INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- At the time Travis Cross chartered the first libertarian Meetup in Indiana, Ron Paul was a little-known congressman from Texas and the Meetup forum had not begun its explosion into political circles.

Cross, the former District 7 representative to the LPIN State Central Committee, created the group meeting four years ago this month. The discussion group was only the 42nd libertarian club in the country and quickly grew to become a fixture in the top ten largest libertarian groups within the online community.

Today, over 300 groups exist within the libertarian category, with group membership eclipsing 18,000. While much of the interest grew as the Ron Paul phenomenon took over the communities, these groups are not alone in experiencing the growth.

ELKHART, IN -- When Jill Cohen and her family began their Ron Paul "rEVOLution" efforts in 2007, no one knew the rallies would turn into meetings, meetings into networking and networking into a public leadership role and a key position in distributing Ron Paul's The Revolution: A Manifesto throughout northern Indiana.

Swept up with the common sense, libertarian message Congressman Paul offers in his campaign for President, Cohen became an authorized reseller of his manifesto and has been continuing to satiate the needs of Constitution-crazed Paulites since its availability.

The Middlebury activist is now starting the Revolution Book Club in Elkhart to provide a forum for discussion and better understanding of Paul's writings.

Formal details of the meeting location, time and frequency will depend upon interest. To make your interest known, contact Jill at jemc17(a)msn.com.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Hon. Bob Barr will hold a press conference on Monday May 12 to discuss his future plans and the 2008 election. Rep. Barr (Barr's Bio) launched an exploratory committee last month to determine whether he should file as a candidate for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination.

Who: The Hon. Bob Barr

What: press conference

When: 11:00am ET on Monday May 12, 2008

Where: Zenger Room at the National Press Club, 529 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC

Reprinted with permission from the Cato Institute.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Faced with the prospect of years in prison, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, known as the “D.C. Madam,” committed suicide on Thursday (5/1). Her pursuers and prosecutors should be ashamed of themselves.

Running a house of prostitution is not a distinction most of us would wish for our daughters. But it’s a vice, not a crime. That’s a crucial distinction in a free society. So far as we know, she never murdered, raped, assaulted, robbed, or defrauded anyone. Like any broker, she brought together willing buyers and willing sellers. And for doing so, she was convicted–not actually of prostitution but of “racketeering” and money laundering — and faced up to 55 years in prison, though prosecutors estimated that her sentence would likely be “only” four to six years.

LAS VEGAS, NV - When Jim Duensing views the events of September 11, 2001, the more he questions, the more questions arise. His new group, Libertarians for Justice, is urging a U.S. Congressional investigation into the events surrounding the infamous day.

In the minds of many libertarians, the day's tragic events have led to a rapid erosion of our civil liberties. Foremost among those is the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, the passage of the Patriot Act, the suspension of habeas corpus and the Posse Comitatus Act, the implementation of suspect federal surveillance and wiretapping, as well as the expansion of stifling commercial travel restrictions.

Duensing and his Libertarians for Justice members are asking like-minded libertarians to sign a pledge in support of the congressional inquiry.

The pledge reads:

PLYMOUTH, IN -- Ryan Liedtky is new to Indiana politics. The soft-spoken writer, college student and baseball coach is up for the challenge. He has filed to run as Marshall County's first libertarian candidate.

For a county established in 1836, that's quite a few years without a libertarian choice. So why now?

Consider Liedtky is one of four candidates running for the best of three at-large positions for the County Council. Consider he's the only candidate in the field not directly employed by the county or area municipal governments. And, consider he's the only candidate vowing to give proper scrutiny to county expenses.

"Looking through the Council minutes, every vote has gone uncontested," Liedtky explains. "There are no questions being asked. None."

The lack of inquiry and due diligence has proven costly to Marshall County taxpayers, also.