Free? State Libertarian ISSN 1076-3155
Volume 21 Issue 3
The Free? State Libertarian is published quarterly by the Libertarian Party of Maryland. All material is copyrighted 1999 and may be reproduced provided credit is given as follows: "Reprinted from the Free? State Libertarian."
Submissions and corrections should be emailed to LPMD.Newsletter*ICengineering.com, or mailed to LPMD Newsletter, PO Box 321, Owings Mills, MD 21117.
Editor: Robert E. Glaser
The Libertarian Party of Maryland
4323 Rosedale Avenue, Bethesda MD 20814
1-800-MLP-1776
Libertarian BBS: 301-656-4714
National LP HQ: 202-333-0008
Check www.MD.LP.org regularly for the current event calendar, hot topics, email listserv, debate pages, photo album, and more! Be certain to submit current event information to LPMD.Event*ICengineering.com to get your data online.
Table of Contents
State Executive Board Officers
Maryland Libertarian Party Annual Convention
Tawes Crab & Clam Bake (July 21)
Impressions from Working the LP Booth at the Montgomery County Fair
Essex Day -- What a Success!!!
From the Trenches ... County Chapter Notes
Chair: Steve Boone 410-628-6170 LPChairMD*aol.com
Vice Chair: Spear Lancaster 410-923-3331 Maimon*aol.com
Secretary Stuart Simms 301-681-4455 SWSimms*aol.com
Treasurer: Joe Miller 410-789-3899 Hatsiwear*aol.com
Assistant Treasurer: Michael Audi 410-727-2252 m.audi*juno.com
Membership: Wayne Dougherty 301-834-6179 WDarty*aol.com
Outreach/registration: Bill Galvin 301-990-0015 Bilib*juno.com
The executive committee meets on the second Monday of every month. All
meetings are open. Contact Steve Boone for location.
Anne Arundel County: Spear Lancaster 410-923-3331 Maimon*aol.com
Baltimore City: Susan Gaztañaga 410-325-2813 DiazVivar*aol.com
Baltimore County: Nancy Millionie 410-833-8991 LibertyGrl*aol.com
Frederick County: Wayne Dougherty 301-834-6179 Wdarty*aol.com
Harford County: Derek Mancinho 410-836-3104 Mancinho*aol.com
Howard County: Kevin & Deborah Wolf 410-750-8531 Wolf8495*aol.com
Prince Georges County Shay Jones 301-864-7838 theden*mindspring.com
Montgomery County: Glenn Howard 301-585-1793 glenn*tidalwave.net
Washington County: Kurt Sabert freedom1*innernet.net
The
first big event in the Lorenzo Gaztañaga for City Council campaign
was the Independence Day parade on July 3rd in Dundalk. Campaign
manager Nancy Millionie had set up an eye catching display, dressing her
youngest daughter, Katie, as the Statue of Liberty, and recruiting Wyatt
Rogers to drive his red pick-up truck draped in red and white campaign
banners. Lauren Hill was also there in the red, white and blue colonial
style dress she designed and made herself. We marched behind a huge Libertarian
Party banner -- an obviously diverse group of senior citizens, a baby,
young children, veterans, Barry Costello in his wheel chair, and one very
pregnant Nicole Brooks. When we passed the two reviewing stands, it was
thrilling to hear the voice over the loud speaker announce the "Maryland
Libertarian Party, with Lorenzo Gaztañaga, candidate for Baltimore
City Council from the First District." The announcer at the second
reviewing stand was Frank Luber, of WCBM's Sean and Frank in the Morning.
He had difficulty pronouncing Gaztañaga, and Lorenzo had
him say it over and over again, until he jokingly said that Lorenzo should
pay him for the extra publicity!
We had hoped that Lorenzo would be on the ballot by then, but we still had a few more signatures to collect. Out of the 831 that we submitted on July 6, only 471 were valid. We needed 509 valid signatures to get Lorenzo on the ballot, so we mustered the troops one more time and brought Robert Lynch back from Richmond for a return visit (he had already collected the bulk of the 831 we turned in). Finally, on July 30, we received a letter from the Baltimore City Board of Elections reviewing the totals to date and concluding, "You have as of this date, the adequate number of signatures to be on the 1999 General Election Ballot."
We started going door-to-door, introducing Lorenzo to his would-be constituents. Lorenzo appeared at three candidate forums: one in June hosted by the NAACP, one well publicized forum sponsored by the Project 1999 coalition (League of Women Voters, NAACP/Baltimore, Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, and major Baltimore area colleges and universities), and one sponsored by Harbel, a northeast Baltimore community association.
So far, we have held two meet-the-candidate neighborhood cook-outs (we end up feeding 10-15 children for every adult contacted), and plan to continue holding similar events indoors in different areas around the District. Each time we have made good contacts, finding people willing to support Lorenzo by putting up signs and helping out at the polls on Nov 2.
September 14, the day of the Primary Election, was a valuable dry run for the Big Day. In addition to Lorenzo, we had nine volunteers handing out literature to voters leaving the polls, thanking them for voting and asking them to vote for Gaztañaga in November. We got to see which polls were busy and which ones were slow. When O'Malley pulled off his stunning 53% sweep, we spent the next few days analyzing how he did it, and how Lorenzo could win doing some of the same things (obviously, he can't match O'Malley's financing). We concluded the following:
1. O'Malley started late and came on strong at the end, while the other candidates started early and petered out at the end.
2. Although we couldn't see what was going on behind the scenes, O'Malley must have had a phenomenal get-out-the-vote apparatus. I saw one van, chauffeured by a young man dressed vaguely like a leprechaun, delivering voters to my polling place. There were probably also phone banks of people calling up voters to get them to the polls.
3. For every two poll workers for Stokes, O'Malley had four or five at every poll.
Conclusion: Lorenzo can win (that's win, as in get elected) if we meet the following conditions:
1. Two or three people working the polls in each of the 60 precincts on election day. Since most people can only work for part of the day, we aim to mobilize 200 volunteers. (We know there are far more than 200 Libertarians in Maryland. Hello out there!)
2. At least 10 people calling up voters to get them to the polls.
3. We blanket the district with literature during the final two weeks before the election.
The roadmap is clear, let's all join the caravan and drive it to our mutual destination: liberty.
Left: Katie Millionie & Stephan Brookes prepare for the parade. Right: truck's ready, too!
-- Susan Gaztañaga
Date: Saturday, October 16
Location:
Galeano's Restaurant (in Little Italy)
413 South High Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
Schedule:
10:00 am - Noon: Central Committee meeting
Noon - 1:00 pm: break for lunch
1:00 pm - 6:00 pm: speakers
Richard Stevens: "Gun Control - Dial 911 and Die"
Carol Moore: "Waco and its Implications"
Lorenzo Gaztañaga, Baltimore City LP candidate
6:00 pm: Dinner with guest speaker WWRC radio talk show host Gary Nolan
Additional fun and surprises
Cost: $25 mail-in/$30 at-the-door per person (no charge to attend the Central Committee meeting)
Additional information: check on the web at www.MD.LP.org/events/convention99.html
Please clip and mail completed form with check to:
Stuart Simms
10605 Glenwild Rd.
Silver Spring, MD 20901-1602
Name ______________________________
Address ____________________________
To receive confirmation of receipt of check:
Email address: _______________________
Telephone number: ____________________
(or contact Stuart via SWSimms*aol.com or 301-681-4455)
Number in Party ___ Amount enclosed $____ (make out to the MDLP)
As we draw to the end of summer, it's time to take a look at what's happened since our last convention, and look forward to what's coming up at our next one.
1999 saw us get recognized as a full-fledged political party by the State of Maryland. We now have ballot access until December 31, 2002, at the very least. We can keep the access for even longer by registering 1% of the State's voters as Libertarian by that date, and that is, of course, the focus of our next couple of years.
It will also, not coincidentally, be a major item of business at the upcoming October 16, 1999 convention. We'll be devoting some time for a brainstorming and strategy session following the morning's Central Committee meeting.
One important factor in the "1% Solution" will be outreach, and the Party has increased its activity in that regard at major fairs. Kevin Wolf organized the volunteers for the Howard County Fair this year, our first time at that event. Continuing events included:
Our volunteers have helped this happen, and I thank all of you for it! We're getting reports that many people are coming to the booths, expressing interest, getting literature, and volunteering their time and services to the Party at a stronger pace than ever before. Great work, gang!
By the time you read this, we'll have even more festivals under our belts, including one in Takoma Park, Gaithersburg, and the Fells Point Festival. Thanks to those who coordinated and worked them as well!
We can finally answer the age-old question, "who do you have as candidates?" with a name for 1999. It's old news that Lorenzo is on the ballot for a 1st District City Council seat in Baltimore, but I can tell you, from working with the campaign on the streets, that this is a very exciting race, and has great potential for us. We're able to place window and yard signs where they'll be seen by many, and Lorenzo's absolutely fantastic on a one-on-one with the voters.
This year was also a good one for publicity for the Party. Senator Andy Harris [R-9] asked our group, "What, do you guys have assigned seats in the Gallery? We see you there every week!"
We offered testimony against the tobacco tax hike and on other measures. We spoke before various civic groups, including the LaPlata Rotary Club, and I did a 20 minute interview with WNAV-1450 AM's Brian Nieman on the Maryland LP and our stands on various issues. He plans to invite me back when the General Assembly reconvenes.
Our press releases hit papers such as the Maryland Independent in Charles County, the Montgomery Journal, and The Washington Times. News of our submitting signatures in January was heard on broadcasts on numerous radio stations, including WTOP, WBAL, WCBM, and WNAV.
Behind the scenes, there have been some changes that we're happy to talk about. For the past several months, the Executive Board has discussed having a set of standard operating procedures that we wanted to discuss and implement, so that we would set some sort of structure for our future growth. One of our goals has been to make the operation more professional, and these SOPs will assist in that process. We're likely to have at least some of them, especially dealing with the Executive Board's activities, ready for the October convention.
And this year, there are some changes to that, as well. We're returning to a one-day-only affair, with speakers and a strategy session. The details are being finalized as I write this, but there's certain to be a dynamic program followed by a sumptuous banquet at a bargain price. By all means, plan to join your fellow Libertarians at this once a year happening.
Our work isn't done, but we've made good headway. Let's keep it moving!
For liberty in our lifetimes,
-- Steve Boone
WOW! What a day, we had at Tawes, eh?
I had the opportunity to meet and chat with people I haven't seen for a while, people I've only "met" through email, and those with whom I see regularly.
This day, IMHO, was a COMPLETE SUCCESS!! Good outreach to the Demopublicans and the Republicrats (Great shirts, Steve -- well done!), great LP solidarity, good fun, food, and general merriment. I still can't believe the people that walked by our tent and did doubletakes when they realized the LP is alive and well in Maryland! That group of George Bush fans that had to poke their heads in the tent to see how many LP'ers were there was great!!! Any of you who did not make this extraordinary event must get there next year -- we have a whole year to plan, let's get 60 or so out next year!
Now I have to tell you the amazing events on the ride home. It was Lauren, Neil, Adele, and me in the car. We stopped at a bookstore, where it turns out the owner was on his way home from the Tawes Clambake and just happened to be in his store to check his messages, etc. Well, after we perused his books for a while, I came across nine volumes from 1909/1910 that contained the 1778 through 1780 Journals of the Continental Congress!!!! Great condition, and haggled a pretty good deal on the whole set! What a find! Coincidence? No way! The Fates were kind that day! I'll be researching and studying those for the next few weeks, at least. Watch for the new quotes I extract!
Thanks to all who attended Tawes. Let's take this thing over the top!!!
-- Ed Akehurst
Thought leads to action. To throw off the chains of voluntary servitude, we must understand the American way. Europe evolved into a society believing rights came from the State represented by a ruling personage or party. In Europe in general, a citizen may only pursue activities that are expressly "allowed" or "legal".
American society is young and holds onto the reality that rights come from the creator and belong to each individual. Not the collective people. Not the State. Not the rulers. Over time, America may emulate all the bloody activities of Europe following the historic evolution toward self-destruction. Can a King or a Congress engage the people in a savage attack on some other group if the people simply refuse to support (fight) the war?
In America, the natural and self-evident concepts of the flow of rights and authorities were reclaimed. The Bill of Rights states that authorities (powers) not "specifically" conferred upon administrative (governmental) bodies remain to the people from which all authorities (powers) originated. In our system of law, the citizen is free to do whatever he wants unless it is made criminal by the passage of law supported by juries.
The European citizen may do only that made legal by the State, while the American citizen may do anything not specifically made criminal. To be incarcerated in America requires a law making an activity "criminal", proof the accused committed the criminal activity, and the people, represented by the jury, agree that both the activity is criminal and the accused did it. The jury is the fourth check and balance set up by the Constitution.
To ask "is it legal" is to seek permission of the State to pursue an activity. Americans do not ask permission to live! We declared our right to life, liberty, and property long ago. The only appropriate question is one of "is it criminal". Americans are only concerned when the activity is a published (law) transgression upon individual people's human rights that defines it as criminal. For example, do Americans seek to "legalize" marijuana, or do we seek to "decriminalize" that activity? That is, unless our thoughts are to behave as servants of the collective State!
-- Leonard Penn
Impressions from Working the LP Booth at the Montgomery County Fair
Here is a sample of discourse found on the MDLP listserve. John makes some observations and asks for comments. Spear accommodates with a response from his point of view.
Greetings!
I spent an evening the other week helping out at the ol' libertarian booth at the Montgomery County fair. I really had a great time. It was a very satisfying thing to be able to give people a more positive impression about libertarianism and the LP of Maryland in particular. I think that several people were very much impressed, and we may have won some converts that night.
It also surprised me the remarkable cross section that the people who came to the booth represented. One negative thing did occur to me, however... it seemed to me that parents with children seemed to shy away from the booth. I wasn't sure if this was because they wanted to do things that would keep the kids occupied, or if they held some kind of concern about what libertarians held in store for their families.
I wondered why, and later spoke with a friend of mine about what he thought it could have been? We had a very thoughtful conversation about some of the potential implications of what a libertarian world would be like. He had a rather dim view... "Would there still be parkland that anyone could visit?" he asked... "and what about beaches... would there still be public beaches... I doubt it." He went on to express concerns about having no zoning laws "every place would be open for business... you could never find a place to live where there wouldn't be someone hawking wares to you from across the street." He also thought that using civil court cases against people who pollute your property would be difficult to impossible. He said "sure... I'll take Exxon to court for dumping crap in my backyard."
He thought it was this kind of thing that turned parents off... a fear that the world would turn into one big market... with no wholesome natural environments available for growing up in.
What would my fellow libertarians have me say to these charges? I did a fair job... but I'm pretty sure I left him unconvinced (I'm not sure I even convinced myself!).
Best Regards,
-- John Prue
John, your comments about working the booth at the fair were interesting. You mentioned that parents with children were not stopping. I worked the Howard County fair for two days, and the Montgomery County fair also for two days. I did have some parents with children stop, although I admit that most often folks were by themselves or with other adults.
As the father of two sons and three grandchildren, I can tell you that keeping them occupied while you try to get information, any information, is a challenge. It is pretty hard to try and get into a philosophical discussion when the kids want to go on the rides, etc.
To say that perhaps parents were concerned about what the Libertarian Party held in store for their children seems a bit stretched. How could they be concerned if they had not stopped and did not know what we stood for? Unless, of course, they were capable of ESP... I think that it is a truism that all parents are concerned for their children, but they would have to have some information before they could take action.
I would be interested in meeting your friend. He seems like a lot of frightened Americans who can't imagine living in a world where he has to take responsibility for something. Sounds like he really feels that before governments there were no beaches. Or parks for that matter. I have been told that the most visited park, and also the largest tourist attraction in America, is Disney World in Orlando. Ask him if he has ever attended. Ask him if he liked it and if he felt safe there etc... Also ask him if thinks he will find any 1 million dollar outhouses there.
On our 43rd wedding anniversary, my wife and I went to North Beach, where she claims I chased her around all day (her version) on one of our first dates, and in spite of all the zoning and government protection, the beach was not even accessible, nor could you even enjoy the view. They had built condos on piers right out into the water.
Perhaps your friend has visited Houston, Texas. They have no zoning, and there are many lovely residential areas. Everything works, and if you were not told that they have no zoning, you would never know it. Jessie Ventura was saying in an interview that the reason he ran for mayor was that a local real estate developer wanted the city to put in a very expensive sewage system so that he could develop a parcel of land he owned. Jessie and some of the other residents went to city hall and explained that this was not needed and that it would benefit no one but the developer. The vote for the project was 7 to zip. So much for zoning and the fantasy that you can depend on OUR democratic representatives.
Your friend was also worried about polluting. Check out England, where the streams are privately owned, and see how fast it takes to be sued if you dump something upstream that affects someone downstream. Also check out the areas where the government owns everything, like Russia, etc., and if he can look me in the eye and tell me that it is less polluted there then here, I will buy him a steak dinner at his choice of places.
Please remind your friend that OUR PUBLIC officials are not quite the philosopher kings that Plato mentioned in the Republic. The milk of human kindness does not flow in their veins. They have not defied gravity, greed, envy, jealousy, hate etc... Perhaps I can arrange for him to view one of these chaps putting his pants on. He might feel somewhat less obligated to prostrate himself for them after that.
Thanks for your help in getting the story out about the LP. Yours in Liberty,
-- Spear Lancaster
LP tent at the 1999 Montgmery County Fair, August 13-21
The annual Maryland Libertarian Party picnic was held on Sunday, August 8th this summer at Gude Park in Laurel. The weather held out for most of the day, but as the festivities were winding down, a deluge appeared from the sky. At left, picnic organizer Randy Bryan supervises Earle Pearce, acting barbecue chef for the day.
My major concern with my fellow Libertarians is their lack of understanding of the basic structure of our organized society. We live in a system ordered by published law -- what we want to achieve must therefore be compatible with, and hopefully supported by, these same laws or our proposed changes to these laws. How is any of that possible if we Libertarians spout theory, and never get down pragmatically to the issues of related laws? Eg. Libertarians insist on changing laws while having not the slightest understanding of what laws are nor exist. Libertarians want lower taxes and fees while ignorantly listing some major taxes and fees that are neither. Libertarians want to get government off the backs of the citizens, then ignore simple laws which when used would accomplish the desired result.
Ignorance of the system of laws we live under only weakens the viability of the Libertarian movement to that of highfalutin babbling complainers. I will try to bring some reality into this melee by advancing my fellow Libertarians' education on matters of law.
A right is a lawfully supported "power to act" granted through the gift of life. A privilege is a benefit (eg. authority to wield another's power) granted by the owner/creator of that right. If I allow you (by choice or otherwise) the authority to beat me up, then I have granted you a special privilege/benefit. Otherwise, I best swear out a complaint against you.
If an activity can be taxed, then with prohibitive taxation it can effectively be denied. The same applies with the use of licensing and regulations. Therefore, rights may neither be licensed, regulated, nor taxed for otherwise they are not rights, but privileges. Privileges are historically advantages not available to the general citizenry such as granted an executioner to cut heads off.
Privileges are often confused with contracts: agreements entered voluntarily by two or more parties, defining an obligation, providing a consideration, and containing means of exit. The creator of a job controls who may enjoy this benefit/privilege while the worker may insist on its conversion to an agreement via contract. Cities that accept monies from the national or state government are entering into voluntary contractual relationships.
Citizens have the right to voluntarily convert their rights into privileges, often losing more than is gained! An authority may demand possession of a license, conformity to regulations, and/or paying a fee/tax/remuneration for an activity felt to be a right. Look closely to determine if: 1) it really is a privilege, 2) it was voluntarily converted to a privilege by some prior act, or 3) the agency is overstepping its authority by demanding you do a #2 on yourself. A job is not a right, while whom you cohabit with is, unless you converted it voluntarily by obtaining a license.
-- Leonard Penn
Here are reports from two participants on one of this summer's outreach events, which occurred on September 12th. Sure sounds like fun:
I had an interesting experience yesterday while working the booth in Essex. A chap came up and asked what the libertarians stood for. I explained that we stood for personal liberty, and that we thought that a lot of government was ineffective. That society would be better off if the citizens paid less taxes and had more control of their money. He said he liked big government. I told him that he was at the wrong booth. That he needed to visit the democrats.
He then went on to ask about a few other things, and finally he said, "I would like to help you people out." He took out a $100 bill which I had him give to Bill. He told me his name, but said that he did not want to be on a mailing list. So I gave him a paper with the meeting dates for the local Libertarian meetings. He said he would be sure to come by.
We also had quite a few other people come by, and I don't know if I am getting more at ease with answering people's questions, or if this was an especially friendly crowd, but the responses were really encouraging.
-- Spear Lancaster
With perfect weather, the amount of people in attendance was great. The booth looked great, as usual when Bill is in charge of set-up (Thanks Bill!!!). There were people stopping and asking questions non-stop. I remember at one point, there were five people, each speaking with someone from the booth, and more were gathered around listening or waiting to ask their own questions!!
We received cash donations, registered several people to vote, handed out many voter registration forms, had someone join the LP (Local/State/National), had people express interest in helping us with volunteer work, and had many, many good conversations with people, including several long ones with those opposed in some degree, who turned around their views somewhat by the time they left (one of these even gave a good sized cash contribution after they realized we were truly fighting for LIBERTY -- way to go Spear!).
The support from the local LP'ers (and some of us not-so-local) in running and manning the booth was incredible. Good fellowship and much fun was had by all. Thanks to Bill, George, Spear, Nancy and Katie, Kevin and Debbie, Steve, Alan, and anyone who came after I left or that I forgot to mention!!!!
All in all, this day was a great success and will go down in the annals of history as a great boost to the party!
-- Ed Akehurst
I worked the Howard County fair for two shifts and was pleased with the quality of people I got to speak with. I also worked two shifts at the Montgomery County fair. There seems to be some real change brewing. People are sort of bewildered. They see and hear a lot that is going on, and speculate, but are not sure as to what it means. I feel that they sort of know that things are not going to continue as before. There seems to be an undercurrent that something is going to break.
This time last year, I had a much more difficult time trying to get people to agree that the current political situation is not effective, and is not delivering the goods. This is especially true for people under 50. When you ask them if they feel that they will get a break on their social security they don't hesitate to say no.
They also are less reluctant to discuss the drug problem and gun restrictions. It appears to me that just about everyone knows that the war on drugs is lost. Even the government officials know it, but they are making too much money and enjoying too many nice-paying jobs to come to grips with it.
Some of my easier dialogue is probably due to reading and listening to tapes. Also because of interacting with other libertarians. But I still feel that there is more going on than just that.
We have been having some really nice meetings on the third Friday of the month at Piezano's in Annapolis, and welcome everyone to join us. There have been about a dozen members attending the meetings, and we have had some pretty interesting discussions. Piezano's is located at 2019 West St. Please call if you need directions.
I also attended the governor's meeting on gun safety Friday, August 27th. But that's another story!
-- Spear Lancaster
Baltimore City
The LP activity in Baltimore City has focussed on Lorenzo's campaign. Please see the article on page 1 for its status.
-- Susan Gaztañaga
Our walk in the Independence Day Parade in Dundalk was terrific! Approximately 20 people donned LP shirts and hats and carried flags and banners, waving to the thousands that lined the parade route. Of course, Lauren Hill, our "Miss Liberty", was a hit in her red, white, and blue gown; and Katie Millionie endured the heat bravely in her Statue of Liberty costume. Thanks to Wyatt Rogers for providing our float that played Beach Boys tunes, and introduced our City Council candidate. We had a great time, and were well received by the crowd. We definitely want to walk in the parade next year!
The booth at the Essex Day festival was successful and busy, and our promotion on packs of matches is meeting with agreement from a lot of smokers. We have also heard two very interesting stories.
At Essex Day, I met a young lady who attends a Baltimore County High School who had taken "The World's Smallest Political Quiz" in her Government class in 9th grade! She said that her teacher "wanted to find out where they were coming from, politically," and had used The Quiz to make the determination. This young lady, by the way, found from it that she was a Libertarian.
Ed Akehurst reports that a man who teaches an American Government class in a County school, and who just happens to be a Libertarian, stopped by a booth recently and collected a big sampling of Libertarian literature for his class. The man said that the curriculum requires him to present Democrat and Republican literature, and he wanted to have the Libertarian perspective available to his students, as well.
Social gatherings continue throughout Baltimore County in Owings Mills, Timonium, and Dundalk. If you're reading this newsletter, and I haven't met you, why not? Check out the meeting calendar and join us some time!
-- Nancy Millionie
We have just finished covering the Montgomery County Agriculture Fair! Many thanks to Keith Halderman who coordinated the volunteer effort, and Bill Galvin who took care of much of the logistics. They both spent much time at the fair. Our booth looked as colorful as ever. Also many thanks to the many LP members who took time from their busy schedules to spend a few hours sharing the Libertarian experience. We had a number of volunteers from other counties that helped out, particularly from Prince George's County. This was a big help for a nine-day fair, which we covered twelve hours a day. Planning for this event spans several months. Two people that I know of registered Libertarian on the spot. More voters are sympathetic to our cause now that the Demorepublic party is floundering.
This year we plan to expand our outreach coverage by our presence at the Takoma Park Folk Festival on Sunday September 26th. On the same day we will be at Gaithersburg Old Towne Days, a regularly attended event for us now. To complete our fair season, we plan to have a booth at Germantown Oktoberfest on Saturday October 9th.
The week I wrote this, I was in Minneapolis, and visited the Libertarian booth at the state fair to say hello. They were appreciative of me stopping by. If you get a chance while you are out of town to look up the local LP and stop by for a meeting or other affair, it will help spread a sense of unity, and you may pick up some new ideas!
Have any of the counties considered covering a computer show? Since many of our members are computer professionals, it seems like a logical choice to cover computer events. Please let me know your experiences or any insights or connections you may have.
-- Glenn Howard
$60 Full Page
$50 3/4 Page
$40 1/2 Page
$30 1/4 Page
$20 1/8 Page
Make checks payable to the Md. Libertarian Party and send along with copy to PO Box 321, Owings Mills, MD 21117.
Note: consult www.MD.LP.org/events for up-to-date info. Contact numbers for persons listed on page 3 are omitted here. The LDDS's are listed separately on the back page.
October 9 (Saturday): 6:00 pm. Lorenzo Gaztañaga fundraiser dinner at Galeano's Restaurant, 413 S. High Street (corner of Eastern Ave.) Nancy Millionie
October 9-10 (Saturday-Sunday): Germantown Oktoberfest. Outreach! Glenn Howard
October 10 (Sunday): 8:00 am - 4:00 pm. ABATE rally. Motorcycle ride around the State House helmetless. LP table at the AA county fairgrounds. Steve Boone
October 16 (Saturday): 10:00 am - 9:00 pm. Maryland LP State Convention. See page 2
October 18 (Monday): 6:30 pm. Prince George's Libertarians. Franklin's Deli in Hyattsville (301-927-2740), located south of College Park at 5121 Baltimore Ave (US Rte 1) just south of Lustine. Shay Jones
October 18 (Monday): 7:30 pm. Montgomery County LP Business Meeting. Jeff Keller (jkeller*erols.com, 301-540-6421) for details and directions.
November 2 (Tuesday): 7:00 am - 8:00 pm. Election Day. Help at the polls with the Lorenzo Gaztañaga for Baltimore City Council campaign. Nancy Millionie [page 5]
November 15 (Monday): 6:30 pm. PG Lib's. See October 18
November 15 (Monday): 7:30 pm. Montgomery County LP Social Meeting. Glenn Howard for details and directions.
November 22 (Monday): 6:00 pm. Baltimore County Central Committee meeting at the Dragon House restaurant, Garrison Forest Plaza, Owings Mills. Nancy Millionie
December 20 (Monday): 6:30. PG Lib's. See October 18
Stay up-to-date on MDLP activities with our online calendar of events: visit www.MD.LP.org/events (often!). Check page 3 for contact numbers not listed here.
LDDS (Libertarian Drinking and Debating Society): Second Chapter Sports Bar Conkling & O'Donnell Streets, Baltimore, Thursdays, 7:30 pm. Earle Pearce, 410-327-1776
LDDS West (Montgomery County): Bennigan's on Rockville Pike in Federal Plaza near the intersection of Twinbrook Parkway (behind the Texaco gas station) 2nd and 4th Wednesdays, 7-9 pm. Glenn Howard.
LDDS North (Baltimore County): Lounge of bowling alley in shopping plaza across from the State Fairgrounds, Timonium. 2nd and 4th Fridays, 7:30 pm. Nancy Millionie.
LDDS East (eastern Baltimore County): 2nd Wednesday of the month, 6:30 pm at the Poplar Inn, at the corner of Merritt Blvd. and Wise Avenue. Nancy Millionie.
LDDS AA (Anne Arundel County): 3rd Friday of the month, 6:30 pm, at Piezano's in Annapolis, just east of the Rt. 2 and West St. intersection, next to the TrakAuto store. GMJ (redleo*juno.com).
LDDS WC (Washington County): 1st Tuesday of the month, 7:30 pm at Richardsons Family Restaurant on Rt. 40 (Dual Highway) in Hagerstown. Kurt Saberg.
Northwest Baltimore Supper Club: Dragon House Restaurant in Garrison Forest shopping center, Reisterstown Road, Owings Mills, 4th Monday, 7:00 pm. Nancy Millionie.