Libertarian-leaning Bezos buys Washington Post

The politics of Jeff Bezos - Sean Sullivan, Washington Post:

August 7, 2013 - "The Washington Post will soon be coming under new ownership.... Jeffrey P. Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com will be taking the reins. Bezos, 49, has done most of his political talking with his checkbook, shelling out millions in support of gay marriage last year and thousands more over the years on behalf of mostly Democratic candidates. Those who know Bezos say he has libertarian leanings....

"Bezos’s most notable step into the political arena came in 2012, when he put a whopping $2.5 million into the campaign to defend gay marriage in the state of Washington. It was the largest donation of its kind, and came in response to to an appeal from a former Amazon employee, according to the Seattle Times. The former employee had asked Bezos to chip in less than a tenth of what he and his wife ended up giving....

"Early Amazon investor Nick Hanauer has described Bezos as a libertarian. And Bezos has donated to the nonprofit organization that publishes Reason.com, the Web site of the libertarian magazine with the same name. He also put $100,000 toward the defeat of a 2010 measure that would have imposed an income tax on top earners in the Evergreen State."

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/08/07/the-politics-of-jeff-bezos/
'via Blog this'

Pirate Cinema, Cryptonomicon win 2013 Prometheus Awards

2013 Prometheus Award Winners Announced - Libertarian Futurist Society (press release):

July 20, 2013 - "The Libertarian Futurist Society has announced the Prometheus Awards winners for Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (Hall of Fame), to be presented Friday Aug. 30, 2013 at LoneStarCon3, the 71st Annual World Science Fiction Convention in San Antonio, Texas.

"Cory Doctorow won the award for Best Novel for Pirate Cinema (TOR Books). Doctorow also won the Best Novel award in 2009 for Little Brother. Doctorow explores themes of artistic freedom, Internet freedom and peaceful social change while shedding light on issues of copyright and government surveillance in Pirate Cinema, an optimistic young-adult novel about a young pirate filmmaker whose Internet activity threatens his family with government reprisals and who learns to fight back against outdated forms of control.

Cryptonomicon, a 1999 novel by Neal Stephenson, has won the 2013 Prometheus Hall of Fame award for Best Classic Fiction. Set during World War II and during the early 21st century, Stephenson's novel explores the implications for a free society in the development of computation and cryptography....

Also recognized as Best Novel finalists for the best pro-freedom novel of the past year are Arctic Rising, by Tobias Buckell (TOR Books); The Unincorporated Future, by Dani and Eytan Kollin (TOR Books); Darkship Renegades, by Sarah Hoyt (Baen Books); and Kill Decision, by Daniel Suarez (Dutton - Penguin)....

"Also recognized as Hall of Fame finalists: 'Sam Hall', by Poul Anderson (a short story, published 1953 in Astounding); Falling Free, by Lois McMaster Bujold (a novel, published 1988); '"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman', by Harlan Ellison (a short story, published 1965 in Galaxy); Courtship Rite, by Donald M. Kingsbury (a novel, published 1982); and 'As Easy as A.B.C.', by Rudyard Kipling (a short story, published in London Magazine in 1912).

"The Prometheus Award, sponsored by the Libertarian Futurist Society (LFS), was established in 1979, making it one of the most enduring awards after the Nebula and Hugo awards, and one of the oldest fan-based awards currently in SF."

Read more: http://lfs.org/releases/2013Winners.shtml 

U.S.A. is at a new ‘libertarian moment’

Nation has arrived at a new ‘libertarian moment,’ experts say - KansasCity.com - Dave Helling & Steve Kraske:

August 4, 2013 - "From issues such as same-sex marriage and legal marijuana to restrictions on government spying and U.S. intervention in foreign affairs, the nation is engaged in a new 'libertarian moment,' politicians and political scientists say.

"'The libertarian mindset — just leave me alone, get government out of my way, government shouldn’t tell me what I can or cannot do — that is definitely a larger and more active group than I’ve ever seen before,' said Missouri Sen. Brad Lager, a Republican from Savannah.

"Brink Lindsey, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute, sees the same phenomenon.

"'The libertarian impulse is especially prominent right now, and getting attention,' he said."

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/08/04/4389524/the-nation-has-arrived-at-a-new.html
'via Blog this'

Libertarian Party's Vera Kichanova wins municipal office in Russia

Vera Kichanova: Russia's Opposition Must Go Bold, Even In Starting Small - Richard Solash, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty:

July 20, 2013 - "Meet Vera Kichanova, a young woman whose hipster garb belies her maturity, and whose fresh complexion has become one of the faces of the new generation of political opposition in Russia.

"Kichanova, a journalist for the liberal news website Slon, was elected as a municipal deputy in Moscow's Yuzhnoye Tushino district in March 2012. A member of Russia's tiny Libertarian Party, she had campaigned on a ticket of transparency and democratic principles.

"She concedes that her post is one that most Muscovites don't even know exists, but Russia observers and Kichanova alike say her election carries outsize importance. In a country where challenges to the establishment are routinely quashed and officials are usually installed, she says the opposition must be bold when it can – but must also focus on making small political inroads."

Read more: http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-opposition-vera-kichanova/25051900.html
'via Blog this'

Cato Institute breaks bipartisan mold

Libertarian Cato Institute Breaks Bipartisan Mold - Martin Austermuhle, Washington Diplomat:

July 30, 2013 - "As diverse as the United States is, its political system is unflinchingly bipartisan.... Voters who believe in the power of government to help solve social problems and seek to promote and protect diversity generally align themselves with the Democratic Party, while those who believe in a more limited role for government and a more traditional concept of American society side with the Republican Party.

"But what of voters who take a little from both? Maybe they believe in government austerity but also gay marriage, or perhaps they support immigration reform and drug legalization while opposing restrictions on guns and banks. Well, they're libertarians, and despite their failure to break open the bipartisan edifice, they are constantly knocking at its door.

"'"You might say libertarians are fiscally conservative and socially liberal,' explained Aaron Ross Powell, a research fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, D.C....

"Since its founding in 1977, the Cato Institute — named after Cato's Letters, a series of 18th-century essays expounding the views of philosopher John Locke — has promoted libertarian ideals through research, publications and conferences. According to the group, the principles of 'individual liberty, limited government, free markets and peace' underline its work."

Read more: http://www.washdiplomat.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9444:libertarian-cato-institute-breaks-bipartisan-mold&catid=1505&Itemid=428
'via Blog this'

Senate 'wacko birds' speak at Young Americans for Liberty conference

Senate 'wacko birds' at home among the Ron Paul faithful - Chris Moody, Yahoo! News:

August 1, 2013 - "Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah, briefly fled across the Potomac Wednesday night to mingle with a crowd more appreciative of their brand of politics.

"Earlier this week, several hundred college-age libertarians gathered for the fifth annual Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) conference inside a ballroom at the Westin Hotel, located a safe seven miles from the Capitol building. YAL is the youth outreach group birthed from the womb of former Texas Rep. Ron Paul’s first run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, and it works with Paul’s other organization, the Campaign for Liberty, to continue advocating for his causes.

"The young Paulites at the Westin howled when Paul, Cruz and Lee strolled onto the stage.... 'We’re not accustomed to that kind of welcome in Washington,' Lee beamed over the whoops and hollers. 'There are people just a few miles from here who give us quite the opposite reception'....

"'It seems there may be a few wacko birds in the house,' Cruz said from his perch in the middle of the stage, a reference to a term coined by Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain that was not made with affection at the time."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/senate--wacko-birds--at-home-among-the-ron-paul-faithful--210259493.html

Libertarian-leaning super PAC raising big money

Libertarian-leaning super PAC raising big money | The Center for Public Integrity - Adam Wollner:

July 30, 2013 - "A super PAC quietly formed this spring by a prominent libertarian has rushed to a quick fundraising start thanks to a small network of wealthy, like-minded donors.

"Purple PAC, a super PAC led by former Federal Election Commission Chairman Brad Smith and Cato Institute founder Ed Crane, raised $575,000 from the time the group launched in early May through the end of June, new FEC filings show.

"Only four donors contributed, but they provided significant cash. The group received two $250,000 contributions — one from Richard Masson, a Kentucky horse breeder, and another from Pennsylvania-based options trader Jeffrey Yass, who also sits on the board of the Cato Institute.

"Washington, D.C., entrepreneur Philip Harvey donated an additional $50,000 to Purple PAC, while New York real estate developer Howard Rich chipped in $25,000, according to FEC records.

"Smith, who currently serves as the chairman of the anti-campaign finance regulation group Center for Competitive Politics, said Purple PAC plans to make independent expenditures promoting 'freedom-oriented' candidates who are fiscally conservative and socially moderate."

Read more: http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/07/30/13087/libertarian-leaning-super-pac-raising-big-money
'via Blog this'