Our monthly open thread. Post news tips about alt parties and independent candidates, discuss any story that should be posted here but has not yet been posted, or even delve into completely off-topic stuff….just avoid quarantined thread subject matter and things that could get us and/or you into legal trouble such as threats, libel, and copyright infringement.
News tips can also be sent to the IPR writers who have chosen to make their contact info available at https://independentpoliticalreport.com/about/.
It’s also become an IPR tradition to post videos in the open threads. Here’s the latest from Juice Rap News:
They are trying to steal, mutilate and dismember our votes! Don’t let them get away with it!
If anyone needs amusement today (which clearly I do), you can go to the Libertarian Party of New York Facebook page and read desperate Republicans begging Libertarians to vote Republican.
What if the buying and selling of coffee were handled like Obamacare, also known as The Affordable Care Act?
Coffeecare: The Affordable Coffee Act
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obNEVrg782Y
http://filmingcops.com/officer-repeatedly-sprayed-mace-in-womans-vagina-as-punishment-lawsuit/
http://rt.com/usa/200915-ohio-trooper-sex-motorists/
Ohio state trooper coerced sex acts from female motorists in exchange for dropped charges
Galvanized by a horrifying puppy shooting in Texas, members of nearly 150 Facebook groups dedicated to dogs killed or injured by police are planning a nationwide protest this Saturday
Leaked video shows Maine officials torturing restrained prisoner. The Maine Department of Corrections is investigating to determine how the press obtained video…
Last month Oklahoma made headlines with three serial rapists in 3 weeks, all officers, as well as one police chief molesting children.
Former Cop Headed to Trial for Raping a Child While Other Officers Watched
Pharr, TX — Trial is set to begin December 1, in the case of former Pharr police officer Erasmo Mata, Jr., accused of repeated first-degree felony sexual assaults…
thefreethoughtproject.com
Copwatcher Sues After NYPD Assaults, Strip Searches Him for Filming
“So one grabs one arm and the other grabs the other arm…My face slams against the gate. I felt something snap in my shoulder.”
theantimedia.org
Cop Explodes & Threatens a Man With Jail For Saying “God Bless You”
Miami Beach, Fla. – A video posted to YouTube on October 27, shows a Miami Beach police officer, who identified himself as officer McLeod, engaging in some…
thefreethoughtproject.com
Tuskegee, AL cop Levy Kelly (40-yrs old) maced and framed 17-yr old girl after she broke off their sexual relationship. Another ‘isolated incident’.
Cops do 20,000 no-knock raids a year. Civilians often pay the price when they go wrong.
An event organizer in ?#?Utah? was flabbergasted when police stormed his ?#?Halloween? party over the weekend and proceeded to monitor partygoers for signs of dancing, even though a permit had been secured with the city in advance.
Special Report: Musician Arrested For Playing Protest Song
Officer proceeds to harass musician even after reading city code permitting activity out loud to everyone on scene
Uber Driver had Passenger Who Was a Cop, Put a Gun to His Head and Threaten to Kill Him
Mark Christensen via copblock FB
Despite the outcome, Buehler’s work has just begun. He’s set to defend two additional misdemeanor charges for other arrests in the coming weeks. (The first was originally scheduled to start today, Oct. 30.) Additionally, in March, a federal trial is scheduled for a civil rights lawsuit he filed against Oborski, Snider, and the APD. Buehler noted last week that winning this week’s case isn’t essential for a positive outcome in the civil suit, but it should help legitimize his argument moving forward.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU6d1e1shAE&feature=youtu.be
Hot off the press from the McDermott for Governor campaign:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU6d1e1shAE&feature=youtu.be
For more information or to contribute:
http://www.votemcdermott.org
http://www.ny.lp.org
Thank you.
http://www.lp.org/blogs/staff/lp-chair-on-reason-seven-reasons-to-vote-for-the-libertarian-party
Okay, I’ll post something tonight when I have a chance to research some history and have enough for an article. Here’s a link for now:
https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/events/373257346166470/
No harm starting a thread, so please go ahead and start one. I think it will draw some comments but if not oh well, it won’t be the first one. I am sure some of our non-commenting readers would appreciate the news.
Can’t remember whether you told me about Antonio but I saw it various places on FB for sure. Congrats to Antonio and good luck to Jim!
Jim Duensing’s trial for being shot in the back by a policeman has just started. If there’s enough interest in it, I’ll start a thread for it. Personally, I think it is a trial we should all be watching closely. Oh, and did I tell you that Antonio Buehler was found NOT GUILTY yesterday???
Here’s some excellent news, for those of you who have been following Antonio Buehler and the Peaceful Streets Project in Austin, Texas:
http://youtu.be/pzqoTlkZjT8
I visited yesterday but he did not wake up while I was there. We sat with his wife Lynn, she is going through a lot obviously, but also has long periods of time when she is just sitting in the waiting room with nothing to do. Mark had a surgery a few days ago and will have another one in the next few days. He is having different things go wrong all over his body one after the other. They lost a lot in the house fire although they do also have an apartment, so Lynn is not homeless. She is not working right now, and obviously Mark is not either, so this will be hard on them financially. She thinks she may get a job at the same hospital and will be looking for donations to help them out.
Nice 🙂
Write-in candidate for Governor of Rhode Island smokes what she claims is cannabis in a campaign video
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/26/politics/pot-political-ad/
(CNN) — A medical marijuana advocate turned write-in candidate for Rhode Island governor has garnered instant social media attention by smoking what she says is pot in a campaign video.
But her media stunt comes with a more serious political message about pot legalization.
“I’m Anne Armstrong, and I’m going to be the next governor of Rhode Island,” she says in the minute-and-a-half-long video. “And I hope that during my tenure, I will be able to dispel a number of misconceptions about cannabis use.”
Armstrong, who said she smokes cannabis every day, uses it for medicinal purposes, and also argues that it helps her focus and communicate with people around her. In the video, she takes a hit off a pipe after insisting that pot users “shouldn’t be ostracized or marginalized.”
“It doesn’t make people crazy the way you’ve been told,” she says. “We’ve been lied to for a long time by our government, and something that’s been essential to our health has been taken away from us.”
“Yes, I do smoke cannabis. And yes, I do inhale,” she says, invoking former President Bill Clinton’s famous “didn’t inhale” remark during his first run for President in 1992.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2tIxCXUaL0
Kevin-
Your response was good
considering you probably was not expecting the question.
But I was rather baffled by the response from lefties/progressives/democrats that posted the various news articles of my endorsement on their FB pages. Apparently they all consider Libertarians to be merely republicans. Obviously we as a party have done a poor job of explaining our support for civil liberties.
PEACE
So sorry to hear this about Mark. I think the last time I saw him was in 2010 at the St. Louis convention. Great guy.
“This is the worst news I’ve heard in a long time. I met Lynn in Columbus. Mark looked happier than I’d ever seen him.”
I agree. I wish Mark Bodenhausen a speedy recovery. He has been a big part of the glue that has held the LP of Alabama together for a long time.
Chuck just sent me a text about Mark. I hadn’t seen this thread yet.
I don’t know what to say. Mark is a quiet person who gets things done. He is one of the most dedicated activists I’ve ever met. Please keep us updated on how he’s doing.
This is the worst news I’ve heard in a long time. I met Lynn in Columbus. Mark looked happier than I’d ever seen him.
If he’s starting to respond then there’s still fight in him. He’ll fight this. I don’t know if Lynn is reading this, but if she is then my best to her. Stay with it, stay as calm as you can. He’ll need you smiling at him when he opens his eyes.
Obviously, none of the methods of preventing tyranny are foolproof, since tyranny happens. But, it’s also been stopped many places and times in history so tyranny isn’t foolproof either, and armed citizens and free speech and the vigorous defense of the rights of both are two of the proven ways to help prevent and bring down tyranny; whereas severe restrictions on them often occur in the early stages of tyranny, and mass slaughter in the latter stages.
Here’s my question on the second amendment (anti-gun control, but not a Constitutionalist, but it’s useful shorthand): Are gun control laws tyrannical? If so, and the claim is that having guns prevents tyranny, how did these laws get passed? More importantly, what are gun owners doing about it? My claim is that there is no way for gun owners, simply by owning guns, to stop gun control – hence, gun ownership doesn’t prevent tyranny.
I will defend anyone’s right to own a weapon. I will not engage in illusions about it preventing big government, though.
Mike Rster
October 19 at 12:10pm · Birmingham, AL
Dear friends of liberty:
My dear friend the former Chairman Mark Bodenhausen, has recently suffered a terrible tragedy on a scale that most of us can’t even imagine.
On Saturday night an electrical fire consumed the master bedroom of his house and with the smoke and fire damage has caused enough damage to total his house and most of the contents. This is the small project house the Mark has been working on for many years.
Early Wednesday morning, he suffered a stroke and then a second one at his arrival at UAB Emergency. He is in critical condition and currently being kept unconscious to stabilize him. His prospects are fair. He is currently in Room 8323 of the UAB NICU unit located in the North Pavillion with parking at 4th Ave South and 19th Street.
Mark Bodenhausen has contributed so much to the LPA over the years that I cannot even begin to count. He donated the furniture at the original LPA office and a constant stream of office supplies including printers and other key components that helped us get through the lean years. But his largest donations were of his time and energy which he contributed at times far beyond his means.
As most of you know he recently married Lynn and was building a new life with her. The burden on his new bride is terrible.
I am asking you to help Mark in his greatest hour of need. His financial bills will be tremendous and he was without medical insurance. He needs your support.
I will be sending an update soon with a method for contributions.
Thank you.
In liberty,
Mike Rster
Vice Chair Emeritus
LPA
Paulie : Lynn messaged me from Mark’s account “Hey paul, this is Lynn I am filling in for Mark as best I can. I feel like a snoopy wife right now, but this is the easiest way to talk to the biggest group of people. He has a sub arachnoid brain bleed. It was big. We got him to UAB as fast as possible, he bled again in er. Had to do some big intervention second bleed, blood pressure and heart rate down, had to be ventilated. Neuro icu, good for a while, became unresponsive, kidneys shutting down, has a [liver] problem too. 7 tubes in his body right now. Only his ears exempt, getting medicine for liver, dialysis for kidneys, brain needs time. Heart. And blood pressure much better, starting to respond again. I’m tired as hell. Think of us, ok?”
https://www.facebook.com/markbodenhausen?fref=nf
”
Jill Pyeatt
October 26, 2014 at 6:48 pm
I read this on the LP Alabama page, re: Mark Bedenhausen.
I hope he has a quick and thorough recovery–”
Me too.
I’ll try to visit Mark this week if I can make it to Bham.
I read this on the LP Alabama page, re: Mark Bedenhausen.
“Hi Friends, this is Lynn Bodenhausen. I owe you guys an update on Mark, so here goes. Mark remains in neuro icu at UAB. His status varies, but, overall, he is slowly progressing. Mark still doesn’t follow commands, but he is opening his eyes for longer periods, now. Mark also has had a liver and kidney issue, those are proving slowly. Mark is also having occasional bouts of atrial fib, a heart rhythm problem, and we aren’t sure why. I have to say that he is getting the best, most logical and intelligent care possible. If you pray, thank you and please continue. If you don’t, you should know that we accept kind thoughts, too. I am grateful for the many expressions of kindness we have been shown. I wish I could adequately tell you what it all means to me.”
I hope he has a quick and thorough recovery–
Some of them, sure. As for me they aren’t people I like and I agree their acts are tyrannical.
Steve. So did I give a good answer on the Linnabary endorsement question?
I am saying that many of the 2nd amendment types who treat firearms as a defense against tyranny may sing a different song when it is someone they do not like shooting in their direction in response to the tyrannical acts of people the 2nd amendment types like.
Ohio Green Party candidates Anita Rios and Bob Fitrakis on tonight’s PBS “The State of Ohio”, Libertarian Kevin Knedler is profiled at the 13:00 mark. I get mentioned a couple times.
http://www.statenews.org/feature_page.cfm?featureID=1
PEACE
Firearms are one form of response to tyranny. Nations which heavily control and regulate firearms in the hands of regular citizens such as Canada is doing are historically more likely to become nations that kill many of their own citizens. Forbidding people from leaving is in fact another sign of tyranny, and the US is showing increasing signs of that one as well. Not sure where you are going with that one as the dots do not seem well connected. Are you saying that you do not see firearms in the hands of citizens as one way to help prevent tyranny?
For those of you looking at firearms as a response to tyranny:
In case you missed it
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/23/canada-police-ottawa-gunman-video-passport-motive
the core issue is that Canada is emulating the former East Germany in
claiming it can forbid its citizens to leave.
If they had let him leave there would have been no issue.
God save the Queen and her fascist regime!
And here we have someone responding to what even Ronald Reagan could figure
out was tyrannical oppression.
Does it look the same if it is someone you might not like shooting in your direction?
Having said that, America won the Revolution in identifiable part because Lafayette and a list of others came here to fight for us.
If you are saying you are against Americans going abroad for the same purpose, you are saying that you hate America.
http://www.ballot-access.org/2014/10/delaware-congressman-john-carney-will-debate-his-green-and-libertarian-opponents/
American Police State 2014: “If I Wanted America To Be A Dictatorship”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUy860bjnPI
Creative advertising….blurring is because I resized it.
Debate happening now, see https://independentpoliticalreport.com/2014/10/ny-green-libertarian-gov-candidates-in-debate-with-d-r-candidates-tonight/
This is it!
8:00 p.m. tonight (Eastern Daylight Time), Tuesday, Ocotober 22.
Libertarian candidate Michael McDermott debates Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo, Republican challenger Rob Astorino and Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins in Buffalo, New York.
You can access a stream of the debate here:
http://www.buffalonews.com/debate
Also covered live at http://www.thirteen.org.
Also, confirmed LIVE TV Coverage
· WNED Buffalo
· WMHT Albany
· WSKG Binghamton
· WCNY Syracuse
· WPBS Watertown
· WXXI Rochester
· MLPBS Plattsburgh
· WNET New York City
http://joshwevans.com/2014/10/20/libertarians-convene-in-worcester-discuss-rights-race-and-more/
Hey all, I attended the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts’ State Convention and did a write-up of my observations. Never a dull moment there. Hope you all like it!
Afroman: “Because I Got High” Positive Remix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8AuMOGx_KY
Tap It: The NSA Slow Jam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SegAoSpHJck
Very nice!
I’m about to have an interview with Independent candidate Gordon Howie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Howie. He’s running for the U.S. Senate seat representing South Dakota that Larry Pressler is also running for. Any suggestions on questions to ask?
George–
Congrats to your team and you! All the best for a great year of political activism in Massachusetts.
We had a state convention. Joshua Katz was the keynote speaker. He talked about how to run for local office…wear out your shoes.
Katz announced he is forming an exploratory committee in possible preparation for running for President in 2016. He condemned the Presidential campaign of an unnamed person that gave half of all campaign income as salary to the campaign chair, that did nothing to build the party, that advocated for the Fair Tax, and that viewed Edward Snowden as a traitor.
The new State Committee is Dan Fishman – Political Facilitator, Bob Clark – Treasurer, Cris Crawford – Recording Secretary and Archivist, Ken Van Tassell – Operations Facilitator, Steven Sadowski – Editor, Heather Mullins – Membership Secretary, Al Hopfman – Membership Renewal, and George Phillies – Chair.
Some of our wonderful candidates spoke. Officers gave their reports. There was an extended debate on platform content.
“William Saturn October 18, 2014 at 2:00 am
Plus, they completely demolished the school and any evidence inside less than a year after the shooting.”
Just like the what was left of the World Trade Center after the 9/11/01 attack being taken away before a real investigation of the crime scene could be conducted.
I did not know about that Arizona anti-trolling law (mentioned in Andy’s video). That is incredibly troubling.
Plus, they completely demolished the school and any evidence inside less than a year after the shooting.
I have two main questions about Sandy Hook:
a. Why were the kids allowed to lay in the school for 2 days? Not one child was taken to a hospital by ambulance, and there were exactly zero medical helicopters. Why didn’t they try to save those kids?
b. Where were the rest of the children at the school? There was the line of kids being led out by their teacher, maybe 15 kids. So, 20 more children didn’t leave because they were shot. Where were the other 200 kids? They never came out of the school.
No one can answer those questions to my satisfaction.
Investigator Questions Sandy Hook Shooting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOm3y8KIm5U
I see our our imperial President God Emperor Ossama Ebola Obama has appointed yet another Czar. All Hail our God Emperor! We are now saved! (Again)
The Secret Life of Government Paid Trolls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMBvQ3QVJp0
Julie Fox, Libertarian Candidate for Illinois Comptroller was just endorsed by former Republican Congressman Joe Walsh on his WIND AM 560 radio show. He referenced her three times. One of my staff members recorded the endorsement and we will have that edited and posted asap.
This is huge…
Thomas Hill
Campaign Manager, Julie Fox 2014
http://juliefox2014.com
After reading the About Us page at Power Line, I see the author of the article linked above, Steven Hayward, is a regular guest host for Bill Bennett. It all comes together now. Sometimes it’s best to look at the source first before letting an article sink into your brain and numb it.
This article gave me a headache. There are so many within the GOP ranks that live in a world of delusion and they cannot see that the GOP is the problem. There’s a reason why people join the LP or ditch the GOP in favor of them.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/10/the-political-failure-of-libertarianism.php#comments
http://www.ballot-access.org/2014/10/two-billionaires-have-now-donated-2750000-to-pass-top-two-initiative-in-oregon/
http://slon.ru/world/federalizatsiya_nyu_gempshira-1164621.xhtml
How Government Works
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaoT97f573M
Thanks, William. You make a compelling case.
Latest from The Saturnalian, Larry Pressler EXPOSED:
http://thesaturnalian.wordpress.com/2014/10/15/meet-larry-pressler-south-dakotas-so-called-independent-senate-candidate/
Good stuff. Wish more of our candidates used their media time as well.
The interview I linked to in my last comment was slightly under 12 minutes long during prime drive time (6:00pm hour) in the Chicago market. I counted the word “Libertarian” mentioned 15 times!
Julie’s campaign website url was mentioned 8 times.
The only cost to the campaign for this nearly 12 minute Libertarian “infomercial” was the time it took Julie to conduct the interview.
Best 12 minutes spent by the campaign. Priceless…
That makes sense, supporting shows that support you. Good luck on the endorsement.
Paulie, we would certainly like to run these ads on a variety of media outlets. However, we need to concentrate on the ones we are already running. If the money pours in, we will certainly hit other station formats and markets.
The reason we are running on WIND during former Congressman Joe Walsh’s show is because Julie has been a guest on his show already. She has been invited back on his show. Strong support from conservatives was expected for Julie but I never imagined this much.
Here is a link to the Joe Walsh interview…
http://juliefox.nationbuilder.com/interview_on_the_joe_walsh_radio_show
As Julie’s campaign manager, I could not have crafted a better script for an interview, with the exception of him formally endorsing Julie during the interview. I hopefully expect that endorsement during Julie’s next visit to his show.
Excellent!
I would also recommend getting them on something other than conservative talk stations. I think we can actually get more headway with the non-political crowd, ie people who are more likely to listen to music, sports or whatever type station that is not politics. While the disadvantage is that they are on average somewhat less likely to vote, they make up for it by being more independent minded than talk show listeners, most of whom are people who have their minds made up and are stuck in their ways. The less strongly affiliated folks are more likely to appreciate a breath of fresh air. The talk audience on the other hand is used to lack of ventilation and may have paroxysms similar to an alcoholic going throw delirium tremens during withdrawals when the dittoheads get exposed to an actual breath of clean oxygen.
Lifetime LP member Julie Fox (Illinois candidate for comptroller) has campaign ads running on WIND AM 560. She would appreciate any help in keeping these ads running in the Chicago market through election day!
http://juliefox.nationbuilder.com/keep_julie_s_radio_ads_on_the_air
“Please remember to Vote Libertarian November 4th!”
*SIGH*… I only wish I could!
The Missouri LP held an in-person executive committee meeting on September 20th in Jefferson City. At the meeting, the committee voted to spend $1500 for a billboard campaign for the State Auditor’s race. The campaign raised an additional $4000 and 10 billboards have gone up around the state. The one shown below is on I-70, visible from the westbound direction, about 2 miles east of downtown Kansas City. The Auditor’s race is particularly interesting since there is no democrat running. This is the first time there has not been a democrat in a statewide race in Missouri in over 100 years.
Our candidate had a letter to the editor published in the St Louis Post – Dispatch here about the Missouri Press Association breaking with a long tradition of holding debates for statewide races at their annual meeting (to which they normally invite all candidates on the ballot). They apparently decided that since there is no democrat running, there was no reason to hold a debate.
Incumbent auditor, Schweich is planning to run for governor in 2016 – see this somewhat gushing puff piece in the Post-Dispatch. Doing so from the platform of being state auditor will, of course, be helpful for his gubernatorial campaign, but not likely helpful for Missouri taxpayers.
Inline image 1
Bill Slantz, our candidate for the 2nd US congressional district, received a nice (and somewhat surprising) endorsement from conservative blogger and co-founder of the St Louis Tea Party, Bill Hennessy. He then received further support from conservative blogger Jeff Rakestraw.
Herschel Young, our candidate for the 4th US congressional district has been busy appearing at campaign events throughout his district, and also has a biilboard campaign, with 8 billboards up around the 4th district.
Inline image 2
Over in the 8th congressional district, state rep candidate Greg Tlapek, and congressional candidate Rick Vandeven both appeared at a forum in Cape Girardeau hosted by the League of Women Voters. Both were quoted in a news article about the event, which includes links to a video of the event.
In terms of state rep races, our candidate Matt Stephens (33rd – Harrisonville) is running one of the most active campaigns ever run by a Libertarian for state rep. He held a fundraising rally with food and live music on Aug 16th, that was attended by over 100 people. Says Stephens, “Knocking doors as much as possible has shown me that the word Libertarian makes many people want to shake hands. People within the county political system are not as warm to the idea, but some appear to be supporting me over their own party’s incumbent. I have over 50 sign locations in Harrisonville alone. Most of them are people I didn’t know before. I have been handing out party brochures to those who show interest or say they do not know much about the party.”
Stephens will be on Libertarians Working For You radio podcast at 1 pm on Oct. 15 and at a public forum Oct. 21 in downtown Pleasant Hill at 6:30 pm at the Memorial Building. His campaign also walked in the Burnt District Festival Parade on Saturday, Oct. 4. He was also recently interviewed by The Odessan newspaper for a profile.
Another state rep candidate Dean “Draig” Hodge (103rd, O’Fallon) has raised $8500 to date to pay for mailings to all the registered voters in his district and is campaigning hard to win.
The above is a sampling of some of the activities by our 29 candidates working for the cause of liberty. For the complete list with contact info, visit lpmo.org.
Your donation to the state party and/or to one or more of our candidates actively raising money would be greatly appreciated, and be a great help in giving liberty a voice in Missouri this election.
Please remember to Vote Libertarian November 4th!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/10/08/how-often-do-third-party-candidates-actually-spoil-elections-not-very/
The article buys into the “spoiled elections”/”siphoning votes” nonsense, and especially the thoroughly disproven canard that Libertarian draw votes that would otherwise overwhelmingly go to Republicans, yet still concludes that alt parties and independents hardly ever “spoil” elections. If we add into this analysis the overwhelming evidence that Libertarians and independents earn a large percentage from people who would have otherwise settled for Democrats as well as from those who would have otherwise settled for Republicans, as well as a large percentage who would never settle for either one and would simply not have voted without the Libertarians and/or independents in the race, the so-called “spoiled” election becomes even more vanishingly rare.
Yeah. After further review, I basically agree with your assessment of the ballot, Paulie.
http://www.ballot-access.org/2014/10/bradenton-times-endorses-libertarian-for-florida-attorney-general/
Latest Liberty for America is up
http://libertyforamerica.com/liberty-for-america-magazine/
In This Issue
LNC Botched 2014 National Chair Election
Sarwark did not have a majority of the votes
Oregon
Reeves faction endorses Republican against Libertarian
LNC in Action
Reports from their meetings and statements
Where Your Money Went
Quotes from “Libertarian Renaissance”
http://www.ballot-access.org/2014/10/link-to-new-york-city-sample-ballot-for-november-4-2014/
Agreed with Richard that this is better than the upstate one but it still reduce LP chances of retention by putting the LP into the second line that some voters will not notice (or will only notice after they already voted).
What if a President gave a speech like this about guns?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T-F_zfoDqI
I don’t think it could help. The natural tendency is to follow all the other dots and mark in the leftmost column, regardless of whether you intend to vote LP or the Stop Common Core extra Republican line. Only the most alert people will notice they need to mark the second column for the LP. It will also lead a lot of people to deduce that there is a “Stop Common Core Libertarian” ticket which is either running Astorino or giving you a choice of Astorino or McDonnell (which couldn’t be the case but a lot of people won’t know that). Since Astorino is better known that would once again help him.
Democrats endorse Green Party gubenatorial candidate, Howie Hawkins. When they say “Village”, they mean the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village.
http://www.howiehawkins.org/videndorsement?recruiter_id=102417
What has happened in Acapulco, Mexico since the police were removed?
https://www.dollarvigilante.com/blog/2014/10/1/what-happens-when-all-the-police-in-a-town-are-removed.html
Sanders likely has the Democrats firmly in his grasp. His position is: I am a member of the Senate Democratic caucus. Let me run in the Democratic primaries, or look elsewhere for a vote to organize the Senate.
That NY ballot is ridiculous. But, it seems to me that it could help the Ls just as easily as hurt them.
Here’s a debate for Arizona’s CD7. Included are Joe Cobb (L) and Jose Penalosa (I).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQAhZ6oHAJA
Bad news in NY:
http://www.ballot-access.org/2014/10/new-york-upstate-ballots-squeeze-libertarian-party-into-same-row-as-stop-common-core-party/
Could hurt efforts to hit 50k
If Sanders runs for President in the Democratic Party primaries I am pretty sure he would be required to “be” a Democrat. I imagine change his registratio in VT and officially join the Dems in the Senate?
I could see him doing this, as I doubt he will run for reelection to the Senate again, or any off ice, after running for President. I mean, Sanders is 73 now, he will be 75 in 2016, and 78 in 2019.
If he runs for President as a Democrat I do not think he should get any more coverage than Kucinich or Paul have.
Didn’t think it deserved to be posted here, but interesting.
Mike Huckabee Says if Republican Party Doesn’t Fight Same-Sex Marriage, He will Become an Independent http://www.ballot-access.org/2014/10/mike-huckabee-says-if-republican-party-doesnt-fight-same-sex-marriage-he-will-become-an-independent/
Chuck Baldwin has some curious things to say re: the “lessor of two evils” things;
http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Opinion/164435-2014-10-09-ryan-zinke-the-greater-evil.htm?From=News
http://www.illinoisherald.com/articles/2014/q4/illinois-comptroller-candidates-and-endorsement/
http://www.illinoisherald.com/articles/2014/q4/bruce-rauner-well-hurt-you-and-your-family/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3kEpZWGgJks
Jed and William: I think we should cover them, but not more so than we are already doing.
Roger: I agree that the bad behavior of hotel corporations in this instance should not be a legal matter. The way that hotel employees have explained it to conference organizers I know is that as soon as one hotel chain stops this crap the rest will soon follow. So, while I can’t defend the lawsuit ideologically, if it causes the dominos to fall in this regard it would be a good result, although achieved through illegitimate means (bad business practice is not the same as initiation of force).
Interesting story today about a conference attendee who successfully sued Marriott Corp. over the corporation’s jamming of Wi-Fi in Marriott’s conference halls. http://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/marriott-fined-dollar600000-for-jamming-guests-wi-fi/ar-BB7iGHn. Of course, I’m a libertarian so I tend to side with Marriott over the FCC. Nonetheless, this case highlights the abuses that some hotels commit against conference attendees in order to make money. The true answer, of course, is to use the market to identify good hotel conference centers that don’t engage in such abuses of their customers.
Technically Sanders & King fit under our purview as “Independents” but the fact that they caucus with the Democrats weakens their “Independent” status. The Democrats are 100% behind Orman and even had their nominee drop out of the race to improve Orman’s chances against Roberts. I don’t see these are true third party/independents.
Something I’ve been pondering for a while now: Should IPR give a bit more coverage to Bernie Sanders & Angus King (and Greg Orman if he’s elected) as they are actual elected independents, or not since they caucus with the major parties (though you kind of have to) and already receive coverage in the media?
More video footage from Oregon of petition circulators being harassed, this time by the police at a city bus stop.
Stuff like this happens in every state in this country, and it is one of the primary reason why it is so difficult to place issues and candidates on the ballot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itMz1w17w-I
Ever wonder why ballot access drives are so difficult in this country? Here is one of the main reason why they are so difficult is that petition circulators are frequently harassed, intimidated, threatened, run out of locations that are open to the public, and sometimes even arrested, just for asking people to sign petitions to place candidate or issues on the ballot.
This is a video from Oregon of a petition circulator being hassled by a security guard on a public sidewalk at some kind of festival or farmers market (note that the courts have already rules that since these events are open to the public, they are fair ground for 1st amendment activities) while gathering signatures on a petition to place a marijuana legalization initiative on the ballot. Anyone who has done a lot of petition signature gathering can relate to this as things like this happen all too frequently all over this country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKa_PQDmPS0
No Jill, I am not. I have not been able to get on the BAN site for over a month, however. My AVG anti-virus software won’t let me.
So, I’ve noticed on a few threads, that I go to leave a comment, and there’s no box, but an icon that says “WordPress is not available at this time”, or something similar, so that I can’t leave a comment. Is anyone else having that problem?
http://www.lp.org/blogs/staff/newsweek-features-libertarian-views-on-ebola
This is great! More people should do stuff like this.
Illegal Spying Below: Activists Fly Anti-Surveillance Airship over NSA’s Utah Data Center
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsEkmHRbThk
As we prepare for Midterms, let us remember some good times for our country. In the beginning there was Industrial Hemp…http://youtu.be/SJs58clFRAY
The Missouri Hemp Network will issue a press release for candidate endorsement in a few weeks in the St Louis Dispatch. So far, three Libertarians have vowed to support Industrial Hemp and/or cannabis reform.
Cheers!!
Ugh . . . the move from Park City back to our former home in Alpine is taking more of my time and energy (and money) than I had imagined, and there is no end in sight yet. I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck . .
Hope to be back posting again here soon; have some stuff from Grover Norquist’s talk at Burning Man (which I attended; I spoke at the same theme camp, on the same stage 48 hours earlier) which I’ve been wanting to put together. Probably too dated now, but I might still get it up . . .
Joe
http://www.lp.org/blogs/staff/libertarian-amanda-swafford-for-us-senate-featured-in-time
The number of state legislative candidates from each party is revealed in the Oct. 1, 2014 Ballot Access News. Even though there are more seats up in 2014 than in 2012, the number of candidates on the ballot for the legislature from the two major parties is down. The only nationally-organized minor party with more state legislative candidates this year than 2012 is the Libertarian Party, although the increase was small (256 in 2012, and 260 in 2014).
Last night I participated in a local candidates forum, and the audience and press were very positive about minor-party inclusion:
http://www.oregonlive.com/hillsboro/index.ssf/2014/10/hillsboros_candidates_for_oreg.html
“In addition to Democratic and Republican candidates, two Libertarians joined the mix – and they happened to be married. What’s more, Kyle Markley and Caitlin Mitchel-Markley, who are respectively running for House District 30 and Senate District 15, routinely had the most detailed – if also sometimes unorthodox – solutions to the political problems posed by moderators and audience members.”
Bonner told me Illinois Republicans are appealing to the state supreme court, although I have not seen this on BAN or anywhere else. Anyone know more?
The New York Board of Elections has certified the ballot. The statewide (non-federal offices) candidates are listed here:
http://www.elections.ny.gov/NYSBOE/Elections/2014/General/2014GeneralElectionCertification.pdf
We are listed for the four statewide races and the 5th SD (Gigi Bowman) and 37th (John Kevin Wilson) and 139th (Mark Glogowski) ADs.
Additionally David Casavis is running as R-l in the 73rd AD. He submitted but did not get enough sigs to qualify for Libertarian line as well.