Pro-Liberty News and Opinion | Libertarian Voluntaryist

We finally know the origins of the dreadful Swine Flu!

I’m sure you have heard the news: the Swine Flu is going to be a pandemic worthy of great attention from governments all over the world including that of the United States. While the mainstream media is spreading the fear, many people are running for vaccainations and crowing to the government for intervention.

The truth, however, is that, according to the highest numbers I could find, 81 people have died from the scary Swine Flu.

To put that number into perspective, roughly 36,000 people die every single year from influenza, or the regular flu. Maybe 81 isn’t such a large number.

To end on a slightly depressing, yet humorous note, the pandemic has apparently been on its way since 1976:

I’m a Penguins fan by heart, but I’ve always liked the Bruins, and this video is just hilarious!

Originally written for digitaljournal.com visit the link and vote for the story to improve its visibility.

On May 11 the US Post Office is raising the price of stamps by 2¢. Even in the face of increasing prices, many people will argue that the Post Office is necessary because a private organization could never perform these functions for a similar cost. The story of Lysander Spooner, however, might rekindle the debate over the necessity of a monopoly Post Office.

WHO WAS LYSANDER SPOONER?

Lysander Spooner is an obscure figure in American history. He is so forgotten, in fact, that his voluminous Collected Works has remained out of print for many years. The six-volume collection, which contains 36 works, can be found used on sites like Amazon.com for upwards of $400. This current obscurity, however, does not mean that he was an unimportant figure.

Spooner achieved many great things in his lifetime including his active campaigning against slavery and the publication of his most famous work titled The Unconstitutionality of Slavery (1846), which influenced the likes of Fredrick Douglas. One of his lesser-known ventures, however, was his creation of the American Letter Mail Company, which was a private mail delivery service that was meant to compete directly with the United States Postal Service.

Spooner was born on January 19th 1808 at a farm in Athol, Massachusetts. He studied law under John Davis, who would later serve in the House of Representatives and Senate and as Governor of Massachusetts, and Charles Allen, who would serve in the House of Representatives. Spooner, however, never attended college. Under state law, non-graduates were required to study under attorneys for five years, while graduates were only required to do so for three years. Spooner, however, saw this law as unfair and he therefore flaunted it, setting up his own practice in Worcester, Massachusetts after only three years. He also viewed the regulations as unfair discrimination against poor individuals who might not be able to afford attend school.

Spooner’s legal career turned out to be a disappointment, as his radical writings seemed to have driven customers away. He also attempted to make a living as a real estate speculator, but that venture failed as well. Spooner decided to move back to his father’s farm in 1840. His time spent as lawyer, nevertheless, was not a total waste, as it would eventually aid him in his future court battles over his private mail delivery company.

Spooner’s most well known book, The Unconstitutionality of Slavery, was published in 1846. The book was very influential at the time, inspiring such prominent individuals as Fredrick Douglas. Douglas was originally a disunionist abolitionist who believed that the United States Constitution legally recognized and enforced the oppression of slaves. He would later come to accept the pro-Constitution argument, citing Spooner’s arguments as his rationale.

From the time the book was published to 1861 Spooner actively campaigned against slavery. He provided his legal services to escaped slaves, often free of charge, while also publishing pamphlets on the concept of Jury Nullification. This theory provides that a jury may find a defendant innocent despite their violation of the letter of the law, if they believe that said law is inherently unjust. Spooner presumably believed that informing the public about this idea would allow them to find escaped slaves innocent even though they violated the law.

Previous to the publication of The Unconstitutionality of Slavery Spooner founded the American Letter Mail Company as a direct opposition to the United States Post Office. Today, many Americans believe that it is a necessity to have a government sanctioned monopoly organization, such as the Post Office, deliver the mail. They will argue that a private company could never fulfill such a daunting task as delivering the mail across the entire country without charging outlandish prices. Not only does Lysander Spooner’s saga prove this mentality wrong, it also shows that the government is just as likely over charge for the delivery of mail as a private corporation.

Read the rest of this entry »

The sports broadcasting world will be better off without you!

Check the store for the brand new “I’m Too Big to Fail” t-shirt. Join in as we make a mockery of the so-called big banks that are receiving tax-payer funded bailouts. Available in two colors.

It is not too often that I write fiction, but something recently inspired me to write the following. Please leave comments (positive and negative are welcome) as I thoroughly enjoy criticism. Anyway, without further adieu:

The Labyrinth

A young, overconfident, man approached the Law, which was staunchly guarded by a towering gatekeeper whose fractured gray skin seemed barely able to hold in his protruding masses. A war hammer was tightly grasped in both of his claws with the pointed edge near his face in a defensive manner.

“I want to see the Law,” the young man proclaimed in a louder than normal voice.

The gatekeeper slammed the flat head of the hammer down onto the ground, shaking the crust of the earth while forcing the young man to stumble as though loosing his balance in an awkwardly unfamiliar dance. “What business do you have with the Law?” he inquired in a piercing, booming voice.

“Well,” the boy replied, quite simply, “I think that every man should have equal access to the Law.”

The gatekeeper stepped to the side revealing a stone barricade that stretched to the horizon in both directions. A stone slab, which was covered in vines, moved slowly to the left to reveal a narrow passageway. The boy peered inside, his smirk disappearing, as he realized that everything inside was cast in shadows.

“I am only the first protector,” the gatekeeper proclaimed, “and you may pass if you wish, but the more consumed you become with your journey, the more powerful the gatekeepers become. The third is so powerful that even the sight of him would obliterate me.”

Read the rest of this entry »