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Nonetheless, pro-Russian (or at least anti-anti-Russian) arguments have become fairly common not just among conservatives but among a contingent of libertarians, such as former Rep. Ron Paul and Antiwar.com Editorial Director Justin Raimondo. The new Republican affection for Russia is largely a matter of political polarization: Since Putin is the Democrats boogeyman du jour, he cant be all bad. But quite a few conservatives also genuinely see Putins Russia as a Christian ally against Islam, a perspective recently endorsed by Ann Coulter in a March column trollishly titled Lets Make Russia Our Sister Country.

That view manages to ignore not only Russias coziness with Iran but the fact that one of Putins staunchest domestic allies, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, runs a de facto sharia state within the Russian Federation. This spring, Kadyrov was in the news for throwing gay men in prison camps and threatening a fatwa on Russian journalists who exposed the persecution.

Meanwhile, Ron Paulstyle libertarians are inclined to see Russia as a check on U.S. foreign adventurism and Russia hawks as hardcore proponents of the American imperial leviathan. Unfortunately, there is a small contingent who fall victim to the fallacy that the enemy of the enemy is my friend, and if the Kremlin is the enemy of my enemy, then it must be my friend, Palmer says.

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Russia's global anti-libertarian crusade - Hot Air

Net neutrality allows smaller businesses to rise in the ranks of the current ISP market without having to compete with strong monopolies that dominate society. Net neutrality as a concept is inherently libertarian, as it ensures freedom from censorship, as well as ensures that one can do whatever they want on the internet without fear of being stopped or throttled.

Net neutrality is loosely defined as the principle that internet service providers shouldnt be allowed to restrict or throttle internet access. As well as preventing the restriction of internet access, net neutrality put ISPs (internet service providers) into Title II communications group, precisely the common carriers category. Putting ISPs into this category allows for bandwidth to be regulated, or allows it to not be throttled based on internet usage. Net neutrality also ensures that ISPs are held accountable for the things they do, and doesnt allow ISPs to secretly do things.

Organizations such as Netflix were strong supporters of net neutrality when the topic first arose, but as of recent have been relatively quiet, one can assume that they realized it could harm them. Net neutrality would prevent businesses from being able to create a monopoly on certain websites as they could prevent ISPs from being paid out to throttle websites that rival places like Netflix, Google, and others. With this in mind, small businesses would be snuffed out because they couldnt hold a place in the market due to larger businesses holding such strong monopolies.

Rolling back net neutrality would only open the door for more crony capitalism, and would allow businesses like ComCast to legally prevent internet access for any reason they choose. ISPs would legally be allowed to put premiums on anything they deem necessary, and would have no legal repercussion for making it difficult for one to continue watching their favourite porn, watching things on their favourite small time streaming site, or reading things on their favourite independent news sources like Being Libertarian. Not only would it make it more difficult, but would make it so that the things they can access would cost a fortune.

The main argument against net neutrality is that it is the government attempting to regulate more of ones life.

At the moment we are looking at government or private organization controlling us, and in this case government looks more promising. Having zero regulation on ISPs allows them to lie, throttle, and be generally sly without repercussion. Allowing the government to have minor control over ISPs would merely prevent the ISPs from hiding and abusing power as easily, and would help break up monopolies on the current market. Net neutrality isnt suggesting that the government should have a significant amount of control over the market, but that ISPs shouldnt be able to determine the market.

Net neutrality prevents ISPs from being paid out by big businesses, prevents them from shortening bandwidth because they deem it necessary, and prevents them from putting premiums on internet services. Net neutrality isnt the perfect choice, but is the much lesser of two evils in this situation, and would help ensure freedom.

* Rhys Boekelheide is 16 years old and runs the podcast Your Opinion Sucks. Hes been interested politics for years, and has been writing about them for almost as long.

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Why Net Neutrality is a Necessity - Being Libertarian

On Thursday morning, Gerry Cohen, a former special counsel for the General Assembly, made an interesting observation on Facebook: both the Democratic and Republican parties of Wake County missed the statutory deadline to nominate candidates for the county Board of Elections this year.

And that, he wrote, meant that if Governor Cooper was successful in his effort to overturn a law passed last year reconfiguring the structure of elections boards, the Wake board would consist of two Libertarians and an unaffiliated voter. (Cooper has so far been rejected by the courts, but he is appealing.)

Heres why: the old state lawthe one Cooper wants reinstatedallows each party chair to nominate up to three registered voters for each county board. The state board, which is controlled by the governors party, then selects the members of each county board from the nominees presented by the parties but cannot appoint more than two members of the same party to the three-person board.

The law also sets a deadline; this year, it fell on June 12. The Wake GOP submitted its nominations on June 19, a week late; the Democrats on July 10, almost a month tardy.

This sluggishness would be unimportant if it werent for two more key factors: an ongoing legal battle over the structure the N.C. Board of Elections after the legislatures power grab late last year and the fact that, for the first time in history, the Wake County Libertarian Party submitted nominations for the Wake County Board of Electionsand managed to do it a month early.

Cohen says hed been following this closely because he was hoping to earn a spot on the Board of Elections and was surprised to see that the Dems missed the deadline. And since the Libertarian nominees are the only candidates who fulfill all the requirements of the old law, they might be the only candidates available for consideration. (The Libertarians, thinking ahead, also nominated an unaffiliated voter for the third spot.)

If Governor Coopers legal challenge fails, the county board would be made up of two members of the political party with the most registered voters and two members of the party with the second most registered votersi.e., Democrats and Republicans. This would render the candidates put forward by the Libertarian party ineligible.

Of the Libertarian nominees, Jeff Harrod and Amy Howard, both of Raleigh, are registered Libertarians, and Jon Byers, also of Raleigh, is independent. In a press release immediately following the nominations, Libertarian Party of North Carolina Chair Brian Irving stated, We included independents because statewide they represent nearly a third of North Carolina voters.

Byers says via email that the structure put forward by the state legislature would only weaken the power of an already anemic governor and, despite being billed as bipartisan, would really just shut out third parties and independents more than they already are. Byers says he feels representation of independent voters, who make up a third of all registered voters in Wake County, is an important step toward a democracy that reaches beyond party politics.

The state and Wake County Democratic Party offices did not respond to requests for comment, nor did the governors office. The Wake GOP referred the INDYs request for comment to the state party, which did not respond.

Excerpt from:
If Governor Cooper Wins His State Board of Elections Lawsuit, Will Wake Dems Lose? - The Independent Weekly

With season seven of the smash HBO show Game of Thrones debuting on Sunday, Reason has released another hilarious video putting a libertarian spin on the fantasy epic.

ReasonsAustin Bragg, Meredith Bragg, Andrew Heaton, and Remy Munasifihave made libertarian versions of Star Trek and Star Wars in the past. Star Trek: Libertarian Edition won a Southern California Journalism Award forBest Humor/Satire Writingof 2016.

Now Heaton and the Braggs are back. The video features Heaton and Austin Bragg playing numerous roles. Heaton plays theHand of the King attempting to convince the small council that small government and non-interventionism is the key to a more prosperous Westoros.

Heaton and Austin Bragg also play two members of the Nights Watch trying to figure out why their ancestors built a giant wall to keep out the free folk, people who marry whoever they want, live however they please, and elect leaders instead of being under the rule of someone they never approved of.

Also, watch as Heaton attempts to remember what the sayings are for House Republican and House Democrat while attending lessons with Maester Luwin, and learn that the Libertarian sigil is a porcupine humping a pile of money.

Reason releases humorous videos regularly. Some havemockedSaturday Night Live for itsHillary Clinton Hallelujah musical number, and CNN for its biased reporting.

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Reason releases hilarious parody video 'Game of Thrones: Libertarian Edition' - TheBlaze.com

State Rep. Jerry Long found agreement on Thursday with local Libertarians on his opposition to the recent tax increase and FOID cards, but he encountered differences over marijuana laws.

Long, R-Streator, took questions from the Illinois Valley Libertarian Party at the Prairie Lakes Country Club near Marseilles.

He said conservative Republicans like himself are close philosophically to Libertarians, which favor less government in the economy and social affairs.

Last week, Long voted against the state budget that included an income tax increase. He said Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan did not budge "one inch" in his negotiations with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Rauner, meanwhile, offered to support a temporary tax increase with structural economic reforms, yet Madigan got his way, Long said. That proves again Madigan controls Illinois, Long said.

"Michael Madigan is the problem in Illinois. He drove Illinois into the hole," Long said.

Temporarily, he said, the tax increase will bring more revenue to the state. Long-term, though, it will drive more and more people out of Illinois, reducing the state's tax base, he said.

"A lot of people can't pack up and leave. Farmers can't pack up. How can you pack up your acres and leave?" he said.

On another issue, Long said he supported laws to decriminalize marijuana below half an ounce of marijuana, assessing a small fine in those cases. When people have more than that amount, he said, they're likely distributing.

"No one has ever overdosed on marijuana," one Libertarian said.

The local party's chairwoman, Jenae Wise, pushed Long to support marijuana legalization.

"It would bring so much revenue. That is undeniable," she said.

Long asked, "You don't feel marijuana is the gateway to other drugs?"

The Libertarians said they didn't.

Long said he would be happy to revisit the issue.

"We'll talk about it a little bit later," he said.

Sunday car sales: Long said he was open to allowing car sales on Sundays. State law requires car dealerships be closed on Sundays, a law that dealers convinced the Legislature to support decades ago.

Fireworks: Long said he wouldn't mind legalizing fireworks.

FOID cards: Long said he is pushing a bill to ban the cards, which have long been required of gun owners. But he said Madigan and the Democrats prevented the legislation from going anywhere. "The purpose was to curb crime. It hasn't done that. It gives the state strength over individuals," Long said.

Pensions: Long said the state needs to keep the pension promises it has made to government workers. But he said the state needed to find a way to curb pension spending.

Politics: More Republicans need to be elected, Long said. That's the only way to reduce Madigan's power, he said.

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Long, Libertarians have common ground - MyWebTimes.com