3 thoughts on “We shall fight on the beaches: Open thread”

1. I saw this at one forum:

   So America is just like Hotel California “you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.”

   Someone apparently used my Hotel California analogy.

   In any case, here is the song:

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUbTW928sMU

   or the unplugged version (my favorite):
   http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5eij7_eagles-hotel-california-live-unplug_music

2. Had this discussion with Schubert at Expat:

   Originally Posted by Schubert

   Also don’t buy any US Savings Bonds or US Treasury Bills. And sell any you have as soon as they mature …

   Now that raises the interesting question of how the hell do the geniuses in the US Treasury think they’re going to continue to finance the US national debt, if people bail out of all US government securities? Especially the good folks in China, which we’ve heard has told the US it will NOT comply with FATCA. However that’s the US’ problem not ours. And Obama’s in November, if the economic doo-doo resulting from FATCA starts hitting the fan by then.

   I replied:

   I just received from the Chinese $10.08 per share of Daylight Energy, a premium over what comparable Canadian intermediate oil companies are costing. I know where the Chinese money is going to go: out of US government debt and into resources, including Canadian resources. When the yanks see that they are going to get jealous and want to occupy Canada, but it will be the Chinese that will hold them at bay, just as they are doing for the Iranians. There are two powers in the world today. The Americans and the Chinese, who consider the Americans lazy.

3. Just thought I’d drop a note about a concern of mine. I think we are moving in the right direction with the principle of “Dominant and effective” nationality for duals. I think that makes a great deal of sense and it makes me hopeful for my Frenchlings who will be starting their working lives in just a few years.

   However, please don’t forget those of us who are not duals. For a wide variety of reasons many of us are not citizens of our host countries. Perhaps that was a foolish decision on our part but I know that for many years I had the words of the US Embassy in Paris here in my head warning me that I could lose my US citizenship if I naturalized in my country of residence.

   When I go into Paris these days and meet with my US citizen friends I find that there still is enormous ignorance about the duties and responsibilities of Americans abroad. Outreach (clear information “pushed” to American abroad) and an amnesty for those who are in a bad situation and are living in fear today is the MINIMUM I would ask for. Once that information is available in a clear and understandable way, Americans abroad can make a decision: stay a US citizen, become a dual, or renounce.

   My .02.