This Blog Has Moved!

My blog has moved. Check out my new blog at realfreemarket.org.



Your Ad Here

Friday, January 14, 2011

MTV Anti-Freedom "Documentary"

This story was interesting. Someone from MTV was doing a "casting call". They want to interview young people who are disgruntled with government. They were specifically asking the "Free Keene" crowd.

If you're easily fooled, you might think "Wow! MTV is going to have a fair and balanced portrayal of the anti-State movement! Awesome!"

It's probably going to be a hatchet job. They're probably going to make State critics look like idiots.

Remember that MTV had a "casting call" for actors at an "Obama Town Hall Meeting". "Paid actors" were pretending to be interested voters. Jon Stewart (also owned by Viacom) interviewed Obama, but he was not allowed to interrupt, and he was required to only ask questions chosen ahead of time.

There are plenty of ways that MTV could make the interviewee look stupid. The power to edit is a very strong censorship power. If you tape a 2 hour interview and selectively edit it down to 5 minutes, it's very easy to make someone look bad.

Also, MTV could interview someone who makes a weak criticism of the State. They could interview Chomsky-style pro-State fake anarchists, who believe "Property is theft!"

A lot of the "Free Keene" crowd are focused on ineffective types of activism. Someone called this "activism theater". Compare this with agorism, which is much more effective. There may be active agorist groups in New Hampshire. I haven't heard much about them.

For example, the "Free Keene" has done the following types of stupid activism:

  1. playing a drinking game at a city council meeting (fighting the State on its turf)
  2. publicly smoking marijuana (marijuana really is bad for you)
  3. publicly drinking alcohol (also bad for you)
  4. public nudity (amusing, but doesn't harm the State)
  5. driving without a State driver's license or State license plates (That is poor tactics. You're just daring State thugs to kidnap you and steal your car.)
  6. paying property taxes in $1 bills (That just annoys some low-ranking bureaucrat.)
I noticed there's a lot of "People who criticize the State are insane!" propaganda spreading. I assert the opposite, that statists are insane. The pro-State and anti-State viewpoints are logically contradictory. If you're debating a statist, you're making well-formed arguments and they're spouting incoherent gibberish. The statist says "My arguments make sense and you're spouting incoherent gibberish." It's very frustrating.

It would be nice to see the freedom viewpoint accurately portrayed in the mainstream media. I doubt MTV is going to do that. They're probably just looking for people to ridicule, as a form of pro-State trolling.

For now, people like Ron Paul and Andrew Napolitano are the limits of the "debate ceiling". It nice that they're the most freedom-oriented viewpoint in the mainstream media, which deserves some respect. It's frustrating, because they're also shills for the State. That's a tough question. Do you have some self-censorship, so you can be on TV and avoid being jailed for treason, or do you tell the full truth?

This "MTV documentary" is almost definitely a hatchet job. I doubt it will be a fair presentation of anarchists. In statist circles, the lie is spreading "People who criticize big government are insane, racist, and dangerous." It's a new aspect of pro-State brainwashing that's developed, as a reaction to people spreading the truth.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Commemorative Pennies

This coin is really stupid. The Federal government has issued "commemorative penny designs".

It costs the Federal government more than $0.01 to make each penny! Why would they make a collectible version? They *DON'T* want people to collect pennies!

The penny is an amusing political issue. Politicians can't discontinue the penny, because that would be an admission of inflation. They can't continue the penny, because it costs more than $0.01 each to make one. (The melt value is currently under $0.01, but there are also minting costs.)

One solution is to declare that pennies are worth $0.10, nickels $0.50, dimes $1.00, and quarters $2.50. Some other countries with a hyperinflation problem revalue change, so they continue circulating. However, that would provide the slaves with a way to avoid hyperinflation. I don't see that happening.

The penny will probably be discontinued soon. The composition of "nickels" will soon be changed. "Nickel" was originally derogatory, because it wasn't silver like dimes and quarters. "Nickel" refers to the metal, and not "1/20". However, even nickel is no longer suitable for money. Dimes and quarters currently have a melt value of approximately 25% of the face amount. In a couple of years, they'll also be worth more than the melt value.

Commemorative pennies are an example of State waste. A penny costs more than $0.01 to mint!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Jared Lee Loughner

Jared Lee Loughner shot and seriously injured Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. He killed a Federal judge, a girl, and some other people.

There's an obvious pattern in statist logic. Consider

Someone had a gun and did something bad. Therefore, non-policemen should be barred from owning guns.
Contrast that with
Some policemen abused their power. There are no systemic flaws that need to be fixed.
or
Bernard Madoff was an isolated bad guy. There's no systemic widespread fraud in the financial industry.
or
Lehman/Bear Stearns/Enron/FRE/FNM/LTCM/etc. were isolated instances of corruption. There's nothing to see here.
It is wrong to excessively mourn a Congresswoman victim, if you don't also mourn the people inappropriately murdered by police. A statist might say "Those people resisted arrest. They deserved to die." or "It's tough being a policeman. They make mistakes."

When an insider commits a crime, there's always an excuse. "It's just one isolated bad guy." When a non-insider commits a crime, the response is "Pass laws that restrict everyone's freedom!" This is particularly true for key State powers, like gun control and spying on people.

Most laws are designed to deal with the worst-case, really bad criminals. The "advantage" is that you restrict everyone's freedom, just to catch a few bad guys. One good example is TSA airport screening, which inconveniences everyone because of a handful of terrorists. It's wrong to restrict everyone's freedom, just because there's a few bad people.

It's wrong to prevent everyone from owning a gun, just because some people would misuse guns. Actually, if everyone is armed, that limits the damage that one crazy person with a gun can do. Some of the people who stopped Jared Lee Loughner were themselves armed, although they didn't use their gun to stop him.

Another theme is "Jared Lee Loughner read crazy anti-government ideas on the Internet. Therefore, we should restrict freedom of speech on the Internet." Also, the "Tea Party"/libertarian faction is blamed, although that doesn't seem to be Loughner's interest. He didn't seem to be a real libertarian or real "market anarchist".

I'm noticing increased anti-freedom sentiment from statists. "People who criticize big government are violent, dangerous, crazy, and racist." That seems to be a blanket excuse designed to shut-down the minds of statists, when they see freedom ideas. If you call someone a racist, then you can safely dismiss any other points they make.

Loughner said that he supported a gold standard, but his ideas were incoherent. He probably thought "Other intelligent people are advocating for gold money. Therefore, I should." He didn't really understand the Austrian economic viewpoint regarding money. The correct answer is "There should be no government regulation of money." Loughner might be an excuse to ridicule all people who criticize State control of money. I noticed "Loughner supported gold!" being mentioned disproportionately too often, compared to other things he did.

Psychopaths and parasites cooperate to enslave everyone. They use government as their tool for control. One explanation is "government monopoly + psychopaths = State". Psychopaths have seized control of the government. That's the reason government's actions lead to evil outcomes, even though a lot of low-ranking government workers have good intentions.

If there were no psychopaths, government would follow the abstract ideal. The problem is that psychopaths have seized control of government. "Color of law" gives cover to psychopath crime. Most Congressmen are psychopaths, along with most high-ranking State insiders.

In every group of people, there's always at least one parasite. They will correct anyone who has deviant ideas. Loughner had partially cracked his pro-State brainwashing. However, psychopaths and parasites were keeping him from discovering the full truth. It's very traumatic, to realize that almost everything you know is a lie.

When I had a panic attack, I tried to run away but didn't hurt anyone. When Loughner had his panic attack, he tried a murder-suicide.

Psychopaths and parasites are everywhere, intimidating everyone. This creates a massive highly-coordinated conspiracy that spies on everyone all the time. Psychopaths and parasites can tell when someone starts having a "dangerous" thinking pattern, and correct them.

I can identify psychopaths and parasites. It's very frustrating to notice that everyone is insane, but I can handle it. Almost everyone either has the evil personality type, or is continually afraid that some evil person will retaliate against them.

Since I've cracked my pro-State brainwashing, I can think like a serial killer. I'm focusing on productive nonviolent tactics. I know why Jared Lee Loughner targeted that Congresswoman. I understand his mental state, even though I wouldn't murder someone.

Most Congressmen are highly-skilled psychopaths. This is true for both Democrats and Republicans, both male and female politicians.

Jarel Lee Loughner had suffered much abuse by parasites and psychopaths. Congresswoman Giffords was the most-skilled psychopath he had ever met. Therefore, he became overly obsessed about her.

It was very disturbing, when I saw Chuck Schumer on the subway. I could tell instantly that he was a highly-skilled psychopath. I can't be sure that Congresswoman Giffords is a psychopath, because I haven't met her, but she probably is.

Similarly, Jared Lee Loughner was upset, when he saw that Congresswoman Giffords was a highly-skilled psychopath. It was very frustrating. He noticed that she was criminally insane, but nobody else believed him (and he couldn't articulate it clearly like I can).

Jared Lee Loughner didn't realize consciously that most politicians are psychopaths. He didn't understand the parasite/psychopath vs. productive worker dynamic. His frustration with the Matrix became focused on Congresswoman Giffords. She was a representative of the State, and it turned out she was a fraud.

The official State solution is "Solve all problems with violence." Loughner followed the model promoted by the State. He probably didn't realize that it's a much bigger problem than merely one dishonest Congresswoman.

Jared Lee Loughner didn't understand the State. He didn't know about agorism. If I had the opportunity to spend a couple of hours explaining the truth to him, I might have been able to convince him to follow effective resistance tactics.

Jared Loughner asked Congresswoman Giffords "What is government if words have no meaning?" She gave an evasive non-answer. Her body language probably said "You are a scumbag unworthy of my time." That's a psychopath trick. Psychopaths are superficially verbally polite, while their body language says "You are a loser!" Jared Loughner had partially cracked his pro-State brainwashing. He noticed she was a psychopath, but nobody else could. He became obsessed. He had always been abused by parasites and psychopaths, and she was the most skilled psychopath he had ever met.

Translating his question to English, he was asking "Why do politicians always speak in evasive non-committal language?" It's pointless to confront a politician like that. What do you expect them to say, "You're right. It's all a fraud."? She gave an evasive answer. Her body language was rude. His microphone was cut off and they moved on to the next questioner. That's another politician control trick. They give an evasive answer, but the questioner can't be persistent and say "Answer my question instead of giving an evasive answer!"

"Journalists" facilitate this. Most media "journalists" are drawn from the same group of insiders as politicians. They know how the game is played. They know how their bread is buttered. The "journalist" reads questions from a script. The politician gives an evasive answer. The "journalist" moves on to the next question in his script. This gives legitimacy to the evasive answer, because the "journalist" doesn't question it.

If I were interviewing a psychopath, I'd say "Hey! You're a psychopath!" Journalists play along with the game, pretending the psychopath really is a heroic leader. Besides, most journalists themselves are psychopaths, parasites, or intelligent-but-easily-manipulated. If you're able to easily identify psychopaths and confront them, then you won't have a successful mainstream media career. "Journalists" learn to self-censor and obey orders, in order to succeed. The independent thinkers are weeded out.

You can't tell on TV if someone is a psychopath. You have to meet them in person and interact. The media should prevent psychopaths from being elected, but they're a negligent captured regulator. Superficially, you'd think "If this politician were a psychopath, some of the journalists who interview them would call them out." The problem is that the journalists and politicians are colluding to cheat everyone. Besides, only a very tiny minority has psychopath awareness. My "psychopath detector" is probably more refined than anyone else's.

Politicians are now denouncing non-insiders who use violence-tinted speech. Every politician uses violence analogies when speaking. Government *IS* violence. It's hypocritical to say "Certain people encouraged Loughner.", while some politicians are calling for the assassination of Julian Assange.

I have written "If State thugs try to enforce a bad law, it's morally acceptable (but bad tactics) to use violence to defend yourself." Is that "inciting violence against State employees"? Does that make me a criminal?

In the USA, people accept the legitimacy of the State. In less-developed countries, the slaves aren't as brainwashed. There are incidents like this one, where a bunch of Parliament members were killed. In Somalia, the people see politicians as traitors. Will that happen in the USA, as the State collapses? If everyone is severely disgruntled, people will start acting out without it being coordinated. Even if guns are illegal, there are other things a clever disgruntled person will use.

Loughner became obsessed with Congresswoman Giffords when he saw she was a highly-skilled psychopath. However, the adult way to deal with psychopaths is to ignore them. That's the advantage of agorism. The current government is controlled by criminally insane people. The correct strategy is to ignore the State, just like you would ignore a crazy person on the subway. That is risky, because the vast majority have been brainwashed to believe in the legitimacy of the State. State psychopaths spend a lot of resources tracking down people who seek freedom.

It's wrong to be obsessed with one specific State criminal. There's always someone eager to take his/her place. Also, people who understand State evil are currently greatly outnumbered by statists. You'd be throwing your life away for nothing, to get into a direct violent confrontation with State thugs.

As usual, some conspiracy theories have developed surrounding Loughner. I'm sticking with my explanation, which is "He acted alone. He became obsessed about her, when he saw she was a psychopath." To be complete, I'll mention the conspiracy theories I've seen. However, as I write this, I'm getting more suspicious.

I've also heard some suggestions that Loughner may have been taking anti-depressants. If you were taking anti-depressants, or recently stopped taking them, then that can lead to a murder-suicide. The anti-depressant angle won't be hyped if true, because psychiatric drugs are presented as beneficial. (I'm currently taking a small dose of Seroquel, which seems to work well compared to the other things I've tried.)

This conspiracy theory was interesting. Judge Roll was assassinated, because he was planning to rule against the President in a criminal trial. That case was "United States of America v. $333,520.00 in United States Currency et al”. It seems like a routine "asset forfeiture" case. Unfortunately, there are *MANY* cases like that all the time. There's nothing special about that particular case.

"Asset forfeiture" is an evil State practice. It's a loophole that allows State thugs to seize people's property without trial. The loophole is that the *PROPERTY* is charged with a crime and not the individual. Then, all due process gets thrown out the window. The property is guilty by default, because it doesn't get the same rights as a human defendant. The owner has the burden of proof, to prove that he's the legitimate owner and didn't commit a crime. "Asset forfeiture" turns "innocent until proven guilty" into "guilty until proven innocent" (and you don't recover your legal fees if you win). "Asset forfeiture" makes a mockery of "unreasonable search and seizure".

I doubt Judge Roll was about to rule against the State. Due to the way corrupt State law is structured, "asset forfeiture" cases are slam-dunk easy wins for the State. The stolen property is added to the police department's budget, giving them an incentive to be over-aggressive!

This conspiracy theory was interesting. Allegedly, there's a second person who may be involved. He was Loughner's "handler", making sure he followed through with the assassination. The official excuse is that he was merely his cab driver. If he really was his "handler", then that's a convenient excuse. Just because the media proclaims "He was a cab driver and not his accomplice!", doesn't mean it's true!

Actually, the high shot-to-kill ratio suggests a professional assassin. 30 bullets fired and 6 kills is a very high kill ratio.

It's possible that Judge Roll or Congresswoman Giffords were *TOO* honest and had to be eliminated.

Here's a conspiracy theory I haven't seen mentioned anywhere else. Compare these two photos:





Are they the same guy? It looks like two different people. The width-to-height ratio for his face is completely different!

It's also suspicious that he shaved himself. Did he shave himself? Did the police shave him, so he'd look like a serial killer? Did the "stunt double" get shaved, to avoid awkward comparisons?

Explanation #1 - It really was an assassination. Loughner was set up as the patsy and he's already been executed. Someone else is standing in for the trial. After the "execution", the trial stand-in grows his hair back and assumes a new identity.

Explanation #2 - Loughner really was the murderer. However, he's already been killed and someone else was brought in to play the "defiant mass murderer" role during the trial. Rather than have Loughner be disruptive during the trial, someone else was brought in to play the part of the defendant. In Loughner's place, knowning you're going to be convicted anyway, he would be as disruptive as possible during the eventual trial.

Explanation #3 - They really are the same person and it's just the camera angle or lighting.

This YouTube video is being cited as Loughner's last Internet upload. WTF? Who makes a vlog and doesn't include a video of himself? He bought a gun but didn't buy a video camera? I say "shenanigans". How do I know this video really is by Loughner? Maybe it was mocked up by someone else. If Loughner was being set up as a patsy, someone else could have set up the Internet "evidence" before the murder, so that people who check timestamps wouldn't be suspicious.

Loughner also was studying David Wynn Miller. His website is complete gibberish. That also makes me suspicious. Maybe David Wynn Miller is also a State plant. People disgruntled by the State attach to his nonsense, rather than something else. I wonder if those obscure legal arguments against the IRS are planted by the State, so that disgruntled people focus on the wrong thing?

There's going to be a farce of a trial. Assuming he really is guilty, why bother with a trial drawn out for years and him spending years on death row? It's cruel and unusual punishment, to keep someone alive for years just so you can execute him. It really is like "1984", where you have to break someone's spirit before executing them. This way, the killer says "I'm sorry. I did a bad thing." before he's executed. If you execute someone right away, his spirit hasn't been broken yet, and he acts defiant during the execution.

If they did get the right guy, why not get it over with quickly? A long drawn-out capital murder trial is a great exhibition for the State.

I also don't get the "insanity defense". You're responsible for what you do. An "insanity" defense makes no sense. It only makes sense in bizarro Statist logic. A policeman says "I didn't mean to kill him! It was an accident!", and that's accepted as an excuse. To be consistent, non-State-licensed murders should be allowed to make the same argument.

I disagree with State logic, where "mental state" is a component of a crime. You're responsible for what you do, no matter what the reason.

A famous public defender is being assigned to defend Loughner. I was disturbed, because she looks like my current therapist. She defended several high-profile capital murder defendants. (I.e., she's excellent at helping provide the illusion of justice.) Of course, assuming Loughner did it and they got the right guy, an execution is a fair outcome.

Representing Loughner is a no-risk proposition for a public defender. If he's convicted and executed, nobody's going to accuse her of doing a lousy job. If Loughner really is a student of David Wynn Miller, then he probably would insist on representing himself rather than relying on a public defender.

This is an interesting story. My first reaction was "Jared Lee Loughner saw Congresswoman Giffords. He asked a pointless question, she give a vague answer while insulting him, and he became obsessed with her. She was a psychopath, and he became obsessed with her." I'm sticking with that, as my "most likely explanation".

Maybe Loughner really was obsessed with her. Then, he made a convenient patsy. Based on the descriptions I read of him, he wasn't skilled enough to carry out a mass murder with a high shot-to-kill ratio. He seemed pretty incompetent.

The conspiracy side of this is interesting. I'm not absolutely sure, but those two photos are of two different people! Was this an assassination, with Loughner set up as the patsy? Were those YouTube videos really by Loughner? Why didn't he get a camera and make a vlog? Were Giffords or Roll too honest, and they were assassinated due to involvement in something I don't know about.

I'm more inclined to believe "Loughner got upset because Giffords was a pyschopath." However, those two photos and his YouTube videos are very suspicious! Who makes a vlog without any videos of himself? Those two photos really look like two different people!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Indications Of Progress

Sometimes, fighting the State seems like too much. However, I'm definitely seeing signs of progress. On more discussion forums, I see more and more people arguing in favor of the truth. On some forums, they're even a majority!

It's amusing to see statists getting exasperated. "Why are there all these people claiming that 'Taxation is theft!' Where did all these fruitcakes come from all of a sudden?"

Even though a lot of money is spent promoting lies, the truth is powerful.

I saw this twitter message as a strong indication of progress.

Probably the most important thing I learned in 2010 is that #taxation IS theft. Not a bit like it, not sometimes, but always and absolutely.
That is important. The State doesn't get defeated all at once. It happens gradually. One person gets convinced at a time.

The more people know the truth, the less State psychopaths would gain from eliminating me.

Did someone who reads my blog convince him? "Taxation is theft!" is an idea that's spreading. It's hard to determine if I'm having an effect, or if it's something that was going to happen anyway.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Congress Reads The Amended US Constitution

This story was amusing. As a publicity stunt, the new House of Representatives read the US Constitution.

It's amusing. More people are starting to get more concerned that government is out of control. To keep the slaves complacent, they're going through the farce of pretending to respect the Constitution.

A Constitution does not prevent abuse of State power. There's an obvious fallacy. State thugs have a monopoly for interpreting and enforcing the Constitution. Legally, there is no recourse if State thugs claim too much power.

The Constitution is not a valid contract. However, a government that respected the Constitution would be better than the current form of government.

The US Constitution is a proven failure. "Return to the original Constitution" is wrong. "Return to the Declaration of Independence!" is much more accurate.

However, they didn't actually read the whole thing. They omitted parts that were modified by later amendments. For example, they didn't mention the embarrassing bits about 3/5 and slavery.

That's technically incorrect. Those parts of the Constitution were made irrelevant by amendments. However, those parts were not explicitly repealed.

I wonder if they read "No State shall ... make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts"?

If they're going to read the amended Constitution, then they should include *ALL* the amendments. Some amendments were formally ratified by Congress and the states. However, the most evil amendments were "ratified" by the Supreme Court. Over time, the Supreme Court has taken an interpretation of the Constitution that severely restricts individual freedom, compared to the original interpretation.

They justify it by saying "The US Constitution is a living document." That's a variation of "The truth is relative." Who would agree to play "living poker", where the casino can change the rules whenever they feel like it?

I decided to "read" the Constitution here. I'm including *ALL* the amendments, including those "ratified" by the Supreme Court. I'm skipping over the boring bits. Bits in square brackets [] are explanations.

The Constitution of the United States (as amended by Congress and the Supreme Court)

Preamble

We the lawyers and insiders of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect System of Enslavement, prevent Justice, ensure that the slaves don't revolt, establish a military-industrial complex, create a Welfare State, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, but not anyone else, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America; even if the people object, that's too bad for them.

[The Constitution was written by a bunch of lawyers. Right away, that's a huge strike against it.]

Article I - Section 1 - The Legislature

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of Lobbyists and Unelected Bureaucrats.

Article I - Section 2 - The House

...

The size of the House shall be fixed at 435 Representatives, even as the population grows. [The 30,000 limit was intended as both a maximum and minimum size for a Congressional district. Until 1910, the size of the House increased as the country grew. Smaller Congressional districts would make it easier for non-insiders to get elected. Large districts maximize the influence of each Congressman. Guess which Congress chose? There was an unratified amendment in the Bill of Rights that specified that the maximum size of a Congressional district would be 50,000 voters.]

...

Article I - Section 3 - The Senate

...

A supermajority of 60% shall be required to pass any law.

Any Senator may place an Anonymous Hold, blocking or delaying a law.

...

Article I - Section 8 - Powers of Congress

Congress has unlimited taxation power. [That pretty much makes the rest of the Constitution irrelevant.]

Congress shall establish a large permanent national debt, that cannot possibly be repaid.

Congress shall have the power to regulate all economic activity, even when someone makes something to use themselves.

Congress may use its taxation power to subsidize insiders, and to require people to buy specific products.

Congress shall create Monopolies and Oligopolies, so that insiders may maximize their profits.

To restrict supply, there shall be a State licensing cartel for many professions, especially for doctors and lawyers.

Congress may regulate all aspects of food production and distribution.

Congress has the power to ban incandescent light bulbs, raw milk, or whatever they choose.

To ensure high Inflation and Unemployment, Congress shall establish an independent central bank. Congress, the executive, and the judiciary should have no oversight of the central bank.

Congress shall establish a system of paper money, based on debt and Bills of Credit. [A Federal Reserve Note is a Bill of Credit. The Constitution gives Congress the power to "coin" money, but not to "paper" money.]

Via taxes and regulations, Congress shall make it illegal and impractical for people to use gold and silver as money.

To prevent the Progress of Science and the useful Arts, patents and copyrights shall be owned by corporate insiders and have nearly unlimited duration.

Congress shall establish a military-industrial complex.

Congress shall create a Welfare State.

Section 9 - Limitations on Congress

Congress can pretty much do whatever it wants.

The judiciary shall pretend to support the Writ of Habeas Corpus, except when it's necessary to jail someone with a trial.

...

Article II - The Executive Branch

...

The President has the power to order the execution of anyone without a trial, no matter whether they are a US citizen or not, no matter where they are located.

...

Article III - The Judicial Branch

...

The Supreme Court shall have the power to decide whether a law is Constitutional or not. Supreme Court decisions should have the same effect as new laws and Amendments.

Congress and the President should say "We don't have to worry if this law is Constitutional. The Supreme Court will correct us if we're wrong." Supreme Court judges should say "Of course this law is Constitutional. Otherwise, Congress would not have passed it."

Article III - Section 2 - Trial By Jury

Given that conducting a jury trial farce is time-consuming and expensive, there shall be a system of Plea Bargains, so that criminals can be coerced into waiving a jury trial.

There shall be extremely complicated laws and regulations, so that prosecutors can easily convict someone once they have decided they are guilty.

...

Article VI - Debts, Supremacy, and Oaths

Given that insiders have purchased Revolutionary War bonds at a discount, these debts shall be honored and redeemed at the face amount.

[A national debt is an excellent mechanism for transferring wealth to the banksters.]

The national debt should be treated as sacred, even though it was mostly spent on pork projects and other waste.

...

Article VII - Ratification

The legislature of each State shall be coerced/bribed into ratifying the Constitution. If the slaves object, that's too bad for them. [The Constitution contains no provision for the Constitution to be put to a direct popular vote. Even if 90%+ of the people would vote for the Constitution, what gives them the right to steal from everyone else via taxes?]

...

Amendment #1

Congress shall create tax breaks and subsidies for organized religion. Certain religions get preferred status. [Amish are exempt from Social Security and Medicare, but if I created a new religion I wouldn't get that perk.]

Freedom of the press will be respected, unless they publish things we don't like.

Political protesters shall be required to stay in "free speech zones".

People need to get a permit from the government whenever they assemble, have a protest, or parade.

Amendment #2

Congress has the power to regulate and restrict gun ownership.

Amendment #3

People shall spend 3 months out of every year, working to support the military-industrial complex.

Amendment #4

Whenever the police ask for a search warrant, the judge will rubberstamp the request. If getting a judge to rubberstamp a search warrant is too much work, the police shouldn't bother.

Police may seize your property without trial. The victim has the burden of proof, to try and recover their property. ["Asset forfeiture" laws make a joke of "unreasonable search and seizure".]

Amendment #5

Grand juries shall have unlimited subpoena power, so that prosecutors can harass people. If necessary, grand juries shall be held in secret.

Trial records can be sealed.

There shall be Federal and State laws that cover the same action, so that someone can be tried twice for the same crime.

People can be held without bail indefinitely, pending trial.

Police may seize your property without trial.

Land may be seized for public or private use, without just compensation. [Kelo]

In a jury trial, the defendant may be barred from mentioning evidence that favors him, or from making arguments that might convince juries to acquit. [For example, if there previously was a hung jury, you're barred from mentioning it during a re-trial. Someone operating a "medical marijuana" store may be barred from mentioning that during a Federal drug trial.]

Defendants and their lawyers are barred from mentioning "jury nullification". If a juror who understands "jury nullification" makes it past biased jury selection, then he may be removed after the jury starts deliberating.

Defendants should be barred from publicly explaining their point of view, even while the prosecutors publicly trash your reputation.

People have the obligation to tell the government about all economic activity and all their property, so that they may be taxed on it. Anyone who owns a business must withhold taxes, report transactions to the government, and work as an unpaid tax collector. [The implementation of the income tax makes a mockery of "right against self-incrimination" and "freedom to contract".]

Amendment #6

Trials shall take a long time, so that lawyers can earn high fees and defendants can be broken. [At the time the Constitution was written, "speedy trial" meant "a week or two".]

In a jury trial, jurors who favor the defendant should be excused.

While serving on a jury, people employed by the State should earn full salary and benefits, while people not employed by the State forfeit their salary while serving on a jury. That helps ensure a pro-State bias for juries.

Criminals don't have the right to confront witnesses and the evidence against them.

To ensure high salaries for lawyers, the supply of lawyers shall be restricted via State licensing requirements. [At the time the Constitution was written, there was no State licensing cartel for lawyers.]

Amendment #7

In a civil trial, when one party is not an insider, the judge shall give summary judgment without a jury.

Amendment #8

Excessive bail shall be required, excessive fines imposed, and cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

For copyrights and patents, statutory damages should be unreasonably high.

Amendment #9

Even if the Constitution doesn't give the Federal government power to do something, they may do it anyway.

Amendment #10

Even if the Constitution forbids the Federal government from doing something, they may do it anyway.

Amendment #11

Government employees are protected by sovereign immunity. They cannot be sued based on actions performed while doing their job.

...

Amendment #13, v1.0

(deleted)

Amendment #13, v2.0

People are required to work for the government, via taxes.

Amendment #14

Limited liability corporations shall be treated as legally equivalent to people.

The executives of large corporations shall enjoy privileges and immunities that regular slaves don't have.

Amendment #15, #19, #24, and #26

Given that an election is a fake choice between insider-chosen candidates, as many slaves as possible should be given the illusion of freedom via the right to vote.

Amendment #16

People and their labor are owned by the government.

Amendment #17

To encourage Federal usurpation of state power, Senators will be directly elected rather than chosen by the state legislatures.

Amendment #18 and #21

Congress has the power to ban marijuana, raw milk, or any substance or product. [It's logically contradictory, that an Amendment was required to ban alcohol, but Congress can ban marijuana.]



It's interesting to read the Constitution, including *ALL* the Amendments. The Supreme Court has amended the Constitution, removing most of the protection it was supposed to provide.

I thought this was an amusing post. I wonder if it'll get a decent number of pageviews? I noticed that "things I think would be interesting" is not correlated with what's actually popular.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Did Cliff Lee Read My Blog?

I wrote a post about how Cliff Lee would be better off accepting a shorter deal for more money per year. When you consider inflation and "time value of money", the later years of a multi-year contract are worth less than it seems.

It might be better to take a shorter contract with more salary per year, and invest the difference in gold. That's what Cliff Lee did. His Phillies contract is less in absolute dollars, compared to the Yankees' and Rangers' offer. His Phillies contract is more per year.

If you expect hyperinflation, a shorter contract is better. Future inflation probably isn't fully priced into current offers. A shorter contract lets you renegotiate after inflation. However, athletes can get injured. Cliff Lee is getting older. Cliff Lee may have "mean reversion".

Did Cliff Lee read my blog? If you consider true inflation, the Phillies' contract may have actually been the best offer. It's for fewer years, but for more per year.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

More Snow Waste

This story was funny. There was light snow on Friday. Eager to avoid another disaster, the NYC government wasted a bunch of money overpreparing!

That's State bureaucrat thinking. They're more concerned with avoiding disaster than being efficient.

State bureaucrats are working on the last problem, rather than the next one.

This Blog Has Moved!

My blog has moved. Check out my new blog at realfreemarket.org.