> From: ptshamrock@ptshamrock.com
> Subject: Mid May 2011 Newsletter
> To: pauly hart
> Mid May 2011 Newsletter
>
> "The spark that set off the uprisings that would topple the Tunisian
> government in a matter of weeks was the death of a young street vendor
> who set himself on fire to protest his vegetables being confiscated
> because he lacked the proper license. His act of self immolation
> became a symbol of desperation and a goad to outrage for the millions
> of Tunisian youth that were unemployed or living on the margins."
> - Trends Journal
>
> In this issue:
>
> * Internet privacy: At every turn, our privacy is compromised by
> technology
> * Scary Stuff - Panic selling of the U.S. dollar now underway as
> debt system implodes
> * Breaking News! Avoid 2011 Dirty Dozen
> * Superman Renounces US Citizenship
> * Good News (?) Texas Bill Would Make Invasive Pat-Downs a Felony
> * Americans residing overseas are denied bank accounts
> * Bad News - Terrifying State Department Proposal Makes US Passports
> Almost Impossible to Obtain
> * After AT&T Ruling, Should We Say Goodbye to Consumer Class Actions?
> * Food for thought - Police powers are out of control
> * Police State - Michigan State Troopers Downloading Motorist Cell
> Phone Data During routine Stops
> * Horror Stories - Arrest of Homeless Connecticut Woman for
> Enrolling Son in School Illegally Sparks Debate
> * The District of Criminals - A Message From The Federal Reserve
> * 'Wanted' man issues legal threat to Interpol
> * Hot Tips - Warning Signs Abound In World Gone Blind
> * Advisory - PT Shamrock's email's bounce
> * Offshore Banking and tax Havens Have Become Heart
> of Global Economy
> * Low Tax Crucial To Irish Recovery, Says Kenny
> * Police in 3 States Test, Adopt Taser Wearable Camera
> * Dumbing Down - DEA head: A thousand dead children means we're
> winning war on drugs
> * Dumb Laws - California Prison Academy: Better Than a Harvard Degree
> * Dumb signs - 9/11 Responders Are Terrorists?
> * Dumb facts - Apple: We Must have Comprehensive User Location Data
> on You
> * Dumb criminal acts - Three Convicted in Terror-Related Cases Later
> Granted U.S. Citizenship by Obama Administration
> * Cannon Fodder - Dutch cops using TomTom data to position speed cams
> * Sony's security breach raises questions around data protection
> * Oz Corner - Australians believe good things about the Internet
> * Bug Bites: Hacker Got Personal Data on PlayStation Users
> * Red Hot Product
> * Appeals Court: No Hacking Required to Be Prosecuted as a Hacker
> * Shamrock's Missive
> * Quotes
> * Tid Bits - Germany says wants clarity on iPhone data storage
> * More Tid Bits - Facebook looks to cash in on user data
> * Bits n bobs - It's Getting Harder to Bring Home the Bacon
> * More Bits N bobs - Second Sony Videogame-Service Is Hacked
> * Letters To The Editor
> * Quote of the month!
> * PT Shamrock's Exclusive Member's Site!
>
> *** Internet privacy: At every turn, our privacy is compromised by
> technology
> - Guardian (UK)
>
> Internet users must be more aware of the dangers inherent in the
> services they use
>
> A pattern is emerging. A researcher discovers that a product or
> service offered by a large (generally US-based) company contains a
> security flaw or a feature that compromises the privacy of internet
> users. The revelations are confirmed by other experts across the
> internet. The company responsible then goes through a predictable
> series of steps: first, "no comment", followed by indignant denial,
> then a PR-spun "explanation" and, eventually, an apology of sorts plus
> a declaration that the bug will be fixed or the intrusive practice
> terminated.
>
> A recent example was Apple's extraordinary contortions over the
> discovery that its iPhone was covertly collecting location data and
> storing it in unencrypted form. But last week also saw the revelation
> that devices made by TomTom, the leading manufacturer of GPS
> navigation systems, had effectively been spying on Dutch users and
> that the aggregated data had been sold to the police in order to guide
> the location of speed traps.
>
> Before that, there were the revelations that Google's street-mapping
> camera cars were also collecting data on every domestic WiFi network
> they passed. On the web, many sites now deploy hidden "history
> sniffing" codes to find out what other sites a user has visited,
> webmail servers "read" every email that passes through them and social
> networking sites reveal every detail of some subscribers' tastes,
> activities and location.
>
> What these developments presage is a perfect storm of surveillance,
> orchestrated not by the state but by huge corporations. Meanwhile,
> information commissioners across Europe try to enforce data protection
> laws that were crafted in the mainframe era, long before the founders
> of Google, Facebook et al were born. Neelie Kroes, the European
> commissioner responsible for data protection, is determined to reform
> the law to make US-based companies respect the privacy of their
> European users. But her efforts are doomed unless those users wake up
> to the ways their privacy is undermined by the services and devices
> they use.
>
> Shamrock's comment: All the more reason to use pgp encrypted email.
>
> If you need assistance downloading, setting up and using pgp, just
> email us and place "PGP" in your subject heading. We'll email you a
> comprehensive report on how to download, setup and use pgp with our
> compliments.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Scary Stuff
>
> Panic selling of the U.S. dollar now underway as debt system implodes
> - J. D. Heyes
>
> To most Americans it's unthinkable that the U.S. dollar could someday
> be relegated to second-class status as a currency, but what they may
> not realize is that the transition is already underway.
>
> Reports this week marked the dollar's continued slide, it reached a
> 16-month low against the euro and slid to a historic low against the
> Swiss franc on Tuesday, while at the same time predicting something
> we've been telling you for years now, namely that the dollar is on its
> way out as the world's reserve currency.
>
> Impossible, you say? Think again. Signs of the dollar's imminent
> collapse are everywhere.
>
> Look at the economic and investment juggernaut that is China.
> Beijing's economy has been growing in leaps and bounds and as such
> used to be the largest holder of U.S. dollars, because, as the
> world's reserve currency, our dollar was the most stable. But China's
> place was recently overtaken by our more traditional Asian ally,
> Japan, as Beijing has begun instead to divest itself of the dollar.
>
> The U.S. was once known as the world's richest nation, but these days
> we have the dubious distinction of being the largest debtor in the
> history of the world. China, meanwhile, has become our largest
> creditor.
>
> So, what does all that mean in real terms? Well, it means that as
> more countries and investors flee the dollar, the faster it will begin
> to devalue. We're already seeing the effects of that in higher energy
> prices, oil is priced in dollars, after all, and when it falls, it
> takes more of them to buy the oil.
>
> And, of course, higher oil prices mean higher gasoline prices (the
> average price nationwide at the beginning of this week was $3.858 a
> gallon); higher gas prices mean it is costing more to get products and
> commodities to the market, which means we pay more for them in the
> checkout lane. As this cycle perpetuates, inflation will skyrocket
> and the dollar's value will plummet.
>
> There's one more indicator that the dollar is growing weaker, the
> meteoric rise in the price of gold and silver.
>
> In the meantime, the sea of government red ink continues to grow,
> already at more than $14 trillion. The plan in Washington to fix this
> vicious cycle? Simple. Print more money.
>
> The U.S. dollar is in trouble. The cycle is underway. The smart
> money says the age of America is over.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** Breaking News!
>
> Avoid 2011 Dirty Dozen
> - Source: IR-2011-39, April 7, 2011
>
> Tax scams can cost taxpayers penalties, criminal prosecution, and
> other serious consequences. Tax scams abound, and the IRS
> commissioner warns taxpayers to avoid them. In an effort to help, the
> IRS has listed the top 12 scams for 2011:
>
> 1. Hiding income offshore. U.S. citizens and residents are taxable
> on their worldwide income; having a foreign account does not avoid
> taxation. Some taxpayers have tried to avoid or evade U.S. income
> tax by hiding income in offshore banks, brokerage accounts, or through
> the use of nominee entities. Others evade taxes by using offshore
> debit cards, credit cards, wire transfers, foreign trusts,
> employee-leasing schemes, private annuities, or insurance plans. The
> IRS is cracking down on those who attempt to hide foreign income.
>
> 2. Identity theft and phishing. Taxpayers can have their identities
> appropriated. The IRS warns taxpayers to be careful and not share
> confidential information.
>
> 3. Return preparer fraud. Tax return preparers are under increasing
> scrutiny from the IRS. Clients of those who take false positions on
> tax returns can land those clients in hot water.
>
> 4. Filing false or misleading forms. Returns that blatantly disobey
> the law as a ploy to obtain tax refunds could result in criminal
> penalties.
>
> 5. Frivolous arguments. Outlandish claims, such as wages being
> nontaxable, won't cut it and can result in penalties.
>
> 6. Nontaxable Social Security benefits with exaggerated withholding
> credit. Misreporting withholding and claiming benefits to be
> nontaxable if they are taxable can result in a $5,000 penalty.
>
> 7. Abuse of charitable organizations and deductions. Overvaluing
> property contributions, retaining control over contributed property,
> and other erroneous measures are impermissible and subject to penalty.
>
> 8. Abusive retirement plans. Some promoters suggest ways to avoid
> contribution limitations and other rules for retirement plans; these
> are scams. In addition to costly promoter fees, taxpayers can be
> subject to IRS penalties.
>
> 9. Disguised corporate ownership. Hiding ownership of a corporation
> by having a third party obtain a tax identification number is a scam;
> penalties may result.
>
> 10. Zero wages. Wages are reported to employees on W-2 forms, but
> some taxpayers file erroneous information returns to counter reported
> wages and evade taxation. Civil and criminal penalties can result.
>
> 11. Misuse of trusts. Trusts have many legitimate purposes, but when
> they are used to create deductions for personal expenses or other
> nonvalid purposes, they are scams.
>
> 12. Fuel tax credit scams. While farmers who use fuel for
> off-highway business purposes may be entitled to a tax credit, others
> who claim such credit may be committing fraud.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** Superman Renounces US Citizenship
> - Newsarama
>
> In a story published in Action Comics #900, Superman renounced his US
> citizenship.
>
> Though it wasn't the issue's featured story, a back up story by David
> Goyer (screenwriter of Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and the upcoming
> Man of Steel) and Miguel Sepulveda has Superman declare his intention
> to take his mission of peace global, as opposed to just focusing on
> the United States.
>
> The story has been picked up by the The New York Post and Fox News.
> DC Comics co-publisher Jim Lee told the Post that in the issue,
> "Superman announces his intention to put a global focus on his never
> ending battle, but he remains, as always, committed to his adopted
> home and his roots as a Kansas farm boy from Smallville."
>
> In an article from Fox News, GOP Activist Angie Meyer said: "Besides
> being riddled with a blatant lack of patriotism, and respect for our
> country, Superman's current creators are belittling the United States
> as a whole. By denouncing his citizenship, Superman becomes an eerie
> metaphor for the current economic and power status the country holds
> worldwide."
>
> In contrast, Wired's Scott Thill said: "Superman has always been
> bigger than the United States. In an age rife with immigration
> paranoia, it's refreshing to see an alien refugee tell the United
> States that it's as important to him as any other country on Earth,
> which, in turn, is as important to Superman as any other planet in the
> multiverse."
>
> It is unclear at this point if this plot thread will be continued in
> future Superman comics.
>
> Shamrock's coment: You know things are getting bad in the united
> States [correct spelling] when superman renounces his American
> nationality. After all it use to be "For truth, Justice and The
> American Way."
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Good News (?)
>
> Texas Bill Would Make Invasive Pat-Downs a Felony
> - Associated Press
>
> Fort Worth, Texas - A former Miss USA's claims of being groped during
> a pat-down at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport could be a
> felony under a bill gaining momentum in the Texas Legislature.
>
> The bill would make it illegal for a security officer to intentionally
> touch someone's private areas -- even atop clothing -- unless they
> have probable cause to believe the person is carrying something
> illegal.
>
> Bill sponsor State Rep. David Simpson says the searches are removing
> people's dignity.
>
> Last fall the Transportation Security Administration started a new
> pat-down procedure. Susie Castillo, crowned Miss USA in 2003, said
> she was "molested" during a pat-down last April.
>
> TSA spokesman Nicholas Kimball says the agency doesn't comment on
> pending legislation. He says current security measures are the best
> ways to mitigate the risk of terrorism.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** Americans residing overseas are denied bank accounts
> - American Citizens Abroad
>
> Americans residing overseas are denied access to banking facilities in
> the United States, solely because of their foreign address. The
> number of such instances has risen sharply since passage of the
> Patriot Act. Banks refer to "Know Your Client" rules in this
> legislation as the reason for refusing clients with overseas
> addresses, even if they are U.S. citizens.
>
> Furthermore, the international reach of U.S. reporting requirements
> related to U.S. citizens' accounts has regularly led foreign banks
> and branches and subsidiaries of American banks to refuse American
> clients. The Qualified Intermediary rules of the IRS are such that
> banks consider the reporting requirements too high, and their legal
> and compliance teams do not want to take any risks.
>
> When loyal tax-paying American citizens face prejudice from both
> domestic banks and foreign banks, they are placed in a Catch 22
> situation. Whereas in the past, a presumption of honesty on the part
> of financial parties was implicit in U.S. legislation, today the
> current law is biased, with mistrust and presumption of potential
> wrongdoing. Effectively, having a foreign address makes one an
> outcast, a security risk or potential money launderer. At a time of
> ever-increasing globalization and mobility of population, the damage
> inflicted on individual American citizens by existing law is very
> serious. Congress must remedy the situation.
>
> Fundamental Issue Reported instances of banks refusing to open bank
> accounts for American citizens with a foreign address are no longer
> just a few individual cases, but reflect a clear systemic problem.
> The fundamental issue is that a category of American citizens is being
> discriminated against on the sole basis of their residences, i.e.
> their mailing addresses.
>
> Reports being received by associations representing the interests of
> Americans overseas often include quite emotional comments along with
> testimony. "Why can't I invest in my own country?" "I was enraged
> when the bank refused my opening an account." These are American
> citizens who are paying U.S. taxes and yet are being denied the basic
> right to maintain normal commercial relationships with their country.
>
> The OMBD Customer Assistance Group (vk 751858) replied on January 23,
> 2008 to ACA's inquiry about possibilities of redress as follows: "In
> opening accounts, BSA requires the bank to collect certain minimum
> information such as name, date of birth, address, and social security
> number. In establishing/continuing banking relationship, the bank is
> also able to determine their marketing area. The bank's marketing
> area plays a huge factor in the bank ability to collect on accounts
> that may go delinquent. This policy was in practice prior to the
> Patriot Act. Once an account holder leaves a bank's marketing area,
> there are no banking regulations that require the bank to maintain the
> relationship." This reply is walking around the real issue. The fact
> is that people who have had U.S. investment accounts with significant
> assets and no debts for more than 20 years have been informed,
> subsequent to passage of the Patriot Act, that their account will be
> closed within 30 days. Each time it is the foreign address which is
> cited as the reason for this procedure. The law of unintended
> consequences has indeed led to unfounded discrimination.
>
> Practical Issues Denied - Opening and maintaining bank accounts in the
> U.S. with a foreign address Denied - Possibility to write a check on
> a U.S. bank to pay U.S. taxes Denied - Opening and maintaining bank
> accounts with overseas banks Denied - Ability to transfer funds from
> overseas to American bank accounts Denied - Ability to establish a
> credit rating in the U.S. or to borrow from a U.S. bank Denied
> Access to www.AnnualCreditReport.com Denied - Possibility to invest in
> securities available to others in country of residence Denied
> Opening and maintaining bank accounts in the US with a foreign address
>
> Organizations representing Americans overseas, as well as the State
> Department, are receiving reports that a significant number of
> American citizens residing overseas are denied new accounts with
> American banks; in some instances, accounts that have existed for
> years are closed by the bank over the objections of the account
> holder. Financial institutions mentioned include Ameriprise, Bank of
> America; Bank of New Hampshire; Citibank; Citizens Bank; Edward Jones,
> St. Louis; E-Trade; Fidelity Investments; INGDirect; JPMorganChase;
> Morgan Stanley; National City Bank in Riverview, Michigan; Provident
> Bank, Maryland; Smith Barney; T. Rowe Price; USAA Federal Saving
> Bank; Vanguard mutual fund; Wachovia; Washington Mutual; Washington
> Mutual Investment, Spokane; WellsFargo; Zions Direct.
>
> As one person reported, "Bank of America informed me that they would
> no longer provide services to my accounts and I had 30 days to
> transfer my assets to another financial institution or they would cash
> out the two accounts, just like that!!
>
> This is after being a good customer of the bank for twenty-four
> years."
>
> Another noted, "As executor of my mother's estate, I was prevented
> from overseeing my father's care in a nursing home because their bank
> would not let me manage the estate account from Germany, where I
> live."
>
> And another: "I had a brokerage account with E-trade for many years.
> My request to open a new financial account was refused because of my
> foreign address. When I heard stories from other Americans overseas
> that banks were insisting on closing accounts or possibly blocking an
> account, I decided to transfer my assets from E-Trade to a foreign
> bank." And yet another: "I am named in the wills of several of my
> family members who reside in the U.S. I do not want the funds to
> leave the U.S., but I cannot open an account there."
>
> As reported in Inside Higher Education, September 30, 2005, TIAA-CREF
> informed close to 100 American colleges overseas that they can no
> longer make contributions to employees' retirement accounts.
> Stephanie Cohen-Glass, spokeswoman for TIAA-CREF, stated: " internal
> U.S. policies that were designed to combat money laundering have made
> it difficult to maintain these relationships. We are a U.S. based
> company."
>
> The surveys have shown that often the only way for Americans residing
> abroad to maintain a U.S. bank account is first to open the account
> in person in the U.S. and/or to use the address of a member of the
> family as the U.S. address. Not everyone can go to the United States
> to open up a bank account. On-line brokerage companies by definition
> do not have "bank offices" to go to. It is not normal to require
> honest adults to use the address of a family member in the United
> States for his/her private business.
>
> Denied - Possibility to write a check on a U.S. bank to pay U.S.
> taxes There are very practical consequences of not having a bank
> account in the U.S. To begin with, Americans overseas do not have a
> check book on an American bank for payment to the U.S. Treasury for
> taxes due. Without a bank account, they cannot have a U.S. issued
> credit card, which in certain instances can facilitate on-line
> shopping over the Internet.
>
> Denied - Opening and maintaining bank accounts with overseas banks
> Banks overseas, be it foreign banks or subsidiaries of American banks,
> are refusing American clients, particularly when brokerage accounts
> are involved. Banks cited include Bank of America, Geneva, ABN,
> Swissquote, Gland, Switzerland; Merrill Lynch Bank, Geneva. As noted
> in the IHT of Wednesday, February 27, 2008, ABN AMRO, whose
> consumerbanking arm and asset-management and private banking
> operations were acquired by Fortis in 2006, announced on February 27,
> 2008 that "it was closing any portfolio investment accounts held by
> customers with a U.S. passport within 30 days, citing "strategic
> reasons." The Dutch financial newspaper De Telegraaf reported that the
> decision to cancel the accounts was the result of high costs to comply
> with U.S. regulatory laws."
>
> Swissquote, an on-line broker in Switzerland, makes its policy very
> clear. Just go to www.swissquote.ch site to open an account. Scroll
> down to find nationality and you will find approximately 240 listings,
> including the Antarctic, the Cook Islands, Pitcairn Islands, the
> Vatican and "Wallis and Futuna". Scroll down to the bottom and read
> the last bullet point on the application. "If you are an American you
> are barred from using this platform to trade in U.S. markets, trade
> in U.S. securities, or own any mutual funds whatsoever, since they
> may invest in the U.S." The reason cited U.S. Treasury
> regulations. In fact, Swissquote refuses to take an American citizen
> as a client. Denied - The ability to transfer funds from overseas to
> American bank accounts "I found myself unable to transfer funds to one
> of my children attending school in America."
>
> "When an IRA distribution was sent to my US bank, the bank refused the
> deposit, saying that I must provide a utility bill."
>
> "A U.S. bank, where I have had 529 College Savings Plans accounts for
> five years for my two daughters, suddenly in September 2007 refused
> any further deposits."
>
> "In spite of the fact that I have had a long standing and multiple
> accounts with my bank, I was blocked from making transfers into an
> account and some brokerage transactions were also blocked due to my
> foreign address."
>
> Denied - Ability to establish a credit rating in the U.S. or to
> borrow from a U.S. bank "It is very difficult for non-residents to
> get a mortgage for an investment/future retirement property because
> they cannot open an account in the U.S."
>
> "As a U.S. resident abroad, today I am unable to continue
> establishing U.S. credit history or even to request my credit report
> in case I want to request a loan from a U.S. bank."
>
> Denied - Access to www.AnnualCreditReport.com For individuals who have
> had financial transactions in the U.S., the FTC-approved
> www.annualcreditreport.com allows one to obtain their free annual
> credit reports. The 3 major credit reporting companies (transunion,
> equifax & experian) all link to this site. It is very important for
> any consumer to review their credit report for errors. If one tries
> to access this site, the follow message comes up:
> "TheAnnualCreditReport.com website is only accessible through ISPs
> (internet Service Providers) located within the United States and its
> territories." Once again, US citizens resident abroad are denied
> access to full US financial services.
>
> Denied - The possibility to invest in securities available to citizens
> of other countries SEC restrictions and regulations prohibit U.S.
> citizens to invest in certain securities which have not been filed
> with the SEC. Of course, these restrictions apply to all Americans,
> not just overseas Americans. But when Americans are living abroad and
> have their base currency and investment horizon beyond the U.S.
> borders, it is particularly difficult to accept that U.S. law
> restricts personal investment decisions of an individual living
> overseas, particularly when those laws do not apply to one's
> neighbors. This restriction on U.S. citizens of investing in certain
> securities complicates bank account management and is one of the
> reasons why foreign banks refuse U.S. clients residing overseas.
>
> Recommendations - The organizations sponsoring Overseas Americans Week
> are of the opinion that all U.S. citizens, including those resident
> overseas, are entitled to full access to the American banking system
> and to American financial institutions and services.
>
> These organizations strongly recommend that Congress, and in
> particular the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in the
> Senate and the Financial Services Committee in the House of
> Representatives, investigate this issue and introduce legislation to
> correct this injustice, i.e. discrimination by American financial
> institutions against American citizens on the sole basis of their
> overseas address.
>
> Shamrock's comment: PT Shamrock welcomes Americans at the abnk account
> we offer. Peruse our current selection at
> www.ptshamrock.com/taxfree.html for an account that will meet your
> requirments.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Bad News
>
> Terrifying State Department Proposal Makes US Passports Almost
> Impossible to Obtain - Protest Now!
> - The Travel Insider
>
> Here's something I stumbled across this morning - a proposed new
> supplementary form that the State Department may require us to
> complete as part of applying for a passport. Go have a look at the
> form, and marvel at the complexity of questions it expects you to be
> able to answer (and roll your eyes at their time estimate that it will
> take only 45 minutes to do so).
>
> Being issued a US passport is a right, not a privilege. It is
> appropriate for the State Department to ensure we are a bona fide US
> citizen, and that can be determined unambiguously from viewing our
> birth certificate or certificate of naturalization. But having
> confirmed our citizenship status, they are obliged to issue us a
> passport (there are various authorities to support this claim - see
> this submission to the State Department protesting against this new
> form). Requiring us to answer this form as a precondition of being
> given the passport we are entitled to is an abuse of their limited
> authority, and the questions they ask of us has no bearing on
> establishing our entitlement to US citizenship and therefore a
> passport.
>
> If you're as appalled by the questions on this form as I am, you are
> welcome to urgently send in your own submission - you can do so by
> email.
>
> Please repost/retweet/forward this message on to others.
>
> My own submission was more modest, and is copied, below.
>
> Dear Ms Garcia,
>
> I write to offer comments regarding DS-5513, Biographical
> Questionnaire for US Passport, 1405-XXXX.
>
> 1. My name is David Rowell. I am a naturalized US citizen,
> originally from New Zealand. I reside in Redmond, WA and hold a US
> passport.
> 2. I am a travel writer and commentator, and since 2001
> have been publisher of 'The Travel Insider', a website, weekly
> newsletter and blog focused on travel and travel related technology.
> Over a quarter million different people visit my website every month.
> The profile of my readers shows them to be skewed significantly
> towards upper income, graduate/post graduate education, and senior
> management positions or retired, and they travel both domestically
> and internationally multiple times each year.
> 3. I make these comments based on personal experience and my
> general sense of my readers expectations and views, garnered over
> ten years of interactions with them.
> 4. The information that is proposed to be requested of intending US
> passport holders is extraordinarily onerous and without precedent in
> any other western country.
> 5. Establishing one's US citizenship status is an extremely simple
> process and in no way requires the information requested in this
> new proposed form.
>
> A copy of one's birth certificate or a copy of one's naturalization
> certificate is all that is required.
> 6. The complete employment and residence history of the applicant is
> irrelevant to the granting of a US passport, as is biographical data
> about one's family members. Is the State Department implying that people
> who have lived in 'bad' cities or who have had 'unacceptable' employment
> histories will now be refused passports? In what way will their decision
> be influenced by details about family members?
> 7. Suggesting that it would take only 45 minutes to complete this form
> is risible in the extreme. Some of the data is simply impossible to secure,
> how can one accurately establish addresses of past residences that might
> be dating back 20, 40, or even 60 or more years in the past? How can one
> provide details of employment at companies that have long since gone out
> of business, and even if this was possible, for what purpose must one
> provide this information complete with contact numbers for named supervisors?
> 8. Even information on one's family can be difficult to accurately
> provide. If one's parents are deceased, there may not be an easy way
> to find answers to some of these questions, and in any case, one
> again is left with no answer to the question 'Why is this information
> required?'.
> 9. It is also unclear why one needs to provide one's social security
> number when applying for a passport.
> 10. In closing, I note with wry humor that the information required to
> obtain a US passport appears to be much greater than the information
> required to establish eligibility to run for the office of President.
>
> Thank you for considering these comments
>
> Respectfully
>
> David M Rowell
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** After AT&T Ruling, Should We Say Goodbye to Consumer Class
> Actions?
> - Ashby Jones
>
> Last November, we ginned up this blog post about a Supreme Court case
> that, were it ruled on in favor of AT&T, could spell the death-knell
> of consumer class actions.
>
> Well, on Wednesday, the Supreme Court rendered its decision in the
> case, AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, with AT&T garnering a winning five
> votes.
>
> And should we prepare that going-away party? It's too soon to know,
> of course, but this is the outcome predicted by Vanderbilt Law
> Professor Brian Fitzpatrick last year. Wrote Fitzpatrick:
>
> If the court goes down AT&T's path, the consequences could be
> staggering. It could be the end of class action litigation. . . .
> [V]irtually all class actions today occur between parties who are in
> transactional relationships with one another: shareholders and
> corporations, consumers and merchants, employees and employers.
> Because they are in transactional relationships, they are able to
> enter arbitration agreements with class action waivers.
>
> Once given the green light, it is hard to imagine any company would
> not want its shareholders, consumers and employees to agree to such
> provisions.
>
> Okay, okay. But we just might be getting ahead of ourselves. Let's
> back up.
>
> Vincent and Liza Concepcion sued AT&T for deceptive practices because
> the company allegedly advertised discounted cell phones but charged
> sales tax on the full retail price. So the Concepcions sued on behalf
> of a class of consumers who'd also allegedly overpaid.
>
> Thing is, the contract with AT&T, as such contracts typically do,
> required all claims to be resolved through arbitration, and that the
> arbitration could not move forward as a class.
>
> Both a California federal district court and the Ninth Circuit struck
> down the contract, ruling that it was imposed upon consumers and
> therefore violated public policy.
>
> AT&T appealed, arguing that that the Federal Arbitration Act pre-empts
> state contract law and allows class-action exemptions when they're
> combined with arbitration.
>
> On Wednesday, the Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Justice
> Antonin Scalia, agreed with that analysis, ruling that the company can
> enforce a contract provision that requires customers to arbitrate
> their disputes individually.
>
> Joining Scalia were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Anthony
> Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. Justice Stephen Breyer
> penned a dissent, which was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginbsurg,
> Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
>
> Scalia said allowing the case to proceed as a class action would run
> afoul of a federal law that promotes arbitration. "States cannot
> require a procedure that is inconsistent with the FAA, even if it is
> desirable for unrelated reasons," Justice Scalia wrote.
>
> In his dissent, however, Breyer said requiring consumers to arbitrate
> cases on an individual basis could lead claimants to abandon
> small-money cases rather than litigate. "What rational lawyer would
> have signed on to represent the Concepcions in litigation for the
> possibility of fees stemming from a $30.22 claim?"
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Food for thought
>
> Police powers are out of control
> - Sunny Hundal, Liberal Conspiracy Blog
>
> What gives the police the right to arrest a person who has not
> committed a crime and wasn't planning to commit any crime?
>
> Yesterday, long-time activist and professional
> thorn-in-the-side-of-the-establishment Chris Knight was preemptively
> arrested by the police (video url below).
>
> The crime? Planning a 'zombie wedding' stunt that featured a mock
> execution of Prince Andrew with a guillotine. Not the nicest of
> stunts, I'll grant you, but an arrestable offence?
>
> Keep in mind that a Channel 4 film crew were with the trio who got
> arrested, filming for the 'Unofficial Royal Wedding' Some of their
> equipment was also confiscated.
>
> The 'Zombie Wedding' was billed as a "right royal orgy" with "rumpy
> pumpy and guillotines" and explicitly stated, "this is a totally
> non-terrorist event". What did the police say? This:
>
> This evening, 28 April, officers arrested three people, two males
> aged 68 and 45, and a 60-year-old woman, in Wickham Road, SE4 on
> suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance and breach of the
> peace.
>
> Unbelievable. Watch the video (here at
>
>
> The police had already "made it clear" in advance that:
>
> This is a day of celebration, joy and pageantry for Great Britain.
> Any criminals attempting to disrupt it, be that in the guise of
> protest or otherwise, will be met by a robust, decisive, flexible and
> proportionate policing response.
> - Cmdr Christine Jones, Metropolitan Police
>
> Earlier in the day, the same strategy was applied to raids on various
> squats in Brighton:
>
> During the attack on Grow Heathrow, sleeping people were dragged out
> of their beds by up to 40 cops. The police left having seen mostly
> vegetables and some bees. I'm unconvinced that vegetables (organic or
> not) required the possibly illegal presence of dozens of riot cops to
> stop them from being repurposed as guillotines or whatever mad
> nonsense the cops will inevitably say they had specific intelligence
> about in the press release which will be sent out just in time for the
> evening news.
>
> Guy Aitchison is right when he says this is just blanket, political
> policing.
>
> The political intent is quite clear. The police have gone far beyond
> their role as upholders of the law. At vast expense to the taxpayer,
> they have gone out of their way to ensure that tomorrow's event
> delivers exactly what it says on the tin: a huge display of
> ostentation and state power used to cement people's loyalty to the
> establishment at a time when your average citizen, sorry subject,
> is getting screwed
>
> But this isn't just about the Royal Wedding is it? The police are
> arresting activists preemptively, without any evidence that a crime
> was going to be committed, just to restrict political protest.
>
> Where are the checks and balances on their power? Where are the
> right-wing defenders of civil liberties now?
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** Police State
>
> Michigan State Troopers Downloading Motorist Cell Phone Data During
> Routine Stops
> - autospies.com
>
> The Michigan State Police have a high-tech mobile forensics device
> that can be used to extract information from cell phones belonging to
> motorists stopped for minor traffic violations. The American Civil
> Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan last Wednesday demanded that state
> officials stop stonewalling freedom of information requests for
> information on the program.
>
> ACLU learned that the police had acquired the cell phone scanning
> devices and in August 2008 filed an official request for records on
> the program, including logs of how the devices were used. The state
> police responded by saying they would provide the information only in
> return for a payment of $544,680. The ACLU found the charge
> outrageous.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Horror Stories
>
> Arrest of Homeless Connecticut Woman for Enrolling Son in School
> Illegally Sparks Debate
> - Joshua Rhett Miller
>
> Tanya McDowell, a 33-year-old homeless woman whose last known address
> was in Bridgeport, Conn, is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday on
> charges of larceny and conspiracy to commit larceny for allegedly
> stealing $15,686 from Norwalk schools.
>
> A Connecticut mother who says she wanted to give her son a better
> education will be arraigned on Wednesday on charges for enrolling the
> 6-year-old in another town, sparking outrage and support from people
> nationwide.
>
> Tanya McDowell, a 33-year-old homeless woman whose last known address
> was in Bridgeport, Conn, is scheduled to be arraigned on charges of
> larceny and conspiracy to commit larceny for allegedly stealing
> $15,686 from Norwalk schools. Prosecutors allege that figure is the
> value of her son's education at Norwalk's Brookside Elementary School
> between the time he was illegally enrolled in January and McDowell's
> arrest on April 14. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison.
>
> But Gwen Samuel, founder of the Connecticut Parents Union, an
> educational lobbying group, plans to hold a rally and press conference
> in support of McDowell in front of the state Superior Court in Norwalk
> at 9 a.m. Wednesday. Samuel said she wants the charges filed against
> McDowell to be dropped.
>
> "This should've never happened," Samuel told FoxNews.com. "Do we
> really want to be punitive for this? We just cannot be the state that
> is stooping to this level. We can look at this and do it another way.
> This just should not be happening."
>
> Samuel, who will be joined by McDowell on Wednesday, called upon state
> lawmakers to repeal legislation that criminalizes actions by parents
> who seek to obtain a better education for their children.
>
> "We need to look at homelessness and realize it's not just people
> living under bridges," she said. "Some people don't have a stable
> place to lay their head, and we need to be very sensitive to the
> fiscal crisis and the results of that. How do we assure this doesn't
> become a pattern?"
>
> Norwalk Mayor Richard Moccia, meanwhile, defended the arrest, saying
> McDowell used a friend's public housing address to enroll her son at
> Brookside Elementary School. Moccia also noted McDowell's criminal
> history, including a November arrest for possession of marijuana and
> narcotics and an 18-month prison term in 2001 for robbery and weapons
> offenses.
>
> "This is not a poor, picked-upon homeless person," Moccia said on
> Monday. "This is an ex con, and somehow the city of Norwalk is made
> into the ogre in this. She has a checkered past at best."
>
> Moccia said his office has received more than 100 emails from across
> the country in support of McDowell. He disputes claims that city
> officials are being insensitive to McDowell's plight.
>
> "We're a very compassionate city," he said. "She knew how to post
> bond, she had a car -- why didn't she send her kid to the Bridgeport
> school? This woman is not a victim and Norwalk is not an ogre. As
> far as I'm concerned, let them say what they want."
>
> What's "lost" in the case, according to Moccia, is McDowell's son, who
> was "bounced around" the state's educational system due to his
> mother's wishes.
>
> McDowell told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren on Tuesday that other
> parents recommended Brookside to her.
>
> "He loved the school. He talks about it constantly," she said, and
> now he wonders why he can't go back.
>
> In a statement released late Monday, Norwalk Public Schools officials
> indicated that McDowell testified in the Norwalk Housing Court on Jan.
> 11 that she and her son actually lived at 66 Priscilla Circle in
> Bridgeport, Conn.
>
> "She did not testify at that time that she was homeless," the
> statement read. "Sometime prior to January 19, 2011, Ms. McDowell
> registered her son in a public school in Bridgeport ... Attendance
> records indicate that her son's last day at Brookside School was
> January 14, 2011."
>
> The Norwalk Public Schools did not initiate the proceeding in Norwalk
> Housing Court to remove McDowell's son or file a criminal complaint
> against McDowell, the statement continued.
>
> "The Norwalk Public Schools fully complies with the McKinney-Vento
> Act, which requires public schools to provide education for homeless
> students," the statement concluded. "In this case, according to her
> own testimony, Ms. McDowell and her son reside in Bridgeport, and we
> are aware of no evidence that she or her son is homeless."
>
> Calls to Elizabeth Reid, McDowell's court-appointed attorney, were not
> returned on Monday.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** The District of Criminals
>
> A Message From The Federal Reserve
>
> Folks, you are going to love this video message from the Federal
> Reserve telling us exactly what a bunch of dumbed down, apathetic,
> corporate-owned moos we actually are and how they have been pirating
> your wealth for decades. This message includes everything from gold
> confiscation to the Patriot Act. See
>
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** 'Wanted' man issues legal threat to Interpol
>
> 'Red notice' results from politically motivated charges from
> Indonesia, says British businessman
> - Philip Aldrick, The Telegraph
>
> A multi-millionaire British businessman is threatening to sue Interpol
> for putting him on its "wanted" list over corruption charges in
> Indonesia that he claims are politically motivated.
>
> Lawyers for Rafat Ali Rizvi, a UK national who is facing a potential
> death sentence for his alleged role in the collapse of one of
> Indonesia's leading banks, have warned Interpol that he will sue for
> millions in reputational damages unless the "red notice" issued
> against him is removed.
>
> Mr Rizvi, 49, who splits his time between London and Singapore, has
> been accused of stealing assets from Indonesia's Bank Century after it
> was rescued by the state in November 2008 with $670m ( 430m) of
> taxpayers' money. The bail-out has been hugely controversial in the
> country, leading to riots on the streets.
>
> Police and politicians have been accused of corruption and the issue
> is destabilising the government. Mr Rizvi claims he is innocent and
> is the victim of a xenophobic campaign to "scapegoat" the bank's
> foreign owners.
>
> His lawyers, Kingsley Napley, have written to both Interpol and the
> Department for Justice in Hong Kong, where most of his assets have
> been frozen, pointing out that they may be in breach of their
> constitutions by upholding a politically motivated complaint.
>
> Angus McBride, of Kinglsey Napley, has written to Interpol claiming it
> is "in violation of the constitution forbidding the organisation from
> undertaking any intervention of a political character". The letter
> also warns that Mr Rizvi may take action against Interpol "for
> breaching the constitution and damaging his reputation", Mr McBride
> said.
>
> A similar letter has been sent to the Secretary for Justice in Hong
> Kong drawing attention to laws stating Hong Kong should not provide
> assistance to "an investigation that relates to the prosecution of an
> offence of a political character". Kingsley Napley is also in talks
> with the UK Foreign Office about Mr Rizvi.
>
> Mr Rizvi, who is estimated to be worth $600m and grew up and attended
> university in the UK, has been forced to take action because the vast
> majority of his funds are tied up in Hong Kong bank accounts that have
> been frozen under advice from the local police. The police are acting
> in response to Interpol's red notice.
>
> Bank Century collapsed in the global credit crunch as liquidity pools
> dried up after the demise of Lehman Brothers. Mr Rizvi held less than
> 5pc, a legacy of his stake in one of three banks that merged in 2002
> to form Bank Century, and was not on the board.
>
> After the bail-out, allegations surfaced that Bank Century's largest
> shareholder, Robert Tantular, had embezzled hundreds of millions of
> dollars in collusion with a number of directors. Mr Tantular, a local
> entrepreneur, has been jailed for five years on charges of not
> honouring a letter of agreement.
>
> However, the government is going after Mr Rivzi and another private
> shareholder Hesham al Warraq, a Saudi national, on charges of
> corruption, which can carry the death penalty in Indonesia.
>
> According to Indonesia's Attorney General's Office, Mr Rivzi and Mr
> Warraq stashed $1.4bn of distressed debt securities that the bank was
> holding for liquidity in accounts around the world.
>
> Kingsley Napley, which is also acting for Mr al Warraq, claims neither
> man was involved in any embezzlement and, in a cut-throat defence, is
> accusing Mr Tantular. Mr Tantular, in return, is blaming the two men.
>
> The controversy has reached fever pitch in Indonesia, with a
> parliamentary investigation accusing the regulator of failure and a
> police investigation into political corruption around the Bank Century
> bail-out.
>
> The police chief leading the probe, who requested the Interpol notices
> against Mr Rizvi and Mr al Warraq, was himself later investigated over
> a bribery scandal related to the bail-out.
>
> His team subsequently arrested two of the anti-corruption personnel
> who had accused him of accepting bribes, prompting public fury.
> Following street rallies against the police and sympathetic
> politicians, the police chief was removed.
>
> Mr Rizvi's lawyers said: "The allegations [against our client] from
> Indonesia are effectively political in nature."
>
> Hong Kong has an extradition agreement with Indonesia, but Singapore
> and the UK do not.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Hot Tips
>
> Warning Signs Abound In World Gone Blind
> - whatdoesitmean.com
>
> The news that cell phones are being used as tracking devices and are
> being exploited by data extraction devices (DED) that can quickly
> extract mobile data (such as contacts, photos, and deleted text
> messages) for Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and other major carriers, has
> stunned many in the world this past week leading to calls for
> investigation by politicians in the United States and Germany.
>
> The strangest aspect of this current outrage being heaped upon Apple's
> iPhone and Google's Android smart phone devices [all cell/smart phones
> have this technology in them] is that this "news" has long been known
> to anyone who cared to know. This past year, in fact, we offered to
> our readers our "Cloak of Athena" protection device specifically
> designed to keep cell/smart phones from being tracked or made
> vulnerable to DED's.
>
> What's even more astounding in this current flap over cell phone
> privacy is that the user agreements signed by customers (that's you)
> specifically allow these giant corporations to track your every move,
> listen in to any live conversation you may be having, store any amount
> of your private information they want for as long as they choose, and
> (this is where it gets really scary) give and/or sell that information
> to anyone they so choose, including the government.
>
> And in America, at least, the government is the largest user of your
> private cell phone information due to a number of laws (most
> importantly the Telecommunications Act of 1996) that require all major
> phone carriers to give it to them.
>
> What they're doing with your private information is even more
> shocking, as since the days immediately following 9/11, the US has
> created the largest domestic intelligence and surveillance apparatus
> the world has ever seen comprised of what are called Fusion Centers
> (there are currently 70 of them found in every US State) manned by
> over 200,000 police-state operatives (public and private) and
> operating with a budget over $75 Billion (2009).
>
> Now going from the mere scary to the downright frightening was the
> news this past week that these same Fusion Centers put in a rush order
> for 350,934 copies of what they call the "National Detainee Handbook"
> they want printed up by April 29, 2011, and is used by the US
> government for what are called "detention and removal operations."
>
> If you're wondering at this point who the US government is planning on
> "detaining and removing" you need look no further than your own cell
> phone, after all, since 1996 they've been able to track and monitor
> tens of millions of Americans and pretty much know right now who they
> want to keep silent when the preverbal "shit" hits the fan. [Note:
> All cell phone conversations in the US are funneled through the
> National Security Agency's (NSA) Echelon System that captures
> "keywords" and passes them onto the Fusion Centers for further
> analyses of those deemed a "threat" to security.]
>
> For you to believe that you, or those close to you, are not on some
> government "detain and remove" list means you are in such denial as to
> be a genuine threat to yourself and your family, and maybe it's time
> you woke up this simple fact: You live in a country that is ruled by
> ruthless monsters that care absolutely nothing about you and have
> robbed you and your nation blind because you have let them. So
> catastrophic has the American economy become that Russian Prime
> Minister Vladimir Putin rightly called it "hooliganism" after it was
> downgraded this past week by Standard and Poor's credit rating agency.
>
> For nearly a decade we have warned you, repeatedly, and in too many
> different ways to count, of what these times are all about and what is
> going to happen next; the vast majority of you haven't listened. Even
> worse are the many who mocked us and others like us for daring to tell
> you the truth.
>
> And, while the majority of you have mocked, laughed and ridiculed us,
> the same cannot be said of those, like us, who know the truth, and
> who, according to a recent CNN report, have increased the sales of
> survival shelters in the US by over 3,000%!
>
> For those of you who have followed us for years you are, no doubt,
> well prepared for the vicious storm that is soon to come. To those of
> you who have not prepared, however, there is still time to do so, and
> if not now when?
>
> The most important survival resource you have available to you is your
> own mind, but only if you know how to use it.
>
> In order to help you use it we created years ago two books to help
> you, Picking up the Pieces: Practical Guide for Surviving Economic
> Crashes, Internal Unrest and Military Suppression and The Partisans
> Handbook: Essential Survival Guide For Resisting Foreign Military
> Occupation, Escape And Evasion Techniques, Surviving Interrogation,
> Facing Execution, Wilderness Survival, both of which you'll need
> knowledge of in the hard times to come.
>
> To also help you, especially in light of many more of you knowing how
> dangerous your cell phones really are, we are offering, for this
> weekend only, a special combined offer of our Cloak of Athena
> protection device [read more here] and Survival Planning Tobacco Seeds
> [read more here] for the price of $35.00 [US], both of which, if you
> don't already have, you do need.
>
> This savings of over $10.00 was made available to you by one of our
> more generous benefactors who wishes to remain anonymous, but whom we
> gratefully thanked on your behalf.
>
> Note: Cost does not include $4.50 [US] World-Wide Shipping and
> Handling.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** Advisory
>
> Dear Readers,
>
> Please be advised that numerous US based email address' ending with
> att.net, verizon.net and aol, are being rejected and bounced back to us
> for whatever reason/s when we reply to them.
>
> Although those with such email addresses might be subscribed to PTBuzz
> and receive our free newsletter, those with such email address' who email
> us at ptshamrock@ptshamrock.com when we reply to your email, those
> email's bounce.
>
> Therefore in the event you do not receive our reply, please contact us using
> another email address.
>
> We suggest obtaining a free email account at www.safe-mail.net or for
> those who are inclined to use and receive pgp encrypted email's, you can
> obtain a free account at www.hushmail.com
>
> PT Shamrock
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** Offshore Banking and Tax Havens Have Become Heart of Global Economy
>
> As millions of Americans file their income taxes, we look at how
> corporations and the wealthy use offshore banks and tax havens to
> avoid paying taxes and other governmental regulations. "Tax havens
> have grown so fast in the era of globalization, since the 1970s, that
> they are now right at the heart of the global economy and are
> absolutely huge," says our guest, British journalist Nicholas Shaxson.
> "There are anywhere between $10 and $20 trillion sitting offshore at
> the moment. Half of world trade is processed in one way or another
> through tax havens." Shaxson is the author of the new book, Treasure
> Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore Banking and Tax Havens.
> [includes rush transcript]
>
> Guest:
>
> Nicholas Shaxson, author of Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of
> Offshore Banking and Tax Havens.
>
> Juan Gonzalez: As millions of Americans are preparing to file their
> income taxes ahead of Monday's deadline, we look today at how
> corporations and the wealthy are utilizing offshore banks and tax
> havens to avoid paying taxes and other governmental regulations.
>
> Earlier this year, Democratic Senator Carl Levin introduced two bills
> to crack down on tax havens. Levin estimates that nearly $100 billion
> is lost each year by not closing tax loopholes.
>
> Besides Levin's bill, there has been little discussion in Washington
> on the issue, despite the intense debate over the budget. During
> President Obama's budget speech on Wednesday, he uttered the words
> "tax" and "taxes" nearly 40 times. Never once did he mention tax
> havens.
>
> Amy Goodman: Our first guest today is the British journalist Nicholas
> Shaxson, author of the new book Treasure Islands: Uncovering the
> Damage of Offshore Banking and Tax Havens. In the book Shaxson
> writes, quote, "The offshore system is the secret underpinning for the
> political and financial power of Wall Street today. It is the
> fortified refuge of Big Finance." Nicholas Shaxson joins us from
> Washington, D.C.
>
> Welcome to Democracy Now! Talk about what you're calling "Treasure
> Islands."
>
> Nicholas Shaxson? We'll go to a music break, and we'll come back to
> see if we can get the audio of Nicholas Shaxson. Looks like we got it
> right now. Welcome to Democracy Now!, Nicholas.
>
> Nicholas Shaxson: Thanks. Thank you very much.
>
> Amy Goodman: It's good to have you with us. OK, explain what these
> "Treasure Islands" are.
>
> Nicholas Shaxson: Well, my book is about tax havens, and one of the
> big themes of my books is one of the big things in my book is that tax
> havens are much, much bigger and much more important than almost
> anybody realizes. Most people think of tax havens as just a bunch of
> shady places, perhaps out in the Caribbean, Switzerland, a couple of
> other places, where a few celebrity tax dodgers maybe and some mafiosi
> and some criminals go and put their money. And they see it as a kind
> of exotic sideshow to the global economy.
>
> One of the central messages of my book and I explore the history of
> this in quite a lot of detail is that tax havens have grown so fast in
> the era of globalization, since kind of the 1970s, that they have now
> become right they are now right at the heart of the global economy and
> are absolutely huge. I mean, there are 10 anywhere between 10 and 20
> trillion U.S. dollars sitting offshore at the moment. Half of world
> trade is processed in one way or another through tax havens. It's all
> around us, and it's absolutely huge.
>
> Part of that part of that message is that the biggest tax havens in
> the world are not so much these little islands, but big, rich
> countries. The United Kingdom, my country, is one of the world's most
> important tax havens. And right now in Washington, D.C., I'm sitting
> in one of the world's biggest tax havens, as well: the United States.
> So, this is something we need to really reappraise, the whole
> geography of the system, and understand how important it is. And when
> we're hearing figures of $100-plus billion lost to the U.S.
> taxpayers, I would argue that is just one aspect of the problem. The
> problem is much, much bigger. There are many, many other aspects to
> consider here.
>
> Juan Gonzalez: Well, when you say that United Kingdom itself is a tax
> haven, what do you mean? And how did that develop?
>
> Nicholas Shaxson: Well, there are two aspects to this, really. One is
> the U.K., the city of London, which is the financial district of the
> United Kingdom, is itself a tax haven. And I need to explain a little
> bit what I mean by "tax haven." There's no general agreement
> worldwide as to what a tax haven is. A lot of people focus on the tax
> element, but it's much more than that. Tax havens do offer zero or
> low taxes to people elsewhere, but they also offer secrecy. They
> offer escape routes from financial regulation. They offer escape
> routes from criminal laws. The key theme here is escape. If you
> don't want to do if you are constrained by democratic rules and curbs
> at home, you take your money offshore, you take it elsewhere, to a
> place where they'll let you do what you're not allowed to do at home.
>
> And looking at the history of this, Wall Street, after the Second
> World War, they were after the Bretton Woods agreement, 1946, there
> was a cooperative international order set up where capital was tightly
> controlled around the world. Wall Street was very firmly put in its
> place. And, you know, there were very high taxes on the wealthy. And
> for about a quarter of a century, this system more or less worked out,
> and capital was quite tightly constrained. It was also an era of very
> high, broad-based economic growth, not just in the United States, but
> around the world. What happened during that period, though, was that
> the banks, Wall Street, in particular, didn't obviously didn't like
> these curbs, didn't like the Glass-Steagall Act that was separating
> commercial from investment banking, didn't like interest rate caps,
> didn't like these controls. And essentially, they went off to London.
> And in London, the Bank of England and the city of London said,
> basically, "You bring your money here, and you can do what you like.
> You don't we're not going to worry about Glass-Steagall. We're not
> going to worry about interest rate caps." And so, what happened is
> Wall Street piled into London from about the '60s onwards, and that
> really marked the unraveling of part of the unraveling of the Bretton
> Woods arrangements.
>
> And Wall Street was able to grow incredibly fast offshore, much, much
> faster than it had been before. And this ability to grow offshore,
> first in London and then in a wider network of tax havens around the
> world, this has been one of the great reasons why it has been able to
> grow so fast. And now we have "too big to fail" banks and this
> offshore system, the ability of banks in the United States to go
> elsewhere to do things that allow them to grow faster and take more
> risks, away from the democratic curbs. It's one of the reasons why
> they've grown so powerful and why we have got such a difficult
> situation today with Wall Street having such power over the
> politicians in this country and my country and others.
>
> Juan Gonzalez: You talk in your book also about Britain recreating a
> new empire. You mention all of the Caribbean islands, that most
> Americans have heard about as vacation spots but really don't pay much
> attention to: Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Turks and
> Caicos. What role do they play in this exploding situation with tax
> havens?
>
> Nicholas Shaxson: It's a very curious story. I and my researchers, my
> co-researchers, went into the archives in the United Kingdom and
> looked at what they were saying at the time. What we had was a we
> have a series of partly British territories spread around the world,
> notably the overseas the British Overseas Territories, which include
> the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, the Turks and Caicos, Gibraltar,
> Anguilla, and the so-called Crown Dependencies, which are closer to
> the U.K. That's Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. And all of
> these centers were allowed they're partly controlled by Britain; they
> do have independent politics, as well. It's a sort of half-in,
> half-out kind of offshore system. So Britain has this kind of network
> around the world.
>
> But what this network does is that these places serve as conduits;
> they serve as channels for business to be passed to the city of
> London. So there's this kind of network of havens around the world,
> capturing business. And in the Caribbean, a lot of business captured
> from the United States, Latin American. And this is licit and illicit
> business; it's a mixture of the two. And the Crown
> Dependencies Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man capturing business
> focusing more on Europe, perhaps in Africa and the Middle East. And
> all this so they're serving as feeders for the city of London.
>
> And I was talking about how the offshore system has been used to used
> by Wall Street to become so big and powerful. Well, the U.K. has its
> own special version of that, and that's this network, which has really
> as well as the U.K. itself being a tax haven, this network feeding
> business into the city of London is an absolutely colossal reason why
> the city of London is now, by some measure, the world's biggest
> financial center. So, it's something that has you know it is at the
> period of decolonization, this is when the system really started
> getting together and started working. And one can make an argument
> that this is a new kind of financial empire that Britain you know, a
> kind of hidden empire that nobody really has really paid much
> attention to now, but it is of absolutely tremendous importance. And
> we in the United Kingdom I just as we have the banks holding our
> politicians by the throat, I think, just as much as you do here in the
> United States.
>
> Amy Goodman: I wanted to go to U.S. presidential politics. One of
> the leading Republican presidential contenders, Mitt Romney, has a
> history profiting from offshore tax havens. In 2008, the Los Angeles
> Times exposed how Romney, as head of Bain Capital, utilized shell
> companies and two offshore tax havens in Bermuda and the Cayman
> Islands to help eligible investors avoid paying U.S. taxes. The
> tax-friendly jurisdictions helped attract billions of investment
> dollars to Bain Capital. Los Angeles Times reporter Bob Drogin spoke
> to us about this in 2008.
>
> Bob Drogin: A side light of that was Bain Capital, which today has
> assets of about $60 billion that's their the number that they
> officially say and about a third of that comes from these offshore
> operations that Romney set up when he was still there, in particular,
> companies that are set up really, they're just mail drops, they're
> mailboxes; they don't have any staff, they don't have any operations.
> The one on Grand Cayman Island is a Post Office Box 60D, I think, on
> Grand Cayman Island, and the ones in Bermuda are also at a lawyer's
> office. But they've got them in other places as well. And they bring
> in somewhere above $25 billion a year.
>
> And again, it's these are companies these are operations set up
> through various systems. They're blocker corporations. They are
> investment or rather, equity groups that are set up to attract, for
> the large part, foreign capital. And the reason these are set up
> overseas is so that foreign investors in these private companies can
> avoid paying U.S. taxes. Mitt Romney and his colleagues don't get
> that advantage. So it's not like they're avoiding taxes through this.
> It's simply what happens is, they're helping other people avoid paying
> U.S. taxes, and as a result they make enormous profits.
>
> Amy Goodman: That's Los Angeles Times reporter Bob Drogin speaking to
> us in 2008. Nicholas Shaxson, your response?
>
> Nicholas Shaxson: Yeah, this is I mean, there are two things I would
> respond to this. First of all, there is a lot of this business is
> legal. It is. There are two terms: tax avoidance and tax evasion.
> Avoidance is, by definition, not doing anything illegal, but also, by
> definition, getting around the spirit of the law; this is not what
> legislators intended when they set up the legislation. Tax evasion,
> on the other hand, is, by definition, criminal. It is you're breaking
> the law. But in between these two poles of evasion and avoidance is a
> huge gray area, and often you don't find out which side of the law a
> company is until there's been, you know, a challenge by the IRS or a
> court case or something like that. A British former British
> Chancellor Denis Healey once said, "The difference between avoidance
> and evasion is the thickness of a prison wall."
>
> But also, the example of Mitt Romney I imagine what he was doing was
> on the avoidance, not on the evasion side is this issue of
> intermediaries, people who help others. And we're talking here
> particularly about accountancy firms, law firms and banks, and also
> company formation agents. These intermediaries have, for such a long
> time, seen a very simple calculus. They get I saw a statistic
> yesterday that, for the big four accountancy firms on certain kinds of
> business, the average profit for a client was something like $360.
> The maximum fine for infringement for assisting a client to do things
> that have gone wrong is $10,000. So it's a very simple calculation.
> You know, if you get caught, well, you pay a bit of money, but it will
> only be a fraction of your profits. And as a result of these kinds of
> incentives, you've had the complete corruption of the culture of these
> industries, saying, "We're just going to, you know, help these people.
> We don't care if they're breaking the law or avoiding taxes or
> whatever. We'll just help them do what they want to do." And it's a
> terrible this corruption of the culture is one of the biggest problems
> of the whole the whole issue.
>
> Juan Gonzalez: Nicholas Shaxson, I want to ask you about the portion
> of your book that deals with the impact of these tax havens on the
> poor countries of the world. You say, at one point in the book,
> "Nearly every effort to generate large flows of capital to developing
> countries since the 1980s has ended in crisis because the money has
> escaped offshore. Towering inequalities in Europe and the United
> States, not to mention in underdeveloped countries, cannot be
> understood properly without exploring the role of secrecy
> jurisdictions. The systematic looting of the former Soviet Union, and
> the merging of the nuclear-armed country's intelligence apparatus with
> organized crime, is substantially a story that unfolds in London and
> its offshore satellites." You also talk about Saddam Hussein's
> billions and the power of North Korea's Kim Jong-il. Could you
> explain?
>
> Nicholas Shaxson: Yeah, offshore if you look at these crises, offshore
> is always a part of the story. It's never the whole story; you can
> always point to other factors in, you know, the corruption of a
> country or economic crisis. But offshore is always a huge part of the
> story.
>
> And you've had in these debt crises, you have had huge lending to
> developing countries. And the rulers in these countries, and the
> ruling elites, are able to appropriate this money, the money that
> comes in from borrowing, and they just they take it offshore. And you
> have countries left saddled with debts. Recent studies have indicated
> in Africa, at least that the private assets, the assets held by
> Africans, far outsee the debts of African countries. The difference
> is that the assets are held in private hands. These are assets
> offshore in banks overseas. They could easily pay off the debts. The
> income on those assets could easily pay off, you know, all the debt
> repayments. But we have this mismatch, and the burden is that the
> debts are borne by the African people in the form of either higher
> taxes for themselves or degraded public services and an elite that
> benefits from complete impunity for what they're doing. The money is
> offshore. There's nothing that anybody can do about it. And this
> leads to the corruption of countries and a wholesale subversion of
> democracy. So it's an absolute scourge on developing countries.
>
> Global Financial Integrity, which is a Washington think tank, in
> January estimated that illicit financial flows out of developing
> countries in 2008 added up to $1.2 trillion U.S. dollars into tax
> havens and rich world economies. A lot of that came here into the
> United States. A lot of Latin American money comes here. And so,
> the United States itself is a tax haven. United States has a kind of
> two-faced problem. One is that it's losing money to foreign tax
> havens, but also it is itself offering secrecy facilities, offering
> tax-free treatment to foreigners who bring their money here, and
> helping foreigners evade taxes and commit crimes. And one of the
> arguments, great arguments, in my book is that this money that's
> coming in does not make up for the money being lost. Instead, it
> causes harm. It further puffs up wasteful property bubbles, further
> puffs up Wall Street, and has contributed even more to this, you know,
> "too big to fail" problem and the problem the financial capture of the
> political process. So we have a double the inflow problem and the
> outflow problem both being harmful for the United States, but also for
> the developing countries.
>
> Amy Goodman: So what do you think how should this change? I mean,
> you have this enormous emphasis on the deficit in this country. You say
> that offshore tax evasion has cost the United States $100 billion a
> year. How can we turn this around?
>
> Nicholas Shaxson: Well, as I said, the $100 billion, I see, is just
> one part of the picture. I think that there are there is some
> legislation that is coming in to try and crack down on this stuff.
> There was a bill originally co-sponsored by Barack Obama before he was
> president, and now it has not it has not yet passed through, but
> Senator Levin, I believe, is it's called the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act
> Senator Levin is, I believe, trying to reintroduce this.
>
> There is no magic bullet that is going to solve this problem, but
> there are a series of different measures that can be and need to be
> taken. And the first thing that really has to be done is for people
> to start to see how big and bad this system has become. While people
> think it's just a few islands out in the Caribbean doing a little bit
> of tax evasion I'm not saying $100 billion is just a little bit of tax
> evasion, but while people still see it as a problem just on that
> scale, there won't be the political momentum for reform. One of my
> central arguments is this is so much bigger and so much badder than
> almost anybody knows. We need to as a first step for reform, we need
> to understand that and spread the message.
>
> Amy Goodman: Well, I mean, you say it was President Obama who was
> pushing this as senator, but it's the same President Obama who is
> trying to raise a billion dollars in 2012. What would you say is the
> single most powerful force that is stopping any kind of crackdown on
> this?
>
> Nicholas Shaxson: Well, I think, of course, Wall Street banks and
> financial institutions, which are huge fans of the offshore system.
> Multinational corporations are able to use the offshore system
> through particularly through tax avoidance, sending their money
> offshore, not getting taxed on it until they bring the money back
> home, so they are huge, huge proponents of this system. So, corporate
> lobbying power is also a huge part of the problem.
>
> Another part of the problem is that there is this kind of
> self-reinforcing dynamic of the offshore system. When one country
> cuts its tax rates, its corporation taxes, or it creates a new
> loophole, others in the game which are tax havens, which have a
> business model of being tax havens, then feel they have to keep up,
> and they think, "OK, we've got to create an even better loophole."
> When one country creates a nicely a very strong form of secrecy, the
> other countries will say, "Ah, we've got to create an even stronger
> form." So you have this kind of race to the bottom.
>
> And one of the big effects from a tax point of view and this also
> happens with financial regulation but from a tax point of view, what
> you will get is the tax charge on mobile capital, which is very often
> the form of how wealthy people and corporations receive their income
> and how they're taxed, the tax charge on mobile capital falls. That
> means somebody else has to pay for those taxes that aren't being paid
> by the wealthy people and corporations, so other people have to pick
> up the slack. So you get a kind of compression of the tax system
> because of this dynamic. So you get ordinary people having to pay
> more in order to pay the taxes that the wealthier people are not
> paying. And this is a kind of impersonal dynamic that is inherent to
> the offshore system. And one thing that is especially required to
> deal with that is international cooperation, and I think the United
> States can take a lead, a global lead, and should take a global lead,
> on getting cooperation on this kind of problem that is a part of the
> offshore system.
>
> Juan Gonzalez: And isn't part of the problem that any talk of reform
> has to run up against the fact that the international banking system,
> to one degree or another, benefits from the entire situation of these
> tax havens? Because I would assume that the money is always held in
> banks, whether it's in the United States or in England or in these
> other countries, and I would assume that the banks that help
> facilitate this kind of avoidance or evasion end up with bigger fees
> as a result of their extra assistance to the holders of these
> accounts, so that, in essence, the banking system doesn't want to see
> this changed.
>
> Nicholas Shaxson: No, I think that's probably fairly true to say. We
> should not underestimate also the lobbying power of the accounting
> firms. They are that's something that people don't really consider.
> Of course the banks are huge. The accounting firms, the legal firms
> that are involved in this are absolutely enormous.
>
> I think one of the things that could be done is to look at ways of
> having much more severe penalties on people who assist particularly
> criminal tax evasion and other aspects of it. But we also mustn't
> lose sight of the financial regulation aspect of this. And when
> countries like the United Kingdom, but other tax havens like
> Luxembourg, Ireland, the Netherlands, which are not traditionally
> regarded as tax havens, but they're huge, huge players in this
> business, we must increasingly recognize them as engaging in what is
> nothing short of economic warfare against the United States and other
> countries. We really need to start recognizing that this is you know,
> this is conflict. This is economic conflict. When one country tries
> to suck tax revenue or illicit flows or whatever out of another
> country, that is an aggressive act. And we need to start taking much
> more robust action to defend all of our countries against what's going
> on in the offshore system.
>
> Amy Goodman: Nicholas, very quickly, as we wrap up, the two powers
> corporate power and grassroots power. On the corporate side, you have
> people like Rupert Murdoch, who determines much of the debate in this
> country with his ownership of media. You call him a "master of
> offshore gymnastics." And then you've got the grassroots movements,
> Uncut, both in Britain and the United States, this growing movement
> that's going after tax avoiders. Talk about both. Start with Rupert
> Murdoch.
>
> Nicholas Shaxson: OK, Rupert Murdoch. Now he the last investigation
> into his tax affairs I'm aware of is one conducted by The Economist
> in, I think, 1998 or 1999, so we don't have very updated data on him,
> but he had cut his tax rate down to six percent, when others were
> paying, you know, much higher rates. A recent Government
> Accountability Office report in 2008 estimated that News Corporation
> has 152 offshore subsidiaries, according to their definition of tax
> havens. So he is certainly a big player in the game. And when you
> have you know, he's not the only obviously not the only media player
> using offshore tax havens; it's very widespread. But when you have
> big players in the game defending this, then you have a big problem
> from the media point of view, as well.
>
> On the grassroots side, this is incredibly heartening, what's been
> happening. There has been until, I would say, a year ago almost
> complete radio silence on this issue. Very few people were taking an
> interest in it. We saw we have seen the Uncut movement is something
> that emerges, spontaneous protests against corporate tax avoidance.
> In my country, in the U.K., where there's big spending cuts happening,
> people turning around, saying, "How come we're giving these effective
> subsidies to corporations, these tax subsidies to corporations, and
> now we're having to cut schools and hospitals?" And people are coming
> out onto the streets. And this is absolutely new, and this is
> thrilling to see. And it's happening in the United States. And
> stories such as General Electric's ability to get away with paying no
> tax in the United States is, you know, a catalyst for something. So
> something very new is happening now, and it's tremendously refreshing.
> And this is, you know, the beginning, I believe, of something much
> bigger that will, as austerity and deficits continue to bite, will get
> more people into the streets.
>
> Amy Goodman: We have video of the protesters, the Uncut folks in the
> United States, holding up Treasure Islands, your book. Nicholas
> Shaxson, we want to thank you very much for being with us
>
> Nicholas Shaxson: Thanks very much.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** Low Tax Crucial To Irish Recovery, Says Kenny
> - Tax-News.com
>
> In spite of his desire to secure a more favourable bailout package,
> Ireland's Prime Minister has refused to make any concession on
> corporate tax rates, a move he warns would be "self-defeating".
>
> Speaking at an event in the London on April 19, Enda Kenny reiterated
> Ireland's entrenched attitude towards its 12.5% rate, and reminded
> listeners of his intention to secure lowered interest rates on the
> EUR85bn bailout loans provided by the International Monetary Fund
> (IMF) and European Union (EU). This is Kenny's first official visit
> to the UK, and he used the speech as an opportunity to inform both the
> media and the wider business community of the steps his five-week old
> government is taking to rectify Ireland's economic situation.
>
> Confident that Ireland will meet its obligations under the rescue
> programme, Kenny said that his government had commenced "an intensive
> engagement" with members of the international community, including
> representatives of the IMF, EU, European Central Bank, and leaders of
> countries such as Germany, France, the UK and the US. He is also due
> to meet with the Prime Minister, David Cameron, during his stay in the
> UK, in order to discuss issues of mutual interest.
>
> While emphasizing the progress made thus far by his government with
> the view to meeting the consolidation targets set by the IMF/EU
> programme, Kenny also pressed upon his audience his clear stance on
> the danger of a quid pro quo arrangement on interest rates. Ireland
> is to continue to push for a rate reduction and, as he stated during a
> later question and answer session, payment is not due until October,
> meaning there is time to reassure European finance ministers of how
> serious Ireland is about the issue. Nonetheless, Kenny was adamant
> that a better bailout deal for Ireland must not damage the country's
> long-term economic prospects.
>
> Irish ministers have clashed with their European counterparts for some
> considerable time over the question of whether a rate reduction should
> be met by an increase in the country's headline rate of corporate tax.
> From Kenny's point of view, this categorically cannot be the case. A
> revised bailout package "should not be dependent on Ireland making a
> concession that would threaten the economy's growth potential", he
> said. "That would be awfully self-defeating."
>
> As a result, Kenny said, "this is why we simply could not accept any
> adjustment in the Irish corporate tax rate as it would damage the
> prospects for our recovery". Thus, corporation tax will be retained
> at its current rate, forming a long standing part of his government's
> enterprise strategy.
>
> Nonetheless, despite such forthright arguments, and the likelihood
> that such opinions will cause further clashes with Germany and France
> in particular, Kenny stressed that the government was striving to
> rebuild Ireland's international reputation. To this end, he is
> ensuring that economic progress is communicated effectively, and that
> other governments are made aware of the seriousness of Ireland's
> intent in its endeavor.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** Police in 3 States Test, Adopt Taser Wearable Camera
> - Government Video
>
> The company that manufacturers the electric stun gun police use to
> incapacitate suspects is supplying police departments in at least
> three states with a wearable video camera for testing or purchase, the
> firm says.
>
> Taser Corp., which produces the stun gun of the same name, is
> providing the new Taser Axon Personal Camera System to police
> departments in Bal Harbour, Fla.; Burnsville, Minn., which is among
> several Minnesota law enforcement organizations that are trying out,
> or have fully adopted the camera, including the Minnesota State
> Police; and Mesa and Phoenix, Ariz., which are also among several
> Arizona police departments to be testing or have adopted the cameras.
>
> Primarily worn on an officer's shoulder, the Taser Axon contains
> internal digital storage is 16 GB of flash memory recording events at
> 30 frames per second, and has the capacity to provide about 28 hours
> of recording capability. It even records the wearers Global
> Positioning System (GPS) coordinates. It has a 12-hour rechargeable
> battery with a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen.
>
> The Taser Axon can save an officer's career against false complaints,
> excessive force claims, and civil rights violations in which an
> officer can go to prison, according to Taser. The unit eliminates the
> he said/she said issue and replaces it with objectivity and facts, the
> company says.
>
> Bal Harbour is conducting a test of the system, and police Captain Leo
> Quinn says the department is looking for new ways to improve service
> and interaction with the community, and the Taser Axon seems like
> something that could work well.
>
> Burnsville Officer Shaun Anselment says the Axon allows police
> officials to see what officers did and what suspects did. In
> addition, the Burnsville Fire Department is considering acquiring the
> Axon for its firefighters.
>
> Six Mesa officers have been using the Axon since February 2011, and
> SWAT officers are also expected to test them. In addition, about 18
> Phoenix officers are wearing Axons during a 90-day trial, which began
> March 2011. The Phoenix pilot program was spurred by the
> recommendation of a task force created after a March 2010 controversy
> over an officer's confrontation and handcuffing of a Phoenix
> councilman. Both agencies are testing the technology for free.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Dumbing Down
>
> DEA head: A thousand dead children means we're winning war on drugs
> - Alex Pareene
>
> Producing and distributing illegal drugs is a profitable business,
> because there will always be a lot of demand and because illegality
> allows you to charge a great deal of money. That illegality also
> means that the people who produce and distribute the drugs are
> generally not responsible corporate citizens. So thanks to our
> expensive, terribly ineffective and endless war on drugs, lots of
> people are dying.
>
> The Washington Post recently reported that the victims of Mexican drug
> cartel violence increasingly include children, who are being
> specifically targeted in order to terrorize people and intimidate
> potential business rivals:
>
> The children's rights group estimates that 994 people younger than 18
> were killed in drug-related violence between late 2006 and late 2010,
> based on media accounts, which are incomplete because newspapers are
> often too intimidated to report drug-related crimes. [...]
>
> Government figures include all homicides of people younger than 17,
> capturing victims whose murders might not have been related to drugs
> or organized crime. In 2009, the last year for which there is data,
> 1,180 children were killed, half in shootings.
>
> This article is actually almost a week old, but I did not notice,
> until it was highlighted by Jonathan Blanks, this astounding quote
> from America's top drug warrior:
>
> U.S. and Mexican officials say the grotesque violence is a symptom
> the cartels have been wounded by police and soldiers. "It may seem
> contradictory, but the unfortunate level of violence is a sign of
> success in the fight against drugs," said Michele Leonhart, head of
> the Drug Enforcement Administration. The cartels "are like caged
> animals, attacking one another," she added.
>
> It seems "contradictory" because that is absolutely appalling spin.
> For one thing, these "caged animals" are actually attacking civilians
> and children. And they are doing so because the drug war has made
> their chosen industry both profitable and dangerous enough to make
> murder and brutality effective means of winning competitive
> advantages. If this is a sign of success, maybe we should reconsider
> waging this war.
>
> Leonhart, a DEA lifer, is actually a Bush appointee, reappointed by
> President Obama. She is, obviously, an inflexible zealot when it
> comes to drug prohibition. This is easily the worst and most
> offensive thing she's said that I've read, but she does have a history
> of asinine remarks. This is the sort of quote -- dead children are a
> sign that we're winning! -- that should lead to a resignation. But
> it probably won't.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Dumb Laws
>
> California Prison Academy: Better Than a Harvard Degree
>
> Prison guards can retire at the age of 55 and earn 85% of their final
> year's salary for the rest of their lives. They also continue to
> receive medical benefits.
> - Allysia Finley, WSJ
>
> Roughly 2,000 students have to decide by Sunday whether to accept a
> spot at Harvard. Here's some advice: Forget Harvard. If you want to
> earn big bucks and retire young, you're better off becoming a
> California prison guard.
>
> The job might not sound glamorous, but a brochure from the California
> Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations boasts that it "has been
> called 'the greatest entry-level job in California' and for good
> reason. Our officers earn a great salary, and a retirement package
> you just can't find in private industry. We even pay you to attend
> our academy." That's right instead of paying more than $200,000 to
> attend Harvard, you could earn $3,050 a month at cadet academy.
>
> It gets better.
>
> Training only takes four months, and upon graduating you can look
> forward to a job with great health, dental and vision benefits and a
> starting base salary between $45,288 and $65,364. By comparison,
> Harvard grads can expect to earn $49,897 fresh out of college and
> $124,759 after 20 years.
>
> As a California prison guard, you can make six figures in overtime and
> bonuses alone. While Harvard-educated lawyers and consultants often
> have to work long hours with little recompense besides Chinese
> take-out, prison guards receive time-and-a-half whenever they work
> more than 40 hours a week. One sergeant with a base salary of $81,683
> collected $114,334 in overtime and $8,648 in bonuses last year, and
> he's not even the highest paid.
>
> Sure, Harvard grads working in the private sector get bonuses, too,
> but only if they're good at what they do. Prison guards receive a
> $1,560 "fitness" bonus just for getting an annual check-up.
>
> Most Harvard grads only get three weeks of vacation each year, even
> after working for 20 years and they're often too busy to take a long
> trip. Prison guards, on the other hand, get seven weeks of vacation,
> five of them paid. If they're too busy racking up overtime to use
> their vacation days, they can cash the days in when they retire.
> There's no cap on how many vacation days they can cash in! Eighty
> officers last year cashed in over $100,000 at retirement.
>
> The cherry on top is the defined-benefit pension. Unlike most Harvard
> grads working in the private sector, prison guards don't have to delay
> retirement if their 401(k)s take a hit. Prison guards can retire at
> the age of 55 and earn 85% of their final year's salary for the rest
> of their lives. They also continue to receive medical benefits.
> So you may be wondering what it takes to become a prison guard. For
> one, you have to be a U.S. citizen with a high-school diploma or
> equivalent. Unfortunately, you can't have any felony convictions, but
> don't worry, possession of marijuana is only an infraction in
> California.
>
> There's also a vision test, background investigation, psychological
> evaluation, physical exam, tuberculosis screening, and a fitness test
> that measures your grip strength. The hardest part, however, is the
> written test, which includes word problems like this sample test
> question: "Building D currently has 189 inmates, with 92 beds
> unfilled. Building D is currently at what capacity?" If you've
> somehow forgotten how to add and divide, you can bone up on your
> basic math with Barron's "Correction Officer Exam" prep book.
>
> The application process may seem like a piece of cake compared to
> Harvard's, but the correctional officer academy is actually more
> selective than Harvard. Over 120,000 people apply every year,
> according to the state Legislative Analyst's Office, but the academy
> only enrolls about 900. That's an acceptance rate of less than 1%.
> Harvard's is 6.2%. The job also has a better retention rate than
> Harvard. Only 1.7% dropped out of the service last year, compared to
> 2% who left Harvard.
>
> If your parents aren't thrilled about you turning down Harvard to
> become a prison guard in California, just show them the job brochure.
> Then explain that in another few years instead of paying off thousands
> of dollars in college loans you'll be taking cruises together.
> They'll be speechless.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Dumb signs -
>
> 9/11 Responders Are Terrorists?
> - John Cory
>
> Some days just leave me speechless - Angry - and more than a little
> pissed off. This little treasure just takes my breath away. In order
> for 9/11 Responders to receive needed medical care and treatment, they
> have to be screened against the Department of Homeland Security
> Terrorism Watch List. It's the law.
>
> Apparently, true patriot Florida Republican Rep. Cliff Stearns,
> attached an amendment to the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and
> Compensation Law that was passed by Congress last May. This amendment
> bars any and all 9/11 Responders from treatment if they have not been
> cleared by DHS. Obviously rushing into burning and crumbling
> skyscrapers to save lives is a suspicious activity that indicates
> possible ties and sympathy to - terrorists. Pardon my French, but --
> are you fucking kidding me!
>
> And Democrats let this piece of manure pass? The smell didn't bother
> them?
>
> And where is that grand old "I want my country back-proud to be an
> American" Tea Party? Did they get lost at a "birther" convention in
> the Trump Towers?
>
> Honest to God, I don't know what to say about this - this miserly,
> mean-spirited little Republican representative and his cohorts who
> seem to enjoy inflicting cruelty and pain on the men and women who
> risked life and limb to save lives on that horrible day and the days
> and weeks afterward. This is how we honor their heroism and
> sacrifice? Really?
>
> This odious piece of excrement stinks to high heaven.
>
> Where are the Democrats? Where is the so-called media? Rachel?
> Chris? FOX? Where are the rest of us?
>
> Have we become a nation that smears the dead and the very people who
> risk their lives daily for us in order to save a few pennies or gain
> political points and increase campaign contributions?
>
> Apparently.
>
> I say get hold of your Congressperson and Senator and demand that this
> amendment, this insult to 9/11 Responders and their families, be
> repealed and dumped in the trashcan of false patriotic piety. Let
> everyone know about this travesty and tell them to put heat on the
> media to actually use their celebrity status to do some good for their
> country for a change. Spread the word on every blog you visit.
>
> And then - send it to the headquarters of the Republican and
> Democratic parties, and especially the White House.
>
> What good will it do?
>
> It can't do any harm.
>
> And it might help us feel like real Americans again.
>
> Even if it's just for a little while.
>
> Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work.
> Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back
> to Reader Supported News.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Dumb facts
>
> Apple: We Must have Comprehensive User Location Data on You
> - Vision to America
>
> Security researchers unveiled this week that Apple's iPhone was
> actively logging the whereabouts of users, storing location data into
> an easily assessable file on the device.
>
> But it's not just iPhones that are keeping track of their users.
>
> Apple's iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, the iPhone 4, and iPad models are also
> keeping track of consumers whereabouts. Mac computers running Snow
> Leopard and even Windows computers running Safari 5 are being watched.
>
> The question is why?
>
> The company has remained silent after researchers Alasdair Allan and
> Pete Warden revealed this Wednesday that the iPhone was storing logs
> of users' geographic coordinates in a hidden file.
>
> In response the company's general counsel Bruce Sewall wrote a letter
> explaining its practice, and shedding light on the rationale the
> company uses to monitor users.
>
> "To provide the high quality products and services that its customers
> demand, Apple must have access to the comprehensive location-based
> information," Sewall told Congress in the letter.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** Dumb criminal acts
>
> Three Convicted in Terror-Related Cases Later Granted U.S.
> Citizenship by Obama Administration
> - CNS News
>
> Three people convicted of crimes as a result of a terrorism-related
> investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) were later
> naturalized as U.S. citizens by the Obama administration, according
> to federal auditors.
>
> The March 2011 audit (released on April 21, 2011) by the Government
> Accountability Office (GAO), entitled Criminal Alien Statistics:
> Information on Incarcerations, Arrests and Costs, shows that three
> individuals were among "defendants where the investigation involved an
> identified link to international terrorism but they were charged with
> violating other statutes [not directly related to terrorism],
> including fraud, immigration, drugs, false statements, and general
> conspiracy charges," referred by DOJ as Category II terrorism-related
> cases.
>
> The three individuals in question can be found in a DOJ list of
> unsealed terrorism-related investigations conducted from Sept. 11,
> 2001 through Mar. 18, 2010. There are 403 defendants on that list of
> which, according to the GAO, at least 43 percent were aliens both
> legal (26 percent) and illegal (17 percent) at the time they were
> charged with crimes.
>
> "Prosecuting terror-related targets using Category II offenses and
> others is often an effective method and sometimes the only available
> method of deterring and disrupting potential terrorist planning and
> support activities," explained the DOJ in the document that listed the
> defendants.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Cannon Fodder
>
> Dutch cops using TomTom data to position speed cams
> - tech Rdar
>
> TomTom will look into customer concerns
>
> TomTom has issued a statement after it was revealed that police in
> Holland are using historical speed data, captured by its savnav
> devices, as a guide for positioning speed traps.
>
> Devices like the Go LIVE 1000 collect speed information automatically
> and backs it up to a TomTom database, which allows the company to
> improve the service the dashboard companion can offer.
>
> TomTom also makes the database available to authorities for safety and
> logistic purposes, but says it was unaware that the police were using
> it in this way and promises to listen to customer concerns.
>
> The statement reads: "We make this information available to local
> governments and authorities.
>
> "It helps them to better understand where congestion takes place,
> where to build new roads and how to make roads safer."
>
> Customers
>
> TomTom continues: "We are now aware that the police have used traffic
> information that you have helped to create to place speed cameras at
> dangerous locations where the average speed is higher than the legally
> allowed speed limit.
>
> "We are aware a lot of our customers do not like the idea and we will
> look at if we should allow this type of usage."
>
> Satnavs like TomTom have traditionally informed drivers of where speed
> cameras are located, so news that speed information of drivers could
> be used in this way is a strange reversal of roles.
>
> TomTom also assured customers that any information it gathers is
> anonymous and can never be traced back to drivers, so there's no need
> to worry about a speed ticket coming through your door.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** Sony's security breach raises questions around data protection
> - Phil Gorski, an Associate with Wiggin LLP
>
> The Sony security breach is serious. Obviously it is hugely
> distressing if you are one of the huge number of people affected but
> it also raises questions on when should we, the public, be told about
> a serious security breach? Also what constitutes a security breach?
>
> In most US states, companies are required to report data breaches as
> soon as they happen. Let me be clear, I have no doubt whatsoever that
> Sony would have acted as quickly as possible once the full extent of
> the security breach was known, but the fact that it appears that a
> whole week went by before a public announcement was made has raised a
> few eyebrows. We do know that the EU is already looking in detail at
> a Data Protection Directive which will potentially introduce a
> mandatory reporting process for all organisations, but the earliest
> that will come into play is 2015.
>
> This breach should serve as a wake-up call to companies in all
> industry sectors - it is vital to have effective breach management,
> not just prevention, procedures in place. If a company is seen as
> unable to protect its customers' data, its reputation as a whole can
> be severely affected. After all, Sony has worldwide, exposed 77
> million of its users. It has been estimated that a security data
> breach costs a UK company GBP71 per record. The coalition, while
> being firm believers in the stripping down of unnecessary burdens and
> regulations for business, should be keeping a watchful eye on how Sony
> reacts.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Oz Corner:
>
> Australians believe good things about the Internet
> - Richard Chirgwin
>
> The problem with a study like the Australian National University's
> ANUpoll "Public opinion on internet use and civil society isn't the
> study itself, but the ease with which people over-interpret its
> findings.
>
> I have no problem with the hard data in the study. For example, the
> idea that 82 per cent of respondents were frequent internet users with
> broadband connections is hardly startling.
>
> Nor do I have a problem with the "soft" data questions asking for
> respondents to describe themselves in various forms.
>
> But extending a self-description, such as "I believe I am more engaged
> because of the Internet", to the ANU's headline "Society saved by
> the social network" is a bridge too far.
>
> If we simply accept the opinions as an accurate reflection of the
> "real world", here's what the Internet does to Australians (from page
> 10). Netizens are:
>
> * More likely to support those worse off than themselves;
> * Less likely to obey laws and regulations;
> * Less likely to be politically active;
> * Less likely to be a volunteer.
>
> [A digression: what kinds of activities on the Internet might count as
> "volunteering", except that the respondent didn't think of it as
> such?] Story continues at
>
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Bug Bites:
>
> Hacker Got Personal Data on PlayStation Users
> - Ian Sherr
>
> Sony Corp. said a hacker has obtained customer information,
> potentially including credit-card numbers, for the 77 million members
> of its online PlayStation Network, which has forced the company to
> take down its service.
>
> The Japanese electronics giant said it has informed PlayStation
> Network customers that personal information including names,
> addresses, billing history and birthdays was obtained by an
> "unauthorized person" following a hacking attack that caused Sony to
> shut down its Internet gaming service last week. Sony said customer
> credit-card numbers may also have been compromised.
>
> The Japanese game maker said it has hired a security firm to conduct
> an investigation into what happened. In the mean time, Sony said it
> expects to restore its Internet gaming service within a week.
>
> The network connects 77 million global PlayStation customers over the
> Internet, letting them play videogames and chat together. Users can
> also use the service on their game console to rent movies or TV shows.
>
> "Out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit
> card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have
> been obtained," the company said in a blog post Tuesday.
>
> "Although we are still investigating the details of this incident, we
> believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following
> information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip),
> country, email address, birth date" as well as the user password and
> login for Sony's service, the company said.
>
> "It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase
> history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation
> Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained."
>
> The company said while there was no evidence that credit card data was
> taken, "we cannot rule out the possibility." It advised users to
> change the their log on and password once the PlayStation Network
> service is restored, and to change those passwords if they are used
> for other accounts.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** Red Hot Product!
>
> PT Shamrock's best and easiest offshore structure and bank account.
>
> Email for details by placing "Hong Kong" in your subject heading.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** Appeals Court: No Hacking Required to Be Prosecuted as a Hacker
> - David Kravets
>
> Employees may be prosecuted under a federal antihacking statute for
> taking computer files that they were authorized to access and using
> them in a manner prohibited by the company, a federal appeals court
> has ruled.
>
> The case decided 2-1 Thursday by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
> Appeals concerned the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Congress adopted
> the CFAA in 1986 to enhance the government's ability to prosecute
> hackers who accessed computers to steal information or to disrupt or
> destroy computer functionality.
>
> "As long as the employee has knowledge of the employer's limitations
> on that authorization, the employee 'exceeds authorized access' when
> the employee violates those limitations. It is as simple as that,"
> Judge Stephen Trott wrote in an opinion joined by Judge Diarmuid
> O'Scannlain.
>
> In dissent, Judge Tena Campbell wrote that, under the majority's
> ruling, "any person who obtains information from any computer
> connected to the internet, in violation of her employer's computer-use
> restrictions, is guilty of a federal crime."
>
> The majority's decision, which mirrors rulings in two other federal
> appellate circuits, bolsters an interpretation of the CFAA that's
> playing a role in the government's grand jury probe of WikiLeaks
> founder Julian Assange. A grand jury subpoena recently issued in the
> case (first reported by Salon.com, and confirmed by the Washington
> Post) was accompanied by a letter indicating that one of the charges
> the government is considering is conspiracy to violate the CFAA by
> "exceeding authorized access" to a computer system the same language
> at issue in the new decision.
>
> The act makes it a federal offense if one "knowingly and with intent
> to defraud, accesses a protected computer without authorization, or
> exceeds authorized access, and by means of such conduct furthers the
> intended fraud and obtains anything of value, unless the object of the
> fraud and the thing obtained consists only of the use of the computer
> and the value of such use is not more than $5,000 in any 1-year
> period."
>
> The 9th Circuit's decision, which reverses a lower court judge, came
> 18 months after the same San Francisco-based circuit ruled the
> opposite way in a nearly identical case concerning those same three
> words.
>
> Continue Reading "Appeals Court: No Hacking Required to Be Prosecuted
> as a Hacker" -
>
>
> Shamrock's comment: Hum, "No Hacking Required to Be Prosecuted as a
> Hacker" sounds like 1984 double speak to me!
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Shamrock's Missive:
>
> Much as I'm sorry to write this, I'm exceedingly glad I'm not resident
> within the united States [correct spelling] or not so Great Britain.
>
> The USA as well as the UK, are now police states. TSA agents are
> sticking their hands down pants and skirts groping people as young as
> 6 and less. Babies in diapers are not exempt!
>
> Even the former Miss America was sexually molested by the
> terrocratic TSA, touching her lower female parts -
>
>
> TSA "check points" are being set up at malls, train, bus and
> subway stations on a nationwide roll out. Spy chips are and have
> been placed in all appliances sold in the US over the past
> several years so the president or other officials can break in on
> your TV, phone and cell to alert you to 'dangers", etc.
>
> Your cell phone can even be turned on without your permission.
>
> Naturally you can and are spied in out without your knowledge.
>
> Local police are and have been trained by TSA officials to search
> citizens and for crowd control.
>
> Police are stopping drivers for minor infractions and down loading
> their cell phones contents. This is happening in Texas, Michigan and
> spreading rapidity to other states. See
> http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/34/3458.asp
>
> Every email, telephone call, financial transaction and your
> whereabouts are being surveilled and recorded 24/7. Mail is being
> routinely opened and read, resealed then delivered to the addressee.
> One is required to produce ID to send a simple document/letter via
> courier service or to open a mail accommodation address in the USA.
> If you are found to have, use or spend a few thousand dollars in cash,
> you can be labeled a terrorist, drug dealer and subject to who knows
> what!
>
> People, work mates, neighbors and even your children are being
> encouraged to report suspicious behavior even on their parents!
>
> You're being tracked and listened in on via your cell phone, even when
> they are turned off! At home or work you are no less secure. The
> authorities can listen in on you at work or at home conversations with
> the phone ON THE HOOK!
>
> Never mind the dollar taking a nose dive with a possible crash
> forthcoming, the botom line is your freedoms and civil liberties has
> been dramatically eroded and the worse is yet to come.
>
> The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the third
> largest cabinet department of the United States federal government,
> created in response to the September 11 attacks, and with the primary
> responsibilities of protecting the territory of the U.S. from
> terrorist attacks and responding to natural disasters. In financial
> year 2010 it was allocated a budget of $42.7 billion and spent, net,
> $56.4 billion. It employs in excess of 200,000 persons, a hell of an
> increase in bureaucrats or terrocrats since 2001.
>
> Is the following a coincidence? Perhaps, but consider this:
>
> Germany 1933 - Reichstag Building
> United States 2001 - WorldTradeCenter / Pentagon / Flight 93
>
> Germany 1933 - Scapegoat: Communists and Jews United States 2001 -
> Scapegoat: vague "Terrorists" and "Islamic fascists"
>
> Germany 1933 - Claim "Terrorism"
> United States 2001 - Claim "Terrorism"
>
> Germany 1933 - Enact "The Enabling Act"
> United States 2001 - Enact "The Patriot Act"
>
> Germany 1933 - Establish Department of Fatherland Security
> United States 2001 - Establish Department of Homeland Security
>
> Germany 1933 - Scare the Public via Ministry of Propaganda United
> States 2001 - Scare the Public via controlled Main Stream Media
>
> Germany 1933 - Require Dictatorial Powers
> United States 2001 - Require "Enhanced" Executive Powers
>
> Germany 1933 - Suspend individual rights United States 2001 -
> Undermine Constitutional safeguards protecting individual rights
>
> Germany 1933 - Demonise critics as "unpatriotic"
> United States 2001 - Demonise critics as "unpatriotic"
>
> Germany 1933 - Have Gestapo spy on citizens
> United States 2001 - Have FBI & NSA spy on citizens
>
> Germany 1933 - Arrest dissident citizens*
> United States 2001 - Watch list dissident citizens*
>
> Germany 1933 - Establish Concentration Camps*
> United States 2001 - Establish FEMA Concentration Camps*
>
> Germany 1933 - Compel citizens to fulfill agenda through brutality
> (Brown Shirts) United States 2001 - Propagandise citizens to fulfill
> agenda through Psyops
>
> Germany 1933 - Suspend Constitution by decree*
> United States 2001 - Weaken Constitution via Executive Orders*
>
> Germany 1933 - Initiate preemptive warfare to provide cover: (Austria,
> Poland) United States 2001 - Initiate preemptive warfare to provide
> cover: (Iraq, Afghanistan)
>
> *Only important difference in 1933 the citizens of Germany were
> disarmed, in 2001 citizens of United States were ARMED and still are
> in 2011, but don't worry, Barack and company are doing their damndest
> to find a way around that one to so they can fill those FEMA camps.
>
> "We fight because we were forced to fight. We are fighting for our
> most valuable possession; Freedom." - Adolf Hitler - 1939
>
> "Because we fight for one thing, that is the freedom of our people and
> the freedom of people everywhere." - George W. Bush 2001
>
> George Orwell's' dystopian novel "1984" written 62 years ago in 1949,
> foresaw the world Americans and many others live in today.
>
> Ministries of Oceania
>
> In 1984 London, the Airstrip One capital city, Oceania's four
> government ministries are in pyramids (300 metres high), the fadades
> of which display the Party's three slogans. The ministries' names are
> antonymous doublethink to their true functions: "The Ministry of Peace
> concerns itself with war, the Ministry of Truth with lies, the
> Ministry of Love with torture and the Ministry of Plenty with
> starvation".
>
> In 1984, there is a perpetual war between Oceania, Eurasia and
> Eastasia, the super-states which emerged from the atomic global war.
> Fast forward 62 years and today we have perpetual wars on drugs, money
> laundering, terrorism, Iraq and Afghanistan etc. and so on. There is
> no end in sight!
>
> Today your civil liberties have been dramatically reduced, and in most
> cases, willingly so by dumbed down Americans, all in the name of being
> secure.
>
> A poll conducted in the US showed that congress had a nine percent
> approval rating... 9 percent! The latest Rasmussen Reports national
> telephone survey of Likely Voters shows that nine percent (9%) now say
> Congress is doing a good or excellent job. Fifty-six percent (56%)
> rate the Congressional performance as poor. See
> http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=69088
>
> It's no wonder the public doesn't believe or trust their government
> any longer. Case in fact, the brouhaha over President Obama's birth
> certificate.
>
> Whether or not the president's birth certificate recently released is
> real or a forgery remains to be seen. But two years ago the white
> house released a birth certificate claiming repeatedly IT WAS THE real
> thing after repeated attacks claiming it wasn't. As shown by the
> release of Obama's recent birth certificate, the white house lied two
> years ago. If they lied then, are they lying now about the bc and
> other things?
>
> All of the above and much more, is not the behavior and actions of a
> free and civilized society. A government based on the fear of
> terrorism, whose executive claims power not limited by the
> Constitution or Congress for the duration of an open-ended "war on
> terror," will create a state of tyranny. America is rapidly
> approaching that state of tyranny.
>
> My question to you dear readers, is what are you going to do about it?
>
> See you next issue
>
> Shamrock
>
> "The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion."
> - Edmund Burke, 1784
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Quote
>
> "Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason
> why so few engage in it."
> - Henry Ford (1863 - 1947)
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Even More Quotes
>
> "A free and democratic" government that cannot stand the light of day
> has much to hide."
> - Paul Craig Roberts
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Another Quote
>
> "Educated men are as much superior to uneducated men as the living are
> to the dead."
> - Aristotle, 384 322 B.C.2
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Thought provoking quotes:
>
> "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World
> War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
> - Albert Einstein prophecy
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** Tid Bits
>
> Germany says wants clarity on iPhone data storage
> - Reuters
>
> A customer holds iPhones she purchased shortly after the phone went on
> sale with the Verizon Wireless network in Boca Raton, Florida February
> 10, 2011.
>
> Berlin - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) must clear up "a string of open questions"
> about user data stored by its iPhone, iPad, and other devices, a
> spokesman for Germany's consumer protection ministry said on Thursday.
>
> The call follows a similar request made by U.S. Senator Al Franken on
> Wednesday, which cited a report by security researchers alleging the
> company's iOS4 operating system secretly compiled customers' location
> data in a hidden file.
>
> "Apple must reveal where, for how long, and for what purpose the data
> is saved, who has access to it, and how it is protecting against
> unauthorised access," ministry spokesman Holger Eichele said.
>
> "The secret collection and storage of a smart phone's location data
> would be a major invasion of privacy," he added.
>
> Germany has particularly strong data protection laws, and companies
> such as social networking site Facebook and search engine Google have
> faced challenges here from regulators.
>
> A spokesman for Apple Germany declined to comment on the matter.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** More Tid Bits
>
> Facebook looks to cash in on user data
> - Jessica Guynn
>
> Julee Morrison has been obsessed with Bon Jovi since she was a
> teenager. So when paid ads for fan sites started popping up on the
> 41-year-old Salt Lake City blogger's Facebook page, she was thrilled.
> She described herself as a "clicking fool," perusing videos and photos
> of the New Jersey rockers.
>
> Then it dawned on Morrison why all those Bon Jovi ads appeared every
> time she logged onto the social networking site.
>
> "Facebook is reading my profile, my interests, the people and pages I
> am 'friends' with and targeting me," Morrison said. "It's brilliant
> social media, but it's absolutely creepy."
>
> For Facebook users, the free ride is over.
>
> For years, the privately held company founded by Mark Zuckerberg in a
> Harvard dorm room put little effort into ad sales, focusing instead on
> making its service irresistible to users. It worked. Today more than
> 600 million people have Facebook accounts. The average user spends
> seven hours a month posting photos, chatting with friends, swapping
> news links and sending birthday greetings to classmates.
>
> Now the Palo Alto company is looking to cash in on this mother lode of
> personal information by helping advertisers pinpoint exactly who they
> want to reach. This is no idle boast. Facebook doesn't have to guess
> who its users are or what they like. Facebook knows, because members
> volunteer this information freely - and frequently - in their
> profiles, status updates, wall posts, messages and "likes."
>
> It's now tracking this activity, shooting online ads to users based on
> their demographics, interests, even what they say to friends on the
> site - sometimes within minutes of them typing a key word or phrase.
>
> For example, women who have changed their relationship status to
> "engaged" on their Facebook profiles shouldn't be surprised to see ads
> from local wedding planners and caterers pop up when they log in.
> Hedgehog lovers who type that word in a post might see an ad for a
> plush toy version of the spiny critters from Squishable.com.
> Middle-aged men who list motorcycling as one of their hobbies could
> get pitches from Victory Motorcycles. If a Facebook user becomes a
> fan of 1-800-FLOWERS, her friends might receive ads telling them that
> she likes the floral delivery service.
>
> Marketers have been tracking consumers' online habits for years,
> compiling detailed dossiers of where they click and roam. But
> Facebook's unique trove of consumer behavior could transform it into
> one of the most powerful marketing tools ever invented, some analysts
> believe. And that could translate into a financial bonanza for
> investors in the seven-year-old company as it prepares for a public
> offering, perhaps as early as next year.
>
> But privacy watchdogs said Facebook's unique ability to mine data and
> sell advertising based on what its members voluntarily share amounts
> to electronic eavesdropping on personal updates, posts and messages
> that many users intended to share only with friends. "Facebook has
> perfected a stealth digital surveillance apparatus that tracks,
> analyzes and then acts on your information, including what you tell
> your friends," said Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center
> for Digital Democracy. "Facebook users should be cautious about
> whether the social networking giant ultimately has their best
> interests at heart."
>
> Bon Jovi fan Morrison said she removed some information from her
> profile to make it more difficult for advertisers to target her: "I
> thought, 'Wait a minute, I didn't give you permission to look into my
> life,' " she said.
>
> Facebook said it does not disclose information that would allow
> advertisers to identify individual users, instead filtering based on
> geography, age or specific interests. It also lets users control
> whether companies such as 1-800-FLOWERS can display the users' names
> to others to promote products. But any information users post on the
> site - hobbies, status updates, wall posts - is fair game for ad
> targeting.
>
> Facebook's first experiment with paid ads was a flop. In 2007 it
> rolled out Beacon, which broadcast information on Facebook about
> users' activities and purchases elsewhere on the Web without their
> permission. Facebook pulled the program after settling a lawsuit
> brought on behalf of Facebook users.
>
> This time around company officials appear to be proceeding more
> cautiously. David Fischer, Facebook's vice president of advertising
> and global operations, said Facebook delivers ads that are relevant to
> users' lives.
>
> "This is an opportunity for brands to connect with you," Fischer said.
> "When someone likes a brand, they are building a two-way conversation,
> creating an ongoing relationship." A lot is riding on getting it
> right. Last year, online advertising in the U.S. grew 15 percent to
> $26 billion, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau.
>
> People familiar with Facebook said its ad revenue doubled to $2
> billion in 2010, and is expected to double again this year as more
> major advertisers including American Express, Coca-Cola and Starbucks
> climb aboard.
>
> In February, more than a third of all online display ads in the U.S.
> appeared on Facebook, more than three times as many as appeared on its
> closest competitor Yahoo, according to research firm ComScore Inc.
> Facebook's moneymaking potential has wowed investors. Its market
> value is estimated at $55 billion on the private exchange SharesPost.
>
> "If you take a look at the history of media, ad dollars go where the
> eyeballs are," Wedbush Securities analyst Lou Kerner said. "If you
> look at Google today, with annual revenue of $29 billion, it's not
> hard to think of Facebook generating that kind of revenue in four or
> five years. That's why we continue to be bullish on Facebook even at
> these price levels."
>
> Facebook still faces some skepticism from big brands that question how
> often people click on the ads or how effective they are in getting
> people to buy something. One recent survey found that Facebook ads
> performed about half as well as traditional banner ads.
>
> But Facebook's ability to pinpoint paying customers has dazzled some
> small-business owners, including Chris Meyer. Over the past 18 months
> the Minneapolis wedding photographer had Facebook aim his ads
> specifically at female users who divulged the following information
> about themselves on the social networking site: college graduates,
> aged 24 to 30, who had just gotten engaged and lived within a 50-mile
> radius of Minneapolis.
>
> Meyer said his $1,700 ad buy generated $110,000 in sales.
>
> "I could not have built my business without Facebook," Meyer said.
>
> It's much the same for Anne Puthoff. Her store, Emmy's Bridal, is
> located in Minster, Ohio, population 2,800. She managed to pack the
> shop for a special weekend trunk show of prom dresses - in February,
> no less. Her secret weapon: $200 worth of Facebook ads targeting high
> school girls from the surrounding area.
>
> "Our fan base has grown steadily in an economy where stores are going
> out of business or not thriving," Puthoff said. "I think that's due
> largely to the new customers we are bringing in via Facebook."
>
> Indeed, Facebook users such as Kara-Noel Lawson said they enjoy
> receiving ads that from merchants they like instead of useless spam.
> The 30-year-old mother of three from Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.,
> said she routinely "friends" businesses on the social media site and
> clicks on advertising that interests her. More often than not, she
> said, she is rewarded with coupons, gift cards and discounts.
>
> "I don't feel any weird privacy thing," she said. "We are all putting
> everything out there already."
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** Bits n bobs
>
> It's Getting Harder to Bring Home the Bacon
>
> C. Larry Pope, CEO of the world's largest pork producer, explains why
> food prices are rising and why they are likely to stay high for a long
> time.
> - WSJ
>
> Bobbie Jean Pope, the 81-year-old mother of C. Larry Pope of Newport
> News, Va., can't afford her bacon.
>
> "I said, 'Mom, I'll get you some bacon.' And she goes, 'I can't
> afford y'all's meat anymore! Why is y'all's meat so expensive?' And
> I said, 'Mom, you ought to understand why it's expensive it's 'cause
> our costs are so expensive.'"
>
> Mr. Pope is the chief executive officer of Smithfield Foods Inc., the
> world's largest pork processor and hog producer by volume. He doesn't
> mince words when it comes to rapidly rising food prices. The
> 56-year-old accountant by training has been in the business for more
> than three decades, and he warns that the higher costs may be here to
> stay.
>
> Courtesy of? "I'm not going to say, 'a political policy,'" he tells
> me. (His senior vice president, a lawyer by training, sits close by,
> ready to "kick his leg" if his garrulous boss speaks too plainly.) But
> politics indeed plays a large role, as Congress subsidizes favorite
> industries and the Federal Reserve pursues an expansive monetary
> policy.
>
> Ours is a timely chat, given the burst of food inflation the world is
> living through. Mr. Pope is running a multibillion-dollar business in
> the midst of economic turmoil, and he has strong views about why
> prices are rising and what can be done about it.
>
> The Southerner is an old hand when it comes to food. He graduated
> from William and Mary in 1975, spent a few years at an accountancy,
> then joined Smithfield and worked his way up the ranks. He's
> something of an evangelist about his trade: He boasts that Smithfield
> employs some 50,000 people, many of whom are high-school graduates and
> immigrants others would consider "hard to hire." It's a "good
> business" that "gives people a good start."
>
> It's also a business under enormous strain. Some "60 to 70% of the
> cost of raising a hog is tied up in the grains," Mr. Pope explains.
> "The major ingredient is corn, and the secondary ingredient is soybean
> meal." Over the last several years, "the cost of corn has gone from a
> base of $2.40 a bushel to today at $7.40 a bushel, nearly triple what
> it was just a few years ago." Which means every product that uses
> corn has risen, too including everything from "cereal to soft drinks"
> and more.
>
> What triggered the upswing? In part: ethanol. President George W.
> Bush "came forward with what do you call? the edict that we were going
> to mandate 36 billion gallons of alternative fuels" by 2022, of which
> corn-based ethanol is "a substantial part." Companies that blend
> ethanol into fuel get a $5 billion annual tax credit, and there's a
> tariff to keep foreign producers out of the U.S. market. Now 40% of
> the corn crop is "directed to ethanol, which equals the amount that's
> going into livestock food," Mr. Pope calculates.
>
> The rapidly depreciating dollar is also sparking inflation, although
> Mr. Pope says that's a "hard" topic for him to discuss, trying to be
> diplomatic. But he doesn't deny that money is cheap. Investment
> bankers are throwing cash at the firm a turnaround from 2008, when
> money was scarce even though Mr. Pope doesn't need it right now.
>
> Rising prices are already squeezing food producers' "two to three
> percent" earnings margins. "Many of us had our costs hedged in the
> commodity markets and we all took on strident measures to control our
> cost structures," Mr. Pope says. "In the case of Smithfield, we
> closed six processing plants and one slaughter plant. We also closed
> 15% of all our live production business." But "once those measures
> are done, we have no choice but to pass those prices down" to
> consumers.
>
> Now food price inflation is popping up across the country. A pound of
> sliced bacon costs $4.54 today versus $3.59 two years ago and $3.16 a
> decade ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Ground beef
> is $2.72, up from $2.27 in 2009 and $1.74 in 2001. And it's not just
> Smithfield's products: "You eat eggs, you drink milk, you get a loaf
> of bread, and you get a pound of meat," he drawls. "Those are the
> four staples of what Americans eat in their diet. All of those are
> based on grains."
>
> "Maybe to someone in the upper incomes it doesn't matter what the
> price of a pound of bacon is, or what the price of a ham, or the price
> of a pound of pork chops is," he says. "But for many of the customers
> we sell to, it really does matter." Workers can share cars when the
> price of oil rises, he quips, but "you can't share your food."
>
> Mr. Pope also worries about the impact on farmers, who are leveraging
> up operations to afford the ever-rising price of land and fertilizer
> that has resulted from the increased corn demand. "There are record
> prices for livestock but farmers are exiting the business!" he
> exclaims. "Why? Farmers know they won't make money."
>
> Weather is a factor, too. "We've had the luxury for the last three
> years of extremely good corn crops, with high yields and good growing
> conditions. We are just one bad weather event away from potentially
> $10 corn, which once again is another 50% increase in the input cost
> to our live production."
>
> Mr. Pope says companies are coping by increasing prices
> "substantially" or shrinking "what's in the package." "That's the
> alternative way of passing on price increases . . . 'cause we're
> all trying to reach price points with our customers in terms of what
> we can sell some than' for." "You're ultimately going to buy less
> bacon. . . We're going to sell pizzas with less pepperoni on
> 'em." (Mr. Pope's team also laments the effect on beer prices.)
>
> Not all companies will survive this economic whirlwind. Mr. Pope
> recalls what happened the last time there was a surge in corn prices,
> in 2008: "The largest chicken processor in the United States,
> Pilgrim's Pride, filed for bankruptcy." They "couldn't raise prices,
> so their cost of production went up dramatically." Could it happen
> again? "It darn well could!" Mr. Pope exclaims.
>
> Food price inflation isn't a problem confined to America's shores.
> "This ethanol policy has impacted the world price of corn," Mr. Pope
> says. The Mexican, Canadian and European industries have "shrunk
> dramatically. . . . We have an unsustainable meat protein
> production industry," he says. "We're built on a platform of costs,
> on a policy that doesn't make any sense!"
>
> Nor does the science. The ethanol industry would supply only 4% of
> the nation's annual energy needs even if it used 100% of the corn
> crop. The Environmental Protection Agency has found ethanol
> production has a neutral to negative impact on the environment. "The
> subsidy has been out there since the 1970s," Mr. Pope says. "If they
> can't make themselves into a viable economic model in 40 years,
> haven't we demonstrated that this is an industry that shouldn't
> exist?"
>
> So what's the solution? First, Mr. Pope says, get rid of the ethanol
> subsidies and the tariff. "I am in competition with the government
> and the oil industry," he says. "It's not fair." Smithfield's
> economists estimate corn prices would fall by a dollar a bushel if
> ethanol blending wasn't subsidized. "Even the announcement that it is
> going away would see the price of corn go down, which would translate
> very quickly into reduced meat prices in the meat case," he says.
> Imagine what would happen if the mandate and tariff were eliminated,
> too.
>
> He also advocates lifting regulatory and tax burdens on business. "I
> fundamentally don't understand the logic of corporate income taxes,"
> he tells me. "If I have a 35% tax, all I do is take that 35% tax and
> I transfer it into the price of bacon and the price of pork chops."
>
> Then there's the challenge of opening up export markets, which Mr.
> Pope sees as a long-term opportunity for U.S. agriculture. "This is
> a land-rich country, with rich soils, with the right kind of
> temperatures and the right kind of cultivation practices," he says.
> "We can raise livestock and compete with anybody in the world. That's
> how we can help the balance of payments." (Smithfield has European
> operations but has had a hard time cracking Asia, and especially
> China. "It's easy to invest," Mr. Pope says, but "it's hard to make
> money" there thanks to rampant intellectual-property rights violations
> and other hazards.)
>
> While Mr. Pope waits to see how the politics of ethanol and trade play
> out, he's not standing still. He's assigned one of his senior
> executives the task of figuring out what else Smithfield could
> possibly feed hogs, other than corn. Could Mr. Pope have envisioned
> setting up such an enterprise a few years ago? "Absolutely not" he
> says. "It's me trying to change our business model to adapt to the
> realities that I have to live in."
>
>
> Mr. Pope says the "losers" here "are the consumer, who's going to have
> to pay more for the product, and the livestock farmer who's going to
> have to buy high-priced grain that he can't afford because he's
> stretching his own lines of credit. The hog farmer . . . is in
> jeopardy of simply going out of business 'cause he doesn't have the
> cash liquidity to even pay for the corn to pay for the input to raise
> the hog. It's a dynamic that we can't sustain."
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> More Bits N bobs
>
> Second Sony Videogame-Service Is Hacked
> - Ian Sherr
>
> Sony Corp. said computer hackers breached security for a second
> online service, gaining access to personal information for 24.6
> million customer accounts as part of a broader attack on the company
> that has compromised data for more than 100 million accounts.
>
> Sony Online Entertainment, a San Diego-based subsidiary that makes
> multiplayer games for personal computers, said it shut down its
> services Monday amid concerns a hacker may have accessed names, birth
> dates and addresses for its users.
>
> The company said it doesn't believe credit-card information on those
> accounts was accessed, but said hackers may have stolen credit-card
> data for about 12,700 non-U.S. accounts and 10,700 bank-account
> numbers from an "outdated database from 2007."
>
> The company, which has come under fire for its handling of the
> security breach, said it detected the latest intrusion early May 2,
> Tokyo time, as part of an ongoing investigation of the attacks.
>
> On April 20, the company shut down its PlayStation Network, which lets
> console owners play against each other online. It later disclosed
> that a hacker had stolen names, birth dates and possibly credit-card
> numbers from 77 million accounts on the network.
>
> Sony said the shutdown of Sony Online Entertainment, which hosts the
> popular "EverQuest" role-playing game, followed an intrusion on April
> 16 and April 17.
>
> "We temporarily took down [Sony Online Entertainment's] services as
> part of our continued investigation into the external intrusion that
> occurred in April," said Michele Sturdivant, a spokeswoman. "This is
> not a second attack."
>
> The shutdown is the latest black eye for the Japanese electronics
> giant, whose executives apologized Sunday for the original breach in a
> hastily called news conference and unveiled measures to bolster
> security.
>
> Sony executives said its online services have been under cyberattack
> for the past six weeks and they weren't sure what its attackers were
> seeking. The company is working with the Federal Bureau of
> Investigation to probe the attacks.
>
> The attacks have resulted in the loss of a significant amount of
> personal information that could be used in identity theft and have
> prompted inquiries from members of Congress.
>
> Sony declined Monday to testify before the congressional committee on
> energy and commerce, according to Ken Johnson, a spokesman for Rep.
> Mary Bono Mack (R., Calif.), who sent a letter to Sony last week.
>
> However, the company has agreed to provide written answers Tuesday to
> questions, he said. "While we certainly understand the company's
> going through a difficult period, millions of American consumers are
> twisting in the wind and we are determined to get answers for them,"
> Mr. Johnson said.
>
> Sony said it is cooperating with the request.
>
> The high-profile attacks come as videogames increasingly add online
> functionality. Tens of millions of gamers now spend hours using the
> online hubs, representing millions of dollars in potential revenue for
> an industry still recovering from the recession.
>
> Separately, Sony's U.S. unit said Monday reports the hackers had
> tried to blackmail the company by selling millions of allegedly stolen
> credit card numbers back were untrue. "To my knowledge there is no
> truth to this report of a list, or that Sony was offered an
> opportunity to purchase the list," Sony spokesman Patrick Seybold said
> in a statement.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** Letters to the Editor:
>
> Keep them postcards and letters coming' folks, 'cause we
> done mailed the rosebushes!!
>
> Dear Shamrock:
>
> I agree -- thanks for the quick reply, Shamrock.
>
> Others promise personalized service...YOU DELIVER :-)
>
> Best regards,
>
> S. L.
>
> Dear S.L.
>
> Thanks for the kind words.
>
> regards
>
> Shamrock
>
> Dear Shamrock:
>
> Thank you for your hard efforts getting your newsletter out to those
> of us who need this information.
>
> A loyal reader for 5 years now.
>
> L.B.
>
> Dear Shamrock:
>
> Great products, great service and mine was delivered before the
> time frame you advertised.
>
> regards
>
> F.L.
>
> Dear Shamrock:
>
> The U.S. IRS is cracking down on anonymous credit and debit cards.
> The banks have been alerted to confiscate those cards and report the
> holder's name to the IRS.
>
> The banks also will report to the IRS any single-owned foreign
> corporation with those types of cards.
>
> Just thought you would like to know
>
> A Loyal reader
>
> Dear Loyal Reader:
>
> Thanks for the email.
>
> Can you please send us the article regarding this as we are unable
> to locate any such material on the www.
>
> In any event, if your name and address is not attached to an ATM
> card, e.g. our no ID ATM card, how can you be reported?
>
> Further do you mean to tell me that all ATM cards without a name from
> the thousands of visitors to America using them, will be confiscated?
>
> We seriously doubt that.
>
> Regards
>
> Shamrock
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Quote of the month!
>
> "Be vigilant; guard your mind against negative thoughts."
> - Buddha
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> *** "PT Shamrock's Exclusive Member's Site!"
>
> Each month we offer exclusive information, free privacy programs,
> access to our newsletter archives and other insider information
> for members only.
>
> Our member's site is accessed by user name and password only. This
> is available to our newsletter subscribers ONLY!
>
> Each month the password will change and you will have to e-mail us
> from your subscribers e-mail address to request the NEW password in
> order to gain access.
>
> As a subscriber to our newsletter you automatically qualify for this
> exclusive service. Just send an e-mail to
>
> heading. We will forward to you full details for signing up and gaining
> access to our Members Site, reserved for you.
>
> Enjoy.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Dear Friend:
>
> If you like our newsletter please tell your friends and associates
> about us. They can subscribe *FREE* by sending an e-mail to:
>
>
> Our pledge!
>
> We never spam our subscribers, never rent or give our
> subscribers list to anyone, and unlike other newsletters do
> not accept paid advertisements; And of course, our PT Buzz
> Newsletter is absolutely free, just packed full of interesting
> privacy news and information with a tad of humor thrown in for
> good measure.
>
> We're probably the oldest privacy newsletter on the Internet!
>
> Thank you for your patronage and help in spreading the word.
>
> Shamrock
>
> "The right to privacy is a part of our basic freedoms. Privacy is
> fundamental to close family ties, competitive free enterprise, the
> ownership of property, and the exchange of ideas."
>
> PT Shamrock - issue one; 1994
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> Don't forget to check out our Special Offers at
>
> See you next issue!
>
> "Mehr sein, als scheinen" (German Proverb)
> Be more, seem less!
>
> PT Shamrock
> - - - - - - - - - - NOTICE - - - - - - - - - -
> In and with good faith publishing distribution, this material is
> distributed free without profit or payment for non-profit
> research and for educational purposes only.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> To subscribe, send a blank message to PTBuzz-on@mail-list.com
> To unsubscribe, send a blank message to PTBuzz-off@mail-list.com
> To change your email address, send a message to PTBuzz-change@mail-list.com
> with your old address in the Subject: line
> To contact the list owner, send your message to
> PTBuzz-list-owner@mail-list.com
>
> PT Shamrock Limited Suite #79, 184 Lower Rathmines Road, Rathmines, Dublin D6, Ireland
