statism

The Heartbreaking Story Of A Harmless Deadhead Sentenced To Die In Prison

"Timothy Tyler was 25 when he was sentenced to die in prison. Tyler, a Grateful Dead fan with no history of violence, got life without the possibility of parole for selling LSD to a police informant. He'd never gone to prison before. But a judge was forced to give him life because of two prior drug convictions — even though both those convictions resulted in probation. At 45, Tyler has been in prison for more than 20 years and will likely spend the rest of his life there. He got the same life sentence as rapist and kidnapper Ariel Castro because of federal mandatory minimum sententence guidelines." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Heartbreaking Story Of A Harmless Deadhead Sentenced To Die In Prison

Auditor Urges Safeguards as USDA Pays 6,336 Dead People

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture may have improperly paid as much as $36 million in aid to 6,336 dead people, according to government auditors who recommended stronger safeguards. Random sampling of USDA’s program rolls with the Social Security Administration’s master list of dead individuals found that 6,336 people got conservation aid, crop-insurance subsidies or disaster assistance more than one year after they had died from 2008 through 2012, the Government Accounting Office said today in a report. Payments to the dead 'may call into question whether these farm safety net programs are benefiting the agricultural sector as intended.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAuditor Urges Safeguards as USDA Pays 6,336 Dead People

New Hampshire Town Sues Over Meter Feeding

"A group of residents in Keene, New Hampshire thought the city was gaining a bad reputation for its predatory parking meter enforcement and decided to do something about it. The organized an effort to regularly feed coins into the meters so that other residents and visitors could avoid having an expensive ticket slapped on their windshield. Instead, they receive a card telling them that Robin Hood and the Merry Men have 'saved you from the king's tariff.' As a reward for their generosity, the city is suing the Robin Hooders for civil conspiracy to interfere with a contract. A hearing on the case is scheduled for August 12." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew Hampshire Town Sues Over Meter Feeding

Mass jail break in Pakistan as Taliban gunmen storm prison to free 250 inmates

"The attack in the city of Dera Ismail Khan showed the ability of the al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban to strike at the heart of Pakistan’s heavily guarded prison system and walk away with dozens of senior Taliban fighters and commanders. The overnight assault on the Central Prison took place despite reports that regional officials had received intelligence days, if not weeks, ago suggesting such an attack was imminent. Officials blamed a combination of negligence and lack of communication among Pakistan’s many security agencies, but some suggested there may have been a degree of insider help." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMass jail break in Pakistan as Taliban gunmen storm prison to free 250 inmates

Bitcoin industry leaders launch DATA, a self-regulatory body for digital currencies

"The Committee for the Establishment of the Digital Asset Transfer Authority will 'work proactively with regulators and policymakers to adapt their requirements to our technologies and business models,' said the new group, in an announcement earlier today. The list of backers is a Who’s Who of players in bitcoin. Tony Gallipi, CEO of payment processor BitPay, Chris Larsen, CEO of Ripple and founder of OpenCoin, and Patrick Murck, general counsel for the Bitcoin Foundation, are on board. TradeHill CEO Jered Kenna, who has been negotiating licenses with individual states for his high-net worth bitcoin exchange, is also a member." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin industry leaders launch DATA, a self-regulatory body for digital currencies

Enforcement of immigration laws could be making human trafficking tougher to detect

"The threat of arrest and deportation is a common tool traffickers use to control their victims, experts say. Even those immigrants who arrive on a legitimate work-related visa have become trafficking victims. These visas usually bind the worker to an employer, who can hold that requirement over their head and even become their trafficker. 'If employment ends, then so does visa status,' says Avaloy Lanning, a senior director at Safe Horizon, a New York-based victim's services agency. 'The trafficker uses that against them, [saying], if you run then you're going to be illegal, then immigration is going to pick you up, arrest you and deport you.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEnforcement of immigration laws could be making human trafficking tougher to detect

State Battles vs. Private Battles

"The most prominent battles are taking place in Syria & Egypt; but they're mainly just rhymes of every similar episode that has occurred throughout mankind's history. What's it all for? To control The State...the great weapon that one group of people can use against its neighbors and enemies; that legal use of force to get you (and your friends) what you want the easy way, instead of the voluntary and moral way. So powerful is this lust to control The State that, in Syria alone, 100,000+ have died in just the last several years. Imagine if the rest of life's battles were conducted in the same manner...." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingState Battles vs. Private Battles

Reforms of Domestic Government Surveillance

"Proposals to reform the court have included publishing declassified summaries of all its rulings and the creation of a public advocate to argue against the government’s filings with the court and to appeal FISA court rulings (now only the government can appeal). These proposals to increase the court’s transparency would be an improvement on the current Orwellian situation, but a better solution would be to get rid of the Orwellian situation. There is no place in a constitutional republic for a secret, parallel system of justice with lower standards. Thus, both the FISA Court and the Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act (actually the entire PATRIOT Act) need to be neutered." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingReforms of Domestic Government Surveillance

The Soviet Setup is Now the China Setup

"The most lucrative trade of 90's Soviet period was obtaining a bank loan (there were only state banks). Which was easy as long as you paid bank manager 20% straight in the pocket. It was up to you what you did with the 80%. Fast forward to today's China. Special investment financing vehicle and state bank loan architecture has been in place for a long time and not just since 2008. As you can imagine such vehicles are predominantly used to skim a little bit off the top. Operator gets rich, lender gets rich, party official gets rich. 2008-2009 RMB 4trn stimulus is the payday system the operators were waiting for, a once in a lifetime chance." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Soviet Setup is Now the China Setup