tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post5329927791096998971..comments2023-09-23T11:16:00.352+02:00Comments on The Franco-American Flophouse has moved: Exile the American WayVictoria FERAUGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16319699673885400472noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-67601080493480619222013-02-08T07:46:41.085+01:002013-02-08T07:46:41.085+01:00@Anonymous, Good links. Thank you. I was surpris...@Anonymous, Good links. Thank you. I was surprised that France wasn't on the lists of countries that have cooperated. I thought they did but perhaps I'm wrong.<br /><br />@SwissTechie "These days, Americans abroad must file taxes so that they can finance their possible murder without a fair trial by the US government." That sums it up perfectly. Yes, that's exactly what it looks like.<br />Victoria FERAUGEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16319699673885400472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-14468747995902022692013-02-08T07:20:49.856+01:002013-02-08T07:20:49.856+01:00These days, Americans abroad must file taxes so th...These days, Americans abroad must file taxes so that they can finance their possible murder without a fair trial by the US government. That's the "benefit" of being a US citizen. Thanks but no thanks.SwissTechiehttp://expatami.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-79253529548539030232013-02-07T20:16:11.445+01:002013-02-07T20:16:11.445+01:00Wired: "More Than 50 Countries Helped the CIA...Wired: "More Than 50 Countries Helped the CIA Outsource Torture"<br /><br />http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/02/54-countries-rendition/<br /><br />From the article:<br /><br />"A new report from the Open Society Foundation details the CIA’s effort to outsource torture since 9/11 in excruciating detail. Known as “extraordinary rendition,” the practice concerns taking detainees to and from U.S. custody without a legal process — think of it like an off-the-books extradition — and often entailed handing detainees over to countries that practiced torture. The Open Society Foundation found that 136 people went through the post-9/11 extraordinary rendition, and 54 countries were complicit in it."<br /><br />"The full 54 countries that aided in post-9/11 renditions: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Libya, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Yemen, and Zimbabwe. The Open Society Foundation doesn’t rule out additional ones being involved that it has yet to discover."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-75829470281153830072013-02-07T19:38:14.301+01:002013-02-07T19:38:14.301+01:00Salon: “DoJ memo: It’s legal to kill Americans wit...Salon: “DoJ memo: It’s legal to kill Americans with drones”<br /><br />http://www.salon.com/2013/02/05/doj_memo_its_legal_to_kill_americans_with_drones/<br /><br />From the article:<br /><br />“The ACLU’s Jaffer called the limits to U.S. killing authority set out in the memo ‘so vague and elastic that they will be easily manipulated.’ Jaffer goes on to detail the specific reasons why, as he told Isikoff, he finds the content of the document ‘chilling,’ including his belief that its key legal arguments ‘don’t stand up to even cursory review.’”Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-40858937789089860392013-02-07T07:52:17.515+01:002013-02-07T07:52:17.515+01:00@Anonymous - Excellent point. Yep the Green Card ...@Anonymous - Excellent point. Yep the Green Card holders get even less for their money. Zero protection and zero benefits outside the US. It's really hard to understand how that can be justified under any grounds. They can't even vote. Taxing them when they live outside the US is a scandal.<br /><br />@Dollar vigilante, Really great post. Thanks for the link. Yep, that's where citizenship-based taxation came from and it still true. Bush promised homeland Americans that the recent wars wouldn't cost them anything. Looks like the current administration doesn't want to make the previous one out to be a liar. Just get those evil US citizens and Green Card holder outside the country to pay for it instead.<br /><br />Victoria FERAUGEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16319699673885400472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-35306693127440694142013-02-07T01:07:47.714+01:002013-02-07T01:07:47.714+01:00The Dollar Vigilante (blog): “Citizen-Based Taxati...The Dollar Vigilante (blog): “Citizen-Based Taxation: Thank War for It”<br /><br />http://dollarvigilante.com/blog/2013/1/14/citizen-based-taxation-thank-war-for-it.html<br /><br />From the article: <br /><br />“Eritrea imposes a 2% tax on citizens who live abroad. It has come under intense criticism not only for the “diaspora tax” but also for its aggressive pursuit of collection.” <br /><br />“America imposes higher penalties and is more vicious in its collections. Nevertheless, the American Goliath has largely escaped criticism. Without approving any other form of taxation, a particularly bright light should be shone on the citizenship-based version.”<br /><br />“Citizenship-based taxation is simply too lucrative for the government to reconsider. As long as the government can paint Americans who live abroad as tax evaders, dodgers or somehow unpatriotic, then there will be little public sympathy. Government will be able to raise more money for the periodic slaughters called war as well as for the other public ‘services’ it performs.”Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-57503804234518900902013-02-06T23:32:38.332+01:002013-02-06T23:32:38.332+01:00As ever, green card holders fare even worse. Stay...As ever, green card holders fare even worse. Stay outside the US for a year or so and your right to return is reduced significantly or eliminated entirely, but the US tax liability remains. From IRS pub 4588 "Basic Tax for Green Card Holders":<br /><br /><i>"... even if the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) no longer recognizes the validity of your green card because you have been absent from the United States for a certain period of time or the green card is more than ten years old, you must continue to file tax returns until there has been a final determination that is not subject to appeal that your green card has been revoked or abandoned."</i><br /><br />Because green card holders are by definition citizens of another country, anyone in this situation really is paying US tax for nothing whatsoever, not even a vague future "option" on moving to the US. The policy says a lot about the US attitude towards <b>legal</b> immigrants, never mind the illegal ones.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-71747495206362278102013-02-06T21:57:06.848+01:002013-02-06T21:57:06.848+01:00@Veronique, Good to see you here and thanks for t...@Veronique, Good to see you here and thanks for the comment. I'm really pleased that the info is useful.<br /><br />@Shadow Raider, That is just amazing. Did you read the comment where one person said that he didn't think that evacuating Americans willy-nilly all around the globe was the job of the US government? <br /><br />Fair enough. But since other countries do offer it as a service to their citizens, it just means that the US citizenship "package" looks even less like a good deal.<br /><br />I also noted that the couple really appreciated the help they got from the embassy personnel. That's been my experience too - good folks. Victoria FERAUGEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16319699673885400472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-19762720912110340632013-02-06T20:14:07.377+01:002013-02-06T20:14:07.377+01:00An American couple living in Haiti posted on their...An American couple living in Haiti posted on their website what the US government charged for evacuation assistance after an earthquake in 2010. The assistance consisted of a 45-minute flight to the Dominican Republic and cost about $840 for each person. The couple shows that an equivalent commercial flight costs about $60.<br />http://goatpath.wordpress.com/2011/02/11/how-much-can-an-evacuation-flight-cost-or-why-the-us-government-should-not-go-into-the-airline-industry/Shadow Raidernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-87918712351437386242013-02-06T15:43:25.256+01:002013-02-06T15:43:25.256+01:00As a French native carrying a French and an Americ...As a French native carrying a French and an American passport, I find this information so very interesting, Victoria. I am planning to move back to my homeland eventually, and I will obviously have some serious thinking to do then... Thank you for doing all the research and ground work on this topic! Veronique (French Girl in Seattle) French Girl in Seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14347995356689205203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-51242127718623662352013-02-06T15:40:45.366+01:002013-02-06T15:40:45.366+01:00French Boy: That's true. He did convert. Bu...French Boy: That's true. He did convert. But he is not from a Moslem country and is not descended from parents or grand-parents who came from any of those countries. These are the people who seem to be the primary targets of the No Fly lists. That alone really disturbs me. It looks a lot like discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or national origin. But for anyone who thinks, well, I don't fall into that category and so I'm not going to get into any trouble, think again. Washburn and some others cited by the ACLU were born in the US and look to be of European stock - that's the group I was referring to. So I'd say nobody's safe here including the smug majority of Americans of European origin. You probably have a better chance of ending up on these lists of you are someone from North Africa or the Middle East (and isn't that sad?) but if you are counting on your ethnic origins to save you, then you may be in for a very rude shock.<br /><br />Here's another article about it. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/us-government-sued-aclu-fly-list/story?id=11054805<br />Victoria FERAUGEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16319699673885400472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-37999069775484963612013-02-06T14:55:11.927+01:002013-02-06T14:55:11.927+01:00deception via omission is still deception. m washb...deception via omission is still deception. m washburn in the al-jazeera article was plainly stated to be a convert to islam, portraying him as not like the rest is being deceptive. remember adam gadahn was also born in the united states, and was an upstanding american citizen that was until he decided to join al-qaeda.French boy now NYernoreply@blogger.com