If the pressure of new money can cause growth in the economy, why not then pump it in massively, and evoke tremendous economic growth? By doing so, the central banks could long ago have created everlasting prosperity on earth for every individual.

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will be a) getting her pistol permit, b) stocking up on ammo, c) investing in a HAM radio all by January if the US election doesn’t go well.

Naturally, I replied:

If the situation is that dire, it might be time to forget asking permission.

Anyone else over yonder in America have people around you talking about a need to arm themselves if things “don’t go well”?

Who would stand to gain and who would stand to lose from mass political violence on the streets of America?

If order does break down, what forces are going to come to the fore in leading the violence? We know the state’s own guns will be there in quantity, but what other groups will organize to fight the power? The militia movement? Veterans? Organized crime? Survivalists? Gangs? Graying NRA Life members? Disaffected youth? Skate punks and twitchy Counterstrike addicts?

Is it possible that the active-duty Army mechanized infantry combat brigade just returned from Iraq and now stationed in Georgia will be called into service? Will the mass detention centers quietly staffed and under construction as reported in various places find use? And what of the hundreds of thousands of nesting-stackable plastic coffins found stockpiled at a government facility? Would the billions the Pentagon and others have invested into new types of less-than-lethal crowd control systems be deployed against the American people?

Where will the battles be fought? Where will the targets be? What tactics and strategies will be employed, both in combat and in the media sphere? What new allegiances will be forged, and what ancient alliances will be sundered?

Will I still get a pony that can fly for my birthday if I’m a good little boy?

These sweethearts don't share your definition of property rights. Should they be killed?

First of all, everyone knows I love cats, right? KITTIES!!! You go, kitties!

Now, to serious matters.

With homeowner in doghouse, bobcats move in

Cute uberkitties challenge capitalist property rights

A family of feline squatters has moved into a foreclosed home in Lake Elsinore. Residents of the Tuscany Hills development first noticed the bobcats about a week ago.

With real estate values plummeting and foreclosed homes sitting empty, a family of bobcats apparently decided the time was right to pounce.

So last week, they slipped out of the parched foothills of Lake Elsinore and into a spacious, vacant home in well-groomed Tuscany Hills.

Residents of the development got their first look Aug. 27 when the feline squatters — at least two adults and three kittens — lolled atop a wall outside the Spanish-style house.

There arises now a moral question, the resolution of which sits at the base of your conception of property rights.

Get offa mah property!

Very likely there is a bank that is presently the legal owner of this house. Can the bank come around randomly shouting “get offa mah property!” like Fuzzy Lumpkins, and if the cats disobey and refuse to vacate the property be justified in shooting them? Regardless of whether they were cats, moral actors, Randian ubermenschen or even Republicans, I should say no, and not wish to share my table with the type of folk who would believe that was really okay. Can the bank transfer legal title to the place to another party, and therefore be justified in killing the bobcats if they fail to timely vacate? I say that the bank may transfer title, but it may not evict the tenants (assuming that, quite characteristically, the bobcats have executed no auditable contractual agreement with the bank). Could the new owners evict the bobcats? To be consistent with the values that underlie the foregoing, I can’t permit them to do that. Could any of the foregoing (presumptively) evil owners delegate killing the bobcats to a disinterested third party charged with handling such matters, in the interests of all? It would all be legal, of course, approved by democracy of the highest quality and refinement.

If you’re the bank, is killing the cute, fuzzy kitties okay? If you’re the new owner? If you’re a delegate elected by the neighbors? If you’re the employee of Bob’s Ancap Defense Services and Pizza Company, Ltd.? If you’re the toppermost of the topmost federated syndicalist committeemen?

It is not okay to kill the kitties in these scenarios. If you kill the kitties under any of these scenarios, I don’t want you around me.

There are other scenarios. Maybe I’ll think about them while I go hunting for more photos of these adorable anarcho-cuties.

Day of Reckoning? Super Rich Tax Cheats Outed by Bank Clerk

Technician in Liechtenstein Turns Over Names of Americans With Secret Bank Accounts

Heinrich Kieber, fuckface extraordinaire

Hundreds of super-rich American tax cheats have, in effect, turned themselves in to the IRS after a bank computer technician in the tiny European country of Liechtenstein came forward with the names of US citizens who had set up secret accounts there, according to Washington lawyers investigating the scheme.

The bank clerk, Heinrich Kieber, has been branded a thief by the government of Liechtenstein for violating the country’s bank secrecy laws.

[...]

Kieber reportedly sold three CD’s full of names and data to tax authorities to 12 countries including Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy and the United States.

Nice going, fuckface.

Let’s be clear on one thing. There is no such thing as a “tax cheat”.

“Cheating” on your taxes is the moral equivalent of telling a mugger you have no more money than what’s in your wallet when you’ve got a wad of currency crammed between your ass cheeks.

Kieber’s Washington lawyer, Jack Blum, says Kieber should be considered a whistleblower and a hero, not a thief, for revealing how the super rich hid billions of dollars using the Liechtenstein bank.

So let’s see… steal from your employer, violate the privacy of your customers, turn the data over to the biggest and most ruthless gangs of muggers the world has ever known, and you can count on at least one jackass lawyer to call you a hero.

The persistent inversion of all human values continues unabated in the comments on the article:

every person and I mean every person, should be prosecuted and made to pay all back taxes on those sums in offshore banks. I am sick and tired of the rich getting richer by not paying their fair share of taxes

Fair share? A fair share would be a capitation.

The criminals are those who choose to live in this country and run their vast corporations here, yet violate this country’s tax codes in order to add millions on top of their billions. The hero is the guy who blew the whistle. Only the self-serving elite would attempt to blur the distinction

Consider me one of the self-serving elite, then, but just you go ahead and try to locate my billions, buster.

Too often the only way corrupt behavior can be exposed is by the brave actions of a whistle-blower.

Tax is corruption. “Brave”? Ha! The guy stole from his employer and sold the data. We have things to call that, but “brave” isn’t one of them.

Why don’t we make it illegal for US citizens to have accounts in Liechtenstein and with the Swiss for that matter until they make public the account information to the IRS. We should sanction these governments just as we want to do with any rogue nation such as The Sudan. there is no way these rich CRIMINALS should have a safe place to hide their money.

Why don’t we make being a dumbass illegal? And who said anything about CRIMINALS anyway, other than Mr. Fuckface who sold out his customers? Ah that’s right, if someone has more than you do, they’re a criminal. I done gone and forgot the whole “Robin Hood” ethic.

Where can I send a small check to this guy to help him out?

You can address it to me, and I’ll forward it to him. Promise.

Karma works!

That’s right. And I have a flying pony.

I hope that the IRS does something with the information. Tax cheats really irk me- these are the true non-productive members of our society.

Oh, someone, STOP THE INSANITY!!!

Zion man now officially named In God We Trust

14 June 2008

Steve Kreuscher is no more.

A Lake County judge granted permission to the Zion man Friday to officially change his name to “In God We Trust.” That’s “In God” as a first name and “We Trust” as a last name.

The 57-year-old artist and bus driver was ecstatic about the name change as he exited court Friday.

“I feel great. It’s just like, yes!” We Trust said.

No flying ponies were seen, and rumors that Mr. We Trust is involved in a stormy love triangle with a priest and a central banker have not been substantiated.

Related: Stupid knows no boundaries

In an apparent effort to squelch any remaining euroskepticism among the warier segments of the Slovak population, the National Bank of Slovakia and Bratislava’s regional school authority have teamed up to create a cute little contest for kids entitled “Euro mena očami detí” (“The euro currency in the eyes of children”).

Children branded by their new currency masters

The kids who produce the most compelling drawings of euro banknotes and coins not only get to have their artwork displayed at shopping malls, the National Bank building and a local Bratislava hospital, and published in pro-EU children’s propaganda rag Euro školák, they also compete for the grand prize — get this — a weekend in Brussels with their parents!

Euro mena očami detí contest entries at Polus City Center, Bratislava

The older kids haven’t been left out the fun either. They can participate in a series of contests sponsored by Junior Achievement Slovakia. Kids 10 to 12 years of age can win books, puzzles and art supplies in the “Predstav nám EURO” (“Show us the EURO”) art competition, 12- to 15-year-olds can win digital cameras and mobile phones for their submissions to the “Tak vidím EURO” (“I see the EURO thus”) photography contest, and the lucky students aged 15 to 19 who win the “Euro mojimi očami” (“The euro in my eyes”) prizes for best multimedia presentation will claim a notebook PC, a desktop PC and a digital camera.

Youngsters seeking more passive forms of central bank brainwashing are invited to the NBS website to view an animated video on pricing stability (somewhat loosely defined therein as an annual increase of only 2% or less) featuring teens wearing t-shirts emblazoned with a big golden € symbol getting schooled on how central banking is really okay. Downloadable games for Windows and Mac are also available entitled “Draw a banknote”, “Buy with the euro” and “Coins and flags”.

Parents can rest assured that none of these offerings will mention the Austrian economics critique of central banking or bring up any painful memories of long-gone days when currency actually had value.