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  • Thomas L. Knapp

An Open Letter to 2016 Libertarian National Convention Candidates Jan 16, 2016

Dear prospective Libertarian National Convention delegates,Maybe I'm a utopian dreamer -- experience tells me that may very well be the case. Nonetheless, I think this is the right time to start thinking carefully and seriously about our choices for our party's 2016 presidential nomination.Thinking. Carefully. Seriously.No, I am not going to pitch a particular candidate to you at this time (I've expressed my own preferences elsewhere), nor am I going to ask you to NOT support any particular candidate.I'm just going to ask you to think. Carefully. Seriously.Here's why:In 2004, Michael Badnarik ended up as the party's surprise nominee after...

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote2 0

I Think I Take Rejection Fairly Well Jan 15, 2016

That is, I don't throw a fit when an editor rejects something I submit for publication. In fact, I really like it when that editor tells me why the piece doesn't pass muster. That kind of information helps me in various ways. It can help me become a better writer, if the noted deficiencies relate to my wordsmithing abilities. It can help me understand, and possibly tailor the later material I submit to, the publication's guidelines. And so on and so forth.So when I got the rejection letter from OpEdNews for my recent Garrison Center piece on the "Audit the...

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote0 0

I Should Not Be Amazed at How Quickly the Republican Candidates Maxed Out My Bullshit Meter Jan 15, 2016

Basically, as soon as they started talking. Cruz and Christie in particular got up a contest on how bellicose they could be about the "incident" in which ten US Navy sailors somehow ended up in Iranian custody. Why, this would never happen on their watch without the nuclear button being pressed, and so on and so forth.I say again: Bullshit meter pinged.Here's what you need to understand -- if you didn't already -- about this whole "incident."No, the boats didn't experience bizarre mechanical and radio failures and just happen to drift not only into Iranian waters but to (probably) within...

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote4 1

An Unrequested Endorsement Jan 14, 2016

As usual, there hasn't been a lot of talk in the Libertarian Party about its 2016 vice-presidential nomination.Interestingly and fortunately, the Libertarian Party has traditionally kept its presidential and vice-presidential nominations at more formally separate than the "major" parties.In the Republican and Democratic parties, the presidential nominee chooses his or her running mate, whom the convention delegates pretty much accept by acclamation.In the Libertarian Party, we actually have candidates say in advance "I'm seeking the party's vice-presidential nomination," campaign for that nomination, etc. The presidential nominee can express a preference, but the delegates genuinely choose on their own. In 2008,...

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote0 0

McAfee on Cyber Security Jan 14, 2016

John McAfee seems to consider cyber security the marquee issue for his presidential campaign. See his op-ed at Business Insider yesterday and his campaign position paper on the subject.Coming at it from two directions -- "as a libertarian" and "on pragmatic grounds," I find his concerns quite relevant but his approach an epic fail.Short version: McAfee wants to create a cabinet-level "Office of Digital Transformation" to do a couple of things -- bolster US cyber security and create a genuine retaliatory capability -- and to pay for that program with savings from disbanding the Transportation Security Administration.Hey, I'm down with...

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote1 0

OK, I Shouldn’t Have Been so Quick to Cuss WordPress Jan 13, 2016

Awhile back (it's not really worth looking up and linking), I briefly griped about Wordpress. I had updated to a new version as one is recommended to do periodically, and "autocomplete" had disappeared from the custom fields I use in the production of Rational Review News Digest. Which was a real downer for me, since RRND involves trawling many of the same sites, gathering content by many of the same authors, every day. Autocomplete in those form fields saved me time. And I was wroth with Wordpress, and I did bellyache.Well, now I'm on the Mac, and now I'm using...

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote1 0

Thanks For Asking! — 01/13/16 Jan 13, 2016

This week's AMA thread, and the podcast to follow, are brought to you by Darryl W. Perry:How it works:Ask me anything (anything) in the comment thread below this post; andI'll answer in the comment thread, on the podcast, or both. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWtsV50_-p4]Download KN@PPSTER's Big Freakin' Book of Stuff -- FREE!

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote2 0

Election 2016: Is Biden (Not) in it … to Win it? Jan 12, 2016

Vice president Joe Biden declined to enter the race for his party's 2016 presidential nomination. But, as WaPo's James Hohmann points out, he remains a "factor" in that race. He's subtly supporting Bernie Sanders and not-so-subtly slamming Hillary Clinton.Could he be the 2016 Democratic nominee after all? I think he could. His path is narrow, but it's not non-existent.My understanding is that he doesn't have to declare his candidacy in order to receive support in the Iowa caucus. And even if he did have to, there's also the "uncommitted" option for caucus participants.Now suppose that Biden -- or "uncommitted" --...

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote1 0

“Grotesque” Jan 11, 2016

That's how Marco Rubio characterizes Sean Penn's interview with Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, published Saturday in Rolling Stone.If one of these American actors who have benefited from the greatness of this country, who have made money from our free enterprise system, want to go fawn all over a criminal and a drug trafficker in their interviews, they have a Constitutional right to do it ... I find it grotesque.OK, so maybe that's not completely unfair.On the other hand, I don't see where Rubio really has the standing to offer such a judgment. After all, he's running for...

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote5 2

The KN@PP Stir Podcast, Episode 62: Gary Johnson, You Ignorant Slut! Jan 11, 2016

This week's episode (and all episodes in 2016) brought to you by Darryl W. Perry: [soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/241360985" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height='450' iframe="true" /] In this episode:Thanks For Asking! (Writing the Libertarian Op-Ed; and, Boobies For Liberty?);The Week in Stupid (Gary Johnson disparages burqas and his supporters' intelligence).Show Notes:In this week's "Thanks For Asking," the subject of my 2002 booklet Writing the Libertarian Op-Ed comes up. You can download it free here.Here's my quick take on Gary Johson's supreme "The Week in Stupid" entry.Download KN@PPSTER's Big Freakin' Book of Stuff -- FREE!

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote3 1

I Call Shenanigans Jan 7, 2016

On Gary Johnson. Today at The Daily Beast, he tries to walk back his statement that as president he would sign a law banning burqas in the United States.Well, I don't blame him. But down in that piece, we find this:"I gave Reason the honest kneejerk response and if I’m wrong, I’m wrong"Kneejerk? Response?Bullshit.If it was a kneejerk response to Reason, how did this end up in Politico?Johnson's views can be hard to pigeonhole. He told POLITICO that he would support a ban on burqas because he believes they are forced under sharia law, not a symbol of religious freedom."We...

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote3 1

“Agent 1” Identified Jan 7, 2016

[hat tip -- David Klaus]His name is Gary Alford.While it's unlikely that he can be made to pay a similar price to that levied upon his victim, political prisoner Ross Ulbricht, at least all good people now know to shun and ostracize him as the vicious criminal thug he is.Download KN@PPSTER's Big Freakin' Book of Stuff -- FREE!

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote1 0

As if I Needed Any More Reasons … Jan 6, 2016

... to completely write off any possibility of supporting Gary Johnson for the Libertarian Party's 2016 presidential nomination:Surprisingly for a libertarian, Johnson, who recently resigned as the CEO of Cannabis Sativa, a marijuana marketing form, said that he would sign a bill banning the wearing of burqas in America. Sharia, he insisted, was not an expression of religion but of "politics" and hence many of its practices could be banned or limited without running afoul of the Constitution. -- "Exclusive: Gary Johnson Running For President, Call Trump's Plans 'Just Whacked - Just Nuts!'" by Nick Gillespie, Reason, 01/06/16 [h/t Angela...

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote3 3

The Garrison Center: My Story and I’m Sticking to It Jan 6, 2016

Last night, I decided it was time to see how well The William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism performed at its basic mission over its first 11 months of existence (the first Garrison op-ed went up on January 29, 2015). That is, how many times was Garrison content re-published or cited in "mainstream media" and non-libertarian political publications?Well, I have a confession to make. I'm not that good at counting. Or at least not that good at separately counting, then adding up, items from 143 posts spread over 47 site pages. So I counted three times, and each...

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote2 0

Libertarian National Convention 2016: Seems Like a Small Issue, But Isn’t Small to Me Jan 6, 2016

Delegates to the Libertarian Party's national convention receive "tokens" to give to their preferred candidates for the party's presidential nomination. There's a minimum threshold number of "tokens" that a candidate has to collect in order to participate in the candidate debate on the main stage (and, IIRC -- someone will correct me if I am wrong, I'm sure -- a few other things, such as perhaps getting stage time for nomination speeches).At one time, this was no big deal: Candidates who had extra "tokens" above and beyond the threshold could give some of their "tokens" to other candidates, for whatever...

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote3 0

#stayclassytwitter — If I Was a State Lefty … Jan 6, 2016

... I'd call for the FCC to classify Twitter as a "common carrier" or some such thing so they couldn't do stupid, counter-productive things like suspending Ammon Bundy's account -- or, for that matter, any account associated with the Islamic State or al Qaeda or whatever.But I'm not a state lefty (and that idea would never work anyway because then the bureaucrats would just step into the role of deciding directly who gets to talk and who doesn't), so really all I can say is "way to go, Twitter -- just keep pulling shit like this until nobody trusts you...

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote2 1

Got an Email a Few Minutes Ago … Jan 5, 2016

... from something called "DNC Rapid Response." Urging me to "stand with President Obama" on his "bold, executive action to reduce gun violence."They were a couple of hours behind the curve. I published my own "rapid response" about two hours ago, around the time the press conference got rolling.No, it's not even a little bit like theirs.Download KN@PPSTER's Big Freakin' Book of Stuff -- FREE!

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote1 0

Cool App Ideas and the Fruit of Unschooling Jan 5, 2016

This morning, Liam (my 14-year-old) just sort of spontaneously threw out a really cool idea for an app. I told him he should create it and sell it if there's not already something like it. He protested that he "doesn't program" (he does -- more on that in a minute).The context: Tamara and I were discussing John McAfee's EveryKey idea, and that segued into stories about the TSA grabbing travelers' laptops and demanding passwords. The upshot being that if I travel I would want to use full-disk encryption and refuse any demand for my password, but then they'd keep my...

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote3 10

Looks Like Johnson is Actually Going to Throw in Jan 5, 2016

Gary Johnson resigned today as CEO of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. "to pursue political opportunities" (hat tip -- Bruce Majors). Which, of course, means he's planning to go after the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination again.As J. Wilson points out at ALibertarianFuture.com (in a mis-titled post implying that it's "official" -- it won't be until and unless Johnson actually declares), Johnson has some real problems.He drove his 2012 Republican presidential campaign six figures into debt, then hit up the Libertarian Party to get him a government "matching funds" welfare check. Then he drove his general election campaign seven figures into debt, where...

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote3 0

Thanks For Asking! — 01/04/16 Jan 4, 2016

This week's AMA thread and the podcast to follow are brought to you by Darryl W. Perry:Yes, it's early this week -- I just installed and configured Firefox as my new default browser and figured I should start using it for all the various things I do, including blog posting. So, the usual rules:Ask me anything (yes, anything) in the comment thread below this post; andI'll answer in comments, on the podcast, or both.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jofNR_WkoCE&w=300&h=169]Download KN@PPSTER's Big Freakin' Book of Stuff -- FREE!

By Thomas L. Knapp Vote1 0

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