Mark Edge, who is a host of the syndicated radio talk show Free Talk Live, is planning to sue the city of Keene, New Hampshire.

The suit revolves around an incident where the plaintiff never received a bill from the city for his property taxes. At this point, it is unclear where the bill was initially sent, but it is likely that it was given to the previous owner as Edge just recently moved into the building.

Instead of trying to contact Mr. Edge in a courteous, customer service oriented manner, the city sent a letter threatening him with a lien on his property while also adding late fees to his bill.

“The first interaction I had with these people regarding the taxes,” Edge claimed on a recent episode ofFree Talk Live, “was a threat of a lien [on my property] and I thought this would be a good end to ask some questions about the whole taxation process.”

His questions will revolve around the legitimacy of property taxes and whether or not the city is incorporated. If Keene is, in fact, a corporation he wants to know who the share holders are.

“If [a city] is a plot of land then when did they buy the plot of land, how much did they pay for the plot of land?,” he asks, “If they own the plot of land does that mean I don’t own my property? I thought I owned my property. I certainly didn’t sign any pieces of paper saying that I would pay taxes to these people.”

Is there an inherent obligation to pay taxes? Or do we just pay them because we fear the men with guns that will come after us if we do not pay them? These questions are extremely relevant and poignant in today’s society and are things that many people do not think about on a daily basis. It will be interesting to see how the city bureaucrats respond, but it seems likely that they may just ignore his questions altogether.

Yesterday, while I was studying for round two of my exams, I was listening to my iTunes library on shuffle. To my surprise, the Gary Jules remake of ‘Mad World‘ started playing. About an hour or so earlier, I finished listening to a Free Talk Live podcast. Just as the first chorus of ‘Mad World‘ began, a thought occurred to me. Some of the issues addressed in that particular podcast meshed very well with the tone and meaning of the song that I was currently listening to. So, I decided to make this mix. Its not put together very well, Its just quotes from the episode dubbed over the song, but I think it strikes a very emotional chord. The parts quoted are actually from an on-air reading of the article ‘In Case I Disappear‘ by William Rivers Pitt. It addresses the term ‘enemy combatant’ and the recent bill passed by congress to define it. Take a minute or two and listen. If you have even more time, read the article. I think you might just learn something.

Here is the link to the song in case you missed it the first time:
http://www.filelodge.com/files/room48/1403115/ftlmadworld.mp3