[Host's Note: The text below is Sherri's...]
>I live in New Hampshire.
>
>Our license plate says "Live free or die". People here take it seriously.
>
>I live in a rural town of approximately 1100 people. I live on a dead end
>road surrounded by lots of trees. Although we hear the noise of a nearby
>road occasionaly, our noises are primarily wildlife -- tree frogs, birds,
>coyotes... We are here for the peacefulness. We have two horses in our
>front yard and two big German Shepherds in the back, a cat who wanders in
>and out. We have a animal who looks like a cross between a fox and coyote
>who lives around us -- he watches us and we watch him.
>
>My neighbor is an ex-airplane pilot. He owns a DC3. Last year NH passed a
>law which states that a person can land and take off from his/her own land.
>My neighbor has cleared at least a mile long strip which is at least two
>to three hundred feet wide. He has to land from our direction because of
>the prevailing winds. His family contains at least five pilots. The state
>law supercedes local law. We will have a DC3 landing over our heads -- the
>strip is about 400 yards from our house. All agree the vibration will be
>significant.
>
>The law was pushed by a man who is a state rep who has friends everywhere.
>It has been a big issue in a nearby town where another pilot put in a strip
>before state law covered it. A woman who lives at that strip had a friend
>of her pilot neighbor play lawn darts and crashed into her front yard.
>This instigated an attempt to repeal the law. It failed because the
>original state rep had enough influence in the house to have it fail even
>though the senate passed it. Also -- airplane pilots are a powerful
>lobbyist group in NH.
>
>The US is not a democracy. I had my rights eliminated by a man
>representing a special interest group. The law was passed on the taxpayers
>penny. For me to fight this law it has to be my penny. It should be the
>responsibility of the Attorney General to protect my rights and fight this
>legal fight. Representatives should be held accountable for the passsing
>of laws which hurt others but help minority special interest groups.
>
>Democracy is a dream. My husband says we are a representative republic.
>We vote people in and then they do whatever they want. Is democracy really
>too complex for our immature power hungry tiny minds to really create? I
>have spent most of my life being apolitical. I didn't vote until I was 30.
>I still think it is a farce. Please don't say it is the best thing going
>because that makes us complacent and arrogant. We settle for mediocracy
>and ineptness.
>
>I have called the newspapers and have had front page news. In NH that's
>not really all that impressive! I have talked to Senators and will talk to
>State Reps. I have to write letters and engage the help of a lawyer.
>
>BTW -- my neighbor started this several months ago and just called two
>minutes ago. We have lived here two years and I have never talked to the
>man. Not unusual in a rural New England town. He said he wants us to talk
>before this comes to blows. He wants to give us the 50 cent tour and to
>take us up in a plane and show us the approaches and where our house is.
>We have been lied to by the local building inspector and selectman when we
>made inquiries. Our neighbor is a local policeman. We never called him --
>I don't know why. Maybe we felt if someone is impacting us they should
>approach us? We were never approached so we didn't approach?
>
>We have a system here which is incredibly complex in what it is intended to
>achieve and I believe it falls very short. Our culture of individual
>freedom surely needs to be changed somehow to include respect for others
>and taking care of others in the pusuit of our dreams. We are not a
>community and we are not a democracy....and it is a great disapointment to
>me.
>
>Sherri
>Sherri@maloufinc.com
>
>LMA, Inc, The Growth Company
>Tel: 603-672-0355
>Fax: 603-673-7120
--sherri@maloufinc.com (Sherri Malouf)
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>