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THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER
Your Link to Freedom, Privacy & Prosperity in the Offshore World
Monday, October 31, 2005 - Vol. 7 No. 219
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In This Issue:
* COMMENT: An Ill Wind Blows.
* OFFSHORE: Switzerland & the EU. Aussie Wild Tax Collectors. Letter from Thailand.
* WEALTH: Casey's Gold. EU Forced Taxes. Stalinist Taxes.
* PRIVACY & RIGHTS: Demonizing Duals. UnAmerican PATRIOT. Official French Terrorism.
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COMMENT: An Ill Wind Blows.
Dear A-Letter Reader:
When Hurricane Wilma blew through Florida last week, it slammed into my home in Palm Beach County. I'm not writing a lament; many people fared worse in the storm. But Wilma's aftermath made me glad I'm starting to learn to live as a Sovereign Individual.
As Wilma gathered her strength and prepared to stomp ashore on the southwest coast of Florida, the weathermen assured us that by the time Wilma got to Palm Beach County, she'd be a "weak category 1." We put up storm shutters on the sliding glass doors, checked that we had plenty of bottles of water, etc. But the storm kept getting stronger … and stronger. And then a strong category 2 Storm was bearing down on us.
And when Wilma hit, she elbowed her way past the edge of Category 2 to become a category 3 monster.
I woke up to rain flying sideways into the side of the house. I got up, cooked our last hot breakfast, made my last pot of coffee, and waited. My Internet access went first. Then the lights.
The wind howled louder and louder, an eerie banshee wail that chills your spine if you have loved ones to worry about (I do). The aluminum shutters rattled like a runaway train. Through a slit in the storm shutters, we watched as the tall-tall trees in the back yard went into a mad, crashing slam dance.
Before the storm, back when I thought Wilma would be a category 1, I replaced loose bolts on the screen enclosure around my pool. With the storm at Category 3, I fully expected to write the pool enclosure off. Still, it was heart-stopping as a "THUD" outside shook the house. Through, the slit, we could see one of the trees snapped about 30 feet up. The top of it cartwheeled and nose-dived right through the pool screen, slamming onto the cement. Somehow, it missed the metal and just took out a big chunk of screen.
The wind howled louder. Stray pieces of tree flew through the air, chewing holes in the screen. Crazily, despite a wind that bent trees sideways, the metal structure remained standing, sheltered behind the bulk of our house.
After a while, I simply could not watch. I busied myself with my 3-year-old son, who acted as if the entire experience was an amusement park ride come home.
Then the shrapnel started to hit. Heavy tiles peeled off neighbors' roofs and zinged through the air like pebbles, slamming into the aluminum shutters, sounding the gong of doom.
The eye of the storm came… the winds dropped to 30 miles per hour. Maybe less. On the radio, the weatherman warned that no one go outside. Of course you go outside. Especially if you have two stir-crazy kids inside. My entire neighborhood went outside.
Already we could see we were luckier than some. There was a gate in my front yard -- and I don't have a fence!
Then the other side of the eye wall arrived. Back inside. At least, we reassured each other, the other side of the storm is "historically and traditionally weaker."
History and tradition meant nothing to Wilma. The storm seemed made worse by the fact that the other side carried very little rain. It was all wind -- a shrieking, horrific wind, the stuff of nightmares. Amazingly, my pool enclosure refused to crumple.
Finally, it was over. One neighbor's two-story pool enclosure was reduced to a few twisted strands of aluminum. Others were heaps of metal. Some roofs lost so many tiles they looked like patchwork quilts. Trees uprooted. But our neighborhood was one of the lucky ones. Further south and east, storm shutters had been ripped right off the walls. Buildings were literally flattened. And across Broward and Palm Beach counties, everyone lost power, phone, Internet -- in the space of a few hours, we stepped through time from the 21st century to the 19th century.
I've heard people complain that the government wasn't quick enough to rush in and save us. Being a Sovereign Individual means relying more on yourself and less on the government. And nothing hammers that home like a disaster where the modern conveniences you take for granted suddenly disappear.
I was a little better prepared than many....
• The first night, my grill ran out of propane. But I keep an extra propane tank "just in case."
• We had plenty of food, water and milk you don't have to refrigerate for the kids. Some people were looking for food
on day two.
• The day after the hurricane the gas lines started. In some places, people waited in lines from 10 am to 6 pm. The AP reports that in one gas line, a guy was going up and down the line selling gasoline from a 10-gallon can at $20 per gallon, and people were paying it -- gladly. But along with the propane, I also had 12 gallons of gasoline squirreled away. When it became clear that we wouldn't have power for a week or more, I topped off the tanks in our cars and we skedaddled for Sarasota.
I could have been more prepared, though …
• I should have invested in a gas-powered generator. In the days after the hurricane, it sounded like our neighborhood was taken over by a mad horde of lawnmowers -- all those generators running. But it let people run their refrigerators and do laundry.
• I should have a gas-powered chainsaw. My electric chain saw won't do a lick of good until power comes on.
• I should have installed the best storm shutters money can buy. When a Category 4 storm hits -- and odds are we'll see one eventually -- saving a few pennies will be Of little comfort.
I'll have all these things in place next year. The combination of an upswing in the hurricane cycle and global warming will mean these big, bad-ass storms will arrive more frequently. Remember, it's not just Florida that's in the cross hairs, and it's not just Louisiana. Hurricanes could slam into Texas, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia -- if hurricanes were a business, you might say the customer base is expanding and market outlook is bullish.
And as for investing, it wouldn't hurt to look at companies that make generators. 290,000 Florida's bought generators after last year's storms.This year, 6 million FPL customers lost power -- generator sales should go through the roof.
Likewise, the stock of any company that helps people prepare For stormy weather should also catch a tailwind.
But if you live anywhere where hurricanes threaten, the best thing you can invest in is your own self-reliance. Prepare your home ahead of time. Have a plan for getting through the hurricane. And have a plan for getting out.
Of course, nothing ever goes according to plan. But a truly Sovereign Individual runs more chance of being able to make decisions in a hurricane's wake and less chance of sitting around waiting for government help.
All the best Sean Brodrick, Investment Director The Sovereign Society
PS: Natural disasters seem very good for gold -- the price of the yellow metal was up $12 in Wilma's wake, and it rallied after Katrina, too. But that's just one of the factors that should drive gold to $600 an ounce in 2006. For more on the forces driving precious metals -- as well as my picks for the best gold investments right now, and more -- pick up a copy of my gold report immediately. To do that, click here: LINK: http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/190SSFDG/W190FA46/
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BOB BAUMAN -- LETTER FROM THAILAND
Saturday I flew into Bangkok, Thailand, a first visit for me, then headed to the famous beach area of Pattaya, where an old friend from my conservative political college days now lives.
Like many American expats, my friend Art moved his wealth and himself offshore some years ago, after getting guidance from the Sovereign Society as a member. We helped him set up his offshore bank account, an asset protection trust, but Thai residency was his own doing. He's invested in real estate here and enjoys the good life from a comfortable offshore investment income. Art proves it can be done.
Pattaya is a world renown beach resort on the Gulf of Thailand, about two hours by freeway from the capital. Not long ago Patty was a small fishing village, and it served as an R&R destination for the US military in the Viet Nam War. Now it's an infamous major Asian vacation spot, and American cultural and business influence is eveywhere, but as adapted by the Thais. And from the looks of the building boom here, Thailand is enjoying Asia's general economic resurgence.
More later this week. That's the way that it looks from here in Pattaya, Thailand.
* Find out facts about moving your finances, residency and investments offshore, click here:
LINK: http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/190STHOW/W190FA47/
LINK: http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/190SGOPS/W190FA48/
* More about Thailand, LINK:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1237845.stm
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* FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK:
OFFSHORE:
* SWITZERLAND & THE EUROPEAN UNION - WHAT'S NEXT?
BERN: Internal political debate over whether Switzerland should join the EUA continues. One cabinet minister says it wont happen in the next decade, another calling for "EU lite." The problem: join the EUA and end Swiss banking secrecy -- not very likely.
* Swiss keep options open on EU membership http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=107&sid=6192870&cKey=1130340646000
* Couchepin sees long life for bilateral EU ties
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=106&sid=6199968&cKey=1130681195000
* Calmy-Rey eyes "membership light" with EU
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=106&sid=6201095&cKey=1130685928000
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* AUSTRALIAN TAX COLLECTORS GONE WILD
CANBERRA: Tax office releases names of "suspects" alleged to
use offshore trusts to evade taxes. Government presumes guilt,
media circus goes on.
* Tax man tracks down offshore tax cheats. LINK:
http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,17057419%255E462,00.html
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WEALTH:
* CASEY'S GOLD PROFIT TIPS
Sovereign Society Council of Experts member, DOUG CASEY, explains who, after 20 years of waiting, gold bugs now have a great chance to profit, beyond their wildest dreams.
* Speculator secrets to profit in gold bull market. LINK: http://www.kitcocasey.com/displayArticle.php?id=340
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* EU WANTS TO FORCE SAME CORPORATE TAXES
Under EU rules individual nations control their own tax policies, but EU officials are pushing a common corporate tax rate while at least 5 EU member nations are opposed. LINKS:
http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story_open.asp?storyname=21552
* Panel says end US taxes on offshore corporations. LINK:
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/c69a2c0a-4010-11da-8394-00000e2511c8.html
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* I.R.S. DICTATORSHIP
Not content with indicting KPMG for selling tax shelters that never have been ruled illegal by any court, now the IRS demands thousands of American confess to using shelters that never have been ruled illegal. Stalin would understand such tactics.
* IRS offers to settle with tax-shelter users. LINK: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/27/AR2005102701144.html
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PRIVACY & RIGHTS:
* DEMONIZING DUALS
The Sovereign Society champions the right, guaranteed by US law and upheld by the US Supreme Court, to hold more than one citizenship. Stupid prejudice by some Americans is now aimed at some US dual citizens, especially Latino-Americans.
* Demonizing Dual Citizens. LINK:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/27/AR2005102701219.html
* Click here for Bob Bauman's Passport Book, all about dual
how to obtain citizenship and second passports.
LINK:
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* UN-AMERICAN PATRIOT ACT
Pending amendments in the US Congress to the so-called PATRIOT
Act would triple the number of terrorism-related crimes eligible for the death penalty and allow the death penalty for a person who gives money to an organization whose members kill someone, even if the contributor did not know anything about the plan.
* Patriot Act developing decidedly un-American tilt. LINK: http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/13020444.htm
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* FRENCH 'ANTI-TERRORISM' BILL TRAMPLES RIGHTS
PARIS: Surveillance on travelers to certain countries and more use of cameras, detention in secret, telephone records.
* French Presents Anti-Terror Bill. LINK:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5371826,00.html
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LINK: http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/190SPATY/W190FA49/
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THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER.
* Bob Bauman, Editor * Daniel Aponte, Jr., Managing Editor.
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