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Guest Post: This Is Why We Internationalize. This Is Why We Have A Plan
From Simon Black of Sovereign Man
This Is Why We Internationalize. This Is Why We Have A Plan
A few hundred years ago, some rather courageous men and women decided that they’d had enough of living under someone else’s rule– that the right of self-determination was stronger than any benefit or protection from living under a corrupt government.
The US Declaration of Independence eloquently posed the colonists’ grievances against King George III, including among others, that he had:
“erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance;”
“obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers;”
“[deprived] us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury”
The Constitution was supposed to address all of these grievances as the Founding Fathers sought to create a government where no single branch or office had too much power. Even to this day, US government officials swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies– foreign and domestic.
My guess is that most of them haven’t bothered to read it.
Take the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) under the US Department of Interior, for example. A few months ago, a government agent from FWS showed up to the home of an eleven-year-old girl with a federal summons in one hand and a citation for $535 in another.
The girl’s crime? Saving a baby woodpecker from being killed and eaten by the family cat. The bird’s mother was nowhere to be seen, so the girl (an aspiring vet) convinced her parents to let her care for it for a few days until the bird was well enough to fly away on its own.
Noble act? Wrong. Federal crime. It turns out that the bird is on the government list of protected species… and according to the government’s newspeak, protecting a bird that’s on the protected species list is a crime.
It sort of echoes Thomas Jefferson’s line about King George having “erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people…” It seems not too much has changed.
What’s more, the agent obviously couldn’t come alone to confront an 11-year old girl and her mother. No, that wouldn’t be threatening enough. That’s why FWS requested to be escorted by a Virginia State Police Trooper who “stood on the porch and said nothing.”
It’s government fear and intimidation tactics at their best… a far cry from supporting and defending the Constitution.
Then there’s the case of Gibson Guitar, a legendary American company that manufactures some of the most famous, high quality guitars in the industry. Less than two weeks ago, armed government agents (also from the US Fish and Wildlife Service) raided Gibson Guitar’s manufacturing plants and corporate headquarters in Tennessee.
Gibson Guitar’s crime? Being in possession of a rare ebony wood imported from India; they use it in their manufacturing.
Here’s what’s funny: possession of said wood is not illegal in the United States.
Here’s what’s really funny: Gibson Guitar has clear evidence– letters from the Indian government– proving that their possession of the wood is not illegal in India either.
And… here’s what’s really, really funny: This is the second time in two years that the company has been raided and inventory been seized by federal agents. Gibson’s management team is STILL waiting for a court hearing to get their property back from the 2009 seizure.
Again, echoes of Thomas Jefferson: that King George “[deprived] us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury.”
Welcome to the new reality. Executive agencies in the United States have extraordinary unchecked power. They can seize your assets, freeze your bank accounts, intercept your emails, comb through your credit card transactions, and even take away your children… all without so much as a court order or any form of oversight.
We’ve explored before how you can end up on the wrong side of a government agency, even if you haven’t done anything illegal. If you are so much as suspected of wrongdoing, they can come after you… even if you’re just in the wrong place at the wrong time, they can come after you.
These are two cases where the government has come after its citizens– even when they are doing the RIGHT thing.
Think about it: two of the most unlikely people in the country have become enemies of the state: an eleven-year-old girl who wants to save a baby bird, and a manufacturing company that has managed to stay in business (and continue hiring!) in the midst of the worst recession in the nation’s history.
This is why we internationalize. This is why we have a plan.
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Can we start by electing a president that wants to reduce the size of government? RON PAUL 2012, IT'S TIME TO START REPAIRING THE DAMAGE ALREADY DONE, NOT MAKE IT WORSE.
Ho-hum.
I'd be very careful with the Gibson story - it is being frontrun as GOP ammunition via the usual 'astroturfed' parties - radio / TPers etc. The issue really isn't as simple as is being made out: and is most assuredly an indirect attack on EPA / Environmental regs.
Put it this way - Gibson is not your folksy one man shop. It is a huge corp, and has been very lawyer happy in the past over suing small masterclass makers & one man shops. Gibson is no more your friend than the Koch brothers. There's also clear indications that the 'attack' on Gibson is more to do with falsifying documents than anything else:
However, the federal agent's search warrant affidavit contends that 1,250 pieces of Indian ebony wood that arrived by air in Dallas on June 22 were imported illegally, sparking the federal investigation under the Lacey Act policing international trade in plants as well as federal smuggling law.
India does not allow wood to be exported if it is sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced, peeled or more than 6 millimeters thick, the government contends in the court filing. The sawn ebony wood intercepted by U.S. customs agents in Dallas was 10 millimeters thick.
Initial customs documents for the shipment falsely described the wood as veneer, less than 6 millimeters thick and finished parts of musical instruments, according to the court document.
In addition, rather than listing Gibson as its ultimate consignee as required, California-based Luthier Mercantile International initially was declared to be the final destination for the wood, agents reported.
A federal Department of Homeland Security data system tracking all imports to the U.S., the federal agent reported, showed 11 shipments of sawn ebony or rosewood from India bound for Gibson facilities in Memphis, Nashville or in Bozeman, Mont.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/aug/27/shipment-prompted-gibso...
Knock yourself out - Variety of political voices on the subject, including some good links to industry insiders, guitar forums and so on:
http://www.metafilter.com/107131/Guitar-Makers-Singing-the-Blues
Hint: single issue politics is fucking retarded, and it pays to do your own due diligence. Stop being someone elses' weaponry, eh? There's also some decent evidence that Gibson is using Madagascar wood [2009 imports].
My comment: Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot, unique and under extreme pressures from multiple sources. Making guitar bits out of wood that can be a) sourced elsewhere and b) replaced by multiple other types of material, just as good, is fucking stupid. Any decent biotech company could make billions more out of the unique DNA / products of said ecosystem, instead of making musical instruments that crappy CEOs like to pretend they're rock stars on. Monkeys. (Or lemurs).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0V7W14VbFk -- watch at your own risk. CEO white rich male sucking at guitar.
God you are so right on this. I have a friend who is in the process of becoming a master guitar maker (has a design set to sell for $80K). When he tells me about the sales he's made working in the instrument sales business I am just absolutely astounded to hear about non-musical ultra rich people pouring $50K++ on guitars. Wonder why there are no jobs?
Well said. Gibson is the Koch Industries of the music industry. They are also not known for treating employees well. As one put it: For a company involved with music and a rich heritage, the corporate office is a joyless place to work. I have several talented friends who worked there. None stayed long.
Your friends didn't enjoy working at their corp HQ? That's reason enough for an armed raid by federal agents. Let's shut down every business where employees aren't happy. You guys are such fucking retards.
You should read a little harder:
The law suit is based on Gibson falsifying papers - both in terms of the product imported, and the destination company. So, basically, the same as if your shipment of Wellington Boots from Columbia destined for Wyoming just "happened" to actually be 1.7 tons of cocaine destined for Hollywood. There's no way you don't falsify papers if you're not aware of the law, and actively trying to get around it. This is 100% guaranteed to get the Feds involved.
If you want to argue over why a company involved in a market that has huge hold on the Ted Nugents of this world, and potential grass roots outrage by people not thinking very hard, is making such a huge fuss (funded by GOP advertising dollars to get the message out there) then maybe you'll see the politics at play. Otherwise.. how's them swamps, boy?
The logic isn't hard. It does require some smarts to work out though.
Well you fucking douchebag, why haven't they been charged yet for the 2009 raid?
Perhaps you wouldn't be so offended if it was a rich black or hispanic guy sucking at guitar? Get back to fucking 0bama's ass with your head. Maybe you can come up with some more droppings of wisdumb
You're aware of how US justice works, right? Good lawyers lead to long delays...
I was describing the video, it was accurate. You're the one with the race issues, but its good to see the easy marks lighting up. The idea that I support Democrats is... rather amusing. Let's just say, you're a little off.
Here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBK75bUacss -- The message is: stop getting your panties in a twist1.
10mm thick vs. 6mm thick.
Good Gawd. Sounds like a hanging offense to me.
Ye Gods, are you a teenager still?
If the speed limit is 70 and you go 71.. you still get a ticket. (Note: I could formulate this in the ratios, using a napkin - 6/10 is an increase of around 38%, so you'd be going 97 before you try and pull any retarded rhetorical tricks.) Still think you'd not get a ticket?
If you want to argue over how those limits are set, you go into lobbying / government and spend 10 years getting that 6" moved to 10" [oh, and just for you - there's a very good reason at the thicknesses. 10-1 you can't work it out]
Jesus wept - this isn't about wood, its about law. And what do we know about the law? You don't beat it without shit hot lawyers!
Use of Weapons
This is a classic example of selective enforcement. I posit that most laws are written, such that they can be enforced by whimsy or capriciousness. They are there to play "gotcha".
What the hell difference does 6mm or 10mm make ? Why not 5mm or 9mm if it is the same wood from the same country.
There are laws and there is justice; strangers that have never met.
I would love to be a teenager again, I think... Carry on now, old sock....
Ok, here's the difference.
70 - 90 is a good engine, straight road, no traffic and decent weather conditions. There's times when 70 makes no sense at all [full fog, icy roads etc] and you wouldn't want to go there. There's times when 90 makes all the sense in the world [summer, straight road, no traffic]. Now.. these are human laws, and so.. we can bitch and whine and rail against their arbitrary justice.
But there's another world.
6mm of that heart wood thickness means 200 years of growth; 10mm means 500.
12" of ivory tusk means a juvenile who never bred; 30" means a mean old mama who lead her tribe.
50CC of bear bile means 1 year in a cage; 500cc means 10 years in that cage.
89,765,000 giant tortoises means damn fine eating for an entire century (better than anything you've ever tasted); 90,000,000 means that species no longer exists.
640,000 whales means lamp oil and beauty creams to drive the industrial revolution; 650,000 means no more whales.
And so on. There's a fundamental difference between ecology [biology] and mechanics [dull inert matter].
You fundamentally misunderstand biology and ecology. And for that, I pity you, your culture and the world you will live in once you've reduced it all to burgers, baubles and bitching rides. That 4" means the difference between that ecology continuing to exist, and it never existing again. If you want to get all "I don't care" about that, let me spend a week with your children, and then we'll see if the line is the same. ;.;
You want children? You have children? Then don't fucking lay waste to the world through total ignorance, their world-experience-view-depth is lessened each time there's less diversity. You want that? Then guess again - BSL-4 protocols mean that humanity will survive, and culls exist. Sigh. We're asked to love you, and this is the base line we have to deal with - and worse, this ignorance is driven by those actively sucking the life out of your world! Which you believe so easily!
Use of Weapons
You want to argue by example ? Your child is dying. This are no ambulances. You need to break the speed limit to save your child's life.
"Use of Weapons" in his officious view of the world, let's his child die, hiding his stupidity behind "the law"
What are you feeding the worms in your Walnut ?
Oh, for the life of all that is good in humanity.
You're a fucking idiot. You couldn't even comprehend my words. IS THIS THE BEST YOU CAN DO?
Look above: SPEED LIMIT IS A HUMAN CONSTRAINED LAW. This means, yes, you fucking troll, you can break it. You can go 20, you can go 50, you can go 70, you can go 90, you can go 150 - all constrained by human laws. I ever stated that within our example. Who cares if you get a speeding ticket if you get your child there on time? NO-ONE. Your child is saved. You get a minor penalty. YOUR CHILD IS STILL SAVED.
However, (and here's the rub, you rube and nub-nut) - let's imagine that: your child is dying. She needs a complex compound to cure her disease. Only.. instead of treating your biodiversity as special, and wonderous, you killed it all, because you wanted uniformity and no life that you couldn't control. You claimed that "GOD" gave you the right to wipe it all out. You used the same reasoning to wipe out other human beings, but those aren't important - your species still exists. But.. other genomes: You wanted to magically cure your pathetic sex life with a dust made of penises. You wanted to remove the burden of annoying insects. You wanted to control the predation of your plants through geno-fixed neurotoxins that lead to all bees dying.
She needs a drug - a drug that cannot exist now, and can never be synthesised because you lack the precise chains of chemicals that this particular species produces. If only you'd not killed that species, and instead investigated the complex DNA that a hundred million years had produced.
Only.. there's no more of that species You killed them all. So no drug. So your child just died. And, not only did your child die, but every child like her just died, across the globe. The potential to cure this disease no longer exists. You have removed it from being. God isn't going to bring it back. So, you've not only killed your only child... you just killed a million million others.
And, you fucking pustule of stupidity and egregious example of why your species needs to be culled - this. is. not. a. hypothetical. example. It already happened. You could have cured xxx disease, but you didn't. You chose to have burgers, silly plastic toys and a lack of education.
Now, fuck off. You're an idiot. A troll, and an inauthentic being. You are... slime. I wish your children well, but I wish more you never bred.
Use of Weapons
And...
"this isn't about wood, its about law-" didn't you plagiarize that right out of Deliverance ?
I defer to Sam Clemence- the law is a ass.
You being a Newbie here at Fight Club, I will grant you a little leeway before I punch your pseudo-intellectual lights out.
That's the FED line being spoken - movie references are free ;)
[Explanation:
Oh and the child is 100% dead. No ratios here.
No legalistic rationalization. Just plain fucking dead.
Catch you on the trail...
You're really quite stupid.
Sigh.
Use of Weapons
Your Question:"getting that 6" moved to 10" [oh, and just for you - there's a very good reason at the thicknesses. 10-1 you can't work it out]
The WSJ article: India does not allow wood to be exported if it is sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced, peeled or more than 6 millimeters thick, the government contends in the court filing. The sawn ebony wood intercepted by U.S. customs agents in Dallas was 10 millimeters thick
International agreements use metric, you fucking idiot. And they have since GATT began. And as a person that has both imported and exported wood of many species, I'll let the origin of tariff triggering thicknesses remain our secret, since you obviously already know.
Unless of course, you will let Tyler hold your $10,000 on your 10:1 hollow bet.
Perhaps you could take that 10" of wood out of your ass- it will help you think better.
Oh, wow.
Actually, fuck all of this. Fuck the math, fuck the trololololol amusement of tearing the bad math above apart. It is so obvious that I wasn't talking about inches to mm that the above post is just clasping at straws. Oh, and get a grip on math % already.
I just nuked a detailed post. Then I realised: troll is troll is being paid troll.
Challenge: if you're worked in the timber industry, please provide a website reference / business address. We'll see if you're on the level.
I wouldn't give a moron like you my address under any circumstances.
And let me tell you 500 growth rings per 10mm is 1270 years to the inch. Fuck man, that is some impressive growth. Perhaps you ought to go out in the woods some day with a boring tool and a Husqvarna.
The GATT rules on wood thickness never had fuck all to do with the age of timber.
I've been in forests when you were still pooping yellow.
ps. I thought you would weasel out of the bet. Weasels always do.
Plywood and any wood product less than 6mm in thickness are exempt as are imports from Canada. Attempting to grasp the strawman that I used " by accident is a weasel trick in its own right.
Your man attempted to get away without paying import tax - which is a dead cert way of pissing off governments, given the amount of hot air it took to get GATT finalised. So he broke international trade agreements from the Indian side and the US side by falsifying documents. Oh, and you might have noticed I made this case clear when I mentioned cocaine smuggling. About 10 posts ago.
http://www.worldtradelaw.net/reports/gattpanels/spflumber.pdf
http://www.itto.int/direct/topics/topics_pdf_download/topics_id=34980000...
Sorry I didn't answer this last night, but I got bored.
"Welcome to the new reality. Executive agencies in the United States have extraordinary unchecked power. They can seize your assets, freeze your bank accounts, intercept your emails, comb through your credit card transactions, and even take away your children… all without so much as a court order or any form of oversight."
Yeah, but try to enforce a court order to view a publically released document (cough/birth certificate/cough) or to see the Social Security application that would prove fraudulent issue and all of a sudden privacy laws make a come back.
What are the frickin odds that a court system that allows the extraordinary powers to exist,, per the above quote all of a sudden offers a bullet proof defense of privacy rights for an individual who in all likelyhood is guilty of felony Social Security Fraud as well as holding an office he is not constitutionally eligible to hold? It must be nice to be above the law.
thing is the only way to be above the Law is to be forever a slave to the Shadows.
Operation fast and furious, another government cluster fuck.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/s_754581.html#ixz...
There's nothing wrong going on. As the 0bamatards keep bleating, it's just a GOP issue to make their Messiah look bad. Everything is on the up and up.
Wow, another couple of examples of TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT. ELECT RON PAUL 2012. THE PEOPLE WANT THEIR COUNTRY BACK.
Reagen PROMISED it in 1980, and in fact made a bonafide effort (Grace Commision). Came to naught, of course.
It's fuckin' inpossible. It was impossible then and only more-so now. The system is self-aware, self-perpetuating, self-accumulating and self-defending. Any "white knight" can't get elected without votes of .gov workers = 50% of the electorate. Do the math.
Only hope is a big ugly collapse, but sadly that be just as bad, maybe, precipitating the real totalitarianism.
On this one, I'm stumped.
"electron paul"
I'm taking that and making a 1950's styled comic book out of it.
So what happened to the woodpecker? Did the troopers take it out and shoot it 60 times?
...accidentally...
Uhh... they thought he flashed a gun. Turns out it was his pecker.
Fed Agents Goon Wild!
This nasty business does not just occur on the Fed level.
Has anyone been reading about the local gov corruption in Quartzsite, AZ? I ran across some stories on that yesterday and was SO aggravated that I had to send an email to Gov's office (who allegedly had ignored complaints coming from Quartsite residents for quite a while). Scary, scary stuff - some local government officials think they can do anything they want --
This goes on everywhere I'm sure (although not to this extent). But, our family came face-to-face with local govenment thugs not too long ago. I'm pretty sure we're not alone - but you challenge the system, you better be prepared to fight the thugs who don't take kindly to it.
Our family challenged local government in Michigan and I couldn't even believe the results after we took it to the state level. Our matter concerned corruption in the local building code office. We were huge pains in their asses after we found they were covering up some really serious issues. Hah, we even placed an ad in the local paper, "Do you feel you have been treated unfairly or have been harassed by local government officials - building code office, etc.?" We had quite a few responders with wild stories. Anyway...
Here are a few examples:
The county administrator (who was a cop in a former life) called us to say, "You know...I could have you arrested." Our position? Bring it on fat boy -- we'll be waiting for you. All talk, that one.
The building code enforcement folks issued a citation for "evidence of building without a permit" and noted it was for attaching items to our building....that everyone in the county knew pre-existed our ownership of the building by 16 years. Amazing - anything they could do to fire shots over our bow to intimate us, happened.
I had to take my sedan into for repair - thanks to someone pumping 14-15 nails into a tire on night. The guy at the shop said, "Lady, I'd say someone doesn't like you....". Happened again one other time (when the car was out unattended).
There's more - but I think you get the picture. We stuck to our guns and even battled some at the State of MI's office who were trying to protect the county good ol' boys - but thanks to a new person in the office who knew what was going on and a complaint to the Gov's office to have the file officially reviewed for corruption - we won.
Sorry to ramble on so - but the things that go on at the federal level likely have a trickle down effect. If the Feds get away with it, why not? Those at all levels below follow suit.
They have to justify their jobs. Especially with the federal attorneys and law enforcement. Those are the ones who fuck people up the most. They're making $100K and their bosses want them to justify their jobs. Go bust somebody. Anybody.
Sovereign man is fear monger man. Boo!
You're an asshole crackhead. Boo!
I'd like to know who squealed on the little girl?
Buz Buzzard.
Hello Simon Black,
The thing of beauty here is that for all purposes; you're essentially a perpetual traveler or one could construe a perpetual migrant.
"This is why we internationalize."
So, you're operation is globalized likely via globalization. I seem to recall a piece back in 2010 if I remember correctly titled along the lines of 'Stop feeding the beast', yet as far as I can tell perpetual migration via globalization is actually quite within bounds of the status quo, which I also add helps build the case for Soros's open border/free of borders viewpoint.
It also fails to take into consideration that the monster your trying not to feed is global.
I find this philosophy very interesting although it fails to take into consideration the gradually increasing heat of the pot is global rather than merely regional.
"This is why we have a plan."
The plan seems to be to perpetually travel as global status quo becomes too intolerable forcing.
http://www.sovereignman.com/simon-black/
"international investor, entrepreneur, permanent traveler"
"In the last 3 months I’ve traveled to over 20 countries, met with a President and several diplomats, briefed sovereign fund managers, flown an aerobatic stunt plane, started several companies, hitchhiked in Bogota, taken a train across the orient, lectured on entrepreneurship in Eastern Europe, and personally provided venture capital to new start-ups."
First, when you stop and take into consideration, your playing the corrupted game of globalization; you're definitely feeding the monster previously written about.
Second, when you stop to take into consideration, your mindset effectively mirrors that of quite a few NGOs; it should be realized that part of the root issue of corrupted government is officials start pandering to NGO and other Corporate interests.
Third, it is rather ironic that someone becomes a perpetual traveler as a basis to avoid corrupt government when said corrupt government/governments are corrupt because they ponder more to NGOs and other Corporate interests whom provide no basis of interests or loyalty to said national civilization but rather their own interests.
In other words, your plan helps to create the basis of what helped corrupt the civilization's government as an underlining basis. Congradulations, you're are perpetuating the very underlining basis that you've attempted to flee for more freedom by becoming a perpetual migrant entrepreneur.
To put it another way, this inevitably fuels the very corruption that you wished to flee. Once this structure is further consolidated, perpetual migration fleeing corrupted civilization by that civilization's parasatic philosophy; the monster will eventually eat itself. What is your strategy and tactics going to do then? Absolutely nothing, the boiling frog is being boiled in a gradually increasing heat in a global pot.
not to mention all those airmiles Mr. Simon is racking up. God Bless Naphtha. enjoy it while it lasts.
My ES 137 custom has all the makings of an heirloom.
i remarked that very often poeple here post stuff about Founding Fathers and so on, under the hypothesis that they were right... but as far as i know most of them were free-masons, so not that right (at all)... so why getting so much excited about that in the middle of a scheduled hutzpa ?
If protecting a protected bird is a felony, then protecting a protected banksta is surely one also.
Fun fact: dodos died out because they tasted horrible, and were limited to a single island.
http://scienceray.com/biology/zoology/a-history-and-the-story-behind-dod...
Fun fact: giant tortoises weren't given a proper latin name for a long time because they tasted so damn good, and so there's not that many left.
It took 300 years for the giant tortoise to get a scientific or taxonomical name because people kept eating them. People would put them on ships and sail them back home, but by the time they arrived at port in Europe the crew would have eaten the whole lot. Even Charles Darwin and the crew aboard the Beagle ate all the giant tortoises on board. The only descriptions of them are comparing them to chicken, beff, mutton and butter, and saying they tasted better than all of them. Even the liver and bone marrow was considered delicious. They were also used as water stores, because they have a special internal bladder which stores water so perfectly that it is drinkable, so when you slit them open to cook them you also got a gallon of fresh water. The crew therefore stacked them up so that they could not move, and they did not need to be fed for months so they were very useful for whaling ships because they provided both food and water. There are 12 species of giant tortoise, all of which are now endangered. The actual scientific name for a giant tortoise is Geochelone.
http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/qi/episodes/7/10/
Lesson: first person to taste a banker will determine their fate. Nom-nom-nom.
FYI
My Rotties say they taste like shit.
Cheers
The govt. has become so criminal and out of money, that all agencies are running around fleecing their citizens.