Thursday, February 18, 2010

Joe Stack's Words

Since the FBI has taken down his site, and most news outlets are only reproducing small pieces, I felt obliged to provide a full copy of Joe Stack's "manifesto" that he left behind on his website before burning his house down and flying a plane into an IRS building in Austin, TX earlier today.

Obviously the subject matter below is sensitive, and many would prefer not to read it. I questioned whether or not to reproduce it in entirety here, but ultimately decided that our readers are mature enough to decide for themselves if this content is appropriate. Read at your own caution.

The text below has not been edited and is, as far as I can know, an accurate reproduction of the letter that Joe Stack left on his website this morning. There will be plenty of time for analysis of this tragic event, but that time is not today.

Our prayers and thoughts are with the folks of Austin, TX and the families of those who were injured as a result of this act of terrorism.

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

Green Thoughts: Duct Sealing - The Fight To Keep Your Air

--Duct Sealing



So once you have taken an energy audit and sealed the leaks in your attic and building shell, you want to make sure that you are getting clean conditioned air from your heater or air conditioning, depending on the season. Heating your home is extremely important in the frigid winter like it is now, just ask anyone who lost power during the recent snowmageddon in the mid-atlantic region. Making sure you have clean conditioned air is is important year round - it's equally important to get cold conditionad air in the summertime, but since it is the winter, I'm using that example.

Keeping your conditioned air inside your building shell is important for several reasons. First of all, it ensures the air within your home is clean and filtered (ideally- more on your hvac and combustion appliances in a latter post). You want to be breathing and living in the clean filtered conditioned air and not dirty, unfiltered air leaking in from the attic or the outside. Keeping your conditioned air also increases the efficiency of your heating system, which decreases the amount of energy it takes to heat your home. Increasing your efficiency helps the environment and your wallet by using less energy and electricity every month.

When it comes to the appliance heating your home, even the best HVAC systems do not work to their maximum efficiency- even the best are in the 80-90 percent efficiency region- so no matter what you do, there already will be some inherent inefficiency in your system. But if you have leaky ducts, you can lose up upwards of an additional 40% of that conditioned air out through your ducts and into your attic or the open air. So, by inspecting and sealing your ducts, you can ensure that you are efficiently using as much of your conditioned air as possible.

The duct work in many homes, especially older homes but even homes that have been built within the last 5 years, is often incomplete- many duct connections are not sealed correctly. Worse, they are sealed with duct tape, which isn't actually good for sealing ducts because it will deteriorate quickly, often over just a few months. The first step is to mastic and properly tape all available connections.

If your ducts are not accessible to be masticed and taped, the best solution may be Aeroseal, an Elmers glue like product that blows through your ducts and binds together to seal the gaps. No matter how leaky your system is, Aeroseal will bring your duct efficiency to the 3%-5% range. It is a simple, but relatively time intensive process, but it is well worth doing for the amount of clean air it will keep in your house and the amount of money you will keep in your wallet by increasing the efficiency of your house.

To see more Green Thoughts on Thursday posts, please go to www.SumofChange.com/greenthoughts

Full Disclosure: EDGE Energy hired us, as Sum of Change not individuals, to produce several videos for them including the ones in this post. We have not been hired to distribute, recommend, or advertise for EDGE Energy, rather we are using these videos to explain a vital service and we appreciate them letting us do so.

To learn more about the energy audit from Edge and see more of our videos, please go to www.edge-gogreen.com and see Edge's youtube page

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Training Tuesday: Part 2 of Organizational Change and the Adoption of Online Tools

Last week, we introduced Kenyon Farrow of Queers for Economic Justice, Calvin Williams of the Generational Alliance, and Althea Erickson of the Freelancers Union. They shared with us a brief summary of how their organizations had adopted some online tools.

This week, they delve into some of the challenges they faced along the way, and some insight into how they overcame them:





That's all for this week. Check back next Training Tuesday when we will return to the DFA Campaign Academy.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Music Monday: Hail to the Chief

For Music Monday this President's day, I'd like to bring you a couple selections from our most (recent) musically talented president, Bill Clinton. He was known for being a saxophone player and liked to show off his skills at the outset of his presidency. So here are a couple performances from Slicky Willie...

--American President - Bill Clinton Play Saxophone at the Arsenio Hall Show - NBC 1992



--Bill Clinton Plays Ethiopian 'Tizita' Music By Sax



For more Music Monday articles, please go to www.SumofChange.com/musicmonday

Where Were You 6 Months Ago? - Netroots Nation Day 3 [VIDEO]

Yep. Six months ago was the last day of Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh. At this point, it was Saturday and I was running on maybe five hours of sleep since Wednesday. But we managed to stay awake long enough for another smattering of the day...

--Cutting-edge Evidence-based Best Practices:

-Regina Schwartz on Best Practices: Testing the 2008 Primary GOTV Calls



-Mary McClelland on Best Practices: Testing the Youth Vote




-Regina Schwartz on Color Campaign Lit



--Academic Studies of the Netroots:

-Chris Bowers: Misinformation on the Interet vs Television



-Dave Karpf: Hubs in Social Networking



-Dave Karpf: Who is winning YouTube?



-Matthew Kerbel & Dave Karpf: Who is ahead in the Blogosphere?



--Advocating for Reproductive Rights in the Age of Obama:

-Aimee Thorne-Thomsen on Reproductive Justice in the Age of Obama



-Jodi Jacobson on Discussing Reproductive Rights



-James Wagoner: How Our Health Statistics Stack Up



-James Wagoner: Lack of Science and Evidence in Reproductive Rights Debate



-Jodi Jacobson: Compromise Ignores the Real Issues



-Joreg Dreweke: Reproducive Issues Aren't Covered Properly



--How Technology can be Utilized to Enhance Democracy in Pittsburgh and beyond:

-Priya Narasimhan of YinzCam



-Paul Fireman of Vivo



-Brad Winney of Penopto



--Closing Keynote With Darcy Burner and Richard Trumka:

-Richard Trumka Gives Speech on Final Night of Netroots Nation '09







-Darcy Burner Gives Final Keynote at Netroots Nation '09, Intro from Markos





And then it was over.

We will be catching next summer's Netroots Nation in Vegas. We are more than doubling our efforts for it, bringing more people, more cameras, and more resources. And we could use your help. David Hart, the founder of Grow the Hope, is hosting a house meeting fundraiser for us next weekend. Join us in person if you are in the Bethesda area, or join us live online Sunday, February 21st at 2:00pm (EST).

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Where Were You 6 Months Ago? - Netroots Nation Day 2 [VIDEO]

6 months ago today, after a long day 1, Sum of Change arose at 7am (after going to sleep at 5am) to drive under a mountain and over a river to day 2 of Netroots Nation 2009 in Pittsburgh. Here is a smathering of what we saw throughout the day in chronological order:

--Pennsylvania Leadership Forum (aka: Senatorial showdown of Sestak and Specter answering the same questions, although not at the same time)

-Congressman Joe Sestak on Single Payer Health Care



-Senator Specter on Progressive Issues He Can Support



-Congressman Sestak on Owing the Grassroots for Their Election Contributions



-Congressman Sestak on Fighting For Healthcare Reform



-Senator Specter on Fighting For Healthcare Reform



-Senator Specter Addressing Nate Silver and The 'Spectrometer'



-Congressman Sestak on the Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy and Marriage Equality



--Stepping It Up: Creating Powerful Multiracial Alliances With Progressive Bloggers

-Cheryl Contee and Will Coley: We Are A Nation Of Immigrants



-Cheryl Contee How White People Can Help



-Jacki Esposito: Immigration Issues and Statistics Go Unnoticed



-Jacki Esposito: Detention Isn't Just For Illegal Border Crossers



-Kyle de Beausset: Combatting 'Nativism' Online



-Kyle de Beausset: Disconnect Between Progressive & Pro Migrant Bloggers



-Rinku Sen: Comprehensive Immigration Reform Might Not Be Ideal



-Rinku Sen on Opposite Racial Images and Lasting Criminal Punishment



--Science Denial and Science Policy

-Joshua Rosenau, discussing science's "rightful place" in our country



-Michael Stebbins on How Science and Policy is Changing Under This New Administration



-Susan Wood Talking About Combating the Anti-Science Crowd



-Mark Sumner and Joshua Rosenau Discussing the Public's Stance on Science, Believing vs. Accepting



--Four Perspectives From the Social Change Blogosphere

Kety Esquivel National Council of La Raza's Online Activities



-Edmundo Rocha on Why the Immigration Issue is Important and Why Bloggers Should be Involved



-Edmundo Rocha and Prerna Lal on Debating Immigration Reform Online



-Prerna Lal Shares Her Personal Experience With the Struggle of Immigration



-David Bennion on Fighting for Immigration Reform



-David Bennion on the Immigration Battle on Capitol Hill Over the Last Five Years



--Organizing in Second Life

-Connecting Second Life With Real World Small Organizations



-Second LIfe as an Immersive Educational Opportunity



-Second Life an Opportunity for Satyrical Commentary



-Building Communities with Interactive Experiences



Day 2 was an awesome experience and we captured many diverse discussions on important progressive issues. But we were only able to make it to 4 of the 23 amazing panels all day and we want to capture many more of then of day two of Netroots Nation 2010 from Las Vegas. But to do so we are going to need your help.

Please join us, in person or online, on Sunday, February 21st, as we are begin fundraising our efforts to cover Netroots Nation 2010. Chris Hayes of The Nation, Nolan Treadway of Netroots Nation, and local grassroots organizers from inside and around the beltway will join us at a house party in Bethesda, MD. You can get more information about the event here. You can also join us live to view the event online at Sum Live Change beginning at 2:00pm on the 21st.

To see more videos from Netroots Nation 2009, please go to www.SumofChange.com/NetrootsNation