BurtW arrested (update: charges dropped!)

[coinits]

I appreciate the sentiment but that's kind of a waste of money because they can't act quickly and don't stand a chance of winning an election. If you have extra money to donate take a look at the ACLU.

https://www.aclu.org

On the subject of civil asset forfeiture the ACLU in Colorado has taken a "not our kind of issue" stance, but in New Mexico the ACLU was very active and helpful in passing their recent state law on civil asset forfeiture.

Because this is a big issue in our household, if we had any money to give, we would give it to the New Mexico ACLU but not the Colorado ACLU.

The ACLU is a government front. Avoid them at all costs.

[QuestionAuthority]

"The essential principle of totalitarianism is to make laws that are impossible to obey." -- Christopher Hitchens

Just donated $150 to the Libertarian party. If you're in the US I suggest doing the same.

I appreciate the sentiment but that's kind of a waste of money because they can't act quickly and don't stand a chance of winning an election. If you have extra money to donate take a look at the ACLU.

https://www.aclu.org

That's the defeating attitude that will never get them elected. This statement is everything wrong with the current state of politics in the US. I'm starting a couple of businesses and am hoping to be pulling $250k per year, at least. 60% of my income [post taxes] is going to the Libertarian party for the 2016 election.

America has a two party first past the post system. For the Libertarian Party to be successful it would have to kill one of the other two parties, and that is a very difficult thing to do. To do it they would have to pull voters from the other two parties, voters who are not Libertarians. Which would, in effect, mean that the Libertarian Party would be more like one of the two centrist parties in existence than what it is now.

Libertarians big underlying problem and the one that keeps their party from overtaking one of the two major parties or hijacking one of the ones already in power is there are far too few Libertarians.  Libertarians need to do a better job communicating their message and converting new ideological soul mates, especially minorities, women, and working class white men. Until they do this they will never accomplish anything.
 

[QuestionAuthority]

Burt, out of curiosity, how much BTC<->USD have you traded, overall?

Hello officer. Have any good donuts with sprinkles today?

[sporket]

Burt, out of curiosity, how much BTC<->USD have you traded, overall?

you have got to be kidding?

LOL, her avatar might as well be a badge or a prison or someone that is clearly wearing a wire.

This is why it is generally advisable not to speak publicly about your case prior to it being resolved as everything you say can and will be used against you. (I am sure everything he talks about is cleared with his attorney ahead of time though)

Wait, I thought Burt was unjustly accused, is innocent & has nothing to hide?  You're making him sound like a cagey money launder 

[QuestionAuthority]

Burt, out of curiosity, how much BTC<->USD have you traded, overall?

you have got to be kidding?

LOL, her avatar might as well be a badge or a prison or someone that is clearly wearing a wire.

This is why it is generally advisable not to speak publicly about your case prior to it being resolved as everything you say can and will be used against you. (I am sure everything he talks about is cleared with his attorney ahead of time though)

Wait, I thought Burt was unjustly accused, is innocent & has nothing to hide?  You're making him sound like a cagey money launder 

He's in an active legal battle bonehead. Jesus Christ, why don't you just ask him if he's guilty and feels remorse for his crimes? Hell yes he's innocent but the system is likely going to fuck him anyway.

[sporket]

Burt, out of curiosity, how much BTC<->USD have you traded, overall?

you have got to be kidding?

LOL, her avatar might as well be a badge or a prison or someone that is clearly wearing a wire.

This is why it is generally advisable not to speak publicly about your case prior to it being resolved as everything you say can and will be used against you. (I am sure everything he talks about is cleared with his attorney ahead of time though)

Wait, I thought Burt was unjustly accused, is innocent & has nothing to hide?  You're making him sound like a cagey money launder  

He's in an active legal battle bonehead. Jesus Christ, why don't you just ask him if he's guilty and feels remorse for his crimes? Hell yes he's innocent but the system is likely going to fuck him anyway.

I simply assumed that an innocent person, who is asking me to donate to his legal expenses ($200,000, allegedly), would be happy to reaffirm his innocence.
If the sums involved are truly paltry, I might see him as a victim.  If we're talking about serious money, then hey, that $200k he's asking me for?  That's simply the cost of doing business, something he should have saved up for

[QuestionAuthority]

Burt, out of curiosity, how much BTC<->USD have you traded, overall?

you have got to be kidding?

LOL, her avatar might as well be a badge or a prison or someone that is clearly wearing a wire.

This is why it is generally advisable not to speak publicly about your case prior to it being resolved as everything you say can and will be used against you. (I am sure everything he talks about is cleared with his attorney ahead of time though)

Wait, I thought Burt was unjustly accused, is innocent & has nothing to hide?  You're making him sound like a cagey money launder  

He's in an active legal battle bonehead. Jesus Christ, why don't you just ask him if he's guilty and feels remorse for his crimes? Hell yes he's innocent but the system is likely going to fuck him anyway.

I simply assumed that an innocent person, who is asking me to donate to his legal expenses ($200,000, allegedly), would be happy to reaffirm his innocence.
If the sums involved are truly paltry, I might see him as a victim.  If we're talking about serious money, then hey, that $200k he's asking me for?  That's simply the cost of doing business, something he should have saved up for

Whatever you say officer.

[ACCTseller]

Burt, out of curiosity, how much BTC<->USD have you traded, overall?

you have got to be kidding?

LOL, her avatar might as well be a badge or a prison or someone that is clearly wearing a wire.

This is why it is generally advisable not to speak publicly about your case prior to it being resolved as everything you say can and will be used against you. (I am sure everything he talks about is cleared with his attorney ahead of time though)

Wait, I thought Burt was unjustly accused, is innocent & has nothing to hide?  You're making him sound like a cagey money launder  

Anything that he says will be used against him. It doesn't matter if/that his response would show his innocence/guilt, it is most likely a disputed fact in his case and should not be discussed.

Not only that but even if the prosecution was not trying to bend the law in order to get a headline conviction it is none of anyone's business how much business he has done in the past.

[sporket]

...
it is none of anyone's business how much business he has done in the past.

As I said, Burt's asking me for money.  While I might be tempted to donate to a hapless victim of government thuggery, I'm not interested in funding a money launderer's $200,000 defence.

[rpietila]

If inventing and using new technology puts you under the ex post facto "laws" and you face prison as a result, then the situation is either:

- Slavery, in (not only being fleeced of your freedom, time, and earnings, but also) trying to actively please the money masters in whatever they may pass through their infiltrated "law" making apparatus next.
- Freedom - well facing prison, but it that's the price of being free, I would rather be free.

Many, but not that many, need to realize the situation, speak out, and the usurper "government" will fall naturally, without fight. There is no use to fight a system that stupid. Some dignity, people! Even the Bible says that it will fall without human hand.

[ACCTseller]

...
it is none of anyone's business how much business he has done in the past.

As I said, Burt's asking me for money.  While I might be tempted to donate to a hapless victim of government thuggery, I'm not interested in funding a money launderer's $200,000 defence.

Why don't you explain how if Burt had traded say a million dollars worth of Bitcoin would make him a money launder. After you do that why don't you explain why Burt trading say $25,000 over several years would not make him a money launderer.

[sporket]

...
it is none of anyone's business how much business he has done in the past.

As I said, Burt's asking me for money.  While I might be tempted to donate to a hapless victim of government thuggery, I'm not interested in funding a money launderer's $200,000 defence.

Why don't you explain how if Burt had traded say a million dollars worth of Bitcoin would make him a money launder. After you do that why don't you explain why Burt trading say $25,000 over several years would not make him a money launderer.

What makes you think trading $25k over years would not make him a money launderer?  That's not what I was trying to gauge, my emphasis is on "hapless."

Sure, a kid selling a single crack rock to a cop because stupid is technically dealing, but I'd probably be more inclined to give him money to pay for a lawyer than if some d00d moving kilos asked me for a handout.
See?

Burt is trying to raise $200k.  I'd like to know whose defence I'm paying for.  I'm not even sure if the money's really going towards defence, Because Bitcoin^TM

[sporket]

Burt, out of curiosity, how much BTC<->USD have you traded, overall?

you have got to be kidding?

LOL, her avatar might as well be a badge or a prison or someone that is clearly wearing a wire.

This is why it is generally advisable not to speak publicly about your case prior to it being resolved as everything you say can and will be used against you. (I am sure everything he talks about is cleared with his attorney ahead of time though)

Wait, I thought Burt was unjustly accused, is innocent & has nothing to hide?  You're making him sound like a cagey money launder 

The US legal system isn't about 'right' vs 'wrong' they are about 'the rule of law', and the rule of law doesn't start or end with truth, justice, or the American way, only the rule of law.

Everyone in prison is guilty, but some of them did NOT do the wrong they were found guilty of -- ever heard of the Innocence Project?

Not sure what all the hubbub is about.  Here's TL;DR of what happened thus far:

1.  Burt's asking me for money, with a backstory full of full of gubermint thuggery & injustices.
2.  I asked Burt how much money he has traded, overall, to understand who, exactly, I was dealing with--a kid set up by overzealous LEO, or a serious d00d who knew the lay of the land.
3.  A bunch of white knights have jumped in,
4.  called me a cop,
5.  started braying about Burt's innocence (which they, presumably, know as little about as I do).

[justusranvier]

The US legal system isn't about 'right' vs 'wrong' they are about 'the rule of law', and the rule of law doesn't start or end with truth, justice, or the American way, only the rule of law.

The rule of law is a myth.

http://faculty.msb.edu/hasnasj/GTWebSite/MythWeb.htm

This raises an interesting question. If it has been known for 100 years that the law does not consist of a body of determinate rules, why is the belief that it does still so widespread? If four generations of jurisprudential scholars have shown that the rule of law is a myth, why does the concept still command such fervent commitment? The answer is implicit in the question itself, for the question recognizes that the rule of law is a myth and like all myths, it is designed to serve an emotive, rather than cognitive, function. The purpose of a myth is not to persuade one's reason, but to enlist one's emotions in support of an idea. And this is precisely the case for the myth of the rule of law; its purpose is to enlist the emotions of the public in support of society's political power structure.

People are more willing to support the exercise of authority over themselves when they believe it to be an objective, neutral feature of the natural world. This was the idea behind the concept of the divine right of kings. By making the king appear to be an integral part of God's plan for the world rather than an ordinary human being dominating his fellows by brute force, the public could be more easily persuaded to bow to his authority. However, when the doctrine of divine right became discredited, a replacement was needed to ensure that the public did not view political authority as merely the exercise of naked power. That replacement is the concept of the rule of law.

People who believe they live under "a government of laws and not people" tend to view their nation's legal system as objective and impartial. They tend to see the rules under which they must live not as expressions of human will, but as embodiments of neutral principles of justice, i.e., as natural features of the social world. Once they believe that they are being commanded by an impersonal law rather than other human beings, they view their obedience to political authority as a public-spirited acceptance of the requirements of social life rather than mere acquiescence to superior power. In this way, the concept of the rule of law functions much like the use of the passive voice by the politician who describes a delict on his or her part with the assertion "mistakes were made." It allows people to hide the agency of power behind a facade of words; to believe that it is the law which compels their compliance, not self-aggrandizing politicians, or highly capitalized special interests, or wealthy white Anglo-Saxon Protestant males, or _______________ (fill in your favorite culprit).

But the myth of the rule of law does more than render the people submissive to state authority; it also turns them into the state's accomplices in the exercise of its power. For people who would ordinarily consider it a great evil to deprive individuals of their rights or oppress politically powerless minority groups will respond with patriotic fervor when these same actions are described as upholding the rule of law.

[Gleb Gamow]

Burt, out of curiosity, how much BTC<->USD have you traded, overall?

you have got to be kidding?

LOL, her avatar might as well be a badge or a prison or someone that is clearly wearing a wire.

This is why it is generally advisable not to speak publicly about your case prior to it being resolved as everything you say can and will be used against you. (I am sure everything he talks about is cleared with his attorney ahead of time though)

You talkin' 'bout sporket or Armis?

I buy alt currency, if you have some to sell I'm open to buy.

In general it would be great if the coin is listed on any exchange, if it was not premined, has at least one working faucet, and doesn't have more than 3 zeros after the decimal point when compared to the USD.   

Here's a small snap shot in alpha order of alts I like:
Dogecoin, Feathercoin, Goldcoin, Infinitecoin, Litecoin, Mooncoin, Peercoin, Worldcoin, Ybcoin

 

[erikalui]

This is why it is generally advisable not to speak publicly about your case prior to it being resolved as everything you say can and will be used against you. (I am sure everything he talks about is cleared with his attorney ahead of time though)

That's so true. The law does not allow details of a criminal offense to be shared online and these all facts will be used against the accused. I'm sure his lawyer also must have told him the same. It's not advised to share the details even after the accused is free.

[ACCTseller]

Burt, out of curiosity, how much BTC<->USD have you traded, overall?

you have got to be kidding?

LOL, her avatar might as well be a badge or a prison or someone that is clearly wearing a wire.

This is why it is generally advisable not to speak publicly about your case prior to it being resolved as everything you say can and will be used against you. (I am sure everything he talks about is cleared with his attorney ahead of time though)

You talkin' 'bout sporket or Armis?

I buy alt currency, if you have some to sell I'm open to buy.

In general it would be great if the coin is listed on any exchange, if it was not premined, has at least one working faucet, and doesn't have more than 3 zeros after the decimal point when compared to the USD.   

Here's a small snap shot in alpha order of alts I like:
Dogecoin, Feathercoin, Goldcoin, Infinitecoin, Litecoin, Mooncoin, Peercoin, Worldcoin, Ybcoin

 

about spocket. I am fairly confident that armis is not going to try to get Burt to say anything stupid.

[sporket]

... The law does not allow details of a criminal offense to be shared online and these all facts will be used against the accused. I'm sure his lawyer also must have told him the same. It's not advised to share the details even after the accused is free.

Wonder if Burt's wife knows about this, she sure wrote up a storm...

[sporket]

...about spocket. I am fairly confident that armis is not going to try to get Burt to say anything stupid.

ACCTseller  Wait, you sell bitcointalk account?  How much for a hero account, freedom fighter?
Amazing muppetry

[BurtW]

The rule of law is a myth.

http://faculty.msb.edu/hasnasj/GTWebSite/MythWeb.htm

Wow, that is a great link.  I just skimmed it but plan to go back and read it very carefully when I get a chance.

sporket:  thanks for all the bumps.  Your love and support is much appreciated.