Ontario LP candidate profiled in Niagara Falls Review

Stefanos Karatopis profile | Niagara Falls Review - Ray Spiteri::

January 30, 2014: "If the government does a lot less, individuals can do a lot more.

That’s the ideology Ontario should adopt as it tries to get out from underneath an $11.7-million deficit and $272 billion of debt, says Libertarian party candidate Stefanos Karatopis.

"'The party is the same as which I am for: Less government inference,' says Karatopis, who is new to politics having never run for public office before. 'There is, I think, a problem with control, overzealous, overregulation. There’s just too much control on private property. We cannot run any businesses. It’s too much red tape to get through.'

"Karatopis says he was approached by the Libertarian party to represent them for the Feb. 13 provincial Niagara Falls riding byelection.

"He says the party subscribes to many of the same things as the Niagara Landowners Association, of which Karatopis is a director. 'I noticed with the Libertarians, they are very similar to the landowners in such a way as being able to profit off your private property and your property rights,' he says. 'Basically, without property rights we’d have no liberty.'"

Read more: http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/2014/01/28/stefanos-karatopis-profile-libertarian-says-the-less-government-better-off-people-are

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Charlie Earl wages his last campaign, for Ohio governor

Libertarian Candidate Charlie Earl: Voters Are Listening | IVN.us - Carl Wicklander:

January 21, 2014 - "In the Buckeye State, ... the Ohio Legislature passed and Governor Kasich signed a law that would have required minor party candidates to accumulate more than 20,000 signatures by February 5 to become eligible for the November ballot. A federal judge issued a temporary injunction against the law and an appeals court denied the state’s appeal, opening a pathway for other candidates.

"For Charlie Earl, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the state and a Libertarian Party candidate for governor, this means everything. A former Republican member of the Ohio General Assembly, Earl is also a former radio broadcaster and college instructor, and the affability needed in both jobs is readily apparent as he talks about his career and hopes for Ohio."

"After term-limiting himself in 1984, he is making a final attempt to influence the political world. In an interview, Earl said he is unlike the other participants in the gubernatorial race because he does not see the office as a stepping stone to the next political office. Part of his appeal, Earl says, is that this is his last election....

"All the usual obstacles for independents and minor parties exist for Charlie Earl, but he is not discouraged. In at least two polls where his name was specifically mentioned, he received six percent while the major candidates have fluctuated.

"'I think people are listening this year,' he said. 'The problem is letting them know we’re here.'"

Read more: http://ivn.us/2014/01/21/libertarian-candidate-charlie-earl-voters-listening/
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NZ school cuts playground rules; bullying & vandalism drop

Auckland school ditches playtime rules and loses bullies| Stuff.co.nz:

January 26, 2014 - "Ripping up the playground rulebook is having incredible effects on children at an Auckland school.

"Chaos may reign at Swanson Primary School with children climbing trees, riding skateboards and playing bullrush during playtime, but surprisingly the students don't cause bedlam, the principal says.

"The school is actually seeing a drop in bullying, serious injuries and vandalism, while concentration levels in class are increasing.

"Principal Bruce McLachlan rid the school of playtime rules as part of a successful university experiment.... Swanson School signed up to the study by AUT and Otago University just over two years ago, with the aim of encouraging active play.

"However, the school took the experiment a step further by abandoning the rules completely, much to the horror of some teachers at the time....

"When the university study wrapped up at the end of last year the school and researchers were amazed by the results."

Read more: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/9650581/School-ditches-rules-and-loses-bullies
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LP of Canada wants Meyers expropriation reversed

Libe­­­­­­­rtarians Call for Reversal on Canadian Military’s Expropriation of Farmer’s Land :: Wire Service Media:

January 27, 2014 - "Libertarian Party of Canada Leader Katrina Chowne is calling on the federal government to respect Canadian citizens' rights and to reverse its recent decision to expropriate a working family's land in order to expand the footprint of the Department of National Defence.

"The recent expropriation of a working family's land by the Canadian military offers Prime Minister Harper and his Conservative government a chance to clearly demonstrate their unwavering support for private property rights in Canada.

"The Canadian government has expropriated the property of Frank and Marjorie Meyers of Trenton Ontario in order to expand our military's capacity to protect our properties from invaders and foreign conquerors. The Meyers farm was granted to them in 1798 - before confederation....

"Meyers said he was approached to sell the land for market value about seven years ago, but he refused the offer. Now he says he's lost about 235 acres of farmland to the Department of National Defence. The spokesperson for Minister of National Defence Rob Nicholson said this expropriation was "critically important to the country and to the local community."

"While the Libertarian Party of Canada recognizes the need for a National Defence to protect our people and our rights, we call out the blatant irony that the federal government would seize upon one family's rights in the name of protecting others."

Read more: http://www.wireservice.ca/index.php?module=News&func=display&sid=11455
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Also see: Save Frank and Marjorie Myers's Farm 

Republican Liberty Caucus gains strength in Congress

Libertarian wing of GOP gains strength in Congress | WashingtonExaminer.com - Susan Ferrechio:

January 24, 2014 - "A few times each month, a couple dozen House Republican lawmakers gather in a meeting room in a building adjacent to Capitol to discuss ideas and legislative proposals that focus on limited government, reducing the debt and maintaining individual rights.

"The group considers itself conservative with a libertarian emphasis. They call themselves the Liberty Caucus and believe that in order for the GOP to win more elections in the future, the party must begin embracing their libertarian-minded philosophy because voters are beginning to demand it, particularly in the wake of government data collection revelations that some believe infringe on privacy rights.

"'I think you are seeing a movement in the Republican Party where it is becoming more liberty minded,' Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, a member of the Liberty Caucus, told the Washington Examiner.... Labrador said younger Republicans especially are beginning to embrace this libertarian-minded view point....

"The philosophy of the caucus dovetails with the GOP's conservative wing on some issues, such as debt reduction, reining in government spending and opposition to the new health care law. But it differs on others, in particular on national security. While many Liberty Caucus members are opposed to the government surveillance program that has permitted officials to gather huge amounts of private phone and internet data in an effort to thwart terrorism, most mainstream GOP lawmakers have shown far less opposition and have defended it as necessary for preserving national security."

Read more: http://washingtonexaminer.com/libertarian-wing-of-gop-gains-strength-in-congress/article/2542802#
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Private city under construction in Nigeria

New, privatized African city heralds climate apartheid | Environment | theguardian.com -Martin Lukacs, True North, The Guardian:

January 21, 2014 - "Just off Lagos, Nigeria's coast, an artificial island is emerging from the sea. A foundation, built of sand dredged from the ocean floor, stretches over ten kilometres. Promotional videos depict what is to come: a city of soaring buildings, housing for 250,000 people, and a central boulevard to match Paris' Champs-Élysées and New York's Fifth Avenue. Privately constructed, it will also be privately administered and supplied with electricity, water, mass transit, sewage and security. It is the 'future Hong Kong of Africa,' anticipates Nigeria's World Bank director

"Welcome to Eko Atlantic, a city whose 'whole purpose', its developers say, is to 'arrest the ocean's encroachment'.... To defend against the coastal erosion and flooding, the city is being surrounded by the 'Great Wall of Lagos', a sea defence barrier made of 100,000 five-ton concrete blocks. Eko Atlantic will be a 'sustainable city, clean and energy efficient with minimal carbon emissions,' offer jobs, prosperity and new land for Nigerians, and serve as a bulwark in the fight against the impacts of climate change."

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/true-north/2014/jan/21/new-privatized-african-city-heralds-climate-apartheid
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Paul is now the 2016 GOP frontrunner - Atlantic

Rand Paul Is the 2016 Republican Frontrunner - Peter Beinart - The Atlantic:

January 22, 2014 - "If Chris Christie was ever the frontrunner for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, he isn’t anymore. All along, the theory behind his candidacy was that he could overcome his lack of conservative bona fides with a combination of personality, competence, electability, and money. Bridgegate undermines all four.

"In the minds of many voters, Christie’s personality has morphed from brash to bully. It’s harder to look competent when your top aides egregiously abused power under your nose.... Marist and Quinnipiac, whose surveys showed Clinton and Christie virtually tied in December, now show him trailing her by 13 and 8 points, respectively.... And as Christie’s electability erodes, so will his vaunted support among GOP moneymen.

"So if Christie is no longer the candidate to beat in the 2016 Republican race, who is? Believe it or not, it’s Rand Paul.

"To understand the Kentucky senator’s hidden strength, it’s worth remembering this basic fact about the modern GOP: It almost never nominates first-time candidates. Since 1980, George W. Bush is the only first-timer to win a Republican nomination. And since Bush used the political network his father built, he enjoyed many of the benefits of someone who had run before. It’s the same with Paul. In both Iowa and New Hampshire, he begins with an unparalleled infrastructure left over from his father Ron Paul’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns."

Read more: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/01/rand-paul-is-the-2016-republican-frontrunner/283258/
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