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Small plane crashed in to building

HoustonMidtown

By HoustonMidtown
in Austin

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sevfiv

sevfiv

Posted
Posted
Austin police say a plane has crashed into a building in the 9400 block or Research Boulevard.

Austin-Travis County EMS Assistant Director James Shamard said smoke is visible for at least a mile and that paramedics have set up a triage center at the scene. “We have no idea right now if there are any patients, or how many.”

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2010/02/18/austin_police_say_a_plane.html

KVUE’s Noelle Newton reports most of the windows are blown out. People were evacuated. There is so far no word on how many people have been injured. A witness told KVUE that it didn't appear the plane was having any trouble before it crashed.

Firefighters say they have made several rescues, but so far two people are unaccounted for.

Officials said there were reports an FBI field office was housed in the complex, but it was not hit. They say this appears to be accidental. A number of businesses are located in the building that was hit.

http://www.kvue.com/news/local/Plane-crashes-into-Northwest-Austin-building-84704727.html

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sevfiv

sevfiv

Posted
Posted
The Insane Manifesto Of Austin Texas Crash Pilot Joseph Andrew Stack

Wow.

Check out the anti-big brother rant on EmbeddedArt.com that's almost certainly from the pilot of the crash.

The manifesto is dated today, and it even anticipated his death.

http://www.businessinsider.com/joseph-andrew-stacks-insane-manifesto-2010-2

http://embeddedart.com/

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AtticaFlinch

AtticaFlinch

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It may take awhile for me to process that and assess this particular act of terrorism.

Two terrorist acts in central Texas within the past few months.... We've had quite an interesting history of terrorism extremism in this state: JFK, David Koresh, Charles Whitman, the Ft Hood massacre, this.

Thanks for another one of your loony imports, California.

Edit: BTW, don't google image search "Joe Stack" at work. Just trust me. Better yet, don't search that anywhere. *shudders*

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ricco67

ricco67

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should have added the word "IN" that statement. But still, people are going to go nuts about it. There was already a report on CNN about security at small airports.

Screw it, they're going to harp on Austin all day. I'm going to watch "The Good Earth" on TCM in a bit.

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AtticaFlinch

AtticaFlinch

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The website was taken down per a request from the FBI. The Smoking Gun posted the letter, and I have the source saved. Maybe I should rehost, heh heh heh.

And then the government bought and paid for by the rich will treat you to a bitter taste of the same alternative law they treated Joe Stack with. Then maybe you could afford a private aircraft and flying lessons. Won't that teach you a lesson about how crappy and unfair our government is?

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EMME

EMME

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If you’re reading this, you’re no doubt asking yourself, “Why did this have to happen?” The simple truth is that it is complicated and has been coming for a long time. The writing process, started many months ago, was intended to be therapy in the face of the looming realization that there isn’t enough therapy in the world that can fix what is really broken. Needless to say, this rant could fill volumes with example after example if I would let it. I find the process of writing it frustrating, tedious, and probably pointless… especially given my gross inability to gracefully articulate my thoughts in light of the storm raging in my head. Exactly what is therapeutic about that I’m not sure, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

We are all taught as children that without laws there would be no society, only anarchy. Sadly, starting at early ages we in this country have been brainwashed to believe that, in return for our dedication and service, our government stands for justice for all. We are further brainwashed to believe that there is freedom in this place, and that we should be ready to lay our lives down for the noble principals represented by its founding fathers. Remember? One of these was “no taxation without representation”. I have spent the total years of my adulthood unlearning that crap from only a few years of my childhood. These days anyone who really stands up for that principal is promptly labeled a “crackpot”, traitor and worse.

While very few working people would say they haven’t had their fair share of taxes (as can I), in my lifetime I can say with a great degree of certainty that there has never been a politician cast a vote on any matter with the likes of me or my interests in mind. Nor, for that matter, are they the least bit interested in me or anything I have to say.

Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it’s time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours? Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country’s leaders don’t see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political “representatives” (thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the “terrible health care problem”. It’s clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don’t get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in.

And justice? You’ve got to be kidding!

How can any rational individual explain that white elephant conundrum in the middle of our tax system and, indeed, our entire legal system? Here we have a system that is, by far, too complicated for the brightest of the master scholars to understand. Yet, it mercilessly “holds accountable” its victims, claiming that they’re responsible for fully complying with laws not even the experts understand. The law “requires” a signature on the bottom of a tax filing; yet no one can say truthfully that they understand what they are signing; if that’s not “duress” than what is. If this is not the measure of a totalitarian regime, nothing is.

How did I get here?

My introduction to the real American nightmare starts back in the early ‘80s. Unfortunately after more than 16 years of school, somewhere along the line I picked up the absurd, pompous notion that I could read and understand plain English. Some friends introduced me to a group of people who were having ‘tax code’ readings and discussions. In particular, zeroed in on a section relating to the wonderful “exemptions” that make institutions like the vulgar, corrupt Catholic Church so incredibly wealthy. We carefully studied the law (with the help of some of the “best”, high-paid, experienced tax lawyers in the business), and then began to do exactly what the “big boys” were doing (except that we weren’t steeling from our congregation or lying to the government about our massive profits in the name of God). We took a great deal of care to make it all visible, following all of the rules, exactly the way the law said it was to be done.

The intent of this exercise and our efforts was to bring about a much-needed re-evaluation of the laws that allow the monsters of organized religion to make such a mockery of people who earn an honest living. However, this is where I learned that there are two “interpretations” for every law; one for the very rich, and one for the rest of us… Oh, and the monsters are the very ones making and enforcing the laws; the inquisition is still alive and well today in this country.

That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000+, 10 years of my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0. It made me realize for the first time that I live in a country with an ideology that is based on a total and complete lie. It also made me realize, not only how naive I had been, but also the incredible stupidity of the American public; that they buy, hook, line, and sinker, the crap about their “freedom”… and that they continue to do so with eyes closed in the face of overwhelming evidence and all that keeps happening in front of them.

Before even having to make a shaky recovery from the sting of the first lesson on what justice really means in this country (around 1984 after making my way through engineering school and still another five years of “paying my dues”), I felt I finally had to take a chance of launching my dream of becoming an independent engineer.

On the subjects of engineers and dreams of independence, I should digress somewhat to say that I’m sure that I inherited the fascination for creative problem solving from my father. I realized this at a very young age.

The significance of independence, however, came much later during my early years of college; at the age of 18 or 19 when I was living on my own as student in an apartment in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. My neighbor was an elderly retired woman (80+ seemed ancient to me at that age) who was the widowed wife of a retired steel worker. Her husband had worked all his life in the steel mills of central Pennsylvania with promises from big business and the union that, for his 30 years of service, he would have a pension and medical care to look forward to in his retirement. Instead he was one of the thousands who got nothing because the incompetent mill management and corrupt union (not to mention the government) raided their pension funds and stole their retirement. All she had was social security to live on.

In retrospect, the situation was laughable because here I was living on peanut butter and bread (or Ritz crackers when I could afford to splurge) for months at a time. When I got to know this poor figure and heard her story I felt worse for her plight than for my own (I, after all, I thought I had everything to in front of me). I was genuinely appalled at one point, as we exchanged stories and commiserated with each other over our situations, when she in her grandmotherly fashion tried to convince me that I would be “healthier” eating cat food (like her) rather than trying to get all my substance from peanut butter and bread. I couldn’t quite go there, but the impression was made. I decided that I didn’t trust big business to take care of me, and that I would take responsibility for my own future and myself.

Return to the early ‘80s, and here I was off to a terrifying start as a ‘wet-behind-the-ears’ contract software engineer... and two years later, thanks to the fine backroom, midnight effort by the sleazy executives of Arthur Andersen (the very same folks who later brought us Enron and other such calamities) and an equally sleazy New York Senator (Patrick Moynihan), we saw the passage of 1986 tax reform act with its section 1706.

For you who are unfamiliar, here is the core text of the IRS Section 1706, defining the treatment of workers (such as contract engineers) for tax purposes. Visit this link for a conference committee report (http://www.synergistech.com/1706.shtml#ConferenceCommitteeReport) regarding the intended interpretation of Section 1706 and the relevant parts of Section 530, as amended. For information on how these laws affect technical services workers and their clients, read our discussion here (http://www.synergistech.com/ic-taxlaw.shtml).

SEC. 1706. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TECHNICAL PERSONNEL.

(a) IN GENERAL - Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:

(d) EXCEPTION. - This section shall not apply in the case of an individual who pursuant to an arrangement between the taxpayer and another person, provides services for such other person as an engineer, designer, drafter, computer programmer, systems analyst, or other similarly skilled worker engaged in a similar line of work.

(B) EFFECTIVE DATE. - The amendment made by this section shall apply to remuneration paid and services rendered after December 31, 1986.

Note:

· · "another person" is the client in the traditional job-shop relationship.

· · "taxpayer" is the recruiter, broker, agency, or job shop.

· · "individual", "employee", or "worker" is you.

Admittedly, you need to read the treatment to understand what it is saying but it’s not very complicated. The bottom line is that they may as well have put my name right in the text of section (d). Moreover, they could only have been more blunt if they would have came out and directly declared me a criminal and non-citizen slave. Twenty years later, I still can’t believe my eyes.

During 1987, I spent close to $5000 of my ‘pocket change’, and at least 1000 hours of my time writing, printing, and mailing to any senator, congressman, governor, or slug that might listen; none did, and they universally treated me as if I was wasting their time. I spent countless hours on the L.A. freeways driving to meetings and any and all of the disorganized professional groups who were attempting to mount a campaign against this atrocity. This, only to discover that our efforts were being easily derailed by a few moles from the brokers who were just beginning to enjoy the windfall from the new declaration of their “freedom”. Oh, and don’t forget, for all of the time I was spending on this, I was loosing income that I couldn’t bill clients.

After months of struggling it had clearly gotten to be a futile exercise. The best we could get for all of our trouble is a pronouncement from an IRS mouthpiece that they weren’t going to enforce that provision (read harass engineers and scientists). This immediately proved to be a lie, and the mere existence of the regulation began to have its impact on my bottom line; this, of course, was the intended effect.

Again, rewind my retirement plans back to 0 and shift them into idle. If I had any sense, I clearly should have left abandoned engineering and never looked back.

Instead I got busy working 100-hour workweeks. Then came the L.A. depression of the early 1990s. Our leaders decided that they didn’t need the all of those extra Air Force bases they had in Southern California, so they were closed; just like that. The result was economic devastation in the region that rivaled the widely publicized Texas S&L fiasco. However, because the government caused it, no one gave a shit about all of the young families who lost their homes or street after street of boarded up houses abandoned to the wealthy loan companies who received government funds to “shore up” their windfall. Again, I lost my retirement.

Years later, after weathering a divorce and the constant struggle trying to build some momentum with my business, I find myself once again beginning to finally pick up some speed. Then came the .COM bust and the 911 nightmare. Our leaders decided that all aircraft were grounded for what seemed like an eternity; and long after that, ‘special’ facilities like San Francisco were on security alert for months. This made access to my customers prohibitively expensive. Ironically, after what they had done the Government came to the aid of the airlines with billions of our tax dollars … as usual they left me to rot and die while they bailed out their rich, incompetent cronies WITH MY MONEY! After these events, there went my business but not quite yet all of my retirement and savings.

By this time, I’m thinking that it might be good for a change. Bye to California, I’ll try Austin for a while. So I moved, only to find out that this is a place with a highly inflated sense of self-importance and where damn little real engineering work is done. I’ve never experienced such a hard time finding work. The rates are 1/3 of what I was earning before the crash, because pay rates here are fixed by the three or four large companies in the area who are in collusion to drive down prices and wages… and this happens because the justice department is all on the take and doesn’t give a thousand dollars about serving anyone or anything but themselves and their rich buddies.

To survive, I was forced to cannibalize my savings and retirement, the last of which was a small IRA. This came in a year with mammoth expenses and not a single dollar of income. I filed no return that year thinking that because I didn’t have any income there was no need. The sleazy government decided that they disagreed. But they didn’t notify me in time for me to launch a legal objection so when I attempted to get a protest filed with the court I was told I was no longer entitled to due process because the time to file ran out. Bend over for another $10,000 helping of justice.

So now we come to the present. After my experience with the CPA world, following the business crash I swore that I’d never enter another accountant’s office again. But here I am with a new marriage and a boatload of undocumented income, not to mention an expensive new business asset, a piano, which I had no idea how to handle. After considerable thought I decided that it would be irresponsible NOT to get professional help; a very big mistake.

When we received the forms back I was very optimistic that they were in order. I had taken all of the years information to Bill Ross, and he came back with results very similar to what I was expecting. Except that he had neglected to include the contents of Sheryl’s unreported income; $12,700 worth of it. To make matters worse, Ross knew all along this was missing and I didn’t have a clue until he pointed it out in the middle of the audit. By that time it had become brutally evident that he was representing himself and not me.

This left me stuck in the middle of this disaster trying to defend transactions that have no relationship to anything tax-related (at least the tax-related transactions were poorly documented). Things I never knew anything about and things my wife had no clue would ever matter to anyone. The end result is… well, just look around.

I remember reading about the stock market crash before the “great” depression and how there were wealthy bankers and businessmen jumping out of windows when they realized they screwed up and lost everything. Isn’t it ironic how far we’ve come in 60 years in this country that they now know how to fix that little economic problem; they just steal from the middle class (who doesn’t have any say in it, elections are a joke) to cover their asses and it’s “business-as-usual”. Now when the wealthy thousand dollars up, the poor get to die for the mistakes… isn’t that a clever, tidy solution.

As government agencies go, the FAA is often justifiably referred to as a tombstone agency, though they are hardly alone. The recent presidential puppet GW Bush and his cronies in their eight years certainly reinforced for all of us that this criticism rings equally true for all of the government. Nothing changes unless there is a body count (unless it is in the interest of the wealthy sows at the government trough). In a government full of hypocrites from top to bottom, life is as cheap as their lies and their self-serving laws.

I know I’m hardly the first one to decide I have had all I can stand. It has always been a myth that people have stopped dying for their freedom in this country, and it isn’t limited to the blacks, and poor immigrants. I know there have been countless before me and there are sure to be as many after. But I also know that by not adding my body to the count, I insure nothing will change. I choose to not keep looking over my shoulder at “big brother” while he strips my carcass, I choose not to ignore what is going on all around me, I choose not to pretend that business as usual won’t continue; I have just had enough.

I can only hope that the numbers quickly get too big to be white washed and ignored that the American zombies wake up and revolt; it will take nothing less. I would only hope that by striking a nerve that stimulates the inevitable double standard, knee-jerk government reaction that results in more stupid draconian restrictions people wake up and begin to see the pompous political thugs and their mindless minions for what they are. Sadly, though I spent my entire life trying to believe it wasn’t so, but violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer. The cruel joke is that the really big chunks of shit at the top have known this all along and have been laughing, at and using this awareness against, fools like me all along.

I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.

The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.

Joe Stack (1956-2010)

02/18/2010

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RedScare

RedScare

Posted
Posted

So, he spends ten years of his life trying to keep $40,000 gained from a tax loophole that shouldn't even exist, while flying around in his private plane, and then decides it is "not worth it anymore"? His last thoughts were probably that he is a martyr. Another miscalculation on his part.

Lots of references to hypocrisy and self-importance in his rant. Too bad he could not afford a mirror. Good riddance. I won't shed a tear for this clown.

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TheNiche

TheNiche

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Posted

So, he spends ten years of his life trying to keep $40,000 gained from a tax loophole that shouldn't even exist, while flying around in his private plane, and then decides it is "not worth it anymore"? His last thoughts were probably that he is a martyr. Another miscalculation on his part.

Lots of references to hypocrisy and self-importance in his rant. Too bad he could not afford a mirror. Good riddance. I won't shed a tear for this clown.

From the suicide note, it looks to me like the guy was disappointed with how his life turned out, was overcome by a sense of powerlessness and emasculation, and was severely depressed. Tens of millions of people in this country can probably relate to that, particularly given the tumult of the last several years as fortunes, careers, and relationships have been smashed by circumstances far beyond their control. I know I can.

But this guy--smart enough to be an engineer and a pilot, whose personality and career were oriented around bringing order to things--abjectly failed at articulating nearly any cogent string of thoughts...not that he didn't expend terrific effort to that end. Martyrs take a hard-line stand on such things as politics, religion, or social justice. This guy was all over the place. He didn't believe in anything larger than himself, however, and was merely frustrated with the way things are. That's not the hallmark of a martyr. He just tried to use martyrdom as a justification. He also wasn't a very responsible taxpayer, but tried to imagine the IRS as complicit in an injustice committed against him.

Everything about that manifesto indicates to me that he was looking for an excuse to do something that he'd already decided he was going to do. I suspect that he may also have wanted to abdicate personal responsibility for how his life turned out; he wanted to be a victim...because a victim can justifiably strike back and effect something.

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marmer

marmer

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Posted

Sure seems like had he gone to a reputable tax preparer in a timely fashion and made an honest effort to pay the taxes he legitimately owed he would have saved himself thousands of dollars, thousands of hours, and a planeload of grief.

Having said that, my wife is self-employed, and her tax situation sucks. But still. Once you get used to the idea that you will have to pay taxes, you can deal with it.

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TheNiche

TheNiche

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Posted

So, he spends ten years of his life trying to keep $40,000 gained from a tax loophole that shouldn't even exist, while flying around in his private plane, and then decides it is "not worth it anymore"?

Btw, looks like the plane was a Piper Cherokee, which can be acquired for the price of a decent car. Though he certainly had means, it's not exactly emblematic of someone awash in money or that would necessarily think of the plane as a hallmark of success.

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RedScare

RedScare

Posted
Posted

Btw, looks like the plane was a Piper Cherokee, which can be acquired for the price of a decent car. Though he certainly had means, it's not exactly emblematic of someone awash in money or that would necessarily think of the plane as a hallmark of success.

Yeah, you can find Piper Cherokees for sale by the dozen for $40,000 to $60,000. What a coincidence! Just about what it would have taken to deal with his responsibility as a taxpayer!

Piper Cherokee

F'k him.

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Hanuman

Hanuman

Posted
Posted

My grandfather taught me that everyone in the World is born with a chip on their shoulder. The duty of being a real man is to keep that chip from growing into a boulder so big that you can no longer carry it - then you must throw it off on someone else.

Such is the case with Joe Stack, and his ilk. History is filled with them - and, it's sad that at their last moment - when they believe they will be remembered for something - they can't see back through history's lesson, that they will be forgotten as the water that caused the great flood, or the fire that burned the innocent, or the greatest of the great. They will just be gone...and further strengthen the definition of human shame.

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TheNiche

TheNiche

Posted
Posted

Yeah, you can find Piper Cherokees for sale by the dozen for $40,000 to $60,000. What a coincidence! Just about what it would have taken to deal with his responsibility as a taxpayer!

Listed asking prices are not a good indication of market value for things like aircraft or boats. But look, my point was that with relatively little compassion on your part, you can see where he was coming from...not in the context of your life experiences but in terms of his. He wasn't so rich that he was less human.

F'k him.

Reactionary anger sure is cathartic, isn't it? ;) Perhaps some introspection on your part would allow you to better understand the motivating force behind Joe Stack's actions.

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ricco67

ricco67

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Posted

Something amazing about mental illness is the selfishness. He killed two people. He deprived his family of their home. He thought he was righteous.

That's another thing that really irks me.

The insurance isn't going to pay off on the house due to arson, so they are still going to have to pay on that mortgage.

If he had Life insurance, I highly doubt that they will pay off due to suicide and ditto for the plane.

If the wife is lucky, people will NOT sue her (for whatever reason), if they do, she's screwed.

He did far more damage to his family, along with those hurt in his act of stupidity then he could have possibly imagined.

The only people that are going to be grateful to him are the poor schmucks who's records he burned up at the IRS office. Maybe.

Burn in hell Stack.

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RedScare

RedScare

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Posted

Reactionary anger sure is cathartic, isn't it? ;) Perhaps some introspection on your part would allow you to better understand the motivating force behind Joe Stack's actions.

I've already introspected. I came to the conclusion that narcissism and greed can cause more damage than I thought.

This POS deserves all the introspection and compassion that others give those who rob convenience stores. That is, none. We all have our problems, financial or otherwise. When one decides to take out others due to his inability to handle his own mistakes, I have no compassion.

If he had committed a nice little unintrusive suicide, I might have felt for him. Not terrorist acts.

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RedScare

RedScare

Posted
Posted

On another point, why do you suppose that both the Austin PD and the White House have taken pains to define this act as 'not an act of terrorism'?

From the patriot act.

quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A person engages in domestic terrorism if they do an act ""dangerous to human life"" that is a violation of the criminal laws of a state or the United States, if the act appears to be intended to: (i) intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping.

Under that definition, this is terrorism per se.

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