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The Isaac Brock Society

Media and Blog Articles – part 2 of 11 (Year 2015)

You can access all years at this link: Media and Blog Articles – Links for All Years

If clicking on a comment link brings you to the wrong comment, click here  to get on the most recent page of comments.(alternatively, to reach the most recent comment page, go to  the url in the bar at the top of your browser and delete everything after http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/media-and-blog-articles-open-for-comments-part-2-of-2  )

Media and Blog Articles

EmBee suggested that it would be good if there was a thread for new articles, so that people would be aware of where to comment. So, I created this permanent page.  You could mention such articles in the comment stream for this page, or if I see one on another thread, I can copy the link to here. I’ll keep adding to the list, but not deleting, so we’ll end up having sort of a “bibliography” too.  [Note:  Some articles are not open for comments]

For more articles on FATCA, enter FATCA into Google then click on the link “more news for fatca” just below the most recent featured article.

Note also: JC suggests to see #FATCA on Twitter for latest breaking news. JC finds that is quite a good source and there even are some international articles that one may read using Google Translate.” Others may help certain tweets and articles remain in elevated position by retweeting them.

Be sure to read the comment stream for this thread — there are usually very recent articles mentioned there that are not yet on this list.

2015.01.01
Raising revenue off Caribbean backs, Bruce Zagaris, NationNews, Barbados.
On or about 2016.01.01
16 issues to make 2016 candy for the market, Westfield Times.
2015.12.31
Tax reporting norms: FinMin updates guidance note on compliance, K.R. Srivats, Hindu Business Line, India.
2015.12.30
Top Tax Blogs from 2015, Tax Connections. (Congratulations to John Richardson and Lynne Swanson who placed 2nd and 4th!)
Global dragnet puts pressure on tax evaders as year-end deadlines loom, Jeff Gray, Globe and Mail, Canada.
IRS Employee Whose Job Was Assisting Victims Of Identity Theft Charged in $1 Million Identity Theft Tax Fraud, Paul Caron, TaxProfBlog, US.
How America’s Wealthiest Are Saving Billions Through a Private Tax System, TruthDig.
RA Returns Home, TaxProTalk forum.
2015.12.29
For the Wealthiest, a Private Tax System That Saves Them Billions, Noam Scheiber and Patricia Cohen, New York Times, US.
IRS Stirs Up New Crisis With Non-Profits Over Social Security Numbers, Eric Pianin, The Fiscal Times.
DNC Must Heed Warning Bells From 2000, Bennet Kelley, Huffington Post, US.
2015.12.28
IRS Creates “International Practice Units” for their IRS Revenue Agents in International Tax Matters, Patrick Martin, Tax-Expatriation, US.
MF investors: Les than a4th comply with US tax law, Jayshree P. Upadhyay & Ashley Coutinho, Business Standard, India.
IRS service should improve after some saw their ‘worst tax season,” advocate says, Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch, US.

Articles from earlier in 2015 are at this link

 Articles from 2014 are at this link

Media and Blog Articles Open for Comment thread, Part 1 of 2, is at this link

Media and Blog Articles Open for Comment thread, Part 3 of 3, is at this link

1,837 thoughts on “Media and Blog Articles – part 2 of 11 (Year 2015)”

  1. @Muzzled

    Nothing about that old movie shows up in my google searches, but there’s apparently a scene like that in the Pianist – a movie I haven’t seen – but the one I remember was made in probably the ’70’s.

    I’ve done some more research on ‘tipping points’ as described by Mr Gladwell and definitely see Isaac Brock Society as a major contributor to our effort reaching that point. Many commenters, and Isaac Brock Society itself could be described as either “connectors”, “mavens” and “salesman”. Anyone sound familiar here?

    “Connectors are the people in a community who know large numbers of people and who are in the habit of making introductions. A connector is essentially the social equivalent of a computer network hub. They usually know people across an array of social, cultural, professional, and economic circles, and make a habit of introducing people who work or live in different circles. They are people who “link us up with the world…people with a special gift for bringing the world together”.[5] They are “a handful of people with a truly extraordinary knack [… for] making friends and acquaintances”.[6] Malcolm Gladwell characterizes these individuals as having social networks of over one hundred people. To illustrate, he cites the following examples: the midnight ride of Paul Revere, Milgram’s experiments in the small world problem, the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” trivia game, Dallas businessman Roger Horchow, and Chicagoan Lois Weisberg, a person who understands the concept of the weak tie. Gladwell attributes the social success of Connectors to the fact that “their ability to span many different worlds is a function of something intrinsic to their personality, some combination of curiosity, self-confidence, sociability, and energy”.[7]

    Mavens are “information specialists”, or “people we rely upon to connect us with new information”.[4] They accumulate knowledge, especially about the marketplace, and know how to share it with others. Gladwell cites Mark Alpert as a prototypical Maven who is “almost pathologically helpful”, further adding, “he can’t help himself”.[8] In this vein, Alpert himself concedes, “A Maven is someone who wants to solve other people’s problems, generally by solving his own”.[8] According to Gladwell, Mavens start “word-of-mouth epidemics” due to their knowledge, social skills, and ability to communicate.[9] As Malcolm Gladwell states, “Mavens are really information brokers, sharing and trading what they know”.[10]

    Salesmen are “persuaders”, charismatic people with powerful negotiation skills. They tend to have an indefinable trait that goes beyond what they say, which makes others want to agree with them. Malcolm Gladwell’s examples include California businessman Tom Gau and news anchor Peter Jennings, and he cites several studies about the persuasive implications of non-verbal cues, including a headphone nod study (conducted by Gary Wells of the University of Alberta and Richard Petty of the University of Missouri) and William S. Condon’s cultural microrhythms study.”

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tipping_Point

    Add the fact that the US continues to heap more abuse in the way of things like passport revocations, the number of those affected will do nothing but increase almost exponentially, I’d guess there will come point where “something has to give”.

  2. I dont see why the australian journalist cannot work with pseudonyms. If she understood the problem in depth she would understand the need for many to remain anonymous. A story can also be told with the person hiding behind a screen on TV.

  3. I’ve always asked journalists who insist on full disclosure whether the fear many people feel about revealing their identity shouldn’t be part of the story, Polly.

  5. I have always asked that too, bubblebustin and Polly.

    As well, it’s hard for me to understand why journalists have not interviewed some of our government representatives on why Bill C-31 was in an omnibus bill, negotiated and signed behind closed doors, out of view of the general public — both those affected who needed all along to know about this and all other Canadians who are helping pay for the transfer of funds from Canada to the US Treasury. All along, I’ve felt there is something very wrong about not being willing to do just that. That is where the story should have originated as far as I’m concerned, not dwelling on specific instances of what others view as some mere incidental and individual collateral damage, how many are renouncing, etc. I wanted the media to ask (and still do) why Canada (and other countries) have not stood up / are not standing up for their citizens / permanent residents in deference to the big banks. This WAS a very big story all along — and, as far as I’m concerned, the media has been gagged or (other than the few good ones we know) today’s journalists are just toadies for their big corporate bosses. There’s something very fishy about the whole cover-up, A to Z.

    That’s the media’s failure and our failure is the *not enough of US WHO ARE AFFECTED* to fund the Canadian litigation and to come forward as witnesses for the same. This sure ain’t feeling like the 1960’s and 1970’s of persons coming together that I felt this fight was going to be four years ago — it was actually quite exciting in the start. I really believed we would have easily come together in support of one million of ourselves in Canada. I admit I was wrong.

  6. I don’t know if you’ve been wrong, Calgary411. I just think it hasn’t reached critical mass yet. I wonder how many people in Canada have received mail from the IRS as a result of FATCA. I bet next to zilch.

    Of the people I know to be US persons outside of Brock, either close to me or acquaintances, ALL are ostriching.

  7. Eloquent article from the South Florida Times, “Taxes, An Impetus For ‘Aha’ Moments”:

    http://www.sfltimes.com/opinion/taxes-an-impetus-for-aha-moments

    “I am a firm believer that if you benefit from the American system and all that comes with being an American, then you, of course, should pay taxes. But I also believe that the benefits and assistance afforded to Americans abroad pales in comparison to what is expected of them by the U.S. government.”

  8. @Neill, @Barbara Two great articles– thank you both for posting. The WSJ article really demonstrates the high stakes on the line due to FATCA.

  9. Bubblebustin: Allison Christians mentioned to me many months ago that she felt, as you and I do, that the need of many of us for complete anonymity is a huge part of this story and it’s being missed completely. Emily would be able to write her story if she could use pseudonyms. I’m not a journalist, but I have heard that there is some sort of journalistic code of conduct that disallows the use of pseudonyms in serious, printed publications. If Blaze is reading could she please weigh in on this?

    P.S. I *wish* I could remember the name of that movie. I don’t even remember who was in it but I’m pretty sure it was old enough to be black and white. But then the scene that is burned into my memory was very dark and it might have actually been in colour. Just can’t remember.

  13. @Publius

    I thought I saw every episode of Mash many times, but I don’t recall that one. The one I saw, and apparently the same one Muzzled saw, is definitely a movie. It must have been a popular one at the time too – in the 60’s or 70’s.

    It seems to been played out in many productions, and from what I keep reading is based on an actual incident where a Jewish mother was forced to smother her baby in a Warsaw sewer where she and others had been hiding. It must have been a terrible “Sophie’s Choice” like moment that would have haunted the rest of her entire life.

    Now if she’d only known what this doctor discovered:

    http://youtu.be/dxoHeh7qhMk

  17. @JC

    That article makes direct reference to Cook v Tait without identifying it. The author states the plaintiff whom we know to be Mr Cook (interestingly is the same name as subject of his article) resided in Texas, which unfortunately eliminates any focus on CBT.

    “If the rest of the world operates under the territorial regime, how did we end up with such a messed up tax system? Just about 100 years ago, a business owner in Texas had a separate business in Mexico. He paid income tax to Mexico on Mexican-sourced profits. The IRS asserted a U.S. tax liability on the Mexican-sourced profits. It went to court.

    I’ve been a legal researcher at an appellate court and I must say that this particular court in this particular case pulled a holding out of its . . . ear. It is one thing for a court to issue a holding based on a rule of law from an established string of cases. This is when you see “it is well settled that . . . “ in a court’s opinion. It is a completely different thing for a U.S. court to issue a holding that directly quotes an English court case in the 16th century (with no string of cases in the middle). And, that is exactly what happened in the case of the Texas business owner.

    If you are a subject of the King and the King’s protections extend to you anywhere in the world, then the King may tax you anywhere in the world. That’s the gist of it. Okay, fine. That was 400 years ago (at the time of the Texas business owner’s case) but how is the King taxing income today? The King is taxing income under the territorial regime. (Perhaps this case defines “activist court.”) The upshot is that the mess we are dealing with stems from this initial court case on foreign-sourced business profits.”

  18. @Bubblebustin
    Anyone interested in Mr G.W.Cook of Cook v. Tait fame can find a nice summary of his business career here. The page on him is available through google books.
    Integral Outsiders: The American Colony in Mexico City, 1876-1911
    By William Schell

  19. Remember people here discussing this law FIRPTA at some point, so posting here, not sure of portent:

    ‘U.S. Eases 35-Year-Old Real Estate Tax on Foreign Investors’
    “President Barack Obama signed into law a measure easing a 35-year-old tax on foreign investment in U.S. real estate, potentially opening the door to greater purchases by overseas investors, a major source of capital since the financial crisis.

    Contained in the $1.1 trillion spending measure that was passed to avoid a government shutdown is a provision that treats foreign pension funds the same as their U.S. counterparts for real estate investments. The provision waives the tax imposed on such investors under the 1980 Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act, known as FIRPTA.

    “FIRPTA has historically made direct investment in U.S. property a non-starter for trillions of dollars worth of foreign pensions,” said James Corl, a managing director at private equity firm Siguler Guff & Co. “This tax-law modification is a game changer” that could result in hundreds of billions of new capital flows into U.S. real estate……”……………….
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-18/u-s-poised-to-lift-35-year-old-real-estate-tax-on-foreigners

  24. @Old English: What else is at issue is governments fining banks that did nothing wrong, if something bad happens, so banksters are being careful to avoid doing nothing wrong.

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