a holiday in recent years, and the first
    time I celebrated Bill of Rights Day was in 2001. As a Libertarian, living
    through a wholesale expansion of federal law enforcement tactics in the
    name of the "war on terror", honoring the birthday of the Bill of Rights
    with a rally seemed like a smart idea.

    The next year, the ideas behind the rising threats to civil liberties had
    matured into a change in attitude of many Americans and elected officials,
    about limits on the government's power to impose itself on us. In that
    environment, I held a "funeral" for the Bill of Rights-- and, like most
    funerals, it was a celebration of the Bill's life, as well as the mourning
    of a loss.

    This year, I've come to accept that this is a holiday that's becoming
    genuinely important to me. And I've concluded that I think that's pretty
    cool, and if there's a "new" holiday deserving a spot in my annual
    calendar, it's Bill of Rights Day. Maybe you should try it out yourself
    for a few years, and see how it fits for you. I know the timing's not
    great, but what can you do? You can't change a birthday.

    I've recently compiled nearly 20 ways that people can celebrate and honor
    Bill of Rights Day, and put them into a free website:
    http://billofrightsday.com . It will be there this year and every year, to
    help people make plans for the big day. I hope you'll take part in this
    growing tradition.

    Come on everyone, give it a try: "Happy Bill of Rights Day!"

    It just goes to show you-- keep it short, or they'll make it short for you (and you might not like how).

    The SacBee took an alternate route. The editor e-mailed me and told me I had to cut the length for them to print it. So I re-submitted the letter, shortened a bunch. The letter they printed ended up being just what I sent in the second time.

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    December 28, 2003

    Bill of Rights Day LTE in the Sacramento Bee

    Here is a letter to the editor by me which appeared in the Sacramento Bee on December 13th, 2003. It's on their site also, quite a ways down this page.

    Bill of Rights Day

    Dec. 15 is Bill of Rights Day, the anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights.

    I only became aware that it was a holiday in recent years, and the first time I celebrated Bill of Rights Day was in 2001. As a Libertarian, living through a wholesale expansion of federal law enforcement tactics in the name of the "war on terror," honoring the birthday of the Bill of Rights with a rally seemed like a smart idea.

    By December 2002, the threats to civil liberties had risen to a level where we thought it made more sense to have a "funeral" to mark the day. So we did. And this Monday we'll have a memorial ceremony, as a sequel.

    This year, I've come to accept that this is a holiday that's becoming genuinely important to me. I've compiled nearly 20 ways people can celebrate and honor Bill of Rights Day, and put them into a free website at BillofRightsDay.com.

    Come on everyone -- give it a try: "Happy Bill of Rights Day!"

    - Lance Brown, Nevada City

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    December 26, 2003

    LTE to the Auburn Journal

    Here's a Letter to the Editor I sent to the Auburn Journal recently. It's about medical marijuana activist/icon Steve Kubby -- it concerns this story, and the letter about that story which is at the top of this page. (There is a lot more background material at Kubby.com.)

    Here's what I sent in--

    To the Editor:

    Shortly after one of your readers said that he hoped Canada would keep Steve Kubby and save Placer County the cost of incarcerating him, Canada made its decision to refuse Kubby's plea for political refugee status. Still, your reader was right to hope that no more of Placer County's resources would be wasted pursuing this folly of a prosecution.

    Your reader also observed that Kubby was receiving a "very soft sentence" for the mushrooms and peyote that were found at his house nearly 5 years ago. Well, since he hasn't been shown to have harmed anyone, and since he is a productive family man who is anything but a problem drug user -- just what sort of sentence should he get? He should get something greater than being hassled for 5 years, being bankrupted and losing his home and business? He should have a harder punishment than the torment of worrying about whether he'll be alive to raise his children, or whether he'll die while being denied his medical cannabis, as Peter McWilliams did?

    As a Libertarian, I feel that my friend and colleague shouldn't have had to deal with any of this craziness. Kubby never hurt anyone and should have been left alone. Nobody's better interests are served by continuing to persecute him and his family.

    Sincerely,

    Lance Brown

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    December 25, 2003

    Merry Christmas

    This is an attempt to rejuvenate my blog in time to post a Christmas message while it's still technically Christmas. The blog setup I was using until December 11th crashed, and I haven't been able to add or edit entries there since then. This new setup is step one in what will be a new arrangement for the site. More about that later. And I've got a lot of updating to do in terms of what I've been up to. That will also come later.

    For now, I just hope you're having an enjoyable holiday season, and I hope you had a merry Christmas.

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