Philadelphia, Feb 19 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The Lower Merion School District in the the Philadelphia area could be in a lot of trouble. A federal lawsuit has been filed against this school district after it was discovered that they had sent student home with laptop computers, which had been issued to every student, that had a security feature which allowed the school administrators to turn on the web cams anytime they so chose. They claimed that this feature was in place as a protection to help track lost or stolen laptops, however it was revealed that these administrators were using the computers to spy on the kids, in their own homes!
If not for the slip-up of the assistant principle at Harriton, these administrators may have gotten away with invading the privacy of these families for a long time to come. Reportedly, the assistant principle, Lindy Matsko, told a student (Blake J Robbins) that he knew he had been engaged “in improper behavior in his home and cited as evidence a photograph from the webcam embedded in the minor plaintiff’s personal laptop issued by the school district.” according to the attorney, Mark S. Haltzman, from the firm of Lamm Rubenstone, who has filed a suit against the school.
A few years again, the school district launched a campaign too put laptops in the hands of every high school student in the district. Superintendent Christopher McGinley boasted proudly about getting laptops for every child, saying it “ensures that all students have 24/7 access to school-based resources.” But administrators never told students or their families that district officials had “24/7 access” into their homes at the same time”, according to the lawsuit.
Several students said that they had already noticed the green lights which indicate the cam is working, coming on at odd times when they were not using the computers, and had began to cover the web cam with black tape to avoid this horrific invasion of privacy on the students, as well as their families.
Austin, TX, Feb 18, (THAINDIAN NEWS-Author:Angela Kaye Mason) A small “Piper Cherokee” airplane crashed into a commercial building in Austin Tx, on Highway 183 in North Austin. This is an update to the story which has already been published: Several stories of this seven story building are engulfed with flames, and this building houses the CIA, FBI and IRS in the Texas town….
Eyewitnesses said the blue and white plane was swooping down as if he (the pilot) was gonna buzz the apartments within feet of the apartment complex…right next to Home Depot. The witness said that suddenly there was a huge explosion, they could not tell how many people were in the plane. The plane flew so low that it barely missed the street lights, and it looked as though the pilot were aiming for the building.
This all started with a Domestic Disturbance called in the home of Joseph Andrew Stack, who, it has been determined, was flying this plane, and burned down his own house. According to the television reports that are being aired, they are not sure why Joseph Stack would do such a thing. They have made many guesses, but no one seems to have any clue as to why he purposely crashed this plane into this building.
It has been brought to our attention however, that perhaps this was planned for months. A letter written by Joe Stack was found moments ago. It is presently viewable at this website,(The FBI HAS TAKEN DOWN THIS SITE, SO HERE IS THE ENTIRE LETTER)
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. 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 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 is promptly labeled a “crackpot”, traitor and worse.
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? 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.
And justice? You’ve got to be kidding!
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 a totalitarian regime, nothing is.
How did I get here?
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
SEC. 1706. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TECHNICAL PERSONNEL.
(a) IN GENERAL - Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:
(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.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE. - The amendment made by this section shall apply to remuneration paid and services rendered after December 31, 1986.
Note:
·"another person" is the client in the traditional job-shop relationship.
·"taxpayer" is the recruiter, broker, agency, or job shop.
·"individual", "employee", or "worker" is you.
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.
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 income that I couldn’t bill clients.
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.
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.
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 shit 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.
The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.
Joe Stack (1956-2010)
02/18/2010
http://embeddedart.com/ In it, Joe starts off,”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.”
As you can see, he suggests that this has been brewing for months. He ended it with “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.”
The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.
Joe Stack (1956-2010)
02/18/2010
It is one man’s outburst against the government, the IRS, and the injustices in his life. He had much to say about the government, and mentioned the “bailout” and suggests that he lost 10 years of his life and $40,000 to the government and law. It is the story of one man who has been pushed too far, whether in reality or in his own mind, and snapped, attempting to take several innocent people with him. It is sad, it is frightening, and it is, too likely to happen again.
I just got off the phone with paypal, and am just a bit perturbed. No, sorry, that was a lie, I am downright angry and needed to vent. You see, several months ago I sold a few things on Ebay. I put a 30 day money back guarantee on the items. People bid, people won, people payed through paypal, I sent the items, at my own cost.I gave the buyers time to complain, and return the items if they were not happy. Once the guarantee time was over, I spent the money. (Well, to be straight up, I payed a light bill with it, and a couple of other bills that were getting behind.) After all of that, paypal sent me a notice that they are considering refunding money to someone who-AFTER the 30 days, decided they didn't want the items. They assured me that the items would be returned to me and then, once a tracking number had been given to them, to prove my items were being returned to me, they were going to refund the money out of my paypal account. I was angry, and worried. There was no money in my paypal account.
I called them, and explained to them that I would NOT be putting any money into the account, so if paypal refunded the money it was their loss. I told them that I had placed a money back guarantee on my listings that was long since over, and the money was spent. They told me to read the policy that I agreed to when I signed up for Ebay." It is IN the policy," they assured me, "that you agree to refund money if a customer is not satisfied, regardless of whether there is a guarantee posted on Ebay or not. (What some of you may not know is that Ebay and Paypal are partners, they work together.)
So, what this all meant was that I had, without reading the "policy," agreed that if anyone did not like their item, or just changed their mind, no matter how long it had been, that the money would be taken out of my paypal account. I was however, allowed a dispute. I disputed.
I was assured that paypal would look at my listing, consider the guarantee time period being over, and that I would not be charged anything until the items were returned to me IF I lost the dispute. I lost. So, I decided to let it go, maybe there actually was something wrong with the items, and maybe they just didn't get back online in time to make the 30 day time period. Trying to do the right thing, I let it go. I could sell the stuff at a flea market or something, and put the money back into the paypal account, so no biggie, right? WRONG!!!! Paypal refunded the money from my empty account, which put me at a sizable negative balance. I never received the items, and I called paypal-again- to tell them I would not be paying a dime to refund for an item that had not been returned to me.
"Ma'am, you agreed to it," she stated calmly. " Oh no I did NOT," I told her," I VERY plainly told you at paypal that I would NOT be refunding any money, nor putting anymore back into my account, so if you refunded it was YOUR loss. You at paypal assured me you were "looking into it," and that IF I lost, you would make the buyer return the item before they could get their money back. NOTHING has been returned to me. " Try going to Walmart," I told the girl on the phone for paypal, " and try to get a refund for a pair of shoes that you have not returned. The world does not work that way!" I exclaimed, extremely frustrated.
"Ma'am," she said again calmly," you did agree to it, read the policy you agreed to when you signed up for paypal."
So there ya go, it IS all my fault. I did not read a zillion quadrillion word policy before signing up for a paypal account, because, in the good, honest, trustworthy world in which I lived, I never dreamed I was agreeing to sell someone and item, and then return the money to them a few months later, and let them keep the item too. Well, the Bible says that if your brother asks for your coat, give him your cloak also, but I am not so sure this is what it meant. Either way, I suppose paypal will get what I get when I get it, in tiny little doses. And I guess the person who bought my items just learned a very dishonest but profitable use for Ebay and paypal, thanks to their insane policies.
I am proud of one thing though,I never really lost my temper, never cursed, the worst thing I said was: when the girl from paypal told me "It IS in the policy Ma'am,do me a favor, go look it up right now!" I told her,"Ma'am, I am a writer, do ME a favor, go google my name right now, Angela Kaye with a "e" Mason". I might not have the money to fight you in court, but I can let people know about paypal "policies."I am sure I can convince someone, somewhere to publish it all over the internet. You might get your money back from me, but the written word can cost far more to paypal than what I owe."
~Angela Kaye Mason~
I am a freelance writer from North Georgia, USA. Specializing in news articles, my work has been featured in 'Drudge Report', 'Fox News.com', and other news sites online. Aside from news articles, I also write poetry, songs, and short stories, as well as television review, and "how to" articles, and I have a great deal of experience with marketing promotion. According to the client's needs, my writing may be conversational, down to earth and humorous, or direct and factual. I have developed strong technical, informative, and creative writing skills, as well as a good eye for detail when editing and proofreading. Contact me at eyesofananjel@gmail.com
Philadelphia, Feb 19 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The Lower Merion School District in the the Philadelphia area could be in a lot of trouble. A federal lawsuit has been filed against this school district after it was discovered that they had sent student home with laptop computers, which had been issued to every student, that had a security feature which allowed the school administrators to turn on the web cams anytime they so chose. They claimed that this feature was in place as a protection to help track lost or stolen laptops, however it was revealed that these administrators were using the computers to spy on the kids, in their own homes!
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