[UPDATE - Dec. 21, 2010: The text below has been edited for accuracy.]

UK Uncut targets tax dodgers.There are corporate tax dodgers as well as wealthy individuals who are refusing to pay their debt to society. Two of UK Uncut's main targets are Vodafone (a British wireless communications company) and Philip Green (who runs a chain of British clothing stores):

For the last ten years, Vodafone has been fighting tooth and nail to avoid paying the UK government billions in taxes. Court case followed court case, and eventually the British revenue service won a decisive victory. Vodafone was on the ropes and all that was needed was a couple more government knocks to finally make the communications giant pay up. But instead of forcing through the deal, the British government let Vodafone off. It was one of the most shameless, blatant and costly examples of corporate-government cronyism in years. But at a time when the UK government is insisting upon massive cuts in public spending, the deal is particularly hard for the British people to swallow.

In 2005, Philip Green, who runs a chain of British clothing stores, awarded himself the biggest paycheck in British corporate history. The check was for more than a billion dollars. But this dividend payout was channeled through a network of offshore accounts, via tax havens in Jersey (England), and eventually to Green's wife's Monaco bank account. The dodge saved Green, and cost British tax payers millions. This tax arrangement remains in place. Any time he feels like it, Green can pay himself huge sums of money without having to pay any taxes.

Before the election, Nick Clegg and other like-minded British politicians talked tough about tax dodgers. But as soon as they entered a coalition with David Cameron and the Conservatives, their pre-election bluster became just another inconvenient promise they quietly forgot. In August, Cameron, who is now the British Prime Minister, appointed Britain's most notorious serial-tax dodger to advise the government on how best to slash public spending. Interestingly, none of the politicians who entered the Conservative coalition with David Cameron talked tough about tax dodgers anymore. A Guardian editorial denounced this as "shameful."

Philip Green's tax dodge could pay for:
- The full, hiked-up tuition fees for almost 32,000 British college students.
- Pay the salaries of 20,000 nurses.

And if that's not reason enough to take action against "Sir Philip," it is worth noting that he has built his multi-billion dollar fortune on the backs of sweatshop labor, using sweatshops in South Asia where workers toil 12 hours a day, six days a week, for minimal pay.

UK Uncut can enjoy my full support and my best wishes on their efforts. You can check out one of their posters below...

[UPDATE - Jun. 21, 2010: The text below has been edited for accuracy.]

On November 28, 2010, an organization known as Wikileaks (wikileaks.org) released more than 250,000 secured messages from U.S. government diplomats, as well as secured messages from people representing other governments around the world, to media sources and to the Internet. Many of the messages were obtained by people who had been given access to the U.S.'s secure message database(s), which some call SIPRNET. The secured messages were allegedly copied by people who had permission to access the database(s) and sent to Wikileaks and others. According to most accounts, Wikileaks released the messages onto the Internet, as well as sending them to five media outlets: The New York Times in the U.S., The Guardian in the U.K., Der Speigel in Germany, Le Monde in France, and El País in Spain.

All of the messages have not been made public yet. So far, only a small portion of the messages have been analyzed and made public. More are expected to be revealed in the weeks and months to come.

The messages released so far, still referred to in diplomatic language as "cables" for some reason, have sparked all kinds of reactions and comments around the world. But some of the messages from diplomats are quite funny. For example, the dictator of North Korea was called "flabby and old." Other messages seem misinformed at best, though many people think the messages are downright mean. I'm inclined to agree. Some of the messages are misinformed and mean, and they sound like something a spoiled brat would say (I hope that translates into German, because a "spoiled brat" is not the same as a bratwurst that has gone bad! LOL!).

Anyway, the main point I want to make about the messages is that they do not show any hate. Even most of the messages from people representing governments in the Middle East do not show any hate. A lot of the messages seem misinformed, but they're not hateful. I guess that's not saying much, but I was relieved to learn that even in their lowest moments, neither the U.S. nor any other country whose messages were released seem hateful. Of course, this is only the first round of messages, so maybe I'm putting my big dumb foot in my mouth. Oh well! (There's also a lot of spying and all types of ill shit...)

The U.S. definitely has a lot to work on, and I think the release of this information will help. I'm totally behind the publication of these messages, and hope no one gets in too much trouble. I also hope no one's life is put in danger, and that the efforts the U.S. is making to reach out to the world are not hindered. I actually hope this helps!

Like I said, this is only the first round of messages, so there will be more to come. The links I have so far are below...