Or would you choose not to eat there at all?

For the benefit of which privileged classes would you like to bully strangers today?

Cute, isn’t it, the way propaganda works?

A lot of well-meaning, gentle folks will look at a poster like this and think they’re being presented with a choice among competing priorities: education, agriculture, or technology?

Precious few will look and see the robbery that is taxation. Perhaps fewer still will see the false choice in being able to select from a limited menu of privileged classes: parents of school-aged children, textbook publishers, teachers and others involved in the “education” industry; farmers, agribusiness, pesticide producers and the giant industrial manufacturers of agricultural machinery; or technophiles, those wealthy enough to enjoy the benefits of modern telecommunications and the corporate interests behind the telecoms wallowing already in a century of robbery-subsidized privilege? Maybe only a handful will recognize that government monies are never “invested”, but rather are stolen from taxpayers and bestowed upon politically-connected, privileged classes. Perhaps almost none at all will notice the false choice, the presumption and attempted transference of moral corruption involved in the use of “we” and “our” (the linguistic situation is even worse in the Slovak version, which asks, “Na čo by sa mali použiť naše peniaze?“, placing the question into the passive voice: “For what should our money be used?”).

Few, indeed, will startle, perceiving that freedom is not on the menu.

I call bullshit, horseshit, and dogshit.

"The Deal" by woodsy @ sxc.hu

Dear ____,

Thank you for making contact today.

I might have been clearer on the phone regarding my refusal of government work. The document you sent is a response from ____ to the EU about some scandal involving ____. From the document you sent:

“The shareholders of _____ are: The Ministry of _____ (__%) and the ___ of the Slovak Republic (__%).”

So, ____ is a government agency.

My objection is not about terminology or difficulty of the work. Rather, I believe that governments are evil, immoral organizations that exist only by stealing through taxation. I don’t want to support such evil and immorality in any way, and I don’t want to take stolen money in payment. Therefore, I will do no work at all for governments.

So, I would not be willing to handle this one for you. If you do have something for ____, ____, etc, I would certainly be willing to have a look at that for you in the future.

Best regards,
Mike

Answering that casts us back to around 1997 when I read Roger Gallo’s Escape from America. The book advances the Perpetual Traveler, or PT, philosophy, and provides a bunch of practical information for those wishing to go that route, perhaps now largely out of date. PT also stands for “Prior Taxpayer”, as one who arranged their affairs carefully could legally avoid becoming subject to income tax anywhere in the world, while maintaing a high-flying lifestyle.

At the time, I had been on a seemingly meteoric career path, going from hobbyist hacker to megabucks consultant in networking and internet technologies in just three short years. And then the big job offer came, with the first-employee options package attached, and I leaped. At the peak of the internet boom we went IPO and my paper promises came to be worth several million US$. “Fuck you” money. A fortune. As soon as my four years of options vesting was complete, I would cash out and embark on my own PT journey.

Needless to say, the story doesn’t have a happy ending. The market collapsed, investors’ metrics changed and, fine, I made out better in the end than if I’d never taken the position. But it wasn’t the “fuck you” money, and it wasn’t a fortune.

Unemployment, retrenchment and a great deal of squandering dissipation followed. The main impetus – leave the US, see the “other sides” – remained, though, and tickled me from time to time.

In 2003 I found myself isolated a thousand miles from home, stuck on a one-year contract doing a job that paid very nicely for about 3-5 hours of real work per week, with the rest of my time devoted to soothing, cajoling and repeating endlessly “yes, it will work” while the project schedule ticked by, me always ahead of it. Fortunately I didn’t have to spend most of that time at the office pretending to be busy 8 hours a day, but found ways to pretend while sleeping late, staying home except for the rare project review meeting, and doing little.

Around the end of 2003 I was bored out of my mind and started thinking of becoming a PT again, or at least leaving the US. I had been fed up with the political aspect of the country for a long time already, and having watched the launch of the Iraq war early that year drove the knife back into old wounds from Gulf War I. Time to go. Where previously I told myself that first I’d make a pile of money then leave the US, I now found myself thinking: learn how to minimize your lifestyle and expenses, save as much as you can through the end of this contract, and get out.

My girlfriend, still living back in California while I was freezing my ankles off in Wisconsin, was very keen on this. We both started fantasizing together about what we might do, and eventually she hatched a plan. She would get certified as an English teacher, and then we would bounce around the world every year as she got new contracts, perhaps traveling some more during the summers.

So, in summer 2004 she and I set off for Playa del Carmen, Mexico, where she spent 4 weeks getting CELTA certified and I spent 4 weeks improving my Spanish. We very much anticipated and wanted to get to a Spanish-speaking country. Latin America was not to be, though, as at least at that time it was quite difficult to conduct a job search, interview and acceptance as an English teacher strictly via phone and internet.

The case wasn’t the same in Europe, though, and having heard great things especially about Poland, she began contacting schools in the old Commie Bloc. Interest from Poland, interest from Hungary and some interest from Slovakia. And Slovakia’s where she got the contract, so off we marched to Bratislava.

The plan had been 9 months in Bratislava, a few months traveling, then repeat at a new location. I found myself rather liking the place, though, and making new friends. She, meanwhile, had a different circle of friends all connected with the English school. I started voicing the idea that I didn’t really want to split after 9-12 months. Other STUFF happened (none of your business!), and we split up, she taking up with another gentlemen who she’s still globetrotting with today. And we’re still great friends.

And here I remain, in Bratislava, Slovakia. Kinda funny writing this while I’m in Paris, but whatever

French face prosecution for ‘insulting’ civil servants

The offence — which carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a €7,500 fine — dates from Napoleonic times and is designed to protect “the dignity … of a person charged with a public service mission”. Behind the legalese is the belief that civil servants are the embodiment of a French State that deserves the respect and support of all its citizens. The number of prosecutions for insulting police officers and other civil servants has risen from 17,700 in 1996 to 31,731 last year in what critics say is an abuse of government power.

Post office employees, tax inspectors, railway staff and teachers are all starting to file lawsuits when they believe that they have been slighted.

Even Gérard Depardieu has fallen foul of the law. A description of three work inspectors as “jokers” when they raided the film set where the actor was performing left him with him a €3,500 fine.

A homeless man was given a one-month prison term for shouting out that Mr Sarkozy — Interior Minister at the time — was a “bloody Hungarian” in reference to his family origins. A 21-year-old was given a similar sentence for insulting the President’s mother.

Ahaaaa… I see… “fraternité” is about creating a privileged class to lord it over the rest of us with not only the relative impunity that goes with “sovereign immunity” and the like, but should also protected from the horrors of criticism from the slave class.

Also worth mentioning is that the Times, not atypically, puts the scare quotes in the wrong place. If they had written:

French face prosecution for insulting ‘civil servants’

they’d be a bit closer to the mark.

Hat tip to An Englishman’s Castle.

Day of Reckoning? Super Rich Tax Cheats Outed by Bank Clerk

Technician in Liechtenstein Turns Over Names of Americans With Secret Bank Accounts

Heinrich Kieber, fuckface extraordinaire

Hundreds of super-rich American tax cheats have, in effect, turned themselves in to the IRS after a bank computer technician in the tiny European country of Liechtenstein came forward with the names of US citizens who had set up secret accounts there, according to Washington lawyers investigating the scheme.

The bank clerk, Heinrich Kieber, has been branded a thief by the government of Liechtenstein for violating the country’s bank secrecy laws.

[...]

Kieber reportedly sold three CD’s full of names and data to tax authorities to 12 countries including Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy and the United States.

Nice going, fuckface.

Let’s be clear on one thing. There is no such thing as a “tax cheat”.

“Cheating” on your taxes is the moral equivalent of telling a mugger you have no more money than what’s in your wallet when you’ve got a wad of currency crammed between your ass cheeks.

Kieber’s Washington lawyer, Jack Blum, says Kieber should be considered a whistleblower and a hero, not a thief, for revealing how the super rich hid billions of dollars using the Liechtenstein bank.

So let’s see… steal from your employer, violate the privacy of your customers, turn the data over to the biggest and most ruthless gangs of muggers the world has ever known, and you can count on at least one jackass lawyer to call you a hero.

The persistent inversion of all human values continues unabated in the comments on the article:

every person and I mean every person, should be prosecuted and made to pay all back taxes on those sums in offshore banks. I am sick and tired of the rich getting richer by not paying their fair share of taxes

Fair share? A fair share would be a capitation.

The criminals are those who choose to live in this country and run their vast corporations here, yet violate this country’s tax codes in order to add millions on top of their billions. The hero is the guy who blew the whistle. Only the self-serving elite would attempt to blur the distinction

Consider me one of the self-serving elite, then, but just you go ahead and try to locate my billions, buster.

Too often the only way corrupt behavior can be exposed is by the brave actions of a whistle-blower.

Tax is corruption. “Brave”? Ha! The guy stole from his employer and sold the data. We have things to call that, but “brave” isn’t one of them.

Why don’t we make it illegal for US citizens to have accounts in Liechtenstein and with the Swiss for that matter until they make public the account information to the IRS. We should sanction these governments just as we want to do with any rogue nation such as The Sudan. there is no way these rich CRIMINALS should have a safe place to hide their money.

Why don’t we make being a dumbass illegal? And who said anything about CRIMINALS anyway, other than Mr. Fuckface who sold out his customers? Ah that’s right, if someone has more than you do, they’re a criminal. I done gone and forgot the whole “Robin Hood” ethic.

Where can I send a small check to this guy to help him out?

You can address it to me, and I’ll forward it to him. Promise.

Karma works!

That’s right. And I have a flying pony.

I hope that the IRS does something with the information. Tax cheats really irk me- these are the true non-productive members of our society.

Oh, someone, STOP THE INSANITY!!!

(Matters of inconsequential fact have been changed to protect identities and my business relationships.)

Client: Hey Mike, I have a small job that needs to be translated within 2 hours. It’s in your email, can you do it?

Me: Sure, I’ll be home in a few minutes and take a look.

So I go home and check my email, and look at this document he’s sent me. It’s something to do with a civic organization applying for a grant from one of the EU’s panoply of wealth-redistribution organs.

I email him back:

Actually, I’m sorry but I won’t take this job.

I’m an anarchist. As such, I won’t do any work that supports government in any way.

Sorry for the surprise, but you’ll have to find someone else for this.

Best,
Mike

An instant messaging conversation ensues:

Client: i’m shocked. you surprised me.
Me: hehe
Client: do you know someone else who can help?
Client: i need it in 2 hours
Me: you can try [this other guy, contact info provided] (question to myself: shouldn’t I have just said “no”, helping to further monkeywrench the job?)
Client: i’m also sending you a second file if you can do that
Client: thanks. do you know him?
Me: yes. he’s a pro.
Client: great. thanks.
Me: good luck. what’s this other file?
Client: euro funds….but for my friend also
Me: sorry but no chance, for the same reason. i won’t do any work involving getting money from governments, or helping governments operate. The only things I will do are documents that people and businesses are forced to complete by governments…
Client: hm…ok…
Client: but….
Client: i still can’t understand this…
Me: all government money comes from taxation
Me: taxation is stealing
Client: i know…
Me: i wouldn’t like to be part of the crime
Client: but what should we do?
Client: everybody is involved…
Me: resist, ignore, evade, refuse to cooperate, sabotage
Client: i’m a taxpayer too (they steal my money), so maybe this is a small legal opportunity to get some of it back
Me: stealing it back is one thing
Me: but if I do work for the state and get paid, I get some money back, BUT I still lose the value of my work, and I help the state operate
Me: the math doesn’t work out. i and others still lose.
Client: come on… get over it :-p
Me: not on this, sorry
Client: ok
Client: what should i do?
Me: find someone else or refuse the job
Client: can’t refuse…
Client: it’s for my good friend…and I don’t wanna dissapoint him
Client: if i pay you more, is there any possibility?
Me: for me no, it’s a matter of principle
Client: ok…it’s your business…
Client: anyway thanks for the contact
Me: sure.
Client: have a nice day… i’m off to work.
Client: bye
Me: cheers

From The Guardian:

Slovaks open probe over possible euro leak-paper

BRATISLAVA, June 17 (Reuters) – The Slovak central bank (NBS) is investigating a suspected leak of information after suspicious deals took place before Slovakia revalued the crown’s euro parity peg last month, the daily Sme reported on Tuesday.

Slovakia revalued the central parity within the euro zone waiting room, the Exchange Rate Mechanism 2, by 15 percent to 30.1260 per euro on May 28, following rapid appreciation in the crown.

The unit jumped sharply in the hours before the revaluation. Dealers said players not usually active in the market had bought 500 million euros’ ($768 million) worth of the currency before the official release of the news, SME reported.

The paper quoted NBS spokeswoman Jana Kovacova as saying the bank was investigating a possible violation of a law on the handling of confidential information. Officials from the bank were not immediately available for comment.

Britain, E.U. Plan Iran Sanctions

16 June 2008

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday announced plans for new sanctions against Iran and a small increase in troops for Afghanistan, handing President Bush a symbolic boost on the last day of his weeklong farewell trip to Europe.

Brown, appearing with Bush at a 10 Downing Street news conference, said Britain and the European Union are expected to act to freeze the assets of Iran’s largest bank, Bank Melli, in response to Tehran’s refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment program.

[...]

European action against Bank Melli comes on top of restrictions imposed in October 2007 when the U.S. Treasury Department froze bank assets and halted transactions as part of a broader package of sanctions against state-owned Iranian financial institutions. Bank Melli allegedly sent $100 million to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups from 2002 to 2006, according to Treasury officials.

Treasury has also cut off another major Iranian bank, Bank Saderat, from the U.S. financial system.

“This has been a good trip,” President Bush said at the news conference.

Meanwhile, Israeli sabre-rattling ratchets up another notch, as Der Spiegel reports:

‘MISSION DOABLE’: Israeli Ministers Mull Plans for Military Strike against Iran

The Israeli government no longer believes that sanctions can prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons. A broad consensus in favor of a military strike against Tehran’s nuclear facilities — without the Americans, if necessary — is beginning to take shape.

UPDATE from Reuters via Cryptogon:

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran has withdrawn around $75 billion from Europe to prevent the assets from being blocked under threatened new sanctions over Tehran’s disputed nuclear ambitions, an Iranian weekly said.

The Irish failure to ratify means that the entire Treaty is now off the table, since it required ratification by all member states to become law.

This also means that the relentless drive from Brussels and elsewhere to turn Europe into a federal super-state has suffered yet another setback, the last one being the defeat of the proposed European Constitution in 2005 by referenda in France and the Netherlands. This in turn means that plans for a unified pan-European military will be delayed.

Incidentally, this is a time to point out that while most voting — especially that which serves to create positive law or delegate powers that voters don’t have to representatives who will then lord it over others — should be seen as immoral, defensive voting of this nature, to prevent government doing anything but shrink itself, is to be celebrated.

I humbly suggest that all lovers of freedom and good beer hoist a Guiness today in honor of the Irish refusal to submit to Brussels. Sláinte!

Press TV, 10 June 2008: Israel launches ‘Iran Command’ for war

BBC, 10 June 2008: US and EU issue new Iran warning (more sanctions threatened)

McClatchy, 11 June 2008: Strike on Iran nuclear sites under discussion again

AP, via Newsday, 12 June 2008: Bush, in Germany, hints at military option on Iran

Jim Lobe speculates a bit, asking: “War?”

Chris Hedges points out that Saint Obama won’t end to US designs on Iran in The Iran Trap