Bludgeon & Skewer

Gary Johnson is Coming to Athens for the Georgia LP Convention in February!

2012-01-24T15:46:00.000-08:00

Showtime on 24 FEB 12 in Athens!

I just saw this over at Crazy for Liberty so I know it's true. Gary Johnson, Carl Person, Leroy Saunders and R. Lee Wrights are gonna do the debate/town hall/Grip and Grin at next months Libertarian Soiree up in Athens.

Kudos to the guys and gals at the Athens LP for making it happen. I'm planning to be there for the morning session to cast my vote for Vice Chair once I've formally rejoined the Georgia LP next week. Looks like I'll be hanging out until the debate is done as well.

I urge all of the readership to converge on Athens on the 24th and join in the fun. How many times do you get to actually meet a guy running for President?

Gary Johnson Vid from IPR

2012-01-16T14:30:00.000-08:00

Hey Kids,

Libertarian Presidential wanna-bee Gary Johnson got some face time on MSNBC and came off sounding pretty good. Big ol' hat tip to the guys and gals over at Independent Political Report for posting it up as it's the place to get all the latest on the state of the race over here in LibertyLand.

I sure hope he makes it Athens next month for the Georgia Libertarian Convention.

Since I'm taking the time and effort to re-post, I'm gonna exercise my god given right to nit pick and suggest that Gary does his next live transmission standing up and in motion. I have no desire to look up anybody's nostrils for any length of time.

As an example, I offer the following:

Updated Gary Johnson Update

2011-12-21T16:56:00.000-08:00

Luftship! Launch the Gary Johnson Trial Balloon!

What a difference 5 hours can make. And the Thursday news cycle fetish.

I could take complete credit for forcing Gary Johnson to take one more baby step towards actually, officially, really, really announcing his intention to appear in Las Vegas and sweep a swooning LP convention into his oh so Presidential arms like Rhett did with Scarlett. It's not really credible, but I could still say it.

I guess I'll decline the opportunity.

So the current situation has potential Libertarian Presidential Candidate Gary Johnson making the official announcement on the 28th in Santa Fe in the company of the redoubtable Mark Hinkle, LP National Chairman, and scads of lesser luminaries, minions and underlings. Sounds like a party!

Speculation on why the process is taking so long in this digital age include the need for candidate Johnson to launch and land a trial balloon to see if any heads explode over there in RepublicanLand as the realization sinks in that this Johnson guy might "Nader" Romney come next November. To a lesser degree the same effect might be felt by Rockin' Barry O himself if word actually gets out that Johnson's LP compliant platform includes eliminating the war on drugs, gettin' government out of the marriage bizness and bringing our boys and girls home from WheretheHellisthatStan. Or least from Germany.

The trial balloon seems to working as a quick review of today's news stories on the event number in the 300+ range from traditional print/TV/media outlets. 300 + 1 if you count this blog.
The attendant comment trails provide an interesting read as things haven't gotten quite dire enough for an eruption of "WVS" or "LOTE" posts as yet. Give it time.

Of course, this being a LibertyLand thing, just because Gary announces his intentions does not automatically mean the rank and file Libertarians at the Vegas convention are gonna plop a first round nomination in his lap just for showing up. In the fractious world of participating Libertarian politics he's gonna have to deal with the various and sundry wings that make up the party faithful just like our republican and democrat brothers and sisters do. That means somebody is gonna get screwed to make make somebody else happy. That works in a multi-state selection process spread out over most a year, it's tough to do over two days when every swinging richard or richardette there knows what you told the last guy you spoke to.

And don't forget, there's still plenty-O-time left until May! Just about anything can happen.

Gary Johnson Update

2011-12-20T17:01:00.000-08:00

Six days and no announcement?

It's starting to look like Gary Johnson is getting cold feet about renouncing his lengthy period of republicanosity and hooking up with the LP for a crack at the best temp job on the planet. The surge of postings and speculation has pretty much faded and good ol' Gary is continuing to trudge along on his republican primary treadmill to nowheresville.

Can't say I blame him. Maybe he got a good look at the organization he was fixin' to pitch in with and realized "Hey, they have ballot access in 46 out of 50 states but they got no money." That can be sobering thought for a candidate with aspirations beyond one race not to mention that the republican party can be pretty hard on folks who wander off the reservation for the greener grass of Liberty. Just ask Bob Barr.

I would prefer the LP find a suitable candidate from existing LP stock for next years party with Romney and Obama and we do have more than three candidates working the ropes. Any one of them will pull the 500,000 or so votes the LP always gets in these affairs and do a fine job representing the Libertarian Party and it's platform.

Granted, none of them are real sizzlers, none of them have held elected office and none of them are millionaires but each of them was Libertarian before it was cool. Except maybe that Bill Still cat, but that'll get sorted out at next years convention.

Speaking of conventions, the Georgia LP is having it's annual soiree in Athens next year on 24-25 February. I mistakenly mentioned in the previous post that it was scheduled for March and that was not an attempt to mislead any Johnson-O-Philes out there. Ya'll still have plenty of time to turn Libertarian if your boy actually decides to make a move.

Holy Crap! Looks Like Republican Gary Johnson is Jumping Ship!!!

2011-12-14T16:49:00.000-08:00

Check it out, he doesn't even have to scrub the word "Republican" from his current campaign site!

The words out Kids.

The state of the race in LibertyLand is about to receive a seismic shock when Republican candidate for President, Ex-Gov Gary Johnson announces tomorrow that he's gonna seek the nomination of the Libertarian Party for next years big shindig. OK, maybe not tomorrow, maybe Friday, or next week or next month. Sometime soon for sure.

The guys and gals over at Independent Political Report have the inside skinny on the latest developments and Loads-O-Links to other blogs and sites that are reporting on the situation. It really is the biggest news in LibertyLand at the moment, even overshadowing Libertarian candidate for President Carl Person sacking his campaign manager for not driving the campaign bus in the correct manner.

So the next move for all you Johnson-O-Philes here in Georgia is:

1. Pony up the annual $25 dollar state of Georgia LP admission fee.

2. Sign the Oath of Non-Initiation of Violence (You do get to slap back with no penalty).

3. Start making plans to pack the state convention in Athens in March and send your delegates to Vegas! 25 true Johnson believers should be sufficient to make that happen.

I'm sure he'll do as good a job as the last republican we nominated!

Turtle Meat is Bringing $65 a pound in China?!!

2011-12-14T15:26:00.000-08:00

Have you ever seen one of these up close and personal? Believe me it ain't pretty.

Luke warm off the wire from yesterday's That's Just Peachy comes the news that the state of Georgia has taken steps to regulate the wild turtle trapping craze that been sweeping the soggier parts of our fair state ever since the price of turtles surged in the far east.

It seems that demand for hard shelled reptilian deliciousness has caused a price spike and opened up a lucrative export market for those Georgians with the skills and abilities to outwit the wily turtle in it's native habitat.

Well kiss the good old days goodbye because as of 25 JAN 2012 the Georgia DNR will adopt a new rules and regulations for commercial wild turtle hunters/trappers/collectors that will have bag limits as a minimum as well as licensing requirements and maybe tags too. It is predictable that the state will come sniffin' around anybody who's found a way to make a little cash on the side.

So instead of growing a new industry here in Georgia that just might help some folks make some ends meet, the state's gonna jump in with both feet into a market that they know nothing about and grab their 30% for your efforts.

Statism, the closest thing to Piracy there is!

Lee Wrights on Individual Rights

2011-12-03T16:56:00.000-08:00

Libertarian Lee Wrights on Individual rights.

Cool.

I'll be putting these up as I run across them during the Libertarian Presidential race leading up to next years convention in Vegas. I think Mr. Wrights did a fine job on this one and look forward to some pretty pithy pronouncements on other Libertarian concepts and principals as this series develops.

Gold or Hogs or Systema "D"?

2011-12-02T17:48:00.000-08:00

Why not all three?

Video from the guys down at Jager Pro out of Columbus, Georgia. I wonder what the spot price for wild hog was at the Tokyo meat market yesterday? Anywhere close to Big Bluefin Tuna?

Gold is where you find it.

Hey, Hey, Hee, Hee, System D could be the Life for Me!

2011-11-18T16:46:00.000-08:00

Yard Sale Anyone?

If you're wondering who's making out like fat bandits aside from those guys and gals down to Wall Street, K Street and any of the 7 counties surrounding Washington DC you might want to enlarge your definitions and start learning about the wonderful world of System D.

System D you ask? New weight loss program? New real estate pyramid scheme? Recovered alien relic stashed out at that funky Chinese place that's been all over Google?

Nope. It's black hole that 10 Trillion dollars of goods and services have used to disappear from the prying, tax hungry eyes of governments world wide. I'm certain it's caught on here as embodied by the prevalence of yard sales, EBay, craigslist and swap meets for various and sundry hobbies and other interests. I also gotta wonder how big a chunk of that 10 Trillion dollar estimate rolls out of the good 'ol US of A. 20% sound right? We are the biggest economy on the freakin' planet and I hope we've got enough tax evasion genes left here to be able to hold our own with the other débrouillard's around the world.

That's the root of System D. Avoid government regulation, taxation and bureaucratic busybodies and make your self a little cash and keep every penny of it. I can't think of a more Libertarian system because if the state can't get at your money, the state can't keep growing. Hell, even the Chinese wouldn't lend our government any money if they didn't prop up the balance sheets with those rosy projections of taxes withheld in 2014, 2015, 2016,,,, all the way to 2099.

Reading about System D causes me to wax nostalgic for those heady days of yesteryear, at least prior to 1913 when the bulk of America's small bidness worked just that way. A promise was a promise and a deal was a deal and nobody was standing in the wings ready to toss a couple of hundred billions of taxpayer money into the pot if the deal fell through.

That's what Tar and Feathers were for.

State of the Race in LibertyLand

2011-11-17T17:19:00.000-08:00

The graphic says it all.

Believe it or not, there is a race underway for the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party at next years convention in fabulous Las Vegas and the two leading contenders at the moment are republicans. Not only that, but both of these guys are actively seeking the republican nod to lead the dastardly R's to victory in November next year.

Wild ain't it?

The libertarian blog-o-sphere is all a-twitter about rumors that republican Gary Johnson might bolt the grand old party and show up in Vegas in May. Republican Ron Paul might bump into him the foyer and declared LP candidates Lee Wrights, RJ Harris, Rodger Gary and Carl Person will glare at both of them and harrumph several times before they join the rest of the convention in lining up to get their pictures taken with their new competitors.

I would too. I'd really like a grip-n-grin with the redoubtable Dr. Paul. He is a freakin' legend. Gary Johnson, not so much, but he does have a track record of political success unmatched by any Libertarian I can think of. 'Tis a quandary to be sure.

In the three years I've been associated with the LP here in Georgia, I have noticed an incredible desire to win. Why in hell would you get involved if you did not want to win? This desire for unobtainable victory has been sufficient motivation for the candidates I've worked with to draw a deep breath and jump in the ring and see what happens. It even happened to me way back in 2010 when I was the Georgia LP candidate for the Office of Insurance Commissioner, a race that ended predictably with a victory by the republican nominee.

During my time here in Georgia I've heard and participated in the conversations that I'm sure every state level operation of the LP goes through. They all wind up at the same place, How can we win? And a lot of times us amateur LP politicians default to the concept of converting a suitable republican or democrat to our line of thinking and enticing him or her to run as a libertarian this time around. I've yet to see that approach work. I'm of the opinion that it never will.

Why would a successful republican or democrat defect to Liberty? There's no money in this Liberty thing, not much organization and just as much back biting and criticism as exists in their home parties. The only thing we have going for us as a national political party is ballot access in 46 out of 50 states. That could be enough for a failed presidential candidate from another party to realize that he might be able to extract a pound of flesh from the RNC for blackballing/blocking/ignoring his attempt to compete in the primary process by scarfing up 3% to 5% of the vote and delivering victory to DNC. Or the other way around.

The question is, what would the LP gain by such a move? Would it bolster our numbers? Would it help to get the basic LP message of Minimum Government, Maximum Freedom resonating with the skulls of more Americans? Would such a move enrich the coffers of our state parties or of national by increased donations? Would there be any juice left over after the election that might be parceled out for further direct political action by other Libertarian candidates large and small?

If something like that happens, what does that do to the self defined LP farm team out there hills and hollows? Wouldn't it just reinforce the concept that the two party duopoly has things so locked down that there is no reason for a semi viable Libertarian Party to even exist except in service to disgruntled republicans and democrats? It would be hard not to look at it that way.

It's difficult to reach any conclusions about the possibilities of the 2012 contest and what it holds for the Party of Principle. Mind you, I absolutely love to hear republicans squealing about wasted votes and the lesser of two evils and Libertarians being responsible for the election costing a lot more money than it should have.

That's victory in it's own right.

Gizmo of the Week

2011-11-15T18:09:00.000-08:00

Nerf custom Chain Gun?

You betcha!

Every now and then whilst cruising around the internets you'll come across some really cool stuff. Like this custom modded Nerf Vulcan EBF 25 from the fine folks over at Mana Energy. It features a stunning 500 rounds per minute rate of fire with an LED round counter just like all the first person shooter games.

The last time I fired anything on a tripod or ring mount that was belt fed was way way back in 1982 at Benning's school for boys down Columbus way. I must admit a certain fondness for mechanical devices that produce deafening thuds at the users end and spectacular results at the distant end.

This particular foam dart monster won't get it all done, but with the ornery nature of the guys and gals down to the local ATF office, it's gonna have to do. The readership is encouraged to visit the link above and get the inside skinny on building one of these quite politically incorrect toys.

Get started now and you might have it built by Christmas!

Some Ideas for Upgrading Georgia's Park System

2011-11-14T17:48:00.000-08:00

Hot off the presses from the mighty. mighty AJC kids!

Looks like the overall revenue shortage here in Georgia has forced the state to cut back on funding for our state parks. Please note that the programs that privatize the interstates via "toll" lanes get all the moola they want and yet the citizenry is summarily restricted from reasonable access to lands we all own.

As a Rogue Libertarian (RL) I quite like the ideas put forth in the article by K. Torres concerning an expansion of activities at our various state parks and dare to offer some options for consideration.

Moonshine Park - As the illustration above indicates, simple backwoods distilleries might be a huge draw for state park visitors. I'm not talking about some stale mock-up of one of the stills of yore and a gift shop filled with collectibles from the Peoples Republic of China. I'm talking about 20 or 30 fully operational 200 freakin' gallon a day whiskey stills each sited on it's own particular branch in it's own particular hollow with it's own particular blend of white lightin'. These are not one man operations and would require trained, skilled and dedicated crews to operate them, a positive side effect for our state's economy in these dreary economic times. The biggest obstacle to creating a park of this type are numerous laws concerning the manufacture of distilled spirits at the local, state and federal level that work in concert to remind us all that we are the property of the state. Would be fun though!

Refugee Park - This killer concept would draw out of state tourists, especially from the industrial northeast where conditions are reportedly worse than daily life would be at this camp. Limited rations, no running water and sanitary facilities that would be described as horrific add to the cachet this specialty camp offers. Consider it a chance for us soft Americans to suffer the slings and arrows that afflict some 2 billion inhabitants elsewhere on this planet for a paltry $500 weekly family rate and the prospect of getting the hell out of there at weeks end. If they open the gates like they promised.

OWS Camp - This might be chance to capitalize on the OWS movement by converting under utilized state property like the parking garage next to the Sloppy Floyd Building into a state park for the transient members of the Occupy crowd. It's difficult to calculate a daily or weekly rate for these stalwart protesters but if there are signs indicating that free weed, free beer and scandalous females are inside said parking deck, turn out might be extreme. Add in the benefit of reducing traffic obstructions and you have a winner!

Cannon Camp - This operation would be ideally suited for state properties below the gnat line where industry is scarce, flat lands abound and the steady drum 6 pound Napoleons would not disturb the locals. Visualize a camp where you could get trained to load, aim and fire a variety of ordnance from giant siege guns to the legendary French 75. Not the least expensive camp in the state system, but distinct in the nation!

This list could go on and on and is limited only by the imagination of the readership. Single issue activist camps, End of the World next Wednesday (EOTWNW) camps and host of others are possible.

But not very damn likely.

Boy Scouts raise a new regiment with the power of Beards

2011-11-09T16:59:00.000-08:00

Hot off our local airwaves kids!

Looks like a novel ad put out by the Atlanta Council of the Boy Scouts of America has resulted in adding 6500 new cub scouts to the rolls. 6500 ! That's fantastic!

Perhaps the state LP should consider utilizing this technique to boost membership here in Georgia. The readership is encouraged to examine the attached chart which provides a closer look at the many choices available.

Please note that there are currently no "Tin Hat" styles for beards.

Zombie-Pa-Looza At River Bend!

2011-10-30T14:24:00.000-07:00

Holy Crap! The lease is running out on LP National's Digs at the WaterGate Hotel!

2011-10-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

It's true Kids.

The guys and gals over at Independent Political Report have a post up on the travail of the day up in LP National land, wherein their lease at the historic Watergate Hotel in the bowels of Washington DC is soon to expire. Heavens!

A quick read reveals that there is sentiment by some of the faithful to abandon the current prestimidigious digs for space more suited to the lowoverhead lifestyle of the LP. I concur and offer the following address as a suitable locale.

The upside is 50 acres of north Georgia mountain land complete with tantalizing traces of gold as well as something LP National has needed for years, a potentially mobile command center that might be capable of traversing the highways and byways of our great nation to further the cause of Liberty. In an affordable fashion.

The property has fixed assets as well, this spacious structure could easily be placed into service as a server farm, meeting room or secure vault to keep National's monetary resources safe from prying eyes. There plenty of room for expansion!

The 475K price tag is a bit scary, but since National is already forking over somewhere near 10K a month for the old office, some sort of deal might be reachable. And this property has one thing that no office building in DC has.

Gold.

Flying Pigs, Libertarian Presidents and One Eyed Sharks

2011-10-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

Which two things don't belong?

Hot off the wire from the Drudge Report, a one eyed shark has been found, photographed and stuffed in a jar of preservative pending being mounted on a small plaque suitable for presentation. Flying pigs can't be far behind but an actual Libertarian President, man that's total fiction.

With all the attention currently focused on "Who's on First?" in the republican primary process there's been a total lack of national media attention to the troubles and travails of those brave souls openly seeking the Libertarian Party's nomination for the Presidency. Except for here at Bludgeon & Skewer and a smattering of other Libertarian websites and blogs that are haphazardly following the process as information appears that manages to elude our spam filters.

The field is basically the same as our last report with the exception of one addition, Mr. Bill Still out of Utah.

Heres the List from our last post on the topic back in May:

James Libertarian Burns

And our newest addition:

Bill Still (Courtesy of ConservativeTimes.org)

You have to hand it to the guys and gals over at Independent Political Report for keeping up with this stuff. Working stiffs like me just ain't got the time to do all that digging. I do have time to post about it though.

I do think that the current crop of libertarian candidates seem to be single issue candidates and I just don't think any will be able to achieve the resonance required to pull in more than the LP's traditional .5% of the national vote in the 2012 election. And that's a rotten shame because here in Georgia we don't need to win the race but we do need our guy or gal to pull 20% of the vote to escape the ballot access trap our democrat brothers and sisters constructed in the 1940's and our republican brothers and sisters continue to support up to right freakin' now.

What's a rogue Libertarian to do?

Gold Rush in Carolina?

2011-10-16T16:03:00.000-07:00

Maybe, if you're a Canadian Multinational Mining Corporation.

Hot off the Drudge Report kids, Thars Micro fine sulfides of gold in them thar hills! It's not new news but it's certainly worth repeating. Please note that the mines and properties discussed in the Drudge link are in Carolina. Be advised, Georgia has at least 7 distinct gold belts of its own with similar deposits. And a few areas where you can see the gold without a microscope or horribly expensive extraction techniques.

If that has your interest then check out this little gem that's been for sale for quite a while up in Cleveland Georgia. 50 acres, $475K and a couple of adits, placer workings and other assorted relics of Georgia's gold rush. At $1600 an ounce for future delivery, you'd need to recover 296 ounces of gold to pay for it. Maybe the owner would go shares.

And here's a tasty pic of a great big ol' nugget!

Libertarian Ron Swanson for President!

2011-10-15T14:29:00.000-07:00

If only.

Here's a link to the original graphic that's big enough to read the wit and witticisms of America's greatest fictional Libertarian.

UFOs, OWS and John Titor

2011-10-12T17:26:00.000-07:00

Pretty cool logo Huh?

It's tied to a cat named John Titor who was supposedly a time traveler who posted into a couple of usegroups way back in 2000 and claimed to be from the future. Not a super cool future like 5941 or 111,654 but from 2036. And it's a post apocalypto 2036 at that.

Interesting stuff, but a quick read will either suck you into the world of the Titorites or force you to hit the ol' back button and resume your inquiries into UFOs or the Occupy Wall Street cats or the latest lamentations of republican primary voters over the inevitability of secret underwear wearin' Mitt Romey losing to Rockin' Barry O next year.

And the whole time you're doing that, the nagging question at the back of your head will still be there. Why isn't there a "Draft Ron Swanson" movement a brewing in the Libertarian Party? I don't know either. There should be though.

At this point in time I can think of no better choice than fictional Ron Swanson to carry the banner of Liberty in 2012 to 46 of the 50 states (Oklahoma, Maine, West Virginia and Connecticut excluded). He's got name recognition, face time via a successful sitcom and his character exhibits the best of my brand of Libertarianism, affinity for and expertise with firearms, modest home distilling skills and a genetic distrust of government.

It don't get no better.

Ain't gonna happen though, the LP will plod onward to Las Vegas next year and somebody's gonna wind up getting the nod from the folks at the convention. And the LP will finish another cycle of 400,000 to 500,000 votes and basically arrive right back to where they started.

Kind of like John Titor.

Undecided Ties Romney in Republican Primary in Latest Gallup Poll

2011-10-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

Who's the candidate? Undecided's the Candidate!

Perennial favorite, Undecided, continues to manhandle his competition in the latest Gallup Poll poll released today. This unsung, unfunded and non existent candidate dropped 5% from his May poll position which had him leading the field in this years Republican Wanna-Be competition to a tie with Mitt Romney at 20% each.

Undecided's slide to a tie over actual real life republican Romney, and substantial lead over republicans Cain, Perry, The redoubtable Ron Paul and a herd of lesser luminaries can be attributed to the increased TV presence of candidates causing concern and confusion among likely republican primary voters. The more they see of the choices they have, the less they like it.

Not to worry however. By the end of December those republican candidates with enough funding to start running TV ads will eviscerate Undecided's lead as the tiny slice of voters that participate in primaries start to compromise with their principals and pick the least worst candidate to lead the republican brand this fall.

That's the dictat of our two party, winner take all system of politics. Two warring minority factions, the republicans and democrats, will have their champions picked by an even smaller minority within their ranks and those one of those clowns will be the next Presbo.

Scary, ain't it?

Is it Time to Update The Zombie Plan?

2011-10-06T17:10:00.000-07:00

With the Occupy Wallstreet movement beginning to expand to other locales, is it time to revise and extend any of your Zombie Plans?

I must admit that my current Zombie Plan has not factored economic zombies into the mix of potential zombie sources, even though Zombie Banks have existed in Japan for decades. I am counting on basic zombie behavior regardless of the infection vector and am confident the traditional remedies will apply.

Common zen savvy dictates that live bait is the best attractant for your conventional flesh eating zombie, but one has to wonder what the best attractant for economic zombies might be? Cash? Coin? Active debit cards? Tax credits?

And what do you do if, god forbid, there are simultaneous outbreaks of traditional flesh eating zombies, economic zombies, X Box zombies and single issue voting zombies? I have a lifetime of junk collected and there's no way you could bait every possible combination. What's a prepared type person to do?

Buy more ammunition.

Holy Crap!! "Anoymous" is gonna Crash Wall Street on Monday

2011-10-05T17:49:00.000-07:00

Ain't Deadlines Cool ?

Not that I'm getting my hopes up but this might be the lead topic of discussion for the next few days until something happens on Monday. Or not.

I've always had a special fascination for end of the world (EOTW) type stuff. I remember fondly how Y2K was supposed to result in all sorts of discombobulation's and totally rend the fabric of society and maybe even time itself. What a yawner that turned into. Then there was the celestial alignment thingy and a flurry of other stuff stretching back over a decade and now this little jewel.

As far as financial exposure goes, the always limited funding available for daily operations here at Bludgeon & Skewer can easily be replaced by a modest yard sale or a quick trip to the scrap yard should all of our ventures on Wall Street go Tango Uniform on Monday courtesy of the guys and gals over at "Anonymous". I am advised by my internet savvy 17 year old son that the Video above could not possibly be the work the hacker group as they don't have the rep of making threats. Direct action is supposedly their forte.

Not being a cyber-ninja, I do not know and really don't have time to find out. I suppose we'll have clarification on Monday.

Rocky Horror Poker Shoot in Holly Springs

2011-09-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

Wherein I combine two unrelated events into partially plausible fiction.

Breaking news way over in Carrollton as the HPWIC (Head Politician Whats in Charge) there has cancelled an upcoming production of the stage version of the Rocky Picture Show at the local community theater to prevent any cross dressing by local denizens or citizens. Or references to cannibalism that might lead to further trouble because the economy just ain't gettin' no better. Meatloaf anyone?

Nonplussed, the cast and crew have decided to move the performance to the parking lot of Hi Caliber Firearms in Holly Springs on the 29th of September. It's the same date that Ga Rep Sean Jurgenson and 37 of his closest friends will be conducting a Poker Shoot fundraising event to help Rep. Jurgenson stave off any democrat challenge should a democrat actually be found in District 22.

A similar event was held last year at the same facility and I wrote about it here at Bludgeon & Skewer but was unable to raise the $50.00 entry fee to compete for the fabulous prize rifle the top shooter was to win. I must note that this years guest list includes a hell of a lot of influential people, companies and others but no mention of a prize. I think that's chintzy.

The entry "fee" has also jumped from $50 bucks to a cool $1000, but don't worry it's only fiat currency.

So I urge the readership to attend said event, watch the match and catch the show in the parking lot. A good time could be had by all!

Sean Jergusons' Annual Poker Shoot Tournament

Please Join

Speaker David Ralston

Speaker ProTem Jan Jones

Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers

Chairman Mark Hamilton

Chairman Calvin Hill

Chairman Jack Murphy

Representative Charlice Byrd

Mayor Tim Downing

The Honorable Kevin Levitas

Mr. and Mrs. Danny Dukes

Mr. and Mrs. Rich Garfalo

Mr. and Mrs. Joe Long

Mr. and Mrs. Steve Shakar

Mr. and Mrs. Bill Dewrell

Connect South

Eagle Rock Distributors

Beretta Firearms, USA

Acusport

The Hudson Group

True North Public Affairs

Fiveash Stanley

Piedmont Public Affairs

Chattanooga Shooting Supply

Georgia Association of Realtors PAC

Pied Piper Exterminators - Steve Sandridge

Georgia Health Care Association

Georgia Link Public Affairs Group

Comcast

AFLAC

William Woodall

Will Wingate

Terry Hobbs

John Guest

Bill Fallin

Don Cargill

Conditioned Air Association of Georgia

Georgia Food Industry Association

Grassroots Conservatives of Cherokee County

for a

Poker Shoot

honoring

Rep. Sean Jerguson

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Time: 4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

HiCaliber Firearms

3800 Holly Springs Pkwy,

Holly Springs, GA 30115

Top Gun: $1000.00 (10 rounds)

Marksman: $500.00 (5 rounds)

Gun-Slinger: $250.00 (3 rounds)

Shooter: $50.00 (1 round)

Would a Tips Only Golf Cart Taxi be Legal in Decatur?

2011-09-14T15:56:00.000-07:00

Sure as hell isn't in Austin.

There's a great story over at Libertarian News about the trials and tribulations of Chris Nielsen , owner of Electric Cab of Austin and his ongoing battle with city officials and police to operate a nifty business involving electric golf carts for taxi services.

Would this concept work in Decatur?

Imagine being able to step out of Twains and get a lift down to the square for the courtesy of a tip. Imagine doing that in a super cool electric golfcart that you don't have to park or maintain. Imagine to reduction in traffic on those busy Friday and Saturday nights, imagine no exhaust fumes and relish the "buggy" feel these four wheel wonders provide.

It's exactly the kind of thing I'd like to see in Decatur. Hopefully, the taxi lobby isn't as entrenched here as it evidently is in Austin and there's some room for our very own Electric Cab of Decatur.

Golf Carts Rule!

Presidential Predictions Via Google Almighty

2011-09-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

Soothsayin' time anyone?

Here's a fun experiment the readership can conduct the next time "Presidential Candidates on Parade" pops up around the dinner table. It's more fun for the entire family after you've spent at least 15 minutes dissecting the "Wasted Vote Syndrome" (WVS) and the "Lesser of Two Evils" (LOTE) arguments.

The basic premise? In accordance with the wishes of the founders, any swingin' Richard or Richardette can be President if they satisfy a few minimal requirements. Being at least 35 years old is pretty important,as well as being free of any felony level crimes or at least not getting caught at it. You also have to be a native born american and like to hang out in the good old USA. For at least 14 years.

Could you be the next President? Use Google to find out! Just type your name into the search box and see how many returns pop up. For example, type my name "Shane Bruce" and hit enter and voila:

Shane Bruce 26,800,000 results, of which 26,899,995 have nothing to do with me.

Here's a Google rundown/Poll/mightbeinfo about the current Two Party Duopoly contenders:

Democrat:

Barack Obama 245,000,000 results
(AKA Rockin' Barry O 223,000 results)

Republicans:

Mitt Romney 187,000,000 results

Michele Bachmann 53,700,000 results

Rick Perry 44,400,000 results

Newt Gingrich 9,340,000 results

Herman Cain 6,800,000 results

Gary Johnson 13,200,000 results

Ron Paul, a category by himself:

Ron Paul 52,200,000 results

Libertarian Candidates (Note the Lack of a Tin Hat Candidate):

Carl Person 101,000,000 results

Roger Gary 89,500,000 results

RJ Harris 43,500,000 results

Lee Wrights 1,420,000 results

Wayne Allen Root 710,000 results

Dave Redick 343,000 results

Joy Waymire 111,000 results

And for the rest of the nation:

Joe Everyman 7,520,000 results

The Three Gun Match Results are In!, The Three Gun Match Results are In!

2011-09-06T17:46:00.000-07:00

That's right Kids, the match results from last Saturday are up for your perusal over at RBGC.

Please note that that Mr. Bludgeon finished 2nd in the Iron Sights category and skunked yours truly with a whopping 25 second lead. In my own defense, it must be noted that my train ran late, I had a flat tire and my dog ate my score sheet.

If any of the readership is unfamiliar with the basics of a three gun match, I'll attempt to do some 'splainin' about how it goes. Start with a large open air range well away from populated areas operated by an exclusive private gun club , add 31 shooters equipped with the rifle, pistol and shotgun of their choice and construct a course of fire that mandates movement, magazine changes and multiple weapons to engage a herd of targets at different distances. Then toss in a stopwatch for additional stress.

Great fun for all!

The Inside Skinny on the State of the Race for President in LibertarianLand!

2011-09-05T17:17:00.000-07:00

Not really breaking news, but definitely the best round up of Libertarian Presidential wanna-bees I've seen thus far. Total credit goes to the guys and gals over at Independent Political Report for publishing Jeremy Young's detailed update complete mit der web addresses of the current crop of contenders.

At present, there seems to be no clear leader in the race for the Libertarian nomination for President although a couple of guys are working it pretty hard. Lee Wrights showed up at this years state LP convention here in Georgia and was received very well I'm told. Wayne Root showed up way back in 2008 and unveiled his 20 year plan at the dinner after the convention, I decided I don't have 20 years to spend on that. There is a definite lack of a candidate for the Tin Hat wing of the party at present.

I find it remarkable that the only genuine third party in the USA with nearly nationwide ballot access only has 9 applicants to carry the banner of Liberty in next years presidential election. Granted none of them has any money, hence no shot, but only 9? In this economy a gig paying minimum wage at Mickey D's causes riots at job fairs and nobody wants to take a crack at running the free world for a cool 400K a year? With your own freakin' plane, that nifty nuclear football and rent free accommodations?

It's not like the selection process it impossible, join the national party, go to Vegas this year for the convention, get nominated and freakin' vote. You don't have to travel the length and breath of the country to visit primaries, build nationwide name recognition and stack back hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign cash from the sale of your soul, your honor and the taxpayers money. You do have to have the moxie to actually campaign if selected, which given the non-existent funding structure of Libertarian candidates would indicate to me a great reliance on so called modern social media.

This could all be in vain based on the rumors the Gary Johnson has seen the writing on the wall and just might withdraw from the republican primary and take a little trip to Vegas himself. If that happens, it really looks like a no brainer to give the nod to him, he is a pro after all. Two time Governor, Libertarian leaning and probably ten times the cash on hand of any our cast of 9 contenders. I don't think he'll go that route as I don't get that vibe from him in any of the videos I've seen. He's republican.

I'm going with the wide open scenario sans the GJ factor. We just need more candidates to announce, like 300 more.

Anybody game?

Hey, Hey, Hey, Libertarian Allen Buckley Made the AJC Today!

2011-08-25T16:42:00.000-07:00

This guy is a champion.

Breaking news here in LibertyLand, Allen Buckley got an op-ed published over to the mighty, mighty, AJC on the ever popular topic of budget cutting and financial sustainability. It can't compete with other hot news like Tiny Tim Echols lame attempt to score some Masters tickets, but that ain't Allen's style.

He's always been a substance guy. He eats, lives and breathes this financial stuff and if you listen to him long enough you will learn something about the future our Republic has in store for it.

So check out his work over at the AJC and then spend a few seconds to Google some of his other stuff. Then you can scratch your head and join me in a general lament that we could have had him as our US Senator, but the republican minority crammed Saxby down our throats.

Time to get off the couch and vote kids.

Gold over $1900 Simoleans an Ounce!

2011-08-22T15:31:00.000-07:00

Gold is where you find it.

At $1900 on ounce, this handsome 2 pound specimen of wire gold in quartz might yield 4 to 6 ounces of the buttery yellow metal.

$7600 to $11,400 in the palm of your hand sounds pretty good to me. As a specimen, this rock is valued at between $15,000 to $25,000 to those well heeled collectors out there.

I'll just keep looking for one of my own.

Bludgeon & Skewer are Pimpin' for Obama!?

2011-08-19T16:59:00.000-07:00

Sure as hell are.

That's the kind of crap that happens when you cheap out and set up a "free" blog through the auspices of Blogger and then you agree to let them slap some ads up on the old side bar that are related to whatever drivel you happen to be writing that day.

Imagine my surprise when I noticed that Rockin' Barry O's 2012 re-election crew saw fit to put a splashy animated ad up here and totally dominate the small square I had reserved for Google/Blogger's use. It's a nice piece of work, nicer that anything I've ever managed to put together.

Which brings me to my point. I really, really, really want the readership to click that ad. Make it your bitch. Wade around in that site and hit at least three sub-pages. Leave a comment someplace. Provide a bogus email address for important future campaign info. Alert your friends and invite them too! Play them hard and swamp 'em.

Why? Because a quality hit like I just described costs them money, and all politics is about da money. It's political direct action time fellow Rogue Libertarians, click the ad and cost one half of the two party duopoly a little StarBucks cash.

You'll be glad you did!

What! No Government Issued Million Dollar Bus for the Libertarian Candidate!?

2011-08-16T17:58:00.000-07:00

Consider the trinkets of power that accompany the two party duopoly.

Both our republican and democrat brothers and sisters will have armored buses at their disposal in the post primary season to protect them whilst on the campaign trail. A sage move as there is much to fear from the general population here in the good ol' US of A, and high value targets like presidential candidates require the utmost the republic can give. It's not like the democrats or republicans are spending their own money to protect their respective offerings for the highest post in the land for the next four years. They're using our money. So it's free!

As a rogue Libertarian, it chagrins me that once again my minuscule party has been snubbed and that no secret service provided armored bus will be available to transport our candidate on the highways and byways of our tottering republic. As a remedy, I suggest that each Libertarian state party acquire their very own Libertarian Presidential Bus for next years festivities and am pleased to offer the following examples:

Chopped, slammed and chicks dig blowers.

Spacious enough for the Libertarian Candidate and entire staff.

Heinlein loves it!

What Sucks Worse than Our Two Party Duopoly? Yellow Jackets.

2011-07-13T15:48:00.000-07:00

That's right kids, these skeevy little bastards must all die. Right now!

Why have I got my dander up? Because I'm currently at war with thousands of these winged wonders and they have the upper wing right now. But not for long.

It appears that the doughty Yellow Jacket (Vespula squamosa) is having a banner year all over the great state of Georgia and it looks like most of them have elected to make their homes on property I'm supposed to maintain. There can be no peaceful coexistence.

My efforts are hamstrung by the fact that the most effective bait for the little buggers, micro encapsulated diazinon, is deemed by our imperial federal government to be too dangerous to be allowed into the hands of the great unwashed. Thanks so much for making the task of killing off tens of thousands of my newly sworn enemies a little easier. Not.

It's not like they're politicians that can be induced into the open by random piles of greenbacks or the mere promise of random piles of greenbacks. It seems that each underground hive has it's own particular tastes and must be presented with some choices in sweet nectar-like substances to identify which one makes that nest go ga-ga. All in all, it's quite time consuming and rather nerve racking until you figure out whether it's old coke, new coke, grape soda or plain old apple juice.

Then tracking the ill tempered beasts to the quarter sized opening of their underground lair presents a whole new set of challenges, mainly, don't get 'em riled up or it's emergency room time. But the payoff comes later that evening when you return to the nest site, lamp that quarter sized hole with a pocket light and blast 12oz of Schmack Down on their pointy lil' heads.

Sayonara Suckers!

Will Smilin' Dan Matthews (D) Pull out a Win in Georgia House 113?

2011-06-21T16:05:00.000-07:00

I sure hope so.

And if he does I'll make a spurious claim that my early endorsement was critical to his victory over those rascally republicans. If he loses, then he can use the "Geez, what did you think would happen if you get endorsed by a Libertarian?" gambit and walk off the field with his head held high.

It looks like my prediction for a light turnout was correct and the results should be up in an hour or so. Remember, I picked up 2,186 votes in that area last November and called on my legions of followers there to strike a blow for liberty and vote for Smilin' Dan Matthews.

Let's see if they did.

I'll Take That Job Down to the Georgia State Ethics Commission!

2011-06-20T17:20:00.000-07:00

Check it out Kids, the Great State of Georgia's Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission is currently leaderless or soon to be.

So 80K a year ain't enough to sit on your hands in air conditioned comfort at the Sloppy Floyd Building? And lets not forget that sweet benefits package and your very own reserved parking spot, granted the cafeteria is just so-so, but it's edible. I just don't get the resignation of Director Stacy Kalberman over a 40K salary cut when they left her with 80K on the plate, It's not like the place has been pinning the ears back on corrupt politicians for years or anything. I've have to google their track record to find out if they've ever done anything and something tells me it's not worth the effort.

But, as always, I have a Libertarian solution for this seemingly intractable problem. Our great state has the cash to expand the Governor's Staff by 30% but not one dime to provide ethical oversight to our burgeoning political class. It seems to me that this calls for some volunteer work.

Who out there is likely to be motivated enough to work for free at a job with no authority, no pay and lots of folks who really want this ethics thingy to just go away? Any rock ribbed republicans? Any Blue/Red/Yellow Dog Democrats? Perhaps one of the three members of Georgia's Green Party? Or maybe a Rogue Libertarian.

I honestly think the gig could be a blast and if the FBI is willing to send Forensic Accountants down free of charge you might be able to get ahold of some interesting bits of paper as well as telling audit trails. I love trails. The only thing more fun than following blood is following money and our current crop of elected grandees sure as hell spent a bundle on the last election cycle. Lots of potential there.

Since our state is too broke to pay for this vital service, I'll be happy to take it on as a part time commisson gig. I only get paid if I nab some political type or his supporters for egregious violations of our state's ethics laws and I'm not talking about those $25 late filing fees.

Naturally I'm completely unqualified for this gig so don't expect me to fill out any applications or to provide any form of resume or curriculum vitae. Ain't gonna happen.

My offer stands, I'm willing to take on the job on a commission basis and find out how powerless the Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission really is.

More Gold Nuggets

2011-06-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

Athens Area LP Update

2011-06-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

That's the looking best LP affiliate Logo in the entire US of A! It's got the tree that owned itself, the counties served by the affiliate and the dominate All Caps LIBERTARIANS. No guess work required!

Looks like June is going to be a busy month for the guys and gals up Athens way as their county commission does not favor having a vote on Sunday sales at the same time as having a vote on ELOST (Edumacation Local Option Sales Tax). The commissioners, knowing the education and political leanings of thier constituents are worried that having to make two choices in a special election would cause said constituents to have conniption fits. They are also worried that having Sunday sales on the same ballot might drive up participation thus dooming the ELOST.

And that's not all, AthFest is 25 JUN 11 and IT ROCKS! The man who should be our US Senator, Libertarian Chuck Donovan and I were in attendance last year and the only event that rivaled AthFest was Atlanta's Gay Pride Parade. Mark that down on your calendar and attend, it's worth the effort.

Here's the press release from the Athens LP, if you'd like your own, contact them and they'll slap you on the mailing list.

Athens Libertarian Party Calls For Sunday Sales Referendum Vote!

For the moment the "Sunday Sales" Referendum vote won't be on the November Special Election Ballot. As reported by the Athens Banner Herald, on May 29, 2011,  "Athens-Clarke commissioners say they are delaying a referendum on Sunday package sales until next year's presidential primaries." And the reason for this delay appears to be due to the special election in November, itself. There is currently a special election scheduled for Novemeber to vote on a continuation of the Education Local Option Sales Tax, or ELOST and at least one commissioner has gone on record saying: "We don't want to clutter up the ELOST vote," Commissioner Alice Kinman said. "I don't think it's good to have those two hitched together." Commissioners say they are concerned that Sunday sales could draw opponents to the polls who also would vote against the Education Local Option Sales Tax,which will fund school construction.
It appears that the Athens Clarke County Commission wants to manipulate the outcome of an election by denying the citizens of Athens Clarke County more than one item on the ballot.
There is also mention in the story that the County doesn't have the money to hold a special election, and that the special election is currently being held by the Clarke County School District. According to Doug Lowery, ACC Commissioner District 1, it would cost Athens Clarke County $54,000 to vote on Sunday Sales, money the School District budgeted, but not the County.  This seems a little ridiculous, since the County Board of Elections is responsible for all elections, not the School District, there will already be a special election in November and to add another issue to an electronic ballot will cost exactly zero dollars. Sounds like more double talk to confuse the issue of the ACC Commission's attempt to manipulate the ballot.
The next Athens Clarke County Commission meeting will be held June 7, at 7:00pm. Their agenda can be foundhere. As you can see from the agenda, there is no scheduled disscussion about the Sunday Sales Referendum, so if you would like to speak to the Commission about the issue, you will have to wait for all other business to be completed and Citizen Input is called for under "Item J". It will be a long night indeed, but you are encouraged to go to the meeting and be heard.

AthFest is Coming!!!!!

The Athens Area Libertarian Party will be operating an outreach booth again this year at AthFest, onSaturday June 25th. Last year's outreach has been reported by the Georgia State Libertarian Party as being one of the most successful of the year!  We hope to expand on the momentum generated by last months involvement in the Athens Human Rights Festival and have an even better booth this year. Last year we administered the "Worlds Smallest Political Quiz" to over 170 people, many of whom were very surprised to find out that they were Libertarians and didn't even know it! We will be finalizing our plans for the booth at our upcoming June 21st monthly meeting. There will be sign up sheets at the meeting.

  SoSouAs
100% of The Bill Of Rights
for
100% of the People
100% of the Time.

DeKalb County Hates Smokers (and those darn Fat People Too!)

2011-06-01T17:06:00.000-07:00

Hot off the Presses Kids!

DeKalb County's very own Libertarian stalwart, David Montane, has penned the following missive about the county's latest attempt to further restrict it's citizens and denizens from having a bit of fun. Looks like our county overlords have been seized by a fit of knowing whats best for all and will soon enact legislation banning smoking in every nook and cranny of good ol' DeKalb County.

I know that most folks have a universally low opinion of smokers, hence the cheerfulness with which the body politic hammers smokers and makes their miserable lives just a bit more miserable. The only other group of Americans that are subject to this level of abuse are fat people and since so many Americans are fat, politicians aren't going to enact any eating bans. Yet.

I can categorically state that I'm not curtailing my tobacco related activities one iota based on a regulation passed by our County Commission. I might even check out these E-Cigs David's talking about but I'm still gonna carry a lighter every day of my life along with the Leatherman.

Fire is our friend.

And now, Libertarian David Montane!

On June 14 the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners will be voting on legislation banning use of tobacco products in all public buildings in the county, including restaurants and bars. Chances are HIGH that this legislation will pass. This is similar to legislation that the City of Decatur passed a couple years ago. However, DeKalb County's legislation includes ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES in the ban, which have no secondhand smoke because they are SMOKE-FREE! Only about 15% of municipalities that legislate similar bans include e-cigarettes.

Please call and e-mail your two county commissioners - your district commissioner and your at-large commissioner - to tell them that you are one of their constituents and to request that references to electronic cigarettes be eliminated from the ban, or better yet, that they be specifically exempted from the restrictions. Keep calling until you can actually speak with them. E-mail them supportive, authoritative, short links or articles. Also, we are looking for at least one person to actually go to the meeting at 9 AM on Tuesday the 14th, preferably "smoking" an e-cig, to show them and tell them that there is no harm to others and much less harm to yourself than smoking regular cigarettes.

To find your county commissioners' contact information, go tohttp://web.co.dekalb.ga.us/boc/pdf/districtMap.pdf and find your district and super district on the map, then find their phone number and e-address at http://web.co.dekalb.ga.us/boc/contact.html .

For more information about the safety of electronic cigarettes, read up on The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-Free Alternatives Association's website at http://casaa.org. Our contact there recommends we do not even try to argue with their ban on cigarettes, cigars and pipes, just try to get them to take e-cigarettes off their banned list.

If you smoke, I understand that by switching to e-cigarettes, you can not only increase your health and decrease your risks, but also can reduce your monthly cigarette bills by about 2/3.

Strange Goings On in Tea Party Land

2011-05-25T18:36:00.000-07:00

Meet Jack Davis, the Tea Party Candidate in the recently decided special election in NY 26.

Jack didn't win but is being credited, accused and talked badly about all over Tea Party land. The democrats who won the special election are saying this one special election is the harbinger of a major democrat comeback in 2012 featuring the re-election of Rockin' Barry O and regaining control of the US House.

I got to admit that I didn't pay any attention to this race while it was under way because I do not see any difference between a republican candidate and a Tea Party candidate. To me, it's same. same, higher, higher. I do enjoy the tension generated by folks claiming to be tea party types and their more traditional republican brothers and sisters who are actually in charge of stuff. It was quite a bit of fun last year whilst on the campaign trail to engage in conversation with folks sporting tea party pins, buttons, hats and tea shirts and especially those hand made home made signs.

I like the signs. Some where pretty damn creative.

I find it incredible that Jack Davis is being pilloried by fellow travelers in republicanland for having the temerity to run. I don't know enough about special elections in New York state, but here in Georgia, if there's a special election for state house or senate, anybody who wants to run pays out $400 and takes a crack at it.

Some folks are even staying that ol' Jack was a democrat stalking horse, parroting the Tea Party line to strip support from the republican candidate. Hey, that's the job of the Libertarian Party!

It's ancient history now, but google the dude and check out his campaign site. I don't hold with tariffs or medicare or social security but I am an anomaly.

I'm a Libertarian.

Who's On First in LibertyLand?

2011-05-22T17:10:00.000-07:00

Rats, according to my FaceBook feed, Joyce Maurer, author and head honcho over at Libertarian Woman has declared her non candidacy for next years presidential run. I was hoping for a Georgia based Libertarian to make a bid for nomination as we have Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich sparring over there in RepublicanLand for the same gig.

Don't worry kids, there's still plenty-o-choices to be had at next years convention in Vegas. Here's a pretty good run down from the guys and gals over at Independent Political Report:

Informational Article: List of Websites of active candidates for the 2012 Libertarian Presidential Nomination:

James Libertarian Burns

So we have seven candidates in contention as of late May 2011. How many more will pop up between now and the convention? Any possibility that guy from "Parks and Recreation" might toss his hat in the ring? And what about Gary Johnson seeing the light and realizing that the republican party is not going to nominate him? Lots of possibilities as the future is indeed a dark and murky place.

The brutal reality is that who ever is selected by the party faithful in Las Vegas next year is going to underfunded, understaffed and under constant assault by his own party. It happens in the other parties too, but I think it's just more painful when card carrying, dues paid Libertarians start talking about which republican to back when there will be a Libertarian candidate on the ballot in most of the country.

Of course there is a possibility that an as yet unknown candidate could emerge that fulfills democrat operative Joe Trippi's prophecy of a dazzling internet wonder that completely destroys the existing two party duopoly with the power and thunder of social media, youtube and paypal.

That would be fun!

Hey, It's Endorsement-O-Rama

2011-05-20T16:37:00.000-07:00

Hot off the presses from the Hardest working single issue activist in Georgia, Garland Favorito!

VoterGA Supporters,

You will probably be interested to know that the Constitution Party of Georgia passed resolutions of endorsement for election bills, HB494 and HB401, at its state convention on May 7, 2011. HB494 would remove all petitioning requirements for candidates seeking ballot access in Georgia just as Florida did in 1999. HB401 calls on the Secretary of State to ensure that candidates meet constitutional requirements to be on the ballot.

The HB494 resolution explains why the petitioning requirements must be removed. It also calls on all election officials to pass HB494 during the next session of the General Assembly. The resolution is expected to be presented at the Election Advisory Council (EAC) meeting in Savannah next week. Council member, Rusty Kidd, is the author of the legislation. Alan Powell and Stephanie Benfield have co-signed the bill, thus, it is one of the only bills in the legislature that currently has sponsorship by a Democrat, a Republican and an independent. A draft of the text of the HB494 resolution can be found at:

HB494 CPGA Endorsement Resolution

The bill is currently in the House Governmental Affairs Committee that is chaired by Mark Hamilton, another EAC member. He and Secretary of State, Brian Kemp, the chairman of the EAC, will be instrumental in determining whether or not the bill gets a hearing in the next session. The full text of the bill can be found on the General Assembly web site at:

http://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/en-US/display.aspx?BillType=HB&Legislation=494

Thanks,

Garland

www.voterga.org

404 664-4044 CL

Bludgeon & Skewer Endorse Smilin' Dan Matthews (D) for Georgia HD 113

2011-05-19T16:59:00.000-07:00

Special Election Calculus time Kids.

The race for the special election up there in WatkinsvilleLand pits one lone democrat against three republicans in a super solid republican district. This guy is an underdog and nobody understands underdogs like Libertarians. I'm thinking 4000 votes will be cast in this shindig, and if nobody clears the 50% +1 hurdle, then a runoff will occur between the top two vote getters.

Can Smilin' Dan keep the top republican under 50% +1 and best the #2 republican? It could happen. The first requirement will be to get every swinging Richard and Richardette democrat to the polls. There's about 5000 of them scattered around HD 113 according to the last election and if they get off the couch and do their civic duty we have one less republican screwing things up.

In accordance with this blogs expressed desire to continually stir the pot and toss as many back bench bombs as possible into the mix, I call on every individual that voted for Libertarian Shane Bruce for Insurance Commissioner last year to vote for Democrat Dan Matthews in this race. How big an endorsement is that? Pretty damn small, I didn't win by any stretch but I did get votes in Oconee, Clark, Morgan and Oglethorpe counties that combined equals 2,186 votes.

2,186 Libertarian voters.

I hear-by call on all of my ardent and indifferent supporters to cast their ballots for Smilin' Dan Matthews to undo some of the damage inflicted on all of Georgia by the republican minority last November.

Strike a blow for Liberty, vote for Dan Matthews in the Special Election in Georgia House District 113!

Qualifying's Over in the Georgia House District 113 Special Election

2011-05-18T18:50:00.000-07:00

Qualifying's over and the line up for next month's special election in Georgia House 113 is set in stone.

Fresh from the SecStates website:

State Representative, District 113

	Alan Alexander 1091 Founders Blvd Suite C Athens, GA 30606 E-Mail: aalexan418@aol.com	Party: Republican Age: 66 Occupation: Attorney Website: votealanalexander.com Date Qualified: Monday, May 16, 2011

	Sarah V. Bell P.O. Box 1034 Watkinsville, GA 30677	Party: Republican Age: 56 Occupation: Educator Date Qualified: Tuesday, May 17, 2011

	Chuck Williams P.O. Box 206 Watkinsville, GA 30677 E-Mail: williamsfor113@gmail.com	Party: Republican Age: 55 Occupation: Tree Farmer Date Qualified: Monday, May 16, 2011

Dan Matthews
1081 Katie Ln
Watkinsville, GA 30677-2550
E-Mail: danjmatt@bellsouth.net

Party: Democratic
Age: 48
Occupation: Office Manager
Date Qualified: Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Three republicans and one lone democrat will commence crisscrossing the vast expanses of HD 113 at a feverish pace over the next 5 weeks as each of them seek victory. Sadly, there was not one Libertarian, Green, Consitutionalista or Tea Party candidate that saw fit to qualify. An nobody from the What's Happenin' Now Party either.

It appears that roughly 20,000 people voted in the last election, that means there's probably around 40,000 registered voters in the district. The split was about three to one for Ex Rep Huckaby, which makes HD 113 a super safe seat for those rascally republicans. I really enjoy it when republican political activities so closely mirror their approach to business, don't sweat being good, work on being the only game in town by ensuring that no one else can set up shop and compete. They have it down to a science.

I'll go out on a limb here and predict an absolutely massive turn out of 8% in this special election. I have no idea who will win the majority of the 4000 or so votes that will be cast but sure looks like Watkinsville is the political epicenter of this particular race.

Georgia House District 113 Special Election Update

2011-05-16T16:42:00.000-07:00

What does this image have in common with the filing records for the Special Election in Georgia House District 113 down to the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission?

MMMMM?

That's right, zero people dashed in bright and early to take a crack at the seat being vacated by State Rep Henry Huckaby who's headed for the verdant fields of chancellorship or something.

It's not that uncommon in a special election to have everybody who's planning to run show up on the last day to qualify. I suppose there's a feeling that last minute filers can somehow seize the news cycle for the day and maximize the impact of paying the state $400 for the chance to compete for a pretty cool part-time job. I'm told it looks good on a resume if you've actually been one the the grandee's of the state house.

I'm still hoping that some stalwart third party individual will emerge from the wilderness out there in HD 113 and administer a good ass-whuppin' to which ever republicans or democrats enter the fray. Of course at the current rate of filing, the good folks of HD 113 might find themselves without a representative for the redistricting clash later this year.

I wonder if it would be possible to file as "Undecided"?

An Account from Libertarian Doug Harmon on Yesterday's LP Outreach in Athens

2011-05-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

Doug is the Man.

No chairs were thrown but a good time was had by all at yesterdays Athens LP Outreach effort at the Athens Human Rights Festival. No Republican's were present as they were all down in Macon Booing Governor Deal. Other brands of politics were present as Doug informs us.

(I especially like HPiC)

From Doug Harmon:

Observation from the Athens Human Rights Festival May 14, 2011

by Doug Harman on Saturday, May 14, 2011 at 10:45pm

The Athens - Area Libertarian Party Affiliate operated an "Operation Politically Homeless" outreach booth today at the Athens Human Rights Festival.

We were largely outnumbered by the Liberals, Progressives and some that identified themselves as Communists, but we stood our ground, administered the "World's Smallest Political Quiz" without reservation or prejudice and honestly posted all of the results. We took a great idea from Wes Benedict last year in DC, of using the Advocates for Self Government's "Nolan Quiz" chart and applying colored stickers, that corespond to the subject's acknowledged party affilitation, to the location of the result. Red for Republicans, Blue for Democrats, Yellow for Libertarians and Green for Independents (and one Red with a large black C for the one self identified Communist).

A lot of people who identified themselves as Democrats, Republicans and Independets were surprised to find themselves in the Libertarian quadrant of the chart. One Democrat was quite taken a back and his commentary led Affiliate member J.P. to coin a new slogan "The Proud Purveyors of Your Ah-Ha Moment Since 1971".

The Communist Party was set up in the booth next to us, thinly veiled as "Revolution Books" http://rbo-atlanta.blogspot.com/ and provided us with some of the most humorous moments of the day. The HPiC (Head Proletariat in Charge) railing against the "Capitalist - Corportatist Tyranny" all the while suckling his $5 Starbucks Venti Iced Mocha and his female CiA (Comrade in Arms) sporting a sticker on her shirt that said Capitalism Stinks and $100 Asic Cross Trainers on her feet. Now that's what I call dedication to your cause!

The Democratic Party of Athens - Clarke County showed up 3 hours after the event started, played a bizzare game of "Pin The Tail On The Donkey" where they blindfolded the unsuspecting victim, turned them around a few times and then shoved them toward a lovely little picture of a jack ass, where they were to attempt to hang a tail in the appropriate spot. If successful, the victim was given a Democrat T-Shirt or signed up to vote or something. The rules of engagement were unclear.

I did attempt to extend the olive branch to former US House Candidate (GA District 10) Russell Edwards, D, by asking him to take "The World's Smallest Political Quiz", which he very accomodatingly did. Mr. Edwards answered all of the questions and scored 60/20, which oddly set him squarely in the same spot as our one self avowed Communist.

Mr. Edwards then took to the stage during an "Open Mic" segment and promoted his new "Progressive" radio show, "True Georgia" which airs on WGAU 1340am in Athens at 10:00am on Saturdays. He made a statement on stage that I found particularly offensive, based on our earlier conversation. "The Democratic Party is the party that stands up for the rights of everyone, regardless of color or background", wow, really? Based on the answers that he gave me in the "World's Smallest Political Quiz" and the ensuing commentary, he supports a military draft (indentured servitude/slavery), censorship of some speech (direct conflict with the First Amendment of The Constitution), believes in corporate welfare (government picking winners and losers in business - he got mad when I asked if campaign contributions would affect who is chosen as a winner), He was not at all for "Free Trade", Trusts government bureaucrats over investors when it comes to retirement savings, and doesn't think we could cut 50% of government spending.

It was further upsetting to Mr. Edwards when I pointed out that the current Democrat President has sanctioned the killing of US Citizens at home and abroad, has started two UnConstitutional military conflicts and has escalated the war in Afghanistan, hasn't ended the war in Iraq or closed Gitmo as promised.

I felt at that point I would take the high road and not mention to him that save for the Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq, every major military conflict involving Americans in the last 200 years has been started by Democrats, but I digress, the Democrats then picked up and were gone before 4:00pm. I would like to apologize to Mr. Edwards for pointing out the truth, it can be painful.

The Communists have killed tens of millions of people in the last 100 years. I can't for the life of me figure out what either of those groups were doing at a "Human Rights Festival".

The Republicans had enough sense to "remain unaffiliated" with the festival.

I can honestly say that we, The Libertarian Party, were the only political party represented at the festival today that has never started a war, sent a man into combat to commit government sanctioned murder, or pretended to support something that we really don't. We are the Party of Principle, We support 100% of The Bill of Rights, for 100% of The People, 100% of The Time.

Mayhem in Macon, Republican Faithful Slap Down Governor Deal

2011-05-15T07:51:00.000-07:00

Sheesh, they had a freakin' manual?

Manual or not, it appears that our republican brothers and sisters have seen fit to keep Sue Everhart on station as the chairwoman of the Georgia republican party for another two years. Meh. The really cool-i-o part is that the republican faithful who attended said convention saw fit to "Boo!" the Governor they gleefully elected last November over his attempt to replace Ms. Everhart with one each Tricia Pridemore.

Now I realize that most of the readership does not keep up with internal Georgia republican party politics, I don't either. I'm usually too busy trying to figure out what's wrong with my fleet of personally owned vehicles to spend a lot of time on intra-party politics, especially a party I don't belong to. Fortunately, Bill Simon over at Political Vine does have the time and really likes to dig around in the Georgia republican party basement for all sorts of stuff. I'm on his email list and he's been very active over the last week or so on the topic of Ms. Pridemore.

As usual with republicans, there are hints and allegations that all the money sloshing around over there in RepublicanLand has been pushed, packed, sluiced and washed into the hands of Governor Deal's many supporters and the general feeling was that said activity would only intensify if the Guvnor got his pick. Now we'll never know because Sue Everhart will run the show for the next two years,

Another interesting tidbit popped up in Big Jim Galloway's column on the event from yesterdays Political Insider wherein he revealed the secret identity of the actual owner of the Georgia Republican Party, Col. Larry Mrozinski. The Colonel (O5? O6?) stated that
“This party belongs to us. We will not make the mistake to turn the party over to those who we, the people, [elect],”

Curious. The republicans swept last years election, they hold every statewide seat from Governor down to the Tiny Tim Echols over at the PSC and they don't trust the people they put in office to run their own party, How does that work? Does that mean that the 2,110 attendees at the Macon convention actually run the state? Who the hell is in charge over there?

That's what you get when you buy off on the concept of a two party, winner take all system of representational government. Their 26% of the voting population carried the day last November and as a result, the rest of us are stuck with their picks and it turns out they don't trust their picks anymore than I do.

Anybody else think that it might be time to start talking about proportional representation?

We Started Beating up on Saxby Two+ Years Ago, Erikson is behind the power curve.

2011-05-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

That's what got me started in active politics, doing radio ads for Libertarian Allen Buckley way back in 2008.

Here's link to the way back machine complete with audio files from those heady days of political insurrection courteously maintained by those cyber giants over at Creative Loafing.

Ahh, Good Times Indeed!

Hey, Hey Hey, I'm a Light of Liberty Today!

2011-05-13T19:08:00.000-07:00

It's on a website so it must be true.

Today's FaceBook surprise was to see that I'm on a lengthy list of folks who qualified for the Lights of Liberty award from the fine folks over at the Advocates for Self Government up in Cartersville Georgia.

No cash involved as far as I can tell, but there might be nifty award certificate on it's way even as I type. I am interested in access to the Advocates Insider Newsletter as there might actually be some inside news to be had. Like who's going to carry the banner of Liberty in the HD 113 special election.

While I never even considered a triathlon as I feel strongly that riding a bike without a motor is not civilized, I am tempted to send off some dispatches to local traditional media outlets in order to satisfy one of the conditions I just didn't meet in this years cycle. Writing a Libertarian blog pitched at a Libertarian audience does not count for the purposes of the award, nor should it.

So congrats to hordes of other "Lights" out there. Especially those in the great state of Georgia!

Where in Hell is Georgia HD 133?

2011-05-13T18:49:00.000-07:00

Time's running out for anyone who wants to take a crack at the special election for Georgia House District 113. SecState Brian Kemp has announced the qualifing window will start bright and early on Monday, 16 MAY 2011 and end abruptly at noon on Wednesday, 18 MAY 2011. Show up at 12:01 and you're SOL.

Who might be entering the fray? I have no idea. I am certain that there is an anointed republican candidate or two and there should be a democrat somewhere up there around Athens who lives in the district. I haven't heard a peep from anybody in the LP as to whether they've rounded up a candidate and the same goes for the guys and gals over at Georgia's Green Party.

I worked on a couple of special elections during the last two years on behalf of some stellar LP candidates like Taylor Bryant and David Montane and I gotta say they're quite a bit of fun as the election cycle is short, start up costs are low and turn out for these things is small enough that there's a glimmer of hope for third party types that a victory is possible. The reality is a bit different in that the establishment candidate, republican or democrat, is going to win. That's how the districts are drawn by the guys and gals down to the statehouse. A safe seat is a safe seat is a safe seat.

That does not mean the average citizen with $400 bucks and a month and a half to kill can't join the party. In fact, special elections are the only truly fair elections in Georgia in that there is no limit to the number of candidates that could participate. Neither the republican party or the democrat party can rely on the usual roadblocks to limit the publics choice in special elections, instead they rely on 8% to 10% turnouts to hang onto the seat. They win because they get it.

So if you're considering a run as a third party type, Libertarian, Green, Pirate, Constitutional, or any other and you need free blogging/FlipCam support just fire off a comment.

I love stirrin' the pot.

Aeromagnetic Anomalies in Georgia?! Say it Ain't So!

2011-05-10T17:31:00.000-07:00

Cool huh? Anything with NanoTeslas gets my attention.

Since it's a slow news day and an even slower Liberty day, I've decided to crack open my anomaly file and share with the readership some of the tasty bits I've discovered since getting addicted to the internet way back in 1995.

My interest in magnetic anomalies springs from an theory I formed during my prolonged flirtation with my favorite form of fiction, Science Fiction. If you were looking for the remains of an ancient terrestrial base, and I mean ancient, I mean at least 1,000,000 freakin' years old, how could you find it? A million years of weathering and plate tectonics and earthquakes and hurricanes and stuff should pretty well erase all physical evidence of that sort of thing, even if our alien visitors built everything they had out of Unobtanium. One of the things that might not be erased by the passage of time could be magnetic or gravitic anomalies.

These cool-i-o maps of our planets magnetic fields look like the ticket. I've been all over the great state of Georgia and that big pink lump at 220 NanoTesla's 90 klic's north of the Florida line between Adel and Douglas intrigues me. it's flat as a pancake down there, What's causing that severe a field fluctuation? Heavy mineralization? Sam's Club Magnet Distribution Center? Buried alien spaceport?

Of the three choices, I really prefer the ancient alien spaceport idea, although I dimly recall other references in that area to some sort of portal to the 'underworld'. Whichever it turns out to be it probably won't influence next years election or deflect in the slightest the impending partisan wackery of our democrat and republican brothers and sisters.

It's certainly more interesting than a moat with alligators on the Tex-Mex border, unless they have Tasers embedded in their skulls.

And Now for Something Completely Different

2011-05-09T16:57:00.000-07:00

In the interests of providing the readership more choice, I'm pleased as punch to present some work by my newest guest author Doktor Inferno.

I've known the Doc for nearly two decades and have always been astonished at the range and depth of his knowledge of minutiae and ready wit. Not to mention his business card which proudly states that he is in fact, a Super Genius.

No, it's not his picture and I will leave it to the readership to figure out who the cat in the woodcut is, I suspect is one of Doktor Inferno's distant relatives.

Narrative provided by:
Doktor Inferno

With the recent talk about threats to the US rail system, I thought I would tell you of my experience with Amtrak.

Due to the ridiculous "security theater" shows put on by .gov types at airports and the fact that I am an incurable smart-ass with those who assume that they have some authority over me (as well as the fact that I cannot really afford the type of legal representation that I would probably require as a result of the combination of those factors), my wife and I decided to travel from our home in Atlanta to New Orleans via Amtrak's "Crescent" line. We have driven this route many times in the past and know the driving costs in both time and money. The dollar cost of traveling by Amtrak was quite reasonable. Even after we upgraded to a private "roomette" the ticket price was about the same as the fuel cost for our car. Considering that most of the cost of our ticket is borne by taxpayers who have no interest in riding the train, this was not surprising. The time cost was about 25% longer: 12 hours from ATL to NOL. We decided that the extra time cost was worth it since we wouldn't be spending all that time driving.

We paid for our tickets online and received a sheet of instructions with a barcode to be scanned at the station to print our actual tickets. The sheet included a list of prohibited items, the usual "passengers are subject to search" language, and that passengers must present a valid state-issued ID before being allowed to board. Upon arrival at the station we scanned the barcode at a kiosk in the station and got our actual tickets. We had no checked baggage as the amount of baggage allowed in the "roomette" was quite large and we travel light. When the train arrived we walked down the stairs to the train car indicated on our tickets and met our first Amtrak employee, who helped us aboard with our baggage and told us where to find our room. After a few minutes the train began to depart and this employee came by, introduced himself, and asked to see our tickets. He did not ask for ID. He did check to see that our tickets were signed where indicated.

Since we had upgraded to the "roomette" all of our meals onboard were included in the ticket price, so the dollar cost was accurate. The time cost...eh, not so much. The first inkling that this was not to be came before we even left the station. The train was an hour and a half late arriving. We were told that the delay was due to snowfall along the train's route from New York and that the train would still arrive in New Orleans on time. This didn't seem too likely. (It wasn't.)

I won't bore you with the details of the numerous delays but suffice to say that they fell into several categories: Waiting on a siding while a freight train passed. Waiting on a siding while a freight train didn't pass. Waiting for a rail construction crew to complete some arcane task that apparently involved moving at glacial speed on a track that we weren't on, etc., etc. Most of these things happened more than once. Also, when the train was actually moving it seldom got above fifty miles per hour. As a result, we arrived in New Orleans four hours late. That's right kids! A sixteen hour train ride in cars built in 1981! At least we had some privacy, a toilet, a sink, and a bunk-bed type of arrangement. Those passengers riding coach must have been miserable.

The next week we're at the station in New Orleans to return to Atlanta. The same routine as before. In New Orleans I did see two police officers at the station. No ID demanded, no searches, no baggage check. The train left on time and stayed on time until Hattiesburg, MS. Where, for some reason, after boarding passengers at the station we pulled out of the station and down the tracks about 150 yards and sat. For a half hour. (I should mention here that there is no smoking anywhere on Amtrak trains. On the way to New Orleans there was supposed to be a stop in Birmingham for 15-ish minutes to allow smokers to get their nic on. Because of the delays, that didn't happen and smokers just had to tough it out. There was an announcement reminding people not to smoke in the compartments between cars. Considering that there was one 15 minute smoke break on a trip scheduled to be 12 hours this 'no smoking' plan was doomed to failure anyway.) Hattiesburg was a nice-looking station. The entire platform was covered. Why couldn't passengers who wished to leave the train for that half-hour do so? Why did we pull out of the station and sit? No explanation was ever given. The train continued the same pattern of delays seen on the first trip.

We arrived back in Atlanta only two hours late. I don't know what time the train eventually arrived in New York.

The Amtrak employees we met covered the gamut from very friendly and competent to minimally functional and mildly hostile to mostly invisible. About what you'd expect. Let me point out here that the dining car staff was friendly and efficient. Food wasn't bad, either. But it was expensive! The meals being included on our upgraded ticket was definitely a good deal.

That's just an overview of our trip. Slow and boring really sums it up.

Here's one thing that you may have noticed: The train didn't blow up. It wasn't seized by terrorists. I didn't get to jump backward in slow motion from a 100-foot tall railway trestle into a river while shooting pistols with both hands as my wife and I escaped "the terror train". All of this despite the fact that no passenger was ever searched, asked for ID, or questioned about anything other than did they sign their ticket. No baggage was searched. I could literally have carried on a duffel bag full of AK-47's and the Amtrak attendant would have handed it up the stairs to me. It's been that way for years. There is no need to get all paranoid about rail security now. Besides, if terrorists wanted to destroy a train they wouldn't need to be on it. Destroying the aforementioned 100-foot railway trestle at the right moment would work fine. Haven't these people ever seen a WWII movie?

(Speaking of WWII, rail passengers weren't inconvenienced by searches and questions from people whose last job involved a fry basket. Instead, the railroads posted their own armed guards at trestles and tunnels to guard against saboteurs. No attacks occurred.)

Hot Diggity Damn! Street Legal Golf Carts in Georgia in 2012!

2011-05-06T17:19:00.000-07:00

Fresh off the wires at the Georgia Political Digest! and the Atlanta Business Chronicle!

Starting January 1, 2012, depending on locality, your choice of local transport will undergo a fundamental change. You will no longer be required to pilot a multi thousand pound vehicle to go about grocery gettin', 12 pack retreivin' or any of the more mundane commuter tasks we all face each day.

That's good news for Georgians and really good news for the guys and gals down at the Yamaha Cart plant on the southside as well as those E-Z Go cats out in Augusta. You see Georgia has been a hotbed of golf cart manufacturing for quite a while now and I've been a big fan of scooters and golf carts for years.

There is a dizzying array of cart styles to pick from and all of them have an incredibly cool low speed open air quality that harkens back to earlier times when people enjoyed trips for the social aspects of meeting friends and neighbors on the local thoroughfares.

I have heard rumors that the People's Republic of Decatur has been eyeballing a cart path from downtown all the way to the Oakhurst Enclave. Please get it done by 2012!

Thar's Gold in Sugar Hill?

2011-05-05T17:17:00.000-07:00

Is it time to break out the picks and shovels?

With Gold at all time highs, economic distress outpacing it and record numbers of Georgians seeking employment, it might be time to kick off Georgia's second gold rush. And just to show you that the precious yellow metal is all over the freaking place, here's a partial scan of my copy of Plate II East, Bulletin 96 from the guys and gals down to the Georgia Geologic Survey in Atlanta.

It's a small chunk of the map around Sugar Hill/Buford and the X's indicate a mine or prospect or mineral locality. The AU designates Gold. Who would have thought Gwinnett County and Hall County and Fulton County have something in common?

There's a wealth of data down at the Geologic Survey and you can get a copy of your very own for a mere pittance in today's fiat dollars. The real problem is integrating the scanty map info with other data like county district plats to figure out where these prospects are located in the real world. And of course, I'm sure that most are on private property. Let me repeat that, I'm sure that most are on private property.

How some ever, if you have property up in that neck of the woods, it might be fun to kick around the stream at the back of the lot and see what turns up. If you discover any old wooden crates with ingots labeled "CSA" please let me know as my great-great-grandfather supposedly left a few somewhere in Georgia when he skedaddled out of Richmond back in 1865.

On Slackertarians, Unaffecteds and Idle Bystanders

2011-05-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

Hot off the presses from those talented guys and gals over at Poli-Tea.

I love this stuff, charts and lines and graphs that seek to capture a snapshot of the fickle Americans who vote are always of interest and any work that helps clarify and predict future behavior is always appreciated. I'm especially impressed with the new categories listed in this and would like to offer some additional ones for consideration.

Slackertarians

Unaffecteds

Idle Bystanders

I would define Slackertarians as those voters who do vote for Libertarian candidates but staunchly refuse to join the party or donate any money, time or talent to the candidates they support. By far and away they are the largest group of voters that help keep the Libertarians trudging forward as they do represent 3-4% of the voting public. The downside is that 3-4% of the vote just isn't gonna get it in a winner take all two party system. Love those Slackertarians.

Unaffecteds are immune to the charms of modern politics. They do not care for the smells emanating from the camps of our republican and democrat brothers and sisters but are always cautious to stay upwind. Aside from casting the occasional ballot, their participation in our contrived two party state stays limited to avoiding the stench.

Idle Bystanders exist in a much lower energy state than their cousins, the Bystanders. Bystanders at least pay some attention to the political process. Idle Bystanders take considerable pride in not exerting that much effort.

Even with the inclusion of these new categories in the next Pew Research Effort (PRE), the calculus will continue to be much as it has been. A little over half of the people in this country who can vote will vote. Of that 50-51%, a little over half of them will decide the nations course of action as dictated by republicans or democrats in the eternal pendulum of two party power shifts driven by the mad efforts of the 25% of American voters whose chosen candidates succeed. Only in America is it possible for the minority to tell the majority what to do, how to spend and to STFU/STFD.

What I'd really like to see is some research on just whats going on with the 50% of Americans who just don't vote. Is it even possible to get them in the game?

Essential Elements for a Successful Osama's Dead Parody

2011-05-03T17:56:00.000-07:00

Ding Dong, Osama's dead.

At least that's what everyone's saying. I just don't get the burial at sea thing, what ever happened to the "head in a sack" element of US foreign policy?

I've searched high and low for the last 7 minutes for the absolute best Osama's Dead video parody and am astonished to report that I was unable to find any that meet my admittedly low standards.

In an effort to amp up the internet's offerings on the end of the wiley Bandit Chief, I suggest the following from the perspective of a citizen with 50+ years under his belt:

Use modern animation techniques, especially stuff from Xbox trailers, lots of flash bangs and exterior shots of Sammy's place in downtown Pakistan. A neon sign stating that rabbits cost 10 dinars (each) would be a nice touch.

Be sure to include a memory montage of the of all the talking heads from Sunday night proclaiming his demise to be equivalent to Neal Armstrong stepping on the moon. Not by a long shot.

Try to work in a a flip chart of all of his henchmen/henchwomen we've previously dusted off via drone, direct action or plain ol' assassination.

And of course, choose a catchy tune!

The graphic above illustrates a mostly tasteful approach by the guys and girls over at Political Humor, a wholly owned subsidiary of internet giant About.com.

Please note the lack of gaping head wounds.

Pic-O-The Day, Georgia Gold Nuggets

2011-04-27T17:10:00.000-07:00

From the Guys and Gals over at GeorgiaInfo.

A nice collection of some of the Yellow stuff that is currently littering the great state of Georgia's three major and 7 minor gold belts. What could you do with couple of pounds of raw gold at today's prices?

Democrat's are Setting Sail on the Wide Insurgen-sea?

2011-04-26T16:58:00.000-07:00

Does this guy look like an insurgent?

Insurance agent maybe, insurgent? Nope!

Guess what kids, he's the Insurgent in Chief (IIC) over at Rockin' Barry O's re-election camp for 2012 and the cats name is Joe Messina. Please note the opportunity for the addition of a staff member with the last name of Loggins looming somewhere in the fuzzy future.

You can get a "sneak peek" of our President's planned campaign courtesy of Mr. Messina over at BloomBerg.Com which dishes all the gory details of next years record setting $3 Billion dollar campaign of musical chairs to see who gets to hang out at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue whilst our nation continues it's headlong plunge into Kay-Tas-Tro-Fee.

It's interesting reading for a plain old prole like me to see what kind of dollars it takes to get some face time with the current Commander in chief, well, one face in a room full of faces time anyway. How about $38,000 for a seat at a dinner? Or perhaps a cool $350,000 if you feel the need to be classified as a tip top democrat fundraiser with a shot at a night in the Lincoln bedroom.

One thing is certain, our Republican brothers and sisters, emboldened by their apparent victories in 2010 will match the democrats step for step and dollar for dollar. Third party types will be left alone in their standard roles of bitching and kvetching and losing. Tis the nature of politics in our quite unnatural and contrived two party system and only one thing might change it.

What could possibly upset the apple cart? I refer you to Joe Trippi, also a democrat operative who's been having nightmares about the possibility of some charismatic, internet based, social media savvy Tweet Meister emerging from the mists and actually connecting with the 50% of American voters who just don't vote.

That gets my vote.

Here's to you, Ms. Merkleson, Pundits Love You more than You can Know.. Wo Wo Wo

2011-04-13T17:07:00.000-07:00

What a hoot.

The ongoing saga of the mysterious Ms. Merkleson seems to be getting some legs over the mighty, mighty, AJC's Political Insider blog. My own opinion of Senator Staton could not be lower, well it could be but since he's just a plain vanilla statist republican he only rates the 3rd level of hell. He's also the cat that refused to invite me or any of the other Libertarian candidates in last years televised election debates in Macon after labeling the lot of us as ''icky".

Well icky is as icky does, so here's a tribute to Ms. Merkleson, where ever and who ever you actually are.

And here's to you, Mrs. Merkleson
Pundits love you more than you will know wo wo wo
Retweet please please, Mrs. Merkleson
Cagle reads most everything you say
Hey hey hey, hey hey hey

And here's to you, Mrs. Merkleson
FaceBook loves you more than you will know
wo wo wo
Don't be a tease, Mrs. Merkleson
Cecil knows just what you're going to say
Hey hey hey, hey hey hey

Coo coo ca-choo, Mrs. Merkleson
Mad power drives you more than you will know
wo wo wo
God bless you, please, Mrs. Merkleson
We doubt that you exist out there today
Hey hey hey, hey hey hey

Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon
Going to the candidates' debate
Laugh about it, shout about it when you've got to choose
Every way you look at it you lose

Where have you gone, Ms . Merkleson?
Georgia turns its lonely eyes to you
woo woo woo
What's that you say, Mrs. Merkleson?
"Casy Cagle has not left and gone away"
Hey hey hey, hey hey hey

There Be Pirates Here!

2011-03-31T18:38:00.000-07:00

Letters of Marque! Letters of Marque? We don't need no letters of Marque!

LP Atlanta members Josiah Neff and Joey Kidd kicked an ant hill yesterday when they announced they'd signed articles with the guys and gals down at the Institute of Justice to pursue some info from their local government on forfeiture disposition. I was vaguely aware of the practice but while looking at the info at the Insitute, I was dumbfounded at the size and scope of this particular government enterprise.

The bottom line for Georgia's law enforcement enterprises is in the millions of dollars each year, and that's just their share of the table droppings from the Federales operations in the ongoing War of Citizens....er, War on Drugs. Lots of eye popping charts over at the Institute as well as first hand commentary and my favorite bit concerning none other than DeKalb County's own Ex-Police Chief, Terrel Bolton:

In DeKalb County, Police Chief Terrell Bolton assigned 10 vehicles for his personal use, including a 2004 Range Rover valued at $32,000 and a 2006 Mercedes-Benz valued at $55,000. Both were acquired by civil forfeiture. Bolton explained that the vehicles were at his home because he feared another agency would take them and defended his weekend use of the vehicles by claiming it was needed to keep the batteries and tires in working order.

What a racket! And best of all it's legal basis is founded on 18th century maritime law formulated for use on that Scourge o' the Sea, freaking Pirates! No need to accuse a living, breathing, potentially lawyer employing citizen of a crime! Just accuse his car as they don't normally talk back or attempt to evade arrest. Arrest his car and you don't even have to read it that little Miranda card. Sweet!

I'm wondering. If Forfeiture laws based on piracy in the 18th century are the core of the War on Drugs, is it possible to obtain Letters of Marque and lawfully seize the prizes back from the cops?

Aaarrrrrrrggghhh!

The Latest from Garland Favorito

2011-03-30T16:28:00.000-07:00

My apologies to the readership about not posting the press release that Garland sent out about the Cobb SPLOST debacle, maybe I'll put it up over the weekend if I'm not elbow deep in the innards of the recently acquired Jeep Cherokee Sport. I just got this little nugget in the old email box and it's a shining example of how our public servants buy into the idea that rules are for those loser proletariats.

From the hardest working single issue activist in Georgia, Garland Favorito:

SOS Investigator for Alleged Cobb SPLOST Cover-up

Shoots Husband, Is Arrested for Drugs, Unauthorized Badge

KENNESAW, GA – Melissa Marlowe, an investigator from the office of the Georgia Secretary of State (SOS), was arrested this month after shooting her husband twice in the abdomen at their Kennesaw home. No charges have been filed yet in the shooting. Mrs. Marlowe was arrested for illegal possession of marijuana when Kennesaw police searched her home after the shooting. Police found marijuana, drug paraphernalia and an unauthorized DeKalb County Sheriff’s badge. Mrs. Marlowe never worked for DeKalb County law enforcement.

While the arrest has been reported locally, no reports have yet to identify that Melissa Marlowe was the individual assigned to investigate a case that some Georgia election integrity activists say resulted in major cover-up. That investigation involved the highly controversial 2005 Cobb County Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) referendum.

In 2005, the SPLOST referendum appeared on its way to defeat, trailing by several percentage points with just a few precincts left to count. But then unexplained transmission problems and reporting delays were encountered. The next day the SPLOST was declared victorious by a razor thin 114 votes out of 39,780 cast. The 2005 results show that 285 totally blank ballots were also cast. Activists contend that a software design flaw allows totally blank ballots to be cast rather than giving a voter the specific option of voting in one of the races or voiding the ballot. As a result, it is technically impossible to determine on Election Day whether the blank votes were omitted by the voters or the voting machines simply lost the votes during recording.

The topic of the SPLOST resurfaced at an SEB meeting several years later during public comments. After some critical comments, then Inspector General (IG), Shawn LaGrua, opened a case and assigned Melissa Marlowe to investigate. But Marlowe never contacted the individual who had complained and never investigated the transmission delays, reporting problems, vote accumulation or why the machines allow totally blank voted ballots to be cast. The complaining party, David Chastain, became so frustrated with the way the case was handled that he later decided to run for the office of Secretary of State.

Mrs. LaGrua, was the subject of several other complaints regarding improper investigation of cases related to Georgia’s unverifiable voting machines. Mrs. LaGrua eventually became the subject of dozens of Articles of Impeachment filed in the General Assemblyinvolving these and other cases. Although her questionable practices were known to him, former Governor, Sonny Purdue, appointed her to serve as a Fulton County judge last year.

Mrs. LaGrua, a former Dekalb County Solicitor General, would have carried one or more badges similar, or identical, to the one found in possession of her former IG employee and acquaintance. Mrs. Marlowe used her service revolver to shoot her husband, Ryan, who has a previous criminal record. The necessity of why elections investigators need guns to perform their duties is unclear.

Media Contact: Garland Favorito

Telephone: (404) 664-4044

Email: garlandf@msn.com

http://www.voterga.org

The Atlanta LP Files Suit!

2011-03-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

Golly Gosh Batman, just what are you spending all that confiscated cash on?

Looks like the guys and gals over at the Libertarian Party Atlanta affiliate are pretty damn serious about finding out and have joined a lawsuit to force the City of ATL to comply with existing law and inform the generally unconcerned public about what they're doing with all that cash and bling and property they've seized. It's supposed to run in the millions but nobody knows as the required reports on disposition aren't getting done.

Until now.

Kudos to the members of LP Atlanta for stepping up and using the system to fight the system. It's the best bit o' news I've heard this month. Here's the press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(ATLANTA, 3/30/2011) – Today, Libertarian Party of Atlanta members Josiah Neff and Joseph Kidd joined a lawsuit as co-plaintiffs against the Fulton County Police Department, the Fulton County Sheriff Department and the Atlanta Police Department. The suit alleges that the law enforcement agencies named in the suit are violating requirements in state law to annually report and itemize all property obtained through forfeiture proceedings to local governing authorities.

Neff and Kidd filed suit along with three other taxpaying residents of Atlanta and Fulton County to seek proper disclosure of property obtained by forfeiture. The plaintiffs are not seeking any sort of monetary damages and are being represented by attorneys from the Institute for Justice.

“As a resident of Atlanta and Fulton County, I believe agencies should comply with requirements to disclose the property they have seized and how those assets are being used,” said Neff. He continued, “Our public servants have a duty to follow the law.”

“We continually hear how our local governments are being forced to cut public safety budgets, yet we have no accountability for how the police are using the property they obtain through forfeiture,” added Kidd.

Recent federal data shows agencies around Georgia obtaining millions through forfeiture, yet out of fifteen major agencies in Georgia, only one was able to produce the required report. One example of questionable use was Camden County’s expenditure of $90,000 to purchase a Dodge Viper for the Sheriffs Department.

The case is Van Meter v. Turner and was filed Wednesday in the Superior Court of Fulton County.

# # #

The Libertarian Party of Atlanta is committed to the establishment of liberty as the central focus of political debate. As citizens of Atlanta, we primarily concentrate on the issues that directly affect our city, striving to bring liberty and individual freedom into focus for our local government officials. We are an active group determined to make a difference. If you believe in our mission, we want you join our team.
__________________________________
Brad Ploeger
Secretary
Libertarian Party of Atlanta
404.939.0367 / brad.ploeger@lpgeorgia.com

Craigslist Newsbreak! The Flyest of the Freshcorts

2011-03-22T18:53:00.000-07:00

It ain't always politics, baby.

I wish I'd written it.

Cars is cool.

The Flyest of the Freshcorts (Halfway down the qtr mile)

Date: 2011-03-22, 12:34PM EDT
Reply to: sale-9xgsh-2279802558@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

1993 Ford Freshcort GTLXHYBRIDFLEXFUELDRIVE++++

Are you ready to look so fly and so fresh in the ride of your dreams? Then look no further for you have come across the baddest car in the nation.
exterior Features include:
Larger grille for more efficiant cooling during those mad sprints to 55 mph, Diamond-plate hood scoop for agressive appearance and huge increase in performance, Custom cold air intake, Custom high end exhaust by Folgers, its the best part of waking up, Custom paint to really intimidate your opponants, about 300hp worth of custom stickers have been applied, Stretigically placed rust holes for aerodynamics and weight reduction, Custom Spoiler by USPS and DUCK brand from high speed runs and increased gas mileage, Rear brake delete because Race cars dont need rear brakes, Custom oxidized headlights and third cyclops light behind the grille to really make the girls go wild!
interior features:
Custom racing seat covers jacked from a pontiac vibe, Custom painted Center counsel, clutch squeek to let you and your passengers know when your bangin' gears, Custom Air freshener chandaleir for a touch of class, dash mounted rearview mirror to really not see those people behind you, No headliner for weight reduction.
Call or Text One 51Seven 7fourfive 360one Dont let destiny pass you by. FRESHCORT LOVE!

Location: Halfway down the qtr mile
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

A Blast from the Past, circa 2009

2011-03-21T18:38:00.000-07:00

You gotta love posters!

Here's one from way back when in 2009 when the spirit of Libertarian adventurism was strong in my heart and quite light on my wallet. I've seen a rash of "Old Boss, New Boss" quotes out there in FaceBookLand and thought I'd toss this out as a quick and dirty post to get back in the habit of cluttering up the blog-o-sphere once more.

I've read of late that blogging is now considered a defunct method of communication and that FaceBookLand and Twitter are the way to go, at least until next month when some new sort of commo system springs up in 4G HandsetLand and dooms Twitter to the dustbin of history. I'm quite confident that I'll miss the boat on the newest developments just like I failed to adapt well to FaceBook and never even looked into issuing "Tweets". Every time I see the word "Tweet" an image of Tweety Bird appears floating magically in the air and since that particular cartoon is on my top ten list of crap from Warner Brothers, I avoid it like the plague.

That's one of the problem's associated with being in the 50 something age group, there's lots of ash and trash scattered around the old brain pan from 5+ decades of existence here on Planet Earth. "New" stuff is constantly making links with the old stuff in my cranium and the result is some rather unpalatable combos. It's the curse of being on the cusp of the transition from the analog age of yore and todays 15 second digital world. So I'll stick with the archaic blog format for the present and once I achieve apprentice level skills with the redoubtable flipcam and related editing suites I may transition to that format as it does not involve spell check.

Old Boss, New Boss, Same Same, Higher, Higher, Baby!

Pic o' the Day

2011-02-14T15:44:00.000-08:00

A great piece of art from the guys and gals over at Independent Political Report.

This guy is not a happy camper.

The DeKalb LP Elects Officers at Tomorrow Nights Meeting at the Famous Pub

2011-02-14T15:04:00.000-08:00

It's election time in DeKalb County!

The regularly scheduled meeting of the Libertarian Party's DeKalb affiliate will kick off Tuesday night, the 15th of February, at 7:00PM at the Famous Pub in Decatur.

The evening festivities include the nomination and election of the affiliate Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer, after that our current Vice Chair, David Montane, will present a talk on "Bridging the Gap: Getting Fiscally Conservative, Social Liberals to Identify with the Party”.

That's pretty stout stuff as most of the time libertarians can't identify with the party either. It's one of those major strength/weakness deals depending on your viewpoint.

In any case, the Famous Pub has a great beer selection, damn fine tater tots and there's always intriguing conversation to be had at any DeKalb LP meeting. Toss in the annual election of officers and it's a two-fer for third party political types.

See you there!

Chuck Donovan on A Real Right to Travel

2011-01-31T17:22:00.000-08:00

Hot outta the in-box, a missive from Libertarian Chuck Donovan!

Sure, the hot buttons last week were Sunday sales and Speaker Ralston's European vacation but here's a little bit of info on HB 7.

I especially like the idea of

A REAL RIGHT TO TRAVEL

REAL RIGHT TO TRAVEL

I have spoken many times on how government has forcibly intervened in nearly every aspect of our lives. Nothing represents more completely, the full control of government in our lives, than the issue of public roads.

Every year, tens of thousands of Americans die on our roads. Look at the death toll from more than 15 years of the Viet Nam war, and you will see we kill a greater number every two years on our roads. Only private innovations in vehicle technology and engineering have made it safer for us to drive. Government has done nothing to improve road engineering, signal technology, traffic management, and especially nothing to improve driver licensing, training, or education.

The time has come to find better ways to make ourselves, our families, and our fellow Americans safer on our roads. We have to honestly admit what has not worked and terminate those wasteful programs. Driver licensing has not made us safer. It has not stopped incompetent and dangerous drivers from operating their vehicles next to us on our roads. What licensing has done is to increase the size, scope, and the cost of government. Driver licensing is a failed program and it should be terminated.

As I said in my campaign, I believe Georgia has what it takes to be a leader to the rest of our country and to the world. Eliminating needless and failed bureaucracy will allow us to better use limited fiscal resources in programs that would better serve the safety of our families and our fellow Georgians.

Below is a letter written by Bill Evelyn, Director of the Georgia State Tea Party. I know that Bill has the best interests of his family and fellow citizens at heart, as well as the best interests of our state. I agree with him that this is the kind of legislation we should pass quickly.

Bold action and leadership are necessary to move Georgia during these difficult economic times and the far more challenging times I predict in our near future. HB7 is that kind of bold, forward reaching action.

In liberty,

CHUCK DONOVAN

The mission is liberty,The vision is now.

__________________________________________________________

Subject: HB7 Right to Travel Act

To: The Right and Honorable Georgia General Assembly,

When I was young and pestering my grandfather to allow me to drive his truck, he told me a very interesting story. My grandfather had moved from a farm in Virginia in 1929 to Pennsylvania for work. His farm had failed and he was broke. He managed to get a job driving a commercial dump truck for Samuel McAdam constructing the Pennsylvania Turnpike. He got that job with the experience of driving a vegetable truck to the Richmond Farmers Market. My grandfather taught himself to drive and he drove for 35 accident free years before he was required to get a license or test to get that license. He taught my father to drive in the 1940′s before a license and test was required. My father started teaching me to drive when I was ten. At the age of fourteen he cleared me solo and I drove down the street to a friends farm. On my 16th birthday we drove to the testing station and I earned my license.

You will note that not one bureaucrat had any input on my driving instruction. Both my grandfather and father made the decision to turn over the family car to their son when they were comfortable they could drive safely. Do you honestly think passing HB7 will make the killing lanes of I-285, I-85, and I-75 more unsafe?

Rep. Franklin’s Bill only returns us to a time before the big government people started requiring a license and testing. In the 1930′s and 1940′s you mailed for a license in Georgia, no testing was required until the 1950′s.

If you pass HB7 you can eliminate a huge bureaucracy, free up officers for the beat, and free up real estate to be sold off to the highest bidder. That should help you balance the budget. I really hope that you consider voting YES for HB7.

Bill Evelyn

Director

State of Georgia Tea Party, LLC

Will Costa Video from the Gwinnett Forum Last Monday Night

2011-01-27T17:49:00.000-08:00

OK, it's not American Idol or Biggest Looser but it is real local politics. All of the players were on hand and the boys and girls over at the Gwinnett Republican Party put on a fine show with a professional announcer and everything. If you're interested in the race for the next Chairman of the Gwinnett County Commission then invest about an hour of your life and give this video a look-see.

My take?

Will Costa is the best candidate for the job. Go ahead, see for yourself.

The First Debate for the Contenders for Gwinnett County Commission Chair is Monday Night

2011-01-23T15:39:00.000-08:00

Let's see how many candidates show up.

Big news folks, tomorrow night the Gwinnett GOP is hosting a two hour forum at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center for the candidates for the vacant County Commission Chair. Libertarian Will Costa and the rest of the crew will be there to participate.

The shindig starts at 7:00PM but the doors will be open at 6:30PM so the public has an opportunity to speak with the candidates prior to the start of the forum. I have absolutely no idea if audience questions will be permitted but don't let that deter you from attending this first debate/forum.

The event will be moderated by ex newscaster Mike Moore and according to the event Facebook page there are 77 people attending. I note a few Libertarians in the crowd. I'll be there with flipcam in hand to record selected moments of the exchanges between candidates and will post them up here for those of you who can't attend.

As this is the first election of 2011, be advised that Will Costa needs the support of every Libertarian in Georgia. I urge everyone that cast a vote for me in last years general election to support Will Costa in this campaign with your time, talents or treasure.

Vote for Will Costa for Chairman of the Gwinnett County Commission!

Trivia Question: Out of 800 Libertarian Candidates Nationwide in 2010, Which one finished in 50th Place?

2011-01-22T16:00:00.000-08:00

That would be me.

Big ol' hat tip to the National Libertarian Party for publishing an Excel spreadsheet with the nationwide results from our efforts in 2010. And the kicker is that some Libertarians even won!

If you've got some time to waste on looking at the entire layout head over the the LP National blog and take a gander. All of the Georgia candidates placed in the top 80 range with Kira Willis leading the way at # 38.

The top voter getter nationally was Richard Sanders out of Washington State with an astounding 971,803 votes in his race for the states Supreme Court and as the spreadsheet clearly shows, running unopposed is always a good idea.

Finishing 50 of out 800 nationwide, I can live with that for my first effort at political office. I wonder if there's a spreadsheet that shows who was the anchorman for least contributions nationwide?

I know I won the Hawaiian shirt category.

The Supremes Decline to Hear Coffield vs. Kemp

2011-01-20T19:07:00.000-08:00

Add another effort to the list.

Ballot access in Georgia got another slap in the face yesterday when the US Supreme Court backed out of hearing Coffield vs. Kemp so the two party system in Georgia is safe for a while longer as a result. The readership might remember some of the work that's been presented here at Bludgeon & Skewer concerning the tortuous path that Ms. Coffield's case has taken since her attempt to gain ballot access wayback in the wayback in 2008 in an attempt to run against democrat Hank Johnson in Georgia's 4th US congressional district. If you're having difficulty searching here, then head over to Ballot Access News or Independent Political Report for some pretty good recaps.

Her complaint was simple. Georgia's 1943 Jim Crow ballot access laws are so onerous that no one can meet the standard aside from our democrat and republican brothers and sisters who crafted the system and have enjoyed it's blessings for the last 67 years. And that's true. There were 9 independents here in Georgia last year, none of whom survived our state's petitioning requirements and made it on the ballot. The end result for all Georgians was that their choices were limited, competition was squashed and the current market price of this years crop of politicians was artificially inflated.

The failure to hear the case at the national level is good news for the Georgians enmeshed in republican or democrat politics, not so much for the rest of us. If you're one of the 50% of Georgians who are registered to vote but don't bother to participate it's no news at all, not on the radar screen and absolutely not important. There is no reasonable expectation that the half of Georgia that doesn't vote is going to wake up anytime soon and if they did they would only be able to pick between two choices anyway, except in elections that include the 10 statewide offices the Libertarian's can run candidates for.

So a big old hat tip to Georgia's 1943 legislature for passing a restrictive law that has stood the test of time. It's nice to know that the prejudices of the past are alive and well here in 2011.

Are we in the 21st Century?

Not quite yet.

You Can Go with This, Or you Can Go with That

2011-01-17T08:17:00.000-08:00

Technology marches on.

Big ol' hat tip to That's Just Peachy for todays firearms photo oddity. According to the Augusta Chronicle, this intriguing little rig was parked on a utility right of way covering a food plot designed to attract wild hogs.

Neat idea, but a little static. The hogs have to come to you.

Here at Bludgeon & Skewer, we value mobility and offer the following concept for mobile varmint control.

This sleek tracked mobile gun platform can plow right through the palmetto bushes and move to contact with the varmint of your choice. It's multi-modal, completely robotic and offers an incredible range of weapons options.

Sure, it's pricey but start checking out what three Bennelli Super 90's go for and then try reverse engineering the weapons station from photo #1. Definitely not a game for fellows with short pockets.

The ALCC Meets this Wednesday Night at Dantanna's Cigar Club Lounge

2011-01-17T07:58:00.000-08:00

Come on Down!

From the Chairman of the Atlanta Libertarian Cigar Club, David Chastain:

More than merely a "smoke,"
cigars are a symbol of earned relaxation -
a smoky elixir of salvation that allows
your mind to wander and your heart to dance.
- Alyson Boxman

Dear ALCC Members and Friends,

Please join us this Wednesday for our first ALCC gathering of 2011. The weather forecast is on our side; sunny with a high of 49 degrees. Expected humidity in the Buckhead Cigar Lounge's 300 sq. ft. walk-in humidor to be Perfect. And, as always, the drinks will be cold and the conversation warm and friendly.

For first-timers, we meet in the back room at Dantanna's Buckhead Cigar Lounge. All we ask is that you purchase your smoke from the BCL humidor. Tell Mike at the register you are a Libertarian Cigar Club attendee and get a 10% discount.

ALCC meetings are the third Wednesday of every month and annual dues are $25.00. Our treasurer is Roxanne Karnick.

David Chastain
Chairman
dfchastain@gmail.com
770-630-8294 cell/text

Tuesday Night's DeKalb LP Affiliate Meeting Will Feature Dr. Bill Greene, Author of HB 3

2011-01-17T07:53:00.000-08:00

Hot off the presses from DeKalb LP Affiliate Vice Chair David Montane!

This month is a CAN'T MISS meeting of LP DeKalb!

Dr. Bill Greene

Author of HB-3, the Constitutional Tender Act

Will tell us how he hit on the idea of writing sample legislation to have gold and silver coins be the only form of payment acceptable to a sovereign State, why this will attract business and jobs to whichever state is first to pass such an act, how he found a sponsor here in Georgia, and what we have learned from the first two years of attempting to get this bill passed.

As usual, we gather at The Famous Pub in the Toco Hills shopping center at the SW corner of LaVista Road and North Druid Hills Road (2947 NDH Rd) at 7:00 PM on the third Tuesday of each month except December. This month that day falls on the 18th, which is this Tuesday.

Please Sign Up on our website so that future announcements and news about the party will come to you automatically, and especially so that more activity on our website will boost our ranking on the search engines. Here's the link: http://lpdekalb.org. You will NOT need to e-mail me when you sign up - an alert will come to me!

Should be a good time so come on out and hear Dr. Greene's thoughts on constitutional tender!

State of the Race for Gwinnett Commission Chair

2011-01-13T16:06:00.000-08:00

The first snowmageddon of 2011 is almost done, on to local politics!

The only race of interest at the moment is the contest for Gwinnett County's next Commission Chair that features Libertarian Will Costa, Charlotte Nash (presumed republican), Larry Gause (rumored Libertarian, sometimes republican) and Gerald Duane Kissel (political orientation unknown). It's a hearty mix of unknowns at the moment and in the interest of shedding some light on Will Costa's opponents, Bludgeon & Skewer offer the following information gleaned from the World Wide Web.

Will Costa
FaceBook Campaign page? Check. 111 likes as of today, up from 61 likes on 12 DEC 2010.
Campaign Website? Check.
Press Coverage with name mentions? Check.
Goggle page rank, last 30 days: Page one, #1 ranking out of 589,000 returns. Of the first 10 returns, Will has 2 headlines linking to him or stories about his campaign.

Charlotte Nash
FaceBook Campaign Page? Check. Fresh off the presses as of 10 DEC 2011. 228 friends as of today. One photo, no active discussions. No link to a campaign website. No donate button.
Campaign Website? Still Nada.
Google Page rank, last 30 days: Page 1 ranking out of 1,130,000 returns, 5 of the first 10 returns mention Charlotte in the text of the return.

Larry Gause
FaceBook Campaign Page? None up for the Gwinnett Contest, Still has the old FaceBook page up from his attempt at the 4th Congressional District race.
Campaign Website? Nuttin'.
Google Page rank, last 30 days: Page 1 ranking out of 9,740 returns.

No clearly attributable pictures
Gerald Duane Kissel
FaceBook Campaign Page? No.
Campaign Website? Still Bupkis.
Google Page rank, last 30 days: Page 1 ranking out of 21,00 results.

The Yard sign front has seen the Costa Campaign surge to a dominating lead in early January with examples littering the FaceBook landscape. Due to the absolutely crappy weather this week, I have not ventured forth into the land of the Gwinnettians to check out any Nash or Gause sign sightings. I'm thinking the Nash signs will bloom sometime late this month, the Gause variety will likely be very rare, although not as rare as yard signs for my Insurance Commissioner campaign last year.

That's the wrap up as of today. I'll try to get some flipcam videos of Will Costa up before the end of the month if time permits.

Remember to head over to Will's Facebook page and participate in the first election of 2011 in Georgia. Vote for Will Costa for Gwinnett County Chair!

Did Governor Deal Really Say "Free the Weed" At the Swearing In Ceremony? Nah!

2011-01-10T16:56:00.000-08:00

Remember Prohibition? Neither do I.

We're all living in a day and age that has it's eerie similarities to those fabled times of speakeasy's and Chicago Mobs and a wink and a nod towards a bad law. And Governor Deal actually talked about it today at the radically under attended swearing in ceremony down to the statehouse today.

Not that I was there as I do not circulate in those rarefied circles, I was safely ensconced at Casa Del Bruce in Decatur building snow forts and seeing if the mighty Honda Spree scooter could navigate our frozen roadways up to the local CVS for some emergency chocolate chip cookies. After several narrow escapes I concluded my journey on foot.

But I did read Big Jim Galloway's account over to the AJC's Political Insider and was struck by the following quotes:

“Presently, one out of every 13 Georgia residents is under some form of correctional control. It cost about $3 million per day to operate our Department of Corrections.

As a State, we cannot afford to have so many of our citizens waste their lives because of addictions. It is draining our State Treasury and depleting our workforce…..”

Sounds like a caveat to me. Could this be evidence of an attempt to test the waters for De-Crim? That thought is echoed in the article's comment trail by folks like hypocrites, Freedom Lover and several others. As a Libertarian, I believe my party has a solution to this issue. Namely our platform plank:

Libertarian Party of Georgia Platform

5. THE WAR ON DRUGS

We believe the so-called "War on Drugs" is more accurately described as a war on freedom and the U.S. Constitution. It has provided a rationale by which the power of the state has been expanded to restrict greatly our 4th Amendment right to privacy, and poses an especially grave threat to individual liberty and to domestic order. Therefore, we call for the repeal of all laws establishing criminal or civil penalties for the manufacture, use, or sale of drugs. We wish to see an end to "anti-crime" measures that limit our rights to keep and bear arms and that restrict individual rights to be secure in our persons, homes, and property. Furthermore, the ‘War on Drugs’ serves as a subsidy for illegal drug dealers by driving up their profit margin, and has the unintentional effect of increasing crime in our society.

One of the stated goals of last years run for office by my Libertarian brothers and sisters was to influence the debate on as wide a range of issues as we could. We're solidly for De-Crim and hopefully the republicans will co-opt this issue on the cost saving basis alone. Time will tell.

Why I Read Poli-Tea Everyday

2011-01-10T16:12:00.000-08:00

POLI-TEA

THIRD PARTY AND INDEPENDENT OPPOSITION TO THE TWO-PARTY STATE

There's a damn fine post up over at Poli-Tea on the current state of the endless war between our democrat and republican brothers and sisters. The focal point is the turmoil generated by the Tucson Massacre and the subsequent reverberation through the nations political and media classes as the incident has been front and center for the last several news cycles.

D.Eris and the rest of the crew at Poli-Tea are absolute brainiacs. One of these days I'll be a functioning writer on that level, but not today. In the interim I invite the readership to head over and read a post entitled "The Coming War on Violence: Vitriol, Violence and the Politics of the two Party State", it's thought provoking and provides another angle on recent events and unintended consequences.

It's Official, The Shane Bruce for Insurance Commissioner Campaign is Terminated

2011-01-09T18:44:00.000-08:00

It was a blast.

I've filed my final report with the guys and gals down to the State Ethics Commission and am now done with my brief political career as a Libertarian Candidate for office here in Georgia. My once mighty campaign coffers are depleted, no vendors or contractors or consultants were left hangin' in the breeze and I'm out a couple of bucks in the end. Overall, I feel pretty good about it.

The Libertarian Party will get back the bulk of the filing fees it put up for all our candidates last year and as a result should have some maneuvering power for the year ahead as it continues to grow the party base in Georgia. Money is the mothers milk of politics and as my personal experiment in democracy so aptly shows, no amount good intentions hold up in the face of well funded opponents.

Not to say that a determined individual cannot succeed in politics without cash, I just can't imagine it happening in todays political environment. The future is a nebulous place and so it may actually happen one day, just not today.

If you're Liberty minded and you really don't like the idea of 26% of the registered voters in Georgia calling the tune for the rest of us, perhaps you should look at your options and consider the Libertarian Party. The $25 a year for a state membership is a bit steep compared to the freebies offered by our democrat and republican brothers and sisters but just remember that you get what you pay for. And we don't ask you to sign any loyalty oaths to our party, just not to initiate force to achieve political goals. To me, that's pretty solid.

I want to take this space to say thank you to each of the 96,000 Georgians that cast their ballots for me last year. I'm continually running into folks that did that and it's nice to hear that some of my message resonated with citizens of all stripes. it's also a shame that we live in a state that robs those same people of their voice by our stubborn adherence to the current two party, winner take all system. We Libertarians earned an average of 4% of the vote last cycle and should have 4% of the statehouse and senate instead of a big fat goose egg. But I digress.

Later on I'll do a post on my erstwhile opponents termination reports just for kicks, right now the snow is falling here in Decatur and I have some sledding to do in a little while.

Libertarian David Shock is back in the News

2011-01-07T16:59:00.000-08:00

Ballot Access, baby, Ballot access.

Atlanta Progressive News has an in depth interview with Libertarian David Shock about his role in SecState Kemp's new Elections Advisory Council. Reporter Matthew Cardinale provides extensive quotes from Prof. Shock on the sorry state of ballot access in Georgia and his hopes for the Council's work to be a success.

Regular readers are well aware that ballot access has been a driving force in Libertarian politics in Georgia for quite a while. In spite of our efforts, Georgia's Jim Crow era ballot access laws continue to stifle competition in political matters by very effectively reserving the political battlespace for democrats and republicans only. All other interested parties are required to jump through the arduous hoops of petitioning to acquire a spot on the ballot and the hoops are usually set on fire.

I'm looking forward to attending one of the Council's public sessions and seeing what the public at large thinks of the state of ballot access here in Georgia. With Prof Shock on the panel, you can rest assured your input will be heard.

The Will Costa Campaign for Gwinnett County Chairman rolls out Yard-signs

2011-01-07T15:35:00.000-08:00

Get 'em while you can!

Libertarian Will Costa has procured the first wave of yard-signs for the impending special election in Gwinnett County's Commission Chair race. His remaining opponents continue to be hard to to locate via the world wide web, but there's no indication that any of them have moved up to physical campaigning as of yet.

The Costa Campaign is ready willing and able to provide interested voters in Gwinnett county with these symbols of support by simply contacting Will via FaceBook or his campaign site.

Don't delay, call today!

Last Nights Friends of DeKalb Schools Meeting a Smashing Success

2011-01-06T18:53:00.000-08:00

There's hope for DeKalb County Schools.

I attended last nights Friends of DeKalb Schools meeting honchoed by Libertarian David Montane and was simply astounded by newly elected DeKalb School Board member Nancy Jester. I wish she was a Libertarian.

Somehow we finally got it right here in DeKalb county and managed to elect someone who's smart, motivated, educated and capable. How'd that happen? And major kudos to the Friends of DeKalb Schools for hosting the event and providing the attendees with a face to face opportunity to present their concerns to one of DeKalb's newest commissioners.

If you'd like to get involved with their efforts to put the School System check register online or become a member of this new group, buzz over to Friends of DeKalb Schools and get on board.

The DeKalb County LP Affiliate Starts 2011 off with a Bang!

2011-01-03T16:51:00.000-08:00

Think money, real money, hard money.

The first meeting of the Libertarian Party of DeKalb County will feature Professor William Green as it's first speaker of 2011 thanks to the indefatigable DeKalb LP Vice Chair David Montane. Professor Green is the prime mover behind HB 3, the Constitutional Tender Act that's sittin' in the hopper down to the statehouse for this years session.

Want to know more about HB 3 and it's possible impact on Georgia? Then head over to ConstitutionalTender.com and check it out! Better yet come hear the man himself speak at the DeKalb LP's meeting on 18 JAN 11 at the Famous Pub in Toco Hills. The shindig starts at 7:00PM!

Important Friends of DeKalb Schools Meeting this Wednesday at the Famous Pub

2011-01-03T16:26:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't it be cool if the DeKalb County School System published it's check register on line?

Libertarian David Montane and the Friends of DeKalb Schools think it'd be cool too. So much so that they're featuring incoming District 1 school board member Nancy Jester at the groups monthly meeting this Wednesday at the Famous Pub in Toco Hills to discuss this advance of liberty and information and best of all, it's open to the public.

OK, there's just not enough seating at the Famous Pub to accommodate every citizen in DeKalb County, but there's certainly enough seating to accommodate a hundred interested persons. Maybe you're behind the power curve on this? Then check out this link to DeKalb County School Watch and start learning about some of the benefits that accrue to the public in other states that already make this financial info open to all.

Remember, this Wednesday night, 5 JAN 10, at the Famous Pub in the Toco Hills Shopping Center starting at 7:00PM!

Georgia's Draconian Ballot Access Laws are Back in the News!

2011-01-01T14:10:00.000-08:00

Most suitable for the first post of 2011.

Matthew Cardinale over at Atlanta Progressive News gives us an extremely detailed update on the progress of Coffield vs. Kemp as it winds it's way to the Supreme Court. Maybe. The readership might remember several posts here at Bludgeon and Skewer that discussed Coffield v. Kemp and it's potential impact on Georgia's 1943 Jim Crow Ballot access laws. Mr. Cardinale does a fine job of boiling all the elapsed time and legal maneuvering into a easily digestible story that should elevate the blood pressure of any citizen in Georgia that reads it.

Some of the more pertinent bits focus on the absolute failure of last elections cycles independent candidates to achieve ballot access through petitioning. Quote:

In the amici curiae brief, the organizations argue that while the State does not collect data on how many candidates have tried and failed to gain access to the ballot, that in 2010 alone, no fewer than nine independent and political body candidates tried and failed to get on the ballot [a political body is a political organization that is not recognized as a political party in the State of Georgia].

The article also cites Libertarian stalwart Brad Ploeger's run for State house in addition to Guvna Purdue's handpicked State School Superintendent Brad Bryant's inability to satisfy the petition requirements despite the support of Georgia's sitting governor and the republican party apparatus shilling for signatures for him.

The last bit of the article compares similar action in Ohio that occurred three years before Jenness vs. Fortson, in which the US Supreme Court overturned Ohio's ballot access laws. Quote:

However, the organizations argue that in fact, Georgia's petition requirements were actually higher the ones struck down in Ohio in 1968. Ohio's requirement was 15 percent of actual voters. Georgia's requirement was 5 percent of registered voters. However, because most registered voters do not vote, Georgia's law actually required more signatures.

So let's see what the guys and gals down to the statehouse do this session about ballot access in Georgia. Since we're effectively a one party state again, will our current crop of grandees continue to shut out other political voices and maintain their grip on power by keeping the sandbox all to themselves or will they broaden the playing field?

Bets, anyone?