Overcriminalized

Overcriminalized.com is a fascinating and terrifying project from The Heritage Foundation.

The Heritage Foundation is an extremely conservative think tank.  These are not the kind of people you would normally expect to be complaining about “too much law and order.”

And yet that is exactly the purpose of Overcriminalized.com.  The web site documents a frightening array of Americans from all walks of life who have been prosecuted and convicted of crimes that almost no one knows are crimes — and that should not be crimes.

A few minutes spent reading the Case Studies section of the web site will go a long way towards preventing a good nights sleep.As Montesquieu wrote in 1748, “Useless laws weaken the necessary laws.”  There are so many laws now in the United States that the vast majority of American citizens are federal criminals.   This causes a general lack of respect for the law, because no man can truly respect a system which calls him a criminal for acts which are not morally wrong.

I do not believe this current situation to be accidental.  In 1957, Ayn Rand wrote “There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.”  In this, as in so many things, Rand appears to to have been born before her time.  In the United States today, there are so many federal laws that it is effectively impossible for a citizen to avoid breaking them — unless that citizen sits down and refuses to do anything except what the government tells him (or her) to do.

This is not the philosophy of independence and self-reliance upon which the united States was founded.  This is an essentially communist philosophy which believes “everything which is not specifically allowed is forbidden.”

We Americans have lost control of our government.  If we don’t take it back now, we may have to take it back from inside our prison cells.

Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party

Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, a special publication from The Epoch Times, offers an insightful glimpse into the usually secret world of Chinese politics. The topics of the nine commentaries are:

1. On What the Communist Party Is
2. On the Beginnings of the Chinese Communist Party
3. On the Tyranny of the Chinese Communist Party
4. On How the Communist Party Is an Anti-Universe Force
5. On the Collusion of Jiang Zemin with the CCP to Persecute Falun Gong
6. On How the Chinese Communist Party Destroyed Traditional Culture
7. On the Chinese Communist Party’s History of Killing
8. On How the Chinese Communist Party Is an Evil Cult
9. On the Unscrupulous Nature of the Chinese Communist Party

The site publishes a running total of Chinese citizens who have submitted statements withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party or its affiliated organizations. At the time of this writing, the number is 109,569,665 — more than one hundred million individuals. That is a fairly impressive number considering the penalties for opposing the totalitarian Chinese regime can include imprisonment and death.

Wu Yalin, a Chinese activist for freedom, has already been sentenced to three years hard labor for spreading the Nine Commentaries.

Under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party, 60 to 80 million innocent Chinese people have been killed. It appears that at least some of the citizens of China are ready for a change.

Panama’s Gun Laws

The Pinkerton Intelligence Agency has given Panama has the highest rating for tourist safety. After having visited four countries in the area (Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama), I can tell you from personal experience that Panama is by far the safest country in the region.

Private firearms ownership is the reason that Panamanians enjoy this level of safety and security.

Panama does not have ridiculous laws against carrying a weapon concealed. In fact, if you can legally purchase a firearm in Panama, you are also legally allowed to carry it concealed.

Panama also does not have crazy laws to prevent honest citizens from receiving permits to buy firearms. You are required to give a blood sample with a finger prick. This is used for DNA fingerprinting. You will also be asked to pee in a cup to show that you are drug-free. Applicants are then checked by the police department. This isn’t quick; nothing in Panama is quick.

For American pensionados (retirees) and other immigrants to Panama, the process is the same. Yes, you can retire to a tropical paradise and sip rum drinks on the beach, all the while knowing that your family and your property is protected.

Short barreled rifles and shotguns are legal in Panama. Silencer are not legal. Fully-automatic weapons are also not legal.

For more information on firearm ownership in Panama, read Panama Gun Laws.

For more information about retiring to Panama, visit Expat Panama.

The Skeptic’s Annotated Qua’ran

I was looking for a Sura I remembered and Google introduced me to The Skeptic’s Annotated Qua’ran.

The site displays each sura of the Qua’ran, along with analytical study notes giving a plain-English analysis of important verses.

Verses are also marked with a useful legend highlighting specific attributes:

Injustice
Intolerance
Cruelty and Violence
Absurdities
Good Stuff
Women
Contradictions
Sex
Interpretations
Science and History
Family Values
Language
Homosexuality

For example, Sura 9:29:

9:29 Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger, and follow not the Religion of Truth, until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low.

Fight against Christians and Jews “until they pay the tribute (the Dhimmi) readily, being brought low.”

This web site also features The Skeptic’s Annotated Bible and The Skeptic’s Annotated Book of Mormon, so be ready for some equal-opportunity analysis.

I strongly encourage every American to read the Qua’ran.  Only by reading this book can we truly understand why modern day Muslims are murdering innocents across the globe.

Suicide is a Human Right

In most the United States, it is a crime to kill yourself. This is a gross encroachment of government into individual rights.

As John Stuart Mill wrote in On Liberty, “The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant.” Thomas Jefferson echoed Mill when he wrote “Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others.”

Thirty thousand Americans successfully end their own lives every year. Three out of four of these Americans are men. The highest suicide rates are in men over 60 years of age.

These are not people who do not know what they are doing. These are not confused people who need government to tell them what to do. These are people who have made a conscious decision that they are done with life and it is their time to go. This is their choice and this is their right.

It’s time that we pushed the government out of our lives, and out of our deaths.  The only thing a man can really own in this world is himself, and it’s time that we once again accept that we — not the government — own our own destinies.

Violence at Occupy Wall Street

Violence by Occupy Wall Street protesters has spread to demonstrations across the nation, with thousands of rioters arrested and dozens of police officers injured. Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, explained “New York’s police officers are working around the clock as the already overburdened economy in New York is being drained by ‘occupiers’ who intentionally and maliciously instigate needless and violent confrontations with the police.” More than twenty New York city police officers have been injured by the protesters.

Here is a photo of Felix Rivera-Pitre, an HIV-positive protester, assaulting a New York city police officer:

AnkaKarewicz posted this photo from Occupy Oakland, showing that the event organizers were training the protesters how to assault peace officers:

Here’s a photo posted by @ReadyAimShoot of a protester at Occupy Oakland carrying a sign that says “All My Heroes Kill Cops”:

Here is a video of an Occupy Oakland protesters admitting that protesters were pelting the peace officers with bottles and rocks before the police were forced to use tear gas:

The protesters at Occupy Phoenix have been distributing a leaflet titled “When Should You Shoot a Cop” which advocates the murder of law enforcement officers.

Protesters at Occupy Boston assaulted a young female member of America’s Coast Guard by spitting at her and throwing a bottle at her.

The Boston police are investigating threats made to their officers by Occupy Boston organizers, protesters, and sympathizers.

A protesters at Occupy Wall Street was arrested by police after he threatened to stab reporter John Huddy. The protester, Dustin Taylor, of Millerburg Ohio, was charged with grand larceny, menacing, criminal possession of a weapon, and harassment.

New York police also arrested a man for making death threats against a woman, because she reported an assault to the NYPD. The protester, Hasan Castillo, of East Orange New Jersey was arrested, but police as still searching for two accomplices. They men apparently told the woman “You had our friend arrested — we’re going to kill you. Watch your back.”

This speaker at Occupy LA explains that non-violence will not work and that violence is necessary to achieve the Occupiers goals:

It isn’t only that the protesters are engaging in violence, or that the organizers are encouraging violence. To make matters worse, the organizers are discouraging event participants from reporting violence and other crimes to the police as part of their media management strategy. Victims of violence, including sexual assault, are being pressured to let these crimes go unreported so as to prevent media coverage of these incidents. One police officer described the grim situation in Zuccotti Park, “There is a lot of infighting in the park. There is one part of the park where they won’t even go at night.”