Ron Paul to speak at 2013 Manning Conference in Ottawa in March

Global News | Controversial Republican Ron Paul to speak at Canadian conservative gathering - Jenifer Ditchburn, Canadian Press:

February 6, 2013 - "OTTAWA - Former Republican presidential candidate and libertarian Ron Paul will be the marquee speaker at Canada's premier gathering of conservatives next month, a figure that even organizers bill as controversial.

"Paul will speak to the Manning Centre for Building Democracy's networking conference....

"Paul, referred to by some pundits as the real inspiration behind the Tea Party movement in the United States, is one of the foremost voices for small government — including eliminating foreign aid, the education department, key social programs and the war on drugs.

"He is staunchly anti-abortion, anti-gun control, and opposed to President Barack Obama's health-care reform. The 77-year-old has advocated for an end to Medicare and Medicaid in the United States....

"Paul is a former doctor turned congressman and currently the chairman of the Campaign for Liberty. He was able to assemble a loyal following over the course of two Republican races in 2008 and 2011, notably with the use of the Internet."

Read more: http://www.globalnews.ca/controversial+republican+ron+paul+to+speak+at+canadian+conservative+gathering/6442803996/story.html

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Libertarian candidate announces Senate run in Massachusetts

The Daily Item: 6th District Libertarian candidate announces Senate run:

February 5, 2012 -  "BEVERLY — Libertarian candidate Daniel Fishman, who ran for Congress in the 6th District, announced Tuesday he will attempt to get on the ballot for the U.S. Senate special election to fill former Sen. John Kerry’s seat.

"Fishman, a software engineer from Beverly, launched an unsuccessful campaign for Congress this fall against U.S. Rep. John Tierney, a Democrat from Salem, and former state senator Richard Tisei, a Republican from Wakefield. Fishman earned about 16,000 votes in that race, or 5 percent.

"He said in a press release Tuesday that he’s decided to try to run for Senate because he thinks Massachusetts voters are stuck between a 'Democratic machine' and a too-conservative Republican party."

Read more: http://www.itemlive.com/articles/2013/02/05/updates/updates25.txt
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Students have free speech, due process rights, jury rules

Students Have Free Speech and Due Process Rights Too | Cato @ Liberty - Ilya Shapiro:

February 4, 2013 - "This past Friday, a federal jury in Atlanta sent a powerful message to university administrators across the nation: you cannot violate students’ free speech and due process rights with impunity. The jury found Valdosta State University president Ronald Zaccari personally liable for $50,000 in damages for expelling former VSU student Hayden Barnes, who peacefully protested a planned $30-million campus parking garage. The trial and award followed a ruling last year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit that Zaccarri could not claim the immunity given to public officials acting in their official capacities because he should have known that Barnes was entitled to notice and a hearing before being expelled.

Barnes’s saga began in 2007, when Zaccarri announced, and Barnes protested, the proposed garage construction.  Barnes’s activities included sending emails to student and faculty governing bodies, writing letters to the editor of the VSU student newspaper, and composing a satirical collage on Facebook. In retaliation for these acts, Zaccari ordered that Barnes be 'administratively withdrawn' from VSU, without any hearing before his expulsion in May 2007."

Read more: http://www.cato.org/blog/students-have-free-speech-due-process-rights-too
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Blaer Bjarkardottir wins right to use her given name

Blaer Bjarkardottir, Icelandic Teen, Wins Right To Use Her Given Name - Gidjon Helgason, Huffington Post::

January 31, 2012 - "A 15-year-old Icelandic girl has been granted the right to legally use the name given to her by her mother, despite the opposition of authorities and Iceland's strict law on names.

"Reykjavik District Court ruled Thursday that the name "Blaer" can be used.... The decision overturns an earlier rejection by Icelandic authorities who declared it was not a proper feminine name. Until now, Blaer Bjarkardottir had been identified simply as "Girl" in communications with officials.

"'I'm very happy,' she said after the ruling. 'I'm glad this is over. Now I expect I'll have to get new identity papers. Finally I'll have the name Blaer in my passport.'

"Like a handful of other countries, including Germany and Denmark, Iceland has official rules about what a baby can be named. Names are supposed to fit Icelandic grammar and pronunciation rules....

"The court found that based on testimony and other evidence, that the name could be used by both males and females and that Blaer had a right to her own name under Iceland's constitution and Europe's human rights conventions."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/31/blaer-bjarkardottir--icel_n_2589657.html
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Old Guard launches coup in Alaska GOP

Old Guard launches coup in Alaska GOP | Washington Times Communities - Dave Nalle:

"WASHINGTON, DC, February 1, 2013 - In a hastily convened meeting Thursday night the outgoing leadership of the Republican Party of Alaska staged what amounts to a coup to oust the incoming Chairman and seize control of the party.

"Two weeks ago, I wrote about the controversy over the election of reformer candidate Russ Millette to the Chairmanship of the Alaska GOP.  Millette is a Republican Liberty Caucus member who represents the more libertarian/conservative wing of the party and party insiders did not want him to take control of their party and institute reforms.

"During the lame duck tenure of the outgoing State Executive Committee, party insiders raised various charges against Millette and his Vice Chair Debbie Brown.... A plan was put forward to hold a hearing on the charges at the installation meeting of the Executive Committee on February 1st. Then ... the hearing was moved forward a day so that the new committee members would not yet be seated or have a vote on the accusations.

"Even more troubling to many party members was the notification right before the meeting that outgoing Chairman Randy Ruederich had cleaned out the party treasury of $35,000."

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/liberty-our-times/2013/feb/1/old-guard-stages-coup-alaska-republican-party/
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State Democratic leader mastermind in tea party plot, convicted ex-official says | Detroit Free Press

State Democratic leader mastermind in tea party plot, convicted ex-official says | Politics/Election 2012 | Detroit Free Press | freep.com - Kathleen Gray:

February 2, 2013 - "The former chairman of the Oakland County Democratic Party, who was convicted for his involvement with a scheme to sign up fake tea party candidates for the 2010 election, now says that Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer was the mastermind behind the plot.

"Mike McGuinness, in a post on the Michigan Liberal blog, said that an 'emissary' from the state party started calling, 'pleading to help find candidates for their tea party farce.'

"'I thought I was being a loyal party soldier, doing just what the Republicans would do,' he wrote. 'I deserve all the scorn I got. I'm not interested in relitigating the past, but I got six felonies and he got another term as chair.'

"McGuinness and Jason Bauer, an employee of the party, were accused of forging documents for tea party candidates in an effort to siphon votes away from Republicans in the 2010 election by putting up a slate of candidates under the tea party banner.blicans in the 2010 election by putting up a slate of candidates under the tea party banner. But the Michigan Supreme Court disqualified the mysterious start-up party's entire slate of candidates."

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20130202/NEWS15/302020122/State-Democratic-leader-mastermind-tea-party-plot-convicted-ex-official-says
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Gary Johnson reboots with libertarian non-campaign campaign

Gary Johnson reboots with libertarian non-campaign campaign - Rob Nikolowski, New Mexico Watchdog?:

February 1, 2013 - "It’s not a campaign, but Gary Johnson is back in the political game.

"Starting in April, the 2012 Libertarian Party presidential nominee and former two-term governor of New Mexico told New Mexico Watchdog, his 'Our America' initiative will kick off a series of speaking engagements across the country to spread his message of fiscal conservatism and social liberalism.

"'We’re up and running and we’ll see where it goes,' Johnson said by phone from his home in Taos.

"Last November, Johnson’s Libertarian Party run ... received just under 1.3 million votes, the most ever for a Libertarian Party candidate.

"'I don’t want to talk about a presidential run (in 2016),' Johnson said, 'but I do want to have a seat at the table.… I think what I bring to the equation is the best of both worlds. I’m more liberal than Obama on social issues and I’m more conservative than Republicans on fiscal issues. And I think a lot of Americans feel the same way.'"

Read more: http://newmexico.watchdog.org/16814/gary-johnson-reboots-with-libertarian-non-campaign-campaign/
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