How you can resist funding the government → the tax resistance movement → conferences & gatherings → 13th International Conference on War Tax Resistance & Peace Tax Campaigns

Some notes from here and there:

I’ve since learned that the International Conference mentioned below will be held from Friday, July 2^nd through Sunday, July 4^th. — ♇

• I’ve just received word that the 13^th International Conference on War Tax Resistance and Peace Tax Campaigns will be held in 2010 (early April? early July? the announcement was unclear) in Sandefjord, Norway.
• Siobhan Phillips tries an experiment: “My husband and I would eat conscientiously for a month, not just on our regular grocery allotment but on the government-defined, food-stamp minimum: $248 for two people in our hometown of New Haven, Conn. We would choose the SOLE-est products available — that is, the sustainable, organic, local or ethical alternative. We would start from a bare pantry, shop only at places that took food stamps and could be reached on foot, and use only basic appliances.” Follow the link to read how it turned out.
• If you tell someone that they’re a good person, will that make them more likely to do good things? Maybe just the opposite. “Primed to think about what a good person you are, your most likely reaction is to think you’ve paid your morality dues and go on about your business.” In other news: the United States is the is the greatest, freest and most decent society in existence. Perhaps you’ve heard.

The June issue of NWTRCC’s newsletter, More Than a Paycheck, is now available on-line. Among the features in this issue:

• Tax-day action reports from around the country
• Information about a questionnaire given to war tax resisters at the last NWTRCC national
• International war tax resistance news, including info on the next international conference, and an update from the “Peace Tax Seven” in Europe.
• A report on the proceedings at the NWTRCC national gathering in Virginia
• And George Haeseler’s story of how his crew established a new war tax resistance fund in Binghamton, New York.

You can find registration information and more details about The 13^th International Conference on War Tax Resistance and Peace Tax Campaigns at its website. The conference is scheduled to take place this July 2–4 at Skiringssal College in Norway.

The new issue of More Than a Paycheck, NWTRCC’s newsletter, is online now, with stories on such topics as:

• The recent criminal prosecutions of war tax resisters Frank Donnelly and Carlos Steward and whether this is the opening wave of a government crackdown on war tax resistance (summary: probably not), and what these cases can teach those of us who would prefer not to make time behind bars part of our resistance
• The sentencing of Frank Donnelly and reactions from his supporters
• The prison sentence of Carlos Steward, who learned of the war tax resistance movement by editing Death and Taxes, NWTRCC’s new outreach film
• Some notes of interest about changes in laws and policies that affect war tax resisters
• News about local war tax resistance action and outreach
• A recap of the 13^th International Conference on War Tax Resistance and Peace Tax Campaigns from Lawrence Rosenwald

Rosenwald’s account was interesting, particularly that actual war tax resisters were few and far between at the conference (most countries were represented only by people working to enact some form of legal recognition for conscientious objection to military taxation, a la the Peace Tax Fund Act). The United States and, to a lesser extent, Britain, was represented by a movement of civilly disobedient conscientious objectors as well. I wonder why the Spanish resisters who have been so much in the news there didn’t show up on the radar at the conference.