This court appeal is THE MOST IMPORTANT EVER. I NEED you to show up if you can make it to Albany.

Date: Friday, September 9th
Time: 9:30am
Location: Robert Abrams Building, Empire Plaza, 5th Floor, State Street (near corner of Park Street), Albany New York

The last court case didn’t go our way in part because the judge didn’t understand—or worse, DIDN’T CARE about why ballot access is so important to democracy in New York and around the country. If we don’t get on the ballot, this will be the first election in almost 80 years where only two candidates appear on the ballot. More than that, 2024 may be the first Presidential election where no third party will have 50 state ballot access in a really long time.

Come to ALBANY THIS FRIDAY. Show your support. Send a MESSAGE to the JUDGE that our VOICES MUST BE HEARD in this election. It matters.

If you can’t make it, ASK ONE FRIEND TO SHOW UP IN YOUR PLACE. We need to fill the room with people who love liberty.

As always, we need your help too. If you responded to the last email, THANK YOU. We will finish reaching out to people by Monday.

Right now, we need DRIVERS. The campaign will cover gas & tolls. I just need help getting from point A to point B. Additionally, we always need help with coordinating new events, social media, content creation, and social media. Can you help?

Register to Volunteer Here

We need FUNDING. As you know, fundraising has been slow since the last court decision, and we need money to keep moving forward with the appeal, and with our WRITE-IN CAMPAIGN. Stand with me to save New York before it’s too late.

Click here and send whatever you can

In liberty,

Larry Sharpe

Zerohedge columnist Tyler Durden cites a provocative economist on Biden’s recent announcements about student loan forgiveness:

Economist Nassim Nicholas Taleb has slammed President Joe Biden’s student loan debt bailout plan.

In a brief Twitter thread, the author of the bestselling books that deal with the extreme impact of rare events and argues for systems to be built “anti-fragile”, argued that the cost of Biden’s “debt jubilee should be borne by universities, not taxpayers.”

The economist went on to say that “middle class parents were tricked & fleeced” by the implicit promise that a U.S. college degree would guarantee a good job.

“If a U.S. college degree appears to be useless, it is by design,” he said, arguing that liberal arts degrees amount to “training for upper class free men (liber) who were above having a profession.”

Vocational and professional schools, on the other hand, are meant to prepare people to take on jobs that pay money, he added.

“You learn to earn $$ in vocational or professional schools.”

Taleb’s tweets prompted a number of responses on both sides of the ideological debate but this one from @Ofer_Rubinseemed to sum things up well for many…

The White House says Biden’s student loan forgiveness scheme is estimated to cost $24 billion per year, or $240 billion over a 10-year period. Projections by the Penn Wharton Budget Model and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget put the figure at between $330 billion and $500 billion over a decade, respectively.

Under Biden’s sweeping forgiveness plan, taxpayers will absorb up to $10,000 in outstanding student debt for individual borrowers earning less than $125,000 per year or $250,000 for married joint filers.

Taleb joins a growing chorus of both Republicans and Democrats that have panned the debt wipeout as unfair to people who sacrificed to pay off their student loans or never racked them up in the first place but now have to foot the bill for other people’s debts.

Taleb did not weigh in on the fairness of the forgiveness scheme itself but aimed his criticism chiefly on the U.S. education industry, but as Tom Ozimek writes at The Epoch Times, Taleb’s remarks that universities – rather than taxpayers – should bear the cost of the student debt jubilee dovetails with the view that it’s unfair for America’s working class taxpayers who didn’t go to college to have to pay for the student loans of those who racked up debt for advanced degrees that have proven of little value on the job market.

Sharpe provides the latest on the battle to restore the LPNY’s ballot status, and his gearing up for a write-in campaign in his race for Governor:

We Have to Keep Fighting. Who’s In?

@thelarrysharpe ♬ International Harvester – Craig Morgan

The judge ruled against us, but the war isn’t over. We identified flaws in his ruling, and we’re working on our appeal to fight for ballot access. In the meantime, I’m back on the road!

We’re moving forward with the court appeal, and a WRITE IN CAMPAIGN. This weekend, I travelled all over New York State and visited with farmers, small business owners, and everyday people like you and me. New York is a disaster, and we need to turn it around. Can you help?

Right now, we need volunteers. Most urgently, we need people who can cut up videos into clips and do very basic editing, and posting to social media. We also need people who can work on setting up events from now until November.

Register to Volunteer Here 

If you don’t have the time, then we could use your money. As you know, fundraising has been slow since the court decision. We’ve got bills to pay, court costs, and a campaign to see through to the end. Stand with me to save New York before it’s too late.

Click here and send whatever you can  

In liberty,

Larry Sharpe

Did the same senior FBI agent coordinate both the bogus ‘fednapping’ of the Michigan Governor, and the mostly FBI-staged provocateur activity in DC on January 6? Was the point of both ops to smear or entrap people, so as to cast all pro-liberty protestors as violent extremists? Inquiring minds, such as (formerly OAN) online commentator Liz Wheeler, want to know (update–Wheeler has also commented on the verdict just in on the re-trial):

Join us on Saturday, September 10, 2022 at 12:00 pm (noon) at Tu Casa Spanish/Peruvian Restaurant (119-05 Metropolitan Ave in Kew Gardens, New York) to hear author and tour guide Fred Cookinham speak on his new book about Objectivist and libertarian icon Ayn Rand, and her defining masterpiece. “My latest book,” writes Cookinham, is “Atlas Shrugged, Line by Line: Commentary and Study Guide to the Novel that has Inspired Millions.” He will explain “How I came to write it. How it differs from my previous books. How it relates to my walking tours.” His presentation will be followed by extensive discussion of Ayn Rand and her legacy.

Details and Directions

Of course. At a time when even weak tea conservatives or play-it-safe FOX pundits are calling for ending federal bureaucracies and politicized law enforcement, it’s nice to look back. Bring it all down, end it, don’t mend it:

OAN covers the litigation already starting in New York over its revised gun law, such as the suit launched by the Gun Owners of America:

QL Vice President Dr. Philip Schoenberg’s analysis of the Biden regime’s evasions on inflation, from a recent email libertarian discussion:

The Magic Think of Politicos 3: Inflation Owned by Joe Biden © 2022 by Philip Ernest Schoenberg, PhD

President Joe Biden’s fight against inflation has been a failure.
In regard to inflation:

Firstly, after eighteen months, you can no longer say inflation will be “ temporary.”

Secondly, deny, deny, deny as prices go up does not work.

Thirdly, Joe Biden can’t blame his predecessor anymore for inflation. He has been president for one and a half years, long enough for his policies to contribute to inflation.

Fourthly, what are those policies? Shut down any non-green energy sources in America while begging third-world tyrants to increase their fossil fuel production in which we share a common atmosphere. Wait and wait for green energy to kick in. If so, why does it need subsidies while suppressing the competition? Joe Biden and fellow greens are ignoring the increase in fossil fuel production in Africa, China, and India as they burn coal to supply their energy needs and add to global warming.

Fifthly, if you cannot violate the fundamental laws of economics. If you decrease supply while demand increases, prices will go up.

Sixthly, putting business people in jail for being unable to supply energy at the price you want means no energy.

Seventh, wishful thinking can’t hide the consequences. President managed to get a “Build Back Better” bill approved by Congress that had more pork than infrastructure which has done its share to overheat the economy despite the wishful thinking of economists in support of the bill. Larry Summers, a liberal economist, who sticks to something called data correctly predicted it would fel inflation.

Eighthly, fancy titles again can’t hide the consequences. “The Inflation Reduction” just approved by Congress will further contribute to inflation to unneeded subsidies to crony capitalists. The same applies to the CHIPS act for an extremely profitable industry. You can encourage chip production in America by requiring American-made chips for defense while imposing let us say a 20% tariff on imports if you consider this should be manufactured at home.

Above all friends, brownouts and blackouts are coming. The Biden administration and Democratic governors concerned with saving the planet are shutting traditional sources of energy in the expectation that somehow green and renewable energy will instantly spring up to fill the gap.

But don’t worry, as your food spoils in the refrigerator, as you wait for mass transit if it is available, and you go to neighborhood cooling centers. Meanwhile, Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, AOC, and Nancy Pelosi are thinking green thoughts as they are chauffeured in their air-conditioned limos and government-provided jets as they figure of how they can make energy even less available to save the planet. Their motto: Do as I say, not what I actually do myself.

FEE reviews the stark contrast between the heroic image of the spy movie genre, versus the truth about the Surveillance State:

As the world evolves into more “fintech” (advanced banking service alternatives) or digital solutions for performing transactions, concerns about maintaining or restoring financial privacy have increased. This Reason video mentions several methods for making Bitcoin transfers untraceable:  

Queens Libertarians will host an open discussion of issues related to the recent judicial decisions announced by the high court on Saturday, August 13 at 12:00 pm at Tu Casa restaurant in Kew Gardens, under the topic, “Is the Supreme Court Moving Towards Liberty?” Discussion will be carried by our local “bullpen” of commentators like Alton Yee, professors Schoenberg and Luster, meetup host John Clifton and others.

Among the questions explored by Yee are, were libertarian principles addressed by the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the curtailment of the powers presumed by the EPA? Clifton will review the impact of the right to carry guns ruling on New Yorkers in the Bruin opinion, and the implications for religious liberty of the new prayer decision. Does this represent a renewed constitutional approach by the court, or judicial activism in a conservative direction? Is current Washington, DC capable of dealing with the changes? And more.

Details and Directions

A podcaster reminisces on the bad old days of unconstitutional beatdowns by the NYPD:

The implications of the recent spate of court rulings are still reverberating throughout the nation. Queens Libertarians will be devoting its August 13 meeting to the subject, but for now here’s how one site is covering it:

Included in the historic and dizzying litany of U.S. Supreme Court decisions the last ten days are rulings on 2^nd Amendment rights and free exercise of religion.

These decisions, when analyzed in conjunction with landmark pro-democracy decisions defending the rights ‘of the people’ through their elected representatives to choose to protect pre-born human life and requiring that the U.S. Congress determine major environmental policy—not unelected bureaucrats unaccountable to the people—the Supreme Court has returned “We the People” to a constitutional republic and a ‘government by consent of the governed.’

Let’s begin with the 2^nd Amendment case.

The Supreme Court held that New York’s handgun licensing regime was unconstitutional.  Why?  Because NY was forcing its citizens who wished to apply for and receive a permit to carry a handgun to prove that they had “proper cause” to carry the handgun and that the applicant had demonstrated a “special need for self-defense.”

The Supreme Court flatly said “no.”  What was the Court’s reasoning?

The Court refused to leave in the hands of NY state bureaucrats the discretion to determine to grant or disallow a citizen’s 2^nd Amendment right ‘to keep and bear arms’ based on what the bureaucrat deems to qualify as a “special need” for self-defense.

The Court held that “the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.”  The Court underscored this point adding that “individual self-defense is the central component of the Second Amendment right.”

Why is this important? At a time when the Lunatic Left are defunding and disrespecting the police, and police coverage and response times are negatively impacted; when bail to keep dangerous criminals off the streets is being reduced and ended in many jurisdictions; and prisons are being emptied of lethal threats to society; this Supreme Court decision reaffirms the principle that the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right.   Read the rest

Mayor Glenn Jacobs (fka, WWE’s “Kane”) expressed support for the recent overturning of Roe v Wade, which has led to an inevitable woke backlash. Libertarian commentator Eric July responds (caution, lots of bad language):

Lawyer with a self defense video channel explains at length the decision of the Supreme Court striking down a restrictive right to carry law , as per a suit brought by New York Rifle and Pistol Association: