Step aside, now. An exuberant Libertarian Party congregates Saturday in New Orleans for its national convention, predicting it to be one of the largest conventions in the party’s 46-year history.
“The Libertarian Party is on track to give Americans more candidates in 2018 elections than we have in at least 15 years,” says Nicholas Sarwark, chairman of the Libertarian National Committee and currently running for mayor of Phoenix.
“We have been building on voters’ clear disillusionment with the dominant parties. Our 2018 candidates, plus the elected officials who are switching parties to join us, share a drive to shrink big government and maximize individual freedom,” he notes.
The 2018 convention’s theme is “I’m THAT Libertarian,” and it is wall-to-wall with seminars, activist training, forums, candidate debates, discussion groups centered on the party’s platform, and leadership.
Speakers include former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, the 2016 Libertarian vice-presidential candidate; Amaryllis Fox, host of History Channel’s “American Ripper” and a former CIA[1] operative; and Zoltan Istvan, a “trans-humanist Libertarian futurist” and former presidential hopeful who has been very busy in the Golden State in recent days.
“Over the last 18 months, I campaigned as a Libertarian candidate for California governor. While I was eliminated in the primary elections on June 5, as an endorsed Libertarian Party candidate, I traveled the state and spoke about how the burgeoning field of transhumanism — using radical technology to improve the human being — can best be served by the aggressive promotion of personal liberty,” Mr. Istvan tells Inside the Beltway.
“Naturally, the libertarian philosophy suits transhumanism very well, as it allows and even encourages radical innovation to thrive — which is exactly what transhumanism needs to quickly move forward and grow,” he adds.
There are other activities scheduled for the three-day gathering: a Radical Caucus Meeting, Pragmatic Caucus Meeting and the Outright Libertarians 20th Anniversary Masquerade Ball.
MARIJUANA MONOPOLY...
A little reality check arrives in the Golden State, at least where the legalization of marijuana is concerned. This trend would have amazed the old hippies of yore, when marijuana use was indeed a clandestine affair.“Large scale cultivation operations are beginning to emerge in California’s newly legal marijuana industry, despite regulations meant to curtail their presence,” reports Marijuana Business Daily, an industry publication,“The latest licensing data from the state shows that 20 percent of cultivation licenses are held by just 12 licensees — or 7 percent of licensed cultivation businesses in California. The data reinforce the fear among many smaller growers in the state that large, well-capitalized and more efficient growers will eventually come to monopolize the cultivation landscape,” the publication says.600 IMMIGRATION PROTESTSA hefty coalition of progressive groups has organized what they deem a “massive mobilization” against President Trump and his immigration policy on Saturday. Over 600 rallies, marches and protests will take place around the nation organizers say, along with sister