Johnson named CEO of Cannabis Sativa Inc.

President Gary Johnson: Former Libertarian candidate lands top job with marijuana company — RT USA:

July 2, 2014 - "Gary Johnson, the former two-term governor of New Mexico and the Libertarian Party’s candidate in the last United States presidential race, has been named the CEO and president of a budding Nevada-based marijuana startup.

"Cannabis Sativa Inc. announced on Tuesday this week that Johnson, 61, has been brought aboard the company concurrent with the acquisition of Kush, 'a development stage company engaged in the research, development and licensing of specialized natural cannabis products.' According to a press release published by the group this week, the company plans to sell marijuana-infused oils intended to treat hypertension, as well as a throat lozenge for recreational use.

"'The successful completion of the merger represents a major milestone for Cannabis Sativa, Inc.' Johnson said in a statement. 'With the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington, we are already seeing that the demand is significant. We believe the opportunity is here to deliver products that could change the world for the better....

"'I think in 10 years, for the most part, the US will legalize marijuana,' Johnson said in this week’s statement. 'And what the US does, so does the world'.

"Along with bringing Johnson on board, Cannabis Sativa has also appointed Steve Kubby — the founder of Kush and a former Libertarian Party candidate for governor of California — as its chairman.

"On his part, Johnson will only be paid an annual salary of $1, plus equity, for assuming the role of the company’s president and CEO."

Read more: http://rt.com/usa/170020-gary-johnson-marijuana-ceo/
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Murray: The problem is progressives, not liberals

Charles Murray: The Trouble Isn't Liberals. It's Progressives. - Wall Street Journal:

June 30, 2014 - "A few weeks ago, I was thrown into a situation where I shared drinks and dinner with two men who have held high positions in Democratic administrations. Both men are lifelong liberals. There's nothing 'moderate' about their liberalism. But as the pleasant evening wore on (we knew that there was no point in trying to change anyone's opinion on anything), I was struck by how little their politics have to do with other elements of the left.

"Their liberalism has nothing in common with the political mind-set that wants right-of-center speakers kept off college campuses, rationalizes the forced resignation of a CEO who opposes gay marriage, or thinks George F. Will should be fired for writing a column disagreeable to that mind-set. It has nothing to do with executive orders unilaterally disregarding large chunks of legislation signed into law or with using the IRS as a political weapon. My companions are on a different political plane from those on the left with that outlook — the progressive mind-set....

"[T]he progressive movement at the turn of the 20th century had roots in German philosophy (Hegel and Nietzsche were big favorites) and German public administration (Woodrow Wilson's open reverence for Bismarck was typical among progressives). To simplify, progressive intellectuals were passionate advocates of rule by disinterested experts led by a strong unifying leader. They were in favor of using the state to mold social institutions in the interests of the collective. They thought that individualism and the Constitution were both outmoded....

"It is that core philosophy extolling the urge to mold society that still animates progressives today — a mind-set that produces the shutdown of debate and growing intolerance that we are witnessing in today's America. Such thinking on the left also is behind the rationales for indulging President Obama in his anti-Constitutional use of executive power. If you want substantiation for what I'm saying, read Jonah Goldberg's 2008 book Liberal Fascism, an erudite and closely argued exposition of American progressivism and its subsequent effects on liberalism. The title is all too accurate."

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/articles/charles-murray-the-trouble-isnt-liberals-its-progressives-1404170419
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The case for libertarian populism

The Case for Libertarian Populism - Conn Carroll - Town Hall:

July 1, 2014 - "Something is rotten in the United States of America.

"Except for a brief surge of pride after the United States swore in its first black president in 2009, Americans have consistently told pollsters for more than a decade that they believe our country is heading in the wrong direction.

"Neither party is offering an agenda that speaks to America’s concerns.

"Democrats only want to grow the size and scope of the federal government at a time when America’s trust in its federal government has never been lower. Republicans want to cut taxes for the wealthy and help big corporations at a time when Americans believe federal government policies already favor the wealthy....

"There are millions of Americans who share the Republican Party’s limited government vision but just don’t vote for them because Republicans have a reputation for supporting the rich and not caring about the poor.

"By pursuing an agenda and crafting a message that demonstrates how a smaller government can help the everyday lives of average Americans, especially those with lower-incomes who suffer from regressive payroll taxes and government subsidized debt, Republicans can win elections in presidential years again."

Read more: http://townhall.com/tipsheet/conncarroll/2014/07/01/the-case-for-libertarian-populism-n1852602
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Virginia Libertarians sue over ballot placement

Libertarian Sarvis sues elections board over ballot placement - Richmond Times-Dispatch: Virginia News:

July 3, 2014 - "Robert C. Sarvis, the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate, several of the party’s congressional candidates and an independent have filed a federal lawsuit against the Virginia State Board of Elections.

"They are asking the court to strike down Virginia’s law requiring Democrat and Republican candidates to be given the two top spots on ballots.

"In the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that the law violates the First and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution by favoring the election chances of Democrat and Republican candidates at the expense of Libertarian Party and independent candidates. The Rutherford Institute, a conservative nonprofit legal organization, filed the suit Wednesday with the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia."

"The complaint says that while it is obvious that, in any given election, some candidate must be listed first, and some candidate listed last, “an electoral system that is designed to ensure that a specific class of candidates always has a ballot position more favorable than other classes of candidates is inherently unconstitutional.”

Read more: http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/state-regional/libertarian-sarvis-sues-elections-board-over-ballot-placement/article_06deb89e-02cc-11e4-b105-001a4bcf6878.html
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'Libertarian utopia' at Porcupine Freedom Festival

Inside the libertarian version of Burning Man: Guns, booze and bitcoin - The Washington Post - Ben Terris:

July 2, 2014 - "Like any good bonfire, the evening ritual at the Porcupine Festival deep in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, includes a drum circle, plumes of marijuana smoke, shared bottles of whiskey and spirited debate.

"There are also guns. Lots of guns....

"Once a year for the past 11 years, this campground in the northern part of the Granite State turns into a libertarian utopia. And this year, roughly 2,000 people — mostly white men — have paid between $45 and $100 to experience for one week what life would be like without the onerous mechanisms of laws, if the market ruled to the exclusion of all else. Want to wear a loincloth and sell moonshine, shop at an unregulated market that accepts Bitcoin and silver, or listen to a seminar called “How the Collapse of the State is Inevitable”? Then this is the place for you....

"Porcfest — as it’s known here — is put on by the Free State Project, a group dedicated to recruiting at least 20,000 libertarians to move to New Hampshire. The idea — that a group of this size can make a difference in a state with a low population — came from an essay in 2001 by then-Yale doctoral student and current Dartmouth lecturer Jason Sorens. Thirteen years later, the FSP has had nearly 16,000 people sign a 'statement of intent' to move. The plan is that when 20,000 people sign the list, it will 'trigger' a large migration. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,500 people have moved already."

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/inside-the-libertarian-version-of-burning-man-guns-booze-and-bitcoin/2014/07/01/74d9d996-ffcf-11e3-b8ff-89afd3fad6bd_story.html
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Kill The Export-Import Bank - Time

House Conservatives Are Right: Kill The Export-Import Bank | TIME -Michael Grunwald:

July 2, 2014 - "The self-proclaimed fiscal conservatives who run the Republican Party did not object to the bloated agribusiness subsidies in this year’s $956 billion farm bill. They’ve fought for weapons systems the Pentagon doesn’t want and water projects the country doesn’t need. They’ve helped repeal sensible flood insurance reforms designed to slash subsidies for waterfront property. And now they expect us to cheer their efforts to kill the obscure Export-Import Bank, which doesn’t even cost taxpayers money?

"Sure, why not? The Republicans may be hypocrites, but they’re right to take aim at the Ex-Im Bank.

"The Ex-Im is, as Senator Barack Obama said during his presidential campaign, 'little more than a fund for corporate welfare.' It provides cheap credit to foreign borrowers, often cash-flush behemoths like Brazil’s state-owned oil company or the emirate of Dubai, so they can buy products from U.S. exporters, often cash-flush behemoths like Boeing, Bechtel, Caterpillar or General Electric. It’s dearly beloved by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, but it’s often earned its reputation for crony capitalism. William Jefferson, the congressman memorably caught with cash in his freezer, got his dirty money in exchange for introducing corporate executives to Ex-Im officials, and the Justice Department is now investigating potential corruption inside the bank....

"Opposing the Ex-Im doesn’t mean agreeing with the Tea Party notion that government shouldn’t try to do anything — just that it should stop trying to do this."

Read more: http://time.com/2951443/export-import-bank-house-conservatives/
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'Princess of Pot' seeks Liberal nomination in BC

Canada's 'Princess of Pot' takes shot at federal politics | CTV Vancouver News - Penny Daflos:

June 24, 2014 - "One of the country’s biggest advocates in the push to legalize marijuana has a new plan to take her fight to Ottawa.

"The so-called 'Princess of Pot' Jodie Emery – the wife of jailed marijuana activist Marc Emery – intends to run for the Liberal nomination in East Vancouver.

"'I think with the Liberal party endorsing legalization, the benefit is just too great for all Canadians. I have to put my name behind endorsing that party,' she told CTV News....

"Emery ran as the Green candidate in Vancouver-Fraserview in the 2009 B.C. provincial election.

"'I don't really know where to pin myself. I have run with the Green Party, but I'm a fiscal conservative. I could be called a Libertarian, I am a capitalist. I do believe in taxpayer-funded education, healthcare and some other basic necessities but I think there's a lot of waste in government," she said....

"Federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau's announcement last year that he supports regulating and taxing marijuana changed things for Emery.

"With the Tories attacking Trudeau and sticking with their hard line anti-pot policy, it seems a natural fit for Emery to join forces with the Grits."

Read more: http://bc.ctvnews.ca/canada-s-princess-of-pot-takes-shot-at-federal-politics-1.1883104
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