Nine years after Ralph Nader made a failed presidential bid, a different administration is in the White House, his running mate has died and his biggest role in the last election was as moderator of a debate for alternative candidates

Still, he fights for 2004.

For four years, the consumer advocate and Green Party candidate has been accusing Democratic operatives of using illegal and malicious tactics against him in that campaign. The lawsuit has been winding through the courts since and appears to be far from a resolution.

MUNCIE — A Delaware County judge has ruled Ball State University can proceed with its efforts to claim a campus-area property through an eminent domain lawsuit.

Ball State seeks ownership of the University Avenue property that now is the location of Hiatt Printing to construct a facility that would include a hotel and conference center, student housing and commercial space.

Attorneys for the Hiatt family maintain that would not constitute the “public use” required to claim eminent domain.

Of course commercial property was NEVER intended by anyone as a reason for an eminent domain land grab. Yet here we are.

A pair of bills filed this week would limit early voting and eliminate same-day registration, Sunday voting and straight ticket ballots in North Carolina.

House Majority Leader Edgar Starnes (R-Caldwell) filed House Bill 451, which would end or restrict same-day registration and early voting. Senate Bill 428, filed by Sen. Jerry Tillman (R-Randolph) would slash early voting from two weeks to one and eliminate same-day voter registration while saving the state money.

“I think Sundays just should be – some things you just shouldn’t do on Sundays, so I am just opposed to voting on Sunday,” Starnes told WRAL-TV.

Both parties have used early voting to increase turnout. In 2012, more than 2 million N.C. residents – nearly 40 percent of the total who cast ballots statewide – voted early. Democrats, who have been especially adept at using early voting in recent election cycles, slammed both proposals.

Hmmm … Democrats benefit most from early voting (because they are better at get-out-the-vote). Republicans want to cut it back. Just a happy coincidence, I am sure.

In Washington and Colorado, where the personal use of marijuana has been legalized, the fledgling pot industry is beginning to take shape.

While both states ban the public use of marijuana, people like Robert Corry, owner and general counsel of Denver’s Club 64 — a private marijuana membership club — have implemented ways for people to smoke pot together while awaiting state regulations on the drug’s sale.

“At this point, there is no permit for a marijuana club. We have the supreme authority of our state. The Colorado Constitution says that we can do this under certain restrictions,” Corry told ABCNews.com “People have been getting together to smoke marijuana for millennia, so it’s not really that different.”

Was Jesus Christ a libertarian? Of course it is unfair to ask whether the founder of Christianity would agree with a political movement developed over a thousand years after His death. But it is not unfair to inquire if Christ’s beliefs would be in agreement with this movement. The Libertarian movement is initially tied into John Locke’s writings which strongly influenced the ideas of the Founding Fathers, and focuses upon constitutionalism, protection of property, Natural Law and Natural Rights. It presumes a government of basics, doing only those necessary things which individuals cannot reasonably do themselves—like building an interstate highway system or fielding an army.

The real question is what did Jesus teach upon the proper role of government in an ideal world? To sum up, while Christ recognized government as a necessary evil, nowhere in the New Testament does He glorify the concept of the state, nor cast upon it any great faith. Instead, Jesus continually extols the efficacy of His Father and His grace and Holy Spirit in terms of meeting the needs of His followers. Likewise, the Bible in such passages as Psalm 2:7-9 and Isaiah 9:6-7 describes the ever-expanding growth of the Messiah’s divine government where it is clear that God’s Kingdom supersedes man’s. This, then, is a splendid focus for the Founder’s Natural Law which focuses upon the higher law of God’s Kingdom, the only fit model for mankind’s own rule-making.

In this sense, Christ might have been more interested in a smaller-government regime in which His Believers might be more able to express their virtuous ideals of Christian living which could never have been mandated by pagan or secular governments.

Officials in Orlando, Florida (“the Greenest City in America”) are scheduled to decide today whether to ding Jason and Jennifer Helvenston $500—a day—for growing a garden in their front yard. In September, a neighbor complained to the city, which ordered them to grow a regular lawn like everyone else.

The Helvenstons have launched a web site where they offer a free packet of seeds to anyone who will join them in planting a Patriot Garden to protest intrusive government regulation of front yards.

Leaders of the York County Libertarian Party want to give voters in the 95th District an alternative to Democrats and Republicans in a special election for a state House seat.

But, first, they need to find a candidate.

Manuel Gomez, vice chairman of the Libertarian party, said he believes a Libertarian candidate could be competitive in the race. The 95th District, currently represented by state Rep. Eugene DePasquale, covers York City, North York, West York, Spring Garden Township and part of West Manchester Township.

“We definitely want to be a part of this special election,” Gomez said. “The 95th District is not one that we want to leave in the balance.”

*Note: I have no idea what state “York” is in. Major Webmaster fail.

Right now, five adults await death in prison for non-violent, marijuana-related crimes.

Their names are John Knock, Paul Free, Larry Duke, William Dekle, and Charles “Fred” Cundiff. They are all more than 60 years old; they have all spent at least 15 years locked up for selling pot; and they are all what one might call model prisoners, serving life without parole.

Right now, most Americans do not even believe marijuana should be a crime. Indeed in TWO STATES, possession has been decriminalized. When will be get rational about pot?