- The following statement is alleged to be the last testament
of Joseph Andrew Stack III, known as "Joe Stack," alleged to
have flown a kamikaze mission on Feb. 18 into an Austin, Texas office building
that housed some offices of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
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- Stack's suicide crash threatened the lives of many innocent
people in Austin. What gives him the right to play God? Does he think he's
Dick Cheney?
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- A few miles from the crash site is the main IRS headquarters
in Austin. An attack there would have been far more devastating and from
Stack's warped point of view, more effective. Would someone sufficiently
articulate to pen an eloquent terminal essay such as the one below, which
undoubtedly contains many candid truths, be so obtuse as to miss his main
target and attack a far less significant one?
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- For those of us who were stunned by the absolute apathy
of NORAD's fighter jets when they failed to fly over Manhattan after the
first of the Twin Towers was struck by a jumbo jet, please note the speed
with which the IRS buildings in Austin were sheltered under the wings of
NORAD after Stack's alleged terrorist act.
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- Why print the musings of an alleged terrorist? Because
successful terrorism is usually, in nine cases out of ten, a black op of
a government agency. Can we find clues in Stacks' supposed manifesto that
tell us something along these lines? Since shadowy forces are instigating
violence in the name of patriotism while encouraging rage and hate, we
need to see how that rage plays out in the mind of an American who is said
to have acted on his grievances - some of which are valid.
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- Where Joe Stack is wrong is in thinking that terrorist
acts constitute opposition to the Cryptocracy. They don't. They serve
the Cryptocracy, which historically has loved violence and drawn its sustenance
from it. Terrorism furnishes the excuse that tyrants need in order
to erode our God-given rights and gradually impose a police state
on our nation. One has only to examine the history of the United
States from Sept. 11, 2001 to 2008, to see how "King" George
Bush and his Vice-Regent, Dick Cheney, did precisely that, in the name
of "fighting terrorism." In this regard, the standing ovation
accorded to Cheney at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington
D.C. Feb. 18 tells us all we need to know about the "conservative
Republican commitment" to freedom.
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- Mr. Stack and his allies overlook the fact that the Cryptocracy
has an answer to their grievances. If they don't like America, or its crooked
politicians and unconstitutional tax laws, if they can't be successful
here, if they can't be "competitive" in the buzz word of the
buccaneer capitalists, it doesn't really matter in the long term. Millions
of the huddled masses in Mexico, China and India are entering our borders
to "compete" for the bucks, if necessary by washing dishes for
years for the chance to operate an outdoor food cart or own a convenience
store and be a "success." To them our tax laws seem mild, even
benevolent and to them, Joe Stack is just a sore "loser."
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- Behind Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin and the Republican
"conservatives" is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and all of the
other foreign lobbies eager to retire and replace American yeomanry like
Joe Stack with young, servile peons from abroad with no heritage of freedom
or individual rights. This is why the Republicans and the Democrats
have conspired to crate up our manufacturing industries and ship them overseas.
This is what "Free Trade" really signifies.
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- The Supreme Court recently declared corporations, which
are a legal fiction, as "persons" with freedom of speech
and press rights to buy campaigns and politicians, even more than they
have in the past. These corporations are multi-nationals with no allegiance
to anything but profit, just as Ayn Rand, Glenn Beck's philosophical heroine,
taught and advocated.
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- So Joe, you got angry and went "postal" in
attacking a building in Austin, Texas, with your fellow Americans inside.
You lashed out at Americans and presumably you hope others will also become
as mad as you. And madness it is.
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- Joe Stack's alleged terrorist act takes place against
the backdrop of the Fox television network-fueled Tea Party movement. Let
us recall however, that there is no organized national movement in the
U.S. representing the founding principles of 1776. The modern Tea Party
consists of many good folks, but they know nothing of the degree to which
they are being used by the Money Power and the Cryptocracy. Jesus
said, "The love of money is the root of evil." Is the Tea Party
attacking the root of evil? No way! They deal in symptoms. They don't
examine the roots. Is Joe Stack's supposed violent act a Lexington and
Concord shot heard 'round the world, or the beginning of the fulfillment
of the prophecy of US intelligence agencies that they are going to need
bigger budgets and more surveillance to counter "homegrown, domestic
terrorism"? It seems to me that Joe fits their profile and suits
their needs.
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- Joe Stack's Statement
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-
- If you're reading this, you're no doubt asking yourself,
"Why did this have to happen?" The simple truth is that it is
complicated and has been coming for a long time. The writing process, started
many months ago, was intended to be therapy in the face of the looming
realization that there isn't enough therapy in the world that can fix what
is really broken. Needless to say, this rant could fill volumes with example
after example if I would let it. I find the process of writing it frustrating,
tedious, and probably pointless... especially given my gross inability
to gracefully articulate my thoughts in light of the storm raging in my
head. Exactly what is therapeutic about that I'm not sure, but desperate
times call for desperate measures.
- We are all taught as children that without laws there
would be no society, only anarchy.
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- Sadly, starting at early ages we in this country have
been brainwashed to believe that, in return for our dedication and service,
our government stands for justice for all. We are further brainwashed to
believe that there is freedom in this place, and that we should be ready
to lay our lives down for the noble principals (sic) represented by its
founding fathers. Remember? One of these was "no taxation without
representation." I have spent the total years of my adulthood unlearning
that crap from only a few years of my childhood. These days anyone who
really stands up for that principal (sic) is promptly labeled a "crackpot,"
traitor and worse.
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- While very few working people would say they haven't
had their fair share of taxes (as can I), in my lifetime I can say with
a great degree of certainty that there has never been a politician cast
a vote on any matter with the likes of me or my interests in mind. Nor,
for that matter, are they the least bit interested in me or anything I
have to say. Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can
commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for
scores of years) and when it's time for their gravy train to crash under
the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the
full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days
if not hours?
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- Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical
system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens
of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims
they cripple, and this country's leaders don't see this as important as
bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political "representatives"
(thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless
time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the "terrible
health care problem". It's clear they see no crisis as long as the
dead people don't get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in.
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- And justice? You've got to be kidding!
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- How can any rational individual explain that white elephant
conundrum in the middle of our tax system and, indeed, our entire legal
system? Here we have a system that is, by far, too complicated for the
brightest of the master scholars to understand. Yet, it mercilessly "holds
accountable" its victims, claiming that they're responsible for fully
complying with laws not even the experts understand. The law "requires"
a signature on the bottom of a tax filing; yet no one can say truthfully
that they understand what they are signing; if that's not "duress"
than what is. If this is not the measure of atotalitarian regime, nothing
is.
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- How did I get here?
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- My introduction to the real American nightmare starts
back in the early '80s. Unfortunately after more than 16 years of school,
somewhere along the line I picked up the absurd, pompous notion that I
could read and understand plain English. Some friends introduced me to
a group of people who were having 'tax code' readings and discussions.
In particular, zeroed in on a section relating to the wonderful "exemptions"
that make institutions like the vulgar, corrupt Catholic Church so incredibly
wealthy. We carefully studied the law (with the help of some of the "best",
high-paid, experienced tax lawyers in the business), and then began to
do exactly what the "big boys" were doing (except that we weren't
steeling (sic) from our congregation or lying to the government about
our massive profits in the name of God). We took a great deal of care to
make it all visible, following all of the rules, exactly the way the law
said it was to be done.
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- The intent of this exercise and our efforts was to bring
about a much-needed re-evaluation of the laws that allow the monsters of
organized religion to make such a mockery of people who earn an honest
living. However, this is where I learned that there are two "interpretations"
for every law; one for the very rich, and one for the rest of us... Oh,
and the monsters are the very ones making and enforcing the laws; the inquisition
is still alive and well today in this country.
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- That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000+, 10
years of my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0. It made me realize
for the first time that I live in a country with an ideology that is based
on a total and complete lie. It also made me realize, not only how naive
I had been, but also the incredible stupidity of the American public; that
they buy, hook, line, and sinker, the crap about their "freedom"...
and that they continue to do so with eyes closed in the face of overwhelming
evidence and all that keeps happening in front of them.
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- Before even having to make a shaky recovery from the
sting of the first lesson on what justice really means in this country
(around 1984 after making my way through engineering school and still another
five years of "paying my dues"), I felt I finally had to take
a chance of launching my dream of becoming an independent engineer. On
the subjects of engineers and dreams of independence, I should digress
somewhat to say that I'm sure that I inherited the fascination for creative
problem solving from my father. I realized this at a very young age.
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- The significance of independence, however, came much
later during my early years of college; at the age of 18 or 19 when I was
living on my own as student in an apartment in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
My neighbor was an elderly retired woman (80+ seemed ancient to me at that
age) who was the widowed wife of a retired steel worker. Her husband had
worked all his life in the steel mills of central Pennsylvania with promises
from big business and the union that, for his 30 years of service, he would
have a pension and medical care to look forward to in his retirement. Instead
he was one of the thousands who got nothing because the incompetent mill
management and corrupt union (not to mention the government) raided their
pension funds and stole their retirement. All she had was social security
to live on.
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- In retrospect, the situation was laughable because here
I was living on peanut butter and bread (or Ritz crackers when I could
afford to splurge) for months at a time. When I got to know this poor figure
and heard her story I felt worse for her plight than for my own (I, after
all, I thought I had everything to in front of me). I was genuinely appalled
at one point, as we exchanged stories and commiserated with each other
over our situations, when she in her grandmotherly fashion tried to convince
me that I would be "healthier" eating cat food (like her) rather
than trying to get all my substance from peanut butter and bread. I couldn't
quite go there, but the impression was made. I decided that I didn't trust
big business to take care of me, and that I would take responsibility for
my own future and myself.
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- Return to the early '80s, and here I was off to a terrifying
start as a 'wet-behind-the-ears' contract software engineer... and two
years later, thanks to the fine backroom, midnight effort by the sleazy
executives of Arthur Andersen (the very same folks who later brought us
Enron and other such calamities) and an equally sleazy New York Senator
(Patrick Moynihan), we saw the passage of 1986 tax reform act with its
section 1706.
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- For you who are unfamiliar, here is the core text of
the IRS Section 1706, defining the treatment of workers (such as contract
engineers) for tax purposes. Visit this link for a conference committee
report (http://www.synergistech.com/1706.shtml#
- ConferenceCommitteeReport) regarding the intended interpretation
of Section 1706 and the relevant parts of Section 530, as amended. For
information on how these laws affect technical services workers and their
clients, read our discussion here (<http://www.synergistech.com/ic-taxlaw.shtml>http://www.synergistech.com/ic-taxlaw.shtml).
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- SEC. 1706. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TECHNICAL PERSONNEL.
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- (a) IN GENERAL - Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978
is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:
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- (d) EXCEPTION. - This section shall not apply in the
case of an individual who pursuant to an arrangement between the taxpayer
and another person, provides services for such other person as an engineer,
designer, drafter, computer programmer, systems analyst, or other similarly
skilled worker engaged in a similar line of work.
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- (b) EFFECTIVE DATE. - The amendment made by this section
shall apply to remuneration paid and services rendered after December 31,
1986.
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- Note:
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- · "another person" is the client in
the traditional job-shop relationship.
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- · "taxpayer" is the recruiter, broker,
agency, or job shop.
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- · "individual", "employee",
or "worker" is you.
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- Admittedly, you need to read the treatment to understand
what it is saying but it's not very complicated. The bottom line is that
they may as well have put my name right in the text of section (d). Moreover,
they could only have been more blunt if they would have came out and directly
declared me a criminal and non-citizen slave. Twenty years later, I still
can't believe my eyes.
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- During 1987, I spent close to $5000 of my 'pocket change',
and at least 1000 hours of my time writing, printing, and mailing to any
senator, congressman, governor, or slug that might listen; none did, and
they universally treated me as if I was wasting their time. I spent countless
hours on the L.A. freeways driving to meetings and any and all of the disorganized
professional groups who were attempting to mount a campaign against this
atrocity. This, only to discover that our efforts were being easily derailed
by a few moles from the brokers who were just beginning to enjoy the windfall
from the new declaration of their "freedom". Oh, and don't forget,
for all of the time I was spending on this, I was loosing (sic) income
that I couldn't bill clients.
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- After months of struggling it had clearly gotten to be
a futile exercise. The best we could get for all of our trouble is a pronouncement
from an IRS mouthpiece that they weren't going to enforce that provision
(read harass engineers and scientists). This immediately proved to be a
lie, and the mere existence of the regulation began to have its impact
on my bottom line; this, of course, was the intended effect.
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- Again, rewind my retirement plans back to 0 and shift
them into idle. If I had any sense, I clearly should have left abandoned
engineering and never looked back.
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- Instead I got busy working 100-hour workweeks. Then came
the L.A. depression of the early 1990s. Our leaders decided that they didn't
need the all of those extra Air Force bases they had in Southern California,
so they were closed; just like that. The result was economic devastation
in the region that rivaled the widely publicized Texas S&;L fiasco.
However, because the government caused it, no one gave a sh*t about all
of the young families who lost their homes or street after street of boarded
up houses abandoned to the wealthy loan companies who received government
funds to "shore up" their windfall. Again, I lost my retirement.
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- Years later, after weathering a divorce and the constant
struggle trying to build some momentum with my business, I find myself
once again beginning to finally pick up some speed. Then came the .COM
bust and the 911 nightmare. Our leaders decided that all aircraft were
grounded for what seemed like an eternity; and long after that, 'special'
facilities like San Francisco were on security alert for months. This made
access to my customers prohibitively expensive. Ironically, after what
they had done the Government came to the aid of the airlines with billions
of our tax dollars ... as usual they left me to rot and die while they
bailed out their rich, incompetent cronies WITH MY MONEY! After these events,
there went my business but not quite yet all of my retirement and savings.
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- By this time, I'm thinking that it might be good for
a change. Bye to California, I'll try Austin for a while. So I moved, only
to find out that this is a place with a highly inflated sense of self-importance
and where damn little real engineering work is done. I've never experienced
such a hard time finding work. The rates are 1/3 of what I was earning
before the crash, because pay rates here are fixed by the three or four
large companies in the area who are in collusion to drive down prices and
wages... and this happens because the justice department is all on the
take and doesn't give a fuck about serving anyone or anything but themselves
and their rich buddies.
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- To survive, I was forced to cannibalize my savings and
retirement, the last of which was a small IRA. This came in a year with
mammoth expenses and not a single dollar of income. I filed no return that
year thinking that because I didn't have any income there was no need.
The sleazy government decided that they disagreed. But they didn't notify
me in time for me to launch a legal objection so when I attempted to get
a protest filed with the court I was told I was no longer entitled to due
process because the time to file ran out. Bend over for another $10,000
helping of justice.
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- So now we come to the present. After my experience with
the CPA world, following the business crash I swore that I'd never enter
another accountant's office again. But here I am with a new marriage and
a boatload of undocumented income, not to mention an expensive new business
asset, a piano, which I had no idea how to handle. After considerable thought
I decided that it would be irresponsible NOT to get professional help;
a very big mistake.
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- When we received the forms back I was very optimistic
that they were in order. I had taken all of the years information to Bill
Ross, and he came back with results very similar to what I was expecting.
Except that he had neglected to include the contents of Sheryl's unreported
income; $12,700 worth of it. To make matters worse, Ross knew all along
this was missing and I didn't have a clue until he pointed it out in the
middle of the audit. By that time it had become brutally evident that he
was representing himself and not me.
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- This left me stuck in the middle of this disaster trying
to defend transactions that have no relationship to anything tax-related
(at least the tax-related transactions were poorly documented). Things
I never knew anything about and things my wife had no clue would ever matter
to anyone. The end result is... well, just look around.
-
- I remember reading about the stock market crash before
the "great" depression and how there were wealthy bankers and
businessmen jumping out of windows when they realized they screwed up and
lost everything. Isn't it ironic how far we've come in 60 years in this
country that they now know how to fix that little economic problem; they
just steal from the middle class (who doesn't have any say in it, elections
are a joke) to cover their asses and it's "business-as-usual".
Now when the wealthy fuck up, the poor get to die for the mistakes... isn't
that a clever, tidy solution.
-
- As government agencies go, the FAA is often justifiably
referred to as a tombstone agency, though they are hardly alone. The recent
presidential puppet GW Bush and his cronies in their eight years certainly
reinforced for all of us that this criticism rings equally true for all
of the government. Nothing changes unless there is a body count (unless
it is in the interest of the wealthy sows at the government trough). In
a government full of hypocrites from top to bottom, life is as cheap as
their lies and their self-serving laws.
-
- I know I'm hardly the first one to decide I have had
all I can stand. It has always been a myth that people have stopped dying
for their freedom in this country, and it isn't limited to the blacks,
and poor immigrants. I know there have been countless before me and there
are sure to be as many after. But I also know that by not adding my body
to the count, I insure nothing will change. I choose to not keep looking
over my shoulder at "big brother" while he strips my carcass,
I choose not to ignore what is going on all around me, I choose not to
pretend that business as usual won't continue; I have just had enough.
-
- I can only hope that the numbers quickly get too big
to be white washed and ignored that the American zombies wake up and revolt;
it will take nothing less. I would only hope that by striking a nerve that
stimulates the inevitable double standard, knee-jerk government reaction
that results in more stupid draconian restrictions people wake up and begin
to see the pompous political thugs and their mindless minions for what
they are. Sadly, though I spent my entire life trying to believe it wasn't
so, but violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer. The cruel
joke is that the really big chunks of shit at the top have known this all
along and have been laughing, at and using this awareness against, fools
like me all along.
-
- I saw it written once that the definition of insanity
is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to
suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well,
Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let's try something different; take my pound of
flesh and sleep well.
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- The communist creed: From each according to his ability,
to each according to his need.
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- The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility,
to each according to his greed.
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- Joe Stack (1956-2010)
-
- 02/18/2010
-
- (END QUOTE)
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