Allen West & the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem, Knights Templar is not a joke. Seriously.
He's very aligned with Mike Flynn & Erik Prince who are literally waging their own version of a Crusade. Holy War. This is troubling to say the least, more than semi.

London Center for Policy Research
https://t.co/K6iEol63Py
"Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem, Inc. is an autonomous & independent org in the US, which seeks to emulate the chivalric & charity traditions of the original Templars; its members apply themselves energetically & selflessly to Christian charitable endeavors."
"We do not claim a direct linage to the original Knights of the Temple, but seek to emulate their attributes. We've adopted 2 original Templar missions of Protecting Christians at Risk particularly in the Holy Land & Keeping the Road to Jerusalem open to all people as our own."
Harking back to the Templar history during the Crusades, the modern Templars see it their duty to assist Christian pilgrims and to maintain a Christian presence in the Holyland. One must be a professed Christian to be a member.

https://t.co/DuVCSGrS6X
Today Templar revivalism remains strong. Templar iconography is popular w/European neo-fascists: The Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik claimed to be a Templar & Knights Templar International is an online network that connects far-right activists, particularly in Britain.
Meet the Americans Following in the Footsteps of the Knights Templar

Disbanded 700 years ago, the most famous of the medieval Christian orders is undergoing a 21st century revival

July 2018

https://t.co/hhcCFb1WPT

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The benign product is sovereign programmable money, which is historically a niche interest of folks with a relatively clustered set of beliefs about the state, the literary merit of Snow Crash, and the utility of gold to the modern economy.

This product has narrow appeal and, accordingly, is worth about as much as everything else on a 486 sitting in someone's basement is worth.

The other product is investment scams, which have approximately the best product market fit of anything produced by humans. In no age, in no country, in no city, at no level of sophistication do people consistently say "Actually I would prefer not to get money for nothing."

This product needs the exchanges like they need oxygen, because the value of it is directly tied to having payment rails to move real currency into the ecosystem and some jurisdictional and regulatory legerdemain to stay one step ahead of the banhammer.