Thursday, February 18, 2010

Joseph Stack's Suicide Bombing


When I first heard that the Austin plane crash this morning involved a building that housed IRS offices, I must admit I was immediately suspicious. Turns out, it probably wasn't an accident after all.

It's obviously no accident that the apparent suicide note found online coincides with the Austin Plane Crash and the Fire at Joe Stack's house. 

But, it's No Act of Terrorism either, at least according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Even though, it clearly fits the definition of terrorism...

Terrorism: - The calculated use of violence or the threat of violence against civilians or governments in order to attain goals that are political, religious or ideological in nature.

I only bring this up to make the following point. Terrorists, be they individuals or groups,  can come from anywhere.  They Know No Nation,  Salute No Flag and have Allegiance to No Government.   And yet,  our nation's  "War on Terror"  has caused us to invade Afghanistan, Iraq  and now Pakistan.  Unnecessarily killing tens of thousands of innocent civilians (collateral damage we call it) and thus creating even more terrorists, and making us considerably less safe in the process.   Is this the best way to win their hearts and minds? 

It's not that I'm not a patriot, because I am, but I really do question the wisdom of these wars, which are bankrupting our nation, both morally and economically.

Joe Stack was obviously a terrorist,  a Home-Grown,  Domestic Terrorist but a Terrorist nonetheless.  A man whose heart and mind we obviously lost.

Unlike the "Shoe Bomber" or the "Christmas Day Bomber" Joe stack was successful. Which of course was much like another home-grown terrorist named Timothy McVeigh.  Perhaps our greatest threat comes from within after all.

What surprises me however, is how well written and articulate his suicide note/manifesto proved to be. Despite what you may have read, heard or presumed, these are not the ramblings of some crazy lunatic but rather the very lucid thoughts of a frustrated and troubled man. (i.e. a home-grown terrorist)

While his final thoughts are rather lengthy, I do think they're worth reading. So rather than just offer you a few quotes, out of context. I thought I'd print out for you the complete text.


So for those of you who are curious, here in its entirety is
Joe Stack's Final Statement...


 "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.

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).

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)

02/18/20


Please feel free to comment below (click on the blue comment button)
 or e-mail me direct at eddieoreilly@hotmail.com 

24 comments:

  1. Joe Stack was:

    -Anti-government
    -Anti-regulation
    -Anti-redistributionist
    -Implicitly anti-tax
    -Pro-Anarchy

    However, the right will spin him as being an Obama-loving pro-welfare terrorist in 15 minutes.

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  2. It will be interesting to see what the tea-partiers make of this. On the face of it, you might think they'd be hailing Stack as a martyr for taking a stand at their hated federal government. However, if one reads his suicide note, he says things which don't exactly fit with the rest of the tea-party rhetoric - he favors a government health care plan and complains about the "joke we call the American medical system", and finishes with a trenchant dig at capitalism.

    My prediction, for what it's worth, is that he will indeed be claimed by the teabaggers as one of their own, and his unfortunate lapses from the party line will be discreetly set aside as the eulogies are composed.

    Also, I note some attempts to write off his note as paranoid ramblings - I assume that the people describing it thus haven't actually read it

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  3. Thank you for posting ALL of Joseph Stack's suicide note, unlike some so-called journalist you didn't select the bits you wanted in order to push a lie. Sadly, what Joseph said is true. Instead of a simple, factual account of his death, we get distortions from so-called journalists, "minions" of the "elite", trying to control how the public thinks.

    Some in the media are claiming the guy "...left a paranoid suicide note." What paranoia? Joseph wrote:

    "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."

    Another so-called journalist claims Joseph had very "serious issues" and is "angry at everyone". Another lie! In his suicide note, his anger is against the government and the CEOs. He implicitly defends the middle class, the poor, blacks, and immigrants.

    Kenny Johannemann's suicide was also distorted by the corporate media. He rescued a burning man from the WTC towers. He wrote that he couldn't face being made homeless, so ended his life. The media, however, claimed 9/11 terrorists were to blame, as Kenny had slipped into a depression shortly after 9/11. No, he died because of no safety net. Whereas the bankers have a big, fat safety net, and CEOs effectively steal vast fortunes, as do politicians when they get the chance.

    If Austin was in Afghanistan or Iraq, and a U.S. bomb had killed a load of civilians, it wouldn't have been called a "horrendous event", would it? Was Israel's attack on Gaza called an "horrendous event"?

    But, then, I'm just paranoid with VERY serious issues. Someone call a psychiatrist!

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  4. You guys are crazy. No one thinks this guy is anything but a maniac.

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  5. This guy was a lunatic loser and to all the teabagging fuckers applauding this terrorist scum, your double standards are so disgusting it's mindboggling.

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  6. I don't think he was a loser. At least, he could afford an aircraft, a house, and he had a job.

    (Maybe he read too many newspapers - always bad news. His thinking was probably just focused on bad things)

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  7. The guy was just plane crazy!

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  8. I'm just grateful only a few people were hurt.

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  9. I took the time to read the entire note and I still think the man was insane.

    I'm surprised at anyone who could read those ramblings and imply otherwise.

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  10. First: The reason so few people were hurt is the reality that so few Federal government employees bother to show up for work.

    Second: The suicide note wasn't rambling, and ironically, he predicted that the media would immediately label him insane.

    Third: Based on your comment I seriously doubt that you really took the time to read and understand the entire note.

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  11. Let's see:
    Blamed a Republican President, check.
    Blamed corporate America and capitalism, check.
    Blamed the Catholic Church, check.
    Blamed the IRS for going after him and not coming down on "greedy" corporations, check.

    What about this makes anyone in America think he is right-wing, again? Read his words. Really, really read them. Now read any Obama speech or any special comment transcript from Keith Olbermann or internet rant from Michael Moore.

    You tell me what's different.
    Joe Stack is why liberalism has failed in this country. We must excise it into the dustbin of history.

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  12. Actually I saw on Fox news tonight that Joe stack was a registered Republican.

    He was also a member of a country western band and considered by family friends and associates to be a conservative.

    BTW - Many conservatives were disenchanted with George W. Bush, hate the IRS and blame Corporate America, big banking and greedy capitalists for many of the country's problems today.

    As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, right-wing fundamentalist Christians have made a past-time of hating Catholics for years.

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  13. I too would like to thank you for posting the entire text. This is the first place I've had a chance to read it. I must admit I'm surprised at how coherent he sounds at times.

    It's funny though how neither the left nor the right wish to lay claim to this guy.

    I guess that's why everyone is so quick to label him as insane. Even though by all indications he was a pretty regular guy.

    I've also read online that most software engineers agree that the IRS rules and regulations governing their industry are completely unfair.

    Everyone has their breaking point and perhaps this guy was just pushed too far.

    Insane or not, either way, this is a very sad story.

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  14. The so-called 'teabaggers' are symptomatic of a tendency that tends to take hold in the US when middle-aged white guys see a pause in their upward motion money-wise. That they now have to deal with the insult of having a black man - and, yes, a black man who's more accomplished, more well spoken and better educated, than they are - just sends them over the edge. Hence the theatrics at 'meetings' regarding overhaul of a broken health system; hence the tears of Glenn Beck and others on Fox News; hence any oxygen at all given to nutters like Michelle Bachmann.

    Joseph Stack is typical, in thought if not intention, of so many crybaby drama queens that have found an outlet for their feelings of inadequacy. When citizens of such a lucky nation do their best to undermine it in the manner of a tantrum-gripped two-year-old, you have to realise there's something very psychologically wrong with a significant segment of those citizens.

    Grow up, people. Get on with your lives with some semblance of dignity, work through your bad times and strive for better ones. Life isn't always fair, although it may help you to consider what your life would be like if you had the misfortune to be born into dire poverty in a far less lucky nation.

    We're tired of your right-wing paranoia and drama.

    Drama, Drama, Drama, Please give us all less of it.

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  15. Note to the IRS:

    John Travolta flies a plane.

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  16. Joe Rocks! Fuck the IRS! Make Goldman pay the same fuckin' rate I do and give me money to gamble and bail me out when I fuck up. For the people by the people! Joe's a patriot more than any of you know. The only way to start a revolution is to be the revolution. And for you you "he's a terrorist mofos" you would have said the same thing to God himself for a lot of the things he did in the bible.

    Sometimes when the Government pushes too hard, people push back. Rest in peace, Joe.

    Tea-Partiers Unite! Sarah Palin in 2012!

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  17. Muslim fundamentalists are to be feared, for sure. However, the real fear Americans should have is of angry white nut-bar-Sarah-Palin-loving whack jobs like this guy. These people are nuts and they have guns and a lot of pent up anger against a world that is leaving their (largely) racist, right-wing world behind. Their collective head has been ready to explode since the day most of the country elected that "uppity" president ("Nhawt evun un Umerican, yuh know...")

    The sad part is that this vocal minority overshadows some truly good people who want to move on from 8 years of The Axis of Stupidity" - Bush, Cheney, Rummy, Rove and co.

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  18. Tony (Columbia, South America)February 21, 2010 at 12:05 PM

    Eddie, will the joe stack bombing affect my income tax return??

    tony

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  19. Honestly Eddie, I just didn't have the patience to read through the entire thing.

    I did hear it said though, that much like you and I, he seemed to have something against the Catholic Church.

    So what was that all about mate, do you know?

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  20. Hey Joey, it's good to start hearing from you again.

    Anyway, as Canadian Philosopher and recent "Atheist Quote of the Day" Ronald Bon de Sousa Pernes, once said...

    "When enough people share a Delusion, it loses its status as a Psychosis and gets a religious tax exemption instead."

    Here in the States you see, all recognized religions receive a 100% Tax Exemption. i.e. They Pay Absolutely No Federal Taxes. I'm not sure if they do it that way in Australia or not.

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  21. By the way, I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone who has commented on this post. If I'm not mistaken, these are the most comments any post has ever received.

    Obviously something about this story must have touched a chord.

    Either way, I really do appreciate all the comments - even the ones I disagree with.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Eddie, will the joe stack bombing affect my income tax return??
    tony

    ReplyDelete
  23. I just sat down and read the latest blog entry of Eddie O’Reilly who not only is one of my dearest and most beloved friends but also a man whose opinions I not only respect but rely on heavily to shape my own regarding certain topics. I certainly don’t seek out Eddie’s advice when it comes to fashion trends or beauty products. although we do occasionally share our opinions of the latest shaving implements introduced by our fine friends at Schick or Gillette.

    But, when it comes to matters politic where I am admittedly as dumb as a bag of hair I rely upon Eddie to sort things out, set me straight and tell me what I’m supposed to think so that I can form a humble opinion that will at least allow me to pretend to take part in day to day conversation.

    Though Eddie and I talk on the phone quite frequently and our conversations are rarely brief they generally are always rather banal, we chit chat about the old days, giggle about friends and lovers long gone, might cover a current topic gleaned from the cover of the Enquirer while waiting on line at the checkout.

    When it comes to serious matters like politics, war, the economy, the Middle East, or the State of the Union, I tend to collect my queries and just sit down for a long quarterly discussion. Left to my own devices on such matters I am admittedly clueless, I have managed to come to the conclusions that I rarely find Republicans as physically or sexually attractive as I do Democrats in that they are generally white professional types or Christians while I tend to for the more ethnic types.

    I am an extremely opinionated man but I really try not to voice my opinion on topics in which I am not well enough versed to form an educated and informed opinion about.

    So, anyway, that being said I just got done reading Eddie’s blog entrance regarding Joseph Stack, as well as Mr. Stack’s journal and am going to try to express my ideas without the aid of Eddie’s input.

    My immediate reaction was not utter shock, in a sense these types of stories often warm the cockles of the average American’s heart, I’m sure that all of us at one time or another has dreamt of exacting revenge on the powers that be, albeit not always to the length of forsaking human life, much less our own. I personally have plotted some pretty ugly scenarios involving authority figures and large institutions that I felt had taken advantage of me. Teachers, police, employers, and most particularly the local Department of Parking and Traffic. I really don’t think there is one person out there that has not enjoyed the thought of launching an assault of some type with the High Order of Meter Maids as their target, we are only human.

    But, at the same time when I am faced with these issues I generally have to stop a minute and realize that I in part almost always share some responsibility in the dilemma that has given birth to my discontent. It was I who didn’t study for the test, ran the red light, forgot to feed the parking meter, was not quite the employee I could have been, all in all it usually comes down to the fact that I have put myself in a position that I had no business being in in the first place but that due to my own haste or poor planning I managed to create.

    I really think it would be considered all most UN-American to not bitch about the IRS. Nobody likes the IRS, I have never once heard anybody speak of the IRS as a kind of benevolent institution, regardless of that person’s economic status. I don’t like the IRS but at the same time I realize that paying taxes is one thing that is obligatory as a citizen of this fine nation.

    ReplyDelete
  24. About Joseph Stack, I liked the thoughtful and sensitive comments
    that Billy and Emma made.

    To his daughter he was a"hero"( later retracted), to the son of the man
    that died he was a "terrorist".
    Who knows the Why's of this world?

    We had a beautiful snow storm last week in this part of our world.

    On the news a story came on about how a man that had been walking in Central Park had been killied by a branch that broke off a tree.

    Why?

    Love and Life,
    Apple

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