Yes, the 16th Amendment allows for much more government control of all aspects of life than the Founders were comfortable with - to be certain. Those were the same people who rioted at the Stamp and Intolerable Acts - which were all taxes.

I don't see that competing currencies would help (though we are starting to see them, in Bitcoin and its counterparts). The government, in Operation Choke Point, tried to make it harder for some businesses to get access to dollars, but the most a bank can do in that regard is to decide that some people aren't creditworthy enough to be allowed to have checking accounts. (Though the banks have turned that into a near-total monopoly by sharing those decisions with each other via ChexSystems.) That situation has been around forever, and has always included the credit unions, but the check-cashing and payday-loan industries were created to enable victims to evade it. That's why bad guys like Elizabeth Warren want them destroyed.

What really needs to go is regulation of the banking and money handling industries: the "money laundering" laws. And the best way to get there is to repeal or at least modify the 16th Amendment, so that government will no longer need to know what assets you have overseas in order to collect taxes.

Credit Unions were originally a competitor, but they've been pretty regulated as well.

Of course what you're getting back to at its heart is a move away from a central currency controlled by the Federal Reserve. In the first 100 years of this nation, there were all kinds of banks opening up (and going bankrupt) because all currency was gold-backed.

"how to start "the Uber of banking" without running afoul of money laundering laws."
Several years ago peer-to-peer lending companies such as Prosper were trying to be the Uber of banking. I was under the impression (maybe wrongly) that it turned out banks, and their ability to manage credit risk (people not paying) and rate risk (using short-term funds for longer-term loans) actually do a good job providing value to their customers.

I would not be at all surprised if it turned out to be false and that banks had manipulated regulations in the wake of the financial crisis to tie the hands of P2P lending. There might be an interesting story in it for an investigative book: What happened to P2P lending?
I heard so much interest it 10 years ago, and I have not heard much about it since.

Banking is a great example of an industry that's so over-regulated that consumers have effectively no voice, because it's next to impossible for new competitors to form legally.

Maybe we should have a brainstorming session on how to start "the Uber of banking" without running afoul of money laundering laws. There ought to be a way to do it.

Orange prison coveralls. Likewise for banksters.

Appropriate

Baphomet.One of the major rulers of hell, The head of a ram, woman's breasts, human arms and hands, the nether parts of a goat.

And what should all taxmen be made to wear to identify them?

I think that all bankers should be made to wear uniforms comprised of striped pants, swallow tail coats , carry decorative canes and smoke expensive cigars whether they like them or not.Then you could identify the rascals at a glance. They'll all look like the Monopoly Man.

They already proved they don't deserve to be bankers. They would have died a well deserved death without the scum in DC saving their asses with our taxes. Bulletin to Citibank: Die you looting scum!

A bulletin to Citibank: Stick to banking and stay out of politics. You are destroying half of your customer base.

Firing some slug rounds was part of annually NRA qualifying with the 12-guage while I worked for the Alabama Department of Corrections.
Slugs weren't included with tower ammo. It was just that NRA thing.
Now I'm recalling the prone position I began to fire from to NRA qualify with the AR-15 rifle that accompanied the shotgun on towers. Too bad I did my best shooting from the prone position. There's no way to shoot from a prone position on a tower catwalk, though I may find a way with someone shooting back.

The 000 buck is slightly larger resulting in higher energy transfer since it is heavier. I use very few buckshot of either style preferring slugs or stepping up to a rifle.

I can't comment on the triple aught other than to note at that point you are not that far from slugs...

As to popularity among ammunition types, I'd probably agree that 9mm is the most common simply because that is what the majority of law enforcement uses. Others of note are .38 Special, .40 and .45 out of the dozens out there.

For rifle calibers it would have to be the .223/5.62 and then the .308/7.62 ... after the venerable old .22 LR ;)

Would you (or any other Gulcher reading) know anything about 12-guage triple-aught. Bought a box I think at the same time I bought my pocket pistol at a gun shop I do not frequent.
Me dino was there because I was having trouble finding a 9mm I could slip into my right front pocket, but there I found a Sig that did.
I specifically wanted a 9mm after another gun dealer agreed with my theory that, if Big Brother made ammunition disappear, the last to go even on a black market would be 9mm rounds.
(I do have a smaller Beretta Tomcat 32-cal for a backup gun and that 357/38 revolver~my carbine, car gun and pocket pistol are all 9mm).

Years ago when I had more "disposable" income. I tried a few of them and in specific instances each is marvelous. Additionally I learned how to load a few of my own with even more interesting version's.

I also saw some very interesting specialty loads at a firearms show one time. One load had flechettes - miniature steel darts - guaranteed to bring the hurt but be stopped by any kind of hard surface. The rounds were about $5 a pop, so they weren't for casual use, but pretty cool nonetheless. Some of the others included incendiary rounds, hollow slugs, and other fun things.

I didn't mention that a moment ago but have made exactly that argument many times in the past.

The other argument I have heard is that in a home defense scenario you don't want the additional penetration of buckshot. A typical gypsum board wall does a pretty good job of stopping birdshot where it takes something heavier to stop buckshot.

Remember one of the cardinal rules of firearm safety: know what is beyond your target!

Yes at close range bird shot is the most devastating. Where as buck shot reaches further. That's why I load bird shot in my home defense gun and keep several other toys around loaded with various other types of loads.

Due to past looting, perhaps Citibank thinks it can with future looting survive turning/chasing off customers and a potentially future customer like me, myself and I, who owns 6 firearms and fully intends to keep all of them.
Me dino only had a shotgun (bought when invited to a dove hunt) and a pistol (for self-defense) before this country suffered an Obamanation.
Me dino had 5 until I heard Candidate Shillary say, "I dream of open borders." That scary prospect prompted the purchase of a 9mm carbine and two 30-round clips. Me dino calls that carbine The Evil Hag.
BTW, I now also have two bandoliers bristling with 12-guage double-aught buck shotgun shells. That pump-gun that I originally bought with bird-shot shells is actually the most dangerous weapon I have. It even beats my .357 Magnum due to the close groups of scattershot fired at close range.
Me dino long ago read an opinion that bird-shot is more lethal at close range but me dunno.
My shotgun is the Remington 870 I trained with for prison tower duty.
Instructors would say "It can reach out and touch someone"~that a line taken from some old commercial.

Let them try to run someone else's business, the result will be those who like will stay or move to Citibank and those who don't will leave. Don't tell them how to run their business even when they try to tell others how to run theirs.

Isn't this the same Citibank that the Gov. bailed out with taxpayer money? Now, screw the taxpayer again.

The interest rates are exorbitant and usurious, typically 22.6% or more, on credit cards hosted by Citibank. Why use them? I have several simply because the credit bureaus insist on lots of credit availability for their malicious calculations of worthiness. But is Citibank worthy?
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