... if you don't like the rules, you skirt them.
Under capitalism, if you don't like them, you pay to have them changed in your favor.

Either way, the same shit happens.

I suppose this would depend on who made the decision to depart. If the employer lets an employee go only to rehire them back as a contractor, then I can understand. But this doesn't need to be communicated to employees through memos. HR can enforce employment/contracting legal and tax issues on their own.

On the other hand, if the departure is initiated by the employee, its quite possible that this employee might be valued but not willing to return under standard employment terms. If Mircosoft wants them, they may only be available as a contractor. Then the IRS and NLRB can go suck an egg.

I'm going in dry.

Check in kiosks are fine the way they are. If you want a human touch, just wait for the TSA security line. Of course, it will involve a Latex glove.

... you bastards!
Don't make a mess of it.

... and we can count in hexadecimal.

That's why we have BlondeStar

You can do business with Americans. You just have to make sure they come to you (outside the USA). Its done all the time. And if one can set up a foreign entity withot a clear trail of ownership back to the US company, itis legally beyond the reach of the DoJ.

So now all you have to deal with is NSA snooping and possibly a CIA assasination.

Not a good idea, IMO.

OK. So there are actually 51 shades of gray.

And give the hobos at the off-ramps NFC scanners to recieve hand-outs.

Have your Australian and New Zealand banks started their FATCA compliance reporting yet? You are ether a non-US person, very wealthy so as to make the trouble worth it to them, or they'll be closing your accounts soon.

They seemed to like the Sacagawea dollar. When they first came out, people were ordering rolls of them at the bank. But then when the banks started re-rolling used dollar coins, they'd start slipping Susan B Anthony dollars into the rolls. That killed the dollar coin.

Nobody likes confusing SB Anthony dollars with quarters, which is a good part of the reason they never caught on. But the banks (the Fed?) appears to be stuck with them and the mints won't recall them. So, no dollar coins for us.

The helicopters hovering over my house.

What's the life of the kid on the bicycle that you are about to run over worth? You carry insurance (or otherwise demonstrate financial responsibility) to cover damage that you might do to others.