James Eric Davidson

James Eric Davidson, better known simply as Jim Davidson (born March 29, 1962) is a propertarian, libertarian, anarcho-capitalist and voluntaryist. He is an American investment newsletter writer, author, and entrepreneur based in Houston, Texas.

Early life

Davidson grew up in Lawrence, Kansas. He formed his first company, "Green Power" in 1974 at age 12, providing lawn care services. Attending Lawrence High School his performance on the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test earned him a National Merit Scholarship from the National Distillers Association in 1981. He was also named a Kansas Scholar in 1981. He was president of the high school debate team. His classmates elected him valedictory speaker. His academic work in high school earned him recognition upon matriculation to Columbia College of Columbia University where he was named a John Jay Scholar, 1981.

Banking

Davidson worked as weekend shift supervisor at First Chicago National Processing Corporation, a lock-box check processing service for major corporations, based in mid-town Manhattan and Secaucus, New Jersey 1983-1985. [http://indomitus.net/space/02.html Indomitus Report on Cyronics]

Aerospace

Davidson is a former director of the National Space Society, 1989-1990; former NSS chapters assembly organizer; logistics manager and announcer for the first licensed commercial space launch in March 1989 (Space Services Incorporated of America's Starfire One); former director of marketing for Microsatellite Launch Systems, 1989-1990. As president of the Houston Space Society 1988-1989, Davidson organized a scholarly conference on a lunar polar probe and helped form the Lunar Prospector Team [http://www.lunar-reclamation.org/papers/lp_prehistory_paper.htm Peter Kokh reviews Lunar Prospector history] . Principal investigator Alan Binder credits the group with early support for the ultimately successful project in his book on the project, Against All Odds (ISBN 1-928771-31-9).

pace Travel Services

Davidson gained notoriety on December 17 1990 when he and two colleagues announced Space Travel Services of Texas had a contract with the Soviet space agency Glavkosmos to put one American on the Mir space station for seven days. [http://www.chron.com/content/interactive/space/missions/mir/news/1990/19901218.html] The company offered the trip in a nationwide sweepstakes. In February 1991, charges of felony gambling and promotion of a lottery were filed against Space Travel president David Mayer and Jim Davidson in Harris County, Texas. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE0DA1530F934A35751C0A967958260 The New York Times, 7 February 1991] Davidson was arrested on these charges. The charges were dropped in May 1991 with an agreed injunction stipulating that the company had been conducting a lawful sweepstakes. Uncertainty created by the legal problems bankrupted the company.

New Country Foundation

Davidson became interested in other countries after his space tourism venture was made unworkable by legal and governmental interference. He was involved in 1993 and 1994 with the Atlantis Project, an effort to establish an artificial island in international waters to be called Oceania. [http://oceania.org/ Oceania home page] Davidson wrote a book discussing the project and the constitution for the country.Fact|date=September 2008

In November 1995, he participated in a scholarly conference that had the purpose of founding a "New Country Foundation" to work out methods for establishing new countries. The New Country Foundation merged with the Free Nation Foundation, which later split off a Libertarian Nation Foundation which still survives. As a result of his involvement in the New Country Foundation, Davidson met Dutch philanthropist Michael van Notten.Fact|date=September 2008

Davidson and van Notten formed several ventures to work in ethnic Somali areas of Africa, including parts of Ethiopia, the Republic of Somaliland, and Somalia. In 1999, they sent a fact finding expedition headed by American geophysicist John Kingman to Kismayo. In 2000 and again in 2001, Davidson traveled to Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somaliland, and Somalia. With van Notten, Kingman, and Spencer MacCallum, Davidson founded Somali Free Port Services in 1999 and the Awdal Roads Company, a Mauritius corporation in 2000. This led to the Awdal incident.Fact|date=September 2008

The Indomitus Report

Davidson is the author of "The Indomitus Report", a financial and news analysis newsletter site containing numerous free essays and analytical pieces, as well as information about his philosophy and political views. [ [http://www.indomitus.net "The Indomitus Report"] ] Topics covered in the free sample issues include sovereignty, free market money, gold mining, space technology, launch technology, new countries, nanotechnology, and longevity research - clearly an eclectic and somewhat extropian topic set. Information particularly relating to his free market money business enterprise is isolated at [http://www.vertoro.com Vertoro.com] . He has also been identified with The Libertarian Enterprise, a private and free market members-only stock exchange based in New Zealand. [http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2006/tle356-20060226-03.html] [ [http://www.pvcse.com PVCSE] ]

Computer industry

Davidson is acting president of Lightspeed Systems, Inc., a computer services and assembly company based in Bellaire, Texas, 2007.

Political activities

Davidson is chair of the Boston Tea Party (US Political Party) through 24 October 2008.

Other work

Davidson spoke at Chicon V, 1991; author of "The Atlantis Papers, 1994"; and a published essayist with The Libertarian Enterprise since 1995 and Free Market Network News since 2005. His academic credentials include BA in American History, Columbia College of Columbia University, 1985; MBA marketing and entrepreneurship, Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Administration, Rice University, 1987.

ee also

*Digital gold currency

Notes

External links

* [http://www.houstonspacesociety.org/lpt.html Lunar Prospector Team] overview
* [http://216.92.255.170/pbt/worldcons/91progsun.html Chicon V 1991 WorldCon] scroll to or search for "Your Ticket to Orbit Has Been Confiscated"
* [http://groups.google.ca/group/sci.chem/msg/9fa75b55a35550d7?dmode=source&hl=en Re: Plutonium really the "most toxic poison known to man"?] A famous USENET posting by Jim Davidson.
* [http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=42736 Interview with Jim Davidson] in American Chronicle, parts one and two
* [http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=42738 Interview continues] with Jim Davidson in American Chronicle, parts three and four.