Dear Family,

Well, this week, IRS signed an agreement to share information with Puerto Rico. I'm only surprised that it took so long, considering our close relationship. But, you'll enjoy reading today's IRS News report. Why? IRS's press release also lists the 48 states, the cities and other territories that participate in this information- sharing endeavor. You WILL want to know if your state is included (most likely). Hmmm....

Wyoming and Nevada are the only states I don't find. Interestingly enough, Delaware shares information with IRS. What does that say to all those corporations who've chosen to headquarter there due to the privacy rules?

As I started to write this issue yesterday, (before computer problems prevented me from finishing it - remember to back your computer!) the news was filled with two things: Yasser Arafat's burial, and Scott Peterson's conviction.

As much as we all despised that man (Peterson), it wasn't really clear that there was absolute evidence that he had, in fact, killed his wife. Most people, following the news, believed it of him. But I didn't realize there was enough there for a jury to convict - and so quickly. Oh well, be ready for the flood of appeals.

But Arafat. I first became aware of him way back, during the Six-Day War, when I was a child. Over the years, he became significant to me two more times - first, when the United Nations invited him to speak to the General Assembly, and they let him appear before that August body fully armed. The UN had a firm rule about no arms, but they broke it for him.

That was the day the United Nations lost all credibility. Not just to me, but to many in the world. Many people who saw that event, don't even realize why they trust the UN less, but they have always had this nagging discomfort, or distrust, when the topic of the United Nations as a peacekeeper or arbitrator arises. Their subconscious remembers.

The other event was when Pope John Paul II granted an audience to Arafat in 1982. Again, armed. That lent him such an air of legitimacy. (I remember seeing that picture on TV and feeling chills down my spine.) I was appalled that he could reach such high places - even armed.

Yasser Arafat has been the public face of the Palestinians, and their fight for a home, for most of my life. I've seen the power that man could weild. Yet, he did nothing to improve the lives of his people. His people are worse off today, than they were in 1967. Sticking with a very belligerent stance, everytime there was a chance for a peaceful, stable life for the people under his care, he ensured that it didn't happen.

Now, during the week of his death, hearing that $2.1 billion are missing from the Palestinian coffers, and that he sent his wife $100,000 each month, to support her lavish lifestyle in France, I mourn for his people.

That money could have been used to help his people build lives, businesses, get education, stay warm, get fed. But, no, keeping them uncomfortable, hungry and desperate better suited his needs. Shame on him - and his aides who helped steal from those for whom the aid was meant.

What does this have to do with taxes? My friends, that was your money, either from the US Government, the United Nations, or your generous donations to various charitable institutions. This is how your well-intentioned assistance was used.

Sadly yours,

Eva Rosenberg, EA
Your TaxMama is watching...out for you.

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