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THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER
Your Link to Freedom, Privacy & Prosperity in the Offshore World
Friday, September 5, 2003 - Vol. 5 No. 105
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In This Issue:
* COMMENT: Farce or Tragedy?
* OFFSHORE: Chamber Attacks IRS. Bermuda Buys Bahamas. Italy as Haven? Swiss Corruption? Offshore Hazards. WTO & Antigua. EU Dictates Hungarian Taxes. EU Politicians Want to Tax US Companies.
* WEALTH: US Economy Up. Treaty Shopping. JP Morgan Iraq. China Yuan. Hawala Curbs. Dumb IRS. Richest Under 40. Why Gold?
* PRIVACY & RIGHTS: Unpatriotic Anti-PATRIOTS? Facial Failure. Dear Nigerian Scammer.
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COMMENT: Farce or Tragedy?
Dear A-Letter Reader:
In 1924 the late Will Rogers observed: "You know everyone is ignorant, only on different subjects."
But what if an entire nation is ignorant about the same very important subjects? Ignorant about basic rights and liberties? Ignorant about politics, taxes, government; about who controls their very lives?
Welcome to America -- and to the United Kingdom.
* A 1991 poll by the American Bar Association found that only 33% of Americans surveyed knew what the Bill of Rights was.
* A 1979 Gallup poll found that 70% of respondents did not know what the First Amendment was or what it dealt with.
* In 1996 a Harvard survey found that "only 26% knew the 6-year term of office of a U.S. senator" and less than half the public knows that a member of the House of Representative is elected to a 2 year term.
* A 1987 survey found that 45% of adult respondents believed that Karl Marx's communist principle "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs" was part of the U.S. Constitution.
* A 1995 survey found that 83% underestimated the tax burden faced by the average family earning $35,000 a year. The burden actually was 54% higher than most people thought.
And knowledge is not much better in the United Kingdom. No one in a recent straw poll knew that the average UK worker hands over 22% of their salary to Inland Revenue, and that doesn't even include the cost socialized national health insurance.
Freedom columnist James Bovard has gathered these appalling statistics, and he asks: "Considering how many people fail to concentrate on their own affairs (such as financial planning or balancing their checkbooks), how likely are they to function at a higher level in considering government taxation or budget controversies?
Later this month America celebrates "National Citizenship Day." So keep in mind the words of one of the Founding Fathers, an author of the Constitution, and the 4th president, James Madison, who wrote: "A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both."
Ask yourself: Which one is America today? Or is it, "perhaps, both."
That's the way that it looks from here.
BOB BAUMAN, Editor
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COMMENT LINKS:
* The Greatest Ignorance of the Greatest Number
LINK: http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0308d.asp
* Citizenship classes US-style.
LINK: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3079472.stm
* UK reveals 'Britishness test' for new citizens. LINK:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/6505301?source=Evening Standard
* UK citizens fail test on government knowledge. LINK:
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,11026,1034975,00.html
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* OFFSHORE *
U.S. CHAMBER ATTACKS I.R.S. RULE
US Chamber opposes IRS 'interest reporting' rule that forces banks
to report non-residents' interest income to home tax authorities.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=13205
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BERMUDA BANK BUYS BAHAMAS BANK
HAMILTON: Bank of Butterfield buys out Bahamas bank. LINK:
http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030904/BUSINESS/109040068
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ITALY AS A TAX HAVEN?
ROME: Is that even possible?
LINK: http://www.macfarlanes.com/press/recent_pub.cfm?pressid=361
* How about a tax free part of Italy; Campione d'Italia.
LINK: http://www.henleyglobal.com/campione.htm
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SWISS HAVE ROOM TO IMPROVE ON CORRUPTION
Says Transparency International's 2003 global survey.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=13203
* Global Survey Report: LINK: http://www.globalcorruptionreport.org/
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OFFSHORE HAZARDS
The dangers of moving offshore, personal and otherwise.
LINK: http://213.159.10.102/germany.asp?pad=194,228,&item_id=33859
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ANTIGUA GETS W.T.O. HEARING ON U.S. GAMBLING CURBS
US banning of taking of Online bets from offshore locations at issue.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=13194
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E.U. MEMBERSHIP KILLS HUNGARY'S CORPORATE TAX BREAK
YOR, Hungary: Mo more generous tax breaks to foreign investors. LINK:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/02/business/worldbusiness/02AUDI.html
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EUROPEAN POLITICIANS WANT TO TAX U.S. COMPANIES
US companies with no physical presence in Europe
should not be forced to collect taxes for the European Union.
LINK: http://www.cato.org/dailys/09-04-03.html
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* WEALTH *
SIGNS SHOW U.S. ECONOMY ON THE UPSWING
US economy leads world recovery but euro zone struggles.
LINK: http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/030903105441.8hxq1b55
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TREATY SHOPPING; AN AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE
JOHANNESBURG: Making the most of a taxing Merry-Go-Round.
LINK: http://allafrica.com/stories/200309030184.html
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J.P. MORGAN IS IRAQ'S NEW BANKER
BAGHDAD: J.P. Morgan Chase starts a beachhead here. LINK:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?siteid=yhoo&guid={59DC7FCB-7D86-4B1E-AD4A-3450E73B502F}&
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CHINA HANGS ON TO CURRENCY CONTROLS
BEIJING: Snow visit produces no great break through. LINK:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22845-2003Sep3.html
* 'Free China, Float the Yuan' says this China specialist. LINK:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB106254399948357200-email,00.html
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INDIAN GOVERNMENT CURBS HAWALA
NEW DELHI: Clamp down on unregulated money transfers. LINK:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=162520
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IS THIS NEWS?
It's official; the IRS does not know what it is doing 57% of the time.
LINK: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96345,00.html
* Reviled US estate tax hurts small business, farmers. LINK:
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=110&xlc=1049198
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FORTUNE MAGAZINE PICKS RICHEST UNDER AGE 40
Rising from nothing to achieve wealth and power.
LINKS: http://www.fortune.com/fortune/40under40/richest
http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200nationalnews/content_objectid=13366559_method=full_siteid=50002_headline=-Chelsea-boss-tops-rich-list-name_page.html
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WHY GOLD?
How does gold help preserve your cash savings?
LINK: http://goldmoney.com/en/why-gold.html
* What's going on in today's gold market?
LINK: http://goldmoney.com/en/commentary.php#current
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* PRIVACY & RIGHTS *
IS IT UNPATRIOTIC TO OPPOSE THE PATRIOT ACT?
Are civil liberties concerns much ado about nothing? Hardly!
LINK: http://www.reason.com/links/links090203.shtml
* In Florida town hall meeting Patriot Act raises concerns. LINK:
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/news/local/6686049.htm
* PATRIOT Act bars professor's research into public records. LINK:
http://palestinechronicle.com/article.php?story=20030812221737540
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* Face recognition surveillance fails in another place; Boston. LINK:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2003/09/03/face_recognition_devices_failed_in_test_at_logan/
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DEAR NIGERIAN SCAMMER:
I'm not your average Internet savior/accomplice/sucker. LINK:
http://www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/2003/Sep-03-Wed-2003/opinion/doug.html
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THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER. *
Bob Bauman, Editor. * SUBSCRIBE FREE or send to a friend at
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