July 2017 - Lnc-business - Moellman Enterprises Email

Re: [Lnc-business] Perhaps "Working with White Nationalists" Is Not the Best Approach?
by Starchild 20 Jul '17

20 Jul '17

Paul, Thank you for your message. I share your concerns about nationalism and racism, both of which are anti-individualist and contrary to libertarian values. On the other hand, it appears the Florida LP has been doing something right, as I understand that the candidate you defeated in the party's nomination for U.S. Senate who had been the most visible LP member associated with ethno-nationalism, recently left the party and become a Republican, which in the Trump era sounds like a better fit for him. Hopefully this will result in some of the other people who left the party over these concerns returning to the fold. Unlike fascists however, we have not set up our party as a top-down organization characterized by "strong leaders", and thus there is little that the Libertarian National Committee can or should do about state-level disputes, or about leadership standards, which are established in the party's bylaws by convention delegates. But I do agree with you that we need better leadership standards to ensure that decision-makers in the LP, and people who represent the party by running for public office, hold libertarian values. I believe the party should be a "big tent" and welcome everyone, but welcoming everyone need not mean allowing just anyone to hold party office or be a party leader, just as a church may welcome anyone to come and attend Sunday services as part of the congregation, but not just anyone to preach from the pulpit or make decisions about church finances and policy. Some steps that might be taken include adopting stronger ideological qualifications for voting membership or other decision-making roles in your local or state LP, and seeking to get solidly libertarian members to attend our national convention and vote for such changes in our national bylaws. Members of the LP Bylaws Committee can also be lobbied* to introduce such an amendment. If you wish to write something up and run it by me, I would be happy to provide input. I've suggested one possible requirement to be a party decision-maker or be endorsed as a Libertarian candidate (the party generally can't stop people from running as Libertarians, but can refuse to endorse or support them) would be to score a minimum of 80/80 on the Nolan Chart's "World's Smallest Political Quiz", or better yet on an expanded version of the quiz with more questions designed to elicit a respondent's views on a broader range of civil liberties, economic liberties, and world affairs questions. We can also adopt resolutions denouncing racism and nationalism as un-libertarian. If you have other ideas, or some specific action you are requesting the Libertarian National Committee to take in sending this letter to LNC members, please let us know. I am sorry to hear that you are still receiving threats and feel yourself and other Libertarians at risk for violence or harassment. I hope that you and your colleagues in the Florida LP will be brave and not allow such reprehensible tactics of intimidation to work. Thank you for standing up and speaking out, and all that you do for the cause of freedom. Love & Liberty, ((( starchild ))) At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee RealReform(a)earthlink.net (415) 625-FREE @StarchildSF *Right now, the page where members of the Bylaws Committee and other LP committees are listed (https://www.lp.org/lp-committees/) despite my repeatedly requesting it, unfortunately still does not contain contact info for members of these committees to enable people to reach them (except for Caryn Ann Harlos, who as a committee chair pushed for her contact info to be included). If you value transparency and accountability, please contact LNC members (https://www.lp.org/libertarian-national-committee/) and staff (https://www.lp.org/staff/) and let them know that you want email addresses and phone numbers for the rest of the committee members added to the website. On Jul 20, 2017, at 5:30 PM, Paul Stanton wrote: > July 20, 2017 > > Subject: Perhaps "Working with White Nationalists" Is Not the Best Approach? > > Dear members of the Libertarian Party of Florida Executive Committee: > > We are losing good members, and the trust of the public, due to the elevation of leaders in extremist hate groups to our party leadership. We need a new approach. Local libertarian-leaning politicians and voters associate us with far-right extremists. As of yesterday, my county no longer has a full slate of candidates for the Florida House. One of the Libertarian candidates I drafted will now unfortunately be running NPA. Yesterday, we also lost our incoming Rules Committee chair. Previously, both our former gubernatorial nominee and our senatorial nominee (prior to me) have resigned their LPF memberships, among countless other Libertarian activists and volunteers. A member of my 2016 Senate campaign ended her participation with the party, because her employer forbids associations with members of extremist hate groups advocating for violence. A single friend (who ceased her participation after receiving death threats) has reported that no fewer than 30 of her acquaintances have withdrawn from Libertarian Party activism due to risks to themselves and their reputations. > > During my US Senate campaign, I never expected the situation that unfolded. I expected the personal attacks, but I never expected racist fantasies about my mother, posting of personal information about members of my family, or the violent threats and sexual harassment targeting my supporters and members of my campaign. Last month, after I introduced a motion (which was killed) to remove Florida’s member of the Libertarian Party Platform Committee for his racist statements, I was accused of wanting to kill all white people, in a “white genocide” conspiracy theory. And now today, there have been threats that the militant hate group the American Guard may be waiting for me in the parking lot, or harassing county party meetings. We must have higher standards for our party leadership! > > Sadly, these are common intimidation tactics among white nationalists, and there are several other victims throughout Florida. This behavior cannot be accepted. We cannot continue to elevate these people. Libertarianism stands for maximum freedom for everyone, universally. We dishonor ourselves and our party by enabling liars with wildly divergent philosophies, who stand immediately adjacent to neo-Nazis, white nationalists, fascists, organized criminal syndicates, and domestic terrorists. > > The situation needs to change. There is a clear, ongoing failure of unaccountable party leadership to address the extremist, unlibertarian entryism that is occurring. > > In liberty, > Paul Stanton > Regional Representative (7) > Libertarian Party of Florida > ✉region7(a)lpf.org > > Follow me on Facebook: fb.com/Stanton4Liberty > > CC: LNC

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A donor's list of Candidate Contribution Factors
by Caryn Ann Harlos 20 Jul '17

20 Jul '17

Mr. Chastain shared this with me to share and to ask others for input. Comments can be made on the document (you will see Starchild and I have) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1anvFE1HtHPuHRC28vWEW3gi4FLmFFq5Xa8l_XEM… -- *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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Re: [Lnc-business] Email Ballot 2017-16: Joe Buchman Donation
by goldsteinatlarge 19 Jul '17

19 Jul '17

This committee will be LNC or Alternates in my proposal. We are selected by the delegates or regions to make this type decision, not volunteers who answer to no one. sam Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S7 active, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone -------- Original message --------From: David Demarest <dpdemarest(a)centurylink.net> Date: 7/18/17 11:24 PM (GMT-05:00) To: lnc-business(a)hq.lp.org Subject: Re: [Lnc-business] Email Ballot 2017-16: Joe Buchman Donation Sam, I suggest that the motion include a committee selection method (appointed and/or volunteer). Since this will obviously be an important committee of interest to us all, I suggest that the motion specify a minimum of three LNC members and two non-LNC members [substitute your own numbers]. Thoughts? ~David 2018 Omaha Roads to Liberty Un-Convention Freedom, Nothing More, Nothing Less ~David Pratt DemarestLNC Region 6 Representative (IA, IL, MN, MO, ND, NE, WI)LSLA Vice-ChairLPNE State Central Committee, SecretaryCell: 402-981-6469Home: 402-493-0873 From: Lnc-business [mailto:lnc-business-bounces@hq.lp.org] On Behalf Of Sam Goldstein Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2017 8:28 PM To: lnc-business(a)hq.lp.org Subject: Re: [Lnc-business] Email Ballot 2017-16: Joe Buchman Donation Yes, I'm working on a motion to create a Candidate Support Committee to be tasked with firstdeveloping a set of guidelines (subject to LNC approval) for LNC contributions to individual candidates other than POTUS. Once the guidelines are approved the committee will submita proposed budget as a new line item for the 2018 LNC Budget then will administer the distributionof funds. The Committee might also be tasked with supporting the new Candidate Support Specialistposition, if we so choose. Any ideas about motion formulation will be appreciated. Live Free, Sam GoldsteinLibertarian National CommitteeMember at Large8925 N Meridian St, Ste 101Indianapolis IN 46260317-850-0726 Phone317-582-1773 Fax On Tue, Jul 18, 2017 at 9:10 PM, Joshua Katz <planning4liberty(a)gmail.com> wrote:Our colleague from Indiana has told us he plans to introduce a motion in August. Joshua A. Katz On Tue, Jul 18, 2017 at 8:03 PM, Ken Moellman <lpky(a)mu-net.org> wrote:What committee would be charged with coming up with these guidelines? Another committee? I'm pretty busy so I don't think I want to commit to direct action on another committee. But as a former campaign manager, and former candidate, I would like to give some suggested guidelines or watermarks. ken On Tue, Jul 18, 2017 at 8:42 PM, David Demarest <dpdemarest(a)centurylink.net> wrote:I hope I am proved wrong but it looks like we have a vicious circle – Continuing ‘No’ votes on candidate support motions until we develop guidelines and no appointees or volunteers so far to develop guidelines. Am I missing something here? I am sure there are more qualified LNC and LP members but I will volunteer to be part of an effort to develop candidate support guidelines. We will need a strong leader to meet this challenge. Is this a matter of Nick either appointing a committee leader and supporting committee members or soliciting volunteers? I suggest that both LNC and non-LNC members be part of this initiative. Any other volunteers? Might be a good opportunity for new or aspiring LNC members. Thoughts? ~David 2018 Omaha Roads to Liberty Un-Convention ~David Pratt DemarestLNC Region 6 Representative (IA, IL, MN, MO, ND, NE, WI)LSLA Vice-ChairLPNE State Central Committee, SecretaryCell: 402-981-6469Home: 402-493-0873 From: Lnc-business [mailto:lnc-business-bounces@hq.lp.org] On Behalf Of Brett Bittner Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2017 6:47 PM To: lnc-business(a)hq.lp.org Subject: Re: [Lnc-business] Email Ballot 2017-16: Joe Buchman Donation TL; DR - I vote nay on email ballot 2017-16. My thoughts: I find myself in the same situation as I did when the Wicks motion was presented. At that time, promises to come up with a procedure we made (and we even delayed considering a request from Senator Ebke for that procedure to be in place), yet action has yet to materialize. I believe that our first duty is to win elections, and without a process to vet funding requests, we are ill-equipped to determine which campaigns should receive our limited funds. As both Arvin and Sam have outlined my concerns, I don't feel the need to reiterate them. I appreciate Dr. Buchman's many years of service to the Party and as an activist, and I think very highly of him. I also enjoyed seeing his debate performance online, and I think he did a tremendous job of offering a different perspective in that debate. Unfortunately, I believe that we will never create a process for these type of requests if we continue to fulfill them in the ad hoc manner from our limited funds. As such, I must cast a nay vote. I will continue to do so for all candidate funding requests until we've established a process to vet such requests. Brett C. Bittner Region 3 Representative Libertarian National Committee brett.bittner(a)lp.org 317.537.8344 **This message sent from my phone. Please excuse any typos. On Jul 17, 2017 07:17, "Patrick McKnight" <patrick.joseph.mcknight(a)gmail.com> wrote:I vote no. Patrick McKnightRegion 8 Rep On Jul 17, 2017 12:07 AM, "James Lark" <jwl3s(a)eservices.virginia.edu> wrote:Dear colleagues: I hope all is well with you. I am writing in my capacity as Region 5 representative to vote "nay" on the motion. As always, thanks for your work for liberty. Take care, Jim James W. Lark, III Dept. of Systems and Information Engineering Applied Mathematics Program, Dept. of Engineering and Society Affiliated Faculty, Dept. of Statistics University of Virginia Advisor, The Liberty Coalition University of Virginia Region 5 Representative, Libertarian National Committee -----On 7/15/2017 4:15 AM, Alicia Mattson wrote:We have an electronic mail ballot. Votes are due to the LNC-Business list by July 25, 2017 at 11:59:59pm Pacific time. Co-Sponsors: Harlos, Bilyeu, Demarest, Starchild Motion: for the LNC to contribute $5,000 to support the Congressional campaign of Joe Buchman (Utah)-Alicia _______________________________________________ Lnc-business mailing list Lnc-business(a)hq.lp.org http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org _______________________________________________ Lnc-business mailing list Lnc-business(a)hq.lp.org http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org _______________________________________________ Lnc-business mailing list Lnc-business(a)hq.lp.org http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org _______________________________________________ Lnc-business mailing list Lnc-business(a)hq.lp.org http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org _______________________________________________ Lnc-business mailing list Lnc-business(a)hq.lp.org http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org

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Credentials committee
by Caryn Ann Harlos 19 Jul '17

19 Jul '17

Can we please be provided copies of the applications 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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Historical Committee earned media
by Caryn Ann Harlos 18 Jul '17

18 Jul '17

I am scheduled to appear on Colorado Public Radio on August 7 to talk about the project. The reporter has been following my progress since it started. -- *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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Biased Resumes
by Daniel Hayes 18 Jul '17

18 Jul '17

So is there a reason we are only accepting resumes for the Credentials Committee in PDF? Lots of people have resumes saved in doc files. I pointed out to the person with the dilemma that there are PDF converters online if their current platform didnt have the ability on it to do the conversion.. That all said, is there a reason for that limitation? Daniel Hayes LNC At Large Member. Sent from my iPhone

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Re: [Lnc-business] Lnc-business Digest, Vol 63, Issue 112
by Erin Adams 17 Jul '17

17 Jul '17

I have been told I voted on the wrong thread as well. My apologies. I vote yes On Jul 16, 2017 2:38 AM, <lnc-business-request(a)hq.lp.org> wrote: > Send Lnc-business mailing list submissions to > lnc-business(a)hq.lp.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > lnc-business-request(a)hq.lp.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > lnc-business-owner(a)hq.lp.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Lnc-business digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Email Ballot 2017-16: Joe Buchman Donation (Caryn Ann Harlos) > 2. Fwd: Utah's Third Congressional District Special Election > (Caryn Ann Harlos) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2017 23:55:58 -0600 > From: Caryn Ann Harlos <carynannharlos(a)gmail.com> > To: Libertarian National Committee list <lnc-business(a)hq.lp.org> > Subject: Re: [Lnc-business] Email Ballot 2017-16: Joe Buchman Donation > Message-ID: > <CAL4U=_o5w3V4KtmZjB4D9bwq+HySEeE9C1z+ODXnS8a74xa1gg@ > mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > Starchild seems to have voted yes on the discussion thread. > > -Caryn Ann > > On Sat, Jul 15, 2017 at 12:48 PM, Daniel Hayes <danielehayes(a)icloud.com> > wrote: > > > I vote "No". > > > > > > Daniel Hayes > > LNC At Large Member > > > > > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > > > On Jul 15, 2017, at 12:46 PM, Sam Goldstein <goldsteinatlarge(a)gmail.com> > > wrote: > > > > I regretfully vote No on this motion. > > > > Despite the great respect I have for Joe Buchman, I must stay consistent > > with my stance on the Wick's motion that until the LNC has a budget and > > firm parameters for providing financial assistance to candidates other > > than > > POTUS, I will vote no on any such motion. > > > > Live Free, > > > > > > > > Sam Goldstein > > Libertarian National Committee > > Member at Large > > 8925 N Meridian St, Ste 101 > > Indianapolis IN 46260 > > 317-850-0726 <(317)%20850-0726> Phone > > 317-582-1773 <(317)%20582-1773> Fax > > > > On Sat, Jul 15, 2017 at 11:01 AM, Caryn Ann Harlos < > > carynannharlos(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > >> I vote Yes. > >> > >> On Sat, Jul 15, 2017 at 3:36 AM, David Demarest < > dprattdemarest(a)gmail.com > >> > wrote: > >> > >>> I vote YES. > >>> > >>> Salut to Dr. Joe Buchman! > >>> > >>> ~David Pratt > >>> > >>> Freedom, Nothing More, Nothing Less > >>> > >>> ~David Pratt Demarest > >>> LNC Region 6 Representative > >>> LSLA Vice-Chair > >>> LPNE SCC Secretary > >>> LPRC Board Member > >>> LPRC Nebraska State Coordinator > >>> Roads to Freedom Foundation, Founder > >>> > >>> On Jul 15, 2017 3:16 AM, "Alicia Mattson" <agmattson(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >>> > >>>> We have an electronic mail ballot. > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> *Votes are due to the LNC-Business list by July 25, 2017 at 11:59:59pm > >>>> Pacific time.* > >>>> *Co-Sponsors:* Harlos, Bilyeu, Demarest, Starchild > >>>> > >>>> *Motion:* for the LNC to contribute $5,000 to support the > >>>> Congressional campaign of Joe Buchman (Utah) > >>>> > >>>> -Alicia > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> _______________________________________________ > >>>> Lnc-business mailing list > >>>> Lnc-business(a)hq.lp.org > >>>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org > >>>> > >>>> > >>> _______________________________________________ > >>> Lnc-business mailing list > >>> Lnc-business(a)hq.lp.org > >>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org > >>> > >>> > >> > >> > >> -- > >> *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* > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Lnc-business mailing list > >> Lnc-business(a)hq.lp.org > >> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org > >> > >> > > _______________________________________________ > > Lnc-business mailing list > > Lnc-business(a)hq.lp.org > > http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Lnc-business mailing list > > Lnc-business(a)hq.lp.org > > http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org > > > > > > > -- > *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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Fwd: Utah's Third Congressional District Special Election
by Caryn Ann Harlos 16 Jul '17

16 Jul '17

Very good reasons to support the pending motion. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Craig Bowden <chair.weberlp(a)gmail.com> Date: Sun, Jul 16, 2017 at 1:06 AM Subject: Utah's Third Congressional District Special Election To: <chair(a)lp.org>, <vicechair(a)lp.org>, <treasurer(a)lp.org>, < secretary(a)lp.org>, <william.redpath(a)lp.org>, <sam.goldstein(a)lp.org>, < starchild(a)lp.org>, <daniel.hayes(a)lp.org>, <joshua.katz(a)lp.org>, < caryn.ann.harlos(a)lp.org>, <ed.marsh(a)lp.org>, <Brett.bittner(a)lp.org>, < jeffery.hewitt(a)lp.org>, <jim.lark(a)lp.org>, <david.demarest(a)lp.org>, < whitney.bilyeu(a)lp.org>, <patrick.mcknight(a)lp.org> To the members of the Libertarian National Committee, I am writing you all today in regards to the motion that has been put forth to support the Special Election race for Utah's 3rd Congressional District, the candidate nominated by Utah's Party, Joe Buchman. This letter is written in my capacity as a candidate, both in the past and current; Chair of a county affiliate; a member of this party that donates monthly; and a citizen of Utah. The conditions of this race are perfect for what we need to advance a candidate for federal office. First, it must be noted that Joe Buchman is a long time member of this party, having served in a variety of leadership positions in our affiliate, currently serves as our Chair, served as a delegate to the National Party, and has run previous races. As such, he is no stranger to libertarian principles, advocacy, and outreach. Second, it must be noted that in this race, there is no incumbent advantage to this office. Further, with no office holder running as incumbent, media has been more fair in their coverage of the candidates vying for Congressman Chaffetz seat. This has gained Joe interviews not previously afforded candidates running in Utah during a normal election year. Third, Joe has already been included in a debate, performing admirably, noteworthy enough to have been included in news citations of his performance. He is already showing that he has what it takes to go against the duopoly parties. Fourth, he is actively fundraising and making a dent. While the dent is not quite what the duopoly is able to raise, the Republicans are currently using large amounts of money in a Primary, as they have three candidates and none on the ballot. While Utah is normally what is considered a "safe red state," there has been no real consensus behind a candidate. This primes an opportunity to garner support for a party and candidate who has their act together. Lastly, when we have these rare opportunities that aren't overshadowed by other races in this nation, we need to use what resources we have to ensure our candidates can be in as much limelight as possible. I truly believe that this race will be one for the record books. I implore you to vote in the affirmative to support Mr. Buchman in his efforts. Thank you for your consideration, Craig Bowden Chairperson of the Libertarian Party of Weber County Candidate for the US Senate -- *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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DRAFT RESOLUTION on the use of "Big Data"
by Starchild 16 Jul '17

16 Jul '17

Ever heard the following observation about George Orwell's dystopian novel: "1984 was not an instruction manual"? I much appreciated that dark witticism when I first heard it, and still do. But lately it occurs to me that 1984 actually is a kind of an instruction manual. Not in the sense the original observation intends to warn us against, of would-be totalitarian leaders using it as a blueprint for imposing control, but in the sense of instructing the rest of us about what kinds of developments to be on guard against; what kinds of conditions we must not allow to come into being. In the spirit of trusting you my colleagues to grasp the implications of this material enough to read it as a pro-freedom and not an anti-freedom instruction manual, the following Newsweek story from June 8 addresses a topic that I believe demands our attention as a political party: http://www.newsweek.com/2017/06/16/big-data-mines-personal-info-manipulate-… A couple excerpts (much more at the link, and well worth a read): > The speaker, Alexander Nix, an Eton man, was very much among his own kind—global elites with names like Buffett, Soros, Brokaw, Pickens, Petraeus and Blair. Trouble was indeed on the way for some of the attendees at the annual summit of policymakers and philanthropists whose world order was about to be wrecked by the American election. But for Nix, chief executive officer of a company working for the Trump campaign, that mayhem was a very good thing. > > He didn’t mention it that day, but his company, Cambridge Analytica, had been selling its services to the Trump campaign, which was building a massive database of information on Americans. The company’s capabilities included, among other things, “psychographic profiling” of the electorate. And while Trump’s win was in no way assured on that afternoon, Nix was there to give a cocky sales pitch for his cool new product. > > “It’s my privilege to speak to you today about the power of Big Data and psychographics in the electoral process,” he began. As he clicked through slides, he explained how Cambridge Analytica can appeal directly to people’s emotions, bypassing cognitive roadblocks, thanks to the oceans of data it can access on every man and woman in the country... > > To illustrate, he walked the audience through what he called “a real-life example” taken from the company’s data on the American electorate, starting with a large anonymous group with a general set of personality types and moving down to the most specific—one man, it turned out, who was easily identifiable. > Nix started with a group of 45,000 likely Republican Iowa caucusgoers who needed a little push—what he calls a “persuasion message”—to get out and vote for Ted Cruz (who used Cambridge Analytica early in the 2016 primaries). That group’s specifics had been fished out of the data stream by an algorithm sifting the thousands of digital data points of their lives. Nix was focusing on a personality subset the company’s algorithms determined to be “very low in neuroticism, quite low in openness and slightly conscientious.” > > Click. A screen of graphs and pie charts. > > “But we can segment further. We can look at what issue they care about. Gun rights I’ve selected. That narrows the field slightly more.” > > Click. Another screen of graphs and pie charts, but with some circled specifics. > > “And now we know we need a message on gun rights. It needs to be a persuasion message, and it needs to be nuanced according to the certain personality type we are interested in.” > > Click. Another screen, the state of Iowa dotted with tiny reds and blues—individual voters. > > “If we wanted to drill down further, we could resolve the data to an individual level, where we have somewhere close to 4- or 5,000 data points on every adult in the United States.” > > Click. Another screenshot with a single circled name—Jeffrey Jay Ruest, gender: male, and his GPS coordinates. > > The American voter whose psychological tendencies Nix had just paraded before global elites like a zoo animal was easy to find. Cambridge researchers would have known much more about him than his address. They probably had access to his Facebook likes—heavy metal band Iron Maiden, a news site called eHot Rods and Guns, and membership in Facebook groups called My Daily Carry Gun and Mopar Drag Racing. > > “Likes” like those are sine qua non of the psychographic profile. > > And like every other one of the hundreds of millions of Americans now caught in Cambridge Analytica’s slicing and dicing machine, Ruest was never asked if he wanted a large swath of his most personal data scrutinized so that he might receive a message tailored just for him from Trump. > > Big Data, artificial intelligence and algorithms designed and manipulated by strategists like the folks at Cambridge have turned our world into a Panopticon, the 19th-century circular prison designed so that guards, without moving, could observe every inmate every minute of every day. The choice for us seems clear: Will we emulate Alexander Nix, or side with Jeffrey Jay Ruest? Do we get on the big data bandwagon and attempt to beat the authoritarians at their game by being cleverer at manipulating people's personal information than they are, or do we condemn the practice and put our trust in the public to appreciate those who refuse to engage in such methods? Be manipulators, or speak out against manipulation? The Newsweek piece discusses how big data analytics has advanced, and will likely continue to advance at a rate such that by 2020, the analytics used in the 2016 campaign will look like "horse and buggy" technology. Already, writes author Nina Burleigh, "On any given day, Team Trump was placing up to 70,000 ad variants, and around the third debate with Hillary Clinton, it pumped out 175,000 ad variants." Of course it wasn't just the Trump campaign. According to the article, "The Democratic National Committee has used Catalist, a 240 million–strong storehouse of voter data, containing hundreds of points of data per person, pulled from commercial and public records." Further on, Bureigh tells us: > Democratic strategists say Facebook’s microtargeting abilities, behavioral science and the stores of data held by other social media platforms like Twitter and Snapchat are tools that won’t go back inside Pandora’s box. They, of course, insist they won’t be looking for low-cognition voters high in neuroticism who are susceptible to fear-based messages. But Big Data plus behavioral science plus Facebook plus microtargeting is the political formula to beat. They will use it, and they won't talk about how they will refine and improve it. Panopticon be damned, if the temptations to a candidate, or a party, of going down Nix's road aren't already obvious, read the article and I think they will be. The dangers likewise. I hope it's no mystery which side I come down on. I think we should listen to Edward Snowden, whose point of view Burleigh's piece describes thus: > Speaking to a Big Data industry conference in Washington May 15, fugitive National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden implored his audience to consider how the mass collection and preservation of records on every online interaction and activity threatens our society. “When we have people that can be tracked and no way to live outside this chain of records,” he said, “what we have become is a quantified spiderweb. That is a very negative thing for a free and open society.” With all this in mind, I offer the following resolution. Does anyone have any suggested changes in wording before I ask for co-sponsors? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Whereas a growing ability to harvest, analyze, and manipulate data has during the past few years increasingly enabled "microtargeting" in which hundreds or thousands of data points about specific individuals, harvested from online sources, are run through algorithms and analyzed using behavioral science in order to sell people products, or push political candidates or messages; and Whereas algorithms and data harvesting abilities are expected to continue to rapidly increase in sophistication; and Whereas our Republican and Democrat opponents in the 2016 United States presidential election were already cynically mining "big data" to employ "microtargeting" against millions of Americans without, in most cases, the knowledge or consent of these individuals that their personal data were being used to send them tailored messages different from those sent to other voters; and Whereas such practices represent a clear and present danger to freedom, with NSA whistleblower and libertarian hero Edward Snowden warning that,“When we have people that can be tracked and no way to live outside this chain of records, what we have become is a quantified spiderweb," and calling this "a very negative thing for a free and open society"; and Whereas we reject the top-down, authoritarian mindset underlying these and other unethical policies and practices of the "cartel parties" and the government institutions they dominate, and exist instead to defend the rights of the individual, We therefore hereby resolve that the Libertarian National Committee will not use "big data" under this or any other name, to engage in "microtargeting" under this or any other name, by obtaining and analyzing large numbers of data points about specific individuals without the explicit consent of those individuals in order to market, advertise, or promote our party or candidates to them, or to raise money from them, and urge all Libertarian candidates and campaigns to make a similar pledge. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Love & Liberty, ((( starchild ))) At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee RealReform(a)earthlink.net (415) 625-FREE @StarchildSF

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Joe Buchman excluded from Americans for Prosperity debate
by Caryn Ann Harlos 15 Jul '17

15 Jul '17

==Hi Joseph, In the interest of time and allowing the candidates to be able to give substantive answers to all of the questions, we only invited the GOP and Democrat candidates to this debate. Thank you for your inquiry and good luck on your campaign. Best Regards, Evelyn Everton|State Director|Americans for Prosperity-UT| m:801-641-0037 <(801)%20641-0037>| e: eeverton(a)afphq.org| @AFP_Utah== -- *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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