Author: DerrickJ

It didn’t take more than a few days for former users of the Silk Road to switch to another anonymous online marketplace, called “Sheep Marketplace.” The website is almost identical to the Silk Road and must be accessed by the Tor browser, which is free. Vendors can set up shop on the website for $150 in bitcoin. Advocates for the decriminalization of drugs argue that websites like these provide customers a safer interaction and far better quality assurance than they would get on the street. Is the Sheep Marketplace just one of many new Silk Road copycats? Have the feds just cut off the first head of a hydra? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

The new law in California states, quote, “It is the policy of this state to refuse to provide material support for, or to participate in any way with, the implementation within this state of *any federal law that purports to authorize indefinite detention* of a person within California.” The new law not only seeks to nullify the NDAA, but any law allowing the feds to legally kidnap Californians. Go to http://TenthAmendmentCenter.com to learn what you can do to nullify federal laws in your state!

People in Oakland are proving a logical fallacy. You’ve probably heard it before. It goes like this: “The government provides X. Without the government, we wouldn’t have X.” It’s not true. If people value something, then they will find a way to meet their needs or desires.

“The government provides police. Without the government, we wouldn’t have police.”

Not so. The people of Oakland have been effectively living without the police for years. Today, in response to the reality around them, 3 crowdfunding campaigns have begun to fund private police. The campaigns are divided by geography and are already about half funded so far with about two weeks to go. Good for you, people of Oakland, for taking personal responsibility for your own security! You are leading by example and showing others what Libertarians have been saying for decades: that it’s not only *possible* to provide police with voluntary funding, it may actually be a cheaper and better service, too!

$82 per household buys 4 months of policing from a private firm called VMA Security. Their armed agents will patrol the streets 12 hours a day, 5 days a week. A common objection to private police is that the poor can’t afford it. But this works out to less than a dollar a day! That’s service everyone can afford. And of course there will be angels who donate more than their fair share, and others who will free-ride by contributing nothing. But note that this is already the case with policing today. Many more people receive services than pay for them.

What do you think? Is your town ready for a private police force? Had you ever considered how cheap such a service could really be? Share your thoughts on the Peace News Now Facebook page.

h/t http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/citizens-oakland-crowdfunding-private-police-force/#axzz2h1yjdkha

The former admins and users of the Silk Road are planning to resurrect it. User RR writes on the no-longer-operational anonymous marketplace Atlantis quote: “We have SilkRoad v2.0 ready to launch and is now in its final testing stages. Our site has all the features of the original one and we have kept the same style of forum for your ease.”

The new SilkRoad will be sending out anonymous invites to former vendors and then open to the Tor-using public soon after.

The representatives of Atlantis wrote, quote:

From a quick scout around I’ve counted at least 5 publicly stated projects with the said aim of becoming “Silk Road 2.0″ and many many more gathering info and building alliances.

And this is what Law Enforcement is now parading as a victory? Over two years of investigation, millions of dollars spent and for what so a couple of armchair programmers can build it again in a few days while in the meantime vendors simply move to other site’s .

Users are already planning ways to keep the new site secure. The Silk Road won’t be dead for long. Hackers will produce more Silk Road variants than any government can police.

There seems to be no shortage of well educated American males in their late 20′s willing to sacrifice bright futures and their own personal liberty to highlight the downright totalitarianism being inflicted by agents of government. Make no mistake: We are witnessing a revolution in progress, and the internet is the battlefield. Are you fighting?

Instead, he pledged to defy orders and stay open to serve his customers, drawing over 1000 “Likes” on the Inn’s facebook page. But when National Park Rangers showed up with their guns and ordered Bruce to close, Bruce quote, “decided we weren’t prepared to be a symbol, and we closed.” But after a night of sleeping on it, Bruce said, quote, “I simply decided ‘If not now, when? If not me, who?’”

The Inn serves about 20,000 tourists during a typical October, but Bruce said his defiance was not about the lost revenue. quote, “It’s about the visitors. It’s about the staff and employees who are now having to move off the mountain — they live here — with no notice. They have no jobs. That’s the concern.”

Men with guns blocked off the entrance to the Inn with their cars to prevent anyone from entering. With no way for new customers to enter, Bruce caved and shut the Inn’s doors until further notice from the benevolent overlords at the Federal Government.

h/t http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/04/blue-ridge-parkway-pisgah-inn/2923169/

(Photo courtesy of Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune)
The Salt Lake Tribune reports this week that quote, Frustration with the partial federal shutdown literally spilled over the gates of Zion National Park on Saturday morning, with 15 protesters entering despite rangers’ objections. James Milligan is the manager of Springdale’s Zion Outfitter store, and he helped organize “Occupy Zion.” It’s part of a broader social media effort dubbed “Occupy National Parks” on Facebook and #breakthebarrier on Twitter.

James said, quote, “Obviously, I’m not too happy about it. This shop is my livelihood here, and I haven’t had a customer in a week. Rangers will get their backpay, but what will people in these communities get?”

James and his crew walked up the trail for two hours filling a garbage bag with the trash they picked up along the way. Federal Park Rangers with guns took photos of the trespassers and warned that they might receive fines in the mail. A government spokeswoman said that attempts to enter the park, quote, “are extremely taxing on us. We just don’t have the staff. I really hope it doesn’t become a trend.” She said that instead, the protesters should write their congressmen.

h/t http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/56963139-90/park-milligan-zion-fence.html.csp