http://www.dailyfinance.com/…

When Albert Talton decided to print some of his own money, he had no experience in counterfeiting, printing, or graphic design. A career criminal with a curious and meticulous nature, at the time Talton didn’t even own a computer.

His first batches of fake bills were created using a standard HP desktop printer. And they weren’t very good. Yet, according to a story by Men.style.com, Talton soon became one of the most accomplished and prolific counterfeiters in the history of the U.S.

Over the course of three years, Talton managed to evade capture and print $7 million worth of $100 bills. His team used garden variety laser printers, computers and imaging software to circumvent sophisticated anti-forgery technologies built into every bill. The case illustrates how technology has made it much easier to commit high crimes with tools available at a typical consumer electronics store. Every week or so, Talton picked up new printer cartridges from his local Staples store, dropped off his empty cartridges at the store’s recycling bin, and even used a rewards card to collect points to use for future purchases. On May 15, he was finally caught with five accomplices, according to Coin News.

How good was Talton? Most counterfeiters do not make more than $10,000 worth of bills before they are caught,according to Men.Style.com. Talton’s illicit talents certainly funded a nifty lifestyle. During his counterfeit spree, Talton spent lavishly on expensive home audio equipment and exotic cars, including a $140,000 Mercedes Benz. He also became one of the most wanted men by the U.S. Secret Service, the government agency that polices counterfeiting, one of only two crimes mentioned in the U.S. Constitution.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31373407/ns/politics-white_house/

The Obama administration is fighting to block access to names of visitors to the White House, taking up the Bush administration argument that a president doesn’t have to reveal who comes calling to influence policy decisions.

Despite President Barack Obama’s pledge to introduce a new era of transparency to Washington, and despite two rulings by a federal judge that the records are public, the Secret Service has denied msnbc.com’s request for the names of all White House visitors from Jan. 20 to the present. It also denied a narrower request by the nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which sought logs of visits by executives of coal companies.

CREW says it will file a lawsuit Tuesday against the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service.

What he meant was that he’d be totally transparent about what he’s hiding from everyone. See… now everything makes sense.

“So this is how liberty dies… with thunderous applause.” -Queen Amidala, Star Wars III

I just watched on CNN Obama taking a few block walk down Pennsylvania Avenue after getting out of his armored limo. As he got out of the back of the car the crowd freaked out. Yelling and screaming like rarely I’ve heard at even a big name band’s concert. You could see that the Secret Service agents were not pleased with letting him out and one near the camera was giving them dirty looks. There were police lining the entirety of the road nearly shoulder to shoulder.

The pope doesn’t get that kind of protection.

Of course the quote above seems to imply we had liberty to have it die. That’s obviously not even close to the case but it’s still a rather fitting statement.

H/T Norman Singleton

Opening:

• Was just visited by Henri Makembe. Told me they would be providing for interview with people but I’d have to keep it friendly. “If we make them mad then they won’t want to give any of the other bloggers time.” So… they don’t want me to ask serious questions. What a surprise.
• Have quoted Winston Churchill, Mother Teressa, Mahatma Gandhi.
• They show all these examples of service yet they all appear to be real voluntarism, ie no government involvement.
• “We are not here as Republicans, Democrats, libertarians, socialists or Green party members. We are here as Americans.” I appreciate the shout out but I’m here as a libertarian.
• “We are here today because of Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.” Too bad they don’t wish to abide by the ideas contained in those documents.
• “Politicians get a bad wrap. Some deservingly. But there are all kinds of politicians who help America.”
• Being a citizen of the United States is the highest reward.
• If you googled “giving back” you’d likely find “Mike Bloomberg.”
• Bloomberg: New York City’s government school system improvement is an example for the rest of the nation.
• New York City is the city of service because William James who wrote The Moral Equivalent of War (intro by Jon Roland) advocating national service was born here.
• “We are the beneficiaries of those who give their lives to defend us.” Defending from the Koreans? The Vietnamese? The Iraqis? The Pakistanis? The Iranians?
• Bloomberg babbles on about global warming, “We are polluting the air we breath.” Yes… by breathing.
• “Service should be asked of everyone and should be open to everyone. So we are creating new programs.”
• “Democracy and capitalism hasn’t helped everyone…”
• George Bush: Asks everyone to spend two years or 4k hours helping out in a lifetime.
• Laura Bush: “People have more opportunities to volunteer through government programs.” Being incentivized by tax payers money is not voluntarism.
• Rolling Ridge elementary school gives it’s kids service journals and have made ‘service’ party of the curriculum.
• “Children who learn the importance of service early are more likely to volunteer later in life.” Gotta indoctrinate them young.
• The program has moved on to personal stories from ‘volunteers.’ One from City Year, Civilian Conservation Corp, AmeriCorps.
• Admiral Michael Mullen: “the soldiers in Iraq are protecting our democracy at home. They are there because of what happened on 9/11.” I thought Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. How is it that our invasion of Iraq is protecting us?
• “There is no greater reward than working for something greater than yourself.”
• “Keep singing (God Bless America), keep waving (flags), and keep serving!” Yay nationalism/fascism!
• Obama, McCain, Dodd, Clinton have said they will cosponsor the Serve America Act from Kennedy and Hatch.
• The language used always refers to “the two candidates for the oval office.”
• Senator Hatch: “We want to help children who want to serve.”
• “Our efforts will start early in our classrooms.”
• “Service learning has shown to keep kids interested in school. So we are going to offer more incentives.”
• 61 million Americans volunteer without government incentives.
• “We will invest into a volunteer fund matched dollar for dollar from the private sector.”
• Want to create funds to help non-profit entrepreneurs.
• Offer older people “education rewards” to give to their children and grandchildren to pay for school.

Read More…

http://www.dailypaul.com/…

I just received this text message from a DELEGATE:
“We just had a group shot of all the RP delegates and alternates, the secret service came and started searching everyone and took anything RP related. We got it on video thought…”

Today at the Republican Nationa Convention, as the Ron Paul Delegates were taking a picture in front of the model White House inside the Convention Center, they were surrounded by Secret Service which proceded to search the bags of all the delegates. They took any and everything related to Ron Paul including signs, buttons, videos, slim jims, cards, even books.

Alternate Delegate Dennis Rothacker from Florida said “We were done taking the picture when Secret Service started walking into the room and surrounded us. There were about 30 of them. When they searched my bags they took my Ron Paul sign and turned a deaf ear to my complains, they just walked away.”

Delegate Ron Warner from Fairbanks Alaska added that as he was walking into the convention center today with about 15 Revolution Manifesto books, 20 DVD’s for Delegates, 20 Ron Paul buttons and a handful of other things, we was stopped by security which called on an obviously important higher up, who directed all the materials to be confiscated. She told him, and I quote “You can’t bring that in here, this is Mc Cain territory”

Dennis, Ron and the other delegates report being openly followed by secret service. He says that they had been monitored from the begining of the convention, but that now they are being shadowed constantly.

There are also reports of delegates being approached by security and told that they will be sumarily thrown out if they leave their assigned chair.

This is almost unbelievable but they refuse to even acknowledge Paul’s delegate votes or let  him on the convention floor like a normal ex-candidates. So, why not take the supporter’s material?

Hopefully that video gets out soon. I’m surprised they didn’t take the video.

http://votewritein.blogspot.com/…

Dear Liberty Dollar Supporters:

I sincerely regret to inform you that about 8:00 this morning a dozen FBI and Secret Service agents raided the Liberty Dollar office in Evansville.

For approximately six hours they took all the gold, all the silver, all the platinum and almost two tons of Ron Paul Dollars that where just delivered last Friday. They also took all the files, all the computers and froze our bank accounts.

We have no money. We have no products. We have no records to even know what was ordered or what you are owed. We have nothing but the will to push forward and overcome this massive assault on our liberty and our right to have real money as defined by the US Constitution. We should not to be defrauded by the fake government money.

But to make matters worse, all the gold and silver that backs up the paper certificates and digital currency held in the vault at Sunshine Mint has also been confiscated. Even the dies for mint the Gold and Silver Libertys have been taken.

If true this is very upsetting. Unfortunately I’ve found no other sources and I wasn’t on the mailing list but the link to the class action suit is functional. I’m not a huge fan of the Liberty Dollar but I fully support the idea. I do have 2 $1 silver certificates… therefore it seems that the federal government has robbed me once again.

UPDATE:

The Evansville Courier Press has an article on the raid but still no first hand confirmation.