Month: July 2011

So Much for Property Rights

I often say that those who own property in the United States don’t actually own their property. If you actually owned your property you’d not have to pay the government rent (property taxes) and could do as you please on your land so long as you didn’t harm others or their property. Unfortunately governments have seen fit to regulate almost every activity people do whether it’s on “their” property or not. Take Oak Park, Michigan for instance, property “owners” there wanted to grow their own food but the city said all food grown on “private” property must be inedible:

However, Bass’ garden is a little unique because it’s in her front yard.

“We thought it’d be really cool to do it so the neighbors could see. The kids love it. The kids from the neighborhood all come and help,” she said.

Bass’ cool garden has landed her in hot water with the City of Oak Park. Code enforcement gave her a warning, then a ticket and now she’s been charged with a misdemeanor.

Of course the city enforcers’ excuse for fining the land “owners” if flimsy at best:

Why? The city is pointing to a code that says a front yard has to have suitable, live, plant material. The big question is what’s “suitable?”

We asked Bass whether she thinks she has suitable, live, plant material in her front yard.

“It’s definitely live. It’s definitely plant. It’s definitely material. We think it’s suitable,” she said.

So, we asked Rulkowski why it’s not suitable.

“If you look at the definition of what suitable is in Webster’s dictionary, it will say common. So, if you look around and you look in any other community, what’s common to a front yard is a nice, grass yard with beautiful trees and bushes and flowers,” he said.

Basically they find Bass’s garden unsuitable because that’s not what most people have. Well by that logic those parking a Dodge Viper in their driveway should be written up for violating some stupid law because most people don’t have Vipers and therefore they’re not suitable by this statis’s “logic.”

There are only two possible options when it comes to ownership; you either own something or you don’t. Governments have seen fit to ensure they own everything and simply let the peasants occupy and work the land… so long as they pay their tribute to the King of course.

If a person wishes to grow a garden on their property then they damn well should be allowed to do so without some pencil-necked bureaucrat coming in and demanding not only payment of a fine but also destruction of the garden. Honestly if the Bass’s really wanted to piss of the city they could plant cacti and and cover their entire front yet in sand because that’s very common in places like Arizona and therefore “suitable” by Mr. Rulkowski’s definition.

People Who Tell Libertarians to Move to Somalia are Idiots

I’m sure a majority of my readers are libertarians to some degree. If you’ve described yourself as libertarian long enough then it’s likely some statist has said, “If you believe that why don’t you move to Somalia?” The “logic” is that Somalia is supposedly some kind of libertarian paradise since the region has been without a state since 1991. Of course this is the statis’s version of the race card is only gets pulled out when they lack any actual counterpoints to libertarian statements.

What makes this card so worthless, and the people using it such idiots, is the fact that Somalia is a third-world country with poor living conditions. It is interesting to note that most conditions have been steadily improving since the fall of the state there but Somalia is still recovering from the fact that they were under dictatorial control for so long. Don’t Tread on Mike has an excellent post describing the conditions in Somalia and why those telling libertarians to move there sound like pompous idiots lacking any true understanding of either libertarian philosophy or conditions in Somalia.

The conditions in Somalia can be summed up as a stateless destitute third-world country that was a destitute third-world country with a state before 1991. Libertarians in the United States want to take a developed country with a massively large state and turn it into a developed country with either a very small or completely absent state. In other words libertarians want to remove the largest barrier between the people of the United States and the freedom to succeed, government interference in the economy and daily lives of people.

United States Job “Creation” Stalled Last Month

It seems all of that stimulus money has done a great job of… doing nothing while costing a fortune. In the month of June only 18,000 jobs were “created” which was below the estimated 90,000. Oh, unemployment increased a bit to boot, no surprise there:

Only 18,000 new jobs were created in the month, way below expectations of a 90,000 rise, which had been raised by strong private sector hiring figures released on Thursday.

The unemployment rate also rose, to 9.2% from 9.1% a month earlier.

Data for April and May was also revised down by a total of 44,000 jobs.

The poor result was driven by continuing layoffs by the public sector – where 39,000 jobs were lost – and a much weaker-than-expected 57,000 jobs created in the private sector.

First of all the term jobs created is a complete fallacy when those jobs are products of government interference in the market. Any idiot can tell you that jobs are not created by dumping money into a few favored industries but by employers who are doing well and need an increased labor force. When times are good people do business and that business creates a need for more laborers whom are then hired by employers.

The government seems to believe that simply throwing money into the banking system will somehow magically lead to increased business and thus more employment. That doesn’t work of course because employers are not likely to take loans to increase the number of employees if they have no need for more employees. The government is also doing its damnedest to prop up failing businesses in the hopes of keeping people employed at those businesses, well, employed. This doesn’t work though because people aren’t buying goods from those businesses which is what lead to their failure. You can dump as much money into a failing business as you want but it won’t make consumers want their products.

If the government wants to help the economy recover they’ll stop interfering. Of course that being the logical solution the government is likely to take a different route entirely:

The weak data has raised expectations that the US Federal Reserve may ultimately have to adopt a third programme of “quantitative easing” – buying up debts in order to pump cash into the economy – just as its second such programme has come to an end.

Ah yes, the classic government solution of, “If it doesn’t work just try again, only harder!”

Cash a Check, Go to Jail

Some people are assholes but usually just being an asshole isn’t that big of a deal. When being an asshole at work leads to an innocent man sitting in jail for an entire weekend then you need to be fired. That’s what happened to Mr. Njoku when he tried to cash a valid cashier’s check issued by his former bank:

Njoku signed up to have the rebate deposited directly into his Chase Bank account. But when the IRS rebate arrived, there was a problem. Chase had closed Njoku’s account because of overdrawn checks in the past. The bank deducted $600 to cover what he owed them and mailed him a cashier’s check for the difference–$8,463.21.

But when Njoku showed up at the Chase branch near his house intending to cash the check, he was in for a nasty surprise.

The check had Njoku’s name and address on it and was issued by JP Morgan Chase. But the Chase Customer Banker who handles large checks at the Auburn branch was immediately suspicious.

“I was embarrassed,” Njoku said. “She asked me what I did for a living. Asked me where I got the check from, looked me up and down—like ‘you just bought a house in Auburn, really?’ She didn’t believe that,” he said.

Here’s the thing, if a person comes into your bank with a cashier’s check issued by your bank it should be trivial to punch up records involving that check on your computer. I’m sure doing so would take all of five minutes. Instead the employee decided the check was fraudulent and called the police:

But when Njoku arrived, it wasn’t the money that was waiting for him.

“They just threw me in jail; they called the police and said this guy has a fraudulent check,” Njoku said.

Auburn police arrested him for forgery – a felony crime.

“I was like – you’re making a mistake, you’re making a mistake, don’t take me to jail, I got work tomorrow. I can’t afford to miss work,” he said.

Njoku was taken to jail on June 24, 2010, which was a Thursday. The next day, Chase Special Investigations, realized it was a mistake. The check was legitimate. The Investigator called Auburn Police and left a message with the detective handling the case, but it was her day off. So Njoku stayed in jail for the entire weekend. Finally, on Monday, he was released.

An innocent man spent an entire weekend in jail because some employee decided that man’s check was fraudulent. It would have taken all of five minutes to determine the legitimacy of the check and cashed it. But the worst part is the bank made nothing more than a half-assed attempt to inform the police of their huge fuck up. But this isn’t even the end of the story as Mr. Njoke also lost his car over the ordeal:

Njoku’s car had been towed from the bank parking lot and his check seized as evidence.

“I had to wait a couple of weeks,” he said, “and my car got sold, auctioned off.”

Njoku says he didn’t have the money to pay the impound fees and fines to get his car back before it was sold. He said he also lost his job because he didn’t show up for work while he was in jail.

So because of one asshole working at the bank an innocent man spent a weekend in jail, lost his job, and had his car stolen from him by the state. I’d say Mr. Njoku certainly has valid grounds for a lawsuit against the Bank being the cost him so much. Likely though the banksters will get away scott-free and the employee will keep her job. These are the types of situations that people can get into simply because of another person’s laziness.

Day Seven of The Minnesota Government Shutdown

We’re now in day seven of the Minnesota Government shutdown. Chaos is spreading through the streets as rioters set cars ablaze, women can’t walk the streets because they will get viciously raped, fire and brimstone are raining down, all hope is lost!

Seriously though, it’s been a week and nobody besides a few campers last weekend have even noticed the government went into shutdown mode. I think this indicates how crucial government isn’t.

The Ever Evolving Corruption of Operation Gunwalker

I’m frankly amazed at the amount of government corruption that’s been involved in Operation Fast and Furious. What started at simply as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) allowing guns to be smuggled across the border by known drug cartel members is now blowing up into an inter-agency fiasco:

In a separate development, congressional sources have learned that not only was U.S. taxpayer money being used to buy guns that were later sent to Mexico, but the main target of the investigation was actually a FBI informant and former drug dealer who had been deported years ago.

[…]

The alleged coverup involves three law enforcement agencies: the ATF, FBI and the DEA, or Drug Enforcement Administration.

According to sources, unbeknown to the ATF, the target of their operation was a FBI confidential informant, a fact that only became known to them in April of this year after an 18-month investigation that cost millions of dollars of tax dollars.

“They were going after someone they could never have,” a source in Washington told Fox News. “The Mr. Big they wanted was using government money to buy guns that went to the cartels. The FBI knew it and didn’t tell them.”

How deep can a rabbit hole go? Not only was the government allowing firearms to be illegally smuggled across the border to Mexico, not only were two border patrol agents murdered by firearms the ATF allowed to be smuggled, but the target of the ATF’s investigation was an Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) informant who was using taxpayer money to buy the guns being smuggled across.

By Thor in Valhalla. Why the fuck does anybody think the government is legitimate? Not only to the make and enforce laws against non-violent behavior but they also use money taken from the people to arm cartels who are murdering said people. On top of that not two agencies in the government’s law enforcement arm are apparently capable of communicating with one another. I’m sure the ATF would have loved to know that their target was a fucking FBI informant when they first found him.

Now millions of taxpayer dollars have gone into investigating this mess while an untold number of taxpayer dollars have gone to arming the Mexican drug cartels. Fuck everybody involved with this mess… in the ass… with a retractable baton!

Don’t Fly If You’ve Recently Had Surgery

Bad news for those of you who’ve recently had surgery and are planning on flying soon, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has gained a renewed interest in implanted explosive devices:

Terrorists intent on striking commercial aircraft have shown renewed interest in surgically implanting explosives or explosive components in humans to conduct attacks, a U.S. security official tells CNN.

The idea of implanting bombs has been discussed in the past, but the United States has obtained fresh intelligence about the desire of terrorists, and there is new intelligence about a possible technique that could be used, according to the official, who declined to elaborate.

The officials declined to elaborate because there full of shit by the way. What’s really ironic here is the fact that those fancy expensive naked body scanners can’t pick up implanted devices. To me that indicates once again that any security device you implement can be bypassed because humans are ingenuity creatures and will find ways around any system designed by other humans. So what will the new method of screening for implanted devices be? Who knows, the TSA certainly isn’t giving any details:

“As a precaution, passengers flying from international locations to U.S. destinations may notice additional security measures in place. These measures are designed to be unpredictable, so passengers should not expect to see the same activity at every international airport,” Kimball said.

Measures may include interaction with passengers, in addition to the use of other screening methods such as pat-downs and the use of enhanced tools and technologies, he said.

At least they’re making up excuses for their inconsistencies now. Either way they apparently are going to start doing exactly the same thing they’ve been doing, violating your civil rights to put on their security theater.

The TSA isn’t happy until you’ve been humiliated and beaten down into complete and docile obedience. Agents working for the TSA are generally people with a desire to have power over others but lack the motivation, education, or skills required to become a police officer. Instead of putting work into becoming an actual police officer TSA agents take the easy road to fulfill their authoritarian desires. They offer not security as evident by the numerous incidents of people getting onto planes with firearms, explosives, and other verboten goods.

Establishing the TSA was yet another classic example of the government doing something easy instead of fixing the problem. It’s easier to dump a shit ton of money into hiring actors and obtaining stage props for security theater than it is to secure airplanes against attack. I’m just waiting for the day when the TSA decides they’re going to randomly perform cavity searches on airline customers, or maybe some on the spot invasive surgery to check for implanted explosives.

In New York It’s Cheaper to Litter Than Properly Dispose of Some Trash

Since trashing lying around everywhere is displeasing to most human societies our race as spend a lot of time developing means of ensuring that trash is disposed of in an orderly manner. Apparently New York has a slightly different view and prefers to punish the people living their for being sanitary:

Darbe Pitofsky, 83, said she was on her way for a cup of coffee around 6:30 a.m. on June 25 when she threw a brown bag filled with old papers in a city litter basket near her apartment on East 71st Street.

[…]

She said the worker demanded a form of identification and threatened to “put her away” if she didn’t comply.

Pitofsky said it took the worker 25 minutes to write the summons and when she complained that it would cost her $100, she said he threatened to make it $300.

See in New York a trash can isn’t actually a trash can. The nanny state there has seen fit to make certain trash cans fit for only household trash while others are fit for household or business trash. What’s the difference? I haven’t a clue because I’m a logical human being and therefore have a hard time understanding the justifications given by politicians for the stupid shit they enact.

I’m sure somebody reading this is thinking that the lady could have just avoided the fine if she had followed the rules. True. But I do find it interesting that she faces a lower maximum fine for outright littering than throwing “household or business trash” into a pedestrian-only trash can:

8. Except for any violation of subparagraph one of paragraph b or paragraph c of subdivision seven of this section by a person using or operating a motor vehicle, or any violation of subparagraph two of paragraph b of subdivision seven of this section, or any violation of paragraph d of subdivision seven of this section, the violation of any provision of this section shall constitute an offense punishable by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred fifty dollars, or by imprisonment not to exceed ten days or both.

So if you have refuse that you wish to dispose of and it qualifies as “household or business trash” it’s actually in your best interest to throw it on the ground and walk away. If caught littering the maximum fine is $250.00 while disposing of trash in the wrong type of bin apparently holds a maximum find of $300.00. Brilliant move New York, encourage littering by fining people for putting trash in the wrong types of trash bins.

Second Amendment Foundation Wins Another Victory in Chicago

The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and their super weapon, Alan Gura, won yet another gun rights victory in Chicago. SAF, alongside several other groups, filed a suit against the City of Chicago for the city’s ban on gun ranges within city limits:

BELLEVUE, WA – In a 3-0 ruling issued this morning, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has reversed a lower court ruling and ordered that court to issue a preliminary injunction against the City of Chicago on behalf of the Second Amendment Foundation that prevents the city from banning gun ranges inside city limits.

Joining SAF in the original lawsuit were Action Target, Inc., the Illinois State Rifle Association and three Chicago residents, Rhonda Ezell, William Hespen and Joseph Brown. Their attempts to obtain a temporary restraining order against the gun range ban were twice rejected by the district court. The Appeals Court ruling is severely critical of the lower court’s ruling.

One thing that I noticed is the National Rifle Association (NRA) is completely absent from the list of entities helping with the suit. Why do I feel that is important to point out? Because it demonstrates the effectiveness of SAF even through they’re a much smaller organization with fewer available funds. Many people who donate money to the NRA will often avoid sending funds to other organizations such as SAF because they believe those other organizations are too small to be effective. SAF is proving that isn’t true as they win more and more victories in the courtrooms.

I really enjoy SAF’s method of advancing gun rights. Instead of spending money to send lobbyists to Washington D.C. they’re fighting violations of gun owners’ rights in the courtroom. It’s a cheaper method that has proven itself to be incredibly effective, Hell this method got the second amendment incorporated against the states making outright gun bans illegal in the entirety of the United States. That victory was far more important than most previous gun rights victories because it will required a constitutional amendment in order for any state to outright ban the right of firearm ownership (although they’re still doing a damned good job at establishing everything by a blanket ban).

Congratulations goes out to SAF for winning yet another victory for gun owners of the United States.

Southern Poverty Law Center at it Again

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is a very special organization that likes to blame all of society’s ills on “right-wing” groups. This time they’re claiming that hate groups are sprouting up everywhere and it’s all because “right-wing extremists” hate Obama:

Hate groups and other groups on the far right – so-called Patriot groups which vow to resist the encroachments of the Federal government, and anti-immigrant nativist groups – are tracked by the Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC).

“In the fall (autumn) of 2008,” says the director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project, Mark Potok, “we started to see an explosion in hate groups, but more generally in right-wing groups of general types.”

I removed the link embedded in the BBC story because I have a firm policy against linking to complete fuckwads like the SPLC. Anyways the SPLC has been claiming that “right-wing extremists” are terrorist organizations but make no mention of left-wing groups such as Greenpeace of the Animal Liberation Front. Apparently it’s only bad if you murder people for “right-wing” causes although I personally believe it’s wrong to murder anybody for their beliefs. Alas considering some of their other “reports” I’m not surprised that they’re claiming a rise in these groups is due to the election of Obama. After all if there is a rise it’s completely implausible that it’s due to economic instability causing people negatively affected to look for somebody to blame. Nope that idea is just silly.

But Mark Potok is concerned.

“I think we are in a very similar period as we were in the run-up to the Oklahoma City bombing,” he says, “as far as a bombing or an attack like that, whether that will come, we don’t know.

“We are very close in numbers to the numbers we had at the very peak of the militia movement.”

First of all the statement made by Potok is dubious at best because we have no idea what the peak numbers in the “militia movement” were. What the fuck was the “militia movement” anyways? I remember no news articles talking about a massive uptick in militias besides those put out by the SPLC.

If there was a sudden and noticeable uprising in hate crimes (using the government’s definition of the words) I’d have expected it mentioned by various law enforcement agencies (that seems like something the Federal Bureau of Investigations would be all over).

Second of all calling groups of violent individuals right-wing is a misnomer. Crazy people are crazy regardless of their beliefs. What right-wing ultimately means is that you’re conservative. Being racist is entire separate from being politically conservative. Just because you believe the size of government should be reduced doesn’t mean you hate Jewish people, it means you want the size of government reduces.

The SPLC ties everything ill they mention to “right-wing extremists.” Yet most people who I know that identify themselves as right-wing have a strong devotion to law and fixing the currently established system by voting for “representatives” who advocate small government. I would think, being an active member in the gun community, that I know a large number of people who identify themselves as right-wing. It seems to me if a majority of people who are right-wing wanted to violently overthrow the government I’d know at least one person in favor of that solution.

In fact most of the people I know who advocate violence against the government are anarchist of the socialist persuasion (once again not all anarchists of the socialist persuasion advocate violence, I just know a few who do). These individuals are strongly left-wing as they believe in establishing a socialist society. Yet these people are never mentioned by any SPLC reports which indicates a bit of bias on their behalf.

What I’m really curious about is what recommendation will the SPLC to six this “problem” (in quotes because I see no evidence that this problem actually exists). I’m betting they’re going to urge the government to further crack down on “right-wing extremist” groups. Once again nobody is likely to listen to them besides those who believe the conflict in American is truly between left and right and thus feel the need to demonize the other side. Still if this report is being mentioned on the BBC is likely that it’ll be appearing in American news sources soon.