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THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER
Your Link to Freedom, Privacy & Prosperity in the Offshore World
Tuesday, December 31, 2002 - Vol. 4 No. 137
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In This Issue:
* COMMENT: Decline & Fall?
* OFFSHORE: Saudi Terror Cash. Caymans Defiance? Bahamas Hope.Old Morgenthau Again. Panama Wins. Zimbabwe's End. Prince of Tonga.
* WEALTH: 2003 Tips. Re-insurance. Gold & Greenbacks. Avoid Scams.UK Taxes, Forfeiture, Rules. US Bankruptcy, Frauds. Rich Run Right?
* PRIVACY & RIGHTS: Inside Scoop. Conspiracy Theories. US Refugees.Name Game. Shorter Visas. Clouded Lawyers.
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COMMENT: Decline & Fall?
Dear A-Letter Reader:
Way before I served in the US House of Representatives (1973-81), I already had been on Capitol Hill for 20 years. That's because I became a page in the House in 1953, at the age of 15, and served in several House staff jobs before getting into elected politics in my home state of Maryland in 1970.
In the 1960s I was active in the conservative youth movement that grew into a powerful reaction to the left liberalism then dominant on college campuses. I read voraciously in those days and even got into that classic, Gibbons 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.'
I recall these ancient facts because, at the end of the old year and the start of the new, we writers are supposed to come up with some trenchant wisdom to sustain our readers and burnish our own reputations.In casting about for some such wisdom, I came across this statement:"Readers could do worse than go back to a study of the first real exerciser of unipolar power, the Roman Empire. The book to read is Edward Gibbon's classic study, whose first volume was (by chance)published in 1776, the year of the signing of the American declaration of independence. Gibbon's advice immediately looks quite attractive and relevant to today."
That quote is from a Financial Times opinion piece, entitled "Lessons from the fall of an empire" (see below) which compares imperial America's current status with historic antecedents such as Great Britain, Spain and Rome.
I'm uncertain what the new year holds for you and me, but as an American, I am well aware that Gibbon forcefully made the case that most historic empires lasted for just 200 years before eventual decline and collapse. That could mean the United States is already nearly 30 years overdue. Something to think about as we contemplate this new year of 2003.
That's the way that it looks from here.
BOB BAUMAN, Editor
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COMMENT LINKS:
* Lessons from the fall of an empire. Financial Times. LINK:
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.co
m/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1039524021167
* The Financial Times Year in Review for 2002. LINK:
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT
.com/Page/SpecialLevel1&cid=1037872578364
* Looking back, looking ahead. The Economist. LINK:
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?sto
ry_id=1503590
* A 2002 Primer on U.S. Business Scandals. LINK:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/scand
als/primer/index.html
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The Sovereign Society wishes you a very happy & prosperous new year. There will be no Wednesday edition of the A-Letter this week.
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* OFFSHORE *
THE REAL 'OFFSHORE' DIRTY CASH SOURCE
Leftist welfare state leaders insisted offshore tax havens were used for secret terrorist cash; here's the real source.
LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/30/opinion/30GERS.html
* Lifting the lid on hot money; a good historic summary.
LINK: http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/scotland.cfm?id=1441152002
* Caribbean nations clean up their dirty cash problems. LINK:
http://www.oneworld.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi?root=129&url=
http://www.lapress.org/article.asp?Iss
Code=&lanCode=1&artCode=3178
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CAYMAN ISLAND LEADER TELLS U.K. - "HANDS OFF!"
GEORGE TOWN, C.I.- "UK should not have control of our financial ffairs," says Leader Bush. But will he really resist London? LINK:
http://www.caypolitics.com/index2.vep?FORUM=politics&FU
NCTION=read&SORT=dna2&MODE=&_COMPAND=
Expand&_Message_ID=12991&username=anonymous&po
p3host=caymail.com&session_id=312768416382553
* A hopeful Bahamas looks backwards and forward, 2002/2003.
LINK: http://www.thenassauguardian.com/editorial/281
831841700222.php
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MORGENTHAU REPEATS HIMSELF
NEW YORK: The aging Manhattan district attorney recycles his past NY Times op-ed pieces; offshore means tax evasion. Ho hum!
LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/28/opinion/2
8MORG.html
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PANAMA THE WINNER IN TAIWAN-CHINA SPAT
One of the world's leading tax havens is wooed by both Chinas.
LINK: http://www.washtimes.com/world/20021230-8921
9077.htm
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THE END OF ZIMBABWE
This Marxist dictatorship's last year; the nation's also? LINK:
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=
FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1039524019652
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TONGA, THE EX-TAX HAVEN, NOW HAS ITS PRINCE
Satellite geek, military fetishist, future king. Make way for the irrepressible cyber visionary of the South Pacific!
LINK: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.12/prince.html
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LINK: http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/190SMNPS/W190CB43/
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WEALTH
TIPS FOR A WEALTHY NEW YEAR
Save, cut debt, organize finances, invest. LINK:
http://money.cnn.com/2002/12/25/pf/investing/financial
_resolutions.reut/
* Offshore re-insurance is a place to invest, post 9-11. LINK:
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/363/business/Century_
Capital_s_Lanny_Thorndike_on_insurance_stocks .shtml
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GOLD IS NOT MONEY -- YET!
A return to the gold standard; is it likely?
LINK: http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north149.html
* Greenback: A History of Paper Money in America. LINK:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/29/books/review/29
LELANDT.html
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AVOIDING OFFSHORE SCAMS
Tax savings myth: diverting profits to a foreign corporation LINK:http://investorsoffshore.com/offshorepress/story.asp
* IRS offers tax cheats a way out. LINK:
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/business/1718316
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UNITED KINGDOM:
* Revenue gloves come off in UK corporate tax hunt.
LINK: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2612835.stm
* New UK forfeiture powers to seize criminal cash take effect.
LINK: http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page6896.asp
* US SEC rules could threaten UK accounting tax work. LINK:
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com
/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1039524026920
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UNITED STATES:
* US bankruptcies smash record as fraud takes its toll.
LINK: http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2002/12/30
/rtr834416.html
* US history of frauds, swindles, get-rich-quick schemes. LINK:
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/021230/
biztech/30history.htm
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DON'T RUN IF YOU'RE RICH?
Should wealth disqualify a candidate from seeking public office?
LINK: http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?
ARTICLE_ID=30231
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* PRIVACY & RIGHTS *
WAY AHEAD OF THE NEWS MEDIA
Here's an Israeli based web site associated with The Economist that insiders say gets the scoop well ahead of the world media. LINK: http://www.debka.com/doc/example.htm
* Conspiracy theories: that's what they want you to believe! LINK:
http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_
id=1489200
* Want to know more Forbidden Knowledge? Click here:
LINK: http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/SVS/WSVSCB15/
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REFUGEES FLEE FROM AMERICA TO CANADA
VANCOUVER: Refugee claimants seeking refuge from US. LINK:
http://www.canada.com/ottawa/story.asp?id={8A3BFB
E8-A235-4979-98E5-7C87AEBF6B16}
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WHAT'S IN A NAME?
Lots of possible mistakes in lots of computers, that's what!
LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/30/technology/
30LIST.html
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U.S. VISITOR VISAS MAY BE CUT TO ONLY 30 DAYS
US tourism, travel business claim it will hurt economy.
LINK: http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20021230
/4738042s.htm
* More about visas and passports, click here:
LINK: http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/190SGOPS/
W190CB47/
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AMERICAN LAWYERS UNDER A CLOUD
A year of US corporate scandals makes lawyers sink even lower. LINK:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A48999-2002
Dec28?language=printer
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