Steve Newton, author of The Delaware Libertarian is actively blogging again.

He's been back for about a month now discussing local & national politics. Recent topics include the LP Presidential Ticket and the School Board elections.

Check out his blog at http://delawarelibertarian.blogspot.com

LAS VEGAS – The Libertarian Party on Saturday nominated Judge James P. Gray of California for Vice President of the United States, giving him a chance to take his agenda of downsizing the federal government and marijuana decriminalization to Washington.

Jim Gray was declared the party’s Vice Presidential nominee after he won 59 percent of the vote in the first round of balloting. He received 357 votes from the 600 delegates of the National Libertarian Convention held at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, Nev.

His closest challenger, Lee Wrights of Texas, finished second with 229 votes.

LAS VEGAS - The Libertarian Party nominated former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson for President of the United States, expressing confidence he will be able to find effective small-government solutions to the country’s most pressing problems and mount a strong challenge to his major party rivals.

Mr. Johnson was declared the party’s Presidential nominee after he won 70% percent of the vote in the first round of balloting, receiving 419 of the 595 votes cast.

His closest challenger, R. Lee Wrights of Texas, finished second with 152 votes.

We've heard a lot about "piracy" in the last few months. But as you'd expect, there's a lot of confusion, particularly by the folks doing the name-calling, about what pirates really are.

By Joel Bowman at The Daily Reckoning

02/02/12 Buenos Aires, Argentina – What the market giveth, the state rises to taketh away.

One of the more striking features of this whole modern spectacle must surely be the stark contrast between the state and the free markets that exist stubbornly, gloriously, in spite of its best efforts. Wherever evidence presents itself, it appears to do so with the sole purpose of expressing this juxtaposition in ever-higher relief.

by Brian Roberts

Last week, Boston Bruin’s goalie Tim Thomas declined an offer to visit the White House and shared these thoughts regarding his motivation:

By Mark Thornton

You can chart the course of human progress in terms of how clean our clothing is. In early times people used animal skins, had no change of clothing, and had no soap. By Adam Smith’s day soap had improved in quality, was produced industrially, and was becoming available to the common man.

by Jim Babka

This is an open letter to my fellow Christians. If it moves you, please share it with other believers. It is intended to be a chain letter, to spread and cause discussion. 

Here is The Golden Rule as expressed by Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ . . .

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you..." And in this instance its "golden" because it "...sums up the Law and the Prophets." [Matthew 7:12 (NIV)]

On Tuesday, January 17, 2012, in the South Carolina Republican debate, candidate Ron Paul said the following...

My point is, if another country does to us what we do others, we're not going to like it very much. So I would say that maybe we ought to consider a golden rule in foreign policy. [loud boos begin to drown out Paul] Don't do to other nations what we don't want to have them do to us. [indecipherable angry shouts can be heard]

The booing stunned me. Maybe it wouldn't have a while back. Maybe I would've booed too. After all . . .

By Walter Williams on LewRockwell.com:

National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Deborah Hersman has called for states to mandate a total ban on cellphone usage while driving. She has also encouraged electronics manufacturers – via recommendations to the CTIA-The Wireless Association and the Consumer Electronics Association – to develop features that "disable the functions of portable electronic devices within reach of the driver when a vehicle is in motion." That means she wants to be able to turn off your cellphone while you're driving.

With very little evidence, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration claims that there were some 3,092 roadway fatalities last year that involved distracted drivers. Americans ought to totally reject Hersman's agenda. It's the camel's nose into the tent. Down the road, we might expect mandates against talking to passengers while driving or putting on lipstick. They may even mandate the shutdown of drive-in restaurants as a contributory factor to driver distraction through eating while driving.

You say, "Come on, Williams, you're paranoid. There are already laws against distracted driving, and it would never come to that!" Let's look at some other camels' noses into tents.