Is there a right to own a gun? Mike Huemer says yes. Download his meticulously crafted argument at http://home/sprynet.com/~owl1/politics.htm.

Jury Rights Day Video--September 5th

AVLP members Deanna Peugeot, Richard Huemer, and Jason Gonella, among others, observed Jury Rights Day by handing out  literature on jury rights at the Lancaster courthouse. The framed proclamation is from Palmdale Mayor James C. Ledford, Jr. The L.A. Board of Supervisors also voted   to commemorate Sept. 5 as Jury Rights Day, as we suggested. 
A Dangerous Man  and a  Dangerous Place

"To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists, for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve." --John Ashcroft

Picture source: Internet e-mail
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE A.C.L.U.

(This started out as a private letter to Ramona Ripston, Executive Director of ACLU of Southern California, who failed to answer it.)

Dear Ms. Ripston:

I am returning my ACLU membership card. I request that the ACLU cancel my new membership and refrain completely from mailing any solicitations or other literature to my residence...

The source of my deep disappointment with ACLU is the exultant report in ACLU Open Forum of your organization's role in the defeat of Proposition 54. Before now, I was not aware of the part you had played. ACLU does a lot of good things, but this blunder offsets much of the good.

As an educated person, Ms. Ripston, you must be aware that there is not actually such a thing as "race". It follows no known pattern of inheritance, Mendelian or otherwise. The Human Genome Project revealed no "race genes". There is no biochemical test for it. It's not an inherent biological property of human beings, so it isn't relevant to medical research.

At best, the idea of race is a "fuzzy set" of phenotypic characteristics with large intra-group variances. Those are so large, in relation to the between-group variation, as to render the concept essentially useless as a way of classifying people.

It's quite useless scientifically, although not politically. Since the time of Columbus, this wickedly divisive notion has been used by governments to oppress, demean, enslave, disenfranchise and kill Native Americans, African Americans, Chinese Americans, and pretty much any group lacking power. Politicians now use it to gain votes and money by dividing Americans against each other.

Californians had an opportunity to begin dismantling an ancient lie--the notion of "race"--that has enslaved or killed millions over the centuries. Thanks to ACLU, that won't happen for a while.

Yours truly,

Richard P. Huemer, MD (10/17/03)

REFERENCE: Huemer, A.A.: The Invention of "Race": The Columbian Turn in Modern Consciousness. Agathon Books, Lander, WY, 1998; ISBN 0966244370
LIBERTARIANS: Has your brain been befuddled by Dr. Thomas Szasz's looney-tunes notions about mental illness? CLICK HERE to read Dr. Richard Huemer's article on mental illness and the mind-body problem.

Harry Browne [June 17, 1933 - March 1, 2006]

In place of "The Blue Screen of Death: An Open Letter to Harry Browne", which has been posted in this space since shortly after the events of 9/11, we offer this appreciation of Harry Browne, author, financial advisor, and twice Libertarian Party candidate for the U.S. Presidency. The press notice (from www.downsizeDC.org) reads, in part, as follows:

Browne broke into national prominence in the early 1970s with three best-selling books. ÒHow You Can Profit from the Coming DevaluationÓ was the first to make the best-seller lists. His next book, ÒHow I Found Freedom in an Unfree World,Ó is widely regarded as a modern libertarian classic and has gone through many printings and editions. His third book, ÒYou Can Profit from a Monetary Crisis,Ó reached #1 on the New York Times best-seller list. Browne was also the author of 11 other books, including ÒWhy Government Doesn't WorkÓ and ÒThe Great Libertarian Offer.Ó Browne twice ran for President as the nominee of the Libertarian Party in 1996 and 2000. He was a frequent guest on radio and TV, both as a political and financial commentator. Browne was a co-founder of DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

We were privileged to meet Harry Browne one time, back in 2002. It was at an investment seminar in San Francisco. After his lecture, he graciously agreed to our request for a photo with him. He also emailed us "The 16 Golden Rules of Financial Safety." We have consulted those rules many times when we've felt bewildered by the financial world, and more than once they've saved our bacon.

In this way, and as a spokesman for liberty, Harry touched our lives--as he did the lives of hundreds of thousands of others, according to the press notice. We wish we'd had the chance to know him personally, but we're grateful that his words will live on to guide future generations. --R.P.H.

Want more? Check out some of our favorite libertarian sites:

www.avlp.org Antelope Valley Libertarian Party
www.lp.org National Libertarian Party
www.cato.org Cato Institute
www.free-market.net The Freedom Network
www.eff.org Electronic Frontier Foundation
www.fija.org How juries can nullify bad laws
www.forhealthfreedom.org Keep medical files private!
www.libertarian.org The name says it all