Plane flies into Bldg in Austin

[the chi]

At this time they do not believe its criminal or terrorist, waiting on more details...near the FBI building.

[G-Rex]

One of the guys in our Austin office told me about it on Office Communicator shortly after it happened. The building that got hit is only a few blocks from our Austin office.

Here's hoping for as few injuries as possible!

[skiergirl]

So far they are reporting only 2 people taken by EMS and 1 unaccounted for but no deaths so far other than I assume the pilot....but that haven't actually confirmed that.

[azoomm]

I just drove past there on my way to school... I was under a rock this morning for news - or I would have gone another way. I think most of APD was there.

[Adeptus_Minor]

http://www.kvue.com/news/local/Plane-crashes-into-Northwest-Austin-building-84704727.html

Yeah, that's just a mile(ish) from my apartment.
I didn't hear the crash or anything, but I did hear a lot of sirens headed down my street and out on 360.

It was kind of odd. I got home around ~ten til 9 and there was a firetruck sitting in my apartment complex. It left just as I was driving up... no clue why it was here.

[pauldun170]

Intentional
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/18/texas.plane.crash/index.html?hpt=T1

[Twobanger]

This happened across the street from my place. Godspeed to all inside.

They're saying the guy burned his house down and then did this.

[goof2]

Intentional
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/18/texas.plane.crash/index.html?hpt=T1

Sounds kind of similar to an incident in 02 when a stupid kid stole a Cessna and crashed it in to the Bank of America building here in Tampa.

"Witnesses described an infernal scene that shook nearby buildings and sent fire and smoke bellowing into the sky."

Unless this person loaded the plane with explosives there is no way a Cirrus SR 22 crashing is going to shake any buildings.

[the chi]

So if this is an IRS building and this crazy burned his house down first, he wasnt planning on living and is essentially an american terrorist. Taxes too stressful?

[udman]

This is the pilots website

http://embeddedart.com/

From his site:

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)

02/18/2010

[azoomm]

http://www.businessinsider.com/joseph-andrew-stacks-insane-manifesto-2010-2

Nutjob:

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)

02/18/2010

[Particle Man]

Holy mother of Christ - what the hell?

[BobTheBiker]

too long, did not read. cliffnotes?

[azoomm]

too long, did not read. cliffnotes?

IRS and government bad - so I'm going to kill myself and hope to take some of them with me.

[BobTheBiker]

IRS and government bad - so I'm going to kill myself and hope to take some of them with me.

ah ok. that makes perfect sense. little drawn out for a suicide note dont you think?

[Particle Man]

ah ok. that makes perfect sense. little drawn out for a suicide note dont you think?

yeah, he probably lost about 98% of his target audience after the first 3 sentences

[goof2]

ah ok. that makes perfect sense. little drawn out for a suicide note dont you think?

I get the impression he was a bit of a narcissist. He states it could have been much longer.

[Rider]

Engineers are some of the most fucked up people in the head. I work with these walking, talking sociopaths on a daily basis. I blame World of Warcraft and physics professors. Down with the engineers! Anyone willing to hire and retrain an ex engineer and pay me my current salary? I'd love to get out of this profession and surround myself with normal people. Legitimate question here.

[Homeslice]

:yawn: should I bother reading all that?

[Rider]

:yawn: should I bother reading all that?

No.

[goof2]

No.

Agreed.

[askmrjesus]

ah ok. that makes perfect sense. little drawn out for a suicide note dont you think?

"Bye, assholes" would have covered it.

Nothing I hate worse than a suicidal wind bag.

JC

[the chi]

Oddly tho, I can see his point (not the crashing a plane into a building part, but the rest of it) but he went way overboard with the "poor me". Like he was the only victim of economic crisis.

[udman]

This may be a little sick of me to say, but I hope there is some melted metal beams in this building to shut up all the 9/11 truthers out there.

[Homeslice]

It is impressive that some people have the guts to keep the nose of their plane pointed at a solid object. I think I'd wimp out and swerve at the last second, no matter how suicidal I was. To me it'd be harder to commit suicide this way than jumping off a bridge.

[the chi]

Did he take his wife with him?

[shmike]

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)

02/18/2010



Wow.

And here I thought Avatard was a musician. :idk:

[askmrjesus]

Did he take his wife with him?

Last report was that wife and daughter were rescued from burning house.

JC

[askmrjesus]

Wow.

And here I thought Avatard was a musician. :idk:

Sounds a lot more like a Tea Bagger to me.

JC

[Dave]

Sounds a lot more like a Tea Bagger to me.

JC

with references to how great anarchy and communism are? Use your loaf. Hey joe, congrats. You're dead. You still owe taxes :lol:

[CasterTroy]

Hey joe, congrats. You're dead. You still owe taxes :lol:

:lol

[askmrjesus]

Hey joe, congrats. You're dead. You still owe taxes :lol:

JC

[goof2]

with references to how great anarchy and communism are? Use your loaf. Hey joe, congrats. You're dead. You still owe taxes :lol:

Add in health care reform, greedy corporations, and stolen retirements. He does throw in "taxation without representation" though which is teabaggerish, but also gets spouted by most populists regardless of affiliation.

[anthonyk]

Damn, this is bringing all of the nuts out in the comments of the local news sites:

Interesting.

Here is the suicide note, more like a call to battle note. http://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://celes.ni...

The Government has taken this down. They DO NOT want you to read this. Everyone should read this note. Everyone should understand FOR THEMSELVES why he did this and not listen to the media for the explanations. They will obviously label him a terrorist, but really he is just a misguided soldier fighting for YOUR rights. At least appreciate to some small degree what he was trying to accomplish, or trying to inform.

[Homeslice]

Why is his web host required to comply with the FBI's request?

[Smittie61984]

He would have helped more people if he took out the Equifax building.

[anthonyk]

Why is his web host required to comply with the FBI's request?

Who said they were?

[Homeslice]

Who said they were?

Nobody, just wondering why so internet companies cave in like that.

[azoomm]

Nobody, just wondering why so internet companies cave in like that.

Because they don't want everything in their own office and lives turned upside down by Big Brother only to protect someone they aren't directly related to or care about.

[smileyman]

This stuff would happen more often if poor folks had access to airplanes and the money for lessons. Its real hard to make a point with a shopping cart or a Plymouth Neon...

[Dave]

Why is his web host required to comply with the FBI's request?

you'd think he'd be smart enough to host oconus.

[TYEster]

I feel for the people who's work was disrupted as well as those who had to sit in the traffic jam this crap caused.

What I don't feel for are rich douchebags who try to take it out on the world when they have "irs troubles" and fly THEIR PERSONAL AIRCRAFT into a building. You should've bought yourself some Johnsons No more tears and a box of kleenex. There's worse problems in the world than your selfish ass.

Willie Nelson had some tax issues I believe, millions of dollars worth, he lit a joint and/or took a bong hit and fixed it.

[anthonyk]

Well, you don't have to be rich to own a plane, though it sure helps. A quick search turned up Piper Cherokees (like the one he flew) for as low as $25k.

But yeah, with a plane and a $250k house, something isn't adding up. Except the douchebag part. That's spot-on. :td:

[TYEster]

Well, you don't have to be rich to own a plane, though it sure helps. A quick search turned up Piper Cherokees (like the one he flew) for as low as $25k.

But yeah, with a plane and a $250k house, something isn't adding up. Except the douchebag part. That's spot-on. :td:

You're missing the point.......


He has a fucking plane! The biggest non-necessity next to a boat.

[Kaneman]

I'm very glad no one died in the building. However parts of his letter echo the way I've personally felt out powers that be for many years. Not the "woe is me" parts necessarily, although I would expect a non-insane person's suicide note to include a pouring of emotional content.

It is disappointing to see the knee-jerk reaction that he was an anti-government nut. People forget so fast the types of things that sometimes need to take place to ensure continuing or renewed freedom. Now, are this guy's actions going to lead to some kind of governmental reform? No, of course not, and I gather from the letter he is well aware of that as well as it was not his intended goal. In fact it will probably only lead to more regulations for private pilots.

Governmental oversight and manipulation is apparent in the removal of the guy's website, and the media reporting that is labeling his note as "rambling" and a "rant" and so on and so forth. Let us read the letter and decide for ourselves, I don't need "The View" to break it down for me.

I'm not attempting to label him as a hero, as innocent people should never be put at risk of injury or death, and clearly he wanted people to die with him.

[anthonyk]

You're missing the point.......


He has a fucking plane! The biggest non-necessity next to a boat.

It seemed pretty necessary to his plan. Maybe he got it special.

[Dave]

You're missing the point.......


He has a fucking plane! The biggest non-necessity next to a boat.
a airplane is a fantastic investment. i considered buying a cherokee 180 before i bought the house but decided id rather not rent or live with the rents :lol:

[Captain Morgan]

with references to how great anarchy and communism are? Use your loaf. Hey joe, congrats. You're dead. You still owe taxes :lol:

My guess is he still owed taxes and the IRS was going to seize property, hence, the burning of the house and the crashing of the plane. If someone dies owing taxes, and they didn't have an estate remaining to pay the taxes, then the debt is written off. However, if they left any assets behind, those assets would be used to pay the tax debt. However, if he had insurance on said assets, then the debt might be collected through his insurance. But that would probably make this guy pretty happy knowing that a big corporation had to pay his debt. :lol:

[smileyman]

Somewhere in the middle east some hadji is laughing and saying 'amatuer'!

[Homeslice]

Because they don't want everything in their own office and lives turned upside down by Big Brother only to protect someone they aren't directly related to or care about.

In what way would their offices be turned upside down? All they do is host a website, the contents of which can easily be accessed.........There is no need for the FBI to search their office. OK, maybe they would request historical archives of his page, assuming they exist......but as far as I know they are not obligated to comply.

[TYEster]

a airplane is a fantastic investment. i considered buying a cherokee 180 before i bought the house but decided id rather not rent or live with the rents :lol:

I'm sure it is, but you shouldn't have a pity party/suicide for yourself when you find out you owe the IRS money when you're off flying around.

*Edit - either that or Capt Morgans post is spot on. He wanted to "save" his family by offing himself and destroying assets to prevent governmental control.


Either way, he's still a douche in my book.

[Dave]

My guess is he still owed taxes and the IRS was going to seize property, hence, the burning of the house and the crashing of the plane. If someone dies owing taxes, and they didn't have an estate remaining to pay the taxes, then the debt is written off. However, if they left any assets behind, those assets would be used to pay the tax debt. However, if he had insurance on said assets, then the debt might be collected through his insurance. But that would probably make this guy pretty happy knowing that a big corporation had to pay his debt. :lol:

the willy loman plan eh?

[askmrjesus]

"You can have my plane, when you pry it from my burnt dead fingers".

JC

[Smittie61984]

Somewhere in the middle east some hadji is laughing and saying 'amatuer'!

No shit. He could have at least stolen a bigger plane. We had some 15 year old kid steal a Gulfstream and fly from east of Atlanta to somewhere in Florida without anyone knowing. You'd think a grown man can at least get his hands on a G2. Maybe jack Al Gore's plane and then he can help save the enviroment too.

[Adeptus_Minor]

yeah, he probably lost about 98% of his target audience after the first 3 sentences

I was actually agreeing with him until the "How did I get here" bit.
From that point on, it's basically just self pity.

That said, no amount of dissatisfaction with the IRS, the legal system, or life in general can excuse his course of action.

[BobTheBiker]

I think he had the right IDEA, wrong target. I just hope the next one aims his fucking plane at congress instead. THEY are the source of the problems, and I HOPE TO FUCK he does it when everyone is there.

[Adeptus_Minor]

I think he had the right IDEA, wrong target. I just hope the next one aims his fucking plane at congress instead. THEY are the source of the problems, and I HOPE TO FUCK he does it when everyone is there.

So we can get rid of one crop of bastards and replace them with another? :idk:

[azoomm]

I think he had the right IDEA, wrong target. I just hope the next one aims his fucking plane at congress instead. THEY are the source of the problems, and I HOPE TO FUCK he does it when everyone is there.
They will have to wait until next year for that. Well, unless they don't know.... hell, they already burned down the governor's mansion. Go Texas!

[shmike]

I'm very glad no one died in the building. However parts of his letter echo the way I've personally felt out powers that be for many years. Not the "woe is me" parts necessarily, although I would expect a non-insane person's suicide note to include a pouring of emotional content.



I thought of you when I was reading his words.

It was too whiney to be written by you which is why I linked it to the 'tard. :lol:

[Kaneman]

I thought of you when I was reading his words.

It was too whiney to be written by you which is why I linked it to the 'tard. :lol:

:lol: Well, 'tard's points of view are definitely the closest to mine on the forum...and probably out of anyone I know IRL as well. I think the biggest difference between 'tard and myself is that he has hope for humanity and for America, and I absolutely do not. So there's a certain amount of emotional detachment that comes with knowing it is only going to get worse. And when you see 'tards posts he puts a lot of passion and emotion into his view...because he wants things to be better than they are.

In regard to the plane crash, I feel for the guy because I believe I know how he felt as far as almost feeling like you're caged or whatnot....but there is no excuse to ever put innocent people at risk. Perhaps he doesn't consider them innocent since they work for the govt', but he could've killed a maintenance man, someone walking on the street, etc. etc. Completely unacceptable. If you're willing to die for your belief as he was, then there are much better ways of going about making your point.

[Dave]

interesting how many windows blew out from one little cherokee. Overpressure does amazing things. I wonder if anyone is out there today claiming this one was a missile :lol:

[pauldun170]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/02/19/2010-02-19_kamakazi_pilot_hailed_by_loonies_as_antigov_her o.html

[Dave]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/02/19/2010-02-19_kamakazi_pilot_hailed_by_loonies_as_antigov_her o.html

pathetic fringe groups looking for a martyr of opportunity. Probably didnt read the whole note or too stupid to understand it. Im gonna lean for stupid considering that they are posting about it. Then again, the 'net is an incredibly annonymous place and im basing my assumptions on another one that everyone is who they claim to be. Wouldnt surprise me at all if the folks claiming him for the ultra right were from the other side.

[Sixxxxer]

interesting how many windows blew out from one little cherokee. Overpressure does amazing things. I wonder if anyone is out there today claiming this one was a missile :lol:

You mean like the Pentagon??

Knock me all you want but theres No way that was a 757 that hit the pentagon...I dont care what evidence you put in front of me...Its to small of a hole for a Plane of that Magnitude...It leveled two 1,400ft Tall towers in a matter of Hours.

And I for one am not a Conspiracy theory kinda guy...I just dont believe it for a second.

[pauldun170]

You mean like the Pentagon??

Knock me all you want but theres No way that was a 757 that hit the pentagon...I dont care what evidence you put in front of me...Its to small of a hole for a Plane of that Magnitude...It leveled two 1,400ft Tall towers in a matter of Hours.

And I for one am not a Conspiracy theory kinda guy...I just dont believe it for a second.

dude....
seriously

duuuude

[anthonyk]

Is anyone else frustrated by the "domestic terrorism" label getting stuck onto this? I dunno, it just seems wrong.

[Rider]

You mean like the Pentagon??

Knock me all you want but theres No way that was a 757 that hit the pentagon...I dont care what evidence you put in front of me...Its to small of a hole for a Plane of that Magnitude...It leveled two 1,400ft Tall towers in a matter of Hours.

And I for one am not a Conspiracy theory kinda guy...I just dont believe it for a second.

:wtfru:

[skiergirl]

Why? domestic terrorism is exactly what it is. We just associate Terrorism with the Middle East so people don't like to use that term for it, but just because he acted alone doesn't make it not terrorism.

[the chi]

Why? domestic terrorism is exactly what it is. We just associate Terrorism with the Middle East so people don't like to use that term for it, but just because he acted alone doesn't make it not terrorism.

Exactly!!

[Dave]

Is anyone else frustrated by the "domestic terrorism" label getting stuck onto this? I dunno, it just seems wrong.

a guy suiciding into a public building with the intent to kill innocents to make a political statement? Nah yer totally right. That couldnt be terrorism.

[askmrjesus]

You mean like the Pentagon??

Knock me all you want but theres No way that was a 757 that hit the pentagon...I dont care what evidence you put in front of me...Its to small of a hole for a Plane of that Magnitude...It leveled two 1,400ft Tall towers in a matter of Hours.

And I for one am not a Conspiracy theory kinda guy...I just dont believe it for a second.

Right on dude!

Those gigantic jet motors in the front yard? Dick Cheney put those there the night before! He's a sneaky Ninja bastard!

JC

[anthonyk]

Why? domestic terrorism is exactly what it is. We just associate Terrorism with the Middle East so people don't like to use that term for it, but just because he acted alone doesn't make it not terrorism.

Nah, terrorism is associated with (defined by, actually) using fear to push an agenda or coerce a government. As in, "If we don't get what we want, we'll keep this up. Be afraid."

This guy had a beef with the IRS, had probably spent a bunch of time in that building getting pissed off about not being able to work it out, and took out his anger on them.

Where's the "terror" in that? It's no different than some nutjob shooting up his office, or crashing his car into something trying to cause damage/death.

[goof2]

Is anyone else frustrated by the "domestic terrorism" label getting stuck onto this? I dunno, it just seems wrong.

I have to agree with everyone else. I don't know what else you would call it.

[skiergirl]

Nah, terrorism is associated with (defined by, actually) using fear to push an agenda or coerce a government. As in, "If we don't get what we want, we'll keep this up. Be afraid."

the highlight part is correct but the threat of keeping it up is not. Terrorism is simply using violence or the threat of it against innocent people to push your idea's, or agenda's.

He was pissed so he took his plane and flew it into a building of people to 'show' how messed up our Government and their tax laws are...

[Homeslice]

The problem is, the word "terrorism" is being overused, by people in both politics and private business who seek to profit from the public's fear of it.

[goof2]

Nah, terrorism is associated with (defined by, actually) using fear to push an agenda or coerce a government. As in, "If we don't get what we want, we'll keep this up. Be afraid."

This guy had a beef with the IRS, had probably spent a bunch of time in that building getting pissed off about not being able to work it out, and took out his anger on them.

Where's the "terror" in that? It's no different than some nutjob shooting up his office, or crashing his car into something trying to cause damage/death.

I disagree with the premise that it has to be a continued series of events. It can be a single act. What Timothy McVeigh did in Oklahoma City was an isolated incident, but I don't see how you could define it as anything other than an act of domestic terrorism.

[tommymac]

Right on dude!

Those gigantic jet motors in the front yard? Dick Cheney put those there the night before! He's a sneaky Ninja bastard!

JC

After a crazy night of drinking you could wind up with jet engines in your yard :lol:

[Homeslice]

You mean like the Pentagon??

Knock me all you want but theres No way that was a 757 that hit the pentagon...I dont care what evidence you put in front of me...Its to small of a hole for a Plane of that Magnitude...It leveled two 1,400ft Tall towers in a matter of Hours.

And I for one am not a Conspiracy theory kinda guy...I just dont believe it for a second.

It was a Lear Jet, remotely controlled by the CIA. Anyone see Hangar 18? :lol: :lol:

[Dave]

After a crazy night of drinking you could wind up with jet engines in your yard :lol:

dont forget the orange traffic cone. Aint a good night unless you wake up next to one of those :lol:

[Homeslice]

After a crazy night of drinking you could wind up with jet engines in your yard :lol:

Or in your bed.........Donnie Darko ftw

[tommymac]

dont forget the orange traffic cone. Aint a good night unless you wake up next to one of those :lol:

been there too, or having dad ask why the cars on the sidewalk and there are 40 whitecastles all over the front lawn.

Told me he didnt even want to hear what happened

[anthonyk]

Eh, fair enough. Still annoys me. :)

[askmrjesus]

After a crazy night of drinking you could wind up with jet engines in your yard :lol:

They swore to me they were 18!

JC

[azoomm]

Eh, fair enough. Still annoys me. :)

It's alright, annoys me too...

[anthonyk]

I guess we aren't the only ones asking this question...

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/was-attack-an-act-of-terrorism-rage-or-257971.html

By Asher Price
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Updated: 3:12 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010
Published: 10:35 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19, 2010
Post a Comment E-mail Print Share Larger Type
No sooner had a pilot crashed his plane into Internal Revenue Service offices in North Austin than commentators, politicians and police were groping with how to describe the attack.

Was it an act of personal rage or, as many officials called it, an act of terrorism? And does such a definition matter?

In terms of legal semantics, not really. No charge of terrorism exists. Had Joe Stack, who authorities said was the pilot, somehow survived, he probably would have been charged with murder, attempted murder and destruction of government offices, according to Bobby Chesney, a University of Texas law professor who specializes in national security statutes.

Terrorism is often described as an unlawful, violent act used to advance a political goal.

"In a way it was terrorism, and in a way it wasn't," said Ami Pedahzur , the head of the Terrorists, Insurgents and Guerrillas in Education and Research lab at UT. "It was targeted at a very symbolic place — the IRS offices; clearly the method was a copycat of 9/11; and the guy left a manifesto which seems to have some kind of political agenda in it. He wanted his message out, and he wanted support for his act.

"However, if we look at terrorism as aimed at terrorizing the masses to lead to political change, that was not his goal," continued Pedahzur. "He seems to be some kind of angered individual who channeled his animosity at the government."

Does the question of whether it was terrorism even matter?

"We are too obsessed with terrorism," Pedahzur said. "If there is a psychological atmosphere of being preoccupied with them, then the terrorists are successful."

Defining the act as terrorism can have "troubling political outcomes," he said, because it can lead to "restrictions on free speech" for people who express anti-government opinions similar to those posted on the Internet by Stack.

Calling it a terrorist act can matter, said Mark Potok , the head of the hate-group-monitoring Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, for the very reason that it describes participation in a wider movement.

"If the crime is fundamentally a political crime, ideologically driven, then it's a wider phenomenon than one angry man who has a lousy life who's shooting people around him," said Potok, whose project has noted at least 75 cases of domestic terror plots, many of them racist rampages, since 1995. "What this really tells us is that the tax protest movement is becoming much more violent." After the attack, officials disagreed on whether it was terrorism.

Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo, for example, steered clear of the term, saying he did not want to spread panic.

He said that referring to it as terrorism would imply that other planes might be flying into other buildings in Austin or elsewhere.

"This was an isolated event with no ties to international terrorism," said U.S. Rep. Mike McCaul , R-Austin, who serves on the Homeland Security Committee. "But any time you fly an airplane into a federal building to kill people, that's an act of terror."

A similar debate took place after the Fort Hood shootings, which McCaul also called an act of terrorism, drawing links between the shooter and an overseas cleric who had incited violence against the United States.

In a sign of the sensitivity around the terrorism label, the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement Thursday condemning the act as a terrorist one.

"Whenever an individual or group attacks civilians in order to make a political statement, that is an act of terror," said council Executive Director Nihad Awad . "Terrorism is terrorism, regardless of the faith, race or ethnicity of the perpetrator or the victims."

The group said it would hold a news conference Monday in Washington on what it says is a double standard on the use of the label "terrorism" for acts of violence committed by non-Muslims.

But Michael Welner , a New York City psychiatrist who heads the Forensic Panel, a group of forensic scientists who consult on legal cases, said the attack was one of "spectacle murder" and not terrorism.

"The point of terrorism is to bring life to a standstill," Welner said. "This was not to cause fear in others but to cause rebellion."

asherprice@statesman.com; 445-3643

[Homeslice]

"This was an isolated event with no ties to international terrorism," said U.S. Rep. Mike McCaul , R-Austin, who serves on the Homeland Security Committee. "But any time you fly an airplane into a federal building to kill people, that's an act of terror."
If you're going to call it that, what about school shootings or post office shootings, why aren't they terrorism?

Fuck the "terrorism" word, it is used by simpletons.

[Smittie61984]

If you're going to call it that, what about school shootings or post office shootings, why aren't they terrorism?



We call those "good kids who where just misunderstood".