Coal mine explosion in Turkey; 363 safe, 238 dead, rescue efforts ongoing

Miners wait amidst the rubble of exploded coal mine in Turkey

to hear word of their fellow workers.

(photo credit:  Ahmet Sik/Getty Images)

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared three days of national mourning in Turkey after a huge explosion ripped through a coal mine in Soma yesterday.  A few hours ago President Erdogan confirmed in a press conference that 363 miners have been found alive and 238 dead bodies have been recovered.  There were 787 working in the mine at the time of the explosion.

Prior to the killing fires surging through the mines yesterday, Turkey’s worst mining disaster was the 1992 gas explosion in a mine close to Zonguldak (near the shores of the Black Sea).  The death toll in that tragedy was 263 miners.  Authorities fear that this explosion is on track to far surpass that one in the sheer numbers of lives lost.

Many of the miners Tuesday were working approximately 460 yards below ground, but (Continue reading full story here.)

The Taxman: You Can Run But You Can't Hide

Photo Credit:  Courtesy of Google Images

Mention the word taxes and some people slip into instant disdain mode. Others pop their eyes like a deer caught in headlights, afraid that the tax boogeyman has found them at last. Still others are just fed up with the complex taxation laws of this country.

Count rock star Tina Turner in with this last bunch. Ms. Turner has always been known as a world class jet-setter; hitting far-flung spots on the globe like most of us would hit the corner deli. Well Ms. Turner has finally made it official.

She has lived in Switzerland since 1995, and the U.S. Embassy has confirmed that she has voluntarily given up her U.S. Citizenship and all rights thereto affixed. While love moved her there to be with her then-boyfriend, now husband Erwin Bach; it turned out to be the tax system that is keeping her there.

Not just regular taxes, but the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Enacted by the IRS in 2010, FATCA has been slowly rolling out under the radar and is just now becoming a force to be reckoned with. Read here to see how the feelers FATCA has been putting out are finally coming to fruition and causing a ruckus among many that once placed their security in offshore accounts.

What then shall we say? Good riddance if someone doesn’t want to be a citizen? Bad on the IRS for running people away, including American Icons? We would all escape taxes if we could? Or we are proud to pay our taxes because it keeps the country running? I tend toward the latter group, however I do think the system needs to be revamped because they take entirely too much out of every dollar earned. What say you?