09:12 – The official forecast for the next two weeks is that I’ll be in a Bad Mood, as I begin doing the taxes tomorrow. This year, I’ll be in a Badder Mood than usual, because the government is stealing more than usual this year.
Sunday, 31 March 2013
20 Comments and discussion on "Sunday, 31 March 2013"
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You deserve to be punished for having shown the initiative, creativity, and stick-to-it-iveness to create all those science kits. And you cater to the apostates who teach their kids at home, another offense against Uncle.
I keep hoping that this will be the year that North Carolina secedes.
…and Texas, Vermont, Alaska…etc., etc.
And what pcb_duffer said; it’s actually mildly surprising that Leviathan’s minions haven’t come after you in some fashion by now. Let’s hope they never do.
I’m also looking forward to taxes. 2012 for my wife, 2012 for me, expatriation for both of us, and partial 2013 for me. Five returns, lots of fun…
I’ve booked an appointment with a tax advisor, to see if it’s reasonable to hire some professional help.
The problem with that is, a century and a half ago it was conclusively demonstrated that the words and intent of the contract between the states and the federal government don’t matter. All that matters is force. At the moment, the US federal government can still muster the force to keep any single state from seceding. Likely can prevent half a dozen or even a dozen states from seceding.
Another angle on Cyprus.
But, if the Kremlin had been more nimble and decisive, it could have pulled off bold coups.
With $460 billion in foreign currency reserves, the Kremlin could have crafted a bailout tied to Gazprom’s development of Cyprus’ offshore gas reserves. With Syria’s civil war threatening the future of Russia’s only naval base in the Mediterranean, at Tartus, Syria, the Kremlin could have told Cyprus to add a naval base to the deal.
Instead, the Kremlin seems to have fallen for one of the oldest tricks in the political book – bamboozled by the leader of a small country who fluently speaks the language of the big country.
In the Cyprus case, the soothing words came from Demetris Christofias, Cyprus president from 2008 until Feb. 28 – five weeks ago. A leader of Cyprus’ Communist party, AKEL, Christofias studied history for five years in the Soviet Union in the 1970s. In his meetings as president with Kremlin leaders, Christofias may have said nice things, in Russian. But clearly, he had a, um, fuzzy understanding of finance.
http://blogs.voanews.com/russia-watch/2013/03/31/russia-loses-cyprus/
Anyone interested in Russia could do worse than follow that blog. He doesn’t post often, but it is usually interesting.
Thanks for that link, Roy; I personally believe, along with Patrick Buchanan and others, that the Russian people, hell, even the government at this point, should be our friends, as should the Persians. Instead we keep sticking pins in their eyes and busting their balls, to what purpose I cannot even fathom. I also look at the RT site regularly and at the risk of pissing people off here and elsewhere, Al-Jazeera. Our own nooz media pretty much suck rocks, so WTF are we supposed to do? Plus I have shortwave.
“All that matters is force. At the moment, the US federal government can still muster the force to keep any single state from seceding. Likely can prevent half a dozen or even a dozen states from seceding.”
Key words: “At the moment.” I’d say they can muster such force to stop up to a half-dozen states from bailing, depending on the states. Sure they can put the kibosh on us here in Vermont where there has been a regular secession movement for years, or New Hampshire. But throw Texas, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, etc. into the mix and let’s see how it goes. How much and how long will Leviathan’s troops and police fire on their fellow citizens; maybe a few days or weeks until there is massive outrage and civil unrest, accelerating. Now ask that question again when their paychecks and meal tickets disappear.
Multiple Kent State, Ruby Ridge and Waco by the dozen around the country and the Fed will rue the day; you say their F16s and tanks will prevail? I say it’s now open season on pilots, aircrews, and tank drivers, at home, on their way to work, at the MacDonald’s for lunch. Local police busting our ballz? Same deal; their addresses and personal info is just as available to us as ours is to them now.
Happy Easter!
Follow that blog for a while and you might have a different view of the Russian
governmentkleptocracy. The direction the country is headed is… discouraging.I am aware of the kleptocratic kultur that’s infested the country, governmental and otherwise; our own is not as pure as the driven snow, either. And likewise very discouraging.
It’s regular people I think about; Russians, Persians, Americans, who ought to, and could be, if not the best of friends, at least get along nicely. But our respective governments do their damndest to ruin that possibility. One might ask, why? Cui bono?
The cui always bonos.
Nostris dominandi bastardi qui fac ita ad preces nostri socialis et financial elites prodesse magis magisque dum nos descendes et eris inferior. Tempus eorum appropinquavit.
Illegitimi carborundum est.
I’ve already done the income taxes and am contemplating turning them in now. The amount due was somewhere between hoping for the best and being prepared for the worst. This will be the most income taxes the wife and I have ever paid, our effective rate is almost 17%. This is my reward for working hard and making good decisions some / most of the time. Did I mention working hard?
Whoa, http://translate.google.com/ did not autodetect that as Latin. It said it was Galician, whatever that is.
Key words: “At the moment.” I’d say they can muster such force to stop up to a half-dozen states from bailing, depending on the states. Sure they can put the kibosh on us here in Vermont where there has been a regular secession movement for years, or New Hampshire. But throw Texas, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, etc. into the mix and let’s see how it goes. How much and how long will Leviathan’s troops and police fire on their fellow citizens; maybe a few days or weeks until there is massive outrage and civil unrest, accelerating. Now ask that question again when their paychecks and meal tickets disappear.
You forget that it took three years for the North to organize and develop a good enough leadership to defeat the South. That would happen again unless some moron uses battlefield nukes.
BTW, my son claims that 1/3 of the Marine Corps is from Kalifornia and another third of the Marine Corps is from Texas. The other third is from east of the Mississippi river (probably mostly Florida). I have no idea where the army comes from but I do know that the biggest army base in the USA is Fort Hood in Texas. I am wondering if the majority of the present armed forces are from the Southern USA?
Can we let Kalifornia be their own country please? Please? Please? It would be Greece on a stick.
“…Galician, whatever that is.”
The Spanish dialect in northwestern Spain. Descended from Latin, of course.
“…it took three years for the North to organize and develop a good enough leadership to defeat the South.”
That was then, this is now. A whole lot of the armed forces, particularly Army and Marines are from southern states and it’s been like that since the beginning.
Agreed on Kalifornia going its own way, although the folks in the northern quarter may wanna go yet another way, ditto eastern Oregon and Washington states, along with Nevada and Idaho. Away from the coastal urban elites, that is.
A most happy and blessed Easter to the three or four of my fellow Christians here that I am aware of. The rest of ya enjoy yer chocolate bunny rabbits and jellybeans anyway….
A most happy and blessed Easter to the three or four of my fellow Christians here that I am aware of. The rest of ya enjoy yer chocolate bunny rabbits and jellybeans anyway….
We had a great church service this morning. Our preacher led us through “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!” twice. Responsive sayings used to be very forbidden in the The Church of Christ. I’m glad that we have changed that.
No chocolate bunny rabbits or jellybeans. I got a symbolic dark chocolate marshmallow egg from the wife. Took a bite and gave it back, I hate marshmallow eggs. I want a chocolate bunny so I can eat the ears!
And the same back to you. And thank you for your service for Uncle, he appreciates it also (Uncle just has trouble expressing it).
We don’t get hung up over Easter in my home…
I’ll take any chocolate eggs/rabbits/bilby’s that the non-believers don’t want. Even marshmallow ones… 🙂
Yes, the government is taking more this year. However, I thought the only change which would affect your Federal taxes would be the end of the “temporary” payroll tax cut. (Or more accurately, the end of the temporary self employment tax cut.)