America today is a nation in trouble. The great fortress of liberty, the country of the most productive, prosperous, and happy people in the world is in grave danger. America is under siege by the Dark Side, the forces of statism, while its Knights of Liberty are disarmed, demoralized, and suffering near-fatal wounds.

The country that once elected leaders whose ideas upheld liberty now elects leaders whose sweet-sounding platitudes and woozy promises are all that is required; and whose actual, dangerous ideas need not be examined until after Election Day.

At the end of 1776 Thomas Paine wrote a series of articles entitled "American Crisis." This series played a critical role in saving the Revolutionary war against the British. Most of the British officers returned home for the winter thinking that the war was over. It was a very bleak time for the colonial army after their humiliating loss in New York. Most of the troops went home for the winter, and those that stayed were freezing and starving. Many defected to the British.

Paine's first letter in the American Crisis series shifted the public awareness, and troops enlisted and people donated essential materials. Paine’s articles made a major impact.

Jury Rights Day

September 5, 2008 marked the 338th anniversary of when jurors refused to convict William Penn of violating England's Conventicle Acts, despite clear evidence that he acted illegally by preaching a Quaker sermon. In refusing to convict Penn, the jurors ignored what they knew to be an unjust law. This is known as jury nullification.

Jefferson fought for a country in which the government had no power to encroach on the mind, the life, the liberty, or the property of the individual. He fought for a country in which the individual was unshackled for the first time in history and could live for the pursuit of his own happiness, instead of being a pawn in the hands of the state.

With a new Congress convening, it’s time to recall the ideals of America as expressed by Thomas Jefferson in the American Declaration of Independence. This expression of the the Declaration is updated to reflect the current usurpations and threats we face. This writing makes an urgent call for our recently elected representatives to fulfill the promise of America envisioned by our Founders and for we, the people, to insist that they do.

Kazman explains that as convenient as driving may be, it is much, much more than that. It is a lovely activity, and a moral activity, and control over it is one of the last things you would want to give up to any government.

Political-economic theory in America is increasingly losing its compass. Sustainable Development activists promote policies of unlimited government intervention and many intellectuals promote the opposite side of the political spectrum – anarcho capitalism. This 30 year old essay charts the course for a political-economic theory predicated on reason and logic – the necessity of limited government.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Santa Cruz County government is once again admonished by a high court for abusing citizens.