AZ Libertarians To File Injunction

Libertarians to the west have taken a big step in debate awareness by releasing the following:

LIBERTARIANS TO FILE FOR INJUNCTION TO STOP THIRD BUSH/KERRY DEBATE

Press conference Friday in Phoenix

September 29, 2004
For Immediate Release
Contact: Stephen P. Gordon
Office: (512) 637-6867
Cell: (256) 227-8360
communications@badnarik.org

Phoenix - The state shouldn’t be making donations to political candidates, say Arizona Libertarians – and they’re going to court to stop Arizona State University from donating up to $2 million to presidential candidates George W. Bush and John F. Kerry.

At issue: The presidential debate scheduled to take place in Tempe on October 13th.

“It’s a clear case of misusing state funds,” says David Euchner, attorney for the Arizona LP. “Arizona recognizes three political parties. debate which included all three of those parties would be a legitimate expenditure on education and public information. A debate including only two of the three candidates is a partisan campaign commercial – and an illegal donation to partisan political associations.”

Barry Hess is the Vice Chair of the AZLP, and is currently in Pennsylvania with Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik assisting with preparations for Badnarik’s upcoming debates. Hess provided additional explanation by telephone, “It is so outrageous because the Republicans and the Democrats clearly violate their own Finance Reform Act, which in this case operates against all parties except the Republicans and the Democrats. Additionally, this use of these particular funds is in clear violation of the Arizona Constitution.”

The suit, in which AZLP and its treasurer, Warren Severin, are listed as plaintiffs, will seek an injunction or restraining order against the use of state funds for the debate.

Hess, along with other representatives of the Arizona Libertarian Party and a spokesperson for Michael Badnarik’s campaign will meet with members of the press. The conference will begin at 2 p.m., Friday, October 1 on the steps of the Maricopa County Superior Courthouse at 201 W Jefferson Street in Phoenix.

Updates to follow when available.

Choose or Lose or More of the Same

I was very happy with MTV's Choose or Lose program of voter education and especially with their article about Libertarian Michael Badnarik, but now they've added a PRElection which from what I can tell is mostly a sweepstakes in disguise of a political poll or mock-election. After you register (hopefully with a disposable e-mail address, or one other than your real one), decline the invitation to get added to all their e-mail lists and login, you are presented with your choice of Bush or Kerry. You read that right. Two candidates. This completely discredits the whole Choose or Loose program in my opinion as it was all for naught. Shame on you MTV, and oh yeah... could you maybe find it in your hearts to put some music somewhere in your programming now and then?

The Electoral College

With the Presidential Debate scheduled to be held tonight, and the political skit being billed as a debate between Bush and Kerry also scheduled, take time today read about the Electoral College in a well written paper by William C. Kimberling, Deputy Director FEC Office of Election Administration. Included are a brief history, the evolution since the 12th Amendment, historical curiosities and remarkable outcomes and observations about the pro's and con's of the Electoral College. I found of particular interest this argument against:

A second way in which the Electoral College fails to accurately reflect the national popular will stems primarily from the winner-take-all mechanism whereby the presidential candidate who wins the most popular votes in the State wins all the Electoral votes of that State. One effect of this mechanism is to make it extremely difficult for third-party or independent candidates ever to make much of a showing in the Electoral College. If, for example, a third-party or independent candidate were to win the support of even as many as 25% of the voters nationwide, he might still end up with no Electoral College votes at all unless he won a plurality of votes in at least one State. And even if he managed to win a few States, his support elsewhere would not be reflected. By thus failing to accurately reflect the national popular will, the argument goes, the Electoral College reinforces a two-party system, discourages third-party or independent candidates, and thereby tends to restrict choices available to the electorate.

And this argument for:

Proponents further argue that the Electoral College contributes to the political stability of the nation by encouraging a two-party system.

Don't forget to watch coverage of the real Peoples Debate tonight at Free Market News Network starting around 4:30 p.m. EST.

The Real Vice Presidential Debate

In a joint press release today, four vice presidential candidates announced that they will be participating in an unscripted debate on Tuesday, October 5th at Baldwin-Wallace College in Cleveland, Ohio. Simiar to the presidential debate between the Libertarian Party's Badnarik and the Green Party's Cobb, the four candidates will debate, watch the broadcast of the staged "exclusivve" debate between Edwards and Cheney during intermission and then offer their rebuttlals.

The four candidates participating are: Richard Campagna from the Libertarian Party, Chuck Baldwin from the Constitution Party, Patricia LaMarche from the Green Party, and Peter Miguel Camejo an Independent.

I like the approach that the third parties are taking since they're not getting invited to the commercial debates. If only someone in main stream media would do their job and push to get it covered.

Here's a funny read on An Honest Debate Between Bush And Kerry posted at Lew Rockwell's site.

Debate Reminder

Tomorrow September 30 is Debate Day.

4:00 p.m. Doors Open for Setup/Tables
5:00-7:00 p.m. Forum and Q&A
7:00-8:00 p.m. Protesting
8:15-9:00 p.m. Pacifica Interviews / Town Hall Oriented Coverage
9:00-10:30 p.m. Live Screening of CPD Debates
10:30-11:30 p.m. Candidate Rebuttals / Audience Responses

Radio coverage by Pacifica Broadcast.
Internet Video Coverage by Free Market News Network.

Nader Back on Ballot

The Associated Press has reported that the New Mexico Supreme Court has ordered that Ralph Nader be included on the ballot for the November 2nd Presidential Elections. The New Mexico Democratic Party sued Nader and initially won a ruling stating that because he was running as a Reform Party candidate in several sates he couldn't run as an Independent in New Mexico. Today, that ruling was overturned today. Nader won a similar lawsuit in Maine brought by the Maine Democratic Party. Now I'm not necessarily a Nader advocate, but I am a third party advocate. You don't have to be a genius to see a pattern here by the Democrats, you just have to be breathing. It's pathetic, really that anyone supports either one of the two major parties at all.

Also worthy of note is MTV's Choose or Lose site which today ran a headline article about Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik entitled Libertarian Says He Could Change American Politics If Invited To Debate. Good for you MTV.

The Peoples Debate

Free Market News Network, an internet-based news network, has agreed to cover the entire Miami debate this Thursday, September 30th between the Green Party's David Cobb and Libertarian Party's Michael Badnarik. Unlike the restricted coverage Republicrats will be airing the same evening, this debate will be covered in its entirety and broadcast on the web. The two debates are taking place a stone's throw from each other just across the Dixie Highway. This debate, however, will use an open format that allows for uncensored questions from the public and students and represents a wide range of viewpoints on the critical issues facing our country. Ralph Nader has been invited, but has yet to accept the invitation.

The debate will take place on Thursday, September 30, at 5 p.m., at the Holiday Inn Ballroom, 1350 S. Dixie Highway, in Coral Gables. Pacifica Radio will interview audience members and debate participants following the two hour debate. From 9 p.m. until 10:30, the candidates and audience will watch a live broadcast of the restricted, two-party debate after which Badnarik and Cobb will offer their rebuttals.

Coverage begins Thursday, September 30th at 4:30 p.m. EST

CPU Fans, Co-eds and Censorship

In addition to the PowerBook I use for most of my work, I also have, courtesy of my boss, a Dell Dimension 4600i. My wife uses it (remotely from her PowerBook) for access to QuickBooks online edition, which only works with Windows. I will use it to do any Windows development that may come my way. It's a nice machine for the price (under $900) but the CPU fan is driving me crazy. It's not the fan per se but the method by which it's mounted to the case. Dell | Talk forums reveal that I'm not the only one with this problem, though opinions vary and most people are having Dell send them new fans which mount like the old fans and surprise, surprise... exhibit the same problem. I posted the following:

I also suffer from this. Suffer only beginning to describe the pain and annoyance I feel from listening to that fan everyday. It appears to me that the source of noise for the fan isn't the fan itself, but rather the way it is mounted, somewhat loosely, to the case. If I put my finger on one of the black pieces of plastic fan mounts extruding from the back of the case, the noise goes away. Hardly an efficient way to work. Hiring a college girl to work for minimum wage to stand there with her finger on the fan mount hasn't held water with my wife. (Home office.) So, my next idea is to try and simulate "the finger" with various types of adhesive. Any suggestions? To sum up, I think it's the rattle of the fan mount as mounted to the case that is causing the noise. Dell will sell you a wife approved finger to test this theory if you call spare parts. I hear they're from people who needed finger replacement surgery from excessive three-finger saluting in previous versions of Windows.

Now everything is fine, and I await suggestions. What I get instead is someone from the original thread who completely agrees with me, but doesn't and suggests a closet, which I think is more befitting the co-ed than the computer:

I completely agree with you, the problem is not the fan itself, but the mechanical installation of it. I moved the computer a little and found out when the computer is installed facing 45 deg. down, the noise dissapears! It is deffinitely a mechanical problem, my guess is that the fan is not designed for upright installation and when it does it scratches the side of the fan. I will call Dell and complain about it tomorrow. I just talked with a friend of mine who bought his computer for over a year ago, and he had the same problem, he solved it by putting the computer in the closet!

So it's too good to pass up, and I respond appropriately to let him know that I've decided to use a silicone based adhesive. I may be toying with the whole co-ed theme here, but I did use the word screwed in an legitimate context. I was told I couldn't use screwed, even in a forum about general hardware problems (screws or the act of securing them in place apparently never comes up):

I'm still not convinced that it's a vertical vs. horizontal problem, but rather a problem with hard plastic rattling against the case. If they had put rubber inserts into the holes in the case before or even s c r e w e d (apparently that's a bad word) the mounting to the case instead of clipping it, there would be no problem other than the sweet hum of thermal dissipation. As it is, it moans... which in keeping with the hiring a co-ed theme, I've decided to go with a silicone based adhesive.

If Dell is going to censor their forums they might want to invest a little more money in a grammer checker that could serve dual purposes: 1) make sure that the words you censor are actually bad words, and 2) make my writing gooder. I can use all the help I can get in that department. While you're at it, fix your speed issues, espicially searching so it returns results... any results will do. My browser time-outs... times-out (is that a word?) before I ever get anything.

Crash...

"Crashing The Parties 2004" the PBS prime time documentary that:

"...gives voters a behind-the-scenes look at third party campaigns and conventions in the 2004 presidential race, showcasing the serious political alternatives to the Democrats and Republicans. The one-hour program focuses on four major third party/independent bids: Libertarian Party (Michael Badnarik), Green Party (David Cobb), Constitution Party (Michael Peroutka) and Ralph Nader. In addition, other candidates' bids for their party's nomination are featured, such as Libertarians Gary Nolan and Aaron Russo."

Though the national PBS feed is airing the documentary on Wednesday evening and Thursday right before its coverage of the Presidential Debate, KNME has decided that we'd rather watch and episode of NOVA concerning the important political topics of aliens and the Big Bang. A call to Denise Mills, Programming Questions & Comments this morning revealed that KNME is airing the documentary on October 17 at 2 p.m. Hardly the prime time coverage and impact of the national feed, but at least they're showing it. I was unable to obtain their reason for delaying the showing.

If you would like to contact KNME.

Crashing The Parties 2004, October 17, 2004, 2 p.m. on KNME, Albuquerque Channel 5

Welcome

You've found edgewood libertarianism. I've decided to start blogging since I'm sure everyone else on the planet is now doing so. I was the last one I know to get a pager; the last to get a cell phone; and surely, the last to blog. So... what does a guy in Edgewood, New Mexico who works at home sit around thinking about? The usual libertarian principles: life, liberty, personal responsibility, free-markets... nothing new to a libertarian dominated internet culture. However, libertarianism is, as it is in most places, unheard of or misunderstood by most in this rural town 20 miles east of Albuquerque. Even those that subscribe to libertarian principles and could talk all day about this issue or that issue, look confused at the notion that there exists a philosophy, even a political party that represented people just like them. So, here I am... the lone card carrying Libertarian in Edgewood. Oh, I'm sure there are a few others and maybe someday I'll actually meet one. Until then, my musings will appear here.