LCI's Anniversary, Year One - It's Only Just Begun

Liberty Chronicle Independent celebrates it's first anniversary, created on March 12, 2016

If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be an Editor of a news aggregator for Third-Parties, Liberty minded candidates/politicians and groups, I'd have told you that you were crazy.  Here we are though, 2017 and celebrating the first anniversary of LCI.  We have published over 80 articles filled with media releases by liberty candidates and interviews with them, from all over the world.

Snapshot of LCI during the the first week of launch

Press access to the action packed election year of 2016 with Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, and even sitting down and talking with Gary Johnson.  I was there for all of those, including the live-streamed breaking coverage of the 2016 Orlando, FL Libertarian National Convention that established us as a global news site across the world, getting viewership live from Germany, Russia and other major countries.

2016 Presidential candidate of Libertarian Party, Gary Johnson being interviewed by Liberty Chronicle Independent Editor in Chief, David Malekar

We preformed over 30 interviews with Liberty based candidates since LCI's inception and hope to double that, triple, quadruple and so on.  Personally, your Editor in Chief is based out of Seattle, Washington and is able to give locals to the area exclusive video interviews that set them apart in the running of 2016.  Great candidates such as 2016's Public Lands Commissioner runner, Steve McLaughlin and Attorney General candidate Joshua Trumbull, both for Washington state.  Other notable coverage from WA was exclusive Press Access with Milo Yiannopoulos where there was a shooting and I was not allowed to leave the building due to security concerns.  One of the videos from the event can be seen below where antifa protestors clashed with attendees and police.

You can watch all of the coverage here at the following link, including my full coverage of Milo's presentation from the exclusive Press area: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnWa6nC3vPW9bQ-DUuQ8ziO2l6o8Z8c4l

LCI had and still maintains many independent contributors and their articles, such as Ken Buckler (former E.I.C.) with articles that were featured on the front page of the Libertarian Party's website.  Articles by Chaplain Scott Scrimshaw who wrote amazing pieces during the Gary Johnson campaign.  A notable personal favorite of mine is the article about how everyone was (and still is) afraid of Hillary Clinton, from all sides of the political spectrum.  We were able to make impacts with local individuals such as Mike Lapointe who worked day and night towards community development and helping the homeless of Everett, WA and surrounding Greater Seattle area.  The Facebook page of Liberty Chronicle Independent saw major numbers for a starting site with some months hitting half a million combined views between the website, Twitter, and Facebook page.

LCI saw impressive numbers for being new to the news scene during it's inception year

Just a few days ago at the time of this article's release, I was informed that LCI is now being used as a source on Wikipedia, citing the 2014 and hopefully 2018 Libertarian Governor candidate of Maryland, Shawn Quinn.

LCI is being sourced via Wikipedia, a place in history books forever.

What an incredible year.

So what lies ahead for LCI?  More, much more.  This is only the beginning.  The goal is to have independent contributors from every state, even from around the world.  The mainstream media is dying.  People are rejecting the old two party system.  Currently, Gen Z is growing up with Liberty as the idea of "counter-culture."  This is the future of media and news.  LCI's news ticker grabs information daily from across the world for Libertarian, Green and Constitution Party, New Right and much more liberty minded news.  The expansion of news coverage will only continue.

Liberty Chronicle Independent Editor in Chief, David Malekar covers Milo Yiannopoulos live at University of Washington via the Press Box - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePF78xrzSQY

If you are interested in getting a start into journalism and writing about Liberty, do not hesitate to contact us through the Facebook page.  Who knows?  You could be the next Milo Yiannopoulos or Tomi Lahren of the Independent news media?  Maybe even, just maybe, close the level of Editor of LCI prestige of David Malekar? Chuckling while typing that, you can achieve any level of greatness with effort.  As one of our regulars on LCI, Michelle Darnell would say, "be the change you wish to see."

This contribution is from Seattle-based independent journalist, David Malekar, Editor in Chief for the Liberty Chronicle Independent; and publishes content to other online publications.

Changing of the Guard - New Editor!

It is with great honor that I announce Liberty Chronicle Independent has transferred ownership to David Malekar, who has been the heart and soul of this site since its start.

David will assume all duties as editor, and manage LCI from here on out.

I will remain in an advisory capacity only, and may occasionally contribute articles.

Please join me in congratulating David!!!!!!!

-Ken Buckler, former editor

The "Fake News" Accusations Have Begun Against Independent News Sites

Well, it's finally happened. The "Fake News" accusations have begun against independent media.

There's a growing problem in the United States and the rest of the world - truth in media is almost nonexistent when it comes to mainstream media news sources.

Years ago, I set out to solve this problem, by creating my own news site. This site has no advertisers, no paid staff. Only volunteers committed to writing the truth.

Now, this news site is under attack, with claims that our articles are fake.

Unlike traditional media which rushes to be the first to break a story, Liberty Chronicle Independent puts quality above quantity, carefully verifying any article we write or share from another news site.

I want you to ask yourself a question for a moment - what would we have to gain here for fake news? We have no advertisers, and any news from outside sources we share, we get zero revenue from their advertisers.

Could it be, that we are trying to just make a difference? Could it be that we're trying to restore integrity to journalism?

I don't have to run Liberty Chronicle Independent. It costs me money to host the site, money which I don't try to recoup at all.  It's my way of giving back to the community.

Want to help? Submit an article. Anybody can do it, and if our verification of the article checks out (because we will check the sources you include), we will publish it.

Still think we're fake news? Well, I'm sorry to hear it. Please feel free to return to whatever fake news mainstream media site you frequently visit, and continue to wear blinders for the rest of your life. But for those of you who want to, for those of you who choose to, you can join us on our mission of restoring integrity to journalism, and promoting liberty.

Ken is the editor of the Liberty Chronicle Independent

Hogan's Accidental War on Full-Time Workers

ANNAPOLIS, MD - Yesterday Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced he intends to introduce legislation which will require companies with 50 or more workers who work 30 hours or more per week to provide 40 hours of paid sick leave per year.

At face value, this seems like an excellent attempt at helping full time workers stay home when they're sick, so they can take care of themselves and not spread illness to others.

Unfortunately, as the famous saying goes, "results may vary".

For some companies, offering a week of paid sick leave to 50 employees may be too much to impact their bottom line. You see, when an employee calls off sick, if the job is something such as warehouse or manufacturing, the employer has to make a choice - either allow production to be negatively impacted (which costs money), or call in another employee to take over that shift (which also costs money). Now, the business must also cover the employee's pay as if they were still at work.

I know what you're thinking - but don't many businesses offer paid sick leave? Yes, many do. In fact, my own employer, which has less than 10 employees, offers a week of paid sick leave. However, that is part of why I chose my current employer, because of the employee benefits.

Benefits, not just wages, are a driving force behind employment decisions. A prospective employee is more likely to work for a business with lower pay and good benefits, than work for an employer with higher pay and no benefits.

So what is a business to do, if it has over 50 employees but can't afford to pay them a full week of sick leave? The business has two options - either cut back on the number of full time employees (thanks Obama!), or leave Maryland completely just like Beretta is doing because of Maryland's gun laws. Neither of these options is good for the employees or the state.

In all fairness, Governor Hogan is on the right track with his $20,000 tax incentive for paid sick leave for businesses under 50 employees. In my opinion, giving a business a tax break, instead of fining or penalizing them, is always preferable. Imagine how many additional full time jobs Maryland could possibly create if we created a sliding scale, not just offering tax breaks for businesses under 50 employees offering paid sick leave, but increasingly larger tax breaks for larger businesses.

Very rarely do I utilize this site to vocalize my own beliefs, and I absolutely believe businesses should offer their workers paid sick leave. But I cannot support forcing them to do so.

Please contact Governor Hogan today, and tell him this is a bad deal for Maryland workers. We want Maryland to be open for business, not driving away business.

Ken is the editor of the Liberty Chronicle. This editorial does not reflect or represent the view of his employers or clients.