UNR Students for Liberty

As of late, incoming freshmen have been advised to take part in a summer reading club put on by the school. Last year they read Sweet Promised Land by Robert Laxalt, a local author that was involved with the university.

This year the summer reading was Nickel & Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America by Barbara Ehrenreich. I think it is important to point out the obvious slant this book has. The writer is currently a co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America, is an ardent supporter of Barack Obama, and has been known for her liberal activism.

Indoctrination can’t happen if you don’t buy into it. So, dear incoming freshmen, be aware of what you’re reading, and check out other sides of the story as well.

One of Reno PD’s latest projects involved buying alcohol. Tough job. During a “sting” they went on the biggest beer run ever, checking 83 stores to see who would sell alcohol to a minor.

I have a few questions about this: 1. Shouldn’t they focusing on real criminals, you know like the rapists and murders? 2. Didn’t they just go do the dirty work for all of the kids who want to know where to buy alcohol?

If you don’t know what I mean by the second question, here’s a list of all of the places that failed the sting:

Great work, maybe next time they’ll tell everyone where they got the best weed.

The Nevada GOP has given up on their reconvention, and they’re resorting to appointing delegates. This was their original plan in the first place: on April 26th they intended on shoving their slate through, but had to abort their mission and blamed it on our (a majority of the convention, not all Ron Paul people) rule change.

As of right now, it’s going to be up the RNC to decide if the June 28th delegation (fairly voted in at the reconvention) or the NV GOP’s delegation (hand picked party goombas) will attend the National Convention. Or they can call all of us Nevadans jerks for not playing nice and pull a Michigan/Florida on us, or some sort of variation.

The RNC’s decision right now has the ability to set a precedent. This year has been the first year Nevada has had a caucus system instead of a primary system. In primaries, people vote and those votes count toward whom the state will nominate at the convention. In our caucus system, we still vote for specific candidates, but it doesn’t go toward the actual nomination process. It’s more of a gauge to give the media results before we have actual results. During caucuses, what counts is the election of delegates (who are unbound and can vote for anyone they damn well please), to the county conventions, state convention, and eventually the national convention. If the RNC accepts the behavior of the NV GOP, it will give them permission to continue on like this as long as we have a caucus system. It will cheat the Republicans of Nevada out of control of their own party, and it will place all the power of a bunch of sleezy dirtbags.

This year we’re planning to launch a poster campaign over the school this semester. These posters:

• will advertise our club (not any specific club meetings)
• will advertise our ideas
• can be short or detailed
• can be about a specific issue
• can be about an idea or broad array of ideas
• should grab attention
• can make people laugh
• will be awesome

If you have any ideas of designs or skills you can lend, please don’t hesitate to email us. Also, feel free to use this blog post to bounce ideas off of each other!

While planning for the new school year, we’re gearing up for a few changes to the club. We’re going to hold elections at the beginning of the year, and we’re going to vote on changes to our club Constitution. I sent out a copy to all of the members for review. If you have not gotten it please e-mail me, and I’ll send you a copy. If you have any changes you would like to suggest please reply back to me.

Extra note to consider while reviewing:

• There has been some consideration about changing the name of the club. This would alter the preamble significantly. Everyone is welcome to offer name changes.
• Other positions that you would to be created in the club.

If the freedom that lives in the Libertarian imagination has an earthly home, it is the American West. If it has a temple, it’s Nevada.

In Nevada, where the liberty lobby is strong, McCain got trounced in the primary voting, coming in third behind Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. When the state GOP tried to crown McCain at its Reno convention in April, so many Paul supporters showed up that party leaders literally fled the hall, turned off the lights and postponed the convention to make sure the anemic pro-McCain camp wasn’t swamped by liberty’s marauders. It was like a John Ford western set inside a hotel ballroom.

The whole article is pretty good. It’s about the new libertarian movement. Check it out.

…unless you choose to live in a box with no communication.

The senate voted today, and it’s been determined: companies can spy on you and give your personal information to the government, and that’s cool.

The FISA bill, H.R. 6304 passed today 69-28. This bill allows companies who give/sell your information to the government immunity from being sued.

Other notes:

• Comcast is having a party with this one: they’re charging authorities a $1,000 installation fee, and $750 a month to spy on people.
• Many Democrats received money from telecom companies (Verizon, which has said that it doesn’t provide information to the government; AT&T; and Sprint) to switch there votes. Check out this nifty list.
• I’m high-fiving myself for having Eurpean company T-Mobile as my cell carrier. Woot.

I hope everyone is using today to remember what our founding fathers went through to create the freedoms and liberties we enjoy in the amazing country we live in. And of course, we get to see some fun firework shows too!

Have a great day!

On Saturday the 28^th of June, the people of Nevada took back their party. Of course I’m referring to the continuation of the Nevada Republican Convention. I had the honor of attending and serving on a few committees, and I have to say that I was impressed with the entire event.

I feel that Mike Weber did a great job as the parliamentarian, and the Terhunes and the volunteers did a great job. Hell, maybe we should always run the convention, it seems to turn out better!

The convention afforded time for several candidates to speak during the voting. I thought they all did well. Andrew Brownson, in particular, impressed me. His speech was really quite eloquent; it was the kind of speech that made you proud to be a conservative. Chris Dyer talked about wrestling, which gets the thumbs up from me. His speech was enjoyable, because it was so down to earth and real. Lisamarie Johnson, protest organizer extraordinaire, used her skills to inspire the crowd as well. I had the pleasure of chatting with her later in the evening, and she’s pretty cool.

At the convention, I was excited to see more of James Smack in action. For those of you who also live in Nevada Congressional District 2, he’s one of the candidates in the primary. He also handled the CD 2 delegate elections in the absence of the last chairman of the CD 2 elections: Brian Krolicki (who did a fabulous job on the April 26^th convention, IMO).

I guess the big question for yesterday’s convention was “OMG, what if there is no quorum?” Apparently the original credentials report (which establishes how many people are there, and therefore how many people are needed for the quorum) was not adopted properly and therefore illegal. Without having a credentials report, we were forced to adopt a new one using the credentials information collected on that day.

Now the convention has to be defended and proven legal to the Republican National Committee in order for the delegates to be seated.

Hopefully our convention will prevail, because it was not about Ron Paul or John McCain; it was about giving the power back to the people of Nevada. This convention happened because people refuse to be stepped on by the party leadership. If we were to stop fighting the leadership on this, it would set a precedent that they can just forget about the people and do whatever they want.

Personally, I feel sorry for the people who did not go because they thought it was a candidate game. Unfortunately, those people will continue to be silent, because the Nevada GOP will not give them their convention. The Nevada GOP has no intention of following through with the convention that all state Republican delegates deserve. These people will never be heard, and they will never get the proper use out of their $50.

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 2008

NEVADA REPUBLICAN ASSEMBLY ENDORSES
JUNE 28TH RECONVENING OF GOP DELEGATES

Widespread support among a growing, diverse coalition of
Republican state delegates bolsters planned assembly.

RENO, Nev. – Members of the Nevada Republican Assembly (NVRA) — “The Republican Wing of the Republican Party” — have voted to support the reconvening of Nevada State Republican Delegates at the Grand Sierra Resort on Saturday, June 28, 2008. The organization of politically-active conservatives will participate in the lawful reconvening of elected delegates, including taking leadership roles in the event’s planning and execution, as necessary.

The NRS, Nevada GOP and RNC Bylaws, and the Rules adopted by the convention delegates restrict the options for where and when the party’s business must be conducted. After more than a month in what Convention Chairman Bob Beers called a “recess,” the elected delegates chose a date, time and place to reconvene to complete the business their neighbors elected them to conduct.

“The general consensus seems to be the Nevada State Republican Delegates have been far more than patient in waiting to hear the Central Committee’s plans to gather for the completion of the party’s business,” said Bill Anthony, local business owner and NVRA member. “The reconvening on June 28th was announced, and is a completely acceptable date and place to what will undoubtedly be a majority of state delegates.”

One key item of business left unfinished by the state delegates when the convention on April 26, 2008, was unceremoniously stopped, is the election of delegates to represent Nevada Republicans at the National Convention September 1-4, 2008 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“It’s completely unacceptable to imagine that in this important presidential election year, Nevada republicans may not be represented by delegates they themselves elected,” said Juanita Cox, NVRA member and chair of the Storey County Republican Party. “There is a process clearly outlined in our state party Bylaws for election of delegates – from precincts, counties and the state – who can speak for the republican voters of Nevada at the national convention. This reconvening of delegates will follow those bylaws, and the rules adopted by the delegates during the convention in April, to elect national delegates who represent Nevada republicans.”

With reconvening less than two weeks away, NVRA is encouraging all elected Nevada Republican Delegates to make plans to attend the June 28th meeting. Party business will be conducted and completed, and the NVRA expects the national delegation elected during this reconvening to be seated at the Republican National Convention.

“Any time we have a good chance for a democratic process, without impediment, that respects the rule of law, Nevada delegates should participate fully,” said Dr. Michael Kressler, President of the NVRA.

Touting membership across the state, the NVRA has mobilized throughout Nevada to mentor political activists and recruit like-minded conservatives to run for local, state and national political offices. Monthly meetings are centered in Washoe County.

For more information, go to www.nevadaGOPconvention.com. Contact the NVRA at 866-704-8320, www.nvra.com, email nvra@callmykate.com.

About the Nevada Republican Assembly
The Nevada Republican Assembly (NVRA) is a grass-roots political organization working with the Republican Party to get principled Republican conservatives elected to public offices at all levels. www.nvra.com, http://republican.meetup.com/598

The NVRA is affiliated with the National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA) (http://www.gopwing.com/). Founded in 1997, the NFRA actively brings conservative, pro-Constitution, pro-life, pro-family values to the national forefront. Working as a national coalition, NFRA chapters in more than 40 states have issued endorsements that have attracted attention from national political leaders, including many Republican presidential candidates.

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