Tomorrow is election day in the US. We are, as you know, in Thailand, which is a monarchy (with the longest-serving [and arguably the most beloved] monarch in the world).
I want to depart from my usual format and give you a comparison of a Thai news item and a US one so that you can ask, as you consider your vote tomorrow, and your political voice beyond that, where we are, where we want to be and how to get there. This is no small responsibility incumbant upon each of us, whether the issue is food or democracy or travel of taxation or whatever.
First, the Thai item:
(The date, November 7, 2006, is one day ahead of the US date because of the international date line.
Bangkok Post, Tuesday, November 7, 2006)
By: Chartrudee Theparat
The country’s first Gross National Happiness (GNH) Index will be available to guage the happiness of the Thai people in the next two months, the National Economic and Social Development Board’s (NESDB) secretary-general Ampon Kittiampon said yesterday.
Drawn up by the NESDB, the happiness index will be used to measure how much the 10th national development plan has accomplished in ushering Thailand towards a “green and happiness socieity”.
The 10th development plan for 2007 to 2011 is the blueprint for thrusting the country forward, with the emphasis on economic stability rather than rapid economic growth.
The new index is based on His Majesty the King’s suffieciency economy concept, a human-centric development strategy, and the 10th plan’s principles, said the think-tank chief.
The index would measure the people’s well-being at the social, community and family levels, Mr. Ampon siad.
Five elements that will be used to evaluate people’s happiness are physical and mental health, work security, good family relations, a safe and sound living environment, and protection of human rights and liberties.
The NESDB will conduct the GNH measurements and publicise the results one a year, he said.
Now the US item:
Now You Need Permission to
Exit or Enter the Country?
Today’s comment is by Mark Nestmann, our Wealth Preservation & Tax Consultant and President of The Nestmann Group.
Dear A-Letter Reader:
Forget no-fly lists. If Uncle Sam gets its way, beginning on Jan. 14, 2007, we’ll all be on no-fly lists, unless the government gives us permission to leave-or re-enter-the United States.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (HSA) has proposed that all airlines, cruise lines-even fishing boats-be required to obtain clearance for each passenger they propose taking into or out of the United States.
It doesn’t matter if you have a U.S. passport-a “travel document” that now, absent a court order to the contrary, gives you a virtually unqualified right to enter or leave the United States, any time you want. When the DHS system comes into effect next January, if the agency says “no” to a clearance request, or doesn’t answer the request at all, you won’t be permitted to enter-or leave-the United States.
Consider what might happen if you’re a U.S. passport holder on assignment in a country like Saudi Arabia. Your visa is about to expire, so you board your flight back to the United States. But wait! You can’t get on, because you don’t have permission from the HSA. Saudi immigration officials are on hand to escort you to a squalid detention center, where you and others who are now effectively “stateless persons” are detained, potentially indefinitely, until their immigration status is sorted out.
Why might the HSA deny you permission to leave-or enter-the United States? No one knows, because the entire clearance procedure would be an administrative determination made secretly, with no right of appeal. Naturally, the decision would be made without a warrant, without probable cause and without even any particular degree of suspicion. Basically, if the HSA decides it doesn’t like you, you’re a prisoner-either outside, or inside, the United States, whether or not you hold a U.S. passport.
The U.S. Supreme Court has long recognized there is a constitutional right to travel internationally. Indeed, it has declared that the right to travel is “a virtually unconditional personal right.” The United States has also signed treaties guaranteeing “freedom of travel.” So if these regulations do go into effect, you can expect a lengthy court battle, both nationally and internationally.
Think this can’t happen? Think again.it’s ALREADY happening. Earlier this year, HSA forbade airlines from transporting an 18-year-old native-born U.S.
citizen, back to the United States. The prohibition lasted nearly six months until it was finally lifted a few weeks ago.
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union are two countries in recent history that didn’t allow their citizens to travel abroad without permission. If these regulations go into effect, you can add the United States to this list.
For more information on this proposed regulation, see http://hasbrouck.org/IDP/IDP-APIS-comments.pdf
MARK NESTMANN, Wealth Preservation &
Tax Consultant on behalf of
The Sovereign Society
assetpro@nestmann.com
www.nestmann.com
“The Two Laws that make civilization possible:
Do all you have agreed to do.
Do not encroach on other persons or their property.” — Richard Maybury (I think that’s the essence of Common Law & it’s the code by which I endeavor to live–rw)
Think about it. Act on it.
