Debt Ceiling Increase

The "national debt ceiling" will be raised soon. This is causing a lot of debate.

Of course Congress is going to raise the debt ceiling. What else do you expect them to do? Do you expect them to permanently shut down the Federal government and free all their slaves?

Due to the Compound Interest Paradox, an ever-growing national debt is necessary to keep the monetary scam going. The rules of the monetary system force an exponentially-growing national debt, lest the monetary system collapse in hyperdeflation during a severe recession/depression.

There's a contradiction in laws Congress passes. They pass law X, which requires/authorizes deficit spending at a certain rate. They pass law Y, which caps the debt limit. Those two laws are mutually contradictory. (There is some slight uncertainty, due to expected future tax receipts, but that's merely rounding noise in budget projections.)

The "national debt limit" law is a historic anomaly. At one time, Congress passed a separate law approving each Treasury debt auction. Then, they changed the law. Now, Congress sets a debt limit, but the Treasury Secretary may exercise discretion regarding each individual bond auction.

The Treasury Secretary may decide how much 1-year, 5-year, 30-year, etc. to auction, without approval from Congress for each auction. The "debt limit" law caps the total debt, but leaves discretion regarding each bond auction.

The "debt limit" law merely is a formality, creating an illusion of fiscal responsibility. Congress can increase the limit at any time.

Congress *MUST* keep raising the debt limit, due to the Compound Interest Paradox.

Due to the rules of the monetary system, the national debt must increase at an exponential rate. However, the rate of increase is increasing! I copied this debt table from Wikipedia.

Year	Debt ($B)	% Chg
2000	5628.70
2001	5769.90	2.51%
2002	6198.40	7.43%
2003	6760.00	9.06%
2004	7354.70	8.80%
2005	7905.30	7.49%
2006	8451.40	6.91%
2007	8950.70	5.91%
2008	9985.80	11.56%
2009	12311.40	23.29%
2010	14025.20	13.92%

Notice how the rate of national debt increase is increasing! That's an indication of coming hyperinflation.

State thugs have two conflicting goals. They want to steal as much as they can. They don't want to steal so much that the whole scam collapses. As the end of the State draws near, the short-term goal of "Steal as much as I can!" starts to outweigh "Prevent the whole scam from collapsing!"

The "national debt" is merely an accounting fiction. The "national debt" cannot be repaid, unless the rules of the monetary system are changed. The cost of the "national debt" is not deferred to the future. There is immediate inflation, as the Federal government purchases real goods and services via deficit spending.

"Interest payments on the national debt" is a huge tramsfer of wealth to the banksters. The banksters borrow from the Federal Reserve at 0%-0.25%, lend to the government at 1%-4%, and profit from the spread times huge leverage.

Of course Congress will raise the "national debt limit". Their only other choice is to give up, go home, and free their slaves. This dispute arises from a logical contradiction in the law. One law requires a certain spending rate. Other laws cap the national debt. Politicians will keep this contradiction, because is gives them an excuse to compromise and trade favors. Congressmen won't wreck their gravy train, by permanently shutting down the Federal government.

Gold Outperformed The S&P 500, 1997-2010

I'm making this post every year. I compare gold to the S&P 500.

I only compare to the S&P 500, because it's the most widely-cited measure of the stock market. If I used the Dow or NASDAQ, the results would be similar.

Once again, Gold crushed the S&P 500 in 2010. The S&P 500 had a gain of 14.42%, including reinvested dividends. Gold gained 23.81%, for a difference of 9.38%.

Over a period of several years, gold is outperforming the S&P 500 by nearly 1% per month!

Here are my results:

Year	S&P 500	Gold	Gold/VFINX	Cum Dif	Ann Cum Diff
2011	115.82	1388.50	$11.99	9.38%	9.38%
2010	101.22	1121.50	$11.08	14.00%	6.77%
2009	80	874.50	$10.93	72.81%	20.00%
2008	127.04	846.75	$6.67	120.95%	21.92%
2007	120.54	639.75	$5.31	150.86%	20.20%
2006	104.23	530.00	$5.08	195.78%	19.81%
2005	99.48	444.74	$4.47	209.97%	17.54%
2004	89.84	409.72	$4.56	216.44%	15.49%
2003	69.91	363.38	$5.20	319.36%	17.27%
2002	89.83	309.73	$3.45	398.87%	17.44%
2001	102.12	271.04	$2.65	394.32%	15.64%
2000	112.28	279.11	$2.49	353.48%	13.43%
1999	92.73	290.25	$3.13	320.31%	11.68%
1998	72.1	288.70	$4.00	269.79%	9.79%
1997	54.14	287.05	$5.30	113.42%	5.18%
1996	44.06	369.00	$8.37	-2.47%	-0.16%
1995	32.06	387.00	$12.07	-3.18%	-0.19%

I use usagold.com as my source for the price of gold. I take the value on the first trading day of January.

I use Yahoo finance as my source for the S&P 500. I use VFINX. I use the "adjusted close" column, so I'm including reinvested dividends. So, for 2011, it's the adjusted close on December 31, 2010.

"Cum diff" is the cumulative difference. "Ann cum diff" is the annualized difference. Since January 1, 2000, gold has outperformed the S&P 500 by nearly 1% per month!

You have to go all the way back to 1995, to find a time when a buy-and-hold S&P 500 investment would have outperformed a buy-and-hold gold investment.

On the Communism Channel, they ridicule gold at every opportunity. If there were a hedge fund with the same 15 year track record as gold, the fund manager would be on TV every day bragging about how super-awesome he was.

Here's the same information in chart form.



This one is in log scale. When viewing financial charts, log scale is more correct.



Pro-State trolls say "Gold has storage costs. Gold is useless. With stocks, you get a dividend." Yes, stocks do pay a dividend. The fallacy is that with a corporation, you're paying for all the waste and theft. The CEO acts like the owner, even though he isn't really the owner. Via the Principal-Agent problem, the CEO lines his pockets at the expense of shareholders.

A corporation has earnings. The cost of the waste and fraud and theft is greater than the value of the earnings.

A pro-State troll says "A clever person can outperform the S&P 500 index, by making good picks." Can you really outperform by 1% per month?

I was very disappointed, when I realized that the stock market is one big scam. It was like discovering Santa Claus doesn't exist.

It certainly is possible that the stock market will outperform gold for the next year or two. Over a period of 5+ years, I'm pretty sure gold will come out ahead.

There's a lot of State propaganda regarding gold. State comedians denigrate it at every opportunity. There are many regulations and taxes that make it difficult to own physical gold.

Will The State Steal Your IRA Or 401(k)?

In Europe, some private pension plans were nationalized. This helped plug holes in the government's budget.

Governments are exempt from the accounting rules that apply to individuals. State thugs can seize the pension assets, spend the money immediately, and promise to pay benefits out of future tax receipts.

That's stealing. However, State thugs may do whatever they want.

In the USA, IRA and 401(k) plans are a tempting target. There were proposals for the State to seize IRA and 401(k) accounts.

The Social Security tax does not create a contract between taxpayer and government. At any time, benefits may be cut, directly or via inflation. You must pay the tax, or State thugs will kidnap and torture you. There is no promise of future benefits. The pretense of benefits must be maintained, lest the slaves object and revolt and refuse to pay.

Similarly, an IRA or 401(k) does not represent a contract with the State. At any time, the tax rules may be changed. That shows the fallacy of investing in a State-licensed retirement plan. When you consider that the US government and financial system won't exist 20 years from now, an IRA seems like a stupid investment.

My IRA is invested in State paper. In a sense, the State already has my investment. My IRA doesn't contain any tangible assets. I'm not owed tangible goods and services until I spend my IRA savings.

Here's the "steal everyone's IRA proposal". Right now, the IRA is a bank account specifically for you. People withdraw from their IRA every year, and their heirs keep any money leftover when they die. For example, if your life expectancy is 15 years, then you must withdraw 1/15 of your IRA that year. If you die before you withdraw all the money, your heirs get it. The IRA is a savings account from which you withdraw like an annuity.

The proposal is "Force everyone who retires to buy an annuity from the State, rather than withdrawing from their IRA." Insurance corporations will administer the annuity, making a nice pork profit.

An annuity is a contract that pays an equal amount every month, until you die. The fallacy is that an annuity contains direct and hidden fees. The price of an annuity depends on:

1. mortality rate assumption
2. fees/loads
3. interest rate assumption
   

Of these, (3) is by far the biggest cost. An insurance corporation invests the annuity in "risk-free" bonds, i.e. Treasury bonds. The interest rate is 2%-4%. You could do much better on your own in an IRA, either in stocks or in GLD/SLV.

The forced annuity purchase would be a huge ripoff. A pro-State troll says "You're buying the annuity at the fair market price. It's reasonable." The fallacy is that an annuity contract contains fees. The hidden fees are greater than the explicit fees. The biggest hidden fee is that an annuity pays an implied interest rate of only 3% or less, compared to what you would earn in the stock market or gold or silver.

An annuity is a ripoff, because the implied interest rate of the annuity is much less than inflation.

The forced annuity conversion would be a huge windfall for the State. They would make a killing on the annuity fees, especially the interest charges.

The forced annuity conversion allows the State to steal your IRA or 401(k), while pretending they didn't actually steal it.

I don't see this proposal going anywhere. Financial advisers already make a fortune off IRAs. Clueless people invest in funds with a load of 1%/year or more. However, stealing a couple percent of your savings per year isn't enough. State thugs want all of it!

There's a very good chance that the State won't exists 20 years from now. Given that, it seems foolish for me to have an IRA. Really, I should cash it out, pay the tax penalty, and buy gold/silver. However, where can I safely store the metal?

I'm not absolutely sure that the State will collapse in 20 years. I'll keep my State paper investments as a hedge.

Richard Simkanin, Political Prisoner

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Mikhail Khodorkovsky":

http://newhampshirefreepress.com/node/680

It seems the US legal system is corrupt.

If you don't succeed try, try again.

Mr Simkanin was NOT indicted by two grand juries over not withholding tax for his employees.

So the legal thugs PREVENTED HIM FROM APPEARING IN front of a third grand jury.

Nice trick!

He was bailed and then a clown overturned his bail.

I'd been planning to do a more detailed post on Richard Simkanin.

"It seems the US legal system is corrupt." is an understatement. A more accurate statement is "It's one huge farce." In a trial involving income taxes, a slave will *NEVER* get a fair trial. There's the obvious conflict of interest. The prosecutor and judge both work for the State. The judge is dependent on income taxes for his own salary and influence. A State judge *WILL NOT* be impartial in a trial involving taxes.

Richard Simkanin recently died in prison. He was jailed as a political prisoner. He was protesting the IRS. He refused to withhold taxes from his employees' salary. He refused to report the transaction to the IRS.

He took out a full-page ad in USA Today, proclaiming the IRS was illegal/immoral. He was refusing to participate in the scam. Naturally, State thugs kidnapped and tortured him, to set an example.

State thugs say "Richard Simkanin was convicted! That proves he was wrong!" No, that just proves how unfair the State "justice" system is.

Originally, State thugs tried indicting Richard Simkanin in front of an open grand jury. Most defendants decline to testify in front of the grand jury. Richard Simkanin decided to testify. He explained why the IRS was immoral and unconstitutional. The grand jury did not indict.

Two grand juries declined to indict Richard Simkanin, after he testified. Then, prosecutors held a "secret grand jury". Richard Simkanin was not invited to testify. He was indicted. Initially, a magistrate judge offered him bail, but the prosecutor appealed and the regular judge held him without bail. He was convicted in a sham trial.

This illustrates two defects in the State legal system.

First, if a grand jury declines to indict, the prosecutor gets a mulligan. Since you were never indicted, the prosecutor is free to try again with another grand jury. Due to a technicality, this doesn't violate "double jeopardy".

Second, secret grand juries are a severe abuse of State power. As Richard Simkanin noticed, sometimes the best place to fight false criminal charges is in front of a grand jury. If you convince the grand jury to not indict, then you save the expense and stress of a long drawn-out trial. You also avoid being held without bail pending trial. You also avoid the risk that the judge and prosecutor will rig the jury, ensuring a conviction.

Secret grand juries have other Police State powers. They can subpoena. All your friends and business partners may be forced to testify. Due to secrecy rules, they may not be allowed to tell you about it. Property may be seized. Via "asset forfeiture" rules, the victim has the burden of proof, when trying to recover his property.

Grand juries are supped to protect people from wrongful prosecution. Secret grand juries are a tool that prosecutors use to harass people. In a secret grand jury, the prosecutor can easily convince the jury. The grand jury will usually rubberstamp and subpoena request or indictment request.

The grand jury thinks "If I wrongly indict, he will be acquitted at trial." The criminal jury thinks "He must be guilty. Otherwise, the grand jury would not have indicted. Besides, if I wrongly convict, it will be reversed on appeal." In this manner, State evil occurs and nobody is individually responsible. Everybody assumes "If other people do their job right, it won't matter if I make a mistake." What happens when nobody does their job right? The "checks and balances" aren't working. The "checks and balances" enable each person to dodge responsibility, thinking a mistake will be corrected by someone else.

Notice the cleverness of the State "justice" system. The grand juror thinks "It's OK if I make a mistake and indict. If I'm wrong, he'll be acquitted at trial." The trial juror thinks "Of course he's guilty. Otherwise, the grand jury would not have indicted him." Nobody is responsible.

However, Richard Simkanin's arguments didn't work in the jury trial. I don't know the details. The judge may have prevented Simkanin from explaining his viewpoint. Via biased "jury selection", the jury may have been packed with pro-State trolls.

Did Richard Simkanin hire a lawyer, or did he represent himself? I didn't see any details. If he hired a lawyer, his lawyer may have censored Simkanin's argument. Simkanin's lawyers may have focused on Simkanin's mental state "mens rea", rather than "The IRS is immoral!".

This page had some interesting bits. Simkanin's first jury trial resulted in a hung jury, voting 11-1 favoring acquittal. The prosecutors and judge used every dirty trick available to secure conviction. They adopted "Jury Security" measures, to prevent "jury nullification" pamphleters from affecting the jury. Instead of reporting to the courthouse, prospective jurors reported to an undisclosed location in secret. Some of the records filed in the case are "sealed" and not publicly available.

Why were State thugs so eager to convict Simkanin? Every slave who disobeys must be punished! Even if Simkanin were acquitted, it isn't a precedent that could be cited in other cases.

Most slaves go along with the State. State thugs can afford to spend a lot of resources silencing anyone who deviates.

I think I could explain my viewpoint to 12 jurors, even with prosecutor selection bias. However, it's hard to actually do. Even if you are acquitted, there's a huge cost associated with a criminal trial. If prosecutors really wanted to kidnap and torture me, they could question 200+ jurors and pick the worst pro-State trolls. If I'm in jail and tortured for months pending trial, that would affect my ability to represent myself in court. Political criminals are sometimes not allowed to shave or cut their hair or dress well, so that jurors will have the appropriate attitude. If I'm taken to the trial in shackles and an orange prison jumpsuit, that would affect the jurors' perception of me.

Richard Simkanin made some tactical mistakes. A good agorist should not repeat them.

Earlier last year, Richard Simkanin was let out on parole. He said that his parole officer's authority was not legitimate, and refused to report. That is foolish. I understand the viewpoint, but it's a poor tactical decision. Once State thugs decide to target you, you are pretty much SOL. Richard Simkanin should have gone along with the parole restrictions, but went around giving speeches on how evil the State is.

For example, Larken Rose is out of prison, after being jailed as a political prisoner. However, he is younger than Richard Simkanin and wasn't in jail as long. He's managed to avoid being re-arrested. He seems to be a serious anarchist now.

Richard Simkanin's business was incorporated. That was a mistake. If you're incorporate your business, you're voluntarily registering it with the State taxation system. A real agorist should not have an incorporated business. A real agorist should not use the State banking system for his profits.

Richard Simkanin had hired accountants and lawyers, before he decided to stop paying IRS extortion money. They advised him to not do it. State-licensed accountants and lawyers have an obligation to report you to the State, if they believe you are going to commit a crime! If you're planning to work as an agorist, *DON'T* consult with a State-licensed lawyer or accountant. Do your own taxes, and report any income State thugs already know about.

During his criminal trial, his former accountants and lawyers testified *AGAINST* Simkanin. They said that they advised him to be a good slave.

Also, Simkanin had some relatives employed in his business. They quit, when he stopped IRS withholding and reporting. His relatives also testified against him, in his trial. Sometimes, I wonder if my biggest risk as a working agorist, comes from my parents and relatives. They would be the first ones to rat me out to the State.

Richard Simkanin used the State banking system. That is a mistake. Banks have an obligation to report all transactions to the IRS. For all practical purposes, a State-licensed bank works for the State and IRS. Also, it is very easy for State thugs to seize money from a State-licensed bank.

If you're serious about working as an agorist, *DON'T USE THE STATE BANKING SYSTEM AT ALL*. For this reason, an agorist banking system is needed. It would have to be heavily trust-bases, like the hawala system.

Richard Simkanin died in jail as a political prisoner. Most high-profile critics of the IRS wind up in jail. A pro-State troll says "That proves their arguments are wrong!" That merely illustrates the corruption of the State "justice" system. If you have a dispute regarding State taxes, that dispute is decided in a State court, with a State-employed judge, a State-employed prosecutor, and State-employed police. A slave isn't going to get a fair trial regarding taxes, in a biased State court.

Richard Simkanin risked his life and business what what he knew was right, and he lost. I haven't taken any risks besides blogging (so far). Richard Simkanin made many tactical mistakes. An agorist should not use a State-licensed accountant or lawyer. An agorist should not use the State banking system. An agorist should deal in cash as much as possible, preferably using gold or silver. An agorist should make sure his partners won't rat him out to the State, although it would be hard to refuse a cooperation agreement and plea bargain. There also is a risk that your friends and relatives will later testify against you, if pressured by the State. I can imagine my mother testifying in court "FSK has these crazy anti-government ideas! I don't know what to do about him! He belongs in jail!"

Richard Simkanin died in jail as a political prisoner. I appreciate his viewpoint, but his tactics were wrong. Working as an agorist isn't easy, because terrorists are eager to kindap and torture you for questioning them.

Most slaves think "Only 'backwards' countries like China have political prisoners. That doesn't happen in the USA." That is false. The mainstream media doesn't normally cover the people wrongfully imprisoned in the USA.

Contingency-Fee Criminal Lawyers

I was browsing lawyer BAR association ethic rules. I came across an interesting bit. Lawyers are barred from accepting contingency-fee arrangements in criminal trials!

In a contingency-fee arrangement, a lawyer only gets paid if he wins.

Contingency-fee arrangements are common in civil trials. The lawyer is paid a percentage of any money collected, receiving nothing if he loses.

In some areas, State thugs encourage frivolous lawsuits. For patents, copyrights, and "civil rights" lawsuits, a prevailing plaintiff lawyer receives attorney fees, in addition to monetary damages. This encourages a lawsuit in cases where actual damages are small. This provides the lawsuit victim/defendant an incentive to settle. A victorious defendant does not recover legal fees as easily as a victorious plaintiff.

Suppose I were frivolously charged with a crime. By lawyer ethics standards, I'm barred from signing a contract with my lawyer that says he gets paid only if I'm acquitted. It's a frivolous charge. Why should I pay if my lawyer does a lousy job and I'm convicted?

The State bars criminal defense lawyers from accepting contingency-fee arrangements. The lawyer's interest is *COMPLETELY DIVORCED* from his client's interest. The lawyer's goal is to maximize hours billed. It makes no difference if his client is convicted or acquitted. In fact, the lawyer gets to bill more if the client is convicted. The lawyer gets to argue sentencing and maybe appeals.

Lawyers work for the State first and the client second. A criminal defense lawyer isn't going to sacrifice his career to keep someone out of jail. In many ways, a criminal defense lawyer is an assistant prosecutor. If the judge insists, the defense lawyer will not introduce favorable evidence or make certain arguments.

For one example, a defendant was charged for violating Federal marijuana laws while operating a "medical marijuana" store, legal according to state law. The lawyer was barred from mentioning "It was a medical marijuana store!" during the trial. Jurors said they would have acquitted if they were told that. In effect, the defense lawyer sold out his client to the State. An honest lawyer would have refused to self-censor when defending his client. However, the lawyer was not willing to risk his career, to keep his defendant out of jail. In that trial, the lawyer was effectively an assistant prosecutor.

For another example, a criminal defense lawyer who mentioned "jury nullification" would be held in contempt of court. He would lose his law license, his career, and the $200k+ invested in law school. Criminal defense lawyers help provide the illusion of legitimacy to State "justice".

If accused of a crime, I'd try to represent myself. However, it's a tough decision. If I'm imprisoned and tortured for months before the trial, that would adversely affect my ability to explain effectively. The State "justice" system is biased against pro se defendants.

However, when a pro se defendant says "Your authority isn't legitimate! This trial is a sham!", that has an effect on the judge and prosecutor. No matter how pro-State brainwashed you are, it's unsettling to see someone pointing out how it's all a scam. Some judges brag about their ability to handle "tough" trials, where the victim is a nonviolent offender who questions the legitimacy of the prosecution.

You don't get picked to be a Federal judge, unless you're pretty thoroughly brainwashed as a pro-State troll. What percentage of "crimes" are really victimless nonviolent crimes? I suspect it's a large percentage, but I haven't seen any statistics.

I was surprised to notice that criminal defense lawyers are barred from making contingency-fee arrangements. The State thinks of everything! By banning contingency-fee arrangements, the interests of the lawyer are completely divorced from the interests of the client.

A lawyer is required to act for the State first, and himself second. The client is a distant third. The lawyer will try to defend the client, but without compromising the State or his future career. This makes a lawyer useless in politically-motivated trials, where the defendant's main argument is "This law is immoral!"

"Best of FSK" - December 2010 - Summary 2010

According to Google Analytics, I had 4743 Absolute Unique Visitors in December, down from 6321 in November and 7717 in October. Surprisingly, that was my best AdBrite month with $9.08, and an eCPM of $0.97.

According to Google Analytics, my most popular posts in December, by Absolute Unique Pageviews were:

1. The Hunt Brothers' Silver Corner (281)
2. Did the USA Declare Bankruptcy? (265)
3. The Federal Reserve Caused the Great Depression (238)
4. Ruby on Rails Sucks! (209)
5. BMI/ASCAP/SESAC Legal Extortion Scam (145)
6. Who's the Richest Man in the World? (135)
7. The Compound Interest Paradox (105)
8. The Gold Lease Rate is Negative! (102)
9. Charles Rangel - Reprimand, Censure, or Wristslap (96)
10. Calculating Vega and other Greeks in Black-Scholes (86)
11. Premium Text Messaging Fraud - 91097 and 654654 (85)
12. The Communist Manifesto's Successful Implementation in the USA (82)
13. Satanic Death Hospitals (80)
14. The Gold and Silver Taxation Scam (79)
15. Is It Worth Hoarding Nickels? (78)
16. Car Insurance vs. Health Insurance (77)
17. Derek Jeter's New Contract (66)
18. Real GDP is Decreasing, 1990-2008 (62)
19. Agorist Philosophy Overview (53)
20. The Fluoride Conspiracy Theory (48)
21. Real GDP Is Crashing, 2000-2009 (48)
22. The Five Levels of the Economy (46)
23. The Black-Scholes Formula is Wrong! - Part 1/12 - Overview and Background (44)
24. StackOverflow Sucks! (42)
25. Gold and Silver Buyer's Guide (40)
26. The Tally Stick Monetary System (40)
27. Real GDP is Decreasing, 1990-2007 (39)
28. Cliff Lee And The Time Value Of Money (38)
29. What Happened To Ireland's Independence? (38)
30. The Compound Interest Paradox - a Simpler Explanation (36)
31. Are College Athletes Exploited? (35)
32. The Pat Tillman Conspiracy Theory (34)
33. Incentive Stock Options and Startups (33)
34. Are the GLD and SLV ETFs a Fraud? (32)
35. Righthaven vs. Charles Johnson (RadGeek) (32)
36. Why Chatroulette Failed (31)

Just counting posts published in December, the most popular were:

1. Charles Rangel - Reprimand, Censure, or Wristslap (96)
2. Cliff Lee And The Time Value Of Money (38)
3. What Happened To Ireland's Independence? (38)
4. Paul Krugman Endorses Ron Paul (30)
5. Silver Round Shortage? (29)
6. Hindenburg Omen (28)
7. Eurodollar Futures Options With Zero/Negative Strikes! (26)

For all of 2010, my most popular posts were:

1. Who's the Richest Man in the World? (2,916)
2. Did the USA Declare Bankruptcy? (2,689)
3. The Hunt Brothers' Silver Corner (2,642)
4. Worldwide Hyperinflation Race (2,232)
5. Ruby on Rails Sucks! (2,052)
6. The Federal Reserve Caused the Great Depression (2,032)
7. The Compound Interest Paradox (1,752)
8. Real GDP is Decreasing, 1990-2008 (1,243)
9. Premium Text Messaging Fraud - 91097 and 654654 (1,174)
10. The Gold Lease Rate is Negative! (1,117)
11. BMI/ASCAP/SESAC Legal Extortion Scam (916)
12. Real GDP is Decreasing, 1990-2007 (896)
13. Verizon LG enV Touch, Bitpim, and Open Source (875)
14. Satanic Death Hospitals (873)
15. The Gold and Silver Taxation Scam (799)
16. Calculating Vega and other Greeks in Black-Scholes (787)
17. The Communist Manifesto's Successful Implementation in the USA (756)
18. The Pat Tillman Conspiracy Theory (717)
19. The Five Levels of the Economy (690)
20. The Monetizing the Debt Scam (679)
21. Agorist Philosophy Overview (597)
22. The Black-Scholes Formula is Wrong! - Part 1/12 - Overview and Background (584)
23. The Fluoride Conspiracy Theory (578)
24. StackOverflow Sucks! (513)
25. Real GDP Is Crashing, 2000-2009 (500)
26. Are College Athletes Exploited? (499)
27. The Nymphomaniac Pattern (482)
28. Turd in the Punchbowl! (480)
29. Gold and Silver Buyer's Guide (459)
30. Your Strawman Corporation (446)
31. Water Powered Cars and Zero Point Energy (418)
32. The Compound Interest Paradox - a Simpler Explanation (413)
33. The Liberty Dollar Scam Continues! (374)
34. How Well Does GLD Track Gold? (368)
35. Is It Worth Hoarding Nickels? (364)
36. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (361)
37. Athletes vs. Doctors, Which is Overpaid? (360)
38. Car Insurance vs. Health Insurance (360)
39. The Federal Reserve and Income Tax Conspiracy Theory (357)
40. Real GDP Growth Has Been Negligible Since 1990 (354)
41. The Tally Stick Monetary System (344)
42. Incentive Stock Options and Startups (335)
43. Idiot Manager Tactics (321)
44. Are the GLD and SLV ETFs a Fraud? (308)
45. The Strawman Fallacy (306)
46. Easily Import Excel and CSV Files Into Blogger! (301)
47. Nazi Social Contract (300)
48. The Black-Scholes Formula is Wrong! - Part 3/12 - Formula Derivation (290)
49. Is Prostitution a Crime? (290)
50. Do Aliens Exist? (279)
51. The Social Credit Monetary System (276)
52. Lotus Notes Sucks! (276)
53. The Black-Scholes Formula is Wrong! - Part 2/12 - Axioms (265)
54. Ticketmaster Monopoly (258)
55. The Discounted Cashflow Paradox (aka The St. Petersburg Paradox) (251)
56. Repo 105 (251)
57. How Much did the AIG Bailout Cost You? (250)
58. The Compound Interest Paradox Revisited - Edward Flaherty is a Troll (244)
59. Discharging a Debt vs. Paying a Debt (244)
60. Quantitative Easing 2 (244)
61. Righthaven vs. Charles Johnson (RadGeek) (240)
62. Is Gold/Money a Better Investment than Stocks? (238)
63. Does Michael J. Fox Have Tardive Dyskinesia? (236)
64. The Black-Scholes Formula is Wrong! - Part 8/12 - The Kelly Criterion (235)
65. Why Chatroulette Failed (228)
66. The Transistor, UFO, and WMD Conspiracy Theory (225)
67. Is Miley Cyrus' Vanity Fair Photo Child Pornography? (224)
68. Gold Outperformed the S&P 500, 1997-2008 (220)
69. Gold and Silver Price Manipulation (215)
70. The Liberty Dollar Scam (213)
71. The Black-Scholes Formula is Wrong! - Part 6/12 - The Contradiction (211)
72. The Black-Scholes Formula is Wrong! - Part 12/12 - Summary (209)
73. Federal Reserve Work Permission Points (205)
74. A Commodity Price Volatility Calculation (204)
75. The Black-Scholes Formula is Wrong! - Part 4/12 - The Put/Call Parity Formula (203)
76. The Black-Scholes Formula is Wrong! - Part 5/12 - The Volatility Smile (202)
77. The End of the Euro? (201)
78. The Black-Scholes Formula is Wrong! - Part 9/12 - How FSK Trades Options (200)
79. The Gold Lease Rate is Negative Again! (199)
80. How Can you Debate a Fool? (194)
81. The "Low Unemployment Causes Inflation" Fallacy (193)
82. Android, iPhone, and Maemo (191)
83. The Velocity of Money (188)
84. Sholom Rubashkin, Political Prisoner (183)
85. Corporate Death Penalty (177)
86. Criticisms of Stefan Molyneux (176)
87. Standing Up for a Judge (175)
88. Who Murdered Benjamin Franklin's Grandson? (175)
89. The CPI is Biased (172)
90. Stefan Molyneux is a Murderer! (169)
91. Why is the Unemployment Rate so High? (168)
92. Reader Mail #73 (166)
93. The Voting Scam (164)
94. Robert Kahre vs. Terrorism (164)
95. The Closed Shop Scam (160)
96. Synthetic CDOs and Goldman Sachs (159)
97. Mika Brzezinski (157)
98. Money Supply Statistics Explained (155)
99. NYSE Specialists Became DMMs (154)
100. The Black-Scholes Formula is Wrong! - Part 10/12 - Only Fools and Hedge Funds Write Covered Calls (152)
101. The Defect of Intrade (149)
102. Warren Buffet and the Discounted Cashflow Paradox (147)
103. The Compound Interest Paradox Revisited - Examples (142)
104. Google Disabled my AdSense Account! (142)
105. LeBron James and the NBA CBA (141)
106. Did the Banksters Kill James Garfield? (139)
107. The Amero Subterfuge (135)
108. My Brain is Sore! (135)
109. Has Humanity Split Into Two Sub-Species? (134)
110. False Opposites (132)
111. Is Pro Se Defense a Good Idea? (130)
112. Birth Certificates, Social Security Cards, and Adhesion Contracts (129)
113. Is Kohl's Headed for Bankruptcy? (129)
114. Got a Virus - Antivir Solution Pro (127)
115. What are Fnords? (126)
116. Robert Kahre Wins Nobel Peace Prize (126)
117. Deepwater Horizon (125)
118. What Happens When Someone Hoards Money? (124)
119. Ron Paul Doublecross Prediction (121)
120. Can You Pass a Turing Test? (121)
121. Time Warner Cable and Lousy Software (118)
122. The National Debt - Who is the Creditor? (114)
123. Death Note and Code Geass Fnords (113)
124. Greece and Goldman Sachs (113)
125. The Food Safety Modernization Act (113)
126. Gold/Silver Ratio (113)

Here is my list of most popular posts in 2010, only counting posts published in 2010.

1. Worldwide Hyperinflation Race (2,232)
2. Premium Text Messaging Fraud - 91097 and 654654 (1,174)
3. BMI/ASCAP/SESAC Legal Extortion Scam (916)
4. Verizon LG enV Touch, Bitpim, and Open Source (875)
5. Real GDP Is Crashing, 2000-2009 (500)
6. Turd in the Punchbowl! (480)
7. Is It Worth Hoarding Nickels? (364)
8. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (361)
9. Incentive Stock Options and Startups (335)
10. Nazi Social Contract (300)
11. Lotus Notes Sucks! (276)
12. Ticketmaster Monopoly (258)
13. Repo 105 (251)
14. Quantitative Easing 2 (244)
15. Righthaven vs. Charles Johnson (RadGeek) (240)
16. Why Chatroulette Failed (228)
17. The End of the Euro? (201)
18. How Can you Debate a Fool? (194)
19. Android, iPhone, and Maemo (191)
20. Sholom Rubashkin, Political Prisoner (183)
21. Corporate Death Penalty (177)
22. Standing Up for a Judge (175)
23. Who Murdered Benjamin Franklin's Grandson? (175)
24. Synthetic CDOs and Goldman Sachs (159)
25. Mika Brzezinski (157)
26. NYSE Specialists Became DMMs (154)
27. LeBron James and the NBA CBA (141)
28. Did the Banksters Kill James Garfield? (139)
29. Got a Virus - Antivir Solution Pro (127)
30. Robert Kahre Wins Nobel Peace Prize (126)
31. Deepwater Horizon (125)
32. What Happens When Someone Hoards Money? (124)
33. Can You Pass a Turing Test? (121)
34. Time Warner Cable and Lousy Software (118)
35. Greece and Goldman Sachs (113)
36. The Food Safety Modernization Act (113)
37. Gold/Silver Ratio (113)
38. Toyota Recall (107)
39. 1099 Reporting and Healthcare Reform (103)
40. Gold Bubble? (102)
41. The DDT Conspiracy Theory (101)
42. The Daily Show Ridicules Anarchists (100)
43. Joe Stack (97)
44. Undercover Boss (97)
45. Paying an Underwater Mortgage (97)
46. Charles Rangel - Reprimand, Censure, or Wristslap (96)
47. David Axelrod, State Psychopath (95)
48. Agorist Grilled Cheese Seller In NYC (95)

I also updated the "Best Of FSK" list in the left sidebar.

TV Has Too Many Commercials

There have been debates regarding "Is it morally acceptable to watch TV, knowing it's mostly State propaganda?" State TV has a near monopoly. It's acceptable to watch and observe the evil fnords.

Over time, the number of commercials per hour of TV has increased. My father asked me to time a 30 minute episode of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" on Comedy Central. There were 10 minutes of commercials in a 30 hour show!

This is offensive. I'm *ALREADY* paying for Viacom's channels via cable carry fees. I pay a 2nd time via commercials. A commercial values the viewer's time at only a few cents per commercial. When I first heard of cable, I assumed there would be no commercials, because you're already paying for it.

If you get a Linux DVR, it automatically skips over commercials. There was a regular DVR that allowed viewers to skip ahead, but the media corporations killed it via a lawsuit. Current DVRs have a fast-forward, but no skip-ahead. Skip-ahead is technically feasible, but that feature is illegal.

The advantage of TV isn't just the explicit commercials. There's indirect hidden commercials. When a woman in a sitcom gets excited about her diamond engagement ring, that's a hidden commercial sponsored by the DeBeers diamond cartel. For another example, Jon Stewart ridicules people who criticize Obama's healthcare corporate welfare law. That "commercial" is more valuable than the explicit commercials! It's dangerous, because it isn't explicitly labeled as a commercial.

On the Internet, there's much less commercials. There's less State propaganda, if you know where to look. Viewers won't sit through 33% commercials on the Internet, because there's choice. In the mainsteam media, all shows have high commercial percentages. There's no choice and no competition. The Internet is changing the equation somewhat, but I haven't heard of any really interesting direct-to-Internet productions.

Also, the fact that a show must have a commercial every 5-8 minutes affects the writing. The writers must wrap up each scene within 8 minutes. They create cliffhangers, so that viewers come back after the commercial.

TV is one big advertisement for the State. The hidden commercials are more dangerous than the explicit commercials. However, I still watch. It's nice to observe the evil fnords. Besides, State entertainment still has a near-monopoly. I can watch, without being adversely affected, although it's sometimes really offensive.