March 2017 - Lnc-business - Moellman Enterprises Email

A project other regional representatives might want to consider
by Caryn Ann Harlos 21 Mar '17

21 Mar '17

I have heard concerns over "time wasting" resolutions and the like, and I have taken the call to membership retention very seriously and have decided that I would personally call every lapsed member in my region and offer to speak with them. While HQ does typically followup, it means a great deal to people to have a member of the LNC personally call and the one that is their elected representative. I encourage other regional representatives to do this as an effort for member retention. I also am soliciting national memberships at the conventions I attend. I obtained the agreement of one lapsed member of the weekend to rejoin and signed up five new members in Montana. -- *In Liberty,* *Caryn Ann Harlos* Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - Caryn.Ann. Harlos(a)LP.org <Caryn.Ann.Harlos(a)LP.org> Communications Director, Libertarian Party of Colorado <http://www.lpcolorado.org> Colorado State Coordinator, Libertarian Party Radical Caucus <http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org> Chair, LP Historical Preservation Committee A haiku to the Statement of Principles: *We defend your rights* *And oppose the use of force* *Taxation is theft*

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Platform and Bylaws appointments
by Joshua Katz 18 Mar '17

18 Mar '17

Every 2 years, we hear that platform and bylaws are about "rearranging commas." So I thought the following might be apt in light of the upcoming appointments: http://loweringthebar.net/2017/03/the-oxford-comma-use-it.html It is far from the only or most famous case, but it is the most recent. Joshua A. Katz

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LNC Sponsored training sessions
by Sam Goldstein 17 Mar '17

17 Mar '17

We are almost through 1/4 of the year and I've not heard anything about continuing the very successful training sessions we staged last year. I think we budgeted for at least three for 2017. Does someone on staff take the lead on this or can the LNC appoint an ad hoc committee to set them up. Sam Goldstein Libertarian National Committee Member at Large 8925 N Meridian St, Ste 101 Indianapolis IN 46260 317-850-0726 Phone 317-582-1773 Fax

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Re: [Lnc-business] The Standard of Liberty
by Starchild 16 Mar '17

16 Mar '17

Hi Ben, Thank you for writing, and apologies for the delay responding. When I first read your message, I wasn't sure what to say. Looking over it again, I'm still not quite sure what to say. You've titled your essay "The Standard of Liberty", but I don't understand what precisely you're claiming that standard is. Can you sum it up in a sentence or two? You say none of the usually cited eminent intellectuals who have written on liberty have managed to write about the subject without still justifying some measure of tyranny in their philosophies. That's an interesting claim; I'd like to hear more about it. Where do you think they go astray, or where do you think tyranny creeps into their thinking? How have you avoided it in framing your own standard of liberty – or do you think you have? Do you believe that someone who advocated, or adhered to, the Non-Aggression Principle with perfect consistency, would still in some way be failing to live up to the ideal of liberty, and if so how? Getting more practical, I'm curious as to your purpose in writing to members of the Libertarian National Committee. How would you have us apply these ideas to the day-to-day affairs of the Libertarian Party's operations? You mention feeling somewhat disappointed in the party's disunity, yet you (wisely, in my estimation) also reject a party in which people bend their principles and vote party loyalty, and wish for a party that's about uniting people under a common banner of truth. What would a party united around truth, but not around party loyalty, look like to you? Can you identify the concrete differences between such a hypothetical party and the Libertarian Party as you see it existing now? If you've been paying attention to the LNC email list, what positions would you have taken on some of the recent mundane matters we've been discussing, and why? (If you haven't been paying attention and would like to check out the matters we're dealing with in order to attempt to provide some practical advice or guidance, you can read the LNC's email correspondence online, or sign up to receive the messages via email, here – http://hq.lp.org/pipermail/lnc-business_hq.lp.org/ .) Philosophy is well and good, but for it to help me in my role as an elected representative on the LNC, I need to understand how it applies to the actual decisions I'm called upon to make and the actions that are within my scope to take, and in the case of what you've written I confess that I lack any such understanding. Can you distill your thoughts into some specific recommendations? If so, please feel free to send them along. Either way, I appreciate your commitment to the Libertarian Party and the cause of liberty for which it stands, and thanks again for taking the time to write. I hope you are also taking the time to engage in pro-liberty activism where you live, because achieving a free world requires not only that those of us who have some understanding of freedom try to live in accord with libertarian ideals ourselves, but also that we work to stop the aggression being committed by others, and to dismantle the organized structures and systems that facilitate that aggression. Love & Liberty, ((( starchild ))) At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee (415) 625-FREE @StarchildSF On Mar 6, 2017, at 5:29 AM, <sonoflibrty(a)gmail.com> <sonoflibrty(a)gmail.com> wrote: > To Libertarian Party Officers and Members: > > I joined the Libertarian Party ten years ago, out of firm convictions regarding the principle of liberty. I am now somewhat disappointed in the Party’s disunity. > Ian Tart, a writer for the Libertarian Republic, expressed this disunity in a recent article identifying five kinds of Libertarians, ranging from moderates to anarchists. All of these, as I see it, differ in their standards of liberty. > The subject of Liberty has weighed heavily on my mind for the past thirty of my sixty-three years, in every area of my life, including relationships with family, employment, church, “friends,” and governments. > The following article is a summation of the convictions I have formed over those years. It is a gift to you, to the Libertarian Party, to anyone who shares my conviction that we will never be united as a party or a nation unless we embrace a common Standard of Liberty; a standard of Truth. > For whatever it is worth, coming from a common member would like to remain common, it is time to raise the bar. > Was the Libertarian Party established to influence people, under mob rule, to bend their principles and vote party loyalty, or was it established to unite free-thinking people under a common banner of truth? > For me, this is the Party’s decisive moment. Do people really want peace? Do they really want Liberty? Or are they willing to continue to live their lives slogging through various degrees of tyrannical slime and contention because they would rather do that than face the truth and be responsible for themselves? > I do not want recognition. I would prefer anonymity, but will do whatever I can to help promote the principles defined in the following article. It is copy written only to maintain my integrity; not for profit. You may use or discard it, as you please. > Your Servant, > Ben H. Szymanski > > THE STANDARD OF LIBERTY > > Does anyone really want peace? > Do you want it? > What would you give to have it? > The price of peace includes nothing of value. > Peace requires only your pride. > Peace requires abandonment of every assumption that you are entitled to something. > The price of peace is embracing full responsibility for yourself. > The price of peace is abandonment of tyranny. > Is the price too great? Are you willing to pay it? > Can you give Liberty to the people in your life? > I am frequently complimented on my ability to write, but seldom on my message. > Perhaps this is because the truth is seldom pleasant and hardly ever flattering. We are all inclined, by nature, to avoid the truth about ourselves. > What, exactly, is Liberty? What does the word mean? > Is there a universally acceptable definition? > In all my experience, I have never heard or read one. I’ve encountered definitions of Liberty ranging from total responsibility for self to absolute freedom from responsibility, but I’ve never heard or read a definition, formed by the mind of man or woman, that nails down Liberty as a firm state of being or standard of behavior. > Everyone comprehends liberty, but no one agrees on the standard of behavior precisely defined by that word. > Liberty is a fundamental principle of Moral Law. It was etched in every heart, in every conscience, by our Creator. > Listen to your heart, and you will hear the truth of this definition: > Liberty is the opportunity to love. > In Liberty, you have a choice: you can give the energy of your life to others, or you can focus it upon yourself. > Without liberty, this choice does not exist for you. Without Liberty, someone you fear consumes your interest and attention. > Without liberty, you cannot give anything to anyone. Without liberty, you have nothing to give. Without liberty, nothing belongs to you; not even yourself. Without Liberty, someone you fear owns you; someone who believes they are entitled to everything you have, and everything you are. > Without liberty, you have no power to love; no right or power to express who you are or what you feel. Without liberty, outside of yourself you do not exist. > Liberty is the opportunity to love. > Is this untrue? > You cannot win liberty by fighting for it. You cannot buy Liberty. Liberty exists only as a gift. > Liberty is the opportunity to love. > The more I contemplate this definition, the more I am convinced of its truth. Every effort I make to talk about it, however, results in one of two reactions from people: > In one, I am presented with a list of philosophers like Thomas Jefferson, John Locke, John Stuart Mill, or Ayn Rand; eminent intellectuals who have written profound thoughts about Liberty. These are people who, supposedly, can really teach me about this subject. I find, however, that all of them justify some measure of tyranny in their philosophies. No one defines a standard of behavior that would eliminate it. > In the second reaction, I am dismissed as an arrogant nobody who has the effrontery to suggest that Liberty can be defined, or that defining it even matters. > In either case, the subject of Liberty is avoided. > If you want to get into a raving argument, try cornering someone about the definition of Liberty. After repeated attempts, I can bet that you will come to the same conclusion that I have; Liberty is the common underlying issue in every human conflict. > Everyone wants Liberty for themselves. Few are willing to give it, without reserve, to others. > I am no authority on this subject. In your heart, you know as much about Liberty as I do. I just don’t see that Liberty is so complicated that it requires books by intellectuals to comprehend it. We all have the pure knowledge of this principle written in our hearts; within the attribute we call conscience. Liberty is the fundamental principle of Moral Law; the Law that God has written in our hearts. But ultimately, unless his mind submits to his heart, it is the mind of a man that governs his actions; and the mind of man is the source of tyranny. Liberty comes from his heart. > I obtained books on Liberty by intellectuals and read them, or at least I attempted to. In every case I felt like I was wading through a waist-deep bog of quicksand. I kept setting the books aside, asking, “Why am I doing this? Is reading the works of an ‘expert’ going to make me one? Are these people saying anything profound, or are they complicating liberty to justify their own denial of it? Are they revealing truth, or clouding it over?” > Your mind defines Liberty in terms that bend to your own standard of morality. It depends upon how well you listen to your heart. Everyone wants Liberty for themselves, but few are willing to grant it to others. Most people reserve to themselves some right to be tyrants. > What tyrant does not loudly proclaim “Liberty!” while arrogantly believing that Liberty gives him the right to enslave others? In his mind, he has convinced himself that slavery benefits “lesser” people! > Liberty is not about you. Liberty is a gift that you give to others. Liberty is a gift that you receive from others. > Liberty is the opportunity you give others to love you, rather than fear you. > What good is there in holding yourself or others to a standard that is loosely defined and compromised at will; that can be bent or denied by your mind to justify tyranny? > What light are we to hold political issues and candidates up to, if the light of liberty can arbitrarily be dimmed to any standard we choose? > The only constant beacon of light I know of is the light of conscience; the light by which men of peace govern themselves and their relationships with others. By that light people of virtue, people of conscience, ought to agree on a firm standard of Liberty, a standard of behavior by which statesmen can be differentiated from politicians. > I offer you, in friendship, my own standard of Liberty. I ask you to consider it, in the light of your conscience. Can you find a statement within this that is not true? If so, I would consider it an act of friendship on your part to make me aware of it. > > > THE STANDARD OF LIBERTY > Liberty is your opportunity to love. > Liberty is your opportunity to give. > Liberty is your opportunity not to give. > Liberty is self-ownership, and as such, > Liberty requires self-responsibility. > You have nothing to give if you do not own yourself. > You have no power to choose if you do not own yourself. > You have no self-respect if you do not own yourself. > You are nothing If you do not own yourself. > Regardless of inequalities, two people are equal > when neither is entitled to anything from the other. > We are equal when we mutually embrace self-ownership. > Every contention stems from denial of equality. > Every contention is a battle for self-ownership. > There is no peace without equality. > There is no peace without liberty. > If one person is entitled to something from another, > they are not equal. > What one is entitled to, the other is enslaved to. > Neither has liberty, > Neither knows peace. > Liberty grants opportunity to destroy it. > Liberty grants you opportunity to destroy yourself. > Liberty is your opportunity to be self-indulgent. > Self-indulgence evolves into hoarding. > Hoarding evolves into inequality. > Inequality claims entitlement. > Entitlement denies liberty. > We were endowed, by our Creator, with rights. > We were not endowed with entitlements. > You have a right to Liberty, as Liberty is right. > You are entitled to nothing, as entitlement is not right. > Liberty is a gift; something you receive. > If you have Liberty, it is because someone gave it to you. > If you have Liberty, it is because someone defended it. > If you have Liberty, it is because someone loved you. > Honor the gift, for by so doing, you > Honor the givers of the gift. > Liberty is the opportunity to love. > Liberty is a gift; receive it. > Liberty is a gift; cherish it. > Liberty is a gift; give it. > Liberty is the standard by which men of peace govern themselves. > Ben H. Szymanski > > > > >

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new milestone
by Alicia Mattson 16 Mar '17

16 Mar '17

While we're ranking things, here are some fun stats. We hit a milestone this week, as someone posted their 1000th email of this LNC term to the LNC-Business list. (cue balloons & confetti) With 3554 emails sent by 28 senders so far this term, as of a few minutes ago, the top ten email posters are: Harlos - 1015 Starchild - 295 Katz - 256 Mattson - 243 Moellman - 224 Demarest - 201 Hayes - 198 Goldstein - 188 Benedict - 136 Bilyeu - 132 The average person has sent 127 emails. The bottom 20 posters have sent a combined 934 emails.

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states eligible to appoint to 2018 Platform Committee
by Alicia Mattson 16 Mar '17

16 Mar '17

As Sam already cited (he gets a brownie point) the bylaws prescribe that the Platform Committee is comprised of: 1. One member by each of the five affiliate parties having the greatest per capita sustaining membership as determined for Convention delegate allocations at the most recent Regular Convention. 2. One member by each of the ten affiliate parties having the largest sustaining memberships, excluding those affiliates from (a), as determined for Convention delegate allocations at the most recent Regular Convention. 3. Five members selected by the National Committee. The cutoff date for determining delegate allocations for the most recent regular convention (2016) was 10/31/15, however you can't just use the data that Robert sends in the monthly membership reports. It's close, but not complete. It is a snapshot on that day. However, Bylaws Article 10.4.a says that any sustaining membership donations postmarked by that date also count towards these allocations. When that date arrives, Robert hits the proverbial pause button and processes only items postmarked by that date until we have received them all, sends me the updated data specifically for this calculation, and then resumes normal processing of the mail. The population figures used for the per capita calculations come from the 2010 census. The top five per capita states which get to appoint for 2018 are: 1 - New Hampshire 2 - Alaska 3 - Colorado 4 - Nevada 5 - Virginia The top ten ranked by sustaining membership excludes those affiliates included in the top-five-per-capita ranking. Both Colorado and Virginia qualify by either ranking method this time, so that means the 11th and 12th ranked by sustaining membership get pulled into the top ten list for 2018 as follows: 1 - California 2 - Texas 3 - Florida 4 - New York 5 - Ohio 6 - Virginia 7 - Pennsylvania 8 - Illinois 9 - Colorado 10 - Michigan 11 - Indiana 12 - Washington This year the postmarked-by adjustments did not change the top-ten ranking relative to what was published for 10/31/15, though I think there was a rank shift for the prior convention due to that factor. After the LNC makes the appointment of an interim chair for the committee, I contact the chairs of the affiliates entitled to make appointments and provide them all the details such as the appointment deadline, who they should notify when the appointment is made, dates of the convention, etc. -Alicia

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Restore the Fourth – Weekly update, March 15-21, 2017
by Starchild 16 Mar '17

16 Mar '17

Some good info here from RT4 that seemed worth passing along. Note particularly the request at the beginning of their national chair's message for contacts in northern New York state. Love & Liberty, ((( starchild ))) At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee (415) 625-FREE @StarchildSF Begin forwarded message: > From: "Zaki Manian" (via rt4sf Mailing List) <rt4sf(a)lists.riseup.net> > Date: March 15, 2017 2:35:29 PM PDT > To: rt4sf <rt4sf(a)lists.riseup.net> > Subject: [rt4sf] Fw: [rt4-national] RT4 update, March 15, 2017 - March 21, 2017 > Reply-To: Zaki Manian <zmanian(a)protonmail.com> > > Sent from ProtonMail, encrypted email based in Switzerland. > >> -------- Original Message -------- >> Subject: [rt4-national] RT4 update, March 15, 2017 - March 21, 2017 >> Local Time: March 15, 2017 2:19 PM >> UTC Time: March 15, 2017 9:19 PM >> From: rt4-national(a)lists.riseup.net >> To: rt4-national(a)lists.riseup.net <rt4-national(a)lists.riseup.net> >> >> Hi everyone, >> >> It's been an extraordinary week for surveillance-related news; let's try to make sense of it together. >> >> Restore The Fourth signed up to efforts to oppose device searches and password demands at the border. As part of our efforts to make sure the House Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) to be better staffed and resourced, if you have contacts in northern New York State, and particularly in the NY-21 congressional district (Elise Stefanik), now would be the time to let me know at rt4chair(a)protonmail.com. Stefanik will be a key vote in making this happen. >> >> Our board elections are coming up on May 1; if you're interested in running for a Restore The Fourth National board position, please contact zmanian(a)protonmail.com prior to APRIL 1, with a short bio and explanation of why you'd like to run for the position, which will be publicly circulated to all chapters on that date. >> >> Active on social media this week: RT4-Boston, RT4-Chicago, RT4-RI ("RI Rights"), RT4-SF Bay Area, RT4-Susquehanna Valley, RT4-Utah (thanks, everyone!) >> >> LINKS >> In The States >> (a) In Maine, veterans are now being denied care at VA hospitals, necessitating emergency legislation, because Maine won't comply with the REAL ID Act: http://www.pressherald.com/2017/03/14/house-backs-bill-to-help-veterans-cau… >> >> (b) In Memphis, TN, activists fighting for $15 per hour and a union were trailed home by Memphis PD; Memphis cops compiled blacklists of activists and conducted disinformation campaigns against them, viewing them as seeking to disrupt Memphis' "normal way of life": http://www.copblock.org/171870/memphis-police-conduct-widespread-activist-s… >> >> (c) The NH House unanimously approved a bill restricting stingray surveillance: https://www.scmagazine.com/stingray-bill-passes-new-hampshire-house-unanimo… >> >> (d) The Kentucky Supreme Court considers whether it's appropriate to use an automated license plate reader to identify a plate of someone who failed to appear on an outstanding warrant for writing a bad check, and then for an officer to conduct a traffic stop on that basis, absent any evidence of poor driving: http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2017/03/14/kentucky-supreme… >> >> (e) In Bellingham, WA, the ACLU blunted an effort to spy on people who had posted to or commented on a Facebook page associated with the #NoDAPL pipeline protests; the search warrant has now been withdrawn. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dakota-access-pipeline-protesters-faceb… >> >> National >> There were so many surveillance stories this week that it is hard to choose which to put first. >> >> (a) It's particularly hard to find balanced coverage of the "Vault7" revelations from Wikileaks, though the Japan Times doesn't do the world's worst job: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2017/03/13/commentary/world-commentary/…. Let's clear some initial misconceptions out of the way. No, this probably isn't a Russian government effort to divert US press attention from Trump's Russian ties; the leak probably originated where Assange says it did, namely from a contractor the CIA had unwisely shared its hacking tools with. On the other hand, Assange was incorrect to hype that the existence of these hacking tools makes Signal insecure; nothing about them suggests that Signal has been compromised, only that if the CIA installs a keylogger on a phone using Signal, it's possible to intercept what is being typed before Signal encrypts it, and that (a) was already known and (b) can't realistically be prevented by Signal. It's highly speculative to infer from general CIA interest in hacking into car software systems that the CIA had a hand in the death of journalist Michael Hastings in 2013; and the exploitation of Samsung's "smart TVs" for surveillance purposes was also already known, so, you know, don't buy one! That being said, this is still a major story. The nature of "panopticon" surveillance, as the Japan Times alludes to, is not that everybody actually has to be surveilled for the surveillance to be effective; it's only necessary that it is broadly known that you could be under active surveillance. The Vault7 suite of hacking tools suggests that the CIA could exploit a variety of vulnerabilities in both Android and iOS to open your smartphone to their view. It also suggests that the Vulnerabilities Equities Process, whereby the government is supposed to share vulnerabilities it identifies in software with the vendors, is broken, and that we need a process that does not allow the intelligence community to hoard vulnerabilities that leave the general population more vulnerable to hackers, identity thieves and foreign state actors as well as to them. Last, the leak has enabled Wikileaks to chart out in public, more accurately than has ever been done before, an internal org chart for the CIA. >> >> (b) President Trump alleged that President Obama "wire tapped" Trump Tower during the presidential campaign. He faced much scorn for the suggestion from the intelligence community and Democratic congressmembers, who pointed out accurately that for a "wiretap", there needs to be a paper trail: the Department of Justice needs to request approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for such surveillance. House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes and ranking member Adam Schiff have said that there is no such evidence, and the White House is asking for more time to prove their assertion. However, this wiretapping story, and the earlier story relating to the interception of conversations of General Flynn with the Russian ambassador, are providing an opportunity for surveillance activists to broaden the appeal of calls to reform "Section 702" mass surveillance, which is a broader type of surveillance than the "wiretaps" Trump speculated about. The only surveillance state observer to have drawn a link between Trump's fatuous tweeting and the serious allegations of NSA whistleblower Russell Tice is Cryptogon, but it's worth heeding what they have to say; that what underlies the ambiguity about this story is probably a reality where the surveillance state is indeed capable of storing a complete, searchable record on every American: http://www.cryptogon.com/?p=50604. >> >> (c) In a similar vein, Kellyanne Conway's speculation on your microwaves being equipped with spy cameras (http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updat…) while untrue, points to a more substantial truth. Not only have some people already been dumb enough to create a $1,200 Internet-connected microwave so that you can Instagram pictures of microwaved bacon in real time (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htrYBFOpzOE&feature=youtu.be) but this is just one of an array of "Internet of Things" household appliances that are being connected to the Internet, insecurely, for no damn reason at all. The good thing is that unlike for, say, smart meters, getting such appliances is completely optional. >> >> (d) Facebook and Instagram have followed Twitter's lead in prohibiting third-party developers from using their data for surveillance, as a result of excellent work by the ACLU of Northern California: https://www.aclunc.org/news/facebook-and-instagram-publicly-prohibit-survei… >> >> (e) In the latest episode of the "Intercepted" podcast, recorded live on stage at SXSW, Edward Snowden offers his thoughts on Trump's allegations and the Deep State: http://boingboing.net/2017/03/15/orange-opsec.html. >> >> (f) With Snowden, and perhaps others, in mind, former NSA Director Michael Hayden, blames Millennial culture for the increase in leaks: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/03/10/ex-cia-direct…. It would be more incisive to blame the collapse in the cost of data storage and the massive increase in digitization, but I guess it's hard for any Boomer to resist blaming the Millennials, right? >> >> (g) More details emerge of the FBI's exploitation of Best Buy's "Geek Squad" to conduct surveillance for child pornography, thanks to discovery in USA v. Mark Rettenmaier, where it's alleged that because Geek Squad employees were acting as agents of the government, a warrant was required prior to the search of Rettenmaier's hard drive: http://www.ocweekly.com/news/fbi-used-best-buys-geek-squad-to-increase-secr…. >> >> (h) The government tells us "Share your data with us, we're a safe pair of hands" - but things like this massive leak keep happening. http://www.zdnet.com/article/leaked-us-military-files-exposed/ >> >> (i) Employers are attempting, through a bill called HR 1313, to be allowed to charge up to 50% more in health insurance premiums to employees who refuse to share their genetic information with them as part of a workplace wellness program. Thanks to the "third party doctrine", employers could then share that genetic information with the government without needing the consent of the individual whose DNA it actually is. A 2008 federal genetic nondiscrimination law, "GINA", currently prohibits this practice. https://www.statnews.com/2017/03/10/workplace-wellness-genetic-testing/ >> >> International >> (a) On the border, Customs and Border Police are massively expanding their searches of cellphones (https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170314/08063936914/phone-searches-now-d…) especially for Muslims or people married to or looking like Muslims (http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/american-citizens-u-s-border-agents-can…) This is even though a review of people denied visas for being linked to terrorism shows that over half of them have no voluntary links to terrorism at all: https://www.cato.org/blog/visas-denied-terrorism-crunching-numbers. >> >> (b) In a salutary story about how much to trust the claims of vendors to provide "end-to-end encrypted" services, Dutch police managed to decrypt messages on a seized server for Ennetcom, because unbeknownst to its users, it was actually generating its keys on its server: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/dutch-cops-say-theyve-decrypted-… >> >> (c) South Africa's proposed cybercrime legislation, while still terrible, is improving in response to criticism: http://blogs.cfr.org/cyber/2017/03/07/south-africa-introduces-revised-cyber… >> >> (d) The surveillance-friendly DC Circuit rules that an Ethiopian democracy activist cannot sue his tyrannous government in US federal court for implanting malware in his Maryland home. Good luck in the Ethiopian courts, Mr. Kidane! https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/03/dc-circuit-court-issues-dangerous-dec… >> >> Alex Marthews, National Chair >> Restore The Fourth >> https://www.restorethe4th.com >> @Restore_The4th >> (781) 258-2936 >> >> Sent with ProtonMail Secure Email. >> >

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Committee applications
by Caryn Ann Harlos 16 Mar '17

16 Mar '17

I would like to request that any interested LNC member be able to see these as they come in. -- *In Liberty,* *Caryn Ann Harlos* Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - Caryn.Ann. Harlos(a)LP.org <Caryn.Ann.Harlos(a)LP.org> Communications Director, Libertarian Party of Colorado <http://www.lpcolorado.org> Colorado State Coordinator, Libertarian Party Radical Caucus <http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org> Chair, LP Historical Preservation Committee A haiku to the Statement of Principles: *We defend your rights* *And oppose the use of force* *Taxation is theft*

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Discussion on LP records archives
by Caryn Ann Harlos 15 Mar '17

15 Mar '17

This is a discussion preliminary to a motion on the records of the LP after extensive discussion with Wes and Wes running the thoughts by Nick Sarwark Here is the state of things. On the Historical Committee end, we have a pretty talented group that was chosen, including the original creator of the LP.org website Joe Dehn and the LPedia curator for the past ten years James Gholston. LPedia has been cleaned up (gigs and gigs of spam removed) and moved to the new server. We are kicking the tires to make sure it is ready to fling back open for new account creation - this is remarkable in itself, new account creation has been disabled for years (five years I think). Joe Buchman has been scanning using a professional scanner - but that is slow going as it is on off hours he gets to use as a volunteer, but we have some high quality scans to start. And once LPedia gets going fundraising for the initial budget will ramp up. I have already raised the first 20% but it is hard to ask for support without some "product" to show. A problem is that is it very difficult to get started on bulk scanning as we don't know what we have in Virginia, compounded by the fact that some of it is in an offsite storage facility that is not organized (it is safe and boxed well to preserve but no one has put in the very hard time of getting those files into shape - there have been more pressing matters - the fact that they are safe and stored is due to heroic efforts by Wes as far as I am concerned - the legend was that much more was destroyed in the Watergate flood than actually was). None of committee members live in Virginia (one lives several hours a year but is fairly new to Party involvement though he has made sysadmin skills), and the guiding visionary of the whole thing - me - lives in Colorado. We can ask volunteers to start (and I have one dedicated volunteer going down Monday to begin- Jackie Mason) but in general that can be a spotty method as can using interns, but without a very systematic organization the effectiveness of the records preservation will be less than ideal. So with this, I would to share some of Wes' thoughts (to which I concur) which were shared with Nick for the Committee's consideration with some additional thoughts of mine at the end. These summary thoughts from Wes was after an extensive phone conference with me: ==== I'd like Caryn Ann and the Historical committee to have access to documents. But, coordinating and managing interns, shipping items, etc., is going to cause a substantial amount of interruption here at LPHQ. Piece-by-piece, and box-by-box, training one volunteer after another how to ship, scan, etc. Negotiating pay-rates for interns, etc. Answering hundreds of questions. It adds up quickly. I'd like to send Nick Dunbar with a 20' U-Haul filled with the historical documents that are in our storage unit and basement. We'll include the shelves from the storage unit as well, and will shut down our storage unit. I'd like to deliver it all to Caryn Ann's neighborhood so she can manage the project directly, rather than trying to coach an intern or handful of semi-reliable volunteers from afar, with us at LPHQ having to support the volunteers and interns, explain parking, arrange keys, etc. The 20 foot Uhaul will cost about $1700 plus $700 gas. All will easily fit in that, and won't get nearly as damaged as if we shipped via carrier, plus it will require less TLC preparing the stuff to ship. We'll have to spend on some boxes and tape. Motels and expenses for Nick along the way plus a flight home. Overall, I'd estimate a roughly $5,000 expense. I moved the entire contents from one storage unit to another a year ago to go from a rate of approximately $400/month to $228/month. I know what I'm getting into. I used movers that cost about $400 to to unload from one unit, and upload to another unit in around 4 hours. If Caryn Ann fails to make things happen, we'll know the address of the storage unit and can always go through the process of moving things back. The LNC will pay for and be in control of the storage unit, just like we are in control of the one here. They're about to raise our rent from $228/month to $248/month and we'll just shut it down after we empty it and send things to Colorado. I've had access to all this stuff for years, and it never reaches high enough priority for LPHQ staff to deal with. It's worth giving Caryn Ann and her volunteers and committee a shot at taking the stuff, organizing it, and scanning and preserving and posting it online. ====== This would require approval of an additional $5000 in expenses. I was already thinking I would have to fly out to Virginia over the summer and spend a weekend in that storage unit - this would save me that trip so I would commit to a donation for this cause, in fact I have been considering a life membership, so if this passes I would sign up for that at the monthly rate to have a life membership at the end of one year and while in CO, Nick can stay in our guest room. Wes is confident he could fundraise the majority of this money as well through several membership emails. When the LP gets the records back they will be organized and inventoried to be of use for years to come. And I will be able to make meaningful recommendations to the LNC as to culling. And if the LNC in the future ever wants to make records retention decisions they will actually know what they have. I can also get the state party here behind setting up a committee of volunteers as a Historical Committee Support group to arrange organization weekends in which I can spend weekends down with volunteers getting this stuff into shape, and I will be able to directly supervise any bulk scanning company we use. And will be able to make sure we are not paying to have 50 copies of one thing scanned because I will be able to curate the items before they get sent out. I think also if we video-documented this, it would be an interest piece for next convention. Also, though I haven't priced this out, I think the storage costs would be less in CO. The facility doesn't have to be in Castle Rock, we are spread out and more towards Denver in a less pricier region would be more convenient for more volunteers here. I am soliciting thoughts preliminary to making a motion. I also ask Wes to weigh in as he is closest to the issue. -- *In Liberty,* *Caryn Ann Harlos* Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - Caryn.Ann. Harlos(a)LP.org <Caryn.Ann.Harlos(a)LP.org> Communications Director, Libertarian Party of Colorado <http://www.lpcolorado.org> Colorado State Coordinator, Libertarian Party Radical Caucus <http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org> Chair, LP Historical Preservation Committee

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UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs trying to hide crumbling consensus behind global Prohibition
by Starchild 15 Mar '17

15 Mar '17

A paper by Harry Levine of the libertarian Independent Institute in the early 2000s points out that few people realize that 100% of the countries in the world (well, presumably meaning 100% of those recognized by the United Nations) have drug prohibition: > "For much of its history, global drug prohibition has had very few critics. Even today, despite the impressive growth of the harm-reduction movement and of drug policy reform activities in many countries, the regime of worldwide drug prohibition still has very few explicit opponents. One reason for the lack of organized opposition to global drug prohibition is that very few people actually know that it exists. In effect, global drug prohibition has operated for many years as a kind of official secret. Its existence was on a 'need to know basis,' and most people, it seems, did not need to know. Hence, for most of its history, drug prohibition rarely has been called by that name. This nonuse of the phrase drug prohibition has occurred even though (and perhaps because) alcohol prohibition was always called prohibition, especially by the people in favor of it. Sometimes this prohibition on the use of the phrase drug prohibition has been enforced by prominent publications and government agencies as they tell contributors and grant recipients that they may not use the term. Because hardly anybody knows that global drug prohibition exists, hardly anybody opposes it. Furthermore, even fewer people currently understand that by ending or even modifying the Single Convention of 1961, the question of national drug policy can be returned to individual countries and then to local governments to do with as they wished." ( http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_07_2_levine.pdf ) But the tide is clearly shifting. Dozens of countries have been moving toward decriminalization, and last year, over a dozen former presidents and prime ministers of various countries (including Jimmy Carter of the United States) along with many other prominent individuals, over 1,000 international leaders in all, signed an open letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, stating in part, > "A growing number of city, state and national governments no longer treat drug use and possession as crimes. Some are beginning to legally regulate cannabis for medical and even non-medical purposes. Many more recognize the need to make essential medicines readily available, especially for pain and palliative care in lower income countries. But far greater and more systemic reforms are essential." ( http://www.drugpolicy.org/ungass2016 ) Today March 14, an anti-prohibitionist ally at the Drug Policy Foundation, Doug McVay, has reported that those controlling the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs meeting taking place in Vienna this week are resorting to increased secrecy in an effort to keep word from getting out about the proceedings, both because prohibitionist policies are increasingly under fire, and also because representatives of governments seeking to maintain these policies are making absurd and discredited arguments that would be widely mocked if publicized: >> From: "Doug McVay (dougmcvay[at]gmail.com)" <owner-dpfca(a)drugsense.org> >> Date: March 14, 2017 at 8:00:25 PM PDT >> Subject: DPFCA: To folks at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs meeting in Vienna >> >> Hello Friends, >> I used to gripe about UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs only doing a live >> webcast of the first 3 days of its annual meeting. Not this year. This year >> CND only did a webcast of the first day. Still only available live, copies >> are not archived. >> >> This is an outrage. It's 2017. CND is a UN commission based in Vienna, it >> has the technology and resources. They choose to not make an archive >> available. >> >> Apparently CND wants to go about its business without interference from >> public or press outside of Vienna. CND sucks. >> >> There are member nations calling for reform, voicing dissent at the highest >> levels. CND would rather that people outside the UN Center in Vienna not >> hear -- literally -- that dissent, because that's evidence that the >> institution of prohibition is crumbling. There are other nations trying to >> prop up prohibition with arguments that were discredited years ago. CND >> also wants to prevent people outside Vienna from hearing that dreck because >> if they do then people will mock it, and deservedly so. >> >> Most reformers know that. Some of us have been involved directly in >> international efforts and have first-hand experience, and those people and >> organizations have reported on that progress so some in the public are >> aware of it. Thanks to a handful of activists and journalists, there are >> some video and audio recordings to prove those facts to that part of the >> public who won't just take my or DPA's or Open Society Foundation's word >> for something. (It's one thing to have heard about the emperor's new >> clothes, it's another to see the evidence.) >> >> So, to my friends and associates who are there in Vienna this week >> attending CND: please, get as much audio and video as you can of the >> proceedings and the side events. It's more important this year than ever. >> >> Use your smartphones, your tablets, your laptops, your cameras. Document >> everything. If you have Facebook you can probably even stream it live. >> Coordinate with Hungarian Civil Liberties Union - HCLU/ Drugreporter to be >> sure and cover anything they can't get to. (And it's even okeh to make a >> redundant copy -- think of it as a backup.) And please share those copies >> widely. I can definitely help with distribution. We cannot allow the >> official record of this week-long series of meetings to be only what CND >> dictates. >> >> Thanks. Safe travels, everyone. >> >> Cheers, >> Doug >> >> -- >> Doug McVay >> Editor, Drug War Facts >> Board Member, Common Sense for Drug Policy >> Advisory Council Member, Students for Sensible Drug Policy >> Host/Producer, Century Of Lies >> Host/Producer, Free Culture Radio >> www.drugwarfacts.org >> www.drugtruth.net/cms/views/latest_col >> www.kboo.fm/freeculture >> cel: 717.940.2154 >> twitter: @dougmcvay and @drugpolicyfacts >> skype: dougmcvay >> >> "Until we are all free, we are none of us free." >> -- Emma Lazarus This growing sentiment to end the global "War on Drugs" foisted on the rest of the world by the U.S. government, as more and more people recognize that drug abuse is a health issue, not a criminal issue, is cause for optimism and redoubling our efforts as major reform is within reach. Libertarians have long championed the freedom of people to control what goes into their own bodies. With the facade of global Prohibition showing cracks, now is the time to drive home the libertarian message that the persecution of people for the peaceful manufacture, transportation, sale, or use of any drug must end. Love & Liberty, ((( starchild ))) At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee (415) 625-FREE @StarchildSF

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