News / The Iran war and Poland [826]

.@Barney
Oh, the he I was speaking about is Putin.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]

@Barney
Help me out, I'm not sure what you mean.


Pre tel, this naive and romantic vision. I am 99.8% sure I'll dislike/disagree with it, but 100% sure I'll enjoy your rhapsodic prose and romantic idealism

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


🤣


OK. I'll just worry a little bit.

You'd have to think that Putin and his close advisors would know that doing such would threaten the incremental but steady gains in Ukraine.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]

@betamorons

And just because someone agrees with a bullying world moron doesn't one is a beta moron. One may think the bullying world moron has a valid and cogent reason for doing what he does, even though he may be a bullying world moron.

Plus, there is the possibility, if not significant probability, that the non-beta moron is misinterpreting or misconstruing the bully world moron as actually being a bully and a moron. The moron may actually be the non-beta moron.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]

@betamorons

That's right, Poland beat back to Nazi aggressors then kicked the Russian bear in the nuts in '39.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


How do you know this stuff? What circles do you mix with in Manhattan?

nypost.com/2025/06/22/world-news/kremlin-warns-that-other-nations-ready-to-give-iran-nukes-dangerous-escalation-has-begun/

"Moscow warned Sunday that several nations are prepared to supply Tehran with nuclear weapons. "

Hmmm...this could be exactly what Ukraine has been waiting for. If Moscow arms Tehran with nukes, what will America slide to the Ukes?

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


Very good point. I'm mot sure it's unprecedented, but very good point nonetheless.

It concerns me to a degree. I think you may be giving them more weight than they actually have. Certainly Wolfowitz and Perle had out-sized influence during the Dubja Bush years. I think those types have less sway nowadays-Neocons are more the red-headed stepchild.

Of course, you'll bring up Jared. To which I'll respond you need to mind your own damn business. 😀

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


IMO, this is more important to America than Israel-not saying Israel isn't important to America, just less important.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]

@Bobko

Of course they were beneficial to Israel. But, Israel gave up the land it did not because it wanted to, but because America pushed it . The point is America isn't Israel's groveling lap dog. It is the principal party in the relationship. That doesn't mean America may not sometimes do Israel's bidding, but it doesn't do it simply for the sake of Israel. America usually does it because it sees benefit for itself.

In other words, American interest drives its policy, which is to say it is no different than most developed countries: it does things primarily for its benefit.


Interesting point. For most of my adult life, I thought he was American born.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


Well, not just my mind, but the general collective mind.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


Hard to say when last time was as none of us are privy to such information. But, America has a history of forging Israeli policy-not the other way around-think Oslo, Camp David Accords, as examples. It was Israel conceding to American pressure.


Well put and something to keep in my mind.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


Personally, I think that is a load of excrement, but maybe you are right. Makes no sense, but what is sensible isn't always correct. Even though I think it is incorrect.


I don't care that Israel doesn't care. I do care that Trump cares, and you are wrong about the non-sensical America will do anything Israel wants.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]

@Novichok

Not the point I'm making. My point is we can't be over confident and think with certitude that Iranians will now overthrow the regime or the regime will be weakened domestically. These type of events have a way of rallying populations around its leaders. We need to be hyper-vigilant to ensure this doesn't become more than the intended goal of damaging Iran's nuclear capacity.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


I think Iran is a little more complex a society than that, Beebs.

This could be a genuine coalescence of negative sentiment toward the US.

This could go either way. And, if it does go with the overthrow of the mullah regime, who takes its place? It could become some kind of military junta.

I don't think this is over. We just entered a different phase, IMHO.


Nice!

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


I swear , you are the Russian Norm MacDonald. 😀

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


I would? I didn't know that.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]

@Bratwurst Boy

I don't think this is over. Even if there aren't strikes on US military installations , shadow attacks by proxies inside and out if the US will be planned. Cyber attacks. Etc.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]

@Bratwurst Boy

That's the hope, but if Iran is able to coordinate an attack on US assets America will have to respond. Question is how and with what goal?

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


That and what happens if Iran is able to strike American targets in ME. Americans aren't keen on being in hot war.


😀


Hopefully, this was simply about destroying Iran's nuclear capacity and not another chapter in the Paul Wolfowitz-inspired journey into nation building.


If the hardliners inside Iran maintain power, it doesn't. Questions are does this make the hardliners more vulnerable and if the regime is toppled who takes over or does it splinter into different faction possibly causing more instability ?


I got my sights on you, Iron. Somethin's gonna happen within two weeks. 😬

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


In the last few months, he has also said that Iran currently has the capacity for a nuclear weapon and it was in serious breach of its nuclear agreements.

I have healthy reservations when it comes to Israel, but from their perspective it is easy to see their concern with Iran's claim of peaceful nuclear development. Iran sits on very rich oil and gas reserves, yet it says it needs to develop an expensive nuclear program to meet its energy needs.

From what I understand, you need uranium to be enriched at levels below 10% for energy, but Iran has enrichment at 60% or maybe higher. The only countries who have those levels of enriched uranium are ones that produce nuclear weapons.

Alongside its nuclear production, Iran has been developing a rather robust ballistic missile program. These missile have a top range of about 1500 miles.

For the past decade or so Iran has been developing a network of proxies to confront and rid the ME of Israel (and US forces), Soleimani's so-called Ring of Fire, which has actively attacked Israel.

You put all this together, and it isn't unreasonable for Israel to want to mitigate any possible threat.


I hope not. I'm hoping the aim is to develop a counter action to China's Belt and Road initiative.

foxnews.com/opinion/trumps-unpredictable-middle-east-moves-actually-follow-brilliant-master-plan.


Hahaha! Trump may be a lot of things but I don't think he's anyone's b!tch. I always get a kick out of these America is Israel's toady arguments.

Anyhow, hope all the PFers are doing well.

Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [457]

Merry Christmas to all.

May the manger of our hearts be resting places for Our Lord Jesus Christ.

May you all experience the joy, love, and peace of the Savior.

Wesołych Świąt!

USA, Canada / Will Americans flee from the US to Poland? [186]

And it doesn't mean you don't actually pay, either. It depends on your individual circumstance. I've seen plenty who have to pay US tax even after all the exclusions, credits, and treaty treatments were applied.


Not at all. They are more than simply about avoiding double taxation.

USA, Canada / Will Americans flee from the US to Poland? [186]

As Providence would have it, I decided to hop on PF one last time to check my PMs and saw this thread.

Eight of my 20 years working in tax was dedicated exclusively to international tax issues. So, as an attempt to help American taxpayers abroad from having to face IRS headaches I offer the following:

American citizens and permanent residents (aka green card holders) must pay tax on their worldwide income and must file an income tax return if they earn more than the standard deduction. That is the fundamental. It doesn't matter where that income is sourced, if you are a citizen or permanent resident of the USA you are taxed on all income, regardless of where it is earned or where your tax home is. So, PAK is correct.

However, to avoid double taxation there are mechanisms in place to mitigate or completely erase tax owed to the US. The two mechanisms most taxpayers are eligible to use are the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) and Foreign Tax Credit (FTC).

FEIE excludes income earned outside the US from taxable income, but be warned, there is a limit to the amount of foreign earned income that can be excluded--I think it's somewhere around $115K. The FTC credits the amount of tax you paid to a foreign government, but if you use FEIE, the foreign tax paid is adjusted down to exclude tax paid on the income a taxpayer claimed as FEIE. So, AA is correct that there are exclusions, but is wrong to say you pay no tax cart blanche.

There are also treaty considerations, but those are generally specific to types of income and workers. There is no such thing as a double taxation treaty. Most, if not all, treaties have a double taxation clause, but those really only give FTC legal credence.

Also, and this is very important, if you have foreign accounts as a US citizen or permanent resident, you must report those to the IRS. FBAR is for a foreign held account that reaches 10,000 at any time. Let's say you have a bank account with PKO and on everyday of the year the most you ever have is $100 in it, then on June 1 you deposited an additional $9,900 and withdraw that $9.9k on June 2, you must file the FBAR. The fines are heavy if you don't report.

@AmericanAbroad

I'd advise that you hire a US-based accountant or a tax professional in Europe who has experience with US taxation. If you have a good amount of assets, I recommend Stuart Horwich out of London.

News / How will Polish-American relations change if Trump is elected president again? [812]


The word that is circulating is that Trump will keep funding Ukraine to keep Russia from Kiev with the hopes of forcing them to strike a deal.


New and good.

News / Coronavirus in Poland - part 2 [599]

@pawian

You seem uptight.

Novi, Jon has responded. Seems like he wants you to die by suicide....as the conduit of this message, I deem it my responsibility to offer an alternative and suggest you take your pills as prescribed by your capitalist doctor:


Just and FYI: as much as I like to bring people together, I will not be able to pass along any more messages this evening as I am calling it a day. Have a great wekend.

News / Coronavirus in Poland - part 2 [599]

@pawian

What's happenimg Pawian?

News / Coronavirus in Poland - part 2 [599]


Certainly !

Jon, Novi asked me to tell you:

News / Coronavirus in Poland - part 2 [599]


I don't start arguments to win or lose-that's boring.


What are the numbers about..I notice they are odd numbers?

News / Coronavirus in Poland - part 2 [599]


Huh? Where the hell does all that come from?


For some reason your "criticism" makes me feel pretty good about the good ole USA. We may be doing somethings right afterall. Thanks for bouying my spirits jonathan! 😄

News / Coronavirus in Poland - part 2 [599]

@jon357

I didn't say corruption-I said pocketed, meaning receiving money-not all reception of money is corrupt. My point is that no -profit administrators receive handsome salaries and may have significant incentives attached to their compensation packages.

Here in the US most hospitals are non-profit, which really means they don't have shareholders and they don't pay income tax. For-profits, have shareholders and pay income tax. It's either the same or close in kist European nations.

Putting aside that not all insurance companies are owned by investors but policyholders themselves, how is it corruption that someone who invests in a company pockets its profits?

If what you actually mean by investors are the executives and management teams, then both for and non profit healthcare providers have them and they exist in the same market and receive similiar compensation.


And, America, a developed nation in every sense of the term,pulled through without being a universal system. You seem to not take that into account.