Wow. i had forgotten this blog still existed. Since it's been referenced in the Union Leader the other day maybe i should go ahead and resurrect it. In case your wondering the crackerjack journalists at the UL have uncovered my secret gay love affair with Dan Garthwaite.

FREE STATE PROJECT: You have to give credit to the folks in the Free State Project. They have members on both sides of the ticket in at least one House race.
In Hillsborough 12, which represents Ward 5 in Manchester, Tim O’Flaherty is on the Democratic side of the ticket and Daniel Garthwaite is on the Republican side.
Garthwaite heads research for the board of directors of the NH Liberty Alliance. He and O’Flaherty live at the same Central Street address in Manchester.
On O’Flaherty’s Facebook page, he lists the Free State Project as one of his activities, and he has the website Stateless Governance.
O’Flaherty won the Democratic primary in a recount after initial results showed he had tied former Rep. Richard Komi.
O’Flaherty and Rep. Ted Rokas are the two Democrats in the race, while Garthwaite is the only Republican, so either Garthwaite or O’Flaherty will win a seat unless there is a write-in campaign.
Neither O’Flaherty nor Garthwaite could be reached for comment.
Don Manning, the chairman of the Manchester City Democrats, said he met with O’Flaherty after the primary and learned he was a big advocate of privacy. “He is concerned about government not overreaching into people’s personal lives,” Manning said.
They talked about labor issues and the need to work on legislation that pertains to the city.
“He was a pleasant young man,” Manning said. “It was a positive and upbeat conversation.”

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20121028/NEWS0604/710289904

I don't believe anyone from the Union Leader tried to contact me but if they had i might have assured them that in Concord i pledge to bring the kind of bi-partisan back and forth   relationship that Dan and I have worked so hard for in our sometimes hot and heavy personal lives.

Seriously though, I didn't know Dan before this race and having both of us on the ballot was more of an accident than any kind of Free-Stater scheme for world domination.  

More later...

… if you want to make use of the advantages of civilization, but are not prepared to concern yourself with the upholding of civilization — you are done.

Via Murray Rothbard's "The Death Wish of the Anarcho-Communists":

If they have their way, they [the anarcho-communists] will find that it is difficult indeed to be jolly and "unrepressed" while starving to death. All this brings us back to the wisdom of the great Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gasset:

In the disturbances caused by scarcity of food, the mob goes in search of bread, and the means it employs is generally to wreck the bakeries. This may serve as a symbol of the attitude adopted, on a greater and more complicated scale, by the masses of today towards the civilization by which they are supported … Civilization is not "just here," it is not self-supporting.

It is artificial … if you want to make use of the advantages of civilization, but are not prepared to concern yourself with the upholding of civilization — you are done. In a trice you find yourself left without civilization. Just a slip, and when you look, everything has vanished into air. The primitive forest appears in its native state, just as if curtains covering pure Nature had been drawn back. The jungle is always primitive and vice versa, everything primitive is mere jungle. (José Ortega y Gasset, The Revolt of the Masses, New York: W.W. Norton, 1932, p. 97.)

"The largest fraud in history"?

No i'm not talking about the Federal Reserve, but that wouldn't be a bad guess.  According to precious metals trader turned whistleblower, Andrew Maguire, the price of silver and gold has been manipulated. An insider to the industry, Maguire has decided to go public with his insights forsaking his own personal profit opportunity and if you believe some accounts even his own life maybe in danger.

I don't pretend to understand the details of how the commodities exchanges work, however he does present a believable case in this interview available here.  As i understand the accusation, just as the Federal Reserve inflates the supply of fiat currency in circulation by fractional reserve banking, the metals exchanges like Comex and LBMA have been selling 100 shares for every ounce of gold they have on reserve.  The purported purpose of this is to deflate the price of gold and silver at will to make investing in precious metals as a hedge against a weak fiat currency very unprofitable.  In the end this manipulation would supposedly provide an artificial reinforcement to dollar. This ponzi scheme leaves the financial markets vulnerable to a "Run on the Bank" in the worlds largest commodity market and if that were to happen a devastating collapse of the dollar.

So if you're looking for a way to hasten the collapse of the empire, maybe it could be as simple as selling your Gold and Silver ETFs and taking physical delivery of your precious metals!

Be sure to check out the interview with Maquire and Adrian Douglas of GATA, and here's a fun video from Russia Today that helps to understand the story:

Don't think you can get away with it. You cannot. This is WikiLeaks...

I've heard it said that the only things the State produces are criminals and corpses.  It's rare to have such explicit documentation of this, but yesterday's WikiLeaks revelation shows the State on one of its more "productive" days.

If you can stomach the slaughter of the first few minutes you'll be treated to the sight and sounds of the "Heroic Defenders of American Freedom" in their helicopter gunship as they murder the occupants of a civilian rescue van, containing two children, as they attempt to aid the lone survivor of the initial attack, a journalist with Reuters.

Are you worth rescuing?

It astonishes me, how the lenses of media and statism can distort the perceived value of human life. Recently there has been a lot of coverage about the death of British paratrooper John Harrison, "while acting with the greatest of courage in th[e] most dangerous mission" to rescue New York Times journalist Stephen Farrell from captivity in Afghanistan.

The family of the paratrooper is heartbroken, and why wouldn't they be? The question should be, why is this death and family grief given so much more significance and coverage? Why not the deaths of the Afghans, (a woman and child) killed in the "rescue" or the thousands of deaths of Afghan civilians and their families since the US and NATO invaded in 2001?

And why is the question never posed about the character of the soldiers who are complicit with the thousands of acts of murder and terrorism their organizations are actively engaged in? Instead praise is heaped upon them for having died for the State. Regardless of whether or not John Harrison ever killed anyone personally, he is at minimum guilty of actively supporting a criminal organization. Having said that, i don't expect the Telegraph to share my anarcho-capitalist point of view in their reporting, and to their credit they have given some coverage to the story of Sultan Munadi, New York Times interpreter killed during the rescue of Mr. Farrell.

The distortion of the value of human life isn't just seen in the contrast in amount of media coverage of white vs. brown people. It can also be seen, and rather blatantly so, in the perspectives of the military commentary regarding their "operation":

Andrew Robathan, the Conservative MP and former SAS officer, said: "We have lost far too many people in Afghanistan already and this is one death [John Harrison] that could have been avoided. It is always a tragedy when we lose a life but it is particularly tragic if it was an unnecessary operation because people have ignored security advice." It's touching to hear the sorrowful pronouncements on the value of human life coming from a politician, but he manages in the same breath to degrade the value of Mr. Farrell by implying that his rescue was unnecessary. Elsewhere we read that: "One senior Army source told The Daily Telegraph: “When you look at the number of warnings this person had [Mr. Farrell] it makes you really wonder whether he was worth rescuing, whether it was worth the cost of a soldier’s life...." So here we have a couple of statists, who are probably representative of the military mindset in general, that a mere journalist isn't worth as much a solider. Why would that be? Is it the fact that Mr. Farrell was warned repeatedly about the danger and so his life was forfeit? Or is it instead because Mr. Farrell was in the area, despite the warnings, investigating yet another statist atrocity in which over 90 Afghans were killed when NATO bombed a fuel truck in the middle of town, a story that could be very damaging to the state. Would the damage be from the public outcry at home? No it would be from the Afghan people who would resist the occupation all the more virulently and to the same degree lend their support to one of many local militias and fanatical organizations using the name Taliban.

I think its worth noting that Mr. Munadi in his blog for the New York Times recalls the traumatic events of his childhood when another Imperialist empire (the Soviet Union) used his country as a bombing range. The United States and NATO have taken over this murderous role from the Soviets, and with the same results. According to the website RethinkAfghanistan.com, more than 30 million pounds of bombs have been dropped on that country since 2001. The Afghan refugees in the below video from rethinkafganistan.com would certainly sympathize with the comments from Mr. Munadi's father when he said that his son was "killed for no reason at all".
When so little value is placed on your life that the slaughter of friends and family by indiscriminate bombing and shooting continues without end, it shouldn't be a surprise to hear the refugees lament that: "death is better than this kind of life... i swear to God... that i want death."
Unfortunately, i think the State will be more than willing to oblige that request.

Honk for Healthcare!?

What's wrong with this scene...?

You might be tempted to point out the crazy psychedelic cow in the foreground, but just across the street, framed between the menacing, purple poka-dot bull horns, a display of true madness is occurring.

Approaching i hear the occasional shout of "We need health care now" from the sign waving crowd of about 15 people and one wheelchair, gathered on an apparently random corner of this small New Hampshire town of New London.

Now most people when in need of professional skills or services of others would probably be more inclined to, for example, just call 911, look in the phone book, or maybe even simply typing "hospital, NH" into the nearest search engine. While that had apparently not occurred to these people, they had taken some initiative by banding together, fashioning crude signs, and encouraging drivers-by to send out the call for a doctor by having them honk their horns.

With a friendly but slightly perplexed, hello, i pointed out that if these people were in need of medical attention there was a hospital just down the street. The encounter went something like this:


Me - Is this a Democrat event?
Statist #1 - This is an American event! ... We're dying for Healthcare!
Me - You're dying!?, well i think there is a hospital just down the street.
Statist #1 - I know, but how would most people pay for it.
Me - Well, i'm sorry you're dying but i'm sure you could find a way to obtain health care without stealing the money from someone else.
Statist #1 - What!?! Do you support Medicare?
Me - No
Statist #1 - You don't support Medicare?
Me - No
Statist #1 - Do you support Social Security?
Me - No
Statist #2 - Do you support the Army?
Me - No
Statist #3 - Do you support the roads?
Me - No, i think the roads should be privatized, they should be private property.
Statist #1 - Really?, What college did you go to?
Me - There's no need for sarcasm. If i'm to respect your opinion, then you should respect mine.
Statist #1 - Well, what is your opinion?
Me - I am of the opinion that i shouldn't be forced to pay for something that i don't want.
Statist #3 - But healthcare in this country is a mess, there are people suffering.
Me - That doesn't justify theft.
Statist#1 - It's not theft, it will be funded just like anything else. There will be public and private healthcare services just like Dartmouth and New Hampshire State. You do support the State funded college?
Me - No... i'm an anarchist, i don't believe there should be a State.
Statist #4 - Well then you don't have a right to use the roads, or call the fire department, or the police!
Me - I would gladly pay for those things if i used them. Just because i'm an anarchist doesn't mean that i can't participate in civilization.
Statist #2 - But, but... the roads? Why should you be allowed to use my roads?
Me - you don't own the roads.
Statist #2 - Yes i do. As a member of a democracy.
Me - (rolling my eyes) - i don't think i want to go into all of that now, but i would suggest you start to question the nature of democracy.
Statist #5 (centralized efficiency, single payer, post office, HMO, blah, blah, blah)
Me - (free market, inefficient state organizations, legalized monopoly on first class mail, blah, blah, blah)
Statist #2 - But anarchy is...
Me - The epitome of civilization. Statism is barbarism.
Statist #3 - No man is an island!
Me - (walking away) I agree entirely with you on that!

So, like i said, Madness!

Maybe the shock of meeting someone who questions their premises will do some good eventually. But to really have an impact why not have a counter protest? How about a dozen or so free staters across the street with signs like: "Honk for Theft", "Buy me a Doctor!", "I want you to bend over for Uncle Sam... Colonoscopies for the Masses!"

Stateless Dreams

Maybe i should rename this blog Stateless Dreams.
Again i am prompted to write, at least partially, due to some dream-scape inspiration. Instead of death from above, this time it was Ayn Rand looking for her pen. Apparently she was of the belief that one of her previous associates who happened to be my direct ancestors had illicitly come into possession of her pen and she wanted it back! I was very cordial and asked all about the pen (a white enamel fountain-tipped pen), and promised to look for it and return it to her. Before she left i even got a copy of Anthem autographed by her. In the semi-lucid period after she left i had the thought that Ayn Rand was dead and so returning her pen to her could be a problem. But not to worry i soon conjured the notion of returning the pen to her estate or to the Brandens in a Frodo like quest to return the sacred artifact to its origins and thus disperse it's powers throughout all of middle earth.

Well if i am in possession of the "Mystical Stylus of Rand" you certainly wouldn't know it from the quality of the writing here... hey maybe that would be a good blog name too, or maybe a rock band - although Rush has that niche covered.

In tribute to Ms. Rand i'll just close with one of my favorite passages from Anthem:

There is some word, one single word which is not in the language of men, but which has been. And this is the Unspeakable Word, which no men may speak nor hear. But sometimes, and it is rare, sometimes, somewhere, one among men find that word. They find it upon scraps of old manuscripts or cut into the fragments of ancient stones. But when they speak it they are put to death. There is no crime punished by death in this world, save this one crime of speaking the Unspeakable Word.
We have seen one of such men burned alive in the square of the City. And it was a sight which has stayed with us through the years, and it haunts us, and follows us, and it gives us no rest. We were a child then, ten years old. And we stood in the great square with all the children and all the men of the City, sent to behold the burning. They brought the Transgressor out into the square and they led him to the pyre. They had torn out the tongue of the Transgressor, so that they could speak no longer. The Transgressor were young and tall. They had hair of gold and eyes blue as morning. They walked to the pyre, and their step did not falter. And of all the faces on that square, of all the faces which shrieked and screamed and spat curses upon them, theirs was the calmest and happiest face.
As the chains were wound over their body at the stake, and a flame set to the pyre, the Transgressor looked upon the City. There was a thin thread of blood running from the corner of their mouth, but their lips were smiling. And a monstrous thought came to us then, which has never left us. We had heard of Saints. There are the Saints of Labor, and the Saints of the Councils, and the Saints of the Great Rebirth. But we had never seen a Saint nor what the likeness of a Saint should be. And we thought then, standing in the square, that the likeness of a Saint was the face we saw before us in the flames, the face of the Transgressor of the Unspeakable Word.
As the flames rose, a thing happened which no eyes saw but ours, else we would not be living today. Perhaps it had only seemed to us. But it seemed to us that the eyes of the Transgressor had chosen us from the crowd and were looking straight upon us. There was no pain in their eyes
and no knowledge of the agony of their body. There was only joy in them, and pride, a pride holier than it is fit for human pride to be. And it seemed as if these eyes were trying to tell us something through the flames, to send into our eyes some word without sound. And it seemed as if these eyes were begging us to gather that word and not to let it go from us and from the earth. But the flames rose and we could not guess the word . . . .
What — even if we have to burn for it like the Saint of the pyre — what is the Unspeakable Word?