ughh,
I wonder if everyone here(on both sides) is breaking this law?:
January 1999
<Picture: Keep Speech Free -- No Regulation!>
The American federal government is at it again. Their Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, has decided that any American who offers advice -- or even reprints someone else's advice -- regarding commodities must be registered with them as a "commodity trading advisor". They've decided that even if an American simply offers his or her opinion on commodities by e-mail or on a web page, that that person must be fingerprinted, pay a fees, file reports with them, and be subject to periodic and on demand audits. They've declared that they intend to keep watch on the Internet to find violators.
As an American, I've observed one attempted free speech restriction after another here in the land of the fee and the home of the slave. This one's a real two-fer: silencing free speech while regulating the Internet. Nice trick. Here's my personal response:
I am not a registered "commodity trading advisor" and I never will be. Nevertheless I publicly state the following commodities opinion: Since United States savings bonds require taxation to support their payoff on being cashed out, they should more accurately be called "extortion futures" and no one should invest in them.
If there isn't a February update for Economic.net you'll know they kicked in my door. In the meantime, if you'd like more information, click here or on the "Keep Free Speech" graphic above. It links to the Institute for Justice, an organization that spends a lot of time conducting holding actions by suing local, state, and federal governments in United States courts, but they also do truly fine work taking cases to the court of public opinion.
Meanwhile, here at Economic.net on our Don't Vote! page you'll find a response to Alvin Lowi, Jr.'s No Conceivable Reform complete with Lowi's answer. Check it out! We also have A Libertarian's New Year's Resolutions. The Libertarian in question is Harry Browne, and while we may disagree with his political means he's written a piece here that many throughout the freedom movement will find valuable.
We respond to the recent Western attacks on Iraq not only by proclaiming "Cry havoc and let wag the dogs of war!" but also by reprinting Mark Twain's The War Prayer, which sadly is as relevant a piece of satire today as it was a century ago.
Finally, we've completed the first phase of The Grid. What I mean by this is that each and every intersection now has at least a brief entry. The second phase, which we hope to complete in time for the lights to go out when Y2K hits, is to dramatically increase the information for each entry, including documented evidence of historical examples that support our claims.
Peace and Prosperity in the New Year,
<Picture: /s/>
Stephen H. Foerster
Chair
economic.net |
