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http://capwiz.com/whistleblowers/iss...ertid=14933501
Of course, this case took place under the shrub's admin. when that government had no use for whistleblowers.
If you watch the movie "A Civil Action", you'll see the sort of pressure whistleblowers endure. These are the unsung heroes of today. There should be a National Whistleblowers' Day; there's a day for everything else. The date could be April 28, the date of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement..
It would be nice if they mentioned exactly what Mr. Birkenfield was in prison for. :confused:
My guess is the details were left out for a reason. :cool:
http://www.nydailynews.com/money/201..._exbanker.html
"...The bank admitted that between 2000 and 2007 as many as 50 of its bankers traveled to this country from Switzerland every few months. None of them, including Birkenfeld, a U.S. citizen, was licensed to transact business in this country. They came with encrypted computers and met with each client to service accounts...
Birkenfeld's sensational revelations touched off a stampede by rich Americans to declare their off-shore accounts. Nearly 15,000 people stepped forward to the IRS last year, many of them paying back taxes or fines, compared with only 100 in a normal year.
About a half-dozen former UBS clients have since been convicted of criminal tax evasion. And yesterday, the Justice Department announced the arrest or indictment of another seven.
In almost every case, the culprits have escaped with virtually no time behind bars..."
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/20...whistleblowers
The Bush Inquisition
http://www.counterpunch.org/brauchli02132006.html
There is something in our culture that doesn't value whistleblowers, on one level we say that people should do the right thing and thats what whistleblowers are doing but on another level there is this certain disdain for people telling on other folks regardless of the reason.Quote:
Originally Posted by maxx
There's not much difference between a whistleblower and a snitch, but snitches are treated like the lowest form of life, and whistleblowers not much better.
I think of one of the ultimate whistleblowers, Frank Wills the security guard who discovered the Watergate break-in and how his life unraveled afterward who died broke in 2000.
This was a person who should have been a hero and set for life.
This to me is one of the great contradictions in our culture. We talk about how we need to blow the whistle or snitch on the bad guys that we are doing a good deed for our society, but the reality is if you do something like that get ready to pay a price, personally, professionally you name it.
I guess that where the saying " no good deed goes unpunished" comes from.
And yet our system of justice is based on witnesses testifying on others. This idea of not snitching comes from elementary school where kids are inclined to complain about tiny things some other child is doing. Maybe we don't do a good enough job of teaching the distinction between snitching about petty matters and revealing important things. How many people still think that majority rules all the time in the government?Quote:
firstandten: There's not much difference between a whistleblower and a snitch, but snitches are treated like the lowest form of life, and whistleblowers not much better.