PRA Release: Seventy-Five Organizations and Policy Leaders Call for Eminent Domain Reform in Senate

WASHINGTON — Today, a letter signed by seventy-five organizations and policy leaders from across the country was sent to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) requesting that the Senate advance legislation upon return in November to limit the ability of states and localities to abuse eminent domain. The letter can be viewed here.

Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) introduced S. 3873, the “Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2006” as the Senate means to address the Kelo v. City of New London, CT court case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2005. As the companion legislation to the bipartisan H.R. 4128 passed in the House last November, S. 3873 similarly seeks to curb eminent domain abuse by withholding federal economic development funds from states and localities that engage in these abusive practices. Since passage, H.R. 4128 has mired in the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA).

The American public continues to fervently oppose this type of government takings. In the last year, over thirty state legislatures heeded the call and enacted legislation aimed at curbing the abuse of eminent domain for private use. Ballot measures will be voted on by residents in more than ten states on Election Day, with Louisiana voters already passing a measure last month. And one national survey after another demonstrates a minimum of eighty-five percent of public support in reforming eminent domain abuse to protect homes, businesses and churches from government’s grasp.

“With politicians constantly entranced by polling data and grassroots activism, it remains shocking that the Senate has remained relatively silent on the issue,” said Scott A. LaGanga, executive director of PRA. “With over a year of waiting, property owners are frustrated with the lack of initiative by our Senators in Congress to protect Americans from government’s ability to snap up a family’s home or church today to make a mansion tomorrow. Action to correct this injustice must be taken during the lame duck session.”

As stated in the letter, “Committed to correcting the United States Supreme Court’s misjudgment in the Kelo v. City of New London, everyday citizens have voiced their support for Congressional action to limit private lands from being seized for private economic development by the government.”

The following organizations signed the letter to Majority Leader Frist (letter can be viewed at Property Rights Alliance website): 60+ Association, Alabama Farmers Federation, Alliance for Worker Freedom, American Association of Small Property Owners, American Conservative Union, American Family Business Institute, American Farm Bureau Federation, American Land Rights Association, American Policy Center, Americans for Limited Government, Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Prosperity-New Jersey, Americans for Tax Reform, Americans for the Preservation of Liberty, American Shareholders Association, Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, California Alliance to Protect Private Property Rights, Castle Coalition, Center for Individual Freedom, Citizens for Limited Taxation, Citizens for Property Rights-Vermont, Coalition for Property Rights-Florida, Commonwealth Foundation, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, Eagle Forum, Ethan Allen Institute, FreedomWorks, Frontiers of Freedom, GOP Blogger.com, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, Illinois Policy Institute, Independence Institute, Iowa Wednesday Group, James Madison Institute, League of Private Property Voters, Liberty Coalition, Maryland Taxpayers Alliance, Media Freedom Project, Mississippi Center for Public Policy, Missouri Citizens for Property Rights, Missouri First, Montana Policy Institute, National Grange, National Taxpayers Union, Nevada Policy Research Institute, North Carolina Property Rights Coalition, Ohio Taxpayers Association and OTA Foundation, Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, Pacific Research Institute, Paragon Foundation, Inc., Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, Pennsylvania Landowners’ Association, Pius Pagan Publishing, Property Rights Alliance, Property Rights Alliance: Hawaii, PROTEX, Reason Foundation, Republican Liberty Caucus, Rightmarch, Rio Grande Foundation, Ronald Reagan Legacy Project, Small Business Entrepreneurship Council, Small Business Hawaii (SBH), South Carolina Landowners Association, South Carolina Policy Council, Tennessee Center for Policy Research, The Rutherford Institute, The Taxpayers League of Minnesota, Virginia Institute for Public Policy. (In addition, four other policy analysts signed this letter).

Demonstrate Your Support For The Liberty Dollar

Received the following release from NORFED this evening. NORFED is now going on the lobbying offensive in Washington, and is looking for support from the rising groundswell of grassroots people who have expressed their approval of NORFEDs defense against the legally unsupportable attacks by the US Mint on the Liberty Dollar.

It has become clear that the core of the Mint's claims in its attacks is that the Liberty Dollar is claimed to be being passed as "US current money", which it is not and never has been. It would be an insult to the Liberty Dollar to compare it with the debased debauchery that is what passes for "money" by the fiat dictates of a government that has become unhinged from its Constitutional moorings and, as we have seen with this weeks suspension of the sacred right of habeus corpus, is drifting rapidly into the shoals of tyranny and the rocks of fascism.

Time To Step Up And Demonstrate Real Support For Real Money – The Liberty Dollar

Breaking News…We are hearing from our efforts to leverage Congressional Inquiry that the US Mint has received much more response from the public than anticipated following their web posted warning on September 14, 2006 . It’s time to really let them know how much you value the Liberty Dollar by calling or faxing the US Mint! To make a call use (202) 354-7227, for sending a fax use (202) 756-6200. After reading this special News Alert please call or fax the US Mint and in a very positive way ask if the statements listed below are NOT true. Do not be nasty or attacking; this gets us nowhere. Always be respectful. Also, please distribute this widely to everyone on your mailing list.

On With Other News…

Over the last six weeks we have heard a lot of support for the mission, goals and cause of the Liberty Dollar and precious metal backed private currency…Reporters, Editors, Talk Show Hosts, Calls and e-mails from listeners and readers who had never before heard of the Liberty Dollar are committing to “fight the good fight” for the right to choose their method of payment for goods and services. Liberty Dollar Merchants, Associates and Regional Currency Offices, taken aback from a malicious media assault, have been gnawing on what it all means and how to move forward.

It’s time to regroup, shake off the debris of fear and exchange your Federal Reserve Notes for the Liberty Dollar. This is the support we need now. Circulating (as in bartering), Accumulating or Collecting: The three most effective ways to do good, have fun and protect your purchasing power.

If any of the following statements were illegal or a federal crime, would there not have already been arrests? Liberty Dollars are exchanged, given out, presented and accepted hundreds of times a day throughout the country…lots of opportunities to make an example out of someone.

But once you wade through the citations and legalese of the US Mint’s warning(s), it becomes very clear: THE LIBERTY DOLLAR CANNOT BE PASSED AS “CURRENT MONEY” OR GOVERNMENT MONEY. NO ONE SHOULD ACCEPT THE LIBERTY DOLLAR THINKING IT IS GOVERNMENT MONEY. This, of course, would contradict the goal of the Liberty Dollar!

• Merchants CANNOT be prosecuted for accepting the Liberty Dollar KNOWING that it is private currency!



• Merchants CANNOT be prosecuted for giving out the Liberty Dollar in change if the customer KNOWS it is private currency!



• Users CANNOT be prosecuted for presenting the Liberty Dollar to a Merchant when the Merchant KNOWS it is private currency!



• Regional Currency Offices, or anyone else, CANNOT be prosecuted for exchanging Liberty Dollars for Federal Reserve Notes when the customer KNOWS it is private currency!



• NO ONE CAN BE PROSECUTED FOR HAVING POSSESSION OF THE LIBERTY DOLLAR!

If any of these statements were false, then having or using any of the hundreds of local or community currencies such as the Ithaca Hour, Disney Dollar, Berkshares, Barter Bucks, etc., would be a crime.

On September 14, just five weeks ago, our website, Liberty Dollar.org, received ten times its normal traffic. Online orders surged for the introductory special, supporter kits and educational materials as well as lots of small orders from new individuals wanting to know just who this Liberty Dollar outfit is.

The wave of curiosity has died down and so has the normal volume that the Liberty Dollar has experienced over the last 12-18 months. I believe the current lull is retrenchment from those stinging from the national media assault as well as caution on the part of the newly introduced that are concerned over legal repercussions. Consider the above statements regarding the legality of the Liberty Dollar. These are the conclusions of NORFED and its Counsel.

Exchange your Federal Reserve Notes for Gold and Silver Libertys and Certificates now. Circulate (barter), Accumulate and Collect…It’s the right thing to do.

Is the US Dollar tanking? Will there be a significant economic downturn? Is a War right around the corner? Is Peak Oil fact or fiction? Will extreme weather knock out your power and communications? What do you want to be holding when significant change occurs? A Federal Reserve Note Or Gold And Silver Private Currency From The Liberty Dollar?

Please visit the Liberty Dollar at: www.LibertyDollar.org or call our National Fulfillment Office at 888.421.6181 or 800.NEW.DOLLAR to reach your local Regional Currency Office.

Russo Speaks: Freedom 2 Fascism Pirated, Releasing Directors Cut & PP View Versions

From: AARON RUSSO [mailto:aaronrusso@msn.com]
Sent: Monday, October 16, 2006 6:21 PM
To: XXX@XXX.com
Subject: please spread thru internet

Please advise everybody that the copy [of AMERICA: FROM FREEDOM TO FASCISM] on poodlecrap (see below) is an incomplete, pirated version that does not contain all the necessary information. It is also of poor quality and certainly not approved by me.

This week i will be posting the final directors cut of the film on my Website www.freedomtofascism.com .

It will be offered on the highest quality resolution on the Internet on a
pay per view format for $5. It will also be offered for sale on DVD for $19.95.

Lastly it will be posted on Google for free on a lower quality resolution as
compared to the pay per view version on my Website.

Please advise everybody to see the complete directors cut of the film so the
entire truth of what is happening to our country will be understood.

Thank you,
"one people
one movement
freedom for all"

Aaron Russo
AARON

End The Experiment With Government

Human beings have been experimenting with various forms of social control since pre-history. Extrapolating the basic family unit to tribal, community, province, national, and now global levels to varying degrees of success or failure over the centuries, the social side of the human animal has, like his drive to bring the forces of nature under control, sought to bring his fellow human beings under control for his own security and/or personal gain.

But now these two drives are in conflict. Since the beginning of the atomic age, when man first harnessed the natural power of the atom, scientists and ethicists have warned the political class about the proliferation of nuclear power as a destabilizing influence on peaceful governments and international relations. Non-proliferation treaties were actively negotiated and enforced behind the scenes of the superpower conflict of the Cold War. The US enabled Britain, France, Israel, Japan, and others of its friendly postwar allies to develop peaceful nuclear power, and some even developed nuclear weapons. All have responsibly kept those weapons in their deepest reserves of self-defense only in the case of invasion or first strike upon their own nations.

The peaceful development of nuclear energy has had successes, with Japan and France gaining a majority of their energy from this source, and other countries, which enjoy domestic coal or other energy sources, less so.

The Soviets were similarly interested in keeping the nuclear genie in the bottle, but at the same time enabled China to join the nuclear club, along with a host of Warsaw Pact nations gaining peaceful nuclear energy. With the split up of the USSR, a number of former Soviet republics took control of nuclear weapons stored in their territory, though most surrendered them to Russia in the interests of stability and non-proliferation.

However China has pursued a much more fast and loose policy with regard to non-proliferation. It enabled Pakistan and North Korea to attain nuclear weapons capability, and as we've seen, those nations have proliferated the technology to such rogue nations as Iran, Libya, Iraq, among others. While Libya has stepped back from the brink in order to rejoin the community of nations and avoid an expected, if not planned, US attack, others have not been so responsible.

North Korea, given a pass by former Presidents Carter and Clinton in the 1990's to continue its nuclear programs for 8 years without international oversight, possibly the greatest treason against US national security since Benedict Arnolds betrayal, used that time to build its fuel processing capabilities and perfect its nuclear weapons manufacturing capacity.

As we saw this past week, North Korea has detonated at least one small nuclear weapon, though reports are that it had much lower than expected yield. NK has also tested a new ICBM capable of reaching most of the US several times, so far with failures, but building a reliable ICBM is technically easier and cheaper than building nuclear weapons, so it is only a matter of time before North Korea has the ability to strike the US. NK has resisted all international attempts to entice it to surrender its weapons program, demonstrating the utter failure of the UN system to perform its core function of ensuring world peace.

Iran has likewise resisted efforts by the west and the UN to bring its nuclear ambitions and programs back under international oversight and compliance. The mullahocracy is currently enriching weapons grade uranium, and is expanding its processing capabilities, apparently deep in bunker protected facilities, as if expecting international military action against it for its sins. The CIA expects Iran to test its first weapon within 5 years.

While President Ahmedinejad of Iran insists his nations ambitions are peaceful, he refuses to explain what peaceful purpose there is to weapons grade nuclear fuel, and refuses to apologize for or disavow his statments proposing to wipe the nation of Israel "off the map". Indeed, he contiues to make such statements, and is also contributing to the insurgencies in Iraq with training, shelter, and weapons, as well as arming Hezbollah with thousands of rockets.

As all this is happening, the international community, and most national governments, abjectly refuse to exercise their prerogatives of power to secure the world against these two rogue nations. Even in the US, Democrats would rather talk about surrendering Iraq to the Islamofascists than to talk about their own failings in North Korea, or propose solutions to Iran. At the same time, the Bush administration is castrated with a Secretary of State who would rather negotiate than do anything else (what else is new), and a Secretary of Defense who should be telling stories he can't remember to his great-grandkids beside the fireplace.

What is the point of having a slightly tyrannical government as the primary superpower if it isn't going to do its job of securing the nation? What is the point of a United Nations that is anything but united?

The foreign policy experts are calling for more international treaties to bring nonproliferation "under control". The problem is that we have plenty of nonproliferation treaties already that haven't done anything. Like the failure that is gun control, nuclear non-proliferation treaties are a joke: they only disarm the law abiding, criminal states, like street thugs, do not obey gun control or nuclear control laws or treaties if their intent is criminal activity. Victim disarmament is the proper label for nuclear nonproliferation treaties, just as they are the proper label for gun control laws.

It is thus rather evident that attempts to legislate against the development of technologies are inherently faulty and incapable of being enforced upon parties determined to flout them.

Instead, we should be looking at the root factors that enable the construction of nuclear weapons if we as a race want to put the nuclear weapons genie back in the bottle.

The primary root factor is government. To date, not a single private corporation has ever built a nuclear weapon, even though many parts for such are build by private firms under government contract, and personnel with the requisite skills tend to wind up in private industry. To date, not a single private individual has ever built a nuclear weapon. The degree of resources required to produce enough weapons grade nuclear material is rather staggering, even in this day and age. It remains in the billions of dollars.

Building nuclear weapons requires the assets of a national government, and the legal power to enforce secrecy upon its citizens. It requires access to natural resources capable of being exploited outside the channels of international commerce (for instance, Iraqi attempts to purchase Nigerian yellowcake signalled its ambitions in the 1990's, a fact that even Dan Wilson has admitted to be fact in recent months). It requires a defense infrastructure capable of defending a geographic territory against conventional attack by parties interested in stopping it from attaining its ambitions.

No corporation on earth has these capabilities, even though many corporations peacefully operate nuclear power plants. No corporation has exhibited a desire to attain these capabilities. No individual has a hope of attaining these capabilities, James Bondian fantasies notwithstanding.

The assertion by luddites like Bill Joy that future technologies, like nanotechnology, will enable cheap nuclear fuel processing, but this is based on a poor understanding of the science of nanotechnology. It is highly likely that nanotech devices capable of sorting isotopes atom by atom simply will not be robust enough to withstand the molecular damage done by nuclear radiation. As fuel concentrations rise, so does radiation levels, causing greater nanite die-off. There is a natural ceiling of purification possible with molecular nanotechnology. Modern isotope processing requires batches of liquid chemical compounds of heavy isotopes processed through centrifuges. This is a rough method that does not depend on placing radiation sensitive integrated chips and nano-mechanical assemblies in close proximity to nuclear decay reactions.

For this reason, the nanotech shibboleth is shredded as an excuse for technology controls.

No, the real "problem technology" in the nuclear proliferation problem is the technology of government. It is a blunt instrument that runs roughshod over individual liberties strictly for the purpose of amassing and weilding power and wealth outside the free market system. If we are to start banning technologies, lets start with this one.

IntLib Interviews President of Meta Bank in SL

Today, we are sitting down in the virtual reality of Second Life with Thor Columbia, President of Meta Bank, which exists entirely within the SL universe. Meta Bank is an interesting example of the sorts of enterprises that are developing entirely "in world", and eventually will become concerns capable of being a "real life" living for those engaged in such ventures. From his perspective as President of Meta Bank, Thor has a unique perspective and view of the SL economy, how it began and is developing, and where it is headed. Given the many libertarian aspects of SL, we sought out this interview to gain a look into this perspective for the benefit of our readers.

For the reader, there will be references to various Second Life specific terms or acronym. SL refers to Second Life, RL refers to your “real life”. A Linden Dollar is the form of currency in Second Life, and currently exchanges for US Federal Reserve Notes at about 275 Lindens per $1 FRN.

[9:31] Thor Columbia: Welcome to Meta Bank
[9:31] IntLib: Thanks for having me
[9:32] Thor Columbia: I'm glad to hear some one is covering more about the banking system here in SL.
[9:32] IntLib: Its something of interest to people in the libertarian community.
[9:32] Thor Columbia: Speaking of which I am an active member of the Maryland Libertarian Party. I'm the current Chair of the Howard County Libertarian Party in Maryland
[9:34] IntLib: Ah, excellent. So you campaigned for Mr. Zeese?
[9:35] Thor Columbia: I know him well and he is a great guy, but I have been spending most of my time trying to get a local judge elected, David Titman in Howard County, who just got 30% in the primary. The way the judges’ races work in Maryland is that the Libertarian Party is able to nominate him to the final election day, but he also runs in the primaries against the Democrat and Republican.
[9:37] IntLib: Then that is a good result. Nice way it works down there.
[9:37] Thor Columbia: If we got over 50% of the vote on primary day he would have knocked off one of the competitors but the way it worked out he will be in a 3 way race
[9:37] IntLib: Well, 30% of 3 is a damn good result
[9:38] Thor Columbia: He is running a very good campaign, lots of poll workers, takes NO donations from lawyers as he sees it as a conflict of interest for a judge
[9:39] Thor Columbia: I have been following the Free State Project since day 1. I love the Porcupine you have as your group mascot.

[9:41] IntLib: Does Meta Bank and the other banks in SL operate as full reserve or fractional reserve systems within the SL economy? When you take in x Lindens in deposits, do you lend out x Lindens, or are you able to lend out a multiple of your deposits based on a reserve ratio?
[9:42] Thor Columbia: We loan out a percentage of our total lindens that come in the form of deposits, normally 70%. Also unlike some of the other banks we keep the lindens we get in deposits with in the SL economy. By that I mean, we take in SL dollars and loan to businesses and people in SL. Some of the other banks (Ginko for instance) takes SL dollars and uses them in RL businesses.

[9:45] IntLib: Ah, so they are able to extract dollars from the system. Is there any record of a balance of payments between the SL and RL economies?
[9:46] Thor Columbia: Not really, as you may know there is a market for the SL dollars in which they are freely bought and sold. As it is more dollars come in then go out, however a bank taking money out of the economy and draining the capital base does not seem productive to me. That is why I started Meta Bank, because I wanted to create a capital base that would grow in-world businesses.

[9:48] IntLib: Excellent. Sounds like I chose the right banker. Perhaps you can explain what the typical lending terms are and how they differ from what people are used to in RL?
[9:48] Thor Columbia: They are very similar to the terms in RL, first you pick a plot of land you would like to buy, then you come to us and apply for a loan. If you meet the basic criteria, then we purchase the land for you. You make weekly payments to the bank for a period of 60 to 90 days, depending on the size of the loan, and when the payments are complete we deed full ownership over to you. The payments are pre-calculated to include the amount of the interest in this case (0.25%) per day. If you fail to make several of the payments in a row we will first give reminders, however if no payments are made we sell the land to recoup the bank's loss.

[9:55] IntLib: What percent of your customers default on loans?
[9:56] Thor Columbia: It seems to be relatively low, we have a good filtering system on the front end, the applicant must meet certain criteria, such as age of character, in order to show they are a long term member of the SL community.

[9:58] IntLib: Ah, that brings up a good question: lots of new players looking for First Land, and get business ideas in SL, what period of time must a new character be in SL to qualify?

In walks Extrems Brock, who works at the Bank.

[9:59] Extrems Brock: Hello there
[9:59] Thor Columbia: Hey Extrems
[9:59] IntLib: Hello Extrems
[9:59] Thor Columbia: Extrems is our resident builder and part time scripter here at Meta Bank.
[10:00] IntLib: I believe we met yesterday.
[10:00] Thor Columbia: excellent
[10:00] Thor Columbia: Well to your question, as a general rule loan officers want the customer to be at least 30 days old, as a rule if someone has been active in world for that long they are likely to stick around.

[10:03] IntLib: That sounds reasonable. Another question I had was to employment. It seems to me that there are very limited options for employment in SL: generally the camping chairs and dancing, and the adult industry, if someone wants to move beyond that, they seem to need specific skills in demand, like design or scripting, etc. I myself am trying to find work in SL as a writer. How does the lack of employment opportunities impact the economy and your lending?
[10:06] Thor Columbia: There is a lack of structural employment for the people in-world, however I think that as the companies grow and the economy grows more and more structured jobs will come, however the current system is very freedom oriented, instead of trying to meet the job requirements some one else sets there are thousands and thousands of people creating there own original content and being their own boss. I would compare it closest to a digital ebay; many people sell and buy on ebay. However there is always a lack of tiered employment, though since SL is more like a 3D internet than anything else I expect there will be many job opportunities in the future. Already many fortune 500 companies are moving into SL, and when RL companies realize the incredible potential of SL for making money a couple years from now, I expect to see a gold rush for talented workers in SL, similar to gold rush on programmers during the later 90s.

[10:12] IntLib: That sounds promising. As a long time freelancer myself, in various IT disciplines, I found that in the regular internet, many or most companies are reticent to employ someone strictly on a telecommuting basis. How do you think that that will differ with people working in SL, and will companies realize the difference?
[10:13] Thor Columbia: Well with SL it's all tele-commuting, in fact if you take "Electric Sheep" a successful SL company as an example, the members of the company are in different nations around the world, all working together in real time in SL. In fact as the price of oil continues to rise year after year I would not be surprised if we see more and more companies tele commuting entire divisions via SL.

[10:16] IntLib: Good point. Your reference to "Electric Sheep" is interesting, given its based on a cyberpunk novels name.
[10:16] Thor Columbia: Yeah, I once heard SL described very accurately as "The Matrix" without the scary machines.

[10:19] IntLib: Do you find that most people you lend to keep up their payments by injection of dollars, or through employment and business in world?
[10:21] Thor Columbia: I find that most people get there money through jobs, however there is a large contingent of the population that are shoppers and just spend spend spend. They figure it is only 10 to 20 RL dollars for shopping, however that goes a long way in SL. I myself input money from RL on a regular basis.

[10:23] IntLib: Do you offer any sort of "credit card" services beyond lending for tangible (as much as they can be) assets?
[10:24] Thor Columbia: We are working toward that goal of having a full selection of lending services: land lending, credit card and everything in between.

[10:25] IntLib: I myself made a promise to myself that outside of my blogs' AdSense money, I'd not put any money into SL, to see if this can truly be treated as a viable second economy by someone starting out fresh. Do you see that sort of thing happening, and are people able to work their way up the socioeconomic ladder with that kind of a standard, not subsidizing themselves with dollars?
[10:26] Thor Columbia: Yes I do, the guys at Electric Sheep are making a very good wage off of just their skills; they input no money originally, and I have seen many examples of this. Over 2000 people have SL as their full time RL job: creating content, scripts and everything.
[10:28] IntLib: Wow, that is impressive.
[10:29] Thor Columbia: Yes, this place is a libertarian dream, no limits; you can rise as far as you can imagine. The people that just shop will continue to shop, and some people just play for fun, however if you are entrepreneurial in any way you can accomplish incredible things.
[10:30] IntLib: I figured that there were essentially two classes of folk here, the tourists and those who try to live in world as much as possible
[10:31] Thor Columbia: This place is the great social equalizer, no one knows your name, race, age, social class, you are judged solely on your abilities, talent and attitude.

[10:31] IntLib: Do you have any discloseable data on the growth of the Meta Banks assets to date?
[10:32] Thor Columbia: No I would not want to have the other banks aware of our size. However I will tell you we are growing at a double-digit monthly rate. The largest bank in SL is Ginko Financial, but we intend with a better business system to surpass them with in a year.

[10:34] IntLib: That sounds like you've got your work cut out. What, btw, is the asset size of Ginko?
[10:35] Thor Columbia: Unknown, they don't disclose, however I know enough to say they have upwards of 10's of thousands of USD, however with out any transparence, it may well be in the 100's of thousands of USD. Your guess is as good as mine, however a good guidepost is the number of ATM's they have.

[10:36] IntLib: Okay, so they likely expect so much business from any given ATM eh?
[10:37] Thor Columbia: yes, and I know they have several hundred ATM's with in SL. We are rapidly expanding our own ATM base but we have a long way to go to surpass the Ginko.

[10:38] IntLib: I've talked with some other libertarians who are interested in establishing some sort of a gold backed system of finance here in SL. What do you think of such proposals, and are they really necessary?
[10:40] Thor Columbia: I like the idea of creating a system backed with something real, our current fiat systems seems unsustainable to me, however I don't think anything here will surpass the linden dollar in use, and I like the fact that it is not a pegged currency and instead a free market currency. If you wanted a backed currency I would need it to be traded on an open market.

[10:42] IntLib: Okay, um well, from my involvement in Blogshares and using their B$ currency, I had wondered at the possibility of establishing some sort of currency exchange between the two systems. Would that be viable here?
[10:43] Thor Columbia: btw, do you know where I can get one of those International Libertarian t-shirts?
[10:43] IntLib: Oh yeah, I'll give you a copy, made it myself.
[10:43] Thor Columbia: Excellent. Off topic, but "International Libertarian"?
[10:44] Thor Columbia accepted your inventory offer.
[10:44] IntLib: Ah, well, it started originally as a tiff between myself and L Neil Smith, over his anti-war sentiments and my anti-isolationist ones, but I am applying IntLib to becoming a blog that reports on stories and issues of libertarian concern that happen anywhere in the world.
[10:48] Thor Columbia: Excellent, I am disappointed when some one wants the libertarian ideal for their own country but is not willing to support the fight for human freedom elsewhere. Any way, back to your question, and thanks for the shirt.
[10:50] IntLib: No problem
[10:51] Thor Columbia: It would be interesting to see a completely digital economy using a currency supported by a gold or other metal standard.
[10:52] IntLib: How about exchanges with other virtual currencies, like Blogshares B$?
[10:53] Thor Columbia: I don't know how the logistics would work but it would be interesting to try.

[10:54] IntLib: Okay. Is there anything that you'd like to communicate with the general public or the libertarian community about your experiences or Meta Bank?
[10:55] Thor Columbia: Yes. People live within the limits they place on them self's. I believe we should all strive to higher goals for freedom and self improvement, in the world of business I think we would all do very well to forget the structured higher education model of employment. While it takes more energy to judge a person on ability and not a piece of paper, you will find much greater reward in the end.

[10:59] Thor Columbia: Are you still involved with the FSP? Please pass on that the Howard County Libertarian Party fully supports the goals of the Free State Project. After the election we intend to help in any way we can to create the light on the hill that this county needs in the form of the Free State Project.
[11:02] IntLib: That is great to hear. We're still working towards our ultimate membership goals, but have also launched a group called The First 1000, of a thousand people who have pledged to move within a year. So far, we've got over 430 in state, though we started with about 250 who were already residents.
[11:03] Thor Columbia: In fact I hope to have a house in New Hampshire with in a couple years, however I am not dependent on the [membership] threshold as I am coming to join the FSP one way or another. I think we need some more people involved, however I think the greatest need is more in the way of money for the Libertarian cause, and that is what I am working toward here and in several RL companies. I own a number of companies including a biodiesel company. We are building a 4 million gallon operation here in Maryland. However I would like to make New Hampshire the RL head quarters of Meta Bank as it grows.

[11:14] IntLib: Another question I had about SL economics is, that in RL, for example, settlement and development began with agriculture and hunting, then light industry and heavy industry. Why do you think that no attempt has been made to enable those sorts of resource utilization economics in SL to build wealth and infrastructure?
[11:15] Thor Columbia: In SL there are truly only two commodities, other than the skills of people which is a natural commodity, those two commodities are land and primitives. Labor, land and prims. We are rapidly refining these to create original content and workable structures. It’s amazing to see the evolution of it all.

[11:18] IntLib: Okay, a question I had about the limitations of primitives for given lots, why isn't there a mechanism for people to buy more primitives for their land, or is there?
[11:19] Thor Columbia: well currently if you run over you just buy more land and use the primitives on either that land or your old land

[11:19] IntLib: Sure, but doesn't that generate a lot of open land, which is generally useless in a virtual system like this?
[11:22] Thor Columbia: Understood, however that works out well as it gives open space next to another very developed structure. It all depends on how much detail you want on a property, most places do not need so many prims
[11:23] Extrems Brock: Oh yeah Thor, we need more primitives again.
[11:23] Thor Columbia: However it would be nice if they sold prims without the land, it would make it simpler.

[11:24] IntLib: Yeah, I guess my question philosophically is, outside of creating open space between structures as you say, is that its nice to have a sort of environmental sentiment (as it seems to me), but without trees and animals living in the space, what is the point?
[11:25] Thor Columbia: Esthetics I suppose, however it is more basic then that, each square can only support so many prims I think is the deal, some thing they need to upgrade.

NOTE: Each area of ~65,000 sq meters, called a ‘region’ or ‘sim’ is supported in the Linden Labs Network by a single server. Too may prims in one region overloads the server and causes what is called “lag”, or a slowing of the sim. This also tends to occur when there are lots of people in a single sim at one time, particularly people who are implementing their own personal primitives. In order to minimize lag, LL restricts the number of prims per square meter that land owners can build.

[11:26] IntLib: Okay, um being new, I'm not totally clear on its definition, so perhaps you can explain what exactly a "primitive" is? I understand they are objects. (Thor conjures a wood textured cube on the conference room table)
[11:27] Thor Columbia: That is a prim
[11:27] Extremes Brock: A primitive is a physical basic 3D shape. Each primitive uses server resources.
[11:27] Thor Columbia: It is a box or cube or a 3D shape in which you can change and mold into anything and everything you see, the chair your sitting in, the wall, everything in the room is made of many prims, colored and changes and made to look like other objects.
[11:28] IntLib: Okay, I understand that, but for instance, is one of these chairs one primitive, or multiple primitives?
[11:28] Extrems Brock: Multiple, you can only make complex shapes with multiple primitives.
[11:28] IntLib: So a more complex object eats up more primitives.
[11:29] Thor Columbia: You got it. Each lot of land gets a certain number of prims, and if you go beyond that you must buy more.
[11:29] Extrems Brock: 3 per 16m, 117 per 512m, 15000 per 65,536m, 65,536m = one region
[11:30] IntLib: Okay, understood. I've been shopping land, btw, so I have a basic understanding of the prim limits on each parcel. Would you say that there is a significant market in people buying land and developing sub parcels for resale, or is that market oversupplied? Can the land barons buy a parcel and tap off some of its prims for themselves, then resell the land with fewer prims?
[11:32] Extrems Brock: This can be done on a private estate (I think).
[11:33] Thor Columbia: Yes there is money in land resale, however it has to be done on a very very large scale to be economical.
[11:34] IntLib: Do the apartment building developers do very well?
[11:34] Thor Columbia: They do all right, the big money is in developing plots for RL companies that are willing to pay huge sums for custom jobs.

[11:36] IntLib: Ah, interesting. Some friends of mine own Uvvy Island, and are developing a sort of corporate center there, and I've seen similar setups elsewhere, but they seemed under occupied, in fact, a LOT of SL seems under occupied. What is your take on that?
[11:37] Thor Columbia: Well that will change over time, and get more dense over time, at first a player may get land and then not do anything with it. The land gets abandoned and people start using it more and more for more productive things

[11:38] IntLib: Oh, another question about First Land. Is that something a new user is expected to buy outright, or do they finance it?
[11:39] Thor Columbia: They normally buy out right since it is less then two USD

[11:39] Thor Columbia: Intlibber, it's been a pleasure but I have to log off for an hour or so.
[11:40] IntLib: Sure no problem, I was just going to thank you for your time.
[11:40] Thor Columbia: I'll contact you later. It's great to hear what the FSP doing.
[11:41] IntLib: Its good to hear there are more folks in SL from the movement. Feel free to stop by the Gimme Liberty Bar any time, we often meet there to listen to Free Talk Live, which is a syndicated and podcasted radio show by Free Staters.
[11:41] Thor Columbia: Great I'll see you there... bye. (Thor vanishes)

Beware Of Blogs: Jury Awards $11.3 Million For Blog Defamation

Excerpt from USA Today

Jury awards $11.3M over defamatory Internet posts
By Laura Parker, USA TODAY

A Florida woman has been awarded $11.3 million in a defamation lawsuit
against a Louisiana woman who posted messages on the Internet accusing her
of being a "crook," a "con artist" and a "fraud."

Legal analysts say the Sept. 19 award by a jury in Broward County, Fla. —
first reported Friday by the Daily Business Review — represents the largest
such judgment over postings on an Internet blog or message board. Lyrissa
Lidsky, a University of Florida law professor who specializes in
free-speech issues, calls the award "astonishing."

Update On The Lauren Canario Imprisonment

A few slight corrections here, and a slight update, other than that, we've got a whole lotta "no comments".

Okay, the corrections first (unlike the MSM, we acknowledge our failings on the front page above the fold, not on the back page in small print). Lauren was apparently sitting on the porch of a family that gave her permission to be there. They had not received a check from either the New London Development Corporation or the city yet, so legally, it was still their property, and their right to have guests.

Lauren did have a valid lease with Bill Van Winkle, also, and so was validly a resident of the neighborhood at the time, and not a "squatter" as the powers that be are trying to pretend.

As to the charge that she was "squatting" in the house she was arrested at, this is clearly bogus. Firstly, sitting on a front porch is not considered by the law to be inhabiting the interior of the home. If police can bust you for open container for drinking a beer on your own front porch (and police have won many a conviction in such situations), on the premise that you were drinking in public, and not within the confines of your home, then Lauren cannot have been considered 'squatting' inside the house. Furthermore, given she had permission from those who were still owners at the time to be there, her neighbors, there was absolutely no trespass involved, any more than a neighbor waiting on your porch for your return can be considered trespassing.

The conversation about her court appearance, it turns out, came from her PREVIOUS arrest by the city about her anti-eminent domain activism. We have, however, come to find out that during that arrest, she was, in fact, shackled to the point that she now has scars, kept under lights 24/7, and kept in the psych ward, all for exercising her constitutional rights to no cooperate and not speak.

What kind of a country have we come to where people make lame excuses that, "if she'd only comply this would be over." THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE, people. As we have written previously about Gandhi and the problems of using civil disobedience against governments that don't care about public perception and western values, the fact is that in this case, we do live in a society that claims to have western values, and a government that claims to be based upon the principles of the Enlightenment: rule of law, rights of the individual sacrosanct, Constitution above all else.

Saying "just behave to get along" is a surrender to the forces of fascism rising within our society, and an abrogation by the citizenry to defend the Constitution against clearly demonstrated *domestic* enemies of that sacred document of trust and liberty. The Constitution is about your damn RIGHT to misbehave as you wish, so long as you don't harm others, other than defending against those who agress against those rights.

That this battle is in earnest is clear in the minds of the powers that be. Numerous calls by many of Laurens supporters, and readers of this blog have universally said that the prison is refusing to comment about Lauren's treatment. The office of CT Governor Jodi Rell has refused comment, as has NH Governor Lynch's office.

That they are denying the peoples basic right to know what is going on in their government is indicative of the hijacking of liberty that is going on. We do have further ammo to spend.

To those who have commented that "if shes incommunicado, how do you know how she's been treated." A fair question. We were relying on the statement of Kat Kanning, Laurens close friend. According to Kat, Lauren was detained in shackles, under lights 24/7, in the psych ward last time for her use of silence and non-cooperation. This was confirmed by observations of scabbing and scarring on Lauren's wrists and ankles after her release from her prior detention in this facility.

Given that government stooges are creatures of habit and procedure, who follow "the book" religiously (or claim they are supposed to), it seems rather logical to us that if she is being held in even more secluded confinement this time, with absolutely no contact with the outside world, even with her own husband and kids, it seems reasonable to us that the state of Connecticut is hiding something from the public. Government thugs only hide information and people when they've done something wrong. It is reasonable in this case to expect them to remain true to form.

It turns out that Amnesty International (a group which I am not normally all that hot about), did a rather damning report about this womens prison, how male guards were raping prisoners and exchanging privileges for sex, as well as intimidating prisoners who complained about conditions. This was brought up on Dvorak Uncensored, which carried our original story yesterday.

The good news is that one of Laurens supporters contacted Amnesty about Lauren's case, who said they were not aware of this case, but would have one of their CT people investigate. When asked, a prison official stated that if an Amnesty International rep showed up, they would be admitted and allowed to inspect the conditions of Lauren's detention. So apparently we may get an answer to all the controversy surrounding this story.

IntLib Quote of The Day

"It's a good thing I had a bag of Marijuana instead of a bag of spinach.
I'd be dead by now."
                                                             ~ Willie Nelson

UPDATE: We have been reliably informed by the director of the NH Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) that, through mutual friends, he was able to ask Willie if he actually said this, as there has been some controversy, particularly over at Snopes.com, whether Willie did or not, or whether it was paraphrased from the writing of humorist Argus Hamilton by some anonymous fabricator on the internet. Willie says that he never said it, but really enjoyed the statement it made. Thanks, Willie!

So file this under your "coulda, shoulda, woulda said, but didn't actually say it" department. Who knows, now that he's been made aware of it, you may be hearing him say it some time in the near future!

We might point out to those who are unfairly singling out spinach in these times of e coli tainted food, that this is very un-PC, as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says:

My PC book says that we can't just profile spinach. We have to pull all vegetables off the shelves.

Thanks everybody, for clearing this up.

BlogMad.com Ranks IntLib Highly

As evidence of our market penetration, blog indexer Blogmad.com ranked IntLib 42nd for referral traffic in September, and is currently ranking 24th so far in October (this may change as traffic varies).

We've certainly been trying. Unfortunately, some indexers don't seem to be working too well these days. Blog index icon Technorati seems to be broken. They haven't responded to multiple ping requests of ours for 5 days, and their site is now displaying in some sort of cellphone browser format. Multiple emails have not been responded to. This non-pingability seems restricted to IntLib alone, as our sister blog, Constitution Park, was pinged successfully the other day.

Blog "ecosystem" site The Truth Laid Bear seems to have problems keeping accurate daily traffic counts, and grossly undercounts links to blogs (where Technorati sees 51 links from 28 blogs as of last week, TTLB only sees 11 blogs linking to us).

And what is with ranking by crosslinks? Having links doesn't create traffic, as we've proven: over 41,000 hits last month while being misunderestimated by the major blogger community. We generate 99.9% of our traffic from two places: digg and reddit. Links don't indicate popularity, it only indicates how many other bloggers asses you've kissed. We've posted links to lots of blogs, and those reciprocating have been few and far between.

We're interested in hearing of our readers experiences with various blog indexes.

Eminent Domain Protester Canario Held In Gitmo Style

Lauren Canario, Free State Project member noted for protesting against REAL ID and most recently, the eminent domain taking of Mrs. Kelo's New London, CT home, is being treated inhumanely in Connecticut's high-security York Correctional Institution.

According to close friend Kat Kanning, Canario, arrested Sept 22, on a mere charge of trespassing (on property she had a valid lease agreement with the owner for), is being held in shackles under bright lights 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. While she can receive mail, she can neither make or receive phone calls, nor send out mail.

The shackling and lighting treatment is one that has historically been used by oppressive governments to break the will of political prisoners and spies, prior to mind control indoctriation or interrogation. That she is being held in solitary confinement in the prisons psych ward is indicative of Soviet era reports of political prisoners being institutionalized as psychiatric patients. Prison officials allege that they've put her in the psych ward because she refuses to talk.

Thus, she is being treated as a psych patient only because she is exercising her right to not cooperate with her oppressors and her right to not speak.

Nor, apparently, does she have a lawyer. Bill Von Winkle, a Fort Trumbull homeowner from whom Canario rented an apartment, helped her get a lawyer, but “when she saw that I wasn't walking, that I was dragged, she decided she didn't want to represent me,” Canario said.

The silence that has frustrated two judges was not planned, she said at one of her public appearances.

“When I get angry, I can't talk,” she said.

Neither have the courts appointed counsel for her, another violation of her rights. Thus, she remains in a condition much like that of the 'unlawful enemy combatants' that President Bush is holding in Guantanamo Bay.

While we in the US are now familiar with this 24-hour-a-day lighting treatment having been used improperly on Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison by US forces, and in Guantanamo's notorious "Camp X-Ray", on some of the most heinous terrorist enemies of the United States, we are shocked to see this sort of treatment being perpetrated upon a middle aged woman arrested for the mere charge of trespassing (again, on property she had a valid lease to be on from the lawful owner).

A call made to York Correctional Institution resulted in a refusal by staff on duty to make any statement about Lauren's condition, deferring to Major Karen Oien, who will be available tomorrow for comment.

Inquiries to NH Governor John Lynch's office as to whether he will try to intercede with CT Gov. Jodi Rell to protect the rights of Canario, who is a New Hampshire resident, have been made, but not responded to.

What does the government have to fear from a middle aged woman who offered absolutely no resistance to her arrest, has no record of any violent crimes, who is being abused for her exercise of her right of silence and noncooperation?

Lauren can, apparently, receive letters, so those wishing to express support for her can mail them to:

Lauren Canario #334457
c/o York Correctional Institution
201 West Main Street
Niantic, CT 06357

If you wish to ask NH Governor Lynch to intercede on Lauren's behalf, you can call his office at 603 271-2121 and ask for Amy Harrington. Be polite.

Those wishing to get worked up can, of course, call CT Gov. Jodi Rell's office at (800) 406-1527. Be sure to note Lauren's prisoner number.

We'll be back tomorrow with updates on what the powers that be say about Lauren's treatment.

Leftist Students Attack Free State Project Founder

Free State Project founder, Professor Jason P Sorens, graduate of Yale University, and currently faculty at the University of Buffalo, has come under attack in an on-campus email campaign by leftist group "Truth Out" for his libertarian views. Most specifically, the emails being sent to all UB students completely slander and defame the Free State Project, libertarians in general as "extreme right-wingers" who "care more about property than human beings".

From: Truth Out
To: *snip*
Subject: politics of the psc 341 professor
Date: Sun, 01 Oct 2006 17:21:56 -0500

Hello

Ever wonder about the politics of our professor?

Jason Sorens, founder of the Free State Project, a group trying to get 20,000 people who plan to move out to rural New Hampshire, never pay taxes, never contribute anything of value to American society, and who value private property over human life. So they are taking their belongings and their guns out to New Hampshire to live in isolation from the rest of the American population. They are trying to privatize nearly everything and fundamentally dismantle public education and many social programs and services. This organization is sympathetic toward secessionist movements in general. Libertarianism is a extreme right-wing philsophy which believes that private property and the free market has a greater value than human life and society. And he teaches here at UB... So why exactly is someone teaching at UB who believes in dismantling public education? Is there a connection between his politics and how his courses are organized?

The email then lists several web pages of interviews with Sorens and about the FSP.

"Wow," Sorens commented, "I guess some people don't know the meaning of
academic freedom, eh?"

Apparently not, though such attacks are part and parcel of an entrenched left wing campaign among students and faculty to drive libertarian and conservative faculty members and student groups off campus. Long time readers of IntLib will recall our previous activism in support of libertarian Professors Zywicki and Robinson (regular contributors to The Volokh Conspiracy) in their insurgent campaigns for election to the Dartmouth Board of Trustees by alumni against entrenched insider candidates, and the ensuing left wing hostility. Those of you who track conservatives like David Horowitz may note his campaign against these sorts of left wing persecutions and discriminations against conservatives and libertarians on campus.

Our leader is under attack, it is time to bring attention nationally to this sort of intolerance by the left wing of other political views on campus, and establish once and for all that attacking faculty on their honest and rational political views is not acceptable.

What is more hypocritical is that, at the same time that the left is attacking Sorens for his rational libertarian views, they are shielding radical leftist professors who promote radical, irrational, moonbat conspiracy theories about events like 9/11, as we've reported previously. One would expect that, given that hypocrisy is the only crime that the left apparently recognises, that they'd try to avoid it, but apparently this is one more case of "Do as I say, Not as I Do" by the moonbats.

Meet John Stossel at the New Hampshire Liberty Forum

New Hampshire Liberty Forum
Attaining Personal and Economic Freedom in America's Freest State
February 22 - 25, 2007 in Concord, New Hampshire.

Here's an event for libertarians looking to explore the Free State can attend in February. Keynote speaker will be noted ABC anchor John Stossel, host of his famous "Gimme a Break!" debunking shows, cohost of 20/20, and author of several books, including "Give Me A Break". His speech, to be titled The Enemies of Liberty, will be delivered immediately following a delicious four-course meal. As demand for this speech is expected be extremely high, and the number of seats is limited, a separate fee will be charged to attend Mr. Stossel's keynote. Mr. Stossel will also be available to sign copies of his books.

Other speakers will include:

• Sharon Harris, president of The Advocates for Self-Government


• Jack Cole, executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP)


• Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the CATO institute


• More speakers will be announced soon...

Further information about registration, fees, etc. can be found at the FSP's website page on the event.

Early Bird registration is happening now, so the FSP recommends getting the best pricing while you can. Ticket prices of the event will get more expensive. The prices seem especially reasonable, given the quality of the speakers and variety of panel discussions available.

Also, they have negotiated a special rate at the Holiday Inn, once their quota is reached, the hotel rate will be higher as well.

There will aso be other panel discussions on various topics, there appears to be a rather full schedule of events, which will only fill out as the event nears. They've got five speaking halls reserved for this, in addition to the main hall.