The 28ers are a local group in Riverside, CA that advocate a 28th Amendment to the Constitution, to restrict the right of corporations to engage in political speech through campaign contributions. On Tuesday, January 28, 2014 the 28ers will sponsor a debate:

Resolved: Limiting Freedom of Speech Guarantees Freedom Speech

In this new century, how should the individual, and the society at large, define the notion of speech, especially in the case of money? Arguing for the resolution is Dr. Matthew Snyder, of UC Riverside, and arguing against is Gene Berkman, co-founder of the Libertarian Party of California.

In the event that Dick Kavit can’t make it, Elizabeth Ayala will be moderating the debate.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

6:30 – 7:15: The Debate Ensues
7:15 – 7:45: Entertaining Questions from the Audience
7:45 – 8:05: Introducing The 28ers and The Riverside Libertarian Chapter

The debate will take place at:
Universalist-Unitarian Church
3657 Lemon St, Riverside, California 92501-2834

https://www.facebook.com/events/411785125591640/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular

Gene Berkman, Chair of the Riverside County Libertarian Party is scheduled to speak to the Pasadena Libertarian Group on Wednesday, September 11, 2013. Mr Berkman, long-time bookseller, will speak about “Renaissance Books – Promoting Freedom since 1984.”

The Pasadena Libertarian Group will meet at Panera Restaurant, located @ 3521 E. Foothill Blvd, in Pasadena. The meeting will take place from 7:00PM to 9:00PM, and may include other local libertarian business.

Gene Berkman founded Renaissance Book Shop in Riverside in 1983, specializing in history, philosophy, science and economics, with a large selection of science fiction. Renaissance Book Shop has always had a libertarian focus, and has served as a center of libertarian activism.

Since 1983, Renaissance Book Shop has relocated several times, and is now in its biggest location @ 3772 Elizabeth Street in Riverside, California. In late May, the Riverside Press Enterprise profiled Renaissance Book Shop on the front page of the business section. You can read the profile @ http://www.pe.com/business/local-profiles-headlines/20130522-retail-independent-riverside-bookstore-stays-the-course.ece

“Last week, Justin Amash, the two-term libertarian Republican congressman from Michigan, joined with John Conyers, the 25-term liberal Democratic congressman from the same state, to offer an amendment to legislation funding the National Security Agency (NSA). If enacted, the Amash-Conyers amendment would have forced the government’s domestic spies when seeking search warrants to capture Americans’ phone calls, texts and emails first to identify their targets and produce evidence of their terror-related activities before a judge may issue a warrant. The support they garnered had a surprising result that stunned the Washington establishment.”

“It almost passed.”

“The final vote, in which the Amash-Conyers amendment was defeated by 205 to 217, was delayed for a few hours by the House Republican leadership, which opposed the measure. The Republican leadership team, in conjunction with President Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, needed more time for arm-twisting so as to avoid a humiliating loss.”

“But the House rank-and-file did succeed in sending a message to the big-government types in both parties: Nearly half of the House of Representatives has had enough of government spying and then lying about it, and understands that spying on every American simply cannot withstand minimal scrutiny or basic constitutional analysis.”

Full article by Judge Napolitano @ Reason http://reason.com/archives/2013/08/01/rep-amash-leads-libertys-backlash

Washington, DC- At a press conference today, FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe addressed the growing list of civil liberties violations that have surfaced in recent weeks, and extended an open invitation to South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham to walk the walk implied by his casual dismissal of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution. If he has “nothing to worry about,” he should be willing to publicly release his email password. The petition can be found at http://www.LindseysPassword.com.

In a Fox and Friends interview last Thursday, Senator Graham defended the National Security Agency’s (NSA) warrantless surveillance of American civilians, telling the show’s hosts, “I don’t think you’re talking to the terrorists. I know you’re not. I know I’m not. So we don’t have anything to worry about.” Senator Graham then went one step further, concluding that he was “glad” the warrantless surveillance activity was happening in the NSA.

Kibbe commented, “Privacy is a citizen’s right to choose what information you prefer to tell the public about, and what you choose to keep to yourself. Senator Lindsay Graham recently asserted that violating the Fourth Amendment to implement warrantless government surveillance is not only acceptable, it’s welcomed. If we’re not talking to terrorists, we have nothing to worry about.”

“Respectfully, Senator, we ask you to lead by example and make your email account password available to the American people. If you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to worry about. Right?”

Kibbe also announced that FreedomWorks will be mobilizing its membership to support of Senator Rand Paul’s class action lawsuit on the constitutionality of the NSA’s secret surveillance of American citizens. “FreedomWorks plans to help Senator Paul and the ACLU organize grassroots Americans to join the legal effort to defend our Fourth Amendment rights,” Kibbe added. “Taking on the Big Brother behemoth requires the voices of many individuals across the country, and FreedomWorks wants to help give those citizens a microphone.”

FreedomWorks is a grassroots service center to a community of over 6 million activists dedicated to advancing the ideas of individual liberty and constitutionally-limited government. For more information, please visit http://www.FreedomWorks.org, or contact Jackie Bodnar at JBodnar@FreedomWorks.org.

Source: http://www.freedomworks.org/press-releases/freedomworks-president-matt-kibbe-asks-senator-lin

“When Americans expressed outrage last week over the seizure and surveillance of Verizon’s client data by the National Security Agency, President Obama responded: “In the abstract, you can complain about Big Brother . . . but when you actually look at the details, I think we’ve struck the right balance.” ”

“How many records did the NSA seize from Verizon? Hundreds of millions. We are now learning about more potential mass data collections by the government from other communications and online companies. These are the “details,” and few Americans consider this approach “balanced,” though many rightly consider it Orwellian.”

“These activities violate the Fourth Amendment, which says warrants must be specific—”particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” And what is the government doing with these records?”

Full column by Sen. Rand Paul @ The Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324634304578537720921466776.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop