Ice Cube (and a commentator) schools Chris Cuomo on a more effective, pander-free form of outreach to minorities in 2024:
Excerpt of Reason’s take on the implications for political liberty by new movies like Civil War:
…Civil War is a political movie with no overt politics. It’s a war movie in which the nature of the dispute is wholly unclear. It’s a movie about journalism and journalistic ethics in which the media as we know it is a hollowed-out shell of itself, almost an afterthought. It’s an of-the-moment, extrapolated-from-the-thinkpieces movie about a polarized and divided country that refuses to either explain the causes of that 
division or propose anything like a solution. If you’re looking for a headline, a diagnosis, a lead, a thesis sentence, a compact Tweetable lesson, a talking point for a cable news roundtable, you won’t find it. Civil War is designed to leave you feeling empty, exhausted, and adrift. It’s a war movie without a take.
Written and directed by Alex Garland, the writer behind The Beach and 28 Days Later and the mastermind behind Ex Machina, Annihilation, and the still-underappreciated Devs, Civil War is not quite a science fiction movie, but it bears some of the same genre hallmarks. It’s a dystopian thought experiment about the nature of humanity and morality in a world where the rules and conventions that are usually taken for granted have broken down.
As with those earlier works, what Garland posits is that the bonds of civil society—the customs and expectations and hidden social rules that ensure that most people act with something like decency and respect toward each other—are far more fragile and contingent than we think. Civilization, in Garland’s stories, does not uphold itself.
When the movie begins, the American civil war is already well underway, to the point where it’s almost taken for granted.
The Western Forces (WF), a coalition made up of California and Texas, are making their way toward Washington, D.C., where a president (Nick Offerman) who stayed beyond his second term in office remains. A third faction, the Florida Alliance, is also in play, perhaps in alliance with the WF, perhaps with its own goals. But the nature of the conflict, and the backstory, remains murky.
Garland’s script plays coy on what seem like crucial context questions, briefly referencing, for example, an “antifa massacre.” But wait, was the massacre against antifa? Or by antifa? If you’re looking for answers to questions like what are the precise political aims of the factions? you won’t find them. It’s war. It’s complicated, and it’s ugly. Mostly, it’s about staying alive…
Read the Rest.
A quick April 15 reminder from the famous novelist, concerning how taxes amount to legalized theft:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pypWO_3HcY8
From an LPNY release:
LPNY Launches 2024 Petition Drive to Get Presidential Candidates on the Ballot
Larry Sharpe, Rich Purtell to Stand-In on Petition until Libertarian National Convention is Held
Albany, NY – The Libertarian Party in New York has placed a presidential candidate on statewide election ballots every presidential year since 1976. According to Andrew Kolstee, Chair of the Libertarian Party of New York (LPNY), the new requirement of 45,000 valid petition signatures during the six-week petition period from April 16–May 28 will be hard to attain. To qualify, LPNY must use “stand-in” temporary candidates as the national party doesn’t nominate candidates until the Libertarian National Convention is held in Washington, D.C. from May 24-26.
The LPNY held a nominating convention for temporary candidates in Watkins Glen, New York in March, and selected Larry Sharpe to stand-in as the Presidential candidate on the statewide petition. Sharpe was the party’s candidate for Governor in 2018 and 2022. Rich Purtell, 2nd Vice-Chair of the LPNY, was selected as the stand-in for Vice President. Purtell has run for office as a Libertarian candidate several times.
According to LPNY Chair, Andrew Kolstee, the 45,000 petition signature requirement in New York for independent bodies over a six-week period represents the highest number of signatures per day required of any state. “It used to be 15,000 signatures and we had been able to get that every time, but Governor Cuomo tripled the requirements in part ZZZ of the 2020-2021 budget,” said Kolstee. “We went through a three-year legal battle going all the way up to the Supreme Court, but they didn’t take our case.”
“The new requirements also set a precedent in 2022, which was the first time there were only two choices for Governor in New York since 1946,” said Kolstee. “As long as strenuous ballot access requirements remain in effect, New Yorkers will be stuck with two parties. We don’t want to see that happen, especially when Americans are more and more dissatisfied with the two major parties, and their respective presumptive nominees.”
The state party is making an urgent plea for petition volunteers, and voters are encouraged to sign petition pages to enable Libertarian Party challengers this election, even though the names of those challengers will not be known until the Libertarian National Convention is held.
For more information, go to https://lpny.org/2024-petitioning-portal
As you may know, at last week’s state nominating convention the state committee (LPNY) selected a POTUS (Larry Sharpe) and VP (Rich Purtell, 2nd Vice Chair LPNY and Legislative Affairs Director) place holder candidates to run petitions for. This is because the NY independent nominating petition period April 16 -May 28 occurs before the delegation to the national convention selects the party’s nominee for
President and VP. When ballot access is achieved, the place holder candidates are expected to give their lines to the LP’s nominees selected at the national convention on May 26.
If you have the time and are willing to roll up your sleeves and put in the work needed to get alot of signatures you can receive a $3000 stipend to collect signatures for NY. Complete this form– Libertarian Ballot Freedom Fighters. Bill Redpath, the National Ballot Access Coordinator for the Libertarian Party, will be in contact with you. Redpath explains it below (you can also contact QL about county level activity to get a LP congressional candidate on the ballot in CD 3):
—–
Paid Petitioning Opportunity! Help the LP with Ballot Access!
A Message from National Ballot Access Coordinator Bill Redpath
We’ve all seen too much price inflation over the past few years. That we all know.
But, you might not know where inflation has possibly been the worst. The cost of paid petitioning has gone through the roof. Why? More presidential candidates this year who need to get on the ballot. And well-financed sponsors of initiatives in many states who drive the demand for people to gather signatures for them.
As advocates for the free market, we don’t begrudge anyone making an honest living to their own benefit. But, this situation has placed the Libertarian Party in a difficult situation this year out of no fault of our own.
Because of signature price escalation this year, we probably can’t afford to complete petition drives in the states of New York and Illinois, and in the District of Columbia, for our presidential ticket in the usual manner.
So, we need to dig deep and get resourceful. We need to do something special. Something unprecedented in the history of the Libertarian Party.
We are seeking activists dedicated to liberty to come to Illinois, New York and DC from late March until early August to gather signatures for the LP presidential ticket to get on the ballot there, so that 50 states plus DC ballot access for our presidential ticket can again be achieved.
We’ll pay you a monthly stipend of $3,000, plus housing in an airbnb. Modest compensation, we admit. But, the result of this effort can make sure that once again all Americans will have Libertarian candidates on their Fall 2024 ballot.
Please let us know if you are interested in learning more about this opportunity to maximize ballot access for our presidential ticket and other LP candidates this year.
If you or anyone you know may be interested in helping and getting paid work as a Libertarian Activist, please click the link below.
I’ve signed up to be a petitioner. Please join me and others in this noble and worthwhile effort for liberty, not just in our lifetimes, but in this year.
Bill Redpath
National Ballot Access Coordinator
Libertarian Party
Sign Up Here
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc_X7Dm344S3n27sCSUbcBNOpaphzNepyzw3_PSRlhGnP1D1A/viewform
QL meets on April 13 at noon to hear retired Professor Robert Luster speak on the topic of “Paper Tiger, Fading Dragon? China’s Economy.” Discussion will be held at our Woodside location at Donovan’s Pub on 57-24 Roosevelt Ave, in the family room area. This address will follow its 
monthly business session, covering Queens LP planning and subcommittee updates. Luster will go over the state of China’s economic instability, or even decline due to recent events, and the long term structural problem of the government trying to be committed to Communist principles, and pro-market policies at the same time.
Also come by to help LPQC find a team of petitioners to support the statewide petition drive to get Larry Sharpe on the ballot in New York for President (the drive starts April 16). We also need to endorse a candidate for Congress in CD 3 (covers Douglaston, Little Neck, and Northern Nassau). Please attend to vote, or even run for local office! Details and Directions
Here is the revised text of the talk presented by Dr. Philip Schoenberg at the QL March meeting, on his perspective about the various US Presidents’ impact on Liberty.
US Presidents–Who did the Most and the Least to Advance Liberty? © 2024 by Philip Ernest Schoenberg, PhD
Explain how a president should advance, promote, and protect liberty?
Rank choices from one the best to twelve the worst and explain why in a single sentence..
Who do you think is the best president in terms of liberty and why?
Who do you think is the worst president in terms of liberty and why?
___ A. George Washington (1789-1797)—role model of a leader who served for a period of time and then stepped down. He was greater than the nation when he became president but thanks to his efforts, the nation had become greater than him. He set up the federal government in operation. In private, he railed against what he felt was unfair criticism by the press but refrained from shutting down his critics. Unlike so many Latin American “liberators,” Washington did not become a dictator and stepped down to resume his life as a private citizen. On the other hand, President Washington pushed the Indians westward. George Washington could have set an example by freeing the 150 slaves he owned while he was president instead of telling his wife to free them when she died. She did not wait to avoid giving into temptation to end her life… Read the rest.
Join Queens Libertarians (in its topical event for LPQC) on March 9 at noon. Dr. Phil Schoenberg will lead an open discussion on the topic of “US Presidents—Who Did the Most and the Least to Advance Liberty?,” an informative presentation by a Presidential Expert, belatedly in 
honor of Presidents’ Day (topic was delayed from last month). Discussion will be held at our Woodside location at Donovan’s Pub on 57-24 Roosevelt Ave, in the family room area. This talk will follow the monthly business session, covering Queens LP housekeeping and subcommittee updates.
Post-County Convention Notes: The current officers of the LPQC executive committee were re-elected to serve in 2024. The office of Secretary is still open (until filled, LPQC/QL may elect to use online summaries or video recordings to act as a “virtual Secretary” to cover its events). Vice Chair Francisco Olvera will be exploring upgrading the QL website over the next few months, including perhaps merging it with the LP Queens site.
This site has updated the Join/Renew and donation page to reflect updated options to pay (such as Paypal and Venmo). The History page has also just been updated to include a note about this being the 30th year of LPQC’s operation. And Dr. Phil Schoenberg is belatedly noted as local Libertarian winner of the 2023 Thomas Stevens Award (as announced at the January meeting).
As recommended by Daniel Donnelly, LPNY State Committee Elected Representative:
Diane Sare, running for U.S. Senate, appears in Manhattan on Sunday, February 18th, 10am at the International Presidents Day Conference. As you may remember, Sare courted the Libertarian Party of New York for cross-endorsement and was rejected but got on statewide ballot nonetheless in 2022. She is the LaRouche Independent candidate with some positions compatible with Libertarian principles, such as opposition to military adventurism which has characterized much of U.S. foreign policy since the 1950s.
Though I may not agree with Sare on all her stances, her candidacy appeals to me much more than re-electing Kirsten Gillibrand. To that end, I invite you to join me at this event, to hear out Diane Sare, who will be taking questions.
Tickets are $25 per attendee. For security concerns, venue will be disclosed to ticketholders closer to the event’s date/time. I hope to see you there!