A Cookie or a Poisoned Apple?

Come here, little one, and enjoy a cookie...

The following is a screenshot of something that made me grin. I was using my browser of choice (Opera 7.5) to visit the IRS site to download some forms -- it's that time of year, of course, to pay extra attention to the tax man. Opera warns me when an HTTP cookie is not appropriately requested, so that I can use cookies for all the good they provide while still helping limit any privacy or security issues that could arise from abusive cookies. The following appeared as soon as I pointed my browser to the IRS site...

This certainly has some amusing and ironic elements to it! Let's see, "exploitative purposes," the IRS? Nah! And "may not be considered trustworthy"... surely not our Big-Brother-esque bloated federal government! Perhaps the funniest part is what the IRS is using for a name for their cookie: ForeseeLoyalty Yeah, I foresee loyalty to the IRS when the alternative is prison time! Loyalty (at least on the surface) comes mighty easy at gunpoint (and I'm referring to the guns carried by federal agents coming to get you for tax evasion, in case you didn't make the connection).

Are you the type to look for all the write-offs and other ways to get out of paying taxes? Perhaps you should remember the old phrase that "the best defense is a good offense" -- and moving toward smaller government (one that doesn't hold your hand throughout your life) is a necessary first step.

For further reading, you might try a book by a US Presidential candidate who was arrested for trying to attend a candidate debate in 2004.