One of the most confusing aspects of offshore investing is the U.S. tax treatment of offshore mutual funds. Unless you're careful, buying an offshore fund—including the hugely popular offshore hedge…

Many of us don't particularly care for the spiders that inhabit the physical world. But we can avoid them, at least most of the time, and kill them if we can't …

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has repeatedly stated the president has the inherent authority to essentially dispose of the Constitution decree in any "national emergency" type situation. I've often wondered how…

The Bush administration, which brought you privacy horrors like the USA PATRIOT Act, now wants to force Internet service providers (ISPs) to save records of what Web sites you view,…

Democrats in the newly seated 110th Congress regularly lambaste the Bush administration for its abuse of civil liberties. I agree with their criticism, but when it comes to your civil…

The automatic update services that many software companies offer with a hidden risk: that the update may contain a hidden cargo that may take over your computer, disable your software,…

Wars were once fought with guns, mortars, infantry and battleships. But today, they're also fought by cutting off your adversary's international banking relationships. Such is the undeclared war being conducted…

In 2005, The New York Times revealed that President Bush had signed a secret executive order in 2002 giving the super-secret National Security Administration authority to monitor international phone calls…

I use the Internet almost daily, if only to post comments on this blog. But I would never presume that Web sites have a legal obligation to make it possible themselves…

Numerous scientific studies have demonstrated that as much as 97% of US currency is contaminated with narcotics residues. This might simply be a passing curiosity were it not for the fact…

I've long maintained that by far the biggest reason that we're losing our privacy and our rights is because we are willing to sacrifice just about anything if our elected…

No doubt, you've read about the ease with which just about anyone can obtain your telephone records—the list of long-distance numbers you've dialed, and, in the case of cellular records,…

You may have noticed in recent months that you have some new friends. In fact, a lot of new friends.  Just this morning, in my email inbox, I had messages from…

Until the early 20th century, with a few interruptions for wars and national panics, silver and gold freely circulated in the US. The dollar was "good as gold" and for…

Since 2002, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been using a data-mining program that creates secret, terrorist ratings on tens of millions of travelers—both US and foreign citizens—who cross…

Cash is private. When you spend cash, there's no paper trail. Cash transactions are difficult, if not impossible to trace.  Because it's difficult to track cash transactions, the US government over the…

Back in 2000, the UK government passed the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, better known as RIPA. One of the most controversial aspects of this law—Part III—gives authorities the right…

Those hard-working and devoted bureaucrats at the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) now have new target in their sights: the nation's mutual funds.  Convinced that Al Qaeda and…

They may not work against NSA eavesdropping, but for just any other purpose for which you need telephone privacy, two new services are worth considering. Jangl (http://www.jangl.com), allows you to…

I'm bewildered over all the fuss surrounding the recent revelations that every international traveler entering or leaving the US for the last four years has been given a "terrorism risk"…

There's no question drunk driving is a reckless act, but there comes a time when efforts to end it cross the line into unacceptable intrusions into our private lives. A…

Graybeards in the offshore industry will remember that in the 1970s and early 1980s, the Netherlands Antilles (NA) was a leading offshore center, primarily due to its tax treaty with…

Courtesy of a decision from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. Customs officials can seize and copy the contents of any laptop carried across a U.S. border. There's no…

If you have substantial U.S. assets that you want to protect from possible judgments, you may be tempted to use a foreign entity, such as an international business company or…

It's election day—and who says that Congress doesn't have a sense of humor? Yes, those fun-loving guys and gals at the "U.S. Joint Economic Committee"—whose responsibility is to " heir…

Credit card fraud is a huge problem worldwide. Online merchants alone suffer losses of more than US$60 billion each year, according to research firm Financial Insights. Unfortunately, credit card companies have…

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…

The Sovereign Society has for years recommended Panama for its first-world infrastructure, its outstanding bank secrecy laws and most importantly its willingness to stand up to the USA and say…

Fifteen years ago, I came face-to-face with US “civil forfeiture” laws that permit police to seize your property, without accusing you of any crime. In my case, I owned a…