Natural Law vs. Legislation

Do we need human beings in order to enforce the law?  

Duncan Trussell and Joe Rogan debate the differences between natural law and legislation...

*clip from Joe Rogan Experience 

Humpday Humor: Was the Constitution Written in Swahili?

What language was the U.S. Constitution written in?



From C-SPAN's Washington Journal

Humpday Humor: Copyright Law

The unintended humor in copyright law, by Stephan Kinsella...

Read and hear more from Stephan at his site.

Lobbying as a Cottage Industry

When lobbying the government becomes a cottage industry we have a problem.  Bryan Callen explains one reason why marijuana is still (mostly) illegal.

Find out more about Bryan here and Joe Rogan here.

Is "Intellectual Property" Actually Property?

Thanks to Stephan Kinsella for tipping me off to the mass seizure of website domain names by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

From last December:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations teamed with 10 foreign law enforcement agencies to seize hundreds of domain names that were illegally selling counterfeit merchandise online to unsuspecting consumers. 

The 706 domain names seized were set up to dupe consumers into unknowingly buying counterfeit goods as part of the holiday shopping season. The operations were coordinated by the HSI-led National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) in Washington, D.C.

-Emphasis mine-

The ICE people are claiming that imitating & copying are criminal acts.  But would it be possible to have a comfortable lifestyle without copying?  If imitation is a real crime then Ford and General Motors owe a lot to the inventor of the wheel.  

The anti-copying propaganda campaign is well-funded by the likes of Sony Music, Disney Studios, Pfizer and Eli Lilly.

If you have ever questioned the propaganda and wondered if intellectual property is actually property then you should check out Mr. Kinsella's work.  He gives a great introduction here.

State of Maine Interfering with Law

Obey the Black Robes?

A former lawyer for O.J. Simpson and Patty Hearst has been denied the "privilege" of practicing law.  This decision was handed down by people calling themselves "Maine Supreme Court".

These "court" people seem to believe that they can deny another human being from practicing law.

Regardless of the edicts passed down from on high, the right of residents in Maine to voluntarily enter into contracts with lawyer F. Lee Bailey super cedes the "courts" ruling.

The Government wants you to believe in the myth that they are "Supreme" and they create "law".  In reality law existed long before any state and currently exists in spite of interference by the state.

From Don Boudreaux and Russ Roberts:

Legislation is consciously designed rules, enforced with threat of force.

Law is emergent patterns of behavior that is incorporated into people's expectations.

The bottom line is that Bailey or any of his potential clients have no obligation to obey the commands of those who wear black robes and sit on elevated benches.

Jimmy Carter "Speaking from the Heart"

Forty years ago, then governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter gave a speech in front of a room full of lawyers.  This clip from the movie Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson presents Carter "speaking from the heart" about the "status quo".

In general, the powerful and the influential in our society shape the laws and have a great influence on the legislature or the Congress. This creates a reluctance to change because the powerful and the influential have carved out for themselves or have inherited a privileged position in society, of wealth or social prominence or higher education or opportunity for the future. Quite often, those circumstances are circumvented at a very early age because college students, particularly undergraduates, don't have any commitment to the preservation of the way things are. But later, as their interrelationship with the present circumstances grows, they also become committed to approaching change very, very slowly and very, very cautiously, and there's a commitment to the status quo.

-Jimmy Carter, Governor of Georgia (Law Day Address, 1974)


By the way the movie by Alex Gibney about Thompson is recommended viewing for those interested in the 1960's San Francisco hippie scene or 1970's U.S. politics.

Laws Are 'Of Nature', Says Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine was a massive influence on the late 18th century secession movements in the America's and France.  It has been argued that he, not Thomas Jefferson, wrote the Declaration of Independence for the former British Colonies of North America.

One thing for sure is that Paine was hated by monarch's all over Europe.  In The Rights of Man he wrote:   

All the great laws of society are laws of nature. Those of trade and commerce, whether with respect to the intercourse of individuals or of nations, are laws of mutual and reciprocal interest. They are followed and obeyed, because it is the interest of the parties so to do, and not on account of any formal laws their governments may impose or interpose.

To test Paine's claim, simply ponder this question.  Which law do you actually follow in your day-to-day life?  Laws of nature and morality or millions of pages written by thousands of lawyers scattered across hundreds of buildings over 3,000 miles?  

2013 U.S. Federal Register
Contains 80,000 Pages of New Rules

   
For more on Paine see his bio.

h/t Don Boudreaux for the Paine quote.

Humpday Humor: Chicago's Very Dangerous Drivers

Drivers for Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago, have violated city traffic codes 20 times in less than three years.  In one instance his SUV was traveling 18 miles over the speed limit in a school zone.

 

Nice work by the Chicago Sun-Times!

Marijuana, Texas and Law

A new survey from Progress Texas shows that nine out of ten people in Texas support decriminalization of marijuana.  

It's pretty clear at this point the people have simply decided what the law is in regards to the marijuana plant.  The scribbles of dead politicians are no longer relevant.  

Remember that statues are not law.  Law exists before statutes are written.

Law is sometimes codified in statutes but politicians words written on paper are not necessary in order to have law.

A Little Freedom for Victims in Iran

A very interesting story out of Iran about a convicted murderer being forgiven by the victims mother...and spared execution.

Mothers of the murderer and victim embrace.  AP Photo/ISNA, Arash Khamoushi

The victims family was urged by many in their town to pardon the murderer and accept a financial award.  Iran will still send the convict to prison.    

From the AP.