My del.icio.us bookmarks for February 5th through February 6th

These are my links for February 5th through February 6th:

• Tax Justice Network: UK fraud office halts Kenya probe – Another case of the UK not wanting to know what's going on
• donpaskini: The Children's Society vs the Taxpayer's Alliance – Lovely blog showing the Taxpayer's Alliance in its true light
• Tax Justice Network: Dutch royals look to Guernsey – Tax abuse by the Dutch royals

  I was pleased to assist this story

• FT.com / US / Politics & Foreign policy – US explores converting stakes in banks – "US officials are examining ways gradually to convert government stakes in banks into ordinary shares as banks accumulate losses, according to people close to the discussions."

  You might as well say they're on the way to being nationalised

• BBC NEWS | Politics | Tory backer Laidlaw stops funding – Throw him out if he has not met the conditions for membership

  Paying tax is a condition of membership

  And HMRC should get on and produce a Finance Bill clause that says all members of the House of Lords are resident and domiciled in the UK – period.

• Caribbean tax haven climate getting chillier – JAMAICAOBSERVER.COM – Some believe Obama is serious

  I think they're right

• Local blog sites shutting down. – Channel Island Forums UK – Interesting that there is debate here about some blogs in the Channel Islands being forced to close because of the aggression used by some who comment on this site.

  Taking and managing comments on a blog is a time consuming activity. I do believe that there are some who comment aggressively with the deliberate intent of closing debate to their advantage. Its interesting to note that this has been noted in the Channel Islands as well.

• New EU trade commissioner Lady Ashton calls for final push on Doha trade talks | – "Lady Ashton, the new EU trade commissioner, has called for a final push on an agreement to free up world trade, as the cornerstone of efforts to avert protectionism and a possible slide into economic depression."

  Wrong, wrong, wrong

  The result will be Lindsey, Lincolnshire times 1,000

  This is a recipe for social disruption the world over

• FT.com / Columnists / The Accountancy Column – Fuzzy oversight will not solve standards issue – A contribution to the debate

  But actually the only answer is to bring the IASB under international control and away from being a private company dominated by the Big 4 and financial services

• Tax Justice Network: Piggery and jealousy in Switzerland: referendum – Millionaires in Switzerland are jealous of each other's tax privileges. So says a new story in Germany's Suddeutsche Zeitung (rough English web translation here) – about an interesting new development: a referendum on Sunday in the Canton of Zurich on whether or not to accept special tax privileges for foreigners.