Thin Lemonade, Indeed

[Dr. Caligari]

Back at LostHopes, Doreen has finally gotten around to updating the Newsletter (although it still bears the June 25 date!), with this stirring missive from Pete:

My Dear Warriors for Liberty and the Law,

I greet you from within the belly of the beast, or so it feels. I am not consumed, but merely swallowed; still, it is dark, damp and smelly here, and all about me are those who really ARE being digested, in the curious exercise in which a government grown corrupt eats selected insubordinates to gain a fearsome aspect imagined to be strength, even when each such morsel diminishes the moral muscle actually critical to its long-term endurance.

Most of those whose lives are being consumed here are nothing but victims. They are drug dealers, “financial criminals”, and the occasional machine-gun owner -- some pretty scruffy, and who you wouldn’t want living next door or dating your daughter (and others about whom you might feel the opposite). Scruffy or not, none have any business being in federal custody at all, and are simply because of the abusive distortion of authority delegated under the ‘Commerce Clause’ that has helped transform “Uncle Sam” into “Big Brother Sam”, and which is the only real victim-producing crime connected with any of these prisoners.

Of course, there ARE a few inmates here who really DID trespass against federal prerogatives. I've met a few robbers of national banks, for instance; and one actual counterfeiter-- by which I mean someone who actually tried to make his own Federal Reserve notes (FRNs). Although the feds themselves will never acknowledge it, this latter offense must be carefully distinguished from the mere offering into the market of an alternative to FRN paper trash, like the Liberty Dollar, which is not only a perfectly lawful activity, but one we need to see a great deal more of in these times.

There are also some "identity thieves" and some tariff-evaders, and doubtless some others who are guilty of mundane assaults and burglaries and such against the person or property of other people actually committed within federal municipal jurisdiction, although I've not met any of those yet (at least none that have admitted to such offenses-- you never really know...). The overall mix is such that while there is a constant sense of being in a very quirky, somewhat unpredictable and somewhat volatile crowd, it is not the constantly menacing sense of swimming amidst a pack of sharks.

In fact, I've met some very likable people here, and 'Cracking the Code', 'Upholding the Law' and 'Was Grandpa Really a Moron?' have been taken up by quite a number. Further, while I would never recommend this particular resort, I have been taking advantage of the enforced excess of otherwise unproductive time and energy to get in a lot of miles on the track, and am regaining the fitness I had lost spending 16 hours a day in front of my computer for the last four or five years writing papers, books and newsletters, posting FAQs and tips, answering emails, and writing and responding to a ridiculous number of legal briefs. Thin lemonade, perhaps, but better than nothing...

However, describing this prison is not my purpose in writing today. Rather, I am writing primarily to apologize to everyone for my long "radio silence", and, far and away more importantly, to apologize for my tardiness in responding to the many of you who have thoughtfully and lovingly written to me and to Doreen during this phase of the government’s futile book-burning campaign against the inconvenient truth of CtC.

There's more at the LH site, but most of it is the nature of "Send money! Stand tall, Warriors! And don't forget to send money!"

[LPC]

In fact, I've met some very likable people here, and 'Cracking the Code', 'Upholding the Law' and 'Was Grandpa Really a Moron?' have been taken up by quite a number.

I think that Pete has finally found his ideal target demographic.

[webhick]

OMG! Drug dealers are VICTIMS!

Thank you, Pete, for a laugh on what is sure to be another late night at work.

[LOBO]

I am writing primarily ... to apologize for my tardiness

That's one way of putting it.

[Tax Man]

My Dear Warriors for Liberty and the Law,

Most of those whose lives are being consumed here are nothing but victims. They are drug dealers, “financial criminals”, and the occasional machine-gun owner -- some pretty scruffy, and who you wouldn’t want living next door or dating your daughter (and others about whom you might feel the opposite). Scruffy or not, none have any business being in federal custody at all, and are simply because of the abusive distortion of authority delegated under the ‘Commerce Clause’ that has helped transform “Uncle Sam” into “Big Brother Sam”, and which is the only real victim-producing crime connected with any of these prisoners.

[Nikki]

I am writing primarily ... to apologize for my 'tardedness

Fixed it

[Famspear]

In fact, I've met some very likable people here, and 'Cracking the Code', 'Upholding the Law' and 'Was Grandpa Really a Moron?' have been taken up by quite a number.

I think that Pete has finally found his ideal target demographic.

There's nothing like having a captive audience.

[Nikki]

In fact, I've met some very likable people here, and 'Cracking the Code', 'Upholding the Law' and 'Was Grandpa Really a Moron?' have been taken up by quite a number.

I think that Pete has finally found his ideal target demographic.

There's nothing like having a captive audience.

That's what the Man In Black said.

[The Observer]

I am writing primarily ... to apologize for my 'tardedness

Fixed it

And you can report to the Superior Court Of Ruined Keyboards tomorrow morning for sentencing.

[ArthurWankspittle]

I am writing primarily ... to apologize for my 'tardedness

Fixed it

And you can report to the Superior Court Of Ruined Keyboards tomorrow morning for sentencing.

To cross threads:
"causa scribendi instrumenta damnum" ?