End the War on Freedom - Links and Commentary from my Crypto-Anarcho-Libertarian Perspective

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Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:14:42 +0000

"Thus, these days I focus on working on the technologies that actually make anarchy inevitable, instead of arguing about its inevitability. I don't wish to merely delegitimize statism, but rather to genuinely outcompete it. The rest will take care of itself." -- Arto Bendiken

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Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:10:01 +0000

From Fr33Agents:

"While interacting with people tomorrow who wish you a 'happy 4th' or 'happy 4th of July', politely correct them and let them know it is in fact Independence Day. Now I know what you're thinking, the Declaration of Independence didn't really make anyone free, so who cares? You're right, but one of the nice things about America is it has a rich fantasy history of freedom that people love. So use it to your advantage." -- Fuzz-Grunge

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Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:17:57 +0000

From Twitter:

"Prediction: Algore will eventually admit that 'global warming' was only his own personal hot flashes from approaching male menopause." -- L. Neil Smith

Industrial Hemp: Bill Passes Oregon Legislature, Heads for Governor's Desk

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:01:37 +0000

Drug War Chronicle - Oregon will soon become the ninth state to legalize industrial hemp. It still remains illegal under federal law, to protect Hearst's forests and du Pont's bleach.

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The states that have okayed hemp production are Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota, Vermont and West Virginia. North Dakota has even issued licenses to would-be hemp farmers for the past two years, but the federal prohibition has prevented any hemp planting.

Gambino Appreciation Day: An Allegory for the Fourth of July

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:58:49 +0000

Don Emmerich - a bullseye in describing the nature of a protection racket, like gummint.

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It was bad enough that Saul had to hand over his hard-earned money to the Gambinos. But to be asked to celebrate this injustice? To be asked to decorate his deli in the Gambino family colors? To be told to put up that stupid banner? “Gambino Appreciation Day”? It was too much. It was just too much.

What's good for the goose ...

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:47:10 +0000

Tom Knapp - now that California has decided to send IOUs to its creditors, Tom thinks it's time for California businesses to send IOUs instead of tax payments. Makes sense to me.

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Full-scale tax revolt would be better, though. Imagine if next week, instead of checks and wire transfers from California employers representing all that state income tax withholding, Sacramento got a boatload of notices: "When you get your act together, let us know; at that point we'll re-evaluate your credit rating and consider sending you money again. Maybe."

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Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:05:25 +0000

"No science is necessary to know that human-caused global warming is a hoax. Just follow the money." -- Bill St. Clair

The Moratorium

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:42:49 +0000

The Moratorium, L. Neil Smith's new web site, which he introduced in Sunday's TLE, is live. Neil proposes a Constitutional amendment, banning the creation of any new laws, federal, state, or local, for at least 100 years.

Death of a Civilization

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:21:10 +0000

David Deming at LewRockwell.com - tells the tale of the Xhosa in Southeast Africa in the nineteenth century. They followed the vision of a young girl who "heard" that they must kill all their cattle. Many starved to death. The rest emigrated. Algore's carbon-is-bad vision will kill Western civilization, if we get rid of coal and oil before a viable alternative exists. [westernrifleshooters]

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Like the prophet Mhlakaza, Al Gore promises that if we stop using carbon-based energy, new energy technologies will magically appear. The laws of physics and chemistry will be repealed by political will power. We will achieve prosperity by destroying the very means by which prosperity is created.

While Western Civilization sits confused, crippled with self-doubt and guilt, the Chinese are rapidly building an energy-intensive technological civilization. They have 2,000 coal-fired power plants, and are currently constructing new ones at the rate of one a week. In China, more people believe in free-market economics than in the US. Our Asian friends are about to be nominated by history as the new torchbearers of human progress.

Oath Keepers' New Web Site

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:00:46 +0000

Oath Keepers has moved off of Blogger to their own web site: http://oathkeepers.org/oath/ [tmm]

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Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:24:36 +0000

"After the Franken-win Obama can now command the Franken-state he's always wanted." -- Bill St. Clair

You're Not the Boss of Me!

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:23:24 +0000

Larken Rose - an introduction to the speech Mr. Rose intends to give in Philadelphia on Saturday, July 4, 2009.

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What would the equivalent of the Declaration of Independence look like today? Well, we would have a lot MORE to complain about than the colonists did, with far higher taxes, far more intrusive regulation, and a much higher level of oppression all around. But what would the conclusion be? It wouldn't be, "So you better change those laws!" It would be more like this:

"Dear Federal Government, you're fired! We're not paying your taxes anymore, not obeying your laws ever again, and from now on we will resist your thugs when you try to enforce your will on us."

How many Americans would dare to even THINK such a thing, much less say it out loud, or write it down and send it to the feds? Very few, indeed. The truth is, the spirit of resistance is all but dead in this country. Even among those in the pro-freedom movement, the vast majority of efforts revolve around begging the masters to be nice, petitioning for or against this or that legislation, arguing over WHICH politician should run our lives and take our money.

"Write your congressman and tell him to oppose ... " "Promise to vote against any candidate who doesn't support ... " "Sign this petition, to push legislation which will ... "

I have a better idea. How about if a few million of us send one message--and only one message--to those pretending to be our "representatives," those who claim to have the right to rule us. That message should be this: "Legislate whatever you want; I will not obey. And when you send your thugs to punish me, I will resist." THAT is the message of the Declaration of Independence. But on this July 4th, how many Americans do you think would even dare to THINK such a thing--even quietly and to themselves?

Fifty Things To Do NOW!

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:00:09 +0000

Free and Unashamed has written a good list of preparations to make for your liberation from the state, or survival when the fiat economy crashes. Whole thing copied below.

Become a part-time entrepreneur, garage-market-dealer, urban farmer, welder, whatever. Just be productive under your own command. It doesn’t matter what it is; just be directly productive, and directly deal with suppliers and clients. You’ll find it awesomely liberating and it will be highly useful for the free underground market.
Switch off the TV. Read books!
Socialize with people that share your ethics and that are productive and respectful. Eat together, discuss, challenge each other, help each other, have a good time.
Get a safe or safe deposit box. Start moving all the cash you can get in there, convert at least 30% of your cash to silver and/or gold coins.
Invest in trust. Do minor deals for people on a trust basis. Taking others at their word, and let yourself be challenged by yours.
Start looking for matches. When you talk with people, memorize what they do, and if an opportunity comes up, connect them with someone else for a minor finders fee (a burger, a few beers, whatever).
Join your local LIMA house. (We’ll explain this in a future post.)
Travel, but don’t go sight-seeing - spend your time getting to know the people there. Think about business opportunities with them.
Start using aliases and pseudonyms. Get comfortable using them in real-life situations.
Learn to use cryptography.
Learn ethics and law (not the government law…).
Study logic, especially the fallacies.
Put more cash aside. Use your part-time job as the source of saved cash.
Start to invest cash with people you know, in off the books projects. Start making micro-loans to people or buy shares in their operations.
Learn basic double-entry book-keeping. Don’t waste effort on the account-numbers they teach you - understand the concept and use it.
Learn to write in code. We all have to use recordings, bookkeeping, contact books, transaction notes etc. These should be hard to decipher for someone taking a quick glimpse, and even hard for someone taking time to analyze them. Use tricks like date-shifting, shorthand, making up your own terms, etc. Or, if you want to spend a little more effort, learn to use memorized ciphers, such as memorizing some longer text, then apply it as a simple shifting-key to what you write, with the page number or a marker as a keypart.
Tell other producers, entrepreneurs, traders etc that you appreciate what they do.
Buy primarily from others like you, stay away from the on-the-books market as much as you can.
When in conflict, ask someone to mediate. Solve conflicts yourself wherever you can. Use a mutually respected and trusted third party when necessary. Stay away from state “justice” whenever you can.
Start respecting secrets. Secrets are good most of the time; transparency is bad most of the time. Detox yourself from the “everything should be in the open” propaganda.
Slowly make your part-time, off-the-books business, your main line of income. Things like underground dental hygiene are very cool.
Learn that “off-the-books” means that you really have to excel in what you do. You have to provide quality.
Don’t invest in single deals; invest in relationships with the market.
Get over it: Voting doesn’t help at all.
Work with friends to create buying associations and selling associations. This will give you and others lots of money to save and lots of money to hide.
Harbor a fugitive. (Good ones, obviously.)
Help someone cross a border without documents.
Offer small merchants silver or gold rather than fiat currency.
Sell your products in silver or gold.
Accept and use digital gold, such as Pecunix or C-gold.
Start a community currency in your town.
Use digital cash, such as eCache.
Use Loom, Truebanc.
Get serious about protecting your Internet traffic.
Get comfortable working your will in the world.
Learn how to work your will beneficially. This is not about being “right,” it is about causing benefit.
Fix your mistakes (you will make them). Learn not to repeat them.
Learn how to communicate effectively. Again, this is not about proving that you are right - this is about getting true ideas into other minds effectively.
Stop obeying the state in some new way. Tell your friends about your success doing so.
Get comfortable with the term “Economic Civil Disobedience.”
Spread the idea that the state is not magic - it is nothing more than a collection of your neighbors - no more ethical and noble than the lamer next door.
Learn how to find the false assumptions in arguments. Most public lies sound okay if you don’t find their unspoken assumptions. If they pass too quickly, find the written version and search for the lie it contains.
Learn how to disagree with kindness.
Accept the fact that most people are confused and are just barely hanging on to their last shreds of self-esteem. Understand that state intellectuals like this condition, as it makes people easier to keep in line - a little shame goes a long way.
Don’t waste your energy on the political crisis de jour. Busy your mind with more substantial things. Daily political dramas are a time-sink, and the statists like it. Stop following their script.
Use jurisdictional arbitrage to deprive the state of your money. Work with friends if the setup costs are too large for you.
Learn to defend yourself, your family, your neighbors and your town. No state means no military. Until you take this upon yourself, your plans will always have a gaping hole in their middle. There is no free lunch here either. Get weapons and be mentally prepared to use them. Decide in advance how and when you would use them - do not leave it to the emotion of the moment - that will make a shipwreck of the whole venture. Learn how to use them safely.
Do something nice for your neighbor. The people who live near you are a far more important part of your environment than any other.
Help people who suffer undeservedly. No state means you are responsible for charity. Sure, it will be much easier when the state isn’t stealing all your extra money (or chasing you in hope of theft), but do what you can now and get used to the process.
Watch over your friends. Notice when they are having a bad day, show some kindness and concern. If they are overloaded, carry some of their burden. We all have bad times, and your bad day may come too. Help one another. Restore one another.

Utilikilt Arrives

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:51:14 +0000

My first Utilikilt arrived today, right on schedule. Here are the first photos.

Funny Fortune

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:01:45 +0000

From Fre33 Agents:

Fortune cookie: A can of worms won't open itself