[Osage Orange]

Have at it....

FRegards,

[SmoothTalker]

"recently returned from my first foreign posting in Turkey and I was amazed at the anti-U.S. mood of the people. "

I was shocked at how anti-US New Zealand was when I was there last year. Always thought of them as a lot more friendly to us but a lot of the people I met over there were quick to blame America for everything wrong in the world and were not shy about telling me about it. I expect that in places like France and the Middle East but didn't expect it over there. That said the people, while they had a real dislike for our country, were polite on a personal level and i've never been to a prettier country. I'd go back again in a heartbeat.

[Osage Orange]

How would you feel if France told the U.S. it must abolish the death penalty

I think they do...about 4 times a week, don't they?

France...the land of the cheese-eating surrender monkey's.

The heck with France.....

[Ken522]

Malcolm: Is it true your property taxes are going to increase 100% this year? Is this equitable? Is it just? Do you think it's right?And just how much responsiblity for this fiasco should be attributed to the former Insurance Commissioner of FL, Bill Nelson? Thank you in advance for your reply.

[vbmoneyspender]

People are right to hate us. We beat the good guys in World War I, World War II and the Cold War. And now we are at it again, beating good guys like Hussein, bin Laden and Zarqawi.

[Balding_Eagle]

I need to correct an obvious and enormous mistake:

Congress withholds assistance from countries whose legal systems don't match our standards and limits trade with countries whose definitions of "free speech" are not as liberal as ours.

Here is how it actual is:

Congress withholds money taken from Ameican citizens at the point of a gun and used to entice other countries to emulate our system from countries whose legal systems don't match our standards and limits trade with countries whose definitions of "free speech" are not as liberal as ours.

[KarinG1]

I've posted to some turkeys. They usually demonstrate their appreciation for my witty, insightful comments by insulting me.

[Jeff Chandler]

They think our government believes its manifest destiny is to convince the world that the "Anglo-Saxon race," its form of democracy, ideas and policies are naturally superior.

If they believe that we think our race is superior, it is because they have been brainwashed by the leftist media and academia into a cartoonish view of Americans.

Around the time of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Congress began to keep report cards on other nations. If those countries fail to earn a passing grade, Congress will use sanctions to make them kneel.

The very same leftist media and academia is behind that sort of international activism.

How would you feel if France told the U.S. it must abolish the death penalty or it would forbid imports of American steel?

Who cares?

Congress withholds assistance from countries whose legal systems don't match our standards and limits trade with countries whose definitions of "free speech" are not as liberal as ours.

Doncha just love the quotes around "free speech"?

Congress, Republicans, Democrats, our religious organizations and corporate America do not understand the seething resentment this has nurtured aboard. We are so convinced of our superiority that we cannot see the clouds for the rain. And the tolerance of other cultures is being strained.

Baloney! They hate us because they have been programmed to hate us. Moron.

[wildcatf4f3]

Some suspect this is our way of atoning for several hundred years of black slavery.

for an accountant this guy can't add worth diddley...

say 1700 to 1865....how is that several hundred years

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

Congress, Republicans, Democrats, our religious organizations and corporate America do not understand the seething resentment this has nurtured aboard. We are so convinced of our superiority that we cannot see the clouds for the rain. And the tolerance of other cultures is being strained.

So I take it you don't want the money then?
Fine by me.

Regards,
GtG

[theBuckwheat]

>>
But in May 2005, just before I left, you advised me to buy 125 shares of the closed-end Turkish Investment Fund, which I did at $14.75, and sold it when I returned this March at $28. It's now $17.05 . Should I buy it back?
<<

Dear TE: If you are a US Person (a US citizen or green card holder) you should sell all those shares and keep quiet about how much you made or lost.

The problem is the US tax code. A non-US mutual fund is a Passive Foreign Investment Company (PFIC). The reporting requirements alone make PFICs hardly worth the trouble for a small investment, but the taxation of PFIC profits can be more than the original investment.

Now, I am not a tax accountant, nor a criminal defense attorney (nor do I play on on the internet), so you'll have to make up your own mind what do to about reporting or not reporting your investment.

Are you also aware that Congress has levied a $10,000 fine on anyone who doesn't report the existence of any accounts in non-US financial assets such as banks, mutual funds or stock firms?

see:
http://www.mayer-riser.com/practiceareas/ap/offshore/pfic.htm

[expat_panama]

it's money that makes the world go round. It's the U.S. dollar, not the riyal, yen or peso that people use to measure their wealth.

It's not gold either; people throw gold away everyday, like on that gold lettering of the shampoo bottle for instance.  Nobody throws away dollars.

[kublia khan]

"Congress withholds assistance"
Why was this "assistance being offered or given in the first place. I not an isolationist I'm just sick of the U S being treated like a rich uncle when ever any struggling third world toilet needs a handout and then as soon as they cash the check they go back to treating us like a red headed step child. I thought the Republicans would see the inherent evil of taking one persons possessions and giving it to another in the name of equity. But they did not see it and they apparently still don't judging by the new leadership they have selected for the congressional caucus. I here all of the talk about a return to power in two years; we'll be lucky if anything resembling a conservative party is back in power in 20 years. They didn't get it then, they don't get it now, and there is little promise for an awakening in the near future.