Thanks to Xara Menu Maker, we now have dropdown menu capability across the top. For now, this just means that the Theory area has been broken into more manageable chunks. I hope to do similarly to the Platform area soon.

August 25, 2006

We now have two new discussion groups, one at MSN and Yahoo . These groups are open to both Caucus members and nonmembers. Part of the idea is to encourage discussion with libertarians who are not yet convinced of the need to reform the LP. (For members only discussion, we have the Action Team Discussion Area.

August 20, 2006

Carl Milsted interviewed on Free Market News Network. See Mooning Politicians. This interview is a follow-up of the essay Political Party or Protest Organization which is also reprinted on this site.

July 30, 2006

We must sadly report that science fiction author and alternative LP presidential candidate L. Neil Smith was none too happy with the platform changes made in Portland. Webmaster Carl Milsted attempted to correct his errors. Alas, this inspired a rant of extraordinary magnitude by Mr. Smith. Rather fun, actually.

May 29, 2006

Nick Wilson has taken our submissions, votes and comments to put together an entire platform rewrite based mostly on everyone else's work. It is half the size of the current platform. Should we get behind this rewrite? Does it need some tweaks? Please have a look and vote!

May 3, 2006

We now have reports available on how the votes are going so far for platform and bylaws proposals, as well as how people rated the essays under Theory, Caucus, Party, and Strategy.

April 30 2006

Have done some facilitating of discussion among the membership.

I made it clear where to do general discussion of platform planks. Do so in the comments area of the "Keep the Existing Plank" area.
The comments under state by state comment areas and event areas are now viewable by members only. Strategize away.
Announcing The Action Team Discussion Boards. Here, active and potentially active members of the Caucus can strategize in private. Find the area you want to discuss and use the comments feature. If you think we need a new area, start a thread by using the usual submission button on the right sidebar.

May 1, 2006

Our magazine sized ad for the June issue of LP News has been purchased and submitted. It's a hoot! Check it out!

April 28-30, 2006

I have put the long list of existing platform planks into a scrolling box to make the platform area easier to navigate. Now you have even less excuse not to go through the platform area and vote! The box stays scrolled to your current position as you change pages. (This was a lot harder than you'd might think. By default browsers scroll the entire page when you tell them to scroll the content in an iframe tag. Rrrrrrgh!)

There is a new Bylaws area as well. This includes the Statement of Principles and the Membership Pledge. But now we are more obviously open to discussion of other bylaws matters as well.

April 23-27, 2006

We now have a new look. Georgia font has replaced Verdana for the main text. Margins are bigger, highlighting is more tasteful, sidebar fonts are more narrow. And I have finally replaced the old Prev and Next buttons (that I borrowed from quiz2d.com) with 3-d buttons that animate. I tried to look like old fashioned brass buttons with etched labels. Didn't quite achieve this, but I think they look better than what I had.

March 20, 2006

We can now accept donations online! The Libertarian Reform PAC has a PayPal account, which can accept either donations from PayPal accounts or directly from a credit or debit card. Please consider donating soon. Time is running out before the 2006 convention.

March 9, 2006

The membership stats have been improved. You can now better see how well the Caucus has recruited members into the LP, and the potential for more LP members should the Caucus be successful. You can also see breakdowns by state.

March 8, 2006

Hit stats are now public. See the bottom right corner of the home page. (Click on the top banner to get to the home page.)

March 5, 2006

I have been doing a lot over the past few weeks. It's hard to keep track of it all. Most of the changes are fairly subtle, but quite important. I have greatly improved the ergonomics for those who wish to vote on proposals, rate essays, make comments and keep track of their pending essays and proposals. Log in and you will see several new links in the upper left corner: links to the member's pages, Unread Proposals, Unread Essays, and "My Writings." The middle pair of links generate a popup window that points the main window to places you haven't been yet -- or at least haven't marked with your vote/rating.

These boxes have been around for a while, but getting to them was perhaps not so obvious. I have also improved them, making them refresh each time you hit a link from them. There is also a count of the number of proposals you have voted on so you can get a sense of your progress.

Another ergonomic tweak is that the popup boxes now properly pop to the front when you hit a comment link. Before, the comment box could get behind your main page and the link would appear to do nothing.

The "My Writings" link is important if you have submitted a proposal or essay. This link will take you to a status page to see if there are edits you need to make or approve. If you have pending writings, please check this often!

Oh, before I forget: our ad in the print edition of Reason is now out and bringing in new members!

February 18, 2006

Added a new trifold brochure for use at state conventions. Anyone going to the California convention? Also upgraded the vote boxes to allow members to login using these boxes.

February 18, 2006

We now have an ad on www.reason.com. It started around the beginning of the second week of this month. This has produced a flood of new members. Web advertising is working!

Today, we have our first celebrity contribution to this site. Best selling science fiction author David Brin, author of such works as “Startide Rising”, “The Postman”, and “The Practice Effect,” is contributing a four-part series, “Political Totemism and the Danger of Metaphors.” Part one is entitled Models, Maps and Visions of Tomorrow.

January 25, 2006

Our ads in both LP News and Liberty have run. We have a 2/3 page ad scheduled for the April edition of Reason. You can see a JPEG of the ad here. Design work is proceeding on ad on the reason.com website. Running the ad will pretty much deplete the treasury as it now stands. If you want to see more ads in LP News and elsewhere, please send money.

Other promotions of the Caucus are ongoing. The number of bloggers linking to us is growing as you can see from the sidebar on the home page. I have a new editorial at Free Market News on "The Cult of the Omnipotent State." I also have an editorial on the Free Liberal web site entitled "The Need to be Anarchists." Keep an eye out for the February LP News. I have an essay scheduled for publication along with one by fellow Caucus members Tim West and Guy McClendon.

In the Theory major section I have added links to some of David Brin's essays. David Brin addressed the LP Convention in 2002 with a very provocative keynote address, one which I think Libertarians should take to heart. He has written some good science fiction novels as well.

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