In todays news...

[Greenman]

I totally agree with all of that.

Unfortunately most of us are stuck in the middle

The issue I have with this mentally is that everyone believes they occupy the holier-than-thou middle ground, such as most people thinking they are above average in driving skill.

The plumber doing a job for cash is in the same moral category as the company director who massages the books. Both are tax avoiders. As am I, I suppose, for telling the counter staff the ol' fib that I'm going to take it away, as opposed to eating in, to save the VAT.

On the flip side, you you have Chris Hohn, hedge fund manager, who donated £3.4b to good causes last year. Minted bastard, for sure, but he doesn't have to give his money away.

Don't take this as criticism, but you tend to see the world very much in black and white, good vs. bad, evil rich vs. the noble poor. I think life is a bit more nuanced than that.

With respect i don't think it is!

I think the people who try and over complicate things by not making them black and white, bad vs evil is the actual problem here.

It's systematic in politics to do this, make things so over complicated that people cannot question it, if they told us how it is in black and white it would be to easy to question by the majority of the population.

[gremlin]

I think the people who try and over complicate things by not making them black and white, bad vs evil is the actual problem here.

Not everything is black and white. Take this Rwanda silliness. There's the moral side, which is far from black and white (when were moral issues ever?), plus the legal points. A judicial process can flip flop between legal and illegal as it goes up the appeal chain. Then there's the financial benefit of flying a few dozen migrants to Africa to be processed. Is it cost effective? Ask that question ten times and you'll get a different answer every time.

Black and white? Maybe, with a million shades of grey in between.

[gremlin]

On the subject of crime vs. punishment, US judges have the freedom to use their imagination when it comes to sentencing. Take this story:

Woman who assaulted Chipotle worker sentenced to fast food job for two months https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67619012

By making this woman work, for no reward, in an environment with people she had no regard for, maybe she gets that life lesson she seriously needs.

Many moons ago a US judge give the victim of a burglary the right to go to the house of the man convicted of the crime and take whatever he wanted. News crew followed and recorded the burglar as he stood there, helpless whilst somebody took his valued possessions, crying like a baby saying he felt violated. I like that judge's style, quite frankly.

[gremlin]

we spend a lot of time self-actualising

Bad for your eyesight. Pack it in.

[Cousin Jack]

The plumber doing a job for cash is in the same moral category as the company director who massages the books. Both are tax avoiders. As am I, I suppose, for telling the counter staff the ol' fib that I'm going to take it away, as opposed to eating in, to save the VAT.

Both are actually tax evaders. Avoidance (which is something both can do as well) is something all of us do, some of us better than others.

[Mussels]

The plumber doing a job for cash is in the same moral category as the company director who massages the books. Both are tax avoiders. As am I, I suppose, for telling the counter staff the ol' fib that I'm going to take it away, as opposed to eating in, to save the VAT.

Both are actually tax evaders. Avoidance (which is something both can do as well) is something all of us do, some of us better than others.

You've just undone all that hard work HMRC put into making people think they are the same thing.

[gremlin]

The plumber doing a job for cash is in the same moral category as the company director who massages the books. Both are tax avoiders. As am I, I suppose, for telling the counter staff the ol' fib that I'm going to take it away, as opposed to eating in, to save the VAT.

Both are actually tax evaders. Avoidance (which is something both can do as well) is something all of us do, some of us better than others.

Yeah. My bad. And I only have to complete mandatory training on the difference once a year in order to carry on working.

[Cousin Jack]

The plumber doing a job for cash is in the same moral category as the company director who massages the books. Both are tax avoiders. As am I, I suppose, for telling the counter staff the ol' fib that I'm going to take it away, as opposed to eating in, to save the VAT.

Both are actually tax evaders. Avoidance (which is something both can do as well) is something all of us do, some of us better than others.

Yeah. My bad. And I only have to complete mandatory training on the difference once a year in order to carry on working.

Time to sign up for 2024 refresher.

[Mr. Dazzle]

We do actually have a legal 'throw away the key' sentence in this country. Should get used more IMO.

Before anyone saying 'angin, that often works out more expensive! Besides, it's an easy get out for them

[Count Steer]

I thought I'd check the news for some light relief....

Uh huh. If I wanted some 'light relief' that's where I'd go...not.

[ZRX61]

Hunter Biden's tax evasion expenses make for interesting reading. Whores, strippers, drugs etc... including a $1500 Venmo payment to a stripper at the titty bar.

https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-12/rhb_indictment.pdf



38. The following is a summary of the approximate expenditures
that the Defendant made instead of paying his taxes:
Summary of Approx. Expenses Made from Owasco, PC and the Defendant’s Bank Accounts
(2016 to 2019)
Description 2016 2017 2018 2019 Grand
Total
ATM / Cash
Withdrawal $200,922 $503,614 $772,548 $186,920 $1,664,004
Payments – Various
Women $4,400 $138,837 $383,548 $156,427 $683,212
Clothing &
Accessories $78,580 $113,905 $151,459 $53,586 $397,530
Tuition/
Education/
Extracurricular
$117,281 $94,497 $93,213 $4,286 $309,277
Health, Beauty,
Pharmacy $54,789 $110,239 $46,347 $26,121 $237,496
Misc. Retail
Purchases $51,629 $75,941 $78,135 $30,929 $236,634
Food, Groceries,
Restaurants $67,281 $73,219 $40,590 $33,833 $214,923
Insurance $41,808 $47,060 $90,535 $24,412 $203,815
Loan / Mortgage
Payments $144,396 $43,647 $500 $3,330 $191,873
Adult
Entertainment $4,411 $56,846 $100,330 $27,373 $188,960
Legal & Accounting
Fees $33,379 $103,745 $9,745 $700 $147,566
Telephone /
Utilities $37,319 $29,623 $22,977 $28,521 $118,440
Rehab (Drug &
Alcohol) $7,600 $28,600 $35,669 $71,869
Wells Fargo
Advisors - Roth
IRA
$53,000 $53,000
Credit Card
Payments $7,464 $18,479 $12,000 $20,599 $58,542
Home Improvement /
Maintenance $33,168 $3,574 $5,763 $351 $42,856
Home Help /
Cleaning /
Childcare
$22,855 $16,946 $39,801
Entertainment $8,172 $6,148 $7,500 $2,625 $24,445
Sports /
Recreation $22,387 $8 $1,172 $23,567
Grand Total $990,841 $1,464,928 $1,852,031 $600,013 $4,907,813
Case 2:23-cr-00599-MCS Document 1 Filed 12/07/23 Page 13 of 56 Page ID #:13

[Count Steer]

Hunter Biden's tax evasion expenses make for interesting reading. Whores, strippers, drugs etc... including a $1500 Venmo payment to a stripper at the titty bar.

Sounds like he'd fit in pretty well here but thank he's not the President of the USA.

$1500? I like charitable people. She's probably got 3 kids to support.

Next!

[ZRX61]

Hunter Biden's tax evasion expenses make for interesting reading. Whores, strippers, drugs etc... including a $1500 Venmo payment to a stripper at the titty bar.

Sounds like he'd fit in pretty well here but thank he's not the President of the USA.

$1500? I like charitable people. She's probably got 3 kids to support.

Next!

He spent over $683K on prossies over 4 years, but claims he can't afford to pay child support to the stripper he fathered a child with.
As for his dad... claims it's all lies & he never discussed any business with Hunter at any point... which has been debunked by pics of his dad with his son's business partners (ALL of them), emails, phone calls & his own son's testimony... & sworn testimony by his sons business partners.

[Count Steer]

Hunter Biden's tax evasion expenses make for interesting reading. Whores, strippers, drugs etc... including a $1500 Venmo payment to a stripper at the titty bar.

Sounds like he'd fit in pretty well here but thank he's not the President of the USA.

$1500? I like charitable people. She's probably got 3 kids to support.

Next!

He spent over $683K on prossies over 4 years, but claims he can't afford to pay child support to the stripper he fathered a child with.

Bit of a boy then eh? Like I say, thank goodness he's not running America.

[Yambo]

As for his dad... claims it's all lies & he never discussed any business with Hunter at any point...

If it ever got into court Biden would simply claim dementia and that would be fine because there's plenty of videos around showing ol' Joe to be . . . suffering.

Hunter Biden will get off, scot free and won't even have to say sorry to anyone. It's the American way.

[ZRX61]

Bit of a boy then eh? Like I say, thank goodness he's not running America.

Given how much he *donated* to his dad (Hunter claimed up to 50% of his income at one point) There's probably a case to be made for Joe living off illegal earnings.

[ZRX61]

If it ever got into court Biden would simply claim dementia and that would be fine because there's plenty of videos around showing ol' Joe to be . . . suffering.

Which would be grounds to undo things like banning gas stoves & water heaters, all cars except EV's etc

Hunter already got off scot free... then they decided he should be treated like all other criminals & the deal was thrown out of court, which lead to this indictment

[Yorick]

This is taking the piss

https://news.sky.com/story/anger-over-s ... k-13030865

[Bigjawa]

This is taking the piss

https://news.sky.com/story/anger-over-s ... k-13030865

Nope, the car park was taking the piss....

But it was a ridiculous arrest, unless the cop tried having a quiet word and the mom started waving the R card about the place......

[Mussels]

This is taking the piss

https://news.sky.com/story/anger-over-s ... k-13030865

Nope, the car park was taking the piss....

But it was a ridiculous arrest, unless the cop tried having a quiet word and the mom started waving the R card about the place......

The cops skin colour wasn't mentioned so I'd guess they weren't white, probably wouldn't stop the mum waving the card though.