“As if answering to HM Revenue & Customs were not onerous enough, British investors are now having to jump through hoops for the equivalent US tax authority. The IRS is trying to tighten its grip on US citizens living in other countries who owe tax. But a consequence of its crackdown is that British investors, who owe nothing in the US, have to complete IRS documents and provide information either to the IRS itself or to a finance firm acting under IRS instructions. From July the US’s crackdown will be felt by British investors in another way. After that anyone opening a new investment account – whether the company is US or British – will have to provide information required by the IRS.”
Monthly Archives: June 2014
Facing the Onset of A Global Taxation Regime, Take Human Action
“What does surprise us about GATCA is the speed at which it is being introduced and formalized. The start-date, from what we can tell, may be as soon as 2016. This is in keeping with other campaigns launched by the power elite of late. We’ve commented a number of times on the speed with which cannabis decriminalization is moving around the world, for instance, and there are numerous other evidences of increased elite urgency as well. In this case, those behind GATCA are not even bothering with a popular consensus: They are simply promoting the regime from the top down, seeking a political consensus and assuming that will [be] acceptable.”
Europe’s Political Response To Voters May Increase Violence
“No matter what voters say about the EU, the leaders of Britain and Europe attempt to use the sentiment to support the EU – at least in some form. Every setback is merely a further opportunity to create a more responsive and ultimately more amalgamated EU. The disconnect between political systems in both the US and the EU and the voters is growing deeper. This EU vote and the political responses to it do nothing to reverse this trend. If the political system is incapable of representing the ‘will’ of the people – even at the most cosmetic level – then the chances for less civil and more violent change increases. Is that the ‘real’ desired outcome?”
The bogus climate warnings that spurred Pentagon’s green spending
“Consultants told the military that, by now, California would be flooded by inland seas, The Hague would be unlivable, polar ice would be mostly gone in summer, and global temperatures would rise at an accelerated rate as high as 0.5 degrees a year. The 2003 report is credited with kick-starting the movement that links climate change to national security. The Pentagon is making big investments in biofuels, for example, and is working climate change into high-level strategic planning. There is no exact budget line for climate change. The Government Accountability Office in 2011 documented a big increase in federal spending, from $4.6 billion in 2003 to nearly $9 billion in 2010.”
The Bogus “97% of Climate Scientists Agree” Claim
“There’s a bait-and-switch occurring here. As Friedman spells out, all you need to do is actually look at Cook et al.’s own tables in their paper to see that others (including Cook himself in a subsequent paper!) are misrepresenting their findings. Only 1.6% of the surveyed abstracts clearly say that humans are the main cause of global warming. The 97.1% figure includes papers that merely claim that some amount of warming can be attributed to human activities. Many of the prominent scientists associated with the ‘denier’ label–such as Richard Lindzen, Roy Spencer, Pat Michaels, and Chip Knappenberger (whom I feature here a lot)–would fit into this ‘consensus.'”
http://consultingbyrpm.com/blog/2014/05/the-bogus-97-of-climate-scientists-agree-claim.html
Top 10 tips to learn a language
“Matthew Youlden speaks nine languages fluently and understands more than a dozen more. We work in the same office in Berlin, so I constantly hear him using his skills, switching from language to language like a chameleon changing colors. In fact, for the longest time I didn’t even know he was British. When I told Matthew how I’ve been struggling to merely pick up a second language, he had the following advice for me. If you believe that you can never become bilingual, take note!”
Bill Bonner: 6 Success Secrets of a $22-Billion Family
“Gerard Mulliez is often called the Sam Walton of France. The Mulliez family has businesses with annual revenues of about $60 billion and more than a quarter million employees. You’ve probably never heard of them. And you’ve almost certainly never seen a picture of them. They’re discreet, private and unassuming. The family has been in business for two centuries. But only in the last 50 years has it built one of the world’s biggest and most profitable family-business empires. And it has done it while also creating one of the biggest and most successful families. I have identified six secrets to the Mulliez family’s success.”
http://www.bonnerandpartners.com/6-success-secrets-of-a-22-billion-family/
The Strange Tale of Swiss Banking – And What It Means for You
“It is interesting that remaining private banks are switching from partnerships to corporations. Judicially enforced corporate personhood distorts markets and enables market behavior that would not otherwise be feasible or tolerated. What remains most puzzling is that this most powerful industry composed primarily of private Swiss banks allowed itself to be virtually ruined in a few years’ time. The precedent has been set, however. One nation may indeed interfere judicially in the affairs of another and force compliance, part of a wider assertion of privilege by a US government that is attempting to turn banking systems around the world into part of the US tax collection effort.”
In junta-ruled Thailand, reading is now resistance
“The junta has banned political gatherings of five people or more. Since taking over, the military has made clear it will tolerate no dissent, and it has launched a major campaign to silence critics and censor the media. The junta has warned all citizens against doing anything that might incite conflict, and the list of targets has been long. At least 14 partisan TV networks have been shut down along with nearly 3,000 unlicensed community radio stations. Independent international TV channels such as CNN and BBC have been blocked along with more than 300 Web pages. Journalists and academics have been summoned by the army.”
http://news.yahoo.com/junta-ruled-thailand-reading-now-resistance-152729290.html