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Thursday 23 January 2014

New French 75% Tax... a disincentive to employees, or a strengthening of state power? Or both?

It was about a year ago... Francois Hollande's socialists were taken to court. The French Constitutional Council angrily struck down a law that would tax individuals 75% of their income above a certain amount. Hollande's Marxist core took a brief step back and puzzled on how to attack the wealthy. Not the wealthy independently this time, but employees.If a company paid their employees above a certain amount, Hollande would have the company taxed the 75%. His ingenious scheme has no parallel other than the Collins v Minister of Interior 1957 (1) SA 552 (A), which heralded apartheid by a similar such moving of semantics and maintenance of substance. The French Constitutional Council has validated this slightly different move that largely keeps substance.

The question must be asked then: won't such a move disincentivise French employees from working all the more to achieve a higher salary beyond a certain point? Will not the skills exodus from France increase by this taxing of those who work hard enough to earn that amount? How will something which contributes such a small amount to Gross Domestic Product but causes those wealthy enough and skilled enough to earn such an amount to leave France really benefit the people?

The simple answer is it won't by in large benefit the French people, but there are many examples in history of grand utilization to rely on.

When Apartheid came to dominate South African politics, Catholic schools lost their government funding. As a powerful force against disintegration, it was inevitable the church would be targeted. Communist China had university professors and the wealthy targeted and humiliated or dealt with in her early days. Stalinism took a similar approach.

The ancient Spartans ruled over a slave population. If a slave became too good at harvesting or too skilled, the Spartans would end the life of that slave with a knife in the night. It was an effective mechanism of control. A government or slave master who takes on the hardest working, most effective people, destroys the desire to be exceptional, and along with it most grand cultures in which competition to authoritarianism might covertly fester in an intelligent, or clandestine manner.

Zheng who would build the great wall of China and the Terracotta army, moved all the aristocratic families away from their fiefdoms into his capital in his Qin dynasty. It would fare him well as he taxed the Chinese to near extinction before his dynasty disappeared.

What better way to enforce socialism and the power of government than to disincentivise those who work the hardest for their companies, and cause them to either be taken down significantly, or move countries as many French entrepreneurial future leaders have?

People who make a lot of money are admired by others, listened to by others, unless they are demonised as many modern authoritarian regimes attempt to.

So why did the Spartans murder the best of their slaves? Mediocre workers are better than free workers to a slave-master. A mediocre worker does not challenge the slave-master. Even if one does, he is a mediocre worker, what does he know?

But, a successful hard working individual, a super-ultra-talent who warrants a massive salary... if they challenge the government? Well, the socialists demonise such a person, and when that is not enough they punish them for being exceptional, for not being the mediocre same that socialism requires of her adherents. When that is not enough, the socialist regime tries to take away the exceptional in the person by stealing their fruits of success. Driven by envy, others might relish in this taking down of the great. Others might believe the lies that those who work hard to etch out a future are the devil himself. The people on social welfare might be compared to angels... as they are in the modern world: the chief concern of the state.

Perhaps if instead of punishing ingenuity and expertise, governments such as in France were to incentivise such, the poor might be drawn out of poverty.

Unfortunately marxism creates the concept of inequality... that if the rich get richer it is a bad evil thing. Perhaps if rather than fighting inequality and making it in the best interest of exceptional individuals not to play the game, governments were to fight the real enemy of poverty with the aid of the exceptional... well then... perhaps there would be no place for Hollande's socialists to get votes...

Indeed, Hollande, France's least popular president has found a way to romanticise poverty... all as his economic incompetence insures all the more that France's poverty lines excel in expansion. Meanwhile those employees who are targeted for fulfilling expert work, shall likely find somewhere else to grace with the fruits of their labour, somewhere that values hard work, and those who conduct it and then spend their money from it in such a place.

This article originally appeared in the publication: Marc Evan Aupiais Professional, under the title: 'New French 75% Tax... a disincentive to employees, or a strengthening of state power?'.

Sunday 19 January 2014

E-tolls violate the right not to be subjected to slavery...


[Written form article continues below embedded audio summary.]

Fast credit: Shocking? Or everyday business?


'Wonga offers £400 loan to 13-year-old boy which would take 98 years to pay back'

Food for thought: A headline in the British newspaper Metro on 23/11/2013

A contentious thing:


The newly arrived e-tolling system, which has been imposed upon the Gauteng freeways has been challenged on many grounds. Some say that it violates the right to free movement. Others questioned to what extent the government is permitted to privatise public resources. There certainly is the public international law ideal that the state holds resources in trust for the population: that it is say as a trustee rather than an owner. As a trustee the state therefore must act in the best interests of the population and not in the best interests only of a small minority of special interests. This concept is why tender fraud is such a big issue. None of these arguments are one which I am going to be making today.

A system of credit and debt:


The argument I am here today to make also is not based on reckless credit in accordance with the statutes of South Africa. However, the purpose for the statutes illuminates a constitutional right, and what is more a human right. There is a long history of persons becoming indebted beyond their means to escape their debts. This was in fact one of the means by which slaves were gained by large landholders in certain areas of the world. A person was made to become so legally indebted to another that they are forced to work for the remainder of their life always in debt to the other individual and always forced to work for that individual. In contract law classes, South African law students study a case where a doctor agreed that a vast majority of his salary would go to paying off a debt. The court found that the contract was against public policy and therefore unenforceable as it turned the doctor into essentially what the court called a slave. The e-tolling system has according to SANRAL: been seemingly exempted from the National Credit Act provisions which prevent the issuing of reckless credit.

In order to issue credit, a credit provider must ensure that the person to whom they issue credit, is capable of paying back the credit in their circumstances. The National Credit Act also allows for debt counselling for debtors who cannot possibly afford to pay back their debt. SANRAL seems insistent that this does not apply to e-tolling.

E-tolling is essentially a system of credit. Whenever an individual rides on an e-tolled road, that individual is essentially taking out a loan from SANRAL. It is like swiping a credit card. However, if a person is unable to pay off their credit card the credit card is cancelled. A person who takes out credit from SANRAL can essentially take out unlimited credit whether or not they are able to pay off their debt. A person who earns 1000 Rands a month: could accrue a debt of 10 million Rand. This person would not be afforded debt counselling according to SANRAL. This person would simply have to pay off their debt. It is expensive to file for insolvency, and some return needs to be shown for creditors. Stating that insolvency is a way out of such a debt, also is not stating an absolute solution in such a case. Could such an applicant for insolvency show even one cent to the Rand return for creditors? Would it even be possible for them to file for insolvency? Furthermore, causing a person to become insolvent deeply changes their status, their ability to do business, and their means and resources on which to live.

Micro-lending and Marikana Tragedy:


An aspect of Marikana and the tragic shooting which took place there which is not often brought up is that of micro-lending. Many of the miners who went on strike had taken out small loans. Their salaries were garnished, in order to allow the creditors to reclaim their money. The miners thus could not afford to live and support their families. The unrest was almost inevitable as a result of credit having been granted when it ought not to have been. The absolute desperation of the miners who charged the police at Marikana: should surely hint at the predicament of the indebted miners. Their determination to strike in desperation to bring something home to live on and to support their families: surely shows the effects upon the economy of such strange granting of credit where it ought not to have been granted.

Who are the Debtors?:


Many South Africans are illiterate. Many South Africans do not have basic mathematical education or literacy. Many South Africans are deeply poor. Many South Africans barely get by. These sort of things need to be taken into account by ordinary businesses doing business. Extending a person an unlimited line of credit and expecting them to pay it back without any chance of doing so: no doubt strikes one as immoral. Immorality is not enough. It has to be legally reprehensible. Thus one has to ask in accordance with the Bill of Rights: is the extension of unlimited credit with no cut-off points and no contingencies unconstitutional. I would say that it could well violate the right not to be enslaved. I would say that it could well violate the right to life in as much as it affects a person’s ability to earn a livelihood. I would say that such unfettered granting of unlimited credit could well violate the right to dignity of the human person.

Perhaps I am wrong. However I do believe there is a strong argument that the granting of unlimited and unfettered credit to persons regardless of their creditworthiness or their circumstances and ability to pay back that credit: violates the rights of the debtors.

Disclaimer:


Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. This argument is provided for entertainment purposes purely, and in order to strike up debate. For proper legal advice please contact the legal practitioner with understanding of your specific circumstances for proper legal advice.



Article written by Marc Evan Aupiais, a LLB Law Graudate, for the SACNS News Service and Aupiais Wire.

Friday 3 January 2014

Man's best friend/ canine compass? : Dogs tend to poop facing North or South, extensive study by scientists finds.

Depending on whether magnetic conditions were calm or disrupted, dogs tend to align their bodies with the magnetic poles in order to excrete, a study suggests.

'Researchers from Czech University and the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany observed 70 dogs from 37 different breeds over the course of a two-year period.

'They found that dogs preferred to excrete when their body was aligned along the north-south axis under "calm Earth's magnetic field (MF) conditions." '

(Times of India 'Dogs poop in line with the Earth's magnetic field' by PTI at Jan 3, 2014, 04.56 PM IST)

The scientists' breakthrough may be difficult to replicate without high technology however, as calm Magnetic Field conditions only occur one fifth of the time, and dogs only do the doozey in line with the poles when the magnetic field is calm. That means your dog might not be a replacement for your compass after all.

Article by SACNS and Aupiais Wire.

Bus overturns, gravely injuring 65, in South Africa!

Nongoma, a small town in Zululand, Kwazulu Natal has experienced a terrible happening. A bus was progressing along a dirt road, when it overturned. All of the passengers, 65 in total were seriously injured, the Department of Transport has warned, relay Bloomberg.

'Emergency workers stabilized the injured on the scene before they were transported to the hospital, the department said in a statement on its website. It was unclear how the accident occurred, the department said.'
(Bloomberg 'South African Bus Accident Leaves 65 People Seriously Injured' by Mike Cohen at Jan 3, 2014 1:17 PM GMT+02)

The event closely follows a crash between a minibus taxi and a bakkie/utility truck in which at least 12 people lost their lives, also in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa.

'Durban - Twelve people have been confirmed dead following an accident between a minibus taxi and a bakkie near Margate, the KwaZulu-Natal transport department said on Thursday.'
(Independent Newspapers '12 confirmed dead after Margate crash' by SAPA at January 2 2014 at 01:53pm)






SACNS Post in conjunction with Aupiais Wire.

Man murdered at 00:00 on 1 January 2014


Rob Meek deceased of subsequently fatal gunfire... to his reproductive area, seconds after the clock struck 12, and 2014 commenced.

There are many ways to celebrate the passing of a new year... causing another person to pass away is one of the more unusual methodologies.

A man by the name of Rob Meek, was photographed celebrating the end of 2013, at 00:00 at 1 January 2014. Little did he know the end of 2013 would warrant his end.

Three men with faces obscured by balaclavas approached the Wild Coast Beach House Rob Meek was celebrating in. One shot him, all three disappeared, according to the Cape Times. The newspaper puts it down to a robbery gone wrong... but the version of events presented is suspicious, so far as the events did not fit an ordinary robbery. Were there really three armed men? This seems likely, from the witness' accounting of the terrible event she and the others encountered. Did he die in another manner? Was it a robbery or was it a hit? Rob Meek apparently eeked out his existence as an urban designer, and was a sailor, well known we are told. Yet, the events seem more appropriate to a hit than a robbery.

His family rushed him away to get help, to no avail. The end of 2013 ushered in the end of Rob Meek, with the passing of another year, Rob Meek passed away. I had never heard of him prior his death, but he certainly died in an deeply perplexing manner. The Cape Times give an account:

'“We moved out on to the deck overlooking the sea. The flash went off. We popped some champagne. We all cheered.

'“You can see in the photo my husband had turned around. He’d already seen the three guys,” Meek said.

'She said three men wearing balaclavas approached them. She said they looked as if they were holding pieces of wood, as residents had done earlier while offering to make bonfires. “My husband said: ‘They’ve got guns,’” Meek said.

'Meek, who had seen three guns, did not recall hearing the three men ask for anything.

'She lay flat on the deck.

'“They looked nervous. I heard a shot. I just saw my husband... There was no provocation.” After the shot went off, wounding Rob in the groin area, Meek said, the gunmen ran away. They had not stolen anything.

'She, her family and friends managed to fashion a tourniquet to try to staunch the blood flowing from Rob’s wound, and they carried him up a steep hill from the house to a vehicle.

'“We got him into the back seat. My daughters sat and spoke to him. I was driving.”

'Meek said at a nearby “TB mission hospital”, two doctors tried to save Rob. Her daughters also tried to resuscitate him and “kept pumping him with oxygen”'


(Cape Times 'Fatal end to new year celebration' by Caryn Dolley at January 2 2014 at 08:09am)


Man named Rob Meek... murdered at the turn of the new year, at 00:00 on 1 January 2014, in South Africa's Wild Coast, say Cape Times.

http://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/fatal-end-to-new-year-celebration-1.1627835

SACNS News Service Article by Marc Evan Aupiais. 'Man murdered at 00:00 on 1 January 2014' . To use this article in your publication contact the SACNS News Service or the author.

As Colorado begins a journey into weed...

Call it what you will: Dagga... Weed.. Marijuana.. Cannabis...

It has increasingly become the in thing in the U.S.A.

With legalisation there and elsewhere, and its popularity, you may be wondering why it is governments ban narcotics. You may think perhaps it is to protect drug addicts. That might be what your resident government says. When we did forensic medicine in law school, a different story was told.

Most crime could be eliminated if narcotics and drugs were not abused. Where drug use increases, so does the crime rate. This is why drugs were initially banned, and the real reason to keep drugs banned. Yes, cannabis also is known to cause schizophrenia among other side effects, but if we are honest... it is the links between intoxicants and unnatural deaths, both of addicts and of those they might commit harm against which causes prohibition of substances.

So... good luck to Colorado... science shows your crime rate is about to sky-rocket just a little bit more.

But it is legal now, you say? So? Alcohol is legal... and as a result many more crimes are committed and many more people die of foolish Dutch courage. Alcohol is a part of life, narcotics don't have to be.

For those music refugees, born after 1990...


I never expected that this post I wrote ages ago would be so popular. It seems I am not the only one:


For those music refugees, born after 1990... This is what a music video looks like...
and wow ... did you notice she didn't even have to prostitute herself with overt and obscene references to sex... and thus didn't pervert the young ones ;)!~ Please help us return music to Real Music, by Real People, with CREATIVE Music Videos! LOLS! Join the crusade! P.s. This is one of my favourite artists!

P.s. This is one of my favourite artists! and I've added it to my personal YouTube Music Playlist, I suggest doing the same: with yours : create a music playlist, and put songs on it you actually like!

Limitation sky... Tonight... will I be lost forever... Natalie Imbruglia - Beauty On The Fire !



It is a member of my Youtube music list:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL98D09D6FF2316A41&feature=mh_lolz

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