Something is going on at Error's apartment!

[Dave Ridley]

Several people, even reporters, have indicated a concern that I, too, am in danger of abduction by Washington.  This based partly on the fact that Treasury Department agents asked for me by name when they came to Porcupine Manor while I was gone.   The other concern has to do with the fact that I have been quoted so frequently in media articles about the Browns, as well as the fact that Federal operatives have singled out independent media guys like Riley and Melton.   

If the Federal probing against possible violent threats degenerates into a full-fledged witch hunt, and unquestionably peaceable persons like myself begin disappearing from the scene, it seems wise to weigh appropriate responses.   After some thought, I've settled on a course of action I intend to take if arrested by surprise in connection to the Brown case...or in *probable* connection to the same.

Hunger strikes historically do not seem to have that much effect on government or media in the U.S., so it's necessary to do something more novel.   As matters stand currently, my plan is to initiate a liquid-free fasting regimen.   Call it a hyperfast. The goal of such an endeavor would be to draw attention to the fact that a witch hunt has developed and discourage it from spreading.   

If someone can vanish...who has made so many fact to face efforts to discourage violence on both sides...then the situation is no longer an Ed Brown situation.  It is a crisis in which every American is potentially at risk...and my most treasured friends would be next on the list.

A hyperfast would presumably put me on a course which would result in either the torture of a feeding tube regimen, or death itself within a week.  I do not know how long I could take it, but I would do my best to take it to its end.   Hopefully, like Lauren's Plainfield arrest, it would change the dynamic of the unfolding situation. 

I have been planning this for a while but was keeping it mostly to myself so as not to bluster.  However bringing it up in advance seems necessary in order to ensure that it does not happen in the dark.   In any case I would probably *not* try to do something like this as part of an unrelated act of civil disobedience....only if I get swept up, or believe I have been swept up, in a Brown-related witch hunt.

As this situation unfolds, there is a need for restraint on the part of authorities.  But there is also a need for cool-headedness on the part of freedom lovers.  Fortunately the type of assault Monier's boys are thought to have carried out does not seem to be the kind that would trigger much vengeful passion.   I would be surprised if there really is a revenge attack....but I still think a lot about that great Mike Fisher quote:  "When you use violence on the government, it just gets bigger."

So it is essential that we not let that happen.   

History indicates that a person seeking to influence his allies *can* make an impact with traditional fasting.   The Mahatma did it, on an astronomical and absolute scale.  I don't have his abilities or notoriety...but maybe I could have some impact. 

So in the event of a revenge violence attack against government officials, connected specifically to the Brown case, I will initiate a water-only fast.  I'll continue it until such attacks stop or I am in the dirt, whichever comes first.   I may not have any influence over Washington taser-jockeys but I have a little influence over parts of the freedom movement.   I guess I might as well use it, or lose it.   

I don't intend to fast against folks purely defending their property, only against revenge violence.

I think we have all gotten a glimpse of our growing capabilities these last twelve months, and the various potent but pacific means at our disposal for achieving pro-liberty change...a type of change that could ultimately benefit even the most vicious of our adversaries.  We must use those peaceable means, and no other kind, for as long as they are at our disposal, and let no misdirected freedom lover take them from us. 

Let the authorities be the ones who do all the threatening and tasering.   

[error]

http://digg.com/political_opinion/U_S_Marshals_Failure_to_Protect_Federal_Judges

[Raineyrocks]

Dada,

Isn't there someway to stop this before/if it happens? Can I help?

[EJinCT]

I think that "living free" means striving everyday for freedom, in small ways and big. I think that the "or die" speaks to a situation where striving for freedom in any big or small way is no longer possible.

I mean, when these words were uttered....it was freedom being fought for, a reminder of why we must fight, not an observation on how fucking great it was to be free, you know? They weren't free. It was..."well, guys, we're here, we gotta fight because if we don't we can pretty much count on remaining slaves to the King forever, this is our land, our place...we could die today, but there are worse things than death." The Death is not to be emphasized *over* the Freedom. The ultimate goal is to live free.

Live Free or Die....because the thing worse than death, is to live in a world where a person can't fight to be free.

Well said and I concur.

Dada,

Isn't there someway to stop this before/if it happens? Can I help?

Pass the story on to family, friends, associates, co-workers, talk-show hosts, local news reporters; etc...  The more exposure it gets the better the chances of a non-threatening solution IMO.

[Braddogg]

I think that "living free" means striving everyday for freedom, in small ways and big. I think that the "or die" speaks to a situation where striving for freedom in any big or small way is no longer possible.

I mean, when these words were uttered....it was freedom being fought for, a reminder of why we must fight, not an observation on how fucking great it was to be free, you know? They weren't free. It was..."well, guys, we're here, we gotta fight because if we don't we can pretty much count on remaining slaves to the King forever, this is our land, our place...we could die today, but there are worse things than death." The Death is not to be emphasized *over* the Freedom. The ultimate goal is to live free.

Live Free or Die....because the thing worse than death, is to live in a world where a person can't fight to be free.

We live under a government far more oppressive and evil than King George's.  It's harder to strive to be free from government now than it ever was under King George.  As a white adult male of Protestant descent, I am FAR less free now than John and Samuel Adams were.  I mean, blacks, women, and children are more free, but that didn't occur until the twentieth century.

That's why I can't say "Live free or die, man; death's not the worst thing around."  I mean, Lauren is sitting in jail because she doesn't have travel papers.  Earlier she did time for trying to sit on a porch, and earlier for trying to attend a town committee meeting.  Dave and Russell have done time for handing out flyers.  The Browns are in jail for not paying the mafia its protection money.  Michael's being harassed for running an anti-government blog.  Rob was hunted down because he's a blow hard on Internet forums.

Don't get me wrong, I'm striving for freedom ("I want to break free", great video by Queen), but the way in which I'm doing it doesn't allow anyone else (government or otherwise) to interfere with my attempts.  Otherwise, I'd just be totally paralyzed with anger.

I mean, if someone else thinks "Live Free or Die" works as a rallying cry for how they want to live, I won't stop them, of course.  I just don't see how that could lead to anything other than immense personal unhappiness on a very fundamental level, so I'm not going to subscribe to it.

[Bill St. Clair]

From http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/henry-liberty.html

"It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

-- Patrick Henry,  March 23, 1775

Very few shots have yet been fired, but as far as I'm concerned, our war has also already started. I pray that massive civil disobedience will stop the tyrants, but peaceful means rarely stop an amoral enemy, and I see no reason to think our enemies in this fight have any sense whatsoever of morality. The reason we have the right to keep and bear arms is to keep the government always afraid of violent revolution. But if we say up front that we'll never use those arms, they're not going to fear us at all. Self defense is a right and a duty, though I didn't become fully aware of that until I had kids.

See Walter Mitty's Second Amendment by Jeff Snyder. I highly recomend his book, Nation of Cowards, on the ethics of gun control, which includes the Walter Mitty essay.

[enloopious]

http://digg.com/political_opinion/U_S_Marshals_Failure_to_Protect_Federal_Judges

Did anyone else read that? It looks like Ed is not in Federal Prison. So what does that mean? The only other possible alternative is one of the torture camps. That sure sounds like worse than death to me although I guess there is always the possibility of death there too.


The phrase "give me liberty or give me death" was not written as a choice, one or the other. Those who were of that era knew that there will always be people who desire power. So long as people crave positions of power there  MUST be people for them to control. Power is control. Control is the definition of evil. Allowing evil to grow and fester is not good, especially for those you love.

Future generations will live in the world we leave. My kids, your kids, my brothers kids, etc. Do I want them to live in a world in which they live or die at the pleasure of the ruling class. Do I want them to live in a world where the elite decide if they are worth more than dirt?

There is no living a little bit free. You either demand ALL of your freedom or you don't get it. Nobody is going to hand you something you don't ask for. If you ask and they don't give it to you then you MUST go out and take it. The ruling elite know this already and they count on us NOT knowing it.

While people still crave positions of power there will never be peace.

[dan_sayers]

Self defense is a right and a duty

Yep. And physical acts committed for the purpose of defense are not violence. If somebody lays a hand on you when you've done nothing to earn it, to pull away, however harsh, is not violence. If they increase the level of violence and you increase the level of resistance, you're guilty of no violence. Non-violence is a noble credo and one that should be sought after as a first resort. However, just as it is with ununiformed criminals, those who use force against their countrymen only understand the language of force. "It does the sheep no good to preach the goodness of a diet of grass, if the wolves are of a different mind." -Terry Goodkind

[les nessman]

If someone can vanish...who has made so many fact to face efforts to discourage violence on both sides...then the situation is no longer an Ed Brown situation.  It is a crisis in which every American is potentially at risk...and my most treasured friends would be next on the list.

   Here's a historical quote and citation.  It looks as though this is where our gov is headed,
in the footsteps of Nazis:

  First They Came for the Jews

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
- Pastor Martin Niemöller, a German minister imprisoned
at Dachau during WWII for opposing the Nazi party.

Dachau was the first concentration camp set up by the Nazis in 1933. The first prisoners were political opponents of the regime, communists, social democrats, trade unionists, and occasionally members of conservative and liberal political parties. The first Jewish prisoners were sent to the Dachau concentration camp because of their political opposition. In the following years new groups were deported to Dachau: these included Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, members of the Jehovah's Witness, and priests. In the wake of the November pogrom alone, the so-called Reichskristallnacht ("The Night of Broken Glass"), more than 10,000 Jews were sent to the Dachau concentration camp.

[KBCraig]

http://digg.com/political_opinion/U_S_Marshals_Failure_to_Protect_Federal_Judges

Did anyone else read that? It looks like Ed is not in Federal Prison. So what does that mean? The only other possible alternative is one of the torture camps.

Ed is not yet in a federal prison, because the teleporter hasn't yet been invented. He is in one of the many jails that contract with the U.S. Marshals. When the marshals are going to a federal prison, they'll pick Ed up and drop him off. He will wait there until the next weekly bus run, then move closer to his destination. He may have to spend the night in a couple of different prisons along the way.

Ed has been tentatively designated to a prison in the Northeast Region. I don't know if he will actually be assigned there, but chances are good that he will. Until he actually arrives at his destination, that destination is not public information. The national locator service will give out all public information if you call them at (202) 307-3126.

[Braddogg]

Oh, KB, you government apologist.   

[enloopious]

Ed is not yet in a federal prison, because the teleporter hasn't yet been invented.

I disagree. Tesla and Einstein worked on it.

[Pat K]

If we can just figure out how those socks teleport
out of the dryer................

[shyfrog]

If we can just figure out how those socks teleport
out of the dryer................

You've been looking in the wrong place all along. It happens in the WASHER. Remember Star Trek? Blue Bubbles?

[Pat K]

I think it may be the  synergy of the washer and dryer that
does it.