Yearly Archives: 2013

Renouncing US Citizenship, for tax and political reasons

"RT segment from April 15, 2013 in 'honor' of US income tax day. Features noted figures Jet Li and Eduardo Saverin, who recently quit their American citizenship for tax reasons. Freddi M. Weintraub, a tax attorney, provides insight into the law surrounding expatriation. Segment concludes with an interview with Mike Gogulski (me), who renounced his US citizenship in 2008 for political reasons and has lived without any nationality since -- a stateless person." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRenouncing US Citizenship, for tax and political reasons

Bitcoin vs. Ben Bernanke

"Thousands of mostly small online merchants are already accepting payment in Bitcoin, The virtual money that debuted in 2009 with a value of zero and traded for the first time in 2010 at a price of three-tenths of a cent recently changed hands at $97. For Mr. Andresen, a Princeton graduate who once wrote technical standards for 3-D graphics on the Internet, Bitcoin has already begun to replace the U.S. dollar. In November, the Bitcoin Foundation, where he serves as chief scientist, began paying him in the virtual currency. So far he has persuaded his barber to accept this new money, but only from Mr. Andresen. A haircut costs half a Bitcoin." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin vs. Ben Bernanke

Israel Attacks Syria — US Next?

"Today it is reported that Israel has bombed Syrian territory, this time apparently attacking Syrian government facilities. Israel violated Lebanese airspace at least 16 times to deliver its bombs on Syrian government targets, according to the report. This was no retaliation for Syrian army attacks on Israeli territory, as the only aggression against Israel from Syria came earlier in March when the insurgents fired into Israel from the Golan Heights hoping to provoke an Israeli response against Syria, which it did." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIsrael Attacks Syria — US Next?

Stark Scenes From the Guantanamo Hunger Strike

"For more than two weeks, 100 detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba have been on hunger strike to protest conditions at the prison and their indefinite confinement. First denied and downplayed by the military, the strike has now become a full-blown emergency. Twenty-three detainees are currently being force-fed. At least twice a day, guards in riot gear tie each detainee to a chair or bed, and medical personnel force a tube up his nose and down his throat, and pump a can of Ensure or other dietary supplement into his stomach. There are so many detainees being force-fed that Guantanamo's medical personnel are working around the clock." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStark Scenes From the Guantanamo Hunger Strike

Glenn Greenwald: Are all telephone calls recorded and accessible to the US government?

"The real capabilities and behavior of the US surveillance state are almost entirely unknown to the American public because, like most things of significance done by the US government, it operates behind an impenetrable wall of secrecy. But a seemingly spontaneous admission this week by a former FBI counterterrorism agent provides a rather startling acknowledgment of just how vast and invasive these surveillance activities are." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: Are all telephone calls recorded and accessible to the US government?

Police State SWATs Family Growing Tomatoes & Squash

"In August, 2011, a member of the Missouri Highway Patrol spots Bob Harte doing something suspicious. He was leaving a store with a small bag of merchandise that he bought from that store. It happened to be a hydroponics store. Seven months later, the Missouri Highway Patrol passes on that 'tip' to the Johnson County Sherriff’s Office, which then puts together an investigation spanning several weeks involving early-morning searches of the Harte’s trash, but apparently not involving any actual… investigation. They got a warrant to serve a SWAT-style search of the home, terrifying the family. They found… tomatoes and squash." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice State SWATs Family Growing Tomatoes & Squash

Fractional Reserve Banking: It’s Not Your Money…You Only Think It Is!

"In the aftermath of the forced confiscation of bank accounts in Cyprus, the question that clients ask me most is, 'could it happen here?' 'Here' is wherever the client lives or invests, and could be the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, or any other country. The answer is yes. This result stems from the nature of our modern financial system, built as it is on the flawed foundation of a poorly-understood concept called 'fractional reserve banking.' This new reality is harsh, but as I said before, it’s healthy. People need to be reminded that money deposited in a bank converts their wealth into a debt-claim." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFractional Reserve Banking: It’s Not Your Money…You Only Think It Is!

Lying Swiss Bankers Have Trapped American Clients: “Sell Your Gold. Now.”

"Approximately five weeks ago, I was notified by my bank in Geneva that they would no longer be providing private banking services to clients in the United States and Canada. After looking at the options for the liquidation of a portfolio that consisted of about 80% physical gold bullion, I made the request to take physical possession. I have certificates for each bar purchased over a period of two years but was told this morning that they would not permit me to take physical delivery. I had previously been assured that physical delivery was possible but since they have decided to close out these accounts, my previous representative has left the bank." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLying Swiss Bankers Have Trapped American Clients: “Sell Your Gold. Now.”

‘Patriot Garden’ Under Attack In Orlando

"Jennifer and Jason Helvenston of Orlando, Fla. built their home with naturally sourced materials, harvest eggs from their backyard chickens and grow vegetables in their front yard. Not only does their garden provide them with their own food, but it has become a community attraction where the couple teaches local youth about homegrown vegetables. But the Orlando City Council—which aspires to be 'the greenest city in America'—claimed that the Helvenstons’ harmless, well-tended front yard garden was in non-compliance with the city code, and threatened to fine the couple $500 a day unless they uprooted it and replaced it with lawn." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Patriot Garden’ Under Attack In Orlando

Blocked at U.S. border, Canadian expat lives out of his car in South Surrey

"Home to his fiancée and her 14-year-old son in Blaine, Wash.; and home to all his possessions, currently packed and awaiting transfer to Ohio, where he and his new family were planning to move last month to start a new life. Instead, for the better part of three weeks, home for the 45-year-old Ontario native – who asked to be identified only by his first name – has been the backseat of his Acura TL, which he’s been living in with his dog since being denied re-entry into the United States on April 16, a day after the Boston Marathon bombings." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBlocked at U.S. border, Canadian expat lives out of his car in South Surrey