Essays

My life as a tyrant

"I became a police officer because I wanted to be a good guy. Even though we’ve all seen reports of police brutality and corruption, I still believe we cops are the good guys. I’ve seen cops perform brave, selfless acts for strangers on countless occasions. Even the worst cops I’ve ever known would risk their lives to defend the innocent. But I have to say this anyway. Before you start throwing shoes, hear me out. I have a good reason for saying it. If you think our police are no threat to your freedom, you’re living in a fantasy world." Continue reading →

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The Bond Bubble Is About to Burst

"The United States is shown in the following chart. Central banks have aided the government in managing to keep rates low despite big deficits, by buying the debt. Balance sheets of the world's central banks are growing rapidly to support government deficits while forcing rates to low levels. It is a bubble. When you buy Treasury bonds, you are putting your fate in the hands of the government, expecting it to give back your purchasing power and a reasonable amount of interest to you, in return for the use of your money. I believe we are headed for a serious loss of confidence in the value of the dollar, which will be accompanied by a burst of the Bond Bubble." Continue reading →

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Ed Flynn: Milwaukee Crime Lord, Citizen Disarmament Advocate

"Every city police department is an armed gang organized to implement the will of the municipal corporation that employs them. Under the rule of Ed Flynn the Milwaukee PD has become one of the most malodorous outfits of its kind in the Midwestern United States. Flynn clearly sees himself as commanding an army of occupation. In practical terms, he is less a warlord than a crime lord who presides over an officially sanctioned street gang. Like most petty dictators of his ilk, Flynn is protected by a praetorian guard that will retaliate against people who speak ill of their dear leader." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: A Close Encounter with Zombiedom

"When it comes to zombies, nothing beats government. The feds have the power to force people to do things they would rather not do... notably, support bloodsucking zombies. So, when the elite landowners of Anne Arundel County, Md., got together with the environmental protectors and enlisted the power of government... you could be sure that money was going to change hands. In the event, some of it came to your humble zombie-fighting editor. You see, the idea was elegant. Subtle. And very profitable for those who understood what was going on. The landowners – often from old farm families – wanted to hold on to their land. But the cost of holding it was rising." Continue reading →

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America – Land of the Free?

"A major and fallacious official justification for attacks on financial privacy and on tax havens has been the lie that the war on drugs could be won if we all surrendered our privacy. Over $5 billion in cash and private property has been confiscated by police under forfeiture laws — and in 85% of the cases no charges were brought against the persons from which property was grabbed. In most cases, federal, state and local police kept the loot. In the United States, where illegal drug use is highest, a vast police-prison-government lobby has arisen. It devours about $80 billion a year in taxpayer funds, supposedly to combat drugs. What a costly hoax!" Continue reading →

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Should Americans Emigrate Or Defect?

"America still allows emigration; the door has not yet slammed. But America punishes the act and it is proposing legislation to punish it more. For example, a bill called the Ex-PATRIOT Act would ban anyone who expatriates from ever setting foot again on American soil. As the law stands today, the 'exit tax' for those who emigrate without renouncing citizenship is to be saddled with a US tax liability in perpetuity; in short, double taxation. The 'exit tax' for those who renounce citizenship is the complexity of the process and a confiscation of wealth from those who have it. This is a fiscal Berlin Wall." Continue reading →

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16 Ways to Cut Defense Spending

"Admiral Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that 'the greatest threat to our national security is our debt.' Senator Coburn said on 'Morning Joe' on Feb 13 that '$100 billion could be cut.' Ron Paul says that only about half the defense budget is for defense, the other half is for militarism abroad. So here are 16 ways to cut its waste, fraud, and abuse of American taxpayers. They don’t include the largest benefit of all: the value many of the highly skilled and motivated men and women in the military could bring to the civilian workforce. The mostly wasted talent pool is incredible. All American strategy should be re-examined." Continue reading →

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Foreign asset reporting before FBAR and FATCA: “loyalty questionnaires” for World War II Japanese American internees

"Most of us are familiar only with modern-day attempts to get Americans to report non-US accounts and investments: the controlled foreign corporation laws of the 1960s, followed by the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, and today’s FATCA. But three decades before TD F 90-22.1 and seven decades before Form 8938, there was WRA 126, 'Application for Leave Clearance', which had to be filed by any Japanese American seeking to leave a War Relocation Authority internment camp." Continue reading →

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Seasteading: Striking at the Root of Bad Government

"We know it is possible to live on the ocean; we know there are ways to make money there, and our mission is to drive down the costs of seasteading to transform the ocean from potential frontier into real frontier and eventually into just another option with some serious advantages. This will lead to experimentation and innovation in governance and force existing States to improve or wither away for a lack of residents. The challenges are large but the potential payoffs are much, much larger. By transforming the political problem of bad governance into a hard but achievable technological problem, which humans have a knack for solving, we make success possible." Continue reading →

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10 Reasons The U.S. Is No Longer The Land Of The Free

"Even as we pass judgment on countries we consider unfree, Americans remain confident that any definition of a free nation must include their own — the land of free. Yet, the laws and practices of the land should shake that confidence. In the decade since Sept. 11, 2001, this country has comprehensively reduced civil liberties in the name of an expanded security state. While each new national security power Washington has embraced was controversial when enacted, they are often discussed in isolation. But they don’t operate in isolation. They form a mosaic of powers under which our country could be considered, at least in part, authoritarian." Continue reading →

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