"Understanding law as an autopoietic signaling system frees us to discard the idea of authority."
The Empty Idea of Authority by Laurence Claus, University of San Diego School of Law, August 4, 2008 [SSRN]

I could not have put it better myself

"A bureaucrat is a bureaucrat, regardless of the bureau."

 Indeed they are. And a pox on all of them too.

(Via the Getting Your Hands Dirty blog)

weblog

Max Stirner (Kaspar Schmidt)

Max Stirner And The Heresy Of Self-Abundance (Maynard Whitlow @ The Anarchist Library)

"The ethical agreement between Stirner and Bridgman is striking. Both men, in denying the sacredness of institutions, are simply demanding, in Bridgman’s words, that ‘society be so constructed that it serves the individual, not that the individual serve society.’ On this matter of force, Bridgman is in exact accord with Stirner: ‘The only compulsion that society can exert on me is the compulsion of superior and external force.’ And Bridgman adds that he will have no part of the ‘conspiracy of silence . . . which attempts to shield my children from the realization that society must rest on a background of force.’  Nor should we lose sight of the fact that the ‘altruist’ (an ‘involuntary’ egoist) assumes that he has the right to use force to gain his ‘altruistic’ ends. "

Stirner never got his due for the contributions he made to philosophy.

The Limits of Libertarianism - Attack the System.com/ (Keith Preston)
"The three core weaknesses of libertarianism/anarchism at the present juncture-lack of strategic viability, corporate apologetics, and leftist intolerance-are the main reasons why this blogs exists in the first place."

Slumlords beware! Ypsilanti Township is on to you: Liberty Square condos are next on their list of dilapidated shitholes to seize and demolish. 'Bout time too. - AnnArbor.com

Why do we get paid every two weeks? - The Break Down podcast
Labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein tells The Nation.com correspondent Chris Hayes the truth about this accounting relic of the past.

weblog

Amazon.com UK edition

 The World That Never Was: A socialist reviews a book on the history of anarchism: - International Socialist Review 
No conflict there.


United Van Lines study: More people leave New Jersey than Michigan - Lansing State Journal

weblog

The NY Review of Books has an interesting article about Somali pirates operating in the horn of Africa area. Jeffrey Gittleman who wrote the piece has a POV that consists of conventional statist apologetics (e.g. "if they just had a proper government here, it would all be better!") and which sucks, but it is an interesting profile of the pirates themselves. It made me ponder how Detroit would be if it were an ocean port city.

weblog

“Orders” are not a Substitute for Morals: "We must reject holding human beings to different and separate moral standards than based on whether or not they are in government employ. All of us have a natural obligation to respect the lives and property of others — and a natural right to expect the same from all others." Alex Knight @ The Center for a Stateless Society

weblog

Radicals should disregard public opinion - Peter Gelderoos

"Being sensitive to public opinion regarding what tactics we use in our struggles is like asking the FBI to draft our political strategies." Public opinion is a construct; society is real, says Gelderloos. An interesting article.

weblog

Has The Black Bloc Tactic Reached The End Of It's Usefulness? - The Anarchist Library

weblog

Movie depicts seamy life of Facebook boss - Times of London

How do governments convince people to obey them? - Let A Thousand Nations Bloom (Mike Gibson)

Sign of the Times...

The Snap of a Twig - The Anarchist Library (Anonymous)

"Never forget that crime is a social and political construct, not an absolute, as they attempt to sell us this business of “fighting crime.” The real product beneath all the rhetoric is social control. Police forces defend the owning class. (This becomes clear to any forest activist attempting to stop an illegal timber sale. Enforcers of the law only care about the protesters trespassing, not about any violations of environmental laws endangering the greater community.) Laws such as the Seditious Conspiracy Act (18 USCS 2384) have been constructed specifically to criminalize political dissent."

weblog

What happens when people gain the ability to govern themselves? - MIT News
The mystery of Zombia - Boston.com

In the ungoverned mountain realms of south Asia, a Yale professor finds a case against the modern state.
Belkin cooling pad gives your laptop a break. - Gizmodo
When it comes to mating we really are animals after all...- iSteve
" [I]n today’s chaotic combination of polygamy for lucky alphas, hypergamy in varying degrees for females depending on their sex appeal, and, at least in theory, large numbers of betas left without mates at all—just as it is in baboon packs."
Why so-called "three-strikes" laws never seem to work out. - LA Times
You get convicted of one or two serious crimes then get sent away for 25 to life for stealing a pizza slice.
The Stinking Hellebore is the only plant discovered so far that relies on another organism to generate heat for it. - New Scientist
French intellectual and media darling Bernard-Henri Levy was duped into citing the work of a made-up philosopher in his latest book. - Seattle Post-Intelligencer
It pays to check these things professor. Heh.
SF Giants to start so-called dynamic pricing - SF Weekly
"...factors such as the day's starting pitcher, the weather, and the team's place in the pennant race all adds up -- at least on a calculator." Pissed off fans though are another matter.

High-tech replacement sights for the SKS rifle. - Tech Sights LLC