Come join me on my new site at: http://peteeyre.com!

One Nation goes in depth about how you, the individual, can take steps to protect privacy in your person, ID, computer, phone, mail, financial transactions, travel and more. Though many of the steps are admitted time-consuming ask yourself: What is my privacy worth? I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that while reading the book I was struck almost simultaneously by feelings of empowerment and worry.

On previous posts I’ve commented about sweeping surveillance programs used by the Feds known as Carnivore and ECHELON and noted the NSA’s direct access to AT&T’s servers and now, after reading One Nation, I’m aware of even more such programs. For example, the Digital Collection System Network (DCSNet), which, according to a Wired.com source Boston cites “connects FBI wiretapping rooms to switches controlled by traditional land-line operators, internet-telephone providers and cellular companies.”

Another chapter I found interesting and timely (the US Census will spend $340 million on marketing this year to encourage compliance, including two Super Bowl ads) was “The Census and ACS” in which Boston gives an overview of how census information collected by governments for supposed benign reasons was later utilized to commit massive violations of individual rights. Reinhard Heydrich, thought by some to be Hitler’s eventual successor (before he was killed) and in charge of the eastern territories the Nazis had seized stated:

The census documents provide the basis for evacuation.

The same was true for Jews and others the Nazi’s deemed “undesirable” in Germany and the areas they occupied. But don’t think for one second that the US government would never engage in such atrocities. It’s widely known that Hitler modeled his relocation camps on the US government’s handling of Native Americans, particularly that of the Trail of Tears. Here, in the “land of the free,” after that bastard FDR passed Executive Order 9066, the Census provided the Army with records to facilitate the internment of over 110,000 Japanese-Americans.  And a century before that census information was used by Sherman as he led the Union Army through Georgia on persons-killing property-destroying rampage:

The closing scene of our recent war demonstrated the, value of these statistical tables and facts, for there is a reasonable probability that, with them, I would not have undertaken what was done and what seemed a puzzle to the wisest and more experienced soldiers in the world.

Boston rightly concludes:

By providing reams of information, the census allows politicians to further manipulate people’s lives. The more information government collects, the more control government can exert.

My suggestion to you? Pick up a copy of One Nation, Under Surveillance to become more-informed and don’t fill out any government paperwork and refuse to talk with Census employees if they call or come to your door. You wouldn’t tell a complete stranger any of the information requested on the Census form so why give it to a group with such a terrible history that claims a monopoly on the use of violence? One, as we’ve seen, that is ever-ready to utilize the information collected via Census forms to propagandize an “us vs. them” stance to distract individuals from the problems they’ve caused or exacerbated.

But before I get started let me touch on why it is important to exercise not just your mind but also your body. As John Wiseman, author of the SAS Survival Handbook noted:

Equally important is a personal preparedness, so that you are both physically and psychologically equipped to deal with the stress and hazards of survival conditions.

Getting into shape helps in all aspects of your life – you learn to set and achieve goals through being disciplined. Blame for failure to reach reasonable goals (I say “reasonable” as genetics should be factored in) falls on your shoulders alone. You take care of your other property, make sure you take care of that most important – yourself!

The basics:

• Eat smaller meals more frequently
• Don’t be a boozehound or someone that puts back a case of Coke per day
• Get your ass off the couch at least a few times per week
• Listen to your body

The basics expanded:

Intro: Getting/staying in shape is a lifestyle. You have property in yourself. Take care of it. There are three main components on which to focus: exercise, diet and rest. If you’re lagging in any of these you won’t realize your full potential. Granted, being at 100% in each of those categories is difficult and admittedly not too fun. And, because it’d be such a drastic change (for most people) it probably shouldn’t be attempted because it’d likely cause you to give up trying to get/stay in shape at all. You may say fuck it and revert back to your previous not-so-healthy lifestyle. Instead, incrementally improve.

Diet: Eat smaller meals more frequently
One of the easiest things you can do is simply to halve the three meals you eat into six meals. Sure, you’re still consuming the same amount and types of calories, but since you’re never starving you’re metabolism will increase (you’ll burn more calories). This may sound simplistic but it’s a holdover from our ancestors. That means when eating infrequently your body will save more of the calories as fat to utilize later when no calories are consumed. By eating small meals more frequently you can trick your body – it’ll get more use to having an intake of calories and will turn into a little furnace.

Diet: Don’t be a boozehound or someone that puts back a case of Coke per day
In addition to the frequency of meals another crucial component of your diet are the types of calories you’re consuming. Booze has seven calories per gram and these calories are what are called “empty calories” – they don’t provide your body with anything good. Don’t believe that since you drink Bloody Mary’s that this doesn’t apply to you, because after you consume booze it mitigates your bodies ability to burn fat for a number of hours. It’s not ideal to consume tons of soda either since all the calories come from high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a simple sugar providing no nutritional value that’s easily absorbed by your body. Drinking no soda may seem like an impossibility now but if you slowly wean yourself off it you can do it.

As Arnold Schwarzenegger noted:

You can’t flex fat.

Diet: What you should strive for
Try to eat six small meals each day. Ideally you can consume 30 grams of protein per meal (the maximum absorbed by your body at one sitting), which is the building block for muscle synthesis. Good sources of protein are egg whites, tuna, chicken breast and lean meats. Contrary to popular belief, you should not abstain from carbohydrates. Carbs are necessary as they’re the primary source of fuel for your body. Good sources of carbs include oatmeal and whole grain breads, cereals and pastas. Fat is also necessary for bodily functions – and as most folks know some are better than others. Good sources include fish, olive oil and nuts. Ideally in each meal you’ll have a good ratio of protein, carbs and fats along with a fruit or veggie.

Rest: Listen to your body
Often, when one starts a new exercise regiment they’re so driven to achieve their goal that they ignore what their body is telling them. They over-train. Don’t do that. If your body or a specific muscle group is sore, let it rest. If you don’t, it’s actually counter-productive as it makes you more prone to injury and will lengthen recuperation time, delaying positive changes which very well could lessen your morale and may cause you to stop exercising entirely. The reason you are so is because your muscle fiber is actually torn. You need to allow it time to rebuild. You may need to take a day or more off between workouts, especially when you begin. Also, make sure you’re getting enough sleep, it’s where most muscle synthesis occurs. Most folks need 7-8hrs. And don’t believe that you can “catch up” on the weekends.

Exercise: Get your ass off the couch at least a few times per week
Most people who want to get in shape or loose weight automatically look to cardio exclusively as the savior. It’s not. Sure it’s important, but it won’t get you in shape as fast as will other things (or a combination of things). My preference is weightlifting. Find yours. Don’t know anyone who exercises? Look on your local Craigslist for groups, try different activities out and stick with the one you like best. It’ll mean you can get in shape doing something you enjoy, rather than something you hate.

Compared to cardio, lifting weights prolongs the elevation of your metabolism. Also, because you create additional muscle mass your body will burn more calories to support it. Doing some cardio (or doing circuits when lifting weights) is important do ensure the body can easily and efficiently support your extra muscle mass – providing your muscles with enough nutrients-providing blood. Think about it this way: if you put on 10 or 50lbs of muscle without building up your cardio it’d tax your system and mitigate your growth much more than if you built up your cardio capacity at the same rate as your muscle growth.

If you’re just starting a weightlifting program for the first time you should probably start with a two- or three-day split, with the two-day split being divided by upper (chest, back, shoulders, arms) and lower (legs) and three-day split being (pushing muscles – chest/shoulders/tris; pulling muscles – back/bis; and legs). Once you get comfortable with that you can move to a four-day split (arms, legs, chest/shoulders, back) such as the program below. Whatever you’re routine, be sure to take days-off as needed.

Final Thoughts
Know that a lot of information related to lifting (especially in magazines) is conflicting at best or misinformation at worst. Your best metric to gauge what works for you is a mirror. Mix up your exercise routine so your body doesn’t get use to it and your progress stagnate. And have fun!

Sample Four-Day Workout
BodyBuilding.com has pics/videos of most of the exercises below being demonstrated to see proper form and other workouts that may better suit your needs. Be sure to throw in some abs from time to time.

Monday Arms A

• Standing dumbbell curl
• Overhead extension (dumbbell)
• Standing two-arm cable curl
• Cable pushdown (rope)
• Concentration curl
• One-armed cable curl

Monday Arms B

• Preacher curls
• Skull crushers
• Reverse cable curl
• Kickback (cable)
• Barbell curl
• Close-gripped bench press

Tuesday Legs A

• Squats or Leg Press
• Leg extension
• Leg curl (sitting)
• Adductor
• Abductor
• Calves (machine or on leg press machine)

Tuesday Legs B

• Lunges or Switches
• One-legged leg extension (machine)
• Leg curl (lying)
• Adductor
• Abductor
• Calves (standing)

Thursday Chest/Shoulders A

• Bench Press (barbell)
• Decline Press (dumbbell)
• Flys (dumbbell)
• Anterior deltoid raises (dumbbell)
• Medial deltoid raises (dumbbell)

Thursday Chest/Shoulders B

• Military Press (dumbbell)
• Arnold Press (dumbbell)
• Flys (cable)
• Anterior deltoid raises (cable)
• Medial deltoid raises (cable)

Friday Back A

• Pull-up (on assisted machine)
• Rows (dumbbells or barbell)
• Shrugs (dumbbell or smith machine)
• Good morning exercise
• Upright rows (cable)
• Postier deltoid (cable)

Friday Back B

• Rows (dumbbells)
• Shrugs (dumbbell)
• Stiff-legged deadlift
• Upright rows (dumbbell)
• Postier deltoid (dumbbell)

Over the next seven months MARV traveled to 43 of the lower-48 states so that his crew (me, Jason, Adam Mueller and, for short stints, Allison Gibbs and Ryan Maddox) could interview and share the stories of activists, policy scholars and others advancing the ideas of liberty and bring us to meetups in 55 cities to network such folks.

But MARV was more than just means to get from point A to B. MARV helped to connect and grow the liberty community, putting people in touch who might otherwise never meet and introducing the ideas of liberty to receptive minds for the first time. And MARV helped disseminate different strategies and tactics, enabling us to learn from each other and have a greater impact. In the end, MARV helped to underscore why we’re so passionate about this movement, causing many of us to redouble our efforts.

So, though the title for this post isn’t 100% accurate (prior to being handed over to his new owner MARV will accompany the Liberty Caravan) it’s with a bit of heavy-heartedness that we announce that MARV will soon be put up for sale on eBay (March 4-14th). While there are many pros and cons to this decision one obvious benefit for us is that we’ll be able to allocate the capital now tied-up in MARV to other projects.

We thought the earlier we announced MARV’s pending sale the more eyes we’ll get on the auction, hopefully increasing MARV’s chance of finding a good home. If you have any specific questions about MARV or his sale, feel free to leave a comment or email us: mail[at]motorhomediaries.com Questions about MHD or future projects will be addressed at a later date.

More Information About MHD & MARV

• http://motorhomediaries.com
• http://youtube.com/motorhomediaires
• http://facebook.com/motorhomediaries

While on the road we were fortunate to cross paths with a great number of the current and budding luminaries in the liberty movement, many of whom shared their signatures, quotes and well-wishes on MARV’s guestbook (his ceiling).

• More pictures of MARV’s guestbook (scroll down)
• More “Pictures of M.A.R.V. as he crosses the country“
• More pictures of some of the great “People we’ve met Along the Way“
• More MARV-related posts/videos

So, thanks to his excitement and our shared view that more individual freedom is a good thing, he shares with me documents he thinks I may like, including this letter sent by John Adams to Thomas Jefferson on August 24th, 1815.

I’ve taken the liberty to highlight what I think the most powerful statement in it:

As to the history of the Revolution, my Ideas may be peculiar, perhaps Singular. What do we mean by the Revolution! The War! That was no part of the Revolution. It was only an effect and consequences of it. The Revolution was in the MINDS of the People, and this was effected, from 1760 to 1775, in the course of fifteen years before a drop of blood was drawn at Lexington.

I share this to remind each of us working to advance the voluntary society that ideas have consequences. Real change cannot happen by petitioning Congress or by voting for a new master every term of years but only through introducing these ideas of liberty to others and living them ourselves. We are striving for complete freedom because it is important – it is just. We are modern day abolitionists, seeking to remove the shackles of the State from us and our brethren. We can do it. And this time, let’s not replace one government with another!

For more on this, familiarize yourself with the morality and consistency of voluntaryism.

Fear Factory had a big impact on the metal scene (and all its sub-genres) in the 1990s (selling over 1 million albums) and in my personal music tastes, especially with their Demanufacture and Obsolete albums. I’ve probably seen Fear Factory a half dozen times – from the stage at OzzFest with thousands of others to an ice rink in southeast Minnesota with just a couple of hundred. And though I still love their music I’m at a stage now where I don’t want items to anchor me down, so I thought someone else would appreciate having this hanging on their wall more than I.

If you’re new Fear Factory here’s one of my favs for you to check out:

Such actions are unsurprising since the provision of law enforcement is a “good or service” that relies on a monopoly and therefore has no real incentive to be accountable. To clarify: the Arlington County Police Department does not have to provide a quality good or service to attract customers because they, like all government agencies, are sheltered from competition. They lack the signals inherent in a truly free market. And they rely on force to fill their coffers – whether through tax money, asset forfeiture or corruption.

For more on this, check out Anarchy and the Law edited by Ed Stringham, the “The Public Sector III: Police, Law and the Court” by Murray Rothbard in For a New Liberty, Bruce Benson’s The Enterprise of Law and the overview of Public Choice Theory.

Back to this particular interaction – Much like public speaking or a job interview, after I have encounters with known gang members I reflect and try to determine how I could have done better. In this situation I should have gotten badge numbers and names from all individuals. I should not have allowed them to brush me off allowing them to move the vehicle only when they were ready. Other suggestions?

I have a lot of other ideas on how to introduce people to voluntaryism via video so stay tuned!

This medium (video) and tactic (emphasizing morals and civil society), is perhaps the greatest weapon we have to advance the voluntary society today. Think about it this way: Most of those not-yet exposed to the ideas of liberty will balk at picking up 1,000-page turgid Austrian Economic tome and most likely won’t find themselves on the homepage of Strike the Root, the Independent Institute, the Future of Freedom Foundation or the Mises Institute. However, they may be willing to allocate a few minutes of their time to watch a YouTube video sent to them by their friend.

These ideas should be easy for us to market since they’re based on something we all have – natural rights, which, can be paradigm-shifting when looked at with an open mind: That the existence of an institution based on violence isn’t justified. However, we face an enemy with an unlimited budget (stolen money, the Fed) that propagandizes us from cradle to grave (in government “gun-run” schools in which we’re told how many years we’re to “attend” or else; in the mainstream media which is but an extension of the government; in a society where “experts” deem those that don’t conform to their vision (such as questioning authority) as having “disorders” who are then put on watch lists, forced on medications or prevented from keeping and bearing arms).

If we don’t stand today for what we know right just imagine how difficult it will be for our kids or our grandchildren to act. As individuals, we are all unique. We are not cogs to be fit into a machine as decided by a politician or bureaucrat on autopilot to usurp your rights (as underscored by our friends in the Public Choice School). Find your passion. Find your skill. Find where you fit in this movement. And excel. Don’t let this great fiction stop us from together bringing about this voluntary society. As Carl Watner says,

If one takes care of the means, the end will take care of itself.

Thankfully, the stars were aligned: 1) Xmas was just around the corner and 2) my awesome parents still love me, so they offered to foot the bill not just for me but for Allison!

We set out to get our shoes. Unfortunately, we found that most stores were out of the specific model, size or color we desired. Five stores later we were finally successful (which makes the Five Fingers the-most-stores-visited-for-an-item-purchased in my book) at Casual Adventure here in Arlington (I got the KSO and Allie got the Sprint).

Fast-forward a couple of weeks and I’ve worn my Five Fingers at the gym (including doing legs), running, around town and in the house. The verdict: I love ‘em! But, be forewarned – if you do pick up your own Five Fingers you’ll feel like a spokesperson for the company due to all the inquiries from others. One last night: I should note that the first time I tried putting on a pair of Five Fingers it was a bit more difficult than putting on regular shoes (my little toes seemed to have accepted being nothing more than little lazy digits unwilling to separate easily). Now though, it’s much easier as the shoe has grown accustomed to my foot and vice versa.

UPDATE 2010.01.17: Unfortunately the glowing endorsement above must be taken down a notch because today, as I walked to the gym a mile away, I noticed a one inch tear in the seam near my big toe on my right foot. After lifting and getting cleaned up I dug out my receipt and drove to Casual Adventure. Minutes after walking through the door I had a new pair of Five Fingers (instead of waiting a couple of weeks for a black pair my new Five Fingers are blue camo).

When I inquired about the frequency of such defects the owner of Casual Adventure told me that out of the 700 pairs they’ve sold, about 20 have been returned for this issue. So, though a three percent failure rate is probably higher than the average shoe, I personally don’t think it’s too bad for this innovative product. When asked if Vibram had plans to double stitch the seams in future models the owner told me he hasn’t yet heard of them making changes to address this issue. Hopefully Vibram listens to market demand and makes this happen.

As I left, cognizant of the power of reputation, the store the owner encouraged me to “Tell your friends about us!” Done.