Do you think the government should be able to seize your property if you have not been convicted of any crime?

Most people are not aware that one of the most odious activities of federal, state and local tax and police authorities is that of "asset forfeiture." Asset forfeiture laws allow law enforcement to seize and keep property of individuals and businesses without a criminal conviction.

The practice has been rife with abuse by law enforcement officials, often using seized property of innocent individuals for their own use. As a result of the outcries about the abuse, there was a unanimous vote by both Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate in New Mexico to end the practice of civil asset forfeiture in the state. The bill now awaits the signature of Gov. Susana Martinez.

Former federal prosecutor and director of the Justice Department's Asset Forfeiture Office, Brad Cates, now a resident of New Mexico, is one of the leading advocates of repeal of asset forfeiture laws at both the state and federal levels.

Mr. Cates and the first director of the federal Asset Forfeiture Office, Judge John Yoder, in an article in The Washington Post last September, wrote: "We find it particularly painful to watch as the heavy hand of government goes amok. The program began with good intentions but now, having failed in both purpose and execution, it should be abolished."

President Obama's nominee for attorney general, Loretta Lynch, the current U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, strongly defended civil asset forfeiture during her Senate confirmation hearings, despite major abuses by her own office. This may now be jeopardizing her confirmation.

It's natural to want good things for our kids. We want them to grow into strong, good people; we want them to have work they love that enables them to live well; we want them to find good friends and a wonderful mate with whom they can grow a wonderful, loving life. We want them to succeed.

There is an expression of this natural sentiment, though, that I'm seeing more of and it troubles me.  I have talked with people who are freaking out because their 5 year old isn't measuring up, or their 10 year old might not be able to get into the top preparatory Jr. High School that will feed into the top preparatory High School that will get them into the top university.

It's not that these parents see certain talents in their kids, and support them to do their best and to flourish. It's different than that.  This is not about flourishing, or living a happy, successful life; it's obsessing about getting into a club. And, I fear, more accurately, that this club is a particularly seductive and dangerous one.  Here's why.

The To The Point Phoenix Rendezvous is little more than two months away: January 23-25.  It will be a conspiracy - TTPers plotting how best to survive the depredations of the coming NMP Regime.

As we said in the immediate wake of last week's electoral insanity, TTP will be focusing on practical survival, on preserving and even expanding your freedom and pocketbook.

Yet - a big yet - there are a number of things that we can't put in print, but can only discuss in a completely closed-session off-the-books personal discussion - and that's what we'll be doing in Phoenix. 

We'll be sending you the details regarding the venues and costs shortly.  But to get in an early reservation and deposit, as we can accommodate a limited number, please email Miko, TTP's general manager, at miko@tothepointnews.com  now.

Speaking of now, however, let's get to work on some initial steps you can take to protect yourself personally and financially.  Here are two ways to consider regarding what to do with your money, one relative, one absolute.

The Jade Steps

Chapter Twenty Four:  The Jade Steps

When the food arrived, turkeys and maize cakes in great abundance, Malinali ate quickly.  She had no time for conversation with Bernal, eager to talk about the wonders of the palace.  She cast a knowing glance at Cortez and fled from the room.  She returned within the hour, Cortez inviting her to join the group of officers with whom he was conferring.  Everyone looked at her expectantly.

"I heard no talk around this palace or out on the plaza of any trap.  I overheard talk between guards, nobles, priests, and common people.  They all talk of you using the word teotl (tay-ottle), which means wonder, awesome, terrifying power.  They talk of how the strangers are men from another more powerful world, men they have never seen before.  Montezuma, it seems, can talk of nothing else.  There is no anger in what I heard, only teotl."

Chanceries, political elites and business federations across Europe, regardless of whether they are on the Left or the Right, are hoping the Conservative Party loses today's (5/07) general election.

All the better if a motley Labor government is strapped to a bloc of triumphant Scottish Nationalists, guaranteeing a double-lock against any further flirtations with Brexit (Britain's exit from the European Union). Or so goes the argument.

They should be careful what they wish for.

A Labor-SNP arrangement would be inherently weak and unstable, like the string of Gladstone governments dependent on the swing vote of the Irish Home Rule movement in the late 19th century.

A Tory defeat would flush out the last EU dreamers and leave a post-Cameron party with even less tolerance for the posturing of Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, who this week accused the Anglo-Saxon world of trying to destroy the euro and vowed to stop Britain imposing its "exclusive agenda on all the other member states of Europe."

In other words, Brexit and the doom of the EU is either on the horizon or just beyond it.