From the Publisher's Desk
February 2010
"The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person
doing it."
- Ancient Wisdom
Your right to travel may soon be impeded!
PT Shamrock presents Part II, the conclusion of this first time
interview with Dr. Freeman.
London born Charles Freeman spent much of his twenties backpacking his
way around the world seeking adventure. By age 29 he had been
employed in over 40 jobs including factory work, English language
teacher, night club bouncer, salesman, perfume dealer, writer and
running his own picture framing business.
Starting in 1991, and with minimal capital, he began dealing in
property. Within just 6 years he had built up a multi million pound
property empire. He became a self made millionaire with homes in
Spain, South Africa, Thailand and a fourth undisclosed locale. Dr.
Freeman retired from the property business and became involved in the
second nationality/passport business by fluke.
As the former publisher and editor of THE FREEDOM, WEALTH AND PRIVACY
REPORT, a newsletter for millionaires both current and prospective,
Dr. Freeman enjoys helping others achieve wealth and freedom. Dr.
Freeman is the author of the best selling and recently revised "How to
Obtain a Legal Second Passport." He is currently traveling the world
looking for new opportunities during this financial downturn, whilst
assisting a select few consulting clients.
PTS = PT Shamrock
DCF = Dr. Charles Freeman
DCF - That was a lovely lunch Shamrock. Thank you.
PTS - Our pleasure. Please bring our readers up to date on the privacy
situation around the world as you see it.
DCF - It's very distressing to say the least. Since 9/11/2001 the UK
has become a police state with the United States very close behind.
Both the UK and US are becoming more like the former USSR regarding
privacy or rather the lack thereof, every day. The latest egregious
assaults on the Constitution in America, particularly the complete
evisceration of the Fourth Amendment, should cause considerable
consternation to every American, US resident's and all freedom loving
peoples that care or should care about their civil liberties and right
to privacy.
Clearly every aspect of the unfolding police state in the UK and
America is exfoliating before our very eyes. If one can't see this
happening, then they should stop reading this interview and visit here!
I recently read where one American, security expert Roger Thompson,
whilst traveling abroad discovered that he had to talk to his bank's
credit card security department at the time of checking out of a
hotel. The credit card issuing bank declined his card charges
overseas as the card holder failed to advise them he was going abroad.
To his great dismay, not only did the card holder have to answer the
normal date of birth, mother's maiden name and similar questions, but
he also had to answer some very delicate questions about his
relatives, information of which the card holder never placed on his
application form at time of application for this credit card.
To make a long story short, that credit card company as well as many
other companies in the United States, are tracking and cross data
basing card and customers using information obtained via FaceBook,
MySpace and other similar social-networking sites, hence putting
together a horrendous amount of personal material for each person in
the United States on dozens, if not hundreds of data bases, easily
available to nearly anyone in the USA or around the world!
Frankly if you live in the UK or the USA today, you should have no
expectations of privacy. Privacy as we knew it, no longer exists in
America or the United Kingdom! It's very sad for me to have to say
that, but it's the truth and sometimes the true hurts.
[Editor's note: That article is located at
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9142265/Bank_s_antifraud_tactics_stun_security_expert?taxonomyId=17
[***begin article***
Whilst security expert Roger Thompson was checking out of a Hilton
hotel in London, he was informed that his Visa card had been declined
due to suspicions it was stolen. That situation got more
disconcerting when he learned the bank that issued the card had more
personal information on him and his family members than he ever
imagined.
In a tale he relates in his blog, Thompson, chief research officer at
AVG, said he was compelled to answer questions on the phone from a
Wachovia Bank representative in its fraud-prevention division to prove
he was really Roger Thompson and not a credit-card thief checking out
of the London hotel.
It turns out Thompson's Visa card was flagged and suspended because he
hadn't told the bank he was traveling overseas, a requirement he
didn't know the bank had. But the "scary bit" about it all, he says,
is that the bank fraud-prevention representative didn't just ask him
to give the correct answers to questions such as his mother's maiden
name, which he had provided to the bank for fraud detection purposes,
but also a host of other questions about his daughter-in-law that he
had no idea it knew.
"I was in shock," Thompson says about what he found out that Wachovia
Bank had stored "at their fingertips" related to his daughter-in-law
-- information Thompson thinks the bank may have found out through
Facebook. "They used her maiden name, they knew she was my daughter
in-law, they wanted me to best describe the age range for this
person," Thompson says, adding that he was in "shock and indignation" about how they would know all this, including how long she was
married.
The bank fraud-prevention representative indicated it was all "publicly available information," he says. At the hotel on the
phone, Thompson answered the questions about his daughter-in-law, the
bank lifted the suspension on his credit card, and he paid his bill
and left for the airport.
Thompson says he wracked his brain to figure out where the bank may
have gotten this information about his daughter-in-law but he could
only reason it was from Facebook, where she's a friend.
Thompson, a security expert with decades of experience in identifying
malware, fraud and hacker exploits of social-networking sites, such as
MySpace and Facebook, says he doesn't see this as an issue around
Facebook per se. Rather, this is about what kind of data that
corporations may be collecting from Facebook or other
social-networking sites -- if they are. He adds this strikes him as a
serious data-privacy issue, and he notes that if a bank has this kind
of database information on him, "they probably have it on you, too."
Wachovia, now owned by Wells Fargo, wasn't immediately available for
comment on whether they do harvest information from social-networking
sites for purposes of fraud detection or where they are obtaining
personal information of this type not voluntarily provided by a
customer. ***end article***]
PTS - Yes it's very sad indeed. But most important what can our
readers do to retain or regain their privacy and civil liberties?
DCF - If they're happy with their lives, happy to have given up their
civil liberties and freedoms in exchange for their government's "protection" against terrorist and all the bad guys your government
says there are; if you like where you're living and not willing to
give up some of your creature comforts; are willing to comply with
each and every law and pay all the taxes their governments say they
owe, then they should continue living where and how they are.
On the other hand if they don't like what's going on in their country
then they should leave. It's really that simple. Excuses simply
don't cut it anymore as time is running out rapidity for privacy
seekers around the world. The authorities in the US, UK and most
other western nations have seen to it that there are no gray areas any
longer regarding privacy, period. And that's an understatement too!
If one does make an exodus, family can always visit you abroad can't
they? If you don't break any laws you can leave legally now and one
can always return to their former homeland to visit friends and loved
ones can't they?
PTS - Yes of course they could. What tools or products could one
obtain and use to protect them?
DCF - I don't think you need to be a rocket scientist to realize most
of these things. An offshore bank account in multiple currencies is a
must, even if it's reportable to your government so you remain totally
legit. Your capital will be elsewhere out of the control of your home
government and in theory safe. Having a reasonable amount of one's
assets in gold isn't a bad idea. The long term trend for gold if up,
whilst the long term trend for currencies is down.
Of course a second nationality and possibility even a third
nationality, is ones best insurance policy... just in case! A second
nationality, especially for Americans, can open investment and many
other opportunities previously unavailable to them, whilst providing a
legal safety net and escape vehicle to another life and freedom
elsewhere other than their homeland.
Use pgp encrypted email for secure email communications. Don't make
any sensitive calls to/from your home or mobile phone. An offshore
credit card can come in handy, especially when one travels outside
their home country as in the case of security expert Roger Thompson
previously mentioned.
For private web or internet browsing an anonymous proxy works best.
Tor (www.torproject.org) is free and an excellent product. There are
other similar products but they usually have a cost to them. That
said I do suggest that any of your readers who do download and use Tor
to make a small donation for this excellent product at Tor's
organization site.
Use cash, money orders, cashier cheque's, postal orders and or prepaid
credit/debit cards for sensitive purchases. Understand that every
move you make personally, financially and especially whilst
communicating, is being recorded and placed on dozens, perhaps
hundreds of databases. Therefore one really needs to act accordingly
in order to protect themselves and their day to day dealings.
PTS - Well if you're not doing anything illegal, then why should one
have to worry about such things?
DCF - There's an old government cliche, "Well, if you're not doing
anything wrong, what do you have to worry about?" Plenty I tell you,
plenty! Here's one of my favourite quotes, which speaks for itself on
this subject:
"There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched
at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police
plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even
conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate
they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to
live-did live, from habit that became instinct-in the assumption that
every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every
movement scrutinized." - George Orwell
Least we forget 1984 was published in 1949, more than 60 sixty years
ago! I wonder what George Orwell would think today?
PTS - Indeed those words were very prolific.
DCF - Yes they were and remain so.
That quote aside, the answer to this question might best be answered if your readers
were to read a few books or reports that I'd recommend. The report "Bye Bye Privacy" makes for an excellent read and explains in baby
talk why privacy is essential to everyone. The report is free, very
informative and contains a great deal of useful information. Therefore
I recommend anyone reading this interview who hasn't already, obtain
a copy of "Bye Bye Privacy" and read it. [Editor's note: You can
download this free report at http://www.ptshamrock.com/secret/byebyeprivacy.html
Although Michael Hyatt's "Invasion of Privacy" was published some
years back, it's an excellent read offering valuable information and
very good insight on how governments and others operate relating to
privacy.
PTS - Where might one obtain a copy of "Invasion of Privacy"?
DCF - More likely than not via Amazon.com or any similar online book
store for around twenty US dollars.
PTS- Any other important privacy information our readers should be
alerted to?
DCF - The answers to that question would take several interviews.
However just recently signed into law, and very alarming to say the
least, Executive Order 12425 has some very disturbing consequences.
In a nut shell Executive Order 12425, signed into law by US President
Barack Hussein Obama on December 17th, 2009, placed the United States
of America under the authority of the international police
organization known as Interpol, granting the organization full
immunity to operate within the United States.
What exactly does this mean? It means that Interpol now has the full
authority to conduct investigations and other law enforcement
activities on U.S. soil, with full immunity from U.S. laws such as
the Freedom of Information Act and with complete independence from
oversight from the FBI. In short, a global law enforcement entity now
has full law-enforcement authority in the U.S. without any check on
its power afforded by U.S. law and U.S. law enforcement agencies.
PTS - I didn't know that. That's quite shocking!
DCF - It is, but its true.
Every American should start asking a lot of questions starting with
why would the US elevate an international police force above American
law? Why would the US immunize an international police force from the
limitations that constrain the FBI and other American law-enforcement
agencies? Why is it suddenly necessary to have, within the US Justice
Department, a repository for stashing government files which,
therefore, will be beyond the ability of Congress, American
law-enforcement, the media, and the American people to scrutinize?
Americans and Brit's better wake up in a hurry, before it's too late!
And its getting very late as we speak.
PTS - It's getting very scary out there.
DCF - It really is and lays the groundwork for a one world government
that owns, controls and dictates to everyone!
UK Telecoms firms recently accused the Government of acting like the
East German Stasi over plans to force them to store the details of
every phone call for at least a year. Under the proposals, the
details of every email sent and website visited will also be recorded
to help the police and security services fight crime and terrorism.
Mobile phone companies have attacked the plans as a massive assault on
privacy and warned it could be the first step towards a centralised
'Big Brother' database.
PTS - That's shocking. We've been warning readers about these
matters for years now.
DCF - Good for you. Indeed it is shocking, but that's not the worse
of it.
To anyone traveling to the United States, I feel sorry for them.
Airline passengers headed there face tighter security measures after
some idiot recently attempted to blow up a U.S. jet bound for
Detroit. This additional scrutiny will include pat-downs, body
scanner searches and an order to stay seated during the last hour of
flight, airlines and security officials said. Best to bring along
your own pee bottle if you have to travel to that country!
350 UK professional and amateur photographers signed a letter,
published in The Sunday Telegraph recently, calling on ministers and
the police halt the practice of them being stopped and searched while
they are taking images in public places. Clearly with these items and
many, many others, one can see a terrible erosion of our rights and
civil liberties.
Here's another newspaper clipping for you that should cause
considerable consternation for your readers: ***begin article*** "The 20,000 snooper army: Vast number of town hall bureaucrats get
power to enter your home without a warrant - UK Daily Mail
As many as 20,000 town hall snoopers have assumed powers to enter
people's homes without a warrant and search for information, a survey
revealed last night.
The research details for the first time how a raft of intrusive laws
has allowed council staff to barge into homes and businesses
uninvited.
The bureaucrats are benefiting from the 1,043 state powers of entry in
primary and secondary legislation, more than 400 of which have been
created by Labour.
These include checking for fridges which do not have the correct
eco-friendly energy rating, making sure a hedge is not too high and
inspecting a property to ensure 'illegal or unregulated hypnotism' is
not taking place.
Alex Deane, director of Big Brother Watch, which carried out the
research, said: 'Once, a man's home was his castle. Today, the Big
Brother state wants to inspect, regulate and standardize the inside of
our homes." ***end article***
And here's a recent and partially ugly law: The recently placed into
law Brussels agreement allows the USA access to any and all bank
records of any bank account in any EU country. This law comes into
force early this year (2010.)
The 27 EU countries have to grant this access to the US under the
terrorist finance-tracking program contained in the Brussels Agreement
and its a done deal. The USA is allowed to keep the bank records for
five years. The privacy invasive scheme uses the SWIFT system to scan
for transactions they deem suspicious and then they request individual
bank records. The US can request general data sets, which are
commonly referred to as a fishing expedition.
So if you're European and thought that the US authorities couldn't
access your financial details... WRONG! Big brother's tentacles are
far reaching and spreading ever larger. So much for financial privacy
in the US and EU!
These kinds of laws are very alarming and go against our basic rights,
the right to privacy as well as our civil liberties. They have been
and continue to be eroded at a shocking rate in the US, UK and most
other western countries. I truly believe that the US and UK have
reached, and perhaps exceeded, the former USSR pertaining to privacy
and citizens rights. The rest of the European Union is close behind.
PTS - Is there any good news?
DCF - Yes. Ohio USA police officers must now obtain a search warrant
before snooping through the contents of a person's cell phone, Ohio's
supreme court ruled recently. This is very good news on the privacy
front.
Here's another article I chipped for you from the (UK) Daily
Telegraph.
"Conflicts with EU free movement rules have thrown the UK's GBP1.2
billion electronic borders program into disarray.
The e-borders scheme is designed to collect the personal data of every
passenger traveling into and out of Britain. This means, for
example, that someone flying from the UK to Spain needs to submit
their name, date of birth and passport details ahead of a flight and
well before they got to the airport, or face the risk of being
prevented from boarding.
Passenger data was checked against terrorist watch lists and used for
immigration controls. However concerns have arisen that the mandatory
controls violate EU rules on free movement. That means that
passengers are no longer obliged to hand over travel credential
information in the days running up to their flight while airlines are
freed of the obligation to refuse to carry passengers that decline to
pass over their details. Instead the UK Border Agency (UKBA) will
check passengers once they arrive. Refusing to provide travel
credential details will no longer become sufficient reasons to refuse
entry, to EU citizens at least." ***end article***
On the other hand if you stop for a minute and think about how an
uninvited couple could gain access to a US President's State dinner
without an invitation and shake hands with the President and his wife;
plus with the fact how a potential terrorist's father had been
uncomfortable with his son's "extreme religious views" and reported
him to the U.S. embassy in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, as well as to
security agencies, and that person was able to board a US bound
flight, shouldn't endear the US government's security programs to its
citizens, should it? Security measures are rapidity approaching the
degree where suffocating security paranoia will be implemented so that
bathroom visits on a plane, and elsewhere, are now considered
potential terrorism.
In fact all this business makes me wonder why there have been so many
arcane and intrusive "security" programs and laws in place and these
programs still have glaring problems. These, and many other
incidents, reveal serious deficiencies in the "system." Or will these
turn out to be an excuse for even more intrusive programs and
technologies thrust upon us? Part of this effort will be expanding
the so-called "terror watch lists" that now contain the names of
millions of innocent Americans. You can also expect full body scan
machines worldwide in the very near future, especially in the US and
Western Europe.
PTS - Is there any one technology or law that stands out against
privacy?
DCF - Not to minimise the terrible tragedy of 9/11/2001, however the
passage of the US PATRIOT Act partially overnight, with members of
the US Congress not being afforded time to read it, certainly paved
the way for the years since of freedom stripping government
legislation and technology.
PTS - On another note, with all this brouhaha about the Swiss Bank UBS
and its American clients being given up to the US tax authorities, are
there still ways for Americans, as well as others, to legally avoid
taxes or at least minimize them?
DCF - Absolutely. Take a look at this newspaper article I brought for
you titled: "Google: Do no evil, pay no tax, well not much, anyway." The UK Register
***Begin article*** "Google has been accused of swerving UK tax on the
GBP1.6bn it makes in Britain.
To be fair, Google does pay some tax - about GBP140,000 on interest on
cash in the bank held here. But its offshore status means it, quite
legally, avoids paying GBP450m in corporation tax.
Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable accused Google of not playing fair.
He said the firm was ducking its social responsibilities, especially
in a time of recession.
The search giant employs 770 people in the UK and makes 13 per cent of
its revenues here, the Sunday Times reports.
UK revenues are funneled through Google's European headquarters in
Dublin, where corporation tax is lower. The company has faced down
critics on this issue in the past, and its close links with the Tory
Party mean a change of government is unlikely to change its tax
status.
The paper also found Google UK makes limited charitable donations, for
a company which makes so much of its humanitarian values.
The firm gave GBP5,662 to charity last year. Its average UK worker
earned over GBP90,000 and its best-paid director trousered GBP1.1m." ***end article***
PTS - Appears Google is a bit of a Scrooge humbug when it comes to
giving to charity?
DCF - It does appear that way. However they seem to be quite generous
as to their employee pay cheque's! That said I ask you my good friend,
if Google, one of the largest companies in the United States, if not
the world, can earn more than US$2Bbil (GBP1.6bil) and legally avoid
paying GBP 450m (USD 725mil) in corporate taxes, why shouldn't you, me
and your readers be able to do so legally?
PTS - Yes we should. But how?
DCF - It's really not so difficult. By structuring one properly, and
operating in the same manner as Google does, i.e. legally, one can
greatly reduce and minimize an otherwise onerous amount of taxes.
Alternatively become one of my consulting clients!
[Much laughter!]
PTS - What about the economy? How do you see that?
DCF - As we enter 2010 the world's still in a serious recession in
spite of all the hyperbole to the contrary. Asia appears to be
recovering somewhat. The Asian markets had its best year since 2003
and with the revision of China's 2008 GDP to $4.5 trillion, China is
now poised to overtake Japan as the world's second largest economy.
With 8 percent growth forecast for 2009 and Japan's economy, which
stood at $4.9 trillion last year, emerging from its worst recession
since World War II, economists predict, and I concur, that China soon
will stand second only to the United States in total economic output.
However one needs to remember that the average Chinese income in 2008
was $3,200, compared to $38,000 in Japan.
I believe the US dollar is somewhat undervalued as we speak, but it
has recovered during the last few weeks of 2009. However in the long
term I believe the dollar will continue a steady depreciation. The
fact that the US government has basically taken over GMAC after
pouring in billions of dollars in it's so called "rescue/bailout plan"
last year, and more recently threw in another 3.8 billion, shows that the US
economy is still in very serious trouble. The US housing market has
foreclosures by the thousands, the worse in decades. So all isn't
rosy in the USA these days.
Gold is always a safe bet and should be a part of every investor's
portfolio, albeit it has dropped a few percentage points during the
last week of 2009. One might consider holding the majority of their
capital in a basket of currencies, especially out of the US dollar or
having a small percentage based in US dollar assets. Not having done
so has been a tragic mistake for most Americans as they've lost 50
percent of their US dollar assets over the past few years with the
dollar nose diving. Most Americans don't even realize this until and
unless they travel abroad. When they do, they are in for major
sticker shock.
PTS - If you were reading this interview, and many thousands will, and
you're serious about expatriating, what would you do and how would you
get started?
DCF - Plan properly for everything. I can't be more emphatic than
that. Make sure you have sufficient funds for your exodus and or have
an internet based and movable business that you can operate anywhere
in the world where there's an internet connection.
If you haven't traveled much, do so now. Because of the
recession/depression traveling these days can be quite a bargain if I
say so myself.
Spend six months, a year is better, traveling hither and yonder in
different parts of the world until you find two or three locales that
you like, feel comfortable in and where you can really enjoy yourself.
Then spend six months in each of those two or three locales until you
decide which place is best for you. If one of those locales offers a
residency to nationality opportunity, that's a big bonus which you
should take advantage of.
PTS - You have four homes, in four different countries don't you? Do
you have a favourite?
DCF - Yes I do have four lovely and comfortable homes in four
different countries. I enjoy each place for and on its own at
different times of the year. Remember during this time of the year
(Christmas and New Year,) in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand
its summer time, whilst in Europe and North America it's freezing and
a snowy winter time!
I love each home very much and immensity enjoy my time in each
country. I also continue to travel to new places every year and find
traveling exhilarating. I truly love traveling, meeting new people
and helping my clients.
PTS - Do you have multi-passports from your four home countries?
DCF - That's a private matter. However suffice it to say I practice
what I preach!
PTS - Do you have any closing comments, suggestions and
recommendations for our readers?
DCF - Yes. Stay young and healthy. Maintain your health and exercise
your body and mind regularly. Most important enjoy your loved ones
and family, especially your children and grandchildren.
Don't break any laws. If so inclined, make your exodus from your
home country legally so you can always return to your original homeland
if you desire.
Get a second nationality, or third if need be, and keep your mouth shut.
Your personal and financial affairs are yours alone and should remain that
way, private. Remember loose lips sink big ships. A bad case of
diarrhoea of the mouth has cost many a bundle of money and big troubles
to boot!
PTS - On behalf of our readers thank you Dr. Freeman. We truly
appreciate your time for this very informative interview.
DCF - Shamrock you're the best. It's been my pleasure.
Editor's note: Dr. Freeman's "How To Legally Obtain a 2nd Passport" -
Updated & Revised 2009 Edition is available at http://www.ptshamrock.com/pass2.html
Should you wish to consult with Dr. Freeman, prepare a full written
statement of your background, approximate net worth, goals, objectives
and ambitions, plus [IMPORTANT!] a statement that you are seeking
information from him for your own personal use (not for publication)
and are neither a journalist, government employee, nor an agent for
any undisclosed person.
Then list how you think Dr. Freeman could help you. He doesn't have
to know your real name or ACTUAL ADDRESS! But for you to get your
money's worth out of a consultation he must have good input. So
change your name if you wish; conceal your address and identity with
an anonymous e-mail address. But if you want good advice, give Dr.
Freeman all the FACTS!
Upon receipt of you're briefing via email, we've forward same to Dr.
Freeman. If after Dr. Freeman peruses your briefing and agrees to
take you on as a consulting client, his fee of Euro 1,750 is then
payable.
See you next issue
Shamrock
"The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion."
- Edmund Burke, 1784
To access our past missives just click here.
Click here to subscribe to our FREE privacy newsletter, PTBuzz. |
