TAG LIB_TALK
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                        LIBERTY TALK
                 Libertarian Activist Forum
                     RULES AND POLICIES
                 
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                  Updated December 23, 1999

This message will be posted each month and from time to time to 
introduce new users to the LIBERTY TALK newsgroup and discussion 
list. It will also update all users in any changes or modifications
to the existing rules and policies as they occur.

The LIBERTY TALK newsgroup is dedicated to discussion of libertarian 
ideas and libertarian political activism, and announcements of
interest 
to libertarians.  This includes, but is not limited to, activities of 
the Libertarian Party.

Participation by all who wish to discuss these topics, whether they
label themselves "libertarians" or not, is welcome.  People who just
want to find out more about libertarian ideas and the libertarian
movement are also welcome to follow the discussions and ask questions.
But the topic IS libertarianism -- long debates about other political
philosophies and announcements not relating to freedom issues do not
belong here (see "other conferences and newsgroups", below).

This is an international newsgroup. Please do not post announcements 
that would be of interest only to people in your city (e.g., the 
schedule for an ordinary local meeting).  When posting a message 
about something happening in your area that might be of wider 
interest (e.g., a campaign, pending legislation, a court case, a 
bigger meeting), be sure to include the information that people in 
other places will need to make sense of it (e.g., say what city you 
are talking about, include area codes in phone numbers, etc.).

Your state LP or other group of libertarians may have established an
additional newsgroup or list for discussion of libertarian or LP 
topics on a state or county level. Check with your sysop or local 
libertarian organizations.

   OTHER LIBERTARIAN-ORIENTED POLITICAL DISCUSSION GROUPS

LIBERTY NORTHWEST CONFERENCE & NEWSGROUP:  Liberty Northwest is
a regional discussion group formed to promote libertarianism in
the Pacific Northwest, although it is open to a world-wide 
audience as well.  It has a moderate to heavy load of daily
traffic, and is most likely the largest libertarian-oriented
political conference in North America.  There is no limiting on 
topics of discussion, nor on who participates. Anyone from any 
perspective whatsoever can subscribe.  It is also available on 
three simultaneous platforms, Fidonet, Usenet Newsgroup, and 
by email subscription.

    1.  FIDONET:  Your sysop can AREAFIX Liberty Northwest 
from a hub carrying the Fidonet Z1 Backbone, with the "keyword" 
(upper case) LIB_NW (exactly as here written).  Your Fidonet
BBS sysop must have access to Backbone traffic.

    2.  USENET NEWSGROUP:  Available from the following 
news server:  news.spokane.wa.us.  Netscape and MS Explorer
users will have to add this server, then point to "groups" and
subscribe to:  spk.liberty_nw. 

    3.  EMAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS:  Send a blank email message to:
libnw@dmi.net with the subject line reading:  subscribe libnw

LIBERNET and LIBERNET-d:  These are companion groups with
different purposes, and they have historically been the rather
"official" national platform surrounding the Libertarian Party
of the U.S.  LIBERNET is more for official national LP business,
news releases and other matters, while LIBERNET-d is the
companion group for actual wide-range discussions covering
almost any topic coming into focus with libertarianism at all.
Both of these groups originally were gated into the Fidonet
echo LIBERTY.  This is no longer the case, and LIBERTY is not
used at this moment since it never achieve Fidonet Backbone
status and no BBS wishes to support it as I speak.  It is
listed in the Fidonet Echolist, since it is supported currently
in that form by Liberty Northwest, but there has been no usage
for years.  The LIBERNETs also have all but disappeared and
traffic is next to nonexistent at this time.  Both are available
only via email subscription at this time:

     Send a blank email letter to:
     majordomo@listserv.prodigy.com with the subject line:
     subscribe libernet or subscribe libernet-d

LIBERTALK and LIBERTALK-d:  Hosted by the University of Michigan, 
it too has very little traffic on a day to day basis.  At the
administrative level, I have not been able to talk with anyone
for several months.  The list still exists, but participation
levels are next to zilch and the number of current subscribers
is unknown.  To get more information, send an email request to: 
listserv@umich.edu.  

OTHER LIBERTARIAN NATIONAL USENET NEWSGROUPS:

alt.politics.libertarian and talk.politics.libertarian are both
alive on the national Usenet Backbone and can be picked up 
virtually anywhere news is available.  Somewhat related Civil
Liberties newsgroups are:  alt.society.civil-liberty and
alt.society.civil-liberties (almost identical traffic, take
your pick on the last two).  The first two also have a lot
of crossposting between them.  Spam is there on all of these,
but not as bad as most of the alt. groups.
LIBERNET & LIBERNET-D
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            LIBERTY NORTHWEST CONFERENCE & NEWSGROUP
  "The only libertarian-oriented political discussion conference on 
  the Fidonet Z1 Backbone..."        Fidonet SysOps AREAFIX: LIB_NW
  USENET NG SERVER: news.osirusoft.com   Subscribe: fidonews.lib.nw
                 Visit Liberty Northwest on the Web:
             http://members.spree.com/lib_nw/confer.htm
          Email Subscriptions: To Subscribe or unsubscribe: 
  libnw-subscribe@onelist.com    *    libnw-unsubscribe@onelist.com
   
    ...Liberty is never an option... only a condition to be lost
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