"Death and Taxes: A visual look at where your taxes go"

[Magrus]

Sometimes I wonder how inter-connected the big corporations are with governments. I've a mind for business, and with some family history with the Mafia, well. A good number of local businesses here are by no means legal and I have no legal education around here, so if I can see that just by understanding business aspects naturally, how is it they continue to do what they do? Thats just small businesses, nothing major or huge.

I can't imagine what larger corporations or the government hides and gets away with and no one ends up the wiser for it.

Keeping certain departments of a business ignorant of each other is simply a means to keep company secrets from totally being spread outside the company. Granted, someone may share what they know of their department, but if they're ignorant of the five or six other departments, damage in leaking information is minimalized. It prevents them from breaking off and striking out on their own as serious competition also.

[jopperm2]

We do it mostly so individuals are not held responsible for things by the customer. If I tell a customer that I'm going to have something sent to them, and I forget to send it, they'll call back, I tell them I sent the request, they can't talk to who sends it because I don't have a phone number for them. I tell them it was sent and the post office must have lost it. In other words, not my problem. It works well.

[Magrus]

So it's to improve customer service then, I see.

[jopperm2]

Yeah, that or to hunt people down that don't give us our money.

[Magrus]

I did that earlier, it was fun.

[jopperm2]

Hunted someone down?

[Magrus]

Indeed, he owes me a grand.

[Silur]

I found this link this morning, and it really is scary stuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ik911 www.costofwar.com The costs of a ridiculous war, somewhere far, far away...

...and I believe it was motivated in part as being a humanitarian effort. If Saddam killed as many people as famine does in 6 years, the population of Iraq would be somewhere in the negatives.

[ik911]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silur I found this link this morning, and it really is scary stuff. (...) ...and I believe it was motivated in part as being a humanitarian effort. If Saddam killed as many people as famine does in 6 years, the population of Iraq would be somewhere in the negatives.

Too bad the people are so reluctant to revolt nowadays. What would've happened if this leaked out in the 60s and 70s eh?

What have we become...

[fable]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ik911 Too bad the people are so reluctant to revolt nowadays. What would've happened if this leaked out in the 60s and 70s eh?

We would have had plenty of Kent State Massacres. Besides, even in the 1960s the counter-culture was a small section of society: a portion of the youthful portion of the urban portion of the US. Those folks in Nebraska will still firm in their beliefs that their values would save the US.

And now, we're getting to watch it work out. Lucky us.

[Silur]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ik911 Too bad the people are so reluctant to revolt nowadays. What would've happened if this leaked out in the 60s and 70s eh?

Im surprised at the amount of time and effort some people spend on defending their second amendment right to carry firearms, without for a second observing the reason why the founding fathers decided to put this right into the constitution...

I did some googling, and found that the Iraqui population is around 25 million, and the number of deaths due to starvation worldwide is about 13 million persons per year, so my estimation was grossly understated.

[ik911]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silur I did some googling, and found that the Iraqui population is around 25 million, and the number of deaths due to starvation worldwide is about 13 million persons per year, so my estimation was grossly understated.

Besides, you could spend a part of that money on long term projects.

Oh, we mustn't forget that overthrowing the Iraqi government is also a long-term project. Except that it won't help the starving people if anyone at all.

[Magrus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ik911 Too bad the people are so reluctant to revolt nowadays. What would've happened if this leaked out in the 60s and 70s eh? What have we become...

The only feasible way a revolt would work, is on a scale that the public revolting was ridiculously high, and the soldiers balked at shooting their loved ones and stood down, or sided with them.

Someone toting around their 22 rifle going after a squad of soldiers with automatic weapons just won't work. One soldier yes, 3, maybe, but a squad, no.

Not to mention, I highly doubt those IN power would want to be out. It would be oh so very easy for them to scream "terrorist" and use extreme measures of force to put down any attempt at rebellion.

It IS possible, just likes it's possible the Canadians are secretely amassing troops to take over the world in 5 years. Just extremely unlikely.

[Silur]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magrus The only feasible way a revolt would work, is on a scale that the public revolting was ridiculously high, and the soldiers balked at shooting their loved ones and stood down, or sided with them. Someone toting around their 22 rifle going after a squad of soldiers with automatic weapons just won't work. One soldier yes, 3, maybe, but a squad, no. Not to mention, I highly doubt those IN power would want to be out. It would be oh so very easy for them to scream "terrorist" and use extreme measures of force to put down any attempt at rebellion. It IS possible, just likes it's possible the Canadians are secretely amassing troops to take over the world in 5 years. Just extremely unlikely.

So basically what you're saying is that the US people has the same chance against its own oppressive government as the Iraquis did against theirs? Need some UN help?

[Magrus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silur So basically what you're saying is that the US people has the same chance against its own oppressive government as the Iraquis did against theirs? Need some UN help?

Uh-huh. I got into a very heated argument with an ex-army man about a month back about that actually. I brought up what was going on and my thought of it just being a matter of time before the UN decided to pull down our government. He wasn't happy and rattled on his idiot ideas and I walked away. It was like talking to a cross between Bush and the head of the KKK.