Author: rafifarber

Shelli Yechimovich Caught Between The State and a Hard Place

rafifarber Jewish State, The Jewish Libertarian Blog , , ,

I love it when the State goes after its own. I see on my homepage, which is MSN in Hebrew because I’m too lazy to change it, that Bozhi Herzog (I forget the menuval’s real name) head of the Labor Party, is being investigated for receiving “illegal donations” to his campaign for head of the labor party back in 2013.

Shelli Yechimovich, the other menuvelet who was running against him, had this gem to say about the affair:

חברת הכנסת שלי יחימוביץ’ (המחנה הציוני) התייחסה היום (שבת) לראשונה לבדיקה המשטרתית נגד יו”ר מפלגתה ויו”ר האופוזיציה יצחק הרצוג, ואמרה כי היא “סומכת, כמו תמיד, על המשטרה, הפרקליטות ועל כל מוסדות השלטון ומייחלת שהמפלגה שלנו לא תשלם מחיר כבד מדי

Knesset Member Shelli Yechimovich commented this morning on the police investigation against the chairman of her party and the head of the opposition Yitzchak (ah, that’s it) Herzog, and said that she “relies, as always, on the police, the prosecution, and all the institutions of state and hopes that her party will not pay to heavy a price.”

Whenever the state goes after itself, politicians have to still praise the state so as not to incite rebellion against it. She relies on the police, the prosecution and all the institutions of state because those are the weapons she is always fighting to control with her political aspirations. She is caught between the State and a hard place. It’s the same reason politicians always profusely thank the “first responders” in any disaster situation because the first responders are always police and firemen, services monopolized by the state.

I, for one, do not rely on the police, the prosecution, or any institution of state to do anything except what is in their best interest. I say the same thing about all private businesses as well, which always only do what is in their best interest. However, the difference between a private business and the state is that people voluntarily pay private business for their services, whatever they are, which means it is always in the best interest of businesses to comply with the wishes of their customers and clients. The State, however, doesn’t have to comply with the wishes of anyone because they get their money at the barrel of a gun.

If a private business screws you over, they will lose business. If the state screws you over, there ain’t nothin’ you can do about it, except go to the state itself to complain and scream at the wall. Or in the best case scenario, to the “Judges” of the “Supreme Court” who are wonderful and fair. And are paid by the State.

Also interesting to note, the crimes that state officials get punished for, almost always, are crimes against the State, which in this case would be accepting money not according to state laws. This isn’t actually a real crime, since accepting money is perfectly fine. They are never charged with actual crimes against people, even though they commit these every second of their lives. They only get in trouble for breaking the artificial laws the state makes up for itself.

Suspension Law Passes: Libertarians Now Banned from Knesset

rafifarber The Jewish Libertarian Blog ,

The “חוק ההשעיה” or “Suspension Law” has passed a first reading on the Knesset floor today. It means that any Knesset member who does not support the existence of the State of Israel as a “Jewish and Democratic State” can be suspended from the Knesset and ultimately expelled. This would include all anarcho-capitalist libertarians.

If I were ever elected to the Knesset, which I seriously doubt, I would immediately be subject to expulsion from it, because I do not support the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and Democratic State.

The statement is the secular Zionist equivalent of the Shema, except it makes no sense. What a crazy religion, Statism. What does a “Jewish State” even mean? That there are Jews in it? That Jews are in high positions in the state hierarchy? That Jews have the freedom to practice Judaism in its territory? That Jews can immigrate to it freely?

If so, the world is full of Jewish democratic states.

How would a Jewish congressman feel if he had to swear allegiance to America as a Christian and democratic state? A little unnerved, maybe?

Of course, if I ever were elected to the Knesset, I would urge all my newfound “colleagues” to expel me immediately, just to make a mockery of the whole situation. And if they did, at least I would not have to go in there any more. I would be the William Henry Harrison of Knesset members, just hopefully with a shorter term and still alive after leaving.

Israel State Supreme Court Kills Leviathan Gas Field

rafifarber Economics, Israeli Politics, The Jewish Libertarian Blog , , ,

Here’s what I understand. There’s a giant gas field in the Mediterranean. Yitzchak Tshuva found it. The State claims to “own” the Mediterranean Sea because, why the bleep not? It may as well own Alpha Centauri. Leftists want the state to take an enormous chunk of the profits via incredibly high taxes and give it out to people who they want to buy votes from so they can keep stealing from people who actually do work, like Yitzchak Tshuva.

Netanyahu, who does understand a tiny little bit about economics (not much, but a tiny tiny bit) elected to override the enormous taxes so Tshuva can actually develop the field and improve the quality of life for people who use electricity. He gets the profits in return for lowering our cost of living a little bit.

But today, the Supreme Court (May Their Holy Name Be Blessed Forever And Ever Amen Gag) struck down the tax exemption, as I expected they would, because it is “Unconstitutional” even though Israel has no bleeping constitution, meaning no limits on government, not even theoretically.

I sincerely hope that Yitzchak Tshuva does this to the Leviathan field that he discovered…

…and deal these wonderful Godly Judges who I love because saying bad things about them is illegal and punishable under “incitement” laws, some Atlas Shrugged inspired justice.

Without hurting anyone. Just burn the gas. Amen. Love the judges.

HA! Holier Than Thou Bible Thumper Ted Cruz Is A Womanizing Sleazeball

rafifarber The Jewish Libertarian Blog ,

With politicians you are guilty until proven innocent. So until he can prove he didn’t cheat on his wife multiple times, I assume he did.

TargetLiberty is saying that according to the National Enquirer, not exactly the most reputable of newspapers but which knows what libel is, he slept with hookers, co-workers, and other sites are claiming that Trump’s spokeswoman may also be one of his “conquests”.

Cruz is one of the lesser scary candidates running for president. He at least gives lip service to the gold standard but that’s about it. He’s a fake conservative that talks about cuts but would never actually cut anything without adding even more to something else.

That he’s a sleazeball is not surprising, as in order to succeed at politics you need to be sleazy. I wonder what happens now. Do people care?

A Purim lesson on the nature of government from Megillat Esther

rafifarber The Jewish Libertarian Blog

Purim has a lot to say about the nature of government. What immediately comes to mind is that the public head of government, in the Megilla’s case Achashverosh (Xerxes), is almost always an idiot. In modern times it would be the equivalent of a Netanyahu or Obama or Sanders or Cruz or Trump or Hillary Clinton. It doesn’t mean they’re stupid people all around. For example I wouldn’t say Trump is a full blown idiot. But his view of trade is idiotic and extremely dangerous. People trade for mutual benefit, not competition. All of the public figures have issues they are absolutely idiotic about.

The people who really pull the strings of power are almost always behind the scenes. In Purim’s case Haman, or Harvonah (l’havdil), or Esther or Mordechai, or the myriad of advisors that give advice to the king when he’s feeling sexually frustrated because he killed his wife in a drunken rage. Some (Esther, Mordechai, Harvonah) try to steer power in a good direction, others (advisors, Haman) in a bad one.

But there’s a new lesson I spotted tonight. “A law written in the name of the king and signed with the king’s seal cannot be repealed.”

When Esther asks Achashverosh to get rid of a bad law to kill the Jews, the King responds that laws cannot be repealed. So instead he allows Mordechai and Esther to write another law in his name, which is not really a law at all, but a corollary of the non aggression principle. That is, if someone is coming to kill you, you can kill him first.

The lesson is subtle. It’s that government does not shrink. It never shrinks. It only grows. Once a law is passed, it can never be repealed. Even if it can in principle, it almost never is, with very few exceptions. The laws keep piling on and on until the government collapses, and then the process begins again, unless libertarians stop it.

Chillul Hashem: Israel’s Cellebrite Hacks iPhone for FBI

rafifarber Foreign Policy, The Jewish Libertarian Blog , ,

Head in hands pathetic. On Monday the FBI voluntarily postponed its legal hearing on forcing Apple to open its smartphone, because apparently they got help from some unidentified firm helping them hack it.

The firm is Israeli, something called Cellebrite, a company with nothing better to do but be lap dogs to their masters in the United States of America.

From ZeroHedge:

In the aftermath of the FBI’s surprising request on Monday to postpone a hearing in its legal crusade to unlock Apple cellphones, many wondered who it was that had succeeded in penetrating the supposedly unhackable smartphone. Earlier today Reuters provided the answer: the FBI’s effort is being assisted by Israel’s Cellebrite, a provider of mobile forensic software, which is now helping the Feds in their attempt to unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino, California shooters, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on Wednesday.

It’s poetic really. On the one hand you have the world’s most valuable company, and most beloved by consumers. On the other hand you have the world’s most indebted government that spends money faster than it can steal it, nearly universally hated outside of the United States. And the Jews take sides with the bankrupt thieves.

Bad idea.

On David Duke and Broad vs Narrow Anti Semitism

rafifarber The Jewish Libertarian Blog , , ,

There are anti Semites, and there are anti Semites. Is David Duke an anti Semite? In the broad sense, sure, he has a generally negative opinion of Jews. He has said things that aren’t nice about Jews. Well, so have I.

But is he really an anti Semite in the narrow sense? No, because he does not advocate or commit violence against Jews, not as far as I know. If he has, I invite you to send me evidence. “If President I would kill Jews” would count. Or “People should have the right to murder Jews with impunity” would also count. Or “All Jews should be expelled from their property and placed in prison,” would be anti Semitic. Did he ever say these kinds of things? Maybe, but I couldn’t find anything.

As a “grandmaster” of the Ku Klux Klan, he has accused Jews of being ethnic supremacists, conspiring to wipe out the white race, and other things, all based on minor truths. Ethnic supremacy means Jews consider themselves chosen above other groups. Well, we do. We say it every day. In fact, it’s one of the first things we say in the morning.

While we don’t really have active plans to “wipe out the white race” our eschatology generally puts us at the top of the cultural food chain, with us leading the world when the Moshiach comes, or something close to that. Other people may find that annoying. I find it annoying that Christians assume all Jews will convert to Christianity, but then again I don’t demonize all Christians as having active plans to “wipe out the Jewish race” even though that is ultimately what it amounts to. Every religion believes they will reign supreme over all other people in the End of Days. Big whoop.

I don’t like David Duke. I don’t like holocaust deniers like him. I don’t like the things he says and I do not want to ever speak to him. I would not invite him to my house for Shabbos dinner. I want nothing to do with him. But the important thing is, we need to define anti Semitism extremely narrowly. The definition of an anti Semite in my view is someone who either advocates for or commits violence against Jews who have not personally aggressed against him. That’s it.

An anti Semite is not someone who hates Jews. It’s not someone who says not nice things about Jews, or even someone who lies about Jews, nor someone who believes that other people should hate Jews too. It is not someone who believes Jews should have less political power to influence the lives of others, or even someone who believes there is a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world, unless these beliefs leads him to commit violence against Jews.

An anti Semite is only someone who advocates for or commits actual violence against innocent Jews.

What if David Duke were president? What would he do? Would he put all American Jews in concentration camps and kill them? Maybe someone should ask him. But from what I’ve read of his positions I doubt it. His positions are not so bad. This is what Murray Rothbard wrote about Duke’s political program:

It is fascinating that there was nothing in Duke’s current program or campaign that could not also be embraced by paleoconservatives or paleo-libertarians; lower taxes, dismantling the bureaucracy, slashing the welfare system, attacking affirmative action and racial set-asides, calling for equal rights for all Americans, including whites: what’s wrong with any of that? And of course the mighty anti-Duke coalition did not choose to oppose Duke on any of these issues. Indeed, even the most leftist of his opponents grudgingly admitted that he had a point. Instead, the Establishment concentrated on the very “negative campaigning” that they profess to abhor (especially when directed against them). (Ironic note: TV pundits, who regularly have face lifts twice a year, bitterly attacked Duke for his alleged face lift. And nobody laughed!)

People use this as evidence that Rothbard, a Jew, a very Jew-y Jew at that, was an anti Semite. A cute claim, but it ignores the fact that Rothbard actually accused others of being anti Semites, particularly John Maynard Keynes. I would call Keynes more of a misanthrope than specifically an anti Semite because he advocated violence against everyone and not just Jews, through systematic inflation and other economic policies of mass theft. But anti Semitism would fit as well. Here’s Murray Rothbard on Keynes.

Here’s the full speech in context.

Gold Comes Alive

rafifarber Gold and Silver

Something is brewing. I’ve been long gold since late 2012, gotten crushed, but held on to everything, totally white-knuckled and confident. Gold is up over $30 in the premarket this morning, this while equities are crashing and money supply is still expanding fast.

This tells me that rapid inflation is at the doorstep. I called a bottom earlier, and now I’m as close to 100% positive on the bottom as you can get in market prognostication.

If gold is moving higher with treasuries, just wait until treasury bonds start collapsing along with stocks.

When oil stops falling, gold will move higher even faster than it is now. There is quite a long way to go before getting back to 2011 highs. Plenty of time to get in here.

AWESOME: Haredim Strike Back Against Israeli Government Kidnappers

rafifarber The Jewish Libertarian Blog , , , ,

This is what I absolutely love about Haredim, the Ultra Orthodox. They won’t take any crap from government mafia goons who invade their neighborhoods to kidnap their children into the government army. They are fearless and ready to go to jail. I salute them.

Yesterday in Ashdod, government forces invaded a private neighborhood to abduct children and force them to fight in the army for 3 years. A group of Haredim fought away the would-be kidnappers and flipped one of their cars over with their bare hands.

The riot began once word that military police had arrived in the neighborhood got out. Tens of ultra-Orthodox men came, surrounded the police vehicle, and began to insult them. The rioters then overturned the vehicle.

A large police force was then sent to the scene and they rescued the military police and dispersed the crowd. Several police cars were slightly damaged as a result of stone throwing.

The cowards ran away without taking any of them. They say they will be back with more forces next time.

I dare the government to try again. Go for it guys. See what happens. You won’t win against these guys.

As always, I strongly discourage any active violence against government forces, including flipping any of their cars. It is a very unwise thing to do if you care about maintaining what little freedom you have. If you are about to be taken by the Israeli government into the army and you do not want to go, then the best thing to do is to resist passively and nonviolently, and just sit in jail until they give up and let you go back to your normal life.

And if you want to go, then go, but try to stay out of kravi, or battle, because it is not worth it at all to commit suicide for a state that uses you as cannon fodder.

WOW! Marco Rubio Is a TEXTBOOK Asinine Cartoon Politician

rafifarber Humor, The Jewish Libertarian Blog , ,

The man repeats himself, word for word in a nearly 30 second talking point, three times in a row. As if he is an actual robot.

This is why I love democracy. And voting. Because it gives you, the voter, the opportunity to decide which mindless robot will have the power to control your life.

And that is beautiful.

You’ll also notice that there are indeed very simple answers to these questions, but that neither of their positions or logic makes any sense. It’s all about which one sounds better at spewing BS. Rubio is obviously stupid enough to the point that he can’t even act human or off the cuff anymore. Christie at least is better at spewing nonsense in a more human sounding way. He’s the better AI.

It’s a broken record personified. It mamash sounds like a cartoon. In fact: