Libertarian Party of Dallas County

Jury Nullification in the Drug War

John Lindsay — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:13:46 +0000

Recently, the Dallas County Libertarian Party had an informational booth at DFW NORML‘s Global Marijuana March, a protestival seeking changes in marijuana legislation. It started with a festival with music, speakers, and other entertainment. At 4:20 PM, there was a protest march to Dallas City Hall. Take a look at the photos from the event to see how impressive and well-attended the event was. The event included speakers from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, NORML (National Organization for Reformation of Marijuana Legislation), and the DFW NORML chapter.

Of course, we were also there as speakers. Yours truly spoke on jury nullification as a tool against the drug war. During the event as we manned the booth, I queried passers-by and those seeking information at the booth about their knowledge and position on jury nullification. I was floored. I expected varying positions but I received only one position – essentially “what is that?” One person even thought it meant abolishing juries, the antithesis of jury nullification. My concerns that the presentation might not be sufficiently informative for that audience were quickly allayed. Dallas Libertarians and the Fully Informed Jury Association have some work to do to inform the public. Later, due to last minute logistics, the speech was shorter than planned. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to present all of the aspects which I planned. Fortunately (?), I planned on having slides during the presentation but ended up speaking without them. However, since the audience could have used additional information on the subject and the LPDC website’s purpose is to help those seeking information on additional checks and balances on tyrannical government, those slides are attached.

Jury Nullification in the Drug War – Dallas Libertarians

Libertarian Book Club! – Ayn Rand’s “Anthem”

jordanwagnon — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:16:54 +0000

April 26th at 7:30 p.m., Tarrant County is starting a Libertarian Book Discussion Group, and is going to get together in Fort Worth at the Downtown Cowtown Barnes & Noble (401 Commerce Street, Fort Worth) to discuss Ayn Rand’s “Anthem”, a mini-masterpiece about one man’s struggle against a collectivist state. No struggle on your part, though, as you can easily finish the book in one sitting, and the complete text is available on numerous websites.

Allen Patterson will deliver a brief history and summary of the book, followed by discussion time. Before we wrap up the conversation, we’ll vote on which book to read and discuss in June, and elect someone to lead that discussion. We intend to hold these book discussion events every other month, so “Capitalism And Freedom”, “Atlas Shrugged”, “Economics In One Lesson”, “The Rational Optimist”, “The Fountainhead”, “The Revolution: A Manifesto”, “The Road To Serfdom”, and “Eat The Rich” all await us.

Hope to see you there, and when you’re reading “Anthem” be grateful for your light bulbs. (That’s a joke. If you don’t get it, you will after you read the book.)

Be sure and RSVP here.

Early Voting and Election Day

timlebsack — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:29:27 +0000

Early voting starts April 30th and ends May 8th. Election Day is May 12th. Find more info at www.dalcoelections.org

April 2012 LPDC Newsletter Released

currytaylor — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 17:31:09 +0000

Please enjoy the April 2012 version (first one!) of the Libertarian Party of Dallas County Newsletter!

Thanks to everyone for contributing your articles!

Survey: What Type of Information Do You Want During Campaign Season?

John Lindsay — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 05:59:10 +0000

As we move deeper into the campaign season, we’d like to know what type of information you would like to receive and how you would like to receive it. Would you like event information and commentary? Do you prefer email, Twitter, or the website? Please take the survey and let us know.

Update the Dallas Libertarian Party Handout?

John Lindsay — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:20:56 +0000

The Libertarian Party of Dallas County is working with other liberty groups and reaching out to the general public. Recently, we presented at DFW NORML and we will have an informational booth at Cinco de Mota. As part of the outreach, we like to have literature available for interested persons. We’re close to running out of literature so now is a good time to consider a redesign. The current brochure is a two-sided, color, postcard-sized brochure. With this updated website being the center of communication, and more frequent posts on Twitter, Facebook, and Meetup, it seems they should be more prominent. What do you think? Does the brochure have too little information, too much information, not the right information, or is it just right? Please send us your redesigned brochures or logos. Depending on the submissions, we’ll take a poll on the current brochure and the submissions. Please comment below or send your redesigned brochures, questions, or comments to submissions@lpdallas.org.

2012 Dallas County and District Candidates Nominated!

John Lindsay — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 03:23:29 +0000

Recently-held conventions for both Dallas County and the DFW-Area precincts resulted in the nomination of a wide slate of candidates for the upcoming 2012 season.

Please show your support of these candidates by giving money and/or time to help our candidates not only strive to win, but also educate and inform the public!

Candidates are listed below. The campaigns and candidates would love to hear from you!

County Convention

State Representative 115

Preston Poulter 214-563-5069 (prestonpoulter@hotmail.com)

State Representative 109

Dexter Jackson 972-227-4560 (saradunn@swbell.net)

State Representative 108

Jarrett Rab Woods 972-896-8025 (jrwoods@ercsales.com)

State Representative 107

Patrick Spreng 972-333-4508 (spreng@acmewebpages.com)

www.patrickspreng.com

State Senate 16

Jared Leiman 973-960-7288 (JTLeiman@hotmail.com)

U.S. Representative 30

Ed Rankin 214-803-6526 (ed_rankin@yahoo.com)

District Conventions

U.S. Representative District 5
Ken Ashby 214-340-5091 (kenashby@aol.com)

U.S. Representative, District 24
John Stathas 214-794-0201 (john@stathas.com)

U.S. Representative District 26
Mark Boler 972-896-0047 (mboler@markboler.com)

U.S. Representative District 32
Seth Hollist 972-413-TX32 (seth@hollist.org)

seth.hollist.org

State Board of Education District 11

Jason Darr (jasondarr@gmail.com)

State Senate District 8
Ed Kless (ed.kless@electkless.com)
electkless.com

State Senate District 9
Dave (Mac) McElwee 817-707-9197 (davemcelweesd9@att.net)

www.solutions-for-texas.com

At our county convention, we also selected new officers for the 2012-2014 period. Please congratulate them as well, and thank the outgoing officers!

Chair

Paul Petersen

Vice-Chair

Curry Taylor

Secretary

Jordan Wagnon

Treasurer

Paul Osborn

At-Large Directors

Marshall Beerwinkle

Ethan Brockman

Kevin Frederickson

Marcus Huffer

Cory Lane

John Lindsay

Dave Mason

(3 Vacancies)

Candidate Info for the April 7 Libertarian Party Presidential Debate in Fort Worth

John Lindsay — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 03:42:29 +0000

We are excited to have a debate in the area for those seeking nomination to be the presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party. The event will be held on Saturday, April 7 at 4:00 PM in downtown Fort Worth at the Norris Conference Center. The event is open to the public. You can RSVP here or on the Meetup group for the Tarrant County, Collin County, or Denton County Libertarian Party. Confirmed attendees include R. Lee Wrights, Roger Gary, Gary Johnson, RJ Harris, and Carl Person. Below are links to the online presence for each of the attendees. Furthermore, each of the hopeful nominees has been invited to provide a guest post prior to the debate.

R. Lee Wrights – Libertarianism Is Different Because It’s About Peace

Website: http://wrights2012.com/

Twitter: @lee_wrights

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Wrights-2012/174307045931261

YouTube: WrightsForPresident

Roger Gary – Experience, Dedication, and Leadership

Website: http://rvgary2012.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Roger-Gary-For-President/197690810264585

Gary Johnson – Live Free

Website: http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/front

Twitter: @GovGaryJohnson

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/govgaryjohnson

Google+: https://plus.google.com/104104126393959482852/posts

RJ Harris – When all else fails, read the Constitution

Website: http://www.rjharris2012.com/

Twitter: @rjharris2012

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RJHarrisOfficial

YouTube: RJHarris2010

Carl Person – The Most Important Issue – JOBS!

Website: http://www.carlperson2012.com/

Bill Still – Deconsolidation of power at every level of governance.

Website: http://still2012.com/

Twitter: @Still2012

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Still2012

YouTube: bstill3

Scott Keller – Make it change

Website: http://www.keller2012.com/

Twitter: @ScottKeller2012

Facebook: Scott Keller for President

Hopefully, the above links enable you to prepare for the debate and give you food for thought. I hope to see you there.

Nothing Happens without Volunteers and Financial Resources

John Lindsay — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 21:16:03 +0000

Content by Dave “Mac” McElwee, seeking nomination for State Senate District 9

Friends, Neighbors and Allies,

There are many candidates currently running for local, state, and federal offices that share many of your values and aspirations. Extremely large sums of money are being poured into this election cycle - some analysts claim it is unprecedented. Many county election offices claim that record numbers of folks are registering to vote – and the numbers are steadily climbing.

It is anticipated that these large numbers of citizens will be voting in the May primaries and May local elections. The local elections are as critical as the state and federal elections in November. Most of the laws, ordinances, regulations, property and sales taxes, and fees that you pay are assessed by either state or local government.

But along with more people voting, there [are] also millions of dollars being poured into these campaigns. Rather than seek out campaign volunteers, many campaigns are spending substantial amounts of their treasury to hire workers to perform routine office work, walk neighborhoods or hand out campaign literature – all labor intensive work. These hourly employees often come from temporary-hire agencies. Others are the desperate, unemployed and homeless who will accept cash from anyone willing to pay. Most portray themselves as dedicated campaign volunteers.

It’s common knowledge that there are thousands who really want to make needed and substantial changes to the state and nation. They are out there. We use to call them, ”the silent majority.” The conventional wisdom with many is, “I’ll let folks know who I support” and “I’ll vote.”

But in reality, that’s not good enough in this highly-charged and expensive political environment. Besides getting access to accurate information, sharing views with others, and voting, citizens must take an additional step.

Many good and trustworthy candidates are being crushed by an avalanche of campaign spending and hired campaign workers. Without volunteer help and financial support candidates cannot get elected and vote on those programs many desperately need or desire. Defeated candidates can’t vote or influence anything.

So please, find that issue that’s important to you, your family, or your friends and seek out a candidate that supports your goals and aspirations. Please don’t wait until the week before the elections to volunteer or donate to the candidate of your choice. Candidates need your help NOW!

Good luck, happy hunting, and thanks for your service.

Dave “Mac” McElwee

Police Drone Crashes Into… Police Armored Vehicle

paulpetersen — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 17:15:20 +0000

Here is a story that will have you laughing while simultaneously worrying about the increase of unmanned surveillance drones:

http://gizmodo.com/5890507/police-drone-crashes-into-police

Apparently the 5-0 down in Montgomery County had a lovely photo op planned to show off their $300,000 new unmanned surveillance drone. Hey, it it’s a photo op – why we don’t roll out the armored SWAT vehicle too? And then… oh no. :-)