Who owns your body?

The most important questions usually have remarkably simple answers. I was listening to Michael Badnarik's radio show from last Friday, and being the great iconoclast that he is, he asks one of these important, yet simple questions:

Who owns your body?

Here's the simple (and complete) answer: I own my body!

I disagree with a great number of people on a great number of things, and yet I still get along with them. We can reach a modus vivendi -- we can agree to disagree. The interesting thing about the question at hand is that it is more powerful than most other political questions; it even makes others look mundane in comparison. If I were to meet someone who believed that they did not own their body I can honestly say that I would never be able to relate with this person, nor truly understand anything that they personally believed.

In fact, I cannot think of any possible way any rational person could disagree with the statement that you own your own body. And yet, the relatively mundane political disagreements I have with other people are antithetical to the concept that we (supposedly) both agree with: I own my own body.

1. I cannot rightfully be enslaved.
2. I can eat, drink, smoke, inject, or osmose anything I want into my own body.
3. I own the products that I produce with my own hands. No one can rightfully steal them from me.
4. I can freely contract with other people (who also own their own bodies) and agree to exchange my products for theirs.
5. I can kill myself or contract with someone to do it for me.

Consequently, if you live in a world where these rights are not respected, and you allow them to be disrespected, you are not free, and you do not own your own body. Here is an example of such a world:

1. A constitution is drafted on the principle that the government would protect the sovereign rights of individuals. And yet there is disagreement. . . and compromises. The final draft of this constitution disregards its founding principles and implicitly supports slavery. It would take another 80 years for this constitution to reverse this indiscretion.
2. Even though such a promise to never enslave was made, the practice would continue through the enforced conscription of men to fight in foreign wars.
3. Laws of taxation are modified to allow the government to steal from the wealth of individuals, as much as they cared to, for whatever reason.
4. Money is created by this government, "out of thin air". Laws are enacted to compel businesses to accept it. Numerous law enforcement agencies ensure that no one uses any competing (or more valuable) form of money.
5. Certain beverages are disallowed through legal means.
6. Certain herbs are disallowed through less than legal means.
7. The writ of habeas corpus, the law that literally protects the right to protest the detention of your own body, though protected by 327 years of precedence, is utterly abolished and left only to the ruler's discretion as to who receives this "privilege".

Does this world sound familiar? I hope so. The trend of these united States is to not respect your body. If you believe that you own your body, you should never allow your government, let alone anyone else, to take away the rights of your body.

Think about this, not only when you vote, but every single day, in everything that you do. Do you have the self respect to assert your rights? Do you have the respect to assert MY rights? If you do, I sincerely hope that you will approach any political decision through this concept: I own my own body. You own your body. I have no right to take away your rights, nor you to me.

The time to choose how this country will behave on a federal level is fast approaching. Once you come to the realization -- that you own your own body -- you will realize that there is only one person running for president who believes that very same thing: Ron Paul.

Mitt Romney bribes supporters to induce donations

I hate to stay on the topic of Mitt Romney, there are plenty of bad things about most of the other presidential candidates too.

But... Mitt makes it so damn easy for me to pick on him: the official Romney contribution page now offers you a tiered selection of Christmas gifts bribes in exchange for your donation:

Obviously Romney doesn't need the money; he has plenty of his own to do with as he pleases. Ever wonder why he has so many supporters at all the rallies he goes to? Because they are the same supporters at every rally. He buses them from place to place at his own cost.

To win though, Romney needs more than just his own money. He needs individual contributions so he doesn't get slaughtered by you know who when it comes time to report real donations to the FEC.

Instead of getting random SWAG for my donation, I'd rather give my money to Ron Paul and get a much greater gift: a president who will restore the constitutional boundaries of this great, but fallen country.

5 reasons to not trust Romney

What does Mitt Romney really believe in? Does he support the sovereignty of We the People of this constitutional republic? On at least a few occasions he has. When asked about abortion, Romney has recently said that he wants individual states to decide for themselves. Despite Romney's floundering on the issue in the past, he has come to the correct and constitutional stance on the issue. Kudos, Mitt. The federal government has strict constitutional duties, and legislating on abortion is not one of them.

But does Romney actually believe that the federal government should generally be held accountable to these restrictions, or only when it's convenient for him?

Here are five examples that I was able to quickly find that show that he definitely will not protect the limitations that we have imposed on our federal government:

He supports ALL of Mass. gun laws

Sure, Massachusetts is not held accountable to the second amendment, but they have some of the most oppressive gun laws around. Romney also says that he supports all of these laws personally. Does Romney think critically enough to not support these same laws on the federal level? It's a scary prospect, at best.

He doesn't believe in a States' authority to enact drug laws

Nowhere in the constitution do We the People grant the federal government the privilege to regulate "drugs". The states have implicit authority in this regard by virtue of the 10th amendment. Now listen carefully to this guy's question:

He didn't ask Mitt for his opinion on marijuana. He didn't ask Mitt whether or not marijuana should be illegal. He asked Mitt what he would do if a state were to exert its sovereignty and to democratically decide that marijuana will not be illegal in said state. Romney clearly shows in his response that he would disregard the state's clear right to do just that. He believes that marijuana should be made illegal in every state of this country. Period.

He would put someone in jail for prescribed medical marijuana use

No, he doesn't say so. Instead, he decides to run away like a kid that just got punched in the face... by a guy in a wheelchair... with muscular dystrophy. By default, this says to me that Romney would indeed put someone in jail for using medical marijuana. If he would not, then why is he not sure enough of himself to say so?

Ron Paul is sure of himself. He tells the same guy that he will never use federal power to put ANYONE in jail for marijuana use. Ron Paul understands his strict constitutional duties as president and is not afraid to declare them:

He wants to federally require VChips in all new computers

There are literally hundreds of existing methods to block pornography on computers. These are cheap and highly available to parents. There is simply no need for the federal government to step in and save the day. Even if this were not the case, there is no federal authority to control private companies in this way.

And yet Romney feels he can legislate his own morals on everyone else:

He supports legally defining Marriage.

You want a definition of marriage? I have one. Marriage is a voluntary contract between people defining whatever relationship responsibilities and privileges they desire. The government is neither a party to this contract, nor do they get to dictate or "define" any of its terms. Romney says that he believes that 1-Man, 1-Woman and one (silent) government together form a marriage and that this definition should be reflected in our laws. Sorry, but We the People have not explicitly given you that authority.

He thinks Obama is Osama

This is #6 of 5. #6 because this one doesn't have to do with the constitution at all, but really shows how blatantly stupid Romney can be.

I mean come on, you can here him say "Osa.." right before he corrects himself and says "Barack Obama" instead .... twice. It's almost as if Romney is concentrating so hard on reciting something rather than actually critically thinking about his statements.

By all means, vote for Romney if you sincerely like him, but have no delusions that he supports your own or your fellow humans' sovereign rights.

Slacker Screenlet

Having an absurdly large music collection can sometimes have it's downsides. Slacker is a nice way to listen to music when you can't decide what to listen to. Like with Pandora or Last.fm, you can create your own radio station by telling the player what kind of music you like and the player will automatically choose music to play for you. With Slacker, you can customize how much or how little new music you want to allow into the mix, which is the main reason I prefer it over Pandora.

On Windows, Slacker has created a nice standalone player. On Linux or Mac you're stuck with the web player. The nice thing about a standalone player is it won't interfere with my habit of closing my browser (thus killing my music). I decided I needed to find a way to separate the player from my main browser.

Screenlets are little, graphical, single-purpose eye-candy (written in Python :)). They can do things like show you the time or the current weather forecast, CPU load, the word of the day etc. Compiz allows these applications to run in their own layer such that they can appear and disappear quickly with the press of a button. They are quick and easy to get to, but stay out of your way when not needed.

I decided a screenlet for Slacker would be ideal, so I wrote one.

You can download my Slacker Screenlet for yourself.

Also see the following:

• Screenlets.org page
• Gnome-look page

FBI Raids Liberty Dollar HQ -- Loots all the Gold!

I am shocked and incredibly upset.

The Liberty Dollar offices have been raided by the FBI and Secret Service. They have stolen ALL of the gold, ALL of the silver, ALL of the platinum.. All the computers that have unfulfilled orders and customer records, all the digital liberty dollars, all the US Currency, all of the nearly two tons of new Ron Paul liberty dollars, all the telephones.... everything! It's all GONE.

The Liberty Dollar has been an alternative, precious metal backed, currency in America for over 9 years, with over 20 million liberty dollars in circulation. The US Mint has specified a few different times that although the currency is not recognized by the federal government, it is nonetheless, 100% legal. But that's besides the point. Obviously the federal government now thinks that is illegal. Are you OK with this?

Stop trusting the government!

They are thugs, thieves, crooks, and liars. Can the government just take away the wealth of the people for whatever reason? Can the government deem illegal what simply amounts to a certificate for a certain amount of gold? Can the government destroy a mans entire livelihood with a single stomping of it's massive boot of authority? The Liberty dollar in no way appears nor purports to be a US dollar. It is not counterfeit money. It is real money and the government decided they wanted it for themselves.. so they took it.

Regardless of what the government says is a crime, the circulation of the Liberty dollar is in no way a crime. In US law there is a clear prerequisite that must be met for a crime to have even occurred: Corpus Delicti. Crimes have to have a victim. If there is no victim then there is no crime. Period. Where is the victim in distributing alternative, and clearly marked currency? The only victims here are victims at the hand of the government: those that had their money stolen from, as well as the rest of us that are now barred, by precedent, from ever having the opportunity of owning sound and value backed money. The government is the only criminal.

Why would the FBI, after over 9 years of the liberty dollar in existence, now decide to destroy the liberty dollar? Are they afraid of something? Is it because the value of the US dollar is plummeting and will soon be worthless?

This is not the America that I believe in. The America that I believe in is one focused on liberty, entrepreneurial spirit, and justice. The FBI and Secret Service have shown that they support NOT ONE of these goals. I can no longer pay my income tax with any sort of a sound conscience. If I continue to do so, it will be for fear of being put in prison and for no other reason. I hope that I can build up some sort of courage.