13 NH candidates backed by YAL win primaries

Libertarian student activists win 13 New Hampshire primary races in one night - William Nardi, Washington Examiner:

September 14, 2018 - "Last month, a libertarian activist group announced their involvement in 16 New Hampshire state house elections. On Tuesday night, 13 of the 16 candidates they supported won their primaries.

"'This will be an evening that I will never forget,” said Cliff Maloney, president of Young Americans for Liberty, on Facebook. 'We launched Operation Win at the Door this year as a bunch of rag-tag kids trying to fix America's woes and restore true freedom. Tonight, we bring our win count to 21 wins with 13 wins in New Hampshire this evening'....

"'YAL is on track to endorse a total of 50 candidates for state legislative races in 2018 and knock on over 1,000,000 doors,' YAL said in a press release. 'Ultimately the goal is to build a bench of liberty legislators and give a microphone to the principles of limited government. YAL aims to elect 250 liberty state legislators by the end of the 2022 cycle.'

"Candidates must go through an extensive vetting process before they are chosen for a YAL endorsement. Just to apply, individuals must first fill out a questionnaire to explain their position on issues ranging from taxes to the legality of red-light cameras. The goal of the survey is to filter through candidates, finding people who will remain ideologically consistent after they win office.

"'Every Operation Win at the Door race that YAL mobilizes door-knockers for is an opportunity to send principled, liberty-minded individuals to state legislatures across the country,' the press release stated. 'Every candidate we endorse and deploy for is slated to become a champion for our ideals in every chamber they enter. We are building the future bench of liberty candidates for federal office.'

"Just in New Hampshire, YAL deployed 25 door-knockers, hitting more than 75,000 houses throughout the course of one month, the press release stated....

"'YAL specifically targets primary races in districts that will not need our help in the general election,' Maloney said.... YAL may come back to help if something changes, but ... nearly all of their endorsements have a clear path to victory."

Read more: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/red-alert-politics/libertarian-student-activists-win-13-new-hampshire-primary-races-in-one-night
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NH Libertarian primary results still in question

Libertarian gubernatorial primary still up in the air; candidates allege voter suppression | Local News | sentinelsource.com - Sierra Hubbard, Keene Sentinel:

Sept. 13, 2018 - "More than 24 hours after the polls closed in New Hampshire’s primary election Tuesday, Libertarian voters still didn’t know who their nominee for governor is.

"While vote totals posted on the N.H. Secretary of State’s website this morning show Jilletta Jarvis of Sandown as the victor with 574 votes to Bedford resident Aaron Day’s 486, both candidates are alleging Libertarians were disenfranchised at multiple polling places in the state....

"The tallying of Libertarian votes for the governor’s race continued throughout the day Wednesday, with no winner declared, though Jarvis began inching ahead as more precincts reported. Around 4:30 p.m., Jarvis posted on her professional Facebook page that she’d spoken with Day and they planned to wait for an official call from the state....

"'We both received multiple reports of people being denied a Libertarian Ballot, of people having to argue for their right to vote libertarian, or poll workers questioning if they really wanted to vote libertarian,' Jarvis wrote.... Jarvis told The Sentinel this morning that she received 16 reports of difficulties obtaining Libertarian ballots, including one in Keene and another in Winchester....

"Jim Tetreault, Winchester’s town clerk, said he did not receive any reports of difficulties regarding Libertarian ballots.... But he also noted that the town’s understanding, heading into Tuesday’s primary election, was that voters who were declared as Republican or Democrat could only take the ballot for their party.

"Under an exemption in state law, registered Republicans and Democrats were allowed to take a Libertarian ballot in this election.... Tetreault said the town didn’t know that....

"Jarvis said she’s requested from the Secretary of State’s office all of the write-in votes for governor on Republican and Democratic ballots. Voters told her that, because they couldn’t obtain a Libertarian ballot, they wrote in their candidates on other party ballots.

"When asked Wednesday evening for comment on the primary, Day wrote in a Facebook message that 'the race is still being contested due to massive voter suppression across the state.' Echoing Jarvis’ Facebook post, Day wrote that people were denied Libertarian ballots in towns across New Hampshire.... 'There are a number of people who settled for pulling a Republican ballot and then writing me in,' he wrote. He added he’s consulting legal counsel and plans to 'evaluate our options' on how to proceed."

Read more: https://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/libertarian-gubernatorial-primary-still-up-in-the-air-candidates-allege/article_dc03a3fd-b742-5e85-8cd4-f697ce475cf4.html
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NW Ohio conservatives urge Libertarian vote

Northwest Ohio conservative PAC won't back DeWine for governor - Toledo Blade - Liz Skalka:

September 11, 2018 - "Instead of GOP candidate Mike DeWine, a northwest Ohio political action committee is advising conservative voters to support the Libertarian running for governor or no candidate at all for the state’s top office.

"The Northwest Ohio Conservative Coalition’s 2018 e-slate card, which steers voters to the most conservative candidates on the Nov. 6 ballot, suggests choosing Republicans for all statewide offices except in the race between Mr. DeWine and Democrat Richard Cordray. Its advice: Pick Libertarian Travis Irvine or leave the ballot blank....

"The move is evidence that despite [his] efforts to align himself with President Trump, the most right-leaning or conservative Ohio voters may not come out in force to support Mr. DeWine. Coalition members question whether the attorney general supports their values and say he’s too closely aligned with Gov. John Kasich, who has fallen out with some in the state Republican Party....

"'John Kasich is constantly reminding Ohioans and the nation that he doesn’t support Trump and will be making a run for the Presidential bid in 2020. Yet we are to somehow believe that Trump will lose Ohio if DeWine doesn’t win as Governor, meanwhile we are supposed to ignore that DeWine is surrounded with Kasich loyalist [sic],' the coalition wrote on its website where voters can search their registration for a recommended slate....

"If Mr. Irvine, a 35-year-old journalist and filmmaker, captures 3 percent of the vote then Libertarians can keep [ballot] access for the next four years, meaning their candidates can appear on the ballot next to their party designation.

"That’s why it’s more important for conservatives to support Libertarians being on the ballot than either of the gubernatorial candidates, said Tom Zawistowski, a leader of the Ohio Tea Party and founder of We the People Convention.... 'A vote for Mike DeWine is a vote for eight more years of John Kasich and we have no interest in that at all,' he said....

"Conservatives also don’t like that both candidates say they would keep Mr. Kasich’s Medicaid expansion. In 2014, Mr. Irvine started an anti-Kasich PAC, Central Ohioans Countering Kasich....

"The Northwest Ohio Conservative Coalition has raised and spent more than $17,000 in 2017 through June, 2018, ending the month with $1,200 on hand, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission."

Read more: http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2018/09/11/Northwest-Ohio-conservative-PAC-won-t-back-DeWine-for-governor/stories/20180911167
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Legal cannabis has bipartisan support in Lebanon

In Lebanon, consensus grows for cannabis legalization | 'Asia Times - Alyson Tahmizian Meuse:

September 10, 2018 -  "In Lebanon, a small country with an enormous public debt and near-stagnant growth, consensus is building for the legalization of cannabis cultivation. Politicians from key parties have coalesced around the palatable promise of exporting the crop for medicinal purposes and bringing in much-needed foreign currency.

"On Friday, Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri nudged along his Amal party’s vision for a state-governed cannabis monopoly. An alternative proposal from MP Antoine Habchi of the rival Lebanese Forces would allow private companies to develop the sector.

"From the green fields of the Beqaa Valley, where many growers cannot leave their villages for fear of arrest, to the laboratories at Lebanese American University, where professors are already experimenting with cannabis oil to treat cancer cells, there is cautious optimism legalization is inevitable.

"Economists caution the crop will not be a silver bullet for the country’s economic woes, or even its agricultural sector. But as it stands, millions of dollars are lost to the black market.

"Lebanese Minister of Economy and Trade Raed Khoury is hopeful ... that if legalized the niche sector could generate hundreds of millions of dollars per year, and eventually up to $1 billion."

Video: http://www.atimes.com/article/in-lebanon-consensus-grows-for-cannabis-legalization/
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LP of Canada denies Bernier merger rumors

Statement on the Bernier Merger Rumours - Trevor Schmidt, Libertarian Party of Canada, Facebook:

September 5, 2018 - "On Sunday September 2nd the Libertarian Party of Canada hosted an Alberta Caucus meeting in Red Deer. At this meeting Libertarian Party leader Tim Moen revealed that he has engaged in conversations with Maxime Bernier since his split with the CPC and that there had been some loose discussions about what the future of the Libertarian Party might look like. Tim then fielded questions to members regarding whether or not they would like to see Maxime’s new party and the Libertarian Party’s membership united under Bernier’s leadership or whether they would like to see the Libertarian Party of Canada continue on as a separate and distinct entity from Maxime’s new party with Tim remaining its leader.

"Subsequently, rumours circulated claiming that Maxime and the Libertarian Party were in the later stages of discussion to unite Maxime’s movement with the Libertarian Party under a single party banner. This is inaccurate and the conversations released from the meeting in Red Deer have largely been taken out of context.

"Tim and Maxime do talk. They are friends. It is no secret that our party shares many values with Max and that we are largely guided by the same principles. It is also no secret that when Maxime lost his bid for the CPC leadership in May of 2017 Tim volunteered to step down as Libertarian Party leader if Max wished to join us.... Finally, it is no secret that the Libertarians then adopted Maxime’s CPC leadership platform, which remains in place to this day. That is why recent events warranted discussions with our membership....

"The scenarios and questions raised to the Libertarian Party members in Red Deer were largely hypothetical.... [T]he meeting in Red Deer and meetings like it provide a forum to gauge membership’s reaction to Maxime’s intention of starting a new party and help determine what direction would be best for our party to take...

"In the event of more changes to the Canadian political landscape, our party’s leadership wants to be ready to act in a way that is commensurate to the wishes of its members. We are keeping an open dialogue with Max, but it remains our understanding that he is still exploring the best options to properly represent his supporters. Likewise, the Libertarian Party is engaging in discussions, such as the recent one in Red Deer, in order to explore the best options to properly represent our members. "

Read more: https://www.facebook.com/libertarianCDN/posts/1802350626549763?__tn__=K-R
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Liberty and the common good

A Libertarian Case for the Common Good | America: The jesuit review - Stephanie Slade:

August 6, 2018 - "One of the widespread misconceptions about libertarianism is that it denies the importance of community — assuming, in the words of the Notre Dame political scientist Patrick Deneen, that “the individual lives, or could live, in splendid isolation” from others. Another is that it preaches a selfish unconcern for the plight of one’s fellow humans, especially the least among us.... But ... in fact, neither of those positions is integral to the libertarian worldview.

"One way to think about libertarianism is that it is a political philosophy that prefers voluntary, nonviolent human interactions over coercion. Because government dictates are by nature coercive — we do not get to choose whether to pay taxes or comply with zoning restrictions — libertarians advocate relying on private solutions to problems whenever possible. Civil society institutions — family units and neighborhood groups, labor unions and trade associations, churches and charities — must do the heavy lifting. State interference in people’s lives should be a last resort and then undertaken only for grave reasons.

"As David Boaz of the Cato Institute has put it, libertarians generally believe 'the only actions that should be forbidden by law are those that involve the initiation of force against those who have not themselves used force — actions like murder, rape, robbery, kidnapping, and fraud.' Everything else people should be free to work out organically, through trial and error, give and take, pressure and persuasion.

"Ask a libertarian why we believe what we do and the answer may be rooted in abstract moral principles: We think people deserve to be treated as ends, not means — which is to say we think their autonomy should be respected as long as they are not infringing the rights of others. But very often, the explanation you get will be pragmatic. An honest assessment of reality tells us that maximizing the scope of freedom from government coercion creates the conditions for material progress and human flourishing.

"That is not limited to progress and flourishing for a select few. Good-faith skeptics might be surprised to learn how active libertarians have been in the fight to end mass incarceration and advance criminal justice reform in the United States, for example, or how many libertarian groups filed amicus briefs siding with the Little Sisters of the Poor during their showdown over the Obamacare contraception mandate....

"I came to identify as a libertarian after studying economics in college. I was moved by the realization that market capitalism is the most efficient engine of economic growth the world has ever known. Both theory and empirical observation told me that government regulation is more likely to interfere with this process than it is to correct flaws in the system....

"Material well-being is part but not all of the story.... Libertarians extol capitalism because it provides a framework for people to interact peacefully and achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. (Have you ever noticed that after a commercial exchange, each party instinctively thanks the other?).... we want people who are struggling to escape desperate, backbreaking poverty to get the same material opportunities we are lucky enough to have. There is a thoroughly moral dimension to our worldview that is hard to miss when observed with an open mind.

"In the final analysis, libertarians see the human person as worthy of respect. For the most part, they do not recognize the deeper truth: that this is so because we are made by God in his image and are incomparably valuable to him. But in a real sense, without meaning to, libertarianism takes that idea more seriously than most other political philosophies."

Read more: https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2018/08/06/libertarian-case-common-good
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Loot box flap shines light on gaming regulation

EA's Failed In-Game Moneymaking Strategy Proves that Consumers Remain the Most Effective Regulators of Markets - Foundation for Economic Education - Matthew McCaffery:

September 6, 2018 - "The outcry over so-called 'loot boxes' — basically a virtual currency in video games that allows users to acquire virtual items and upgrades — shows clearly that calls for regulating the video game industry aren’t going away any time soon....  [E]ach drama brings with it further demands for regulation and censorship.... Despite these constant threats, however, the video game industry has proved repeatedly that consumers, not governments, make the best regulators.

"Microtransactions ... have been around for several years, and have always had vocal critics. But the controversy surrounding them came to a head with the release of EA’s Star Wars: Battlefront II.

"Battlefront II placed major emphasis on loot boxes, rewards players could use to win digital content that provides in-game advantages. Initially, loot boxes could be purchased using ... real-world money... Technically, no one was forced to buy them; however, players faced a trade-off between spending money and spending time to unlock the loot they wanted. And because everyone wanted to benefit as soon as possible, there was a strong incentive to take shortcuts by spending money....

"Whatever their merits, loot boxes caused an uproar among gamers and policymakers and inspired numerous calls for legislation to limit or even ban them. These efforts were not only misguided economically, but also unnecessary: as politicians were scrambling for the spotlight in order to demand action in response to their (unproven) allegations of predatory marketing, the problem was already being solved by the most relentless and effective group of regulators there is — consumers....

"When Battlefront II was released, many players ... refused to buy it, rejected the loot box scheme, and started an extremely vocal boycott of EA. What began as a short-sighted creative decision to pad the company’s bottom line quickly turned into a financial disaster.... EA lost as much as $3.1 billion in shareholder value (close to 10 percent of its market cap)....

"Battlefront II fell between one and three million copies short of its early sales targets, and came up several million copies short of the sales numbers of its predecessor in the franchise. Unsurprisingly, EA quickly began fully dismantling the loot box system, eventually reworking the game’s progression system and eliminating all monetary payments for rewards.

"EA’s Chief Design Officer Patrick Söderlund has since explained that the company has learned its lesson.... Exactly how the company will change its revenue models remains to be seen, but it’s likely that microtransactions and loot boxes will continue to be dialed back, at least for gameplay-related content. In fact, this is already happening with titles from other developers, including Monolith’s Middle Earth: Shadow of War, which has also removed microtransactions in response to fan criticism....

"Ultimately, there’s no such thing as an 'unregulated' market: either businesses are regulated by consumers, or they’re regulated by government. The loot box saga has already shown how one of the largest developers in the world can be humbled by its customers without the 'help' of politicians or new legislation. There’s a simple lesson here for gamers: not every bad decision by a developer needs to be 'fixed' by government."

Read more: https://fee.org/articles/eas-failed-in-game-moneymaking-strategy-proves-that-consumers-remain-the-most-effective-regulators-of-markets/
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