Liberty Tree Town Hall Meeting / Thursday, May 19th @ 8pm
Staten Island Libertarian Party presents Liberty Tree Town Hall Meeting, Thursday, May 19th @ 8pm, Mike’s Unicorn Diner
Staten Island Libertarian Party presents Liberty Tree Town Hall Meeting, Thursday, May 19th @ 8pm, Mike’s Unicorn Diner
A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll reveals a majority of Americans continue to insist it’s time for a third party, citing poor performance on the part of the Democratic and Republican Parties.
Here it is by the numbers:
Here’s your chance to find out. The Staten Island Libertarian Party leadership is available to speak at your club or organization’s event. Just tell us when and where, and we’ll be there.
Concerned about unconstitutional legislation? Have a list of grievances for the government? The Staten Island Libertarian Party will also be happy to host a Liberty Tree Town Hall meeting in your neighborhood.
To make arrangements, simply call the Liberty Line at 646-543-7457 or write to Robert DeSio, Director of Media Relations at [email protected].
The Staten Island Libertarian Party
Constitutional Principles. Commonsense Solutions.
The USA TODAY/Gallup Poll surveyed 1,013 adults April 20-23. Margin of error +/- 4 percentage points.
From Mike Krieger of KAM LP
Gold today is no longer related to the normal economic cycle of supply and demand, jewelry, Indian wedding seasons, rain in the Middle East. All those things are passé, forget about them. Gold is driven today by one overriding and I am afraid, at least in my opinion, an irresistible and irreversible trend. A fundamental, global and growing insecurity… A fundamental, global and growing lack of confidence of the world in everything they were brought up to believe. Institutions, insurance companies, banks, issuers of mortgages, ratings agencies, equities, sovereign debt, Federal Reserve Banks. Portugal and Iceland. Greece and Spain. Currencies. What is left? What is left?
– Peter Munk, Chairman of Barrick Gold
Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.
– Laurence J. Peter
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The Big Lie
I feel completely blessed to be alive right now. To be a witness and participant in a moment in human history that will be written about and passed down in tales for as long as humanity remains on this planet. We are currently observing the evaporation of what Nazis referred to as “The Big Lie.” In very basic terms the concept of The Big Lie is that if you are going to lie you may as well lie big. So big in fact that the majority of well meaning citizenry could never imagine anyone lying on such a grand scale (particularly not their government “officials”) so that they don’t even question the basis of their own reality. In the case of the United States the Big Lie is that we have a free market capitalist economy. Instead we have a corporatist/fascist economy that enriches three main groups. Wall street financiers, the military industrial complex and large multi-national corporations that don’t pay taxes. So that begs the question, how can the American people be so brainwashed into thinking they live in this false reality? It’s very easy. It’s all about the money.
Up until recently (and by that I mean the last three years) how many people asked what is a dollar? How is it created and who controls the creation? Essentially no one did. The financial crisis changed everything because as the false reality finally cratered under its own weight the super elite that robs and rapes the rest of us saw their world crumbling and they panicked. In order to save themselves, their reputations and most importantly their wealth they responded in such an absurd and selfish manner it shook millions of Americans from their slumber. People started asking basic questions they never even thought to ask before. One of those people was me. When I discovered how completely fooled I had been my whole life and figured out how the scam works I started writing about it. I relied on those great men that have been writing about it for decades in relative obscurity to educate me on monetary and financial history. I then shared what I learned with anyone that would listen. I am pleased to report that it has been a tremendous success and enough people are now awake for the system to be overthrown. That is what is in the process of happening now. Yet as I have said many times before, the super elite has all the tools of control still and will not go down easy. Think about what despotic leaders have done to people in times past. The torture, the exterminations, anything to have power. I believe many at the helm within the financial system and military-industrial complex in the U.S. are just as evil as those from the past. That said, in the age of the internet their methods of control have changed and the war going on between truth and lies playing out right now has two main battlefields. There is the information war being waged by the alternative media vs. the dinosaur propaganda media. The second battlefield is the financial markets where honest money (gold and silver) is battling fraud fiat money controlled by the banksters who give The Bernank his marching orders. These orders are not designed to help the economy (which is why the economy remains horrible) they are designed to preserve the status quo and protect their ill gotten gains. The establishment is getting wiped out on both battlefields. It is an amazing sight to see.
The Bernank Has No Clothes
The Bernank’s inaugural press conference last week was nothing short of a disaster. The Wizard of Disneyland came out from behind his curtain and despite softball questions from “journalists” couldn’t make any sense whatsoever. I just listened to it again a few minutes ago. His answers were full of contradictions and backwards logic. The first time the word “inflation” came out of his mouth in response to a question he started stuttering. When asked about the dollar he said “the treasury is the spokesperson for the dollar.” Come again Bernank? They are FEDERAL RESERVE NOTES and you create them out of thin air. And lots of em. The Big Lie.
When talking about gasoline prices rising and the inflation in commodity costs in general he claims the Fed isn’t responsible, yet then he claims that if they keep going up and feed into core (which they are big time already and wait until you see Wal-Marts price hikes in June) the Fed would have to respond. Huh? If you aren’t responsible for the increase then how can you act to stop them and why would you act if you didn’t cause it in the first place?
Nothing though exposed this fraud of a man more than when he talked about Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff’s book “This Time is Different.” The Bernank offers his view that the reason why prior financial periods of crisis took so long to recover from was because officials didn’t act properly. There you go! This exposed the man and his absurd statist mind for all to see. He thinks he is the superman that the world has been waiting for. He seems to think that in his brilliance and money printing he can just make the prior bubbles go away and we can get going again. Let’s think about human nature for a second. We have had government’s in charge of civilizations since the beginning of time. Do you really think the majority of those governments really just stood by and watched after a financial crisis? Hardly. Furthermore, looking at the 1930’s it is very clear the government did anything BUT stand by idly (another lie). They interfered like crazy. That is why the U.S. economy NEVER recovered naturally from the 1930’s. Never.
I have said for years that there is no stopping the mega cycle and that is what we are in. I also said that things also never play out the same way. You have to look at the players involved. The Bernank is haunted by his mythical view of the Great Depression and deflation. He also thinks he can outsmart natural cycles. So when Von Mises says there is no end to a credit bubble other than deflationary bust or a collapse in the currency you have to ask yourself which one it will be? I have said for years it will be a destruction of the currency system and that what has been happening but what we have seen so far is merely an appetizer.
The Markets, Gold and Silver
It is very timely that I get to write today for the first time in a month. Last week, the entire Big Lie was collapsing left and right. When the Bernank spoke, gold soared. Obama came out with his latest reality tv show episode called “The Birth Certificate.” Still his approval ratings plunged. Gasoline was spiking. Confidence in Disneyland was circling the toilet bowl. Nothing was working for the establishment. So what did you think would happen this week?
Well, exactly what is happening. A monster PR campaign to get confidence back. Let’s go back to Sunday night. We got Bin Laden! (watch this interview PLEASE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXPg4yblXM0) Silver plunges 13% in Asia! Brain dead sheep outside the White House waving flags yelling USA, USA! It was eerily reminiscent of people in the Arab world celebrating after 9/11.
As many of you know, I believe the markets are heavily manipulated to paint a picture. However, I also believe that markets always win in the end. This is a war in which the super elite will not give up or reform the system on their own accord. This is not just a battle for money it is a part of a much larger battle for souls. Therefore, they will employ as aggressive and deadly tactics in markets as they do overseas when they launch wars every other week. That is what I think has happened this week. So is it over? I have no idea but I like buying physical silver again at these levels and I also love the mining shares here. I have NEVER been more bullish on physical gold and silver right now. Everyone has an opinion now and that is fine. But I told people to short oil in 2008 and buy it back in the $40s on the record and I also recommended buying silver at $10/oz. This is no bubble. We are in the midst of a major counterattack. The sheep will sell or even short. The wolves always eat the sheep. That is all this is.
Remember, this is a war between truth and lies but the truth is winning and will win. You can see the extent of their fear by what is happening this week. Stay calm, cool and add to your physical.
A Splintering in the Establishment
One of the things I have been waiting to see was when people in the “establishment” start to speak out more and refuse to cooperate with the more psychopathic elements with the government, Wall Street and the military/industrial complex. I am now starting to see increased signs of this. This is still under the radar but it is happening and accelerating. Sides are being taken. This is going to be very interesting to watch. Just remember, the system is coming down and there is nothing they can do to stop it. They can only separate you from your real money (gold and silver) before it becomes clear to all. The action this week is a last ditch attempt. The game is already over.
Finally, please take the time to watch this. It is long but one of the most important documentaries I have even seen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zt9BZD7mlc
All the best,
Mike
(Via Zerohedge http://www.zerohedge.com/article/mike-krieger-exposes-big-lie)
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All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise, not from defects in their Constitution or Confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from the downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation.
John Adams (1735-1826), American President
Where: Karl’s Klipper, 40 Bay Street @ 8PM
AGENDA:
A Reading: The Fifth Amendment
Protects the People against abuse of government authority in court proceedings; also contains a favorite Libertarian hot button: no private property shall be taken for public use, without just compensation.
A Second Reading: The Declaration of Independence
Happy Birthday, Mr. Jefferson.
A Discussion: Electoral Politics & Political Activism: Complementary Forces
These two vital parts of the political process share the same objectives, yet they employ very different strategies and tactics. Here’s a primer on how they each can help (and hurt) the other’s mission.
The People Speak: The War in Libya
Humanitarian mission, “kinetic military action,” or simply shooting war #3 for the United States? (#4 if you count Pakistan)
We yield the floor to any and all NY-13 neighbors and residents, regardless of political affiliation. Speak your mind; observe your First Amendment rights. We respect all points of view.
Free Pocketsize Constitution!
The Staten Island Libertarian Party will once again be offering to all in attendance free pocket copies of the Constitution of the United States and Declaration of Independence.
Liberty Kitchen & Pantry!
We ask anyone planning to attend to consider bringing a food gift to the Town Hall for donation. Area food pantries are running short.
• Baby food always needed
• Non-perishable foodstuffs and canned goods
• New or like-new pots, pans, microwaveable cookware, cooking utensils welcome
• We’ll even find a good home for your extra or unneeded cookbooks
If you cannot attend but want to help, you may also arrange for pickup or find the nearest drop-off location by calling our Liberty Line @ 646-543-7457, or contact [email protected].
The Libertarian Party of New York (LPNY), our state affiliate, will hold its Annual Convention on April 30th. Get your registration in before prices go up April 10th.
See details below:
Send a check to:
Please include proper amount and indicate the package you are purchasing:
Registration @ 9AM Contn’tl Breakfast with lunch Package*
Business Meeting 10 – 12 noon @ no charge
VIP Speakers table – $80 by 10 Apr, $100 after
Food/Speakers Package* – $60 by 10 Apr, $80 after
Speakers only [no food] – $30 by 10 Apr, $50 after
Buffet Luncheon includes one of three entrees: chicken, beef, or fish, which will be chosen the day of event.
In a moment of weakness (or moment of truth), the honorable Mr. Molinaro felt obliged to share his dismay over government inaction, arguing, “benevolent dictatorship is the way you get things done.”
Recently president Obama “authorized” a “limited military action” in Libya. He did this without approval from Congress, with no debate by Congress – In fact, we are not even sure he bothered to inform Congress. He announced that he was sending American fighting men and women into harm’s way via an audio recording released on Saturday from Brazil, where he is vacationing.
Even George Bush, who infamously involved the U.S. in two Middle Eastern wars (which Obama promised to end, but has instead escalated), did not send our brave men and women to face death without the approval of Congress. Obama has obviously claimed this power to be his and his alone. Perhaps we started down this slippery slope of unconstitutional, undeclared wars long ago under Truman, but Obama has done nothing to reverse this – In point of fact, he has worsened it.
Many will say that Libya’s dictator was slaughtering his people and that if we did not intervene, a catastrophe would have ensued. Perhaps so, but why then did we not intervene in Rwanda, where a genocide recently took place? Why are we not intervening in the Congo, where another African dictator is at this very moment slaughtering his people in a civil war?
Sadly, the answer again comes down to our foreign policy. The United States has tacit agreements to buy the oil from oppressive regimes across the Middle East, and those regimes then return those dollars to the U.S. by buying weapons, and by buying U.S. Treasuries. Thus Kissinger’s “petrodollar recycling” continues, and the U.S. Government and Military Industrial Complex can continue to expand the welfare-warfare state. But that has almost reached its limit.
Unfortunately for Obama, the crony capitalist system that brought both him and Bush to power has also sown the seeds of its own demise. The system is rotten to the core, over-burdened with special-interest regulations granting favored status to large corporate campaign donors and lobbyists. The sand clogging the job growth engine of small and medium-sized businesses shows no sign of being cleansed, instead more abrasive is ground into the gears.
Congress jawbones out both sides of its mouth, telling the enraged Tea Party what it wants to hear, while doing nothing. POTUS plays in the surf while the republic smolders. Exported inflation in the form of devalued dollars sends fractious nations into food riots, forcing us to deploy troops yet again to secure America’s energy resources.
That same inflation is gaining momentum on our shores. Very soon, we will enter the “crack up boom” promised us by Austrian economists, and assured to us by Keynesian money-printing fools. Unless massive change is enacted at all levels, this is a mathematical certainty.
The change that president Obama (and the Tea Party candidates) campaigned on is becoming more and more to be the exact opposite change that the American people were sold. If we continue down the path we are on, there is no doubt that the change promised us will become reality – not by his intent, but by the realities of economics, the outrage of Americans, and of the world.
It’s our goal to post as much original content as possible. However, it would also be unfair to our readers not to pass along some of the more striking writing that we come across.
This Editorial by Dr. Tibor Machan was originally published in The Daily Bell, Wednesday, February 09, 2011.
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Now that libertarianism has gotten some publicity in mainstream forums, those who are convinced of its merit have much work to do. This is because of the well publicized distortions of the position in prominent forums, especially by well credentialed academics in law, political economy, ethics, philosophy, and other disciplines bearing a public policy. You see, the idea that no one ought to coerce another even for noble purposes is pretty much common sense in America. Sure, some folks disagree, among them many highfalutin academics with great skills at sophistry. But the bulk of those who vote pretty much agree that when you want something from your fellows, you need to ask them instead of robbing them. So when this is being denied, lots of fancy footwork needs to be deployed, which is just what’s being done by numerous pundits at The New York Times and other outfits that champion all kinds of coerced wealth redistribution. (Of course, wealth redistribution goes on peacefully all the time, but that’s not under these statists’ control, so they don’t like it!)
What you can expect from these people is fancy discussions about how, in fact, the American system gives the legal authority to Congress and others in government to take, take, and take anything they want from you and me, as well as to force you to do what they want you to, “for the public interest.” And to make their case more palatable, they need to make it appear that the libertarian reading of the US political tradition – that reading that made it exceptional instead of just a watered down version of feudalism – is callous, heartless, and bent on undermining the public good at every turn. By besmirching the position this way, the unsophisticated citizenry, whose members are libertarian at the gut or second nature level, might then get turned around and give the statists the power they clamor for.
But here is an important piece of information that one can use to rebut this underhanded effort to discredit human liberty and to empower the statists: the American political system has a very clear doctrine of the public good (or interest). It is stated in the Declaration of Independence and it consists of a system of laws that secure the natural rights of the citizenry. That’s the American version of the public interest, namely, protecting everyone’s liberty to live his or her life by his or her own judgment. That is why a legal system is instituted, not to serve other ends, the bulk of which are, of course, on the agendas of the statists. What the Founders did so brilliantly is discern the public good or interest correctly, based on what in fact all members of the public will benefit from. And this is their being free from aggression by other people even when such aggression would be deployed for high sounding objectives.
Now it is very tempting to designate everything someone badly desires as being in the public interest. Just listen to all those lobbyists who march to centers of power [to] peddle their special interests as in need of being pursued for the public good. But this is a ruse and it is precisely in the proper public interest to unmask and resist it, which is everyone’s basic right to life, liberty and property. That is what everyone benefits from without any cost to anyone else. That is a bona fide public good, not some trumped up version which always amounts to ripping some people off so that the goals of some others get served.
All this is vital to remember as one witnesses the desperate efforts of sophisticated statists to discredit human liberty, to label it “fundamentalism” and other ad hominems. Sadly the prominent, prestigious forums are mostly in the hands of statists so there will not be much of a chance to do intellectual battle with these sophists on the turfs the[y] dominate. Have you ever read anyone in The New York Review of Books who had a nice thing to say about individual liberty or free markets? Just like Karl Marx did with the right to property – which he dubbed a right of selfishness that makes all sorts of mischief possible (omitting all the wonderful things this right serves as well and depending on the nasty version of “selfishness” so popular since Hobbes rendered the self something nasty and brutish) – these statists only stress the relatively rare misconduct that men and women engage in when they are free. So they will not permit anyone to say otherwise in those forums they dominate (which, by the ways, they could not do without the right to private property being well protected).
Libertarianism is a sound political idea but it faces an uphill fight given how its embrace means the demotion of all sorts of tyrants, Draconian or petty, who are very reluctant to give up their well entrenched power.
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You may also want to read a related (and original) post on the SILP entitled, Identity Crisis: So who exactly are the Libertarians?
In the ongoing effort to define our party (and dispel the myths), we offer for your consideration our mission statement, which is intended to complement our detailed Party Platform (see navigation bar at top). So here it is, as short and sweet and to the point as possible:
The Mission of the Staten Island Libertarian Party is to faithfully serve as your constitutional voice in government, and throughout the community.
We firmly believe in the American heritage of individual liberty, free enterprise, and personal responsibility. We also recognize the civic duty that we all share to preserve this precious heritage for our children and grandchildren.
Founded on the moral principle of self-ownership, we are the only party whose platform, positions, and policies respect you as a unique, competent individual.
We hold that every person has the right to free speech, and to control his or her own body, action, and property. We are committed to fostering a system that encourages each of us to pursue happiness in our own exceptional way.
Therefore we make this solemn pledge to our fellow residents to inform and educate all of our neighbors with respect to our natural rights and constitutional protections;
To reintroduce the founding tenets of our Constitutional Republic, and teach the importance of participation in government;
To ensure that all powers not granted to the federal government are reserved to New York State and its Sovereign People. The federal government’s only role is to help individuals defend themselves from force and fraud;
To work vigorously in bringing responsible governance to the City of New York, and accountability to our elective offices in Staten Island and South Brooklyn;
To reduce the size and spending of government at all levels, and restore sound money practices to safeguard against fiscal insolvency;
To advocate for regulatory conditions favorable to local economic recovery and expansion, so that free markets remain free to flourish, and enrich the People.
Dear Friends,
My sincere thanks to you all for digging deep and helping to get the Liberty Kitchen & Food Drive off to such an inspiring start. We now have a car full of canned goods ready to be delivered.
Dave Narby, the SILP Secretary, has been in contact with Project Hospitality. We’ll be working with them and other neighborhood organizations to get these gifts to where they’re needed most.
Local food banks are reporting 30-40 additional families seeking assistance each week. We’re talking hard-working, self-reliant families who have simply found themselves overwhelmed by these tough economic times. And sadly, it might just get worse.
So please, keep it coming:
To arrange for pickup or find the nearest drop-off location:
The goal of the Liberty Kitchen & Food Drive is simple: Help families to help themselves by maintaining a sense of independence, dignity, and self-worth. We’ll faithfully assist in providing food to those in need, plus the knowledge and tools to prepare it.
Again, thank you on behalf of your neighbors for your generosity and compassion.
Highest Regards,
–ed
Edward Stehlin, Chairman