Showing posts with label taxes indonesia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label taxes indonesia. Show all posts

Sunday, October 14, 2007

An Inconvenient Lie


The environment is a emotive issue and a there is a whole swag of nutters propping up the edges. Still it was mildly confusing to see the inconvenient self promoter Al Gore awarded the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month.

The Peace Prize??? Were the carrots denying land rights to the tomatoes on the basis of colour or perhaps they were worshiping the wrong fertilizer brand (All hail the life giver). The cobras of Indonesia were planning to launch a ssssssssssssssneak attack on the Malaysian Cobras for sssssssssssstealing a sssssong that nobody gives a stuff about and then in rode Al Gore and brokered a peace deal. Or just maybe its because if he was nominated for the Nobel Science Prize, his little home movie would actually have to go before a panel of scientists and be assessed on facts.

The truth of the matter is the Noble Peace Prize has long been a bit of a politically correct joke. Lets grab a couple of past winners for a laugh (or perhaps a sob), Kofi Annan (for shady family oil deals and the ability do absolutely nothing no matter how many lives it costs), Yassar Arafat, Shimon Peres (for middle east peace?? and more shady money deals) OH well you get the picture.

Back to fat Al's little movie of big fibs. A British High Court Judge, Justice Michael Burton has ruled that the movie can no longer be shown in schools unless accompanied by a fact sheet detailing the outright lies and untruths big Al so skillfully presents as uncontested truths.

This of course is a ruling of much needed good sense. Lets not forget Paramount and Jackgreen International, which makes money from the global warming scare offered free DVDs of An Inconvenient Truth to every school in England not to mention other places. A nice piece of propaganda, still brainwashing kids is the hallmark of lying fanatics.

Lets have a look at what Justice Burton ruled to be big fat fibbs:

Gore presents Mt Kilimanjaro's melting snows as proof of global warming. In fact, the snows are vanishing thanks to local factors, including deforestation.

Gore suggests Antarctica's ice cover is melting. Most studies says it is increasing or stable.

Gore shows scary graphics of cities drowning in seas that rise 7m, causing millions of refugees. But the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says the seas will rise at worst by 59cm this century.

Gore uses images of Hurricane Katrina and suggests it was caused by global warming. The Government's expert in this case admitted such one-off events can't be blamed on warming.

Gore suggests ice-core evidence shows rising CO2 caused temperature rises, which ended the past seven ice ages. In fact, the CO2 rises followed temperature rises by 800 to 2000 years.

Gore claims global warming could stop the Gulf Stream, causing an ice age in Europe. Recent studies deny it.

Gore blames global warming for species losses and coral reef bleaching. The Government couldn't show evidence to back this claim.

Gore claims a study showed polar bears had drowned because of vanishing ice. The study actually said just four polar bears drowned, and only because of a bad storm.

Gore suggests Greenland's ice could melt, causing a dangerous rise in sea levels. In fact, Greenland's ice won't melt for thousands of years.

Gore shows the drying up of Lake Chad and claims this was caused by global warming. The Government's expert agreed this was not the case.

Gore claims rising seas have forced people to flee Pacific islands to New Zealand. There is no record of any such warming-caused evacuation.


Geez...Doesn't leave much of the movie huh?

I also loved this bit by another commentator

"The British Government has now rewritten its guidance to teachers to take in those 11 objections, while trying very hard not to make Gore's film seem fraudulent.

To correct that last false claim, for instance, of global warming causing islanders to evacuate their homes, the guide now includes this weasel disclaimer: "It is not clear that there is any evidence of evacuations in the Pacific due to human-induced climate." What: not clear?"

But that's not the only sign that the educationists who push Gore's film on to students are as devoted to his apocalyptic faith as are our own class of teacher-preachers.

Note this line from the guide, urging children to question even their parents' lack of faith: "Pupils may ask, what were my parents and grandparents doing during this time? Did they know that this was happening?"

I am actually very much in favour of the environment, the trouble with people like Gore is they divert valuable resources and funds into self serving pie in the sky billion dollar twaddle for an Armageddon that is at best dubious. Closer to home, I could say the same thing about the NEWMONT case here in Indonesia a patently obvious bunch of wank driven by money, politics and a seriously compromised environmental group(and religious nutters)now better known as the Wanky Wallies!

Last environmental point today, if you are taking part in major religious festival and giving all praise to GOD/Allah/Buddha whomever, does it seem a bit rude to leave the area covered with plastic water cups, paper, fire crackers. Seems to me that the big guy/girl is gunna be a bit pissed that he invited everyone for a party and they all crapped in his back yard.

AN UPDATE: On my last post "IA" quite correctly pointed out that it is also very difficult for the average Indonesian to escape paying income tax as well as their wages are garnished before they see them. Which raises the point WHY ARE THERE ONLY 1.3 INCOME TAX PAYERS in Indonesia, who are the parasites then, the tax office? the employers? the phantom? Mmmmm...the plot thickens and I would still love to know what the "dear leader" of the new order and the fabulous baker boys paid in tax last year.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

INDONESIA IS TAXING

There were only 1.3 million income tax returns filed last year in Indonesia! Can that be right? Out of 220 Million people? I thought unemployment according to the government was only 10% (suree...). There would be more than 1.3 million public servants alone in Indonesia.

Check out this from the Jakarta Post of 9 Oct 07:

"Darmin now manages at least 10 million registered individual income-tax payers, of which almost seven million were netted under a massive campaign in 2005.

However, Darmin put the number of registered income-tax payers last week at a mere four million. Even more disappointing is only 33 percent or 1.32 million of them filed their annual tax returns -- the other 2.68 million were classified as non-filers."

Besides the obvious fuzzy maths, how the hell does this work?

On the plus side, the non filing of tax returns should make it easy to collect those missing funds from the old regime (and sections of the current?) and their families. Just check the tax returns, if its not declared they have admitted its not their money/assets, so the poor people can have a win for once, no lengthy court battles just take it.

For an expat is is extremely difficult to avoid paying tax and most accept Tax is necessary (unpleasant but necessary) part of maintaining any sort of just society. The concept that the country owes someone a living is as dead as Port Power's Pride after the grand final.

Why do I mention expats? Well in view of only 1.3 Million people contributing to the coffers of the country, maybe the next time that inane xenophobic "us vs them" "you are only a guest" bullsh*t arises. Perhaps the response should be "as least I am a paying Guest and you are a ....... on the country"

Facts are if you can afford a computer then you should be filing a tax return, if not chances well...it needs no further explanation without getting nasty.

Here's a thought, how about anyone who buys a new car must produce a tax file number..that'll get em!

HAVE FUN

P.S. Wouldn't it be cool of every elected official had his tax return published by the Tax Department and just how much tax did the Fabulous Baker (ie) Boys pay last year?