The State of New York has made it mandatory that "health" workers in the state take the H1N1 flu vaccine or be fired. http://www.newsday.com/long-island/mandatory-flu-vaccination-splits-workers-1.1481242?print=true

Most peoples concern seems to be over safety, but the real issue is the power of government. Should government have the right to force you, a private citizen, to assume the risk of taking a vaccine or lose your job? Curiously, if something goes wrong, the makers of the vaccine have been protected from lawsuits.

To be clear, this is not a matter of spreading disease germs. New York is looking only to prevent mass outages of health workers by making a statistical few take large risks with their health.

It may be smart, it may even be safe to take the H1N1 vaccine, but the ultimate decider on what goes in your body is you. You should not be forced to decide whether to inject substances into your body that may do you harm or lose your job because the state is seeking greater efficiency.
That is something no state should force on its citizens.

The role of government is to protect individual rights. Vaccine manufacturers should not be shielded by law from lawsuits. If you actually contract the flu and it causes problems with medical care, your employer then has cause to fire you, but to terminate employment because it might adversely affect matters, especially at such a personal risk, is an unjustifiable leap in government power.

Thats my opinion - Pete Blome

Labels: H1N1, mandatory immunization, vaccines

On 10 Sep members of the Libertarian Party of Okaloosa County met at the LaRumba Restaurant in Niceville and passed reforms to allow for non-scheduled officer elections, and for the first time to allow proxy and absentee voting.

The meeting was attended by a small group of local libertarians. Jeff Bullard, the only remaining member of the LPOC executive committee and parliamentarian for the Florida Tattoo Artists Guild, acted as moderator.

The election reforms were proposed by candidate for LPOC Chairman Pete Blome. They are intended to resolve an impasse in party procedure that did not consider an executive committee unable to form a quorum and the resignation of the Chairman. The Chairman is the only person, according to the bylaws, who can appoint new officers. Appointees must also be approved by majority vote of the remaining executive committee officers .

Additional changes allowed Okaloosa Libertarians to vote via proxy or absentee vote. Okaloosa Libertarians were required to vote in person for elections and general meetings.

Jeff Bullard proposed to hold new elections 8 October 2009, in accordance with the newly passed bylaws, which was then unanimously passed.

At the conclusion of the meeting Pete Blome announced a slate of candidates for LPOC party Officers to include himself for Chairman, Ben Jurgens for Vice-Chairman, Jeff Bullard for Treasurer, and Steve Copus for Secretary.

Any registered Okaloosa Libertarian can run for party office or vote in an election, non-scheduled election, or general meeting.

The New Constitution, Bylaws, and Standing Rules of the LPOC can be viewed in the downloads section of the LPOC website.

Labels: Blome, Bullard, Copus, Jurgens, LPOC bylaws

Sunday, August 2, 2009
The Chairman (Lee Jackson) and Secretary (Pete Blome) have both resigned from the leadership of the Libertarian party of Okaloosa County due to differences over policy, expressions of non-confidence from Executive Committee (EC) associates, and issues related to the recent selection of Bay County Florida for the next state party convention.

Lee Jackson resigned August 1st, with Pete Blome tendering his resignation 2 August 2009.

The resignations cause a procedural problem because the position of vice-chairman was vacant, and there is no provision in the LPOC bylaws for an EC member to assume the chairmanship other than the vice-chairman. This leaves the EC unable to form a quorum, and is therefore unable to formulate LPOC policy, access funds, or conduct regularly scheduled elections. Treasurer Jeff Bullard is the only remaining EC member and has remained silent on the issue.

Lee Jackson resigned after signing a letter to the State Libertarian Party that was presented to him by Pete Blome, Jeff Bullard and Kathryn Weizel. This letter outlined questionable procedures and a possible lack of representation for Okaloosa County at the state party meetings that led to Bay County being selected for the state convention in 2010.

Pete Blome had proposed Lee Jackson use his powers of appointment before his resignation to designate him Chairman until LPOC elections scheduled for January to March 2010, but this idea was opposed by EC associate Kathryn Weizel and Okaloosa Libertarian Club President Sarah Zetterlind, and Jackson remained silent on the issue. The lack of confidence measure led to Blomes resignation.

Blome now proposes a General Meeting of libertarian party membership to be held 10 September 2009, at the LaRhumba Restaurant, Niceville, at 7 PM. The purpose of the meeting is to propose an amendment to the bylaws allowing for non-scheduled elections in the absence of an EC quorum. He proposes to hold these elections prior to January 2010.

Any Okaloosa County registered libertarian may run for office, vote in LPOC elections, or propose amendments at a general meeting. Proposed amendments must be in writing.

Labels: Blome, Lee Jackson, LPOC

Any Okaloosa registered libertarian may vote absentee in any scheduled or non scheduled election.

Absentee vote ballots will be provided on the website www.libertarianpoc.org no later than two days prior to an election date.

An absentee ballot will have places for a voter to fill in their name, address, and date they signed the ballot.

Absentee ballots must be postmarked no later than the day prior to any election, or be declared invalid.

To use an absentee vote print out a copy of the ballot from the website, fill it in, and mail it to

The Libertarian Party of Okaloosa County
ABSENTEE BALLOT
P.O. Box 483
Shalimar Florida, 32579-0483

Ballot as of 6 Oct 09

Name:

Address:

Signature:

For Chairman - Pete Blome - Unopposed

For Vice Chairman - Ben Jurgens - Unopposed

For Treasurer - Jeff Bullard - Unopposed

For Secretary - Steve Copus - Unopposed


Write In Candidate (Note: any write in candidate must be able to serve IAW LPOC standing Rules)


_________________________________________________________________

To offer the American people the choice "You can have any kind of politics you want, as long as it is republican or democrat" is a sham choice, reinforced by sham laws. It is really about keeping power where it is right now...bankers, bureaucrats of all kinds, big corporations, and political parties that know how to use public law to their advantage at the expense of individual rights, free markets and limited government. It is a sophisticated form of bribing voters with their own money.

Some people say two political parties are enough to handle America's needs; that they can change with the times. I am convinced republican/democrat change is a myth. For decades they have advocated policies that work against prosperity. Both are demonstrably socialist, both trade individual rights for government promises of security, both desire to control markets, both benefit from the legalized systems of fraud and economic discrimination that are the law today, both are tied to the same technocrats that make the machine of government function day to day, and both crave power over all else. They are wedded to what they have created in this country and to each other.

Others say good people, such as Ron Paul and Peter Schiff, stick with the two party system because it works. The Pauls and the Schiffs do what they do out of political pragmatism. Ron Paul changed parties because his old district was gerrymandered out from under him, and he had to make a political choice to stay a voice for liberty or be sidelined. Schiff knows the path of least resistence is to be a republican and use the political machine already in place rather than try and get a third party engine running. To say they are voluntarily members of the GOP is the same kind of demented thinking that calls taxes "contributions" to the government.

160 years of two dominant parties comes at a price. You cannot claim you are for freedom, and at the same time limit it. You cannot claim you are legitimate, and at the same time force people into choices they otherwise would not make. And the republican and democratic parties can no more represent a new political direction in the country than changing clothes can change a persons character.

The Libertarian Party is rising from these circumstances simply because the dominant parties do not serve what makes life worth living; individual rights, free markets and limited government.

Labels: Ron Paul, Schiff, Third party