I am currently working on opening my own business, well mine and two partners. The business is a bookstore coffee shop called “Urban Bean.” This being my first foray into starting a company it feels very exciting as well as intimidating. The legal process of opening a store to serve customers food and drinks is excruciating. There is also the market concerns of how to attract and hold customers.

The area we are opening up is in downton Honolulu near the Hawaii Pacific University campus as well as many large office buildings and skyscrapers. There are already a few coffee shops in the area (including a Starbucks). However these coffee shops cater to the “get your coffee on the way to work crowd.” What we are trying to create is the old school coffee shop/lounge/hub. A place to come and stay for a few hours to study, socialize, and/or have meetups.

The coffee shop has a small front room with a counter perfect for serving customers as well as 3 other rooms, one of which is quite large. We will be offering free wifi and have a screen and projector for presentations.

One of the rooms has built into the wall bookshelves which is obviously where we will sell books. The books will be libertarian politics, austrian economics, classics, and personal picks of the owners. We will also have some magazines available for sale including Bitcoin Magazine, The Industrial Radical, The Freeman, 2600, and a few others.

I’m very excited about this project and can’t wait to get our doors open. We should be having our grand opening on May 1st. If you have any ideas please send them my way.

Cheers,
Mike

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The recent shootings and subsequent exploitative political and media propaganda regarding gun control have had a predictable effect on gun sales. They’ve shot up, no pun intended.

If you are opposed to gun control (which you should be) then you have a few options, but you need to look at things honestly: The US Regime is eventually going to disarm you.

Are you going to resist having your guns taken away from you with force? You have every right to of course, but its important to consider what will happen. In order to keep your gun if the regime decides to take it you will have to shoot state police and military. Most people will consider you a criminal, outlaw and a terrorist. You will ultimately be imprisoned, injured or killed. You won’t be with standing in battle lines with thousands of other gun-toting “patriots” either. You will be most likely alone or with your family as overwhelming force shoots you down like a dog. The state will have no remorse in killing you and will happily condemn you for resisting. Most people will cheer your death.

If you are not going to resist by force then why buy more guns? Especially through proper “legal” channels. Then they just know you have it. It would make much more sense to sell your existing guns, along with everything else you can and save up to move to another country. Most countries don’t allow guns, but who cares? We aren’t concerned with what states deem legal only with what they can enforce. If you would like to leave talk Jeff Berwick and the other anarchists at The Dollar Vigilante, he can help you out.

If you are not going to resist and you are not going to leave… why don’t you sell your guns now while prices are good? Who knows if the government will compensate you at all when they steal your weapons. And also why bother complaining or putting on displays of false bravado? If you know they are going to take your weapons and your plan is to do exactly nothing about it then why not do something more productive with your time? Like learning about agorism.

On this day in 1995 liberty lost one of its warriors but gained a saint.

Rothbard wrote, spoke and taught more on the philosophy of liberty than most people read in a lifetime. Today we remember the libertarian legend.

Ways to remember Rothbard:
* Read the biography of Rothbard at the Mises Institute.
* Read your favorite book by Rothbard. Mine is “For a New Liberty.”
* Watch “The Future of Austrian Economics”
* Find a glass and join me in a toast, “to anarchy, to liberty, to Rothbard.”
* Comment with your own tribute to Rothbard
* Remind other people to remember Rothbard today

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Today is J. R. R. Tolkien’s birthday!  Celebrate by reading some of his works, eating some lembas bread or other foods from Arda, and don’t forget to smoke some Old Toby with your favorite churchwarden pipe! Click here to learn more about Tolkien.

Don’t forget to join in on the annual birthday toast!

J. R. R. Tolkien

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Where was the God of the Bible on December 14, 2012?

The Sandy Hook Elementary school shootings were horrific.  Twenty eight lives, most of them very young, were taken far too soon.  And in the midst of all this pain and hurt many people are asking, “where was God that morning?”  The Christmas season provides an answer.  In Matthew 1:23 it says,

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son. And they will call him Immanuel – which means, God with us.”

New International Version

This is very exciting news.  Imagine, God wanted us to call Jesus Immanuel to remind us of an important attribute of God; that he is with us.  You and I have a “with us” God, both in the good times and the bad.  But God also gives us free choice, meaning, he’s only “with us” at our invitation, in other words, he does not go where he is not wanted.  Look at Isaiah 59:1-2 where it says,

The Lord hasn’t lost his powerful strength; he can still hear and answer prayers. Your sins are the roadblock between you and your God.  That’s why he doesn’t answer your prayers or let you see his face.

Contemporary English Version

Unfortunately, many of us have not wanted God in our lives.  Rather, we want to shed the seeming chains of a restrictive God so we can do our own thing.  Historical examples of this are,

Removal of student prayer – Engel v. Vitale 1962 Removal of Bible reading – Abington v. Schempp 1963 Removal of Ten Commandments – Stone v. Graham 1980 Women’s right to abort – Roe v. Wade 1973

Darrel Scott said it well,

Your laws ignore our deepest needs, your words are empty air. You’ve stripped away our heritage, you’ve outlawed simple prayer. Now gunshots fill our classrooms, and precious children die. You seek for answers everywhere, and ask the question, “why?” You regulate restrictive laws, through legislative creed. And yet you fail to understand, that God is what we need.

It’s interesting, our society hasn’t changed much from society 3,200 years ago.  Look at Judges 21:25 where it says,

“everyone did that which was right in their own eyes.”

Think in the context of driving for a minute.  Can you imagine what would happen at an intersection if it was legal for everyone to do what ever they wanted to without regard for the other drivers?   There’d be a whole lot more dented cars.  The “rules of the road” may seem restrictive but when followed, they allow traffic to flow in the safest, most efficient manner.  It’s the same way with God.  It may seem like His ways are restrictive and take the fun out of life, but being our Creator, he knows exactly what is best for us and has conveyed that in His Bible.

So back to the original question, where was God on December 14, 2012?  The answer is he’s in the same place he’s always been; waiting for us to want him back in our lives; waiting for us to turn from our wicked ways and obey His Word and follow His ways, which actually turn out to be a much better path for us than our own way:

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”  Jeremiah 29:11-13.

New International Version

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Many of you know that I was a delegate for Ron Paul from Hawaii.  While I was in Tampa I picked up a ton of swag.  Among that swag were eight size small “We Are the Future” rally t-shirts.   They are now on sale for $5.00 or approx 0.379BTC.  If you are interested in getting one of these shirts please click here to purchase one.

The shirts have never been worn and are size small.

All sales are in Bitcoin and you can expect your package to arrive in about a week for US/Canada addresses and about two weeks for international addresses.

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I love the story where, at the end of a long day by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side”.  The story starts in Mark 4, verse 35:

          On the evening of that same day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.”

          36 So they left the crowd; the disciples got into the boat in which Jesus was already sitting, and they took him with them. Other boats were there too.

          37 Suddenly a strong wind blew up, and the waves began to spill over into the boat, so that it was about to fill with water.

          38 Jesus was in the back of the boat, sleeping with his head on a pillow. The disciples woke him up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are about to die?”

          39 Jesus stood up and commanded the wind, “Be quiet!” and he said to the waves, “Be still!” The wind died down, and there was a great calm.

          40 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Why are you frightened? Do you still have no faith?”

          41 But they were terribly afraid and began to say to one another, “Who is this man? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

          Good NewsTranslation

Now let me ask you, if you’re with Jesus and he says we’re going to go to the other side, can anything stop you?  So the disciples got in their boats and began the journey.  But a very bad storm came and they were terrified.  Now notice something with me: Jesus didn’t stop the storm from ever happening.  He allowed it and they experienced a large, frightful dose of wind and waves.

Figuratively speaking, you and I are going to have many storms in our lives.   The waves are going to break over our boat.  We’re going to get wet.  And like the disciples that day, our boat might look like it is going to be nearly swamped.  Your situation may scare you out of your mind and you just know you’re going down.  You may have no idea how you’re going to “get out of this one.”  But always remember this: boats that contain Jesus do not capsize.  And in the same way, lives that contain Jesus do not capsize.  Doesn’t matter the size of the storm.  Doesn’t matter how dark it looks.   Jesus knew your storm was coming, yet He said, “you and I are going to the other side.”  At just the right time Jesus will rebuke your storm.  Probably won’t be in the way you’d like or planned.  Definitely won’t be in your timing; but you will get through it.

The key question to ask yourself is, “Am I in the same boat that Jesus is in?  In other words, am I a Christian?  Am I reading my Bible on a daily basis and doing what it says?  Am I praying on a daily basis?  Am I attending a Bible based church on a regular basis?  Am I obeying His word?  If you answer yes to all these questions, you have the word of God who created and runs the universe that he’ll be right there with you and you’ll get through your storm and make it to the other side; you just have to trust his word.

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The current liberty coalition in Hawaii.

If you are looking for a little liberty with your paradise Honolulu has some resources and people for you.

Honolulu Agorist Social Club

The Dollar Vigilante Oahu

The Foolish Things Salon

Grassroot Institute

Laissez-Faire Society

Hawaii Libertarian Party

International Students for Liberty at HPU

Young Americans for Liberty at UH Manoa

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From the end of “The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible” by Ken Schoolland.

My philosophy is based on the principle of self-ownership. You own your life. To deny this is to imply that another person has a higher claim on your life than you do. No other person, or group of persons, owns your life nor do you own the lives of others. You exist in time: future, present, and past. This is manifest in life, liberty, and the product of your life and liberty. The exercise of choices over life and liberty is your prosperity. To lose your life is to lose your future. To lose your liberty is to lose your present. And to lose the product of your life and liberty is to lose the portion of your past that produced it.

A product of your life and liberty is your property. Property is the fruit of your labour, the product of your time, energy, and talents. It is that part of nature that you turn to valuable use. And it is the property of others that is given to you by voluntary exchange and mutual consent. Two people who exchange property voluntarily are both better off or they wouldn’t do it. Only they may rightfully make that decision for themselves.

At times some people use force or fraud to take from others without wilful, voluntary consent. Normally, the initiation of force to take life is murder, to take liberty is slavery, and to take property is theft. It is the same whether these actions are done by one person acting alone, by the many acting against a few, or even by officials with fine hats and fancy titles.

You have the right to protect your own life, liberty, and justly acquired property from the forceful aggression of others. So you may rightfully ask others to help protect you. But you do not have a right to initiate force against the life, liberty, or property of others. Thus, you have no right to designate some person to initiate force against others on your behalf.

You have a right to seek leaders for yourself, but would have no right to impose rulers on others. No matter how officials are selected, they are only human beings and they have no rights or claims that are higher than those of any other human beings. Regardless of the imaginative labels for their behaviour or the numbers of people encouraging them, officials have no right to murder, to enslave, or to steal. You cannot give them any rights that you do not have yourself.

Since you own your life, you are responsible for your life. You do not rent your life from others who demand your obedience. Nor are you a slave to others who demand your sacrifice.

You choose your own goals based on your own values. Success and failure are both the necessary incentives to learn and to grow.

Your action on behalf of others, or their action on behalf of you, is only virtuous when it is derived from voluntary, mutual consent. For virtue can only exist when there is free choice.

This is the basis of a truly free society. It is not only the most practical and humanitarian foundation for human action; it is also the most ethical.

Problems that arise from the initiation of force by government have a solution. The solution is for people of the world to stop asking officials to initiate force on their behalf. Evil does not arise only from evil people, but also from good people who tolerate the initiation of force as a means to their own ends. In this manner, good people have empowered evil throughout history.

Having confidence in a free society is to focus on the process of discovery in the marketplace of values rather than to focus on some imposed vision or goal. Using governmental force to impose a vision on others is intellectual sloth and typically results in unintended, perverse consequences. Achieving a free society requires courage to think, to talk, and to act – especially when it is easier to do nothing.

It is always good in life to take a look back at where you’ve been and be thankful for what you gained, lost, loved, and learned. It is appropriate and necessary for your own humility to acknowledge the debt of gratitude owed to the many individuals who have contributed positively to your life and whom without you would not be the person you are today.

This is my attempt to thank some of my heroes. There are many many others and over the years I will thank them too.

First and most importantly I would like to thank my mother, Tracy Zentz for bringing me into the world. Thank you for taking the time to teach an obstinate four year old how to read. Thank you for being my strongest advocate through every high and low point. Thank you for being the most wonderful mother any son could have.

Thank you to my father, David Zentz, for teaching me the value of self-discipline and uncompromising moral character. I can never live up to your high example, but I promise to always try. Thanks to you I know how a man of faith and virtue is supposed to act.

Thank you to both my parents for your encouragement in pursuing diverse interests and education. For teaching me to think critically, to ask questions, and to always do what you believe is right.

Thank you to professor Ken Schoolland. My journey towards libertarianism began with a humble video and a humble book to which I owe everything else I’ve learned about liberty.

Thank you to Dr. Ron Paul for your work in pursuit of liberty. Your consistent principled life has served as beacon of liberty and peace to millions. Thank you for your words and your books. It was a privilege to meet you and your lovely wife.

Thank you to Murray Rothbard for introducing me to a new and better vision of society. A society built on voluntary association and not on the use of force.

Thank you to Robert Murphy and Walter Block for all the work you’ve done answering the endless stream of questions and arguments against a truely free society. I hope that obnoxious Keynesian debates you someday Mr. Murphy. Don’t worry Mr. Block, someday they’ll finally understand evictionism.

Thank you to Stefan Molyneux for your relentless quest for philosophical truth.

Thank you to Jeffrey Tucker, Tom Woods, and Albert J. Nock for serving as wonderful examples of how the gentleman libertarian should conduct himself in a world of statists. Thanks to you two I am a propenent of suits, bow ties, and good ideas.

Thank you to Jeff Berwick, Gary Gibson, and the other vigilantes for building the underground railroad through which so many (including myself someday) can escape the worst state in the world.

Thank you to Samuel Edward Konkin III and all the modern scholars of the libertarian left for showing the way to a free society.

Finally a thank you to the most important person on this list, my lovely wife. Thank you for putting up with me and my obsessive radicalism. I love you sweetheart.