Photograph Appears to Show Pope Francis Holding a Young Girl's Hand Near His Crotch

     I first found the above image on Instagram on November 23rd, 2019. I later checked the Instagram account @chikinnagit - whose watermark appears on the photograph - but I was unable to find the post on Chikinnagit's Instagram page.

     This photograph appears to show Pope Francis (born Jorge Bergoglio) holding a young girl's hand near to his crotch; a distance of no more than one foot.

     If the rising mound of flesh under the white piece of fabric covering the Pope's groin, is any indication, then it appears that Pope Francis's penis is erect, and that he is intentionally holding the girl's hand very near to his penis.

     It is probably worthwhile to note that the girl looks extremely uncomfortable, like she is trying to pretend that nothing bad is happening. Her "smile" seems like a half-smile, as if she is uncomfortable, but trying to pretend she is happy. Whatever her true feelings in the moment, the Pope seems a whole lot happier than she is, and his smile is much larger than hers.

     We may never know, but it looks entirely possible from this photograph (if it has not been doctored, that is), that the Pope may have held the girl's hand to his crotch, either shortly before or shortly after this photograph was taken.

     If anyone has any information about whether the above image has been doctored, or not, please e-mail the author of this blog, Joseph W. Kopsick, at jwkopsick@gmail.com.

     Additional evidence supporting the veracity of this photograph, or else a retraction, may be found on this page at a later date.

     Please visit the following link to see one of the pages on which the photograph originally appeared:

     http://me.me/i/when-you-wanted-the-window-seat-but-pope-francis-was-0307c09ef99044aea02c559176339134

This article was written and posted on June 27th, 2020

Support for Libertarian Candidate Gary Johnson in Illinois in 2016

     The map below was created by James Borden, the former chair of the Libertarian Party of Lake County, Illinois. It was created online, in late April 2017, by James Borden, with the help of an unknown volunteer from the Illinois Libertarian Party (possibly Jeni Floyd).

     The map was inspired by a hand-drawn map of the same statistics (except with more details) which I created in early 2017.

Click, and/or open in new tab or window, to enlarge

Map created in late April 2017

Click, and/or open in new tab or window, to enlarge

Map created in early 2017

Article originally published, with only the first image included,

on June 27th, 2020.

Second image added to this blog entry on August 21st, 2020.

How a Green or Socialist Presidential Nominee Could Win the Electoral College

     The map below shows how a Green Party presidential nominee, or the presidential nominee of a socialist party, could win the electoral college.

     In the map below, which was created on http://www.270towin.com/, Republicans are shown in red, Democrats are shown in blue, and Greens (or socialists) are shown in green.

     I believe that this is one of the most likely scenarios allowing a Green nominee to win the presidency. That candidate would have to win a simple majority - not even 50% plus one, that candidate just has to get more votes than any other presidential candidate - in each of the respective states shown in green.

     The reason why I believe that this is one of the most likely scenarios which would allow a Green nominee to win the presidency, is because of the three assumptions I have made in order to create this graph. Those assumptions are:

     1) Donald Trump will be nominated by the Republican Party, and he will win the same states he won in 2016, except for states he would lose to the Democratic and Green candidates as the result of a viable Green candidate entering the race;

     2) Joe Biden will be nominated by the Democratic Party, and he will win all states that Trump and the Green nominee do not win; and

     3) whomever is nominated by the Green Party in early July (most likely Howie Hawkins) will win the set of states whose voters came out the strongest for Jill Stein (the Green Party's 2016 nominee), but only as many of them as would be necessary to add up to 270 or more.

     This may be an unlikely set of assumptions, but that is what it will take to produce a Green Party or socialist victory in the Electoral College. The statistics which I ran, show that Wyoming, Iowa, Ohio, and New Jersey would be the most likely to end up as "swing states", but it's also likely that virtually all of the states shown in gray and blue, could end up being "swing states".

     To put that another way, support for Biden and the Democratic Party would shrink drastically, if the top two contenders for the presidency turned out to be Donald Trump and Howie Hawkins (or Dario Hunter, the second most viable candidate in the Green Party's primaries).

     To take the Electoral College, the Green Party nominee would have to win all of the states shown in green, plus at least one or two of the states shown in gray (or, if not those, then one or two of the states shown in blue).

Image created by Joe Kopsick on June 25th, 2020

     The image below was used to create the set of statistics, regarding support for Jill Stein in each state, which were used to predict the viability of a Green Party candidate in 2020.

Image not created by the author of this blog

     Percentages of support for Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson - but not Jill Stein - can be viewed at the following link:

     http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/

     Information regarding support for Donald Trump in each state, was taken from the above link, in order to calculate the states most likely to turn out for Trump in the event that the Green Party wins the Electoral College by increasing support in all of the states in which Greens are already supported the most per capita.

     The 2020 Green Party National Convention will be held from July 9th to 12th, in Detroit, Michigan. The nominating convention will begin at noon Eastern Time on Saturday, July 11th, and it will be broadcast live.
     That means we will know that afternoon who the Green Party's 2020 presidential nominee will be, and the stage will be set for the presidential race (the Constitution, Libertarian, and P.S.L. parties having already chosen their candidates; Don Blankenship, Jo Jorgensen, and Gloria LaRiva respectively).

Written and Published on June 25th, 2020

Responses to the Illinois Green Party's 2020 Federal Candidate Questionnaire

     The following article consists of my responses to the Illinois Green Party's Federal Candidate Questionnaire for 2020, which the party administers in order to vet applicants for the party's nomination for federal office.

     I submitted my responses to this survey on June 14th, 2020, the same day that I became a member of the Illinois Green Party.

     The portions in [brackets] indicate portions which I have added after submitting the survey, in order to make my position more clear. Those portions were added in the hour after sending the survey; the whole document was composed on June 14th, 2020, and no edits to the substance have been edited nor redacted.

     The Green Party's response regarding my nomination, will determine whether I run as an independent, a Mutualist, a Green, or something else. Whatever my affiliation, voters will be able to write my name in the write-in space, beneath the names of my opponents, in the election for the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 10th congressional district. That election will be held on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020.

1Q: Name:

1A: Joseph W. Kopsick


2Q: Complete Address:

2A: 548 Archer Ave., #3, Waukegan, IL 60085


3Q: Phone and Email:

3A: jwkopsick@gmail.com, 608-417-9395


4Q: Office you wish to seek:

4A: U.S. House of Representatives, Illinois's 10th Congressional District


5Q: Are you a member of the ILGP?

5A: Yes [Became a member on June 14th, 2020]


6Q: Do you support each of the Ten Key Values—Ecological Wisdom, Social Justice, Grassroots Democracy, Nonviolence, Decentralization, Community-Based Economics, Feminism, Respect for Diversity, Personal and Global Responsibility, and Future Focus?

6A: Yes


7Q: Do you meet all of the legal qualifications for this office?

7A: Yes


8Q: What primary ballot (if any) did you pull in the last general primary?

8A: Democratic (for Yang)


9Q: Why do you wish to hold this office?

9A: I want to be a U.S. Representative because it will be impossible to teach our children how the government works, if it doesn’t work, and doesn’t work the way it was intended. That’s why voter education will be one of the most important priorities of my campaign, because voters cannot effectively participate in the political system until they understand how, and through which avenues, legislative change should be pursued, in order to be maximally effective. If elected, I will forge a new alliance in politics, by promoting ecologically sustainable policies which are also economically sustainable as well as constitutional. I believe this will be instrumental to developing the Green Party’s future outreach efforts to voters slightly to the right o[f the Green Party.]


10Q: Why do you feel you are qualified to run?

10A: I have previously run for the U.S. House three times, crafting a platform covering dozens of issues each of those times. Also, I have a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin, with a major in political science. After graduating in 2009, I started the Aquarian Agrarian blog, and published my college essays. Since then, I have added about 500 articles, covering health insurance policy, constitutional law, ecologically sound taxation, and many other topics, knowledge of which will be of the utmost necessity to effectively promote constitutional green legislation.


11Q: What are the most important issues you feel need to be addressed?

11A: The three most important issues in my campaign are 1) make steps towards paying off the national debt; 2) achieve medical price relief, and 3) reform child trafficking laws to keep kids safe. An additional priority which is important to my campaign is to raise awareness of the economic systems of Georgism and Mutualism. Synthesizing these two schools of thought will be essential to achieving a balancing act between capitalism and socialism, and to making markets both free and fair at the same time. It will also help decrease conflict over economic issues and decrease competition over newly created wealth. We must have more cooperative ownership, and make it easier for propertyless people to acquire property, if the market system is to survive in any form. I believe that Geo-Mutualist reforms will help improve taxation, social services, land use, housing, and fiscal and monetary policy.


12Q: How many hours per week can you contribute to campaigning?

12A: 40 hours


13Q: Does your partner/family support your run for office?

13A: Yes


14Q: Will you agree not to accept contributions from corporations or corporate PACs?

14A: Yes


15Q: Will you agree to share your donor and volunteer information with the ILGP?

15A: Yes


16Q: Do you have, or will you open a campaign bank account and set up an online donation method?

16A: Yes, I will set up a new PayPal for that purpose as soon as possible.


17Q: Do you have, or will you have, a campaign manager? If you have one now, please provide name and contact information.

17A: Yes. Ethan Windmillsky, ethan.winnett@gmail.com, 224-500-2416


18Q: Do you have, or will you have, a campaign treasurer? If you have one now, please provide name and contact information.

18A: Yes. I am currently my own campaign committee treasurer. The name of the committee is Committee to Elect Joe Kopsick.


19Q: Do you have, or will you have, a campaign fundraiser? If you have one now, please provide name and contact information.

19A: No. I do not currently have a campaign fundraiser. I am currently self-funded. I hope to prove, that a successful campaign can be waged using only $5 of form printing and postage, plus the optional cost of pamphlets and business cards. Sameera Hussain (51^st) has already expressed interest in doing a joint event (such as a forum or a meet and greet) with myself and the 52^nd State Representative candidate. This event could easily include a fundraising component. I am open to having a campaign fundraiser in the future, but I will make it clear that politics should not be about money, and that a campaign can be operated on solely the costs of printing and filing forms. I will explain that while I accept funds, I discourage them, because I would rather have volunteers do things that are free (like send e-mails) than contribute financially. I believe this is the best way to set a good example and get money out of politics.


20Q: How would you describe your current base of support?

20A: I received 26 write-in votes in the 10^th District in 2016, and I have received at least 30-40 valid signatures in this current campaign cycle. I also have friends, family members, and co-workers (many of whom are familiar with my views and have read some of my political essays) whom are living in Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Waukegan, Gurnee, Mundelein, Highwood, and other towns throughout the district. I believe that I would get the most support from young people, and disaffected and independent and first-time voters.


21Q: Please describe any volunteer experience you have with the Green Party.

21A:  I’ve attended Lake County IL Green Party meetings with Ethan W, Aaron G, Arlene H, Latoya H, Adam B, David H, et al, since soon after the chapter’s founding in 2017. I’ve attended multiple anti-Trump events in Chicago, and seven pro- Black Lives Matter / George Floyd memorial events in the past three weeks. I also attended at least one or two Green Party meetings during my time in college in Madison. Additionally, I was a supporter of the Green Party during Ralph Nader’s 2000 presidential campaign; although I was only 13 at the time and could not vote, Nader’s campaign piqued my interest in politics, and I was inspired to create a political survey for my classmates which was based on an article from Time Magazine, which told them how much they agree with each candidate. I promoted Nader and Green policies during this time.


22Q: Please briefly describe any other relevant experience you have had, including employment, working on other political campaigns, or other volunteer efforts.

22A: I worked for Ben Manski’s Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution for one month in 2013 in Madison, Wisconsin; this work included raising awareness about independent business alliances, and the corruption of the Wisconsin Manufacturer’s Association [i.e., the Wisconsin Manufacturer's and Commerce], and promoting a general strike. I also volunteered for the Illinois Libertarian Party in 2018, for Kash Jackson’s campaign for governor; that work included researching and reporting the views of the candidate and his opponents, and gathering information about businesses and organizations which could be called upon to host the party’s events. After Jackson qualified for the four-person debate for governor, Aaron Goldberg and I hosted a debate at Warren-Newport Library in Gurnee; between Socialist Dan Fein and independent Jo 753, two of the other ten candidates in the 2018 gubernatorial race. I also co-hosted (with Aaron Goldberg, again) a local candidates’ forum in that same library several years ago, which featured a Democrat, a Green, a Libertarian, and an independent conservative, each vying for a different office in the north Chicago suburbs.


23Q: Have you previously run for and/or held a public elected office?  If so, please describe.

23A: I ran for the U.S. House of Representatives three times; in 2012 (Wisconsin’s 2^nd), 2014 (Oregon’s 3^rd), and 2016 (Illinois’s 10^th). I received six votes as a write-in independent in 2012, dropped out in 2014 before the general election while running as an independent, and received 26 votes as a write-in independent in 2016.



24Q: Please provide any other general information you feel may be appropriate.

24A: My blog is available at www.aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com. The article from August 23^rd, 2019 contains my developing platform. I have also presented several times, on various political topics, at the Chicago chapter of the College of Complexes.








Please briefly describe your position on the following issues: 25Q: Campaign Finance and/or Election Reform?

25A: I have pledged not to accept corporate funds, and I do not plan to accept taxpayer funds in the event that I qualify for public matching funds. I would rather see congressional candidates lead by good example in such a fashion, than place limits on campaign donations, but I would support such limits as long as they take place through either a proper constitutional amendment or through a federal lawsuit overturning Citizens United. If elected, I will support legislation which limits the size and scope of the federal government, which I believe will make the federal government less vulnerable to being swayed by big-money donors.



26Q: Energy Policy?

26A: I would like to see local communities regulate energy policy, rather than the states or the federal government. But I would be willing to support nationalization of the energy sector as long as it takes place through a proper constitutional amendment (which would have to authorize Congress to legislate upon energy matters aside from energy patents and energy copyrights).



27Q: Climate Change and other Environmental Policy?

27A: I do believe that human activity is a major contributing cause to climate change and harsher winters and summers. I would like to see environmental policy legislated upon at a maximally local level. I believe that as long as the E.P.A. exists, it will be subject to abuse and influence-peddling (unless the president is personally a hardcore environmentalist). I plan to use the limited “bully pulpit” power of a congressman, to urge each of the 3,000+ counties in America to enact Land Value Taxation and establish Community Land Trusts. These policies will be essential to tying each county’s economic future to its ability to preserve and improve its ecology, and to guarding against the risk that the E.P.A. will continue to be in the hands of people who put profits before planet.



28Q: Economic Policy (including fiscal and monetary policy)?

28A: The market system cannot survive with so much oligopoly and corporate influence-peddling going on; we must increase both cooperative ownership and consumer power if the market system is to survive. Radical measures, beyond mere taxation, should be considered, to reduce the power of the oligarchy; these should include revoking the charters of corporations, and removing secretary of states’ powers to create new corporations and to limit liability. America’s economy needs more non-profits and cooperative enterprises; the dichotomy of “big businesses vs. small businesses” is outdated. I believe that reducing the military budget, and localizing health and Social Security (if necessary), will result in enough federal budget savings, that paying off the debt in 25 years will become a realistic possibility.



29Q: Crimes and Criminal Justice (including drug policy and gun violence)?

29A: My campaign will treat non-violent possession of drugs and weapons as the victimless crimes they are. I will raise awareness of the fact that those accused of victimless crimes have virtually no chance to defend themselves, because each their public defender, the prosecutor, the judge, and the police witness all work for the same agency, the state. I would support federal legislation to restore voting rights to felons who have served their time. For any issue possible, I will explain to voters which states have violated people’s rights most egregiously; for instance, Virginia and Kentucky honor felons’ voting rights the least, and New Jersey was the first state to start eroding at the right to resist unlawful arrest.



30Q: Health Care?

30A: I would like to see health care regulated as locally as possible, but I would support a Medicare for All or Medicare for All but Opt Out (or In) type proposal as long as there would be a constitutional amendment authorizing federal involvement in health care. Until then, the only health issues that should be regulated by the federal government should be medical patents and the health care of federal workers (esp. DoD, V.A., postal, Treasury, Patent Office). I believe that the best way to reduce medical prices – whether there would be a federal universal health care program or not – is to drastically reduce the “lifespans” of medical device patents and pharmaceutical patents (as well as reduce or eliminate taxes on such items which make them unnecessarily expensive). Pharmaceutical patents last 14 years; I will support legislation to shorten them. My plan to achieve what I term “medical price relief” is called E.M.P.A.T.H.I.C. (Eliminating Medical Patents to Achieve Human Immortality Cheaply).


31Q: Human Rights and Social Justice/Equal Rights and Opportunities?

31A: America is not the meritocracy it pretends to be, and it won’t be until the propertyless (whom are effectively permanent trespassers wherever they go) can acquire property more easily. All clubs which practice discrimination on the basis of race, should not be allowed to continue those policies, unless they forsake all taxpayer funds and taxpayer assistance. The public sector should absolutely not be allowed to discriminate on the basis of race, sex, orientation, and gender identity. I will raise awareness about the 9^th Amendment, explaining that it means that just because a right is not listed in the Constitution (such as the rights to work, marry, and travel), it doesn’t necessarily mean that that right doesn’t exist. The Bill of Rights and the Constitution should be a bill enumerating not only natural liberties but also human rights.


32Q: Immigration Policy?

32A: American citizens cannot be free until undocumented immigrants are afforded the same right to a fair trial as citizens are. [If an undocumented immigrant is not afforded due process just because he is not a citizen and is supposedly not entitled to the same rights, then he shouldn't be able to be prosecuted for exactly the same reasons.] That is why reforming immigration is essential to dismantling the class system; the most pernicious form of which is the domination of non-citizens by citizens. I will raise awareness of the fact that it was legal for undocumented immigrants to vote in Illinois from 1818 to 1830, and I will publish an article explaining how that decision can be overturned. I will support the right of undocumented immigrants to vote in any American election, provided that 1) they have no violent criminal history, and 2) they have not recently voted in any foreign election, or are not eligible to vote in their country of birth. I will raise awareness of the fact that the only area of immigration policy which Congress may regulate upon, is to create a uniform rule of naturalization. This will be essential to allowing state and local governments exercise authority on all immigration issues besides the rule of naturalization (which could potentially include settlement, social services, housing, education grants, etc.).

33Q: Civil Liberties, including Domestic Surveillance and Privacy, Police Violence
Foreign and Military Policy, including Globalization and Trade?

33A: America has ruined its reputation by spying on its allies and its own citizens. The National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security must be abolished. Only the constitutionally legitimate functions of the F.B.I., C.I.A., D.I.A., and America’s other defense and intelligence agencies, should be allowed to continue to exist; however, their authorities should be exercised by the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and/or the Department of Justice; not by an unconstitutional Department of Homeland Security. We must honor the 4^th Amendment by protecting our right to be safe and secure in our persons, homes, papers, and effects, unless upon the presentation of a specific warrant. I will sponsor or pen legislation which would end general warrants and restore sanity to the criminal justice system. The severity of the crime of which a person is accused, should never be used as an excuse to take away a person’s right to a fair trial. If you don’t fill out the forms correctly, call the judge for a warrant, and give the perp a fair trial, then you lose the perp. If you spy on the perp, torture the perp, or obtain information on the perp illegally, then you lose the perp. I would only support military involvement abroad in the event of an official congressional declaration of war. The War Powers Act should be repealed and the president’s war powers limited. [On the issues of globalization and trade, I will educate voters about alter-globalization, while promoting reforms which will make markets and trade free and fair at the same time.]


34Q: Education Policy?

34A: I would like to see education regulated on a maximally local level, but I would accept federal involvement in education as long as a constitutional amendment authorizes such a thing, and as long as sufficient efforts are made to protect students and educate them properly. My plan to reform education is called S.K.A. (the Safe Kids Act or Safe Kids Amendment); it would authorize federal involvement in schools only on the conditions that: 1) high school juniors and seniors have more access to trades; 2) all high schools accepting public funds split in two (with freshmen and sophomores together, separated from juniors and seniors); and 3) age of consent and marriage laws become uniform across states, to reduce child trafficking, as well as other reforms.

Please provide short answers, and any elaboration you think is needed, on these issues:

35Q: Equal Rights and Opportunities for All, Regardless of Racial or National Identity, Color, Sex, Religion, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression?

35A: Yes


36Q: Legal Right to Choose Abortion?

36A: Yes


37Q: Maintaining federal funding for Planned Parenthood?

37A: Other. On abortion funding, I support letting states decide, until there is an amendment authorizing Congress to legislate on abortion. I think that as long as Planned Parenthood is federally funded, there will always be pro-life people trying to get control of the federal government in a way that allows them to make abortion access conditional, and pro-life people trying to get right-wing reforms passed as a condition for allowing abortion to be federally funded.


38Q: Repealing the Federal Death Penalty?

38A: Support.


39Q: Ending U.S. military intervention in the Middle East, Africa and the Ukraine?

39A: Support.


40Q: Ending U.S. Support for NATO, rapprochement with Russia and China; nuclear disarmament?

40A: Support.


41Q: Impeaching the president if he/she orders military actions in violation of international law?

41A: Support.


42Q: Reducing U.S. military spending and improving spending on education, health, social programs and modernizing our infrastructure?

42A: Other. I support reducing U.S. military spending. I would rather pay off the national debt with the savings from military cuts, but I would accept spending on education, health, and social programs as long as they are properly constitutionally authorized and can be accessed by everyone. I will support federal infrastructure projects as long as they benefit all parts of the country equally, rather than one area in particular (namely, the Bos-Wash corridor).


43Q: A “Green New Deal” or similar major federal initiative to support clean energy, sustainable transportation, and other strategies to combat global climate change?

43A: Other: I would rather see each community implement similar policies locally (land value taxation and Community Land Trusts), but this position is only necessary to guard against the risk that the federal E.P.A. could come under corrupt influence. I would support clean energy, environmental, and sustainable transportation reforms as long as they are properly authorized through constitutional methods. We cannot go on pretending that the E.P.A. “has teeth” when it doesn’t; if we want the environment to be regulated by the federal Congress, then we should change the Constitution so that it says that. During my campaign, while discussing environmental issues, I will spread awareness about the Democratic Party’s ongoing attempts to plagiarize Howie Hawkins’s Green New Deal.


44Q: A ban on fracking and new oil pipelines; eliminating fossil fuel subsidies?

44A: Support.


45Q: Phasing out of nuclear power?

45A: Support.


46Q: A moratorium on the introduction of new genetically modified organisms until their effects have been adequately studied and safe use demonstrated; informing consumers about GMOs in food products?

46A: Support. Also, I will increase awareness that consumers’ need to be fully informed, is absolutely essential to creating a system in which free choice can be exercised (i.e., a free market). I think this argument/strategy will be helpful in promoting antitrust-type measures, excusing federal involvement in consumer products for the sake of safety and health, and winning health-minded conservatives over to the side of the Green Party.


47Q: Legalization of cannabis and industrial hemp and immediate suspension of enforcement of federal cannabis laws in those states where cannabis has been legalized or decriminalized.

47A: Support.


48Q: Decriminalization of most drug offenses; treating drug abuse as a public health problem, not a criminal problem. 

49A: Support.


50Q: Reforming the criminal justice system to focus on rehabilitation, restorative justice, education and teaching living and job skills, not punishment and “incapacitation”?

50A: Support.


51Q: Cancellation or retiring of student debt?

51A: Other. By any school receiving F.A.F.S.A. funds or any form of federal taxpayer support, yes.

52Q: Tuition-free higher education at public colleges and universities?

52A: Support.


53Q: “Improved Medicare for All” Single-Payer or Publicly Funded Universal Health Care System?

53A: Other. Support, as long as it’s administered on a local basis, or else administered on a federal basis with an amendment. Also, measures must be taken to make sure that the system does not become captured by corporate interests or a permanent political or bureaucratic class which could run it.


54Q: A Constitutional Amendment providing that corporations do not enjoy the same rights as people
and that money is not protected “speech”?

54A: Other. A constitutional amendment is the appropriate way to approach this issue. However, instead of a constitutional amendment, I believe that a more effective strategy would be to either: 1) overturn Citizens United through a lawsuit, without an amendment; or 2) to amend the 14^th Amendment in a manner which sufficiently differentiates the rights, responsibilities, and legal and economic status of corporations, individual persons, and government agencies. I believe that a smaller and more limited government, will be effectively less able to do the types of things that lobbyists want it to do.



55Q: Making the minimum wage a living wage ($15/hour or greater)

55A: Other. I would support a minimum wage increase as long as it’s implemented on a state or local level, or there’s a constitutional amendment; and as long as either 1) a basic income guarantee is also enacted; and/or 2) people earning below $30,000 per year can choose to opt out of federal income taxes completely.








Author's Note (Written June 15th, 2020):

     I did not receive the nomination during the Illinois Green Party's June 15th teleconference, as there was not a great enough ratio of "Yes" votes to "No" votes to pass my nomination with a supermajority.

     I will continue to run as an independent write-in candidate trying to establish a Mutualist Party in Illinois, unless I am nominated by another party (aside from the Libertarian Party and Green Party, both of which have rejected my nomination for the 2020 campaign cycle).

Written and Published on June 14th, 2020
Author's Note Added on June 15th, 2020

How to Succeed in Street Warfare #2: Gaining Territory by Moving Barricades

Created and Published on June 12th, 2020

Links to All Posts About George Floyd and the 2020 Nationwide Protests Against Police Brutality

1. My May 2020 video "Chicago Police Pepper-Spray Peaceful Protesters without Warning (May 30^th, 2020)"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KNQCyyHAJw

2. My May 2020 video “Amateur Footage Captures Moments After Cop Car Set Ablaze in Chicago (May 30^th, 2020)":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83tf2IBVD_g

3. My May 2020 video “Chicago Cops Kick Protesters Off State & Wacker (May 30^th, 2020)”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYHk2XvPCLI

4. My June 2020 article “Bad Elk v. United States: In Which States is it Legal to Resist Unlawful Arrest with Force?”:

http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2020/06/resisting-unlawful-arrest-by-police-in.html

5. My June 2020 infographic “How to Succeed in Street Warfare #1: Surrounding Aggressors”:

http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2020/06/how-to-surround-racist-cops-and-neo.html

6. My June 2020 infographic “How to Succeed in Street Warfare #2: Gaining Territory by Moving Barricades":
http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2020/06/how-to-succeed-in-street-warfare-2.html

7. My July 2020 article "Police Officers Can Legally Rape and/or Kill You in Every State Except Georgia and North Carolina":

http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2020/07/police-officers-can-legally-rape-and.html

8. My August 2020 Instagram post about how the police are legally allowed to rape and kill people in many states:

http://www.instagram.com/p/CD8FXVkMvWw/

9. My September 2020 article "Ending Involuntary Servitude, Police Brutality, and Cruel and Unusual Punishment (Incomplete)"

http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2020/09/ending-involuntary-servitude-police.html

10. My April 2021 article "Forty-Seven Badly Needed Reforms to Policing, Drugs, and War That Could Save America from a Second Trump Term":
http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2021/04/forty-three-badly-needed-reforms-to.html

Originally Published on June 10th, 2020

Edited and Expanded on June 12th and August 20th, 2020,

and January 17th, 2021

How to Succeed in Street Warfare #1: Surrounding Aggressors

See these images in an Instagram post at the following link:

http://www.instagram.com/p/CBOtyEisS8N/

Created and published on June 9th, 2020
Instagram Link Added on June 11th, 2020

Joe Kopsick for Congress Campaign 2020: E-Mail Update #1

JOE KOPSICK FOR CONGRESS CAMPAIGN 2020: E-MAIL UPDATE #1

June 8th, 2020

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Dear 10^th District voter,

     We are e-mailing you because you signed up to receive e-mails about Joe Kopsick's campaign for U.S. Representative from Illinois's 10^th District. Thank you for your support!

     Please e-mail jwkopsick@gmail.com with the subject line “Unsubscribe” if you wish to be removed from our e-mail list.

     If you signed the petition, then thank you for your signature! Your signature will:

     1. Help Joe Kopsick get on the ballot for U.S. Representatives (IL-10) on November 3^rd

and

     2. Help establish a Mutualist Party in the State of Illinois

     (as long as 1,210 or more valid signatures are collected and turned in by August 7th).

     Your signature is not a binding obligation to support the candidate in any way.

     To make sure that your signature will be counted, please be sure to register to vote by August 7^th, 2020, the day that petition signatures are due to be turned in to the state Board of Elections.

     If you need to find out which congressional district you live in, check the following links:

     http://ova.elections.il.gov/RegistrationLookup.aspx

     Enter your address and see the number to the right of “Congressional (Federal)”. If it says “10”, then you are eligible to vote and sign for Joe Kopsick. This page will also tell you whether you have registered to vote.

     Even if Joe Kopsick does not receive the necessary signatures to get his name on the ballot, you will be able to write his name in the write-in space on November 3^rd.

     If you get to the ballot and Joe Kopsick's name does not appear beneath Brad Schneider's, then a write-in vote for Joe Kopsick will still be counted! Your signature just helps get him on the ballot by name, which will save the voter the trouble of having to remember how to spell K-O-P-S-I-C-K.

     Joe Kopsick's opponents for the 10^th District U.S. House seat are:
          - Brad Schneider (Democrat, incumbent)

          - Valerie Mukherjee (Republican)

          - David Rych (Libertarian)

          - Bradley Sigmund Heinz (independent)

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ABOUT THE CANDIDATE:

     Joe Kopsick was born on February 24^th, 1987 at Lake Forest Hospital in Lake Forest, Illinois. The son of an attorney, and a homemaker and a disabilities teaching assistant, Kopsick attended District 65 and 67 schools, and majored in political science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, graduating in 2009.

     In 2010, Kopsick founded the Aquarian Agrarian, a blog on Blogspot.com. Since then, Mr. Kopsick has run for Congress four times, and he has published more than five hundred articles on various topics (such as federal law, the Constitution, electoral politics, labor economics, and political theory).
     Kopsick's writing can be found at http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/.

     Kopsick currently works as a private security guard. He is faced every day with the absurdity that private security guards are trained to protect the public, while the supposedly public police have no obligation to protect and serve the general public, only to protect those with whom they have made private contracts.
     The law needs to make sense again.
     See Joe Kopsick's article and infographic about how government can legalize resistance of unlawful arrest and police brutality:     http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2020/06/resisting-unlawful-arrest-by-police-in.html

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ABOUT THE PLATFORM:

     Kopsick's top 3 issues are:
     1. Pay Off the U.S. National Debt by 2047 (P.O.U.N.D.) by paying off $1 trillion per year
     2. Eliminate Medical Patents by Advancing Technologies for Human Immortality Cheaply (E.M.P.A.T.H.I.C.), a plan to reduce the costs of medicine,
     and
     3. the Safe Kids Act (S.K.A.), a plan to reform public education and child trafficking laws in an integrated fashion.

     Links to full articles on these topics, written by the candidate, will be included in future campaign updates.
     (P.S.: Future campaign updates will be much, much, shorter!)

     See Joe Kopsick's platform for the 2020 race:

     Original platform:
http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2019/08/thirty-point-basic-platform-for-us.html
     Developing platform (this will be updated throughout the campaign):
http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2019/08/expanded-platform-for-us-house-of.html

     To see how much you agree with Joe Kopsick on the issues, visit these links, download the survey images, print them, and fill them out:

http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2020/05/political-questionnaire-are-you-joe.html

http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2020/05/political-questionnaire-are-you-joe_12.html

     See a page containing links to Joe Kopsick's most important campaign documents: http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2020/02/links-to-most-important-documents-and.html

     Learn more about Mutualism:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutualism_(economic_theory)

     Learn about Mutualist and Georgist principles:
http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2019/04/georgism-and-mutualism-poster.html
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     JOE KOPSICK'S FIVE PROMISES TO 10TH DISTRICT VOTERS AND DONORS:

     1. I will never accept money from a corporation (unless it operates on a non-profit or cooperative basis, and is reputable and trustworthy);

     2. I will never accept taxpayer money (that is, if the Mutualist Party's support surpasses 5% in Illinois and it becomes eligible for federal public matching funds, I will strongly discourage the Mutualist Party from accepting taxpayer funds, and I will refuse taxpayer funds as a candidate);

     3. My campaign will never make unsolicited requests for your donations;

     4. My campaign will never sell your information;

     5. The candidate, campaign volunteers, and the Illinois State Board of Elections, are the only people who will ever be given your name and address.

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     THREE EASY WAYS YOU CAN HELP US FOR FREE

     We do not need your money; we care more about you being informed and empowered.

     The Joe Kopsick for Congress campaign wants to prove that it is possible to run a successful campaign for less than three dollars' postage.

     That is how you get money out of politics; by setting a good example.

     This is why Mr. Kopsick's campaign is (thus far) entirely self-funded.

     We want your help, and we will accept your donations, but we don't need your money.

     Here are three ways you can help us, for free:

     1. Email your friends about Joe Kopsick!

     Whether you'd like to be considered an official Joe Kopsick for Congress volunteer or not, remember that sending an e-mail is free, and that information is the most important tool we have.

Please e-mail this campaign update, and the links in it, to anyone you know who may be likely to vote on November 3^rd.

     2. Invite the candidate and his volunteers to gatherings such as:

          - political protests, marches, rallies, etc.

          - small parties in private homes

          - neighborhood cookouts

     to help the campaign meet registered voters who can sign the petition to get Joe Kopsick onto the ballot.

     3. Call newspapers, or independent journalists and bloggers you know, and ask them to interview Joe Kopsick, cover his campaign, and/or include him in polls.

     These are the best ways to spread the word about independent candidates, without having to devote too much attention to fundraising.

     Joe Kopsick believes that a “donation” from anyone other than an ordinary voter (or a trustworthy non-profit non-state organization) should be considered a bribe.

     By making fundraising an extremely low priority in campaigning, Mr. Kopsick hopes to decrease the risk that candidates will fall capture to the legislative interests of wealthy donors, lobbyists, and the politicians who are committing insider trading through passing legislation that rigs the economy for the benefit of the super-rich.

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     A MESSAGE FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN RUNNING FOR OFFICE

     We want you to help our campaign, but we will also send you information about Mr. Kopsick's opponents so that you are fully informed of your choices.

     We will also tell you how you can run for office yourself!

     Send us an e-mail with the subject line "Run for Office", and tell us your age, town, and which issue(s) you feel you are most knowledgeable about.

     We will suggest some offices for which you might be interested in running, and direct you to the appropriate page on the Illinois State Board of Elections website.

     You can see that information by visiting http://www.elections.il.gov/ and clicking on "Running for Office".

_________________________________________________________________________________
     FIX THE LAW, STOP DANCING AROUND THE ISSUES

     For too long, politicians have gotten away with giving half-answers to important questions, dancing around problems, and confusing and distracting the people into thinking they've answered their questions.

     It is time that we elect a candidate who will dive head-first into the issues that the public cares about, and figure out exactly what is wrong with the law, instead of wasting time arguing over how to market the legislation to the people.
     As an independent blogger and researcher, and a four-time congressional candidate, Kopsick has drafted a congressional platform three times before. He knows all too well what is wrong with our federal laws and how to fix them.

     Our campaign would love to know which issues are most important to you, and what your legislative priorities are. Mr. Kopsick might not agree with you on all the issues, but he is always open to compromise.

     Please e-mail jwkopsick@gmail.com! Let us know your top 3, top 5, or top 10 most important issues, and Mr. Kopsick will let you know where he stands on those issues, and direct you to relevant articles and planks in his platform.

     If you would like to reach Mr. Kopsick directly, he is available by phone at 608-417-9395. He is a private security guard and does not mind being called, or even woken up, at odd hours, so feel free to call him at any time of the day!

     Thank you so much for your support!

_________________________________________________________________________________

- Joseph W. “Joe” Kopsick

Candidate, Chairman, and Treasurer
of the
Committee to Elect Joe Kopsick

jwkopsick@gmail.com

608-417-9395

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Written and Published on June 8th, 2020