The Liberty Lamp: Libertarian News & Editorials

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h

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We succeeded! Congress left town without legalizing President Bush's
warrantless spying on Americans.=20

The spying continues of course, because laws only apply to you and
me, and not the President. But at least Congress didn't compound the
problem.=20

Yet.

It remains to be seen how the coming election will impact this issue.
Will we have divided government? Will the Republicans be humbled,
even if they retain control of Congress? Either outcome could save
us. Otherwise . . .

The trouble has only begun.=20

We'll be revisiting this issue. In the meantime, savor this success.
Thank you for making it possible.=20

Liberals, conservatives, and libertarians worked together to make
this happen. It shows the potential of making common cause to defend
shared values. It points the way to a better future in which we
transcend the rigged partisan game of divide-and-conquer, and unite
the Downsizer Consensus for an unrelenting assault on a tiny and
vulnerable Congress.=20

In the meantime, September draws to a close. We are only $1,243 short
of funding for our September bills. We are a grassroots organization
supported by grassroots contributions. Is there 1 person out of the
23,346 people on this list (another record!) who could make a credit
card contribution to cover this amount? You can do so here.


Can 13 of the 23,346 make $100 contributions?
Can 26 do $50
Can 52 do $25
Can 104 do $12.50
Can 208 do $6.25

You can contribute to pay for September here.


Thank you to everyone for an excellent month. I'll have a report for
you about everything we achieved in a few days.=20

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.=20

=20

US Mint Issues Warning about Liberty Dollar

On Thursday, September 14, the US Mint issued a warning that the use of the Liberty Dollar was a “federal crime.” In quick succession, the next day, Friday September 15, the USA Today featured the Liberty Dollar in color on the front page of the Money Section. CNN and FoxNews both called regarding the story. Other articles followed around the world as Reuters carried the story internationally.

Although it is alarming to have any government authority, much less the venerable US Mint, say we are a bunch of criminals, these events were quickly followed by a Conference Call on Sunday, September 17th with Mike Johnson, our Chief Counsel and myself. And yet again, the Chief Counsel for NORFED confirmed that we are not in violation of any Federal code, rule or regulation and urged us to continue business as usual.

So what have been the results of the US Mint warning? It has been terrific! It is no understatement that we could not have bought this publicity. The USA Today article was especially well done. Oh sure, it starts out negative to suck in the reader. But anybody familiar with the ways of mainstream media... this was a particularly artfully handled article. Let’s fact it, USA Today, which has beseeched the US Constitution in many of its own editorials, could not come out in support of the Liberty Dollar. After all, they are part of the CFR! But they did the next best thing and even included the URL to our site. Thank you USA Today for the great publicity.

The net results have been terrific. Traffic on the Liberty Dollar site is up TEN TIMES. Orders are way up too. It seems everybody wants to be a “criminal” or at least a “criminal” as so wrongfully defined by the US Mint’s warning.

In short, I am very pleased with the US Mint action. For one thing, the US Mint clarified that the Liberty Dollar is a “non-government” currency and is not “legal tender.” Of course, these are two points which we have stressed over and over again. Trust me – I am NOT with the government! Nor is the Liberty Dollar even against the government. The Liberty Dollar is simply offering Americans a choice of money and hopefully our country will regain the type of money that is required by the US Constitution.

To further differentiate the Liberty Dollar from the US Dollar, I have immediately ordered all new $20 Silver Libertys to be minted with a new obverse die. The new die replaces the “USA” that is currently on the one ounce Libertys with the date 2007. And before 2007, all obverses on the $10 Half Liberty and the $5 Quarter Liberty will also be changed. We agree with the US Mint; we don’t want any confusion!

Please read “Liberty Dollar Says NO to the US Mint Allegations” for the complete rebuttal and the Chief Counsel’s new Disclaimer... that we are not in violation of any Federal code, rule or regulation at: http://www.libertydollar.org/ld/press-kit/usmint-allegations.htm.

Now stand up for your beliefs and real money! Please read the following article.

NORFED Executive Director makes an official reply to the US Treasury Department's false allegations that the Liberty dollar is somehow "illegal" on the basis of being fraudulent, etc.

September 19, 2006


The US Mint News Story in Perspective


The recent United States Mint warning regarding NORFED and the Liberty Dollar offers a rare opportunity. Let’s face it, it had to happen…with the growth and prevalence of the Liberty Dollar over the last eight years, the Government had to respond.


They went public and cleared the air in many ways. First, they stated that the gold and silver Liberty Dollar ‘medallions’ are not US Mint bullion coins, nor are they legal tender…just as NORFED always advertised. Secondly, they stated that the Liberty Dollars are privately produced, and not backed, nor affiliated with, the United States Government…of course not, they’re backed by gold and silver, again, just as NORFED has always advertised. Here it is in plain sight…the Liberty Dollar is not a coin, not legal tender, and backed with inflation proof gold and silver!


So what has happened? Goliath just introduced David to millions of Americans as a nationally recognized underdog. Just as Pepsi went up against Coke with their “take the Pepsi Challenge” campaign, the Liberty Dollar will take it to the people to decide which currency they should use. Welcome to “Just try the Liberty Dollar” campaign. So keep doing “the drop” and spreading the word. We are within our rights to offer Liberty Dollars for goods and services to whoever will voluntarily accept them.


Since the Liberty Dollar has hit mainstream media via USA Today, AOL, Reuters, etc visits to our website have soared to almost 10 time’s normal traffic. Online orders have skyrocketed as well! Everything from bumper stickers to Liberty Dollars are being ordered plus new Liberty Associates are signing up…America is mad as hell and isn’t going to take it anymore. The people are speaking and they want the Liberty Dollar! Comments like “The US Mint can bite me” and “I’m exercising my right to choose” have been included with many of the orders received.


Critical-thinking free individuals, groups and associations are stepping up offering assistance and support to the Liberty Dollar. Let’s keep the momentum going, get your orders in now while silver is at its lowest in months…whether Silver Certificates or Silver Libertys, the beautiful new five ounce Eighth Anniversary $100 commemorative or the very spendable $5 “Quarter Lib”…all are right... right now. Buy now and demonstrate your commitment to the value-backed, inflation-proof Liberty Dollar…practice your right to a free-market currency.


I also want to extend my sincerest thanks and appreciation to every Regional Currency Officer, Liberty Associate, and Liberty Merchant for their past support. Looking to the future our greatest opportunities and challenges are yet to come. Success takes many forms, but the satisfaction of accomplishment, of doing what you set out to do, can offer the greatest reward especially if that reward is returning America to Value - One Liberty Dollar at a time.


Please review our official Disclaimer and Press Release that specifically address the allegations made by the US Mint on Thursday, September 14.


Mike Johnson
Executive Director
NORFED/Liberty Dollar
www.LibertyDollar.org
1.888.421.6181

NORFED, the organization behind the American Liberty Dollar has responded to the Treasury Department's misleading allegations that insinuate that the ALD is somehow "illegal" or "illegitimate". As you read this, remember the old adage: "First they ignore you; then they laugh at you; then they angrily attack you; finally, they accept your ideas as if they had always been the truth"...


Liberty Dollar says no to US Mint allegations
9/14/2006

I'd like to respond to the US Mint article posted on their website today.

NORFED, dba The American Liberty Dollar, based in Evansville, IN, has never produced "legal tender". We privately mint currency that is backed by gold and silver, not the United States Government. The designs and verbiage on our specie and certificate are original and are not copies of any US Mint currency.

The Liberty Dollar began in 1998 and has been in circulation throughout the US for eight years. We have over 2500 Liberty Associates, 75 Regional Currency Offices, and thousands of Liberty Merchants accepting the Liberty Dollar. We have never been notified nor had suit brought by the US Department of Justice.

As a matter of fact Claudia Dickens, spokeswoman for the U.S. Treasury
Department's Bureau of Engraving and Printing, said American Liberty
Currency is legitimate. "There's nothing illegal about this," Dickens said after the Treasury Department's legal team reviewed the currency. "As long as it doesn't say legal tender there's nothing wrong with it."

Andrew Williams, a spokesman for the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C.:

"There is no law that says goods and services must be paid for with Federal Reserve notes. Parties entering into a transaction can establish any medium of exchange that is agreed upon."

In addition, Art Rolnick, Director of Research for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, in a January 2000 interview, stated

"If these (NORFED) people want to issue their own money, so be it."

Also, throughout the years associates have been in contact with the Secret Service if someone called in to question the legitimacy of the Liberty Dollar.
The Secret Service has never had a problem with us.

The US Mint statement:

"..under the Constitution (Article I, section 8, clause 5), Congress has the exclusive power to coin money" is inaccurate. The US Constitution states "The Congress shall have Power To. To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;."

It says nothing about exclusive. Follow the link from their website and see for yourself.

Regarding the US Mint reference to violation of 18 USC ss 486, in the fall of 2002 Liberty Dollar attorney's reviewed and scrutinized section 486 and issued a public disclaimer that acknowledged that the one ounce Gold and Silver Liberty's were not in violation of federal law and particularly Section 486. It is the opinion of our lead attorney that the Gold and Silver Liberty's distributed by NORFED are not in conflict because they are not "coins", nor are we circulating them as "money" as defined by the government.

Basically the Liberty Dollar is doing for the Federal Reserve what Federal Express did for the US Postal service.It brought competition and it went all the way to the US Supreme Court to prove its position. We are prepared to do the same if necessary. We would like to hear from the US Department of Justice prosecutor(s), who and where are they?

Michael Johnson
Executive Director
NORFED, dba The Liberty Dollar

PS- I spent several new $5 Quarter Liberties into the economy this week, and they were readily accepted. 100% success so far! Americans aren't dumb, and when faced with the prospect of choosing either real, honest money, or fake and worthless fiat currency ("legal tender", as the Treasury and Fed euphamistically like to call it), they take the option with real value, in this case the Liberty Dollar.

Competition helps make goods and services better. As informed people and libertarians, we all know this to be true. Unfortunately, the US government does not consist of people like us, and they throw hissy fits like spoiled, bratty children when they are forced to play fair by competing in the marketplace like the rest of us. That said, the US Mint has issued a press release of sorts insinuating that the Liberty Dollar is illegitimate. This is coming from an organization that sold out to the Federal Reserve System and unbacked fractional-reserve banking!

Click the title link on this post for the full text, but here's an excerpt:

"The United States Mint frequently receives inquiries from consumers who have confused coin-related products from private companies with genuine U.S. coinage. This page includes up-to-date information about these products. As we get inquiries from the public we will add new information, so you may wish to check this page periodically for updates.

The National Organization for the Repeal of the Federal Reserve Act and the Internal Revenue Code (NORFED) is producing and marketing gold and silver medallions that NORFED calls "Liberty Dollars." The United States Mint and the United States Department of Justice have received inquiries regarding the legality of these so-called "Liberty Dollar" medallions. The United States Mint urges consumers who are considering the purchase or use of these items to be aware that they are not genuine United States Mint bullion coins and they are not legal tender. These medallions are privately produced products and are not backed by, nor affiliated in any way with, the United States Government. Moreover, prosecutors with the Department of Justice have determined that the use of these gold and silver NORFED "Liberty Dollar" medallions as circulating money is a Federal crime."

No frikin heck you morons. Only a complete idiot would be so stupid as to choose "genuine" government fiat currency and over-priced bullion issues over an honest and free-market voluntary solution! As always, watch what government does, not what it says. These thugs are trying to falsely convince the public that only government issued currency is legitimate, no matter how corrupt and useless it really is. For example, consider this quote:

"However, despite their misleading appearance, NORFED "Liberty Dollar" medallions are not genuine United States Mint coins and they are not legal tender."

No kidding! This is the whole point. "Legal tender" means unbacked, useless fiat currency, not REAL MONEY, which the Liberty Dollar is. When people ask, I always make this clear, and so far, only one or two people have ever asked me. Why? Because when given a chance, Americans aren't as stupid as the Feds may assume or at least wish they were. Realizing the value of real precious metals backed money isn't hard. Paper money is just that- paper. It's only worth what it's printed on, and even its "fiat" status has rendered it only 4% as valuable as it was in 1913 when the Federal Reserve System was started!

Remember, follow the money trail (losely defined). Forget about what is being said, and focus on what's being done. Who stands to benefit and why? In the case of fiat currency, special financial interests and the US government benefit, at YOUR expense.

To put a long story short, ignore the immature whining from the Treasury and get yourself some Silver Liberties today. A good place to get them at a discount is Liberty-Auctions.com. You can also buy and sell merchandise and services with the Liberty Dollar and eGold/eBullion as well as those crummy Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs) we're always trying to get rid of!

How would you like to be a part of the first large scale effort
using the LPs new breakthrough campaign tool?

Ballot Base Strikes A Blow For Freedom!

Ballot Base is a wonderful new product that's a big improvement
over what the Republicans and Democrats have been using to win
elections for years.

We tested it recently in the San Diego special election and it
dramatically increased the Libertarian vote totals, even with
just a few dozen volunteers using Ballot Base.

Art and the Libertarian Party hope you will join us and spend
a few hours calling voters. Not only will this early effort increase
our vote totals on election day, but it will increase our polling
numbers as the election nears.

How it works

A volunteer sets aside a block of time and logs into their account.
[Yes, you need a computer with Internet to do this.]
The Ballot Base program gives them the name and phone number
of a voter to call, and a suggested phone script.

No paper or record keeping required!

The volunteer just clicks a few boxes during and after the call,
so we know who was contacted and what the resuts were.

It's that easy!

It's also fun.
The people who volunteered to help in the San Diego US
Congressional race reported to us that they had fun, and
could tell they made a big difference.

The Numbers tell the story

As you probably already know, Zogby and the Wall Street Journal
are listing Libertarian Art Olivier in their polling, both in the questions,
and in the results listing. This is really big! They didn't do this for
Judge Gray or almost any LP Candidate we can think of.

Paul King's San Diego race proves even a few dozen people
can make a very big dent in the overall numbers.

The Arnold Vs. Art Race Is Close!

Even a few more percentage points can get us really noticed
by the press. With Arnold only 6% in front of Phil, and no one
with 50% in the polls, we have a big shot at changing California!

Please call me today and tell me you will help.

Call on my personal cell phone at 949 813-8001
or toll free at 866 622-7823 (866 OC Bruce)

This is easy to do, flexible with your schedule, and you can
start and stop at any time! Every phone call will help!

Yours,


Bruce Cohen
Art Oliver for CA Governor
WWW.ElectArt. com


Bruce Cohen
949 813-8001
866 OC Bruce - Toll Free - 866 622-7823

Chair - Libertarian Party of Orange County
WWW.LPOC.Net

Libertarian for US Congress
WWW.GetBruce.Com

GOT Investment Real Estate
Full Service Real Estate Representation

BCT - Limousine Services
Serving Southern California

Get your email and more, right on the new Yahoo.com

The following is a post I made to the KYA Affiliates Yahoo Group. This is a collaboration site for a popular asset protection and home business opertunity company, but the same techniques described below can be of great use to anyone utilizing affiliate links on the world wide web.


Dear Fellow Affiliates,

As I belive Ice and others have mentioned before, there's a tendency
for prospects to get lazy and cut off the ?username part of your
affiliate link, thus defeating the purpose of the link entirely.
Fortunately, however, there is a way around this:

USE A CLEAR, MEMORABLE DOMAIN NAME!

The concept is simple: Get a short, memorable domain name (I use
www.mpassetprotection.com for this), and set it up so that visitors
will be transparently rerouted to your
http://www.keepyourassets.net/?username affiliate link
(http://www.keepyourassets.net/?andrew in my case). If done right, it
will be instantaneous, and the prospect probably won't even realize
that it happened!

There are some caveats to this, however, that I want to explain, so
that you can learn from my experience and save yourself a LOT of time
and frustration.

I use 1and1.com for my domain name registration needs. They are very
inexpensive and reliable. They even have a cool control panel! Who
can't say no to that right? The problem is, when you use their "domain
forwarding" function, a final slash ("/") will be appended to your
affiliate link, RENDERING IT USELESS. Apparently, the domain server
assumes that anything without a /something.extension is actually just
a directory. If this doesn't make sense, don't worry about it; it
doesn't really matter.

I emailed tech support about this, and they told me to try using
TinyURL.com to get around it. Long story short, they were wrong. I was
getting desperate, so I decided to try one last thing. I have web
hosting for my own websites, libertarianactivism.com and
activistdirectory.org. This is being hosted by Imhosted.com, another
very good provider. To administer my hosted sites, I use a web based
program called "CPanel". Some of you may have heard of it.

There's a feature in CPanel labeled "Add-On Domains". I added
mpassetprotection.com to this list, and told it to redirect all
requests to http://www.keepyourassets.net/?andrew. If you know what
you're doing, this procedure is actually very easy, now that I did all
the trial and error for you. Alternatively, I'd be more than happy to
host domains for other affiliates for $25 USD or equivalent plus
expenses (if any). If you already have a domain you'd like to use,
transfering it over is very easy, and won't cost anything. On the
other hand, if you'd like a domain, I can get one for you for less
than $10 USD. I also have some existing domains that get some traffic
already that I'd be willing to sell.

The bottom line is, this is all easier than it may appear, and needs
only to be done once. Doing so is very affordable protection against
loosing commissions from referred customers, and will result in
maximum productivity for you and your downline.

Tor. The Final (Privacy/Anonymity) Frontier. Now under attack at your local Stasi {cough} I mean German police station. The allegation? What else? Child Porn (R). It's Germany's 9/11, and it's all about the children right? If I was a kid and informed enough to know better, I would be really steamed about being used as a pawn for the police state, wouldn't you?

Here's a snippet of the news on Slashdot. Check the interesting comments too!


"Servers participating in the TOR anonymizing network have been seized by public prosecutors during a child porn crackdown in Germany. TOR provides anonymity for clients and servers by redirecting traffic through a network of volunteer-operated relays; the German prosecutors may have been trying to locate an anonymous server by examining the logs of the captured relays."

The Libertarian Action Network runs a couple of Exit-Nodes and a hidden service torsite on the West Coast of the US. We get angry about this, but we don't get scared. The more nodes that go up, the harder it will be to shut down onion routing for good. Do your part and Download your copy of Tor today! NOTE: If you're afraid of being an exit node, you can still help by setting your server to act as a "middle-man" node only.

Liberty & freedom are being lost at America's airports, as I recently experienced first hand. On the plus side, you can waste the TSA's time as they waste yours by doing a very good job hiding cheap toothpaste, etc. in your bags so they have to spend a lot of time fishing for them. Also, don't take off your shoes. Instead say you have a podiatric problem and fake slight limp. Hey it worked for some, so why not you?

On to more up-beat topics, though... We've been screwing around with Ubuntu Linux "Dapper Drake" and PC-BSD, which are based on Debian Linux and FreeBSD, respectively. Both are insanely easy to use (as a hacker, it almost made me feel obselete!), and support hardware quite well. For added security, I recommend installing the LUKS disk encryption system for Ubuntu, or just use PC-BSD for greater security. I have both on my system; Ubuntu for general use and PC-BSD for hacking/security stuff.

Finally, I'm in the process of getting mpassetprotection.com to reroute to my KeepYourAssets.net Affiliate link correctly. If the form doesn't say automatically, please put "andrew" as the referrer user name if you decide to purchase an asset protection package and/or join the affiliate program. Thanks!