March 1998
News Briefs
Costa Rican LP elects member of parliament
The Libertarian Party of Costa Rica has elected its first member to the National Parliament. Otto Guevara of Movimiento Libertario was elected to the national legislature on February 1, 1998, according to Vince Miller, president of the International Society for Individual Liberty."We apparently missed electing a second legislator by only a few votes," said Miller. "Other members of the party were elected at the local level; we do not know how many yet. And this is just the beginning. The party was formed only two years ago; at that time, there was only one Libertarian in Costa Rica."
George Getz: Now LP's Press Secretary
The Libertarian Party's Deputy Director of Communications George Getz is now the party's Press Secretary, effective January 1, 1998."The new title is more representative of what George does, since he handles most of our media calls, schedules interviews, and represents the party on numerous radio shows," said Bill Winter, LP Communications Director. "Besides, Press Secretary is easier and faster to say on the radio than his former 12-syllable title."
Two Libertarian Thumbs Up?
Want to share your libertarian perspective on current movies? You can do so at a new WWW site called FlickPicks, "The Moviegoers' Website," which is owned and operated by LP members."We're seeking input from libertarians," said David Nolan, one of the founders of the Libertarian Party, and owner of FlickPicks along with Jack Dean, of the Harry Browne 2000 Exploratory Committee.
At the FlickPicks site, moviegoers can rate and critique films they've seen and see how others rate them, said Nolan.
"Our goal is to become recognized as a leading source of information on current movies," he said. "A year from now, we hope that FlickPicks ratings will be cited regularly in movie ads." Interested libertarians will find FlickPicks at http://www.flickpicks.com.
The Batman/Ludwig von Mises connection
Holy Austrian Economics! The latest well-known figure to promote libertarianism is none other than -- Batman?That's right: In a recent issue of The Batman Chronicles, an old-time incarnation of the Caped Crusader -- the "Berlin Batman" -- battles Nazi confiscation of Ludwig von Mises' papers in 1938. Batman rescues the famous libertarian economist's papers and says, "I've read his work. He's a brave man to oppose the [Nazi] party in these barren times."
The comic later notes: "Ludwig von Mises escaped to the U.S. when the Nazis ransacked his apartment. They slowed him down, but they couldn't stop him. He continued work on a book which was eventually published in '49, called Human Action, now considered one of the great libertarian works of our times." The Batman Chronicles is published by DC Comics.
National LP lobbies Virginia legislature
Saying that "the voters of Virginia deserve more choices," LP Projects Manager Kris Williams testified before a subcommittee of the House of Delegates to urge support for three bills that would ease ballot access requirements."Virginia is one of only seven states in which the only qualified parties are Republican and Democrat," Williams told members of the Privileges and Elections Sub-Committee on January 26, 1998.
The three bills -- HR 47, HR 48, and HR 49 -- are part of an effort to improve ballot access in Virginia, and were introduced by Delegate Vince Callahan (R-34th District), in response to an ongoing lobbying effort by the Virginia LP.
"This is definitely an uphill battle, but I think the delegates are sensitive that they are out of sync with the rest of the nation on ballot access," said Williams.
