Opening Arguments OA134: Do Intergalactic Extraterrestrial Anchor Babies Use Cryptocurrency?
Dec 29, 2017
01:08:57
Today's episode is a deep dive into cryptocurrency. First, we're delighted to share some breaking news with you that follows up on our Episode 132 about a student and his crazy-person lawyer trying to introduce creationism at Thomas's old high school, Bret Harte High. As it turns out, friend of the show and FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel has written a masterful letter to the school and offered to co-counsel with them pro bono. In the extra-length main segment, we discuss some of the issues surrounding cryptocurrency and the law. Finally, we end with an all-new Thomas Takes the Bar Exam Question #56 about the fraudulent sale of a stove. Remember that you can play along with #TTTBE by retweeting our episode on Twitter or sharing it on Facebook along with your guess. We'll release the answer on next Tuesday's episode along with our favorite entry! Recent Appearances Andrew was recently a guest on Episode 14 of the How-To Heretic podcast! Give it a listen! Show Notes & Links
- We first discussed Bret Harte High in our Episode 132; you can also read an account of the school board hearing; visit crazy person Greg Glaser's website and read all about the evils of vaccinations, numerological theology, and (of course) his proposed Earth Constitution.
- Andrew Seidel's letter is republished (with his permission) here.
- The actual cases relevant to the dispute are Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969) and Kitzmiller v. Dover, 400 F.Supp.2d 707 (M.D. Pa. 2005).
- If you love Andrew Seidel, you might want to go back to his previous appearances on the show, Episode 82 (on Trinity Lutheran), Episode 85 (which was originally a Patreon-only exclusive),Episode 111, and Episode 131.
- And if that's still not enough Andrew for you, you can catch up on Andrew Seidel's most recent writings: his op-ed on Masterpiece Cakeshop, which you can read here; his blog post on right-wing legal organizations; and, of course, his FFRF press release celebrating the victory in keeping Mateer and Talley off the federal bench.
- You can view the IGM survey we discuss here.
- This is the bitcoin FAQ.
- The case I discuss is SEC v. Shavers, 2013 WL 4028182 (E.D. Texas Aug. 6, 2013, Case No. 4:13-cv-416).