With Apologies To Steely Dan

For Today, We Shall Be Talking About Woo
I know, I know, the song title is "Doctor Wu" but they are pronounced the same, which is fair enough, because I said so.
     You will remember, hopefully, my quote from Albert Einstein about the two universally-applicable constants being One) The Universe and Two) Human stupidity.  Art?

There they are, being all steely and danny.

     Okay, first you need to ground yourself firmly in reality, common sense and a fine feeling of mockery, for today we are going to address the concept of "Freeman on the Land".  This mindset is mostly South Canadian but of late has also oozily infected certain bampots here in the Allotment of Eden.
     The idea is that, by going through a bizarre set of rigmaroles, babbling and invented jargon, you can somehow opt out of paying taxes, ignore driving regulations such as needing a licence and foist your mortgage and other bills upon the government.
     It would be great if this were so.  It isn't.

Close enough

     It is, in fact, an utter swindling scamming fraud, perpetrated by a bunch of parasites with no sense of shame, who connive to exploit the vulnerable and/or desperate.
     There are various bits to the concept, none of which have any legal standing at all.  Firstly, FOTL believe that there is a theoretical person and a real person, and will typically describe themselves in an odd way, thus:  Firstname-Middlename: Surname, or Firstname-of-the-family-Surname.  This, they believe, makes a difference in law.  Hint: it doesn't.
     Next, they believe - that awkward word again - that everything is a contract, and that if you opt out of that contract, then Hay Pesto!  No need to pay taxes.

Close enough

     This belief that they can opt out of a contract leads to people ignoring summonses and the like, and then getting arrested.  This can lead to further trouble, as once again FOTL refuse to recognise that the police can arrest and detain them.  What might begin as an issue about parking tickets can end up with serious jail time for the perpetrator.  This, the scammers pushing the FOTL fraud say, is obviously a success.

Success.  What it looks like.

     FOTL in court are usually very disruptive.  They are OBSESSED with the idea that the court might be an admiralty court, when it patently is not, and will grill the presiding judge about a flag on the wall having a gold trim which means it's an admiralty court and they don't recognise the right of same to try them etcetera.  On occasions they have been handcuffed and sentenced for contempt of court because they won't sit down or stand up when required to do so, since they see that as "Entering into a contract" with the court and thus becoming liable.  Again, this is always touted by the scammers as a success, for getting a six-month  term in prison on top of having to pay your backdated taxes is so, so successful.

Also, this.

     FOTLers in court are also passing fond of tootling in with illegal recording equipment, as per the above, in order to post their success on Youtube and glory in the extra fines, prison time and backdated taxes they now have to pay.  Getting caught doing this is treated as contempt of court, meaning jail time for the FOTLer
     What's the success rate for these desperate people?  Nil.  A FOTL argument in court has never succeeded, despite what the scammers allege, and you would think that by now people would have cottoned on to this; well, yes, but there are always going to be the desperate, the vulnerable and the downright bonkers.
     There you go, an illustrative and educational post from BOOJUM! because we care so.

You, Number Six!  You started all this business!

     Okay, Motley, shall we go jet skateboarding on the rubble-strewn red-hot radioactive wastelands?

"PANDEMIC"
This is a dual-purpose title, for the intent of Your Humble Scribe's Frothing Nitric Ire being deployed on two targets simultaneously.  Firstly, that novel I bought, which advertised itself as being Part One of "The Extinction Files".  Art?

A name I could game with - but won't

     Very disappointing.  I shan't bother getting the next in this sequence, as it was painfully obvious that the McGuffin wasn't going to be revealed, and you'd have to buy the next novel to discover exactly what it was, hah-hah!
     Except not, Mister Riddle.  Also, you could do with an editor.
     Now, back to my regular scheduled whinging about the M.E.N. Codeword, because that, too, had "PANDEMIC" as a solution.  I mean, really!  Of course it comes from a Greek root, "Pan" meaning "All" and "Demos" meaning "People", but you knew that already.

               
                                           Blimey.  Misery loves company, eh?
     Looks like a fruitful topic.  I wonder if Hom. Sap. survives?  I hope so, enslaving an empty planet is a bit pointless from my point of view.

BOOJUM! Reviews Films
Which is cause enough for brave production staff to go pale and weep into extra-large handkerchiefs, because we take no prisoners!  Nor do we bother with common sense, reality or the films themselves.  O no.  If you want a proper film review, as we always say, go watch Mark Kermode, because he's a Proper Film Critic, and we here are practically frothing at the mouth*.  Okay, let the Ire be released!
"Jojo Rabbit":  Bah.  Doubtless another ghastly, schmaltzy kids film about pretty fluffy bunnies, except they will be disgustingly 'street' and the lead will be a female who rolls her eyes at the stuffy older bunnies who get made into a stew MISTER HAND! Stop interfering - who get made into a pie.  No!  Sorry, who get made into fools.

So woke.

"Spies In Disguise": Yes, I see what you did there.  Rhyming.  How clever you are.  GO STAND IN THE CORNER UNTIL I FORGIVE YOU**.  Doubtless this is an unwanted and unasked-for follow-up to "Spies Like Us" with some unlikeable clowns from a television program being touted as "Hilarious" and "Almost funny", and I bet it doesn't have a cameo from Terry Gilliam, either.
     Plus, how will you know the spies if they are in disguise?

Ace Tomato Company reps.  On the case.

"Bad Boys Forever": That's an awfully presumptuous title, matey, because "Forever" is an exceedingly long time.  Besides which, if they did go on forever, then they would presumably age and grow older and cease to be boys.  Do you see my logic there?  Thank you.  Now take your wretched celluloid guff and be out of here, or I'll set the Guard Hog on you.

Now, here's a couple of bad boys, indeed.

*  With rage, not rabies.
**  This will be a very long time.