Massive Bank and High Profile Resignations Across the World

[KiwiElf]

Global regulators push ahead with plans to curb "shadow banks"
Reuters November 6, 2012, 11:37 am

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/15306309/global-regulators-push-ahead-with-plans-to-curb-shadow-banks/

MEXICO CITY/LONDON (Reuters) - International watchdogs, working to tighten-up global regulation after the financial crisis, are moving ahead with plans to extend their reach to "shadow banks" such as money-market funds that handle trillions of dollars in short-term investments.

Policymakers have already tightened regulation for mainstream banks but are keen to stop higher-risk activities shifting to less supervised areas such as off-balance sheet units, hedge funds and money-market funds, which contributed to the crisis.

This is a clear signal there will be no let up for the financial sector despite warnings that introducing too many rules could hinder global economic recovery.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB), a task force from the world's top 20 economies (G20), told the group's finance ministers gathered in Mexico on Monday the new rules for what some also call "parallel" banks would be ready in September.

"The approach is designed to be proportionate to financial stability risks," FSB Chairman Mark Carney wrote to G20 finance ministers. He said the aim was to focus on activities that were material to the financial system and to make use of lessons from the last crisis.

He wants to reduce the susceptibility of money market funds to "runs" as seen in the early part of 2007-2009. The FSB will publish draft rules for consultation shortly.

The FSB is struggling to keep on track implementation of a whole series of rules already agreed by the G20 and some deadlines are slipping.

"The key determinant of the effectiveness of reforms is whether they are implemented in a timely, consistent and complete manner," Carney said.

For example, the world's top 28 banks will get another six months to June 2013 to show how they can be wound down in a crisis without wreaking the havoc caused by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.

This delay was due to "uneven headway" made so far, highlighting the difficulties regulators face in following through on pledges the G20 made in the aftermath of Lehman.

Also, the United States and European Union are set to miss a January deadline to implement new bank capital rules - known as Basel III, the G20's main response to the financial crisis.

Progress is also slow on cutting the financial sector's reliance on credit ratings for investment decisions or for calculating how much capital banks should hold.

As a result, the FSB has tried to speed things up by telling global banking regulators to identify proposals by the end of this year to trim the use of ratings and implement them by January 2016. National supervisors must implement alternatives to ratings by the end of 2015.

The G20 is still trying to stop banks becoming "too big to fail", which covers banks the markets believe would be bailed out in a crisis.

Carney, also governor of the Bank of Canada, suggested that G20 ministers could request a full assessment next September on whether further action was needed on this issue.

The FSB also set out a timetable for extra scrutiny of second tier banks and big insurers.

Important domestic banks will have to hold more capital from 2016, if required by regulators, while insurers deemed to be "systemically important" in 2017 will have to hold extra capital from 2019.

(Reporting by Huw Jones. Editing by Jane Merriman)

[norman]

yup....

wikileaks sticks the boot into national ism, banking reform sticks the boot into banking ism.

The final sprint for global unity is almost over.

Move along folks, nothing going on here at all.

[Robert J. Niewiadomski]

C'mon norman :) What is wrong in uniting whole planet? Besides to be legitimate in the eyes of E.T.s it has to be allowed by common people by voting. I agree that people can be manipulated to vote for any cause :(

There are Universal Laws which put certain limits on amount of evil upon Earth. Those who abuse free will are dealt with accordingly :) Cheer up mate :)

No politician/banker is immortal (immoral? yes :p). Their children are in majority disobeying them and doing otherwise than parents. There is still hope in them :)

There is a saying about scientific progress: one funeral at the time. I think the same rule aplies generally. The funeral marks the end of the old and defunct paradigm :)

[Robert J. Niewiadomski]

Source: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/11/payout-for-cop-database-abuse/


Female Cop Gets $1 Million After Colleagues Trolled Database to Peek at Her Pic
BY KIM ZETTER 11.05.124:02 PM

A former police officer who filed invasion of privacy suits after fellow cops illegally accessed her driver’s license record more than 400 times just to get a peek at her, will receive more than $1 million in compensation according to settlements reached in several of the suits.

The Minneapolis City Council has agreed to pay Anne Marie Rasmusson $392,000, on top of a $280,000 settlement she reached with several other cities whose cops broke the law by accessing her record for non-work reasons. She will also receive $385,000 from the city of St. Paul, Minnesota, for a total of $1,057,000 that taxpayers will have to shell out for the wrongdoing.

That figure is likely to grow higher, pending a lawsuit Rasmusson filed with the state of Minnesota.

It’s one of the largest private data breaches by law enforcement in history, according to the Minneapolis independent paper City Pages, which broke the story earlier this year.

Rasmusson, a former police officer with the St. Paul Police Department, who was known by colleagues as “Bubbles” because of her effusive personality, first became aware that other officers were abusing the database to look her up when a former police academy colleague mentioned to her in 2009 that she looked great and that he and his partner had used their squad car computer to view her driver’s license photo.

Rasmusson had once been overweight, but had undergone a dramatic makeover since last seeing him, according to City Pages.

This and a number of other incidents over the years prompted Rasmusson to suspect that randy colleagues were abusing Minnesota’s driver’s license database to look her up. In August 2011 she contacted the state’s Department of Public Safety asking if it was possible to restrict access to her driver’s license file. After explaining the reason behind her request, a worker in the office investigated and found that her record had indeed been accessed by cops repeatedly across the state going back to 2007.

Further investigation revealed that 104 officers in 18 different agencies across the state had accessed her driver’s license record 425 times, using the state database as their personal Facebook service.

Officers in the Dakota County Sheriff’s office, Bloomington Police, and state troopers, were among those who illegally accessed her file over the course of nearly four years. There were 24 police officers in Minneapolis who accessed her record 133 times, and 42 officers in St. Paul who looked her up 175 times. A female officer in St. Paul looked up Rasmusson’s record 30 times over the course of two years.

“There is nothing that I would say about this driver’s license photo or any of my previous ones that in any way would deserve the attention that they’ve gotten,” Rasmusson told the paper. “I can’t begin to understand what people were thinking.

One officer told investigators that he’d been out on patrol one day when his supervisor called his cellphone to tell him he should check out Rasmusson’s record. When investigators asked why he was told this, the officer replied, “to look at her picture, um, and this had something, I believe the conversation surrounded plastic surgery that she had done.”

Rasmusson, who took a medical retirement several years ago after suffering a work-related injury and left the police department, told Wired earlier this year that the activity was symptomatic of a larger problem involving data abuses by police and feared retribution from officers for bringing the problem to light.

In the lawsuits she filed, she alleged that the officers violated, among other things, the federal Drivers Privacy Protection Act, which Congress passed in 1994 after actress Rebecca Schaeffer was killed by a stalker who obtained her home address through her driver’s license record.

The Act prohibits states from disclosing personal information that drivers submit to obtain a driver’s license, including their photograph, Social Security number, name, address, phone number, and medical or disability information.

The city of St. Paul denied Rasmusson’s invasion-of-privacy allegations and any liability for her claims, but said it agreed to settle in order “to avoid the uncertainties and costs associated with continued litigation of this matter.”

“The city’s liability could have been upwards of $565,000 because the statute provides $2,500 to be assessed per each unlawful look-up of the database, and we had 226 look-ups,” City Attorney Sara Grewing told the Pioneer Press. “So we were looking at $565,000 plus attorney’s fees, if we were found liable.”

The settlement requires the city to remove Rasmusson’s name, picture, address and other personal information from the city and police department’s internal directory and website.

Discipline for the perpetrators has been light in most cases or non-existent.

An officer who looked at Rasmusson’s record 13 times was subsequently demoted and received a five-day suspension, the harshest penalty anyone has received so far. Others have had warning letters placed in their files or were sent for training.

But according to City Pages, Minneapolis hasn’t disciplined any of the 24 officers who looked up Rasmusson’s record, and St. Paul absolved four of its officers and was still considering discipline for 38 others under investigation.

A former U.S. State Department research analyst fared much worse in 2008 when he was charged under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for illegally accessing the passport files of presidential candidates and celebrities and was sentenced to one year of supervised release and ordered to perform 50 hours of community service.

Lawrence Yontz illegally accessed the passport records for then-presidential candidates Barack Obama, John McCain and Hillary Clinton, and admitted that between 2005 and 2008, he read the passport applications of “approximately 200 celebrities, athletes, actors, politicians and their immediate families,” among others. Yontz claimed his illegal snooping was “idle curiosity.”

[Corncrake]

Sabrina, I was not sure where to post this but feel that it fits in here. Do move if you think it is inappropriate.

This may be one reason why we have not seen more action taken against the banks since 2008.

" is it any wonder that the banks can get away with so much when they effectively control their own policing? Why haven’t we seen more criminal investigations of banks and bankers following the events of 2008?”

Nov 7 2012
What exactly is the City of London police?

It’s a good question. Is it a police force? Well, yes, it is, kind of. After all, its “About Us” page says this:

“We are committed to fighting crime at all levels. Although we fulfil a national role tackling fraud and other serious criminality, our local role is no less important to us.”

But already, the questions begin. That same front page, in the very, very top paragraph, also says this:

“The City of London is the world’s leading international financial and business centre. It is an area where disruption to ‘business as usual’ would have significant impact on the diverse range of business interests located here.

What on earth does that mean? Why would a police force highlight that above everything else (even above the bit about fighting crime?)

A year ago or so I got an email, which contained this (I’ve asked the author whether I may identify him; no response yet.) The bit in bold is the key part: boy, is that a question that needs some answers.

“I used to be a tax inspector and worked in what was then called Special Office investigating offshore tax avoidance and evasion. Curiously very little specialist training was given on the complex laws and powers available to combat these issues. It was all learned from the experience of colleagues and my own experience.
. . . .
Working in London it was amazing to see how blatantly the city banks peddle massive tax haven arrangements to multinationals, many of them relying on the tiniest veneer of legality. Big 4 accountants and city lawyers were also selling such schemes but not quite in the same league as the banks.

I was particularly taken with your account of the role of the banks in running the city. So I did a little research of my own and was surprised with what I found. The banks control the City Corporation. The City Corporation controls the City of London police. The City of London police state their purpose is “to protect the UK from economic crime” and they take the lead role on that for UK policing.

So is it any wonder that the banks can get away with so much when they effectively control their own policing? Why haven’t we seen more criminal investigations of banks and bankers following the events of 2008?”

The City of London police does like to brag about its ‘lead role:”

“The City Police is the acknowledged lead force within the UK for economic crime investigation.”

OK, let’s take that at face value for now. Next, I tried to find out what the City of London police’s strategic objectives are. I couldn’t get a clear steer from their extensive ‘policies’ page, but one entry, related to police procurement, provides this:

Strategic Aims

1. Complies with the City of London Corporation financial regulations.
. . .
6. Promotes the strategic objectives of the City of London Corporation.

A couple of questions now. What are the City of London Corporation financial regulations? (The City Corporation is not the regulator for UK financial services.) Second, this is a police procurement document, but does the City of London Police have point six as its own strategic objective? I could not find out on a(n admittedly fairly hasty) search, and I do note that all the documents I looked at on the ‘policies’ page were crammed with the curious words ‘NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED‘ in angry red capitals, on page after page. (What is protectively marked? Can we see it please?) But I think it is safe to say – until someone shows me otherwise – that a key strategic objective of the City of London police is to “promote the strategic objectives of the City of London Corporation.”

So the next question, then, is: what are the strategic objectives of the City of London Corporation?

Well, they are laid out here, in its September 2011 Core Strategy Document, from p17 onwards, and include:

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1
To maintain the City’s position as the world’s leading international financial and business centre.

So if the City of London police is “the acknowledged lead force within the UK for economic crime investigation”, and if it has as one of its (indirect) objectives to maintain the global pre-eminence of the City financial services, then what on earth is it doing trying to fight financial crime? The objective of promoting an ever bigger financial centre directly conflicts with the objective of fighting financial crime: the more you relax law enforcement and turn a blind eye to dirty money, the more will come. It’s a simple formula used by every tax haven in the world, and which I’ve written extensively about in Treasure Islands.

This is really a gigantic black hole in global finance, which nobody is pointing to. I asked a knowledgeable ex-copper about all this, and got this reply back this morning:

“Oh, the City of London Police, or as we used to refer to them ‘…The best little police force money can buy…’

The City of London Police have always been the plaything of the City Corporation.
. . .
They were always treated with a far greater degree of consideration by the Corporation than us nasty roughnecks in the Met, and they did their absolute best to make sure that if we had investigations which took us down to the Square Mile, then they would deal with those aspects of the enquiry. Then they just told us what the City fathers wanted us to know. They did as they were told because they knew which side their bread was buttered.

I had no time for them, and as far as I was concerned, they were full of ****.

They had a very strong Freemasonic thing going because so many of the City suits were on the Square, and that’s where a lot of skulduggery got organised, so I tended to steer clear of them as much as possible.

I know that they are trying to make a case for being the lead agency for fraud investigation in the UK, but they haven’t sorted that out with ACPO [Association of Chief Police Officers] as far as I know, and the last time I spoke to a mate of mine on the ACPO financial crime sub-committee, things were still the same and ACPO weren’t going to go along with the City’s proposals.”

http://treasureislands.org/what-exactly-is-the-city-of-london-police/

[Sabrina]

Thanks Corncrake - think you are dead right on all of this and the protection around the City of London. However, as Robert said, I think we are starting to witness the start up of a clean up right across the world - altho' there are obviously some messy fight backs. People are starting to talk out (some interesting quotes from the Bank of England recently) and the Savile abuse case is opening up the real can of worms of the high profile politicians and officials (and Royals?) implicated. A whole series of names are doing the rounds on internet now - and the press are starting to mention this. Some info. here:

The UK Savile abuse case and high profile names:

http://www.onlinepublishingcompany.info/content/read_more/complexInfobox/site_news/infobox/elements/template/default/active_id/1809

[Sabrina]

Demonstrations continue in Greece on the so called austerity cuts.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20221111

7 Nov Greece

Clashes in Greece ahead of key austerity vote

Protesters in Greece have clashed with riot police as MPs prepare to vote on a fresh round of austerity measures to secure the next round of bailout funds.

The police fired tear gas towards the protesters when they were attacked with petrol bombs in the capital Athens.

Parliament is due to vote on 13.5bn euros ($17.3bn; £10.5bn) of measures, including tax rises and pension cuts.

PM Antonis Samaras said without the bailout Greece would run out of money this month and face "catastrophe".

The fresh package of austerity measures - Greece's fourth in three years - is meant to close Greece's budget deficit, lower its huge debt burden and make its economy more competitive.

It includes a two-year increase in the retirement age from the current average of 65, as well as salary cuts and labour market reforms including cuts to holiday benefits, notice periods and severance pay.

Workers fear this will just make it easier and cheaper for them to be fired at a time when unemployment has already soared to 25% and a five-year recession means there are few job prospects.

'Absurd' bailouts
On Wednesday, tens of thousands of demonstrators continued their protest in Syntagma Square - outside the parliament building in the heart of the capital.

The protesters chanted: "People - don't bow your heads!"

Some in the crowd held giant flags of Greece, Portugal, Italy and Spain - four of the eurozone's most heavily-indebted states.

The riot police - who sealed off the parliament - later fired tear gas after the demonstrators attacked them with petrol bombs and flares.

Protests are also taking place in other big cities across Greece.

The Greek unions are staging what they described as the "mother of all strikes" - a 48-hour walkout which culminates on Wednesday
evening.

more at the link

[Sabrina]

More signs of significant changes in the world:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/06/us-china-congress-idUSBRE8A50J420121106

6 Nov China

Exclusive: China leaders consider internal democratic reform


(Reuters) - China's outgoing leader and his likely successor are pushing the ruling Communist Party to adopt a more democratic process this month for choosing a new leadership, sources said, in an attempt to boost its flagging legitimacy in the eyes of the public.

The extent of the reform would be unprecedented in communist China where elections for the highest tiers of the party, held every five years, have been mainly exercises in rubber-stamping candidates already agreed upon by party power-brokers.

The Communist Party, which has held unbroken power since 1949, is struggling to maintain its popular legitimacy in the face of rising inequality, corruption and environmental degradation, even as the economy continues to bound ahead.

President Hu Jintao and his heir, Xi Jinping, have proposed that the party's 18th Congress, which opens on Thursday, should hold elections for the elite Politburo where for the first time there would be more candidates than available seats, said three sources with ties to the party leadership.

The Politburo, currently 24 members, is the second-highest level of power in China from which the highest decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee, is chosen.

They are chosen by the roughly 200 full members of the Central Committee which is in turn chosen by the more than 2,000 delegates at this week's Congress.

Under their proposal, there would be up to 20 percent more candidates than seats in the new Politburo in an election to be held next week, the sources said. It was unclear if competitive voting would also be extended to the Standing Committee.

"Hu wants expanding intra-party democracy to be one of his legacies," one source said, requesting anonymity to avoid repercussions for discussing secretive elite politics.

"It would also be good for Xi's image," the source added.

Xi is considered certain to replace Hu as party chief at the congress, with Li Keqiang, currently a vice premier, tipped to become his deputy in the once-in-a-decade transition to a new administration. Xi would then take over as president, and Li as premier, at the annual full session of parliament in March.

China experts said a more competitive election for the Politburo would mark a historic reform that could lead to surprises in the formation of Xi's administration, with wider implications for further political reform.

"This is a very, very important development," said Cheng Li, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

"It would provide a new source of legitimacy. It would not just be dark-box manipulation ... The party's legitimacy is so low that they must do something to uplift the public's confidence."

However, Li and other experts remained skeptical that the proposal would be adopted, given that it could still be vetoed by party elders or conservatives.

more at the link

[Sabrina]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/constructionandproperty/9660466/CBRE-executive-resigns-after-rape-allegation-in-City-hotel.html

7 Nov UK

CBRE executive resigns after rape allegation in City hotel

An executive at the world's biggest property agent CBRE who was due to take charge of its UK business has stepped down after being arrested on suspicion of rape.


Matthew Pullen was due to step into his new role on January 1 but has resigned after being arrested following an alleged incident at the Grange Hotel in the City of London last Wednesday.

No formal charges have been made and Mr Pullen has been bailed until February.

In a statement, CBRE said: "Mr Pullen is no longer an employee of CBRE. We can confirm that the matter is now the subject of a police investigation with which CBRE will fully cooperate.

"It is now a private matter for the individual involved and therefore we are unable to comment further."

A spokesman for the City of London Police said: "A man, aged 44, was arrested by City of London Police on Wednesday, October 31, on suspicion of rape. He has subsequently been bailed pending further inquiries."
more at link

[Sabrina]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/economics-blog/2012/nov/07/imf-cut-adrift-eurozone-crisis

The IMF has been cut adrift

A fundamental strategic error at the outset means the eurozone crisis continues to fester

Europe's crisis continues to fester. In large part this is due to a fundamental strategic error at the outset – the failure to restructure the debt of banks and governments.

Ten years ago the IMF revised its rules for handling crises precisely to prevent such errors. But, under short-sighted political pressure, the rules of the game were changed and the IMF was set adrift in dealing with the crisis in Europe.

The debt burdens of the three countries with official bailouts – Greece, Ireland and Portugal – illustrate the problem. Initially, they ranged from 92% (Ireland) to 125% (Greece) of GDP and will rise to at least 112% (Ireland) to 150% (Greece) of GDP by the end of 2012 (despite Greece's recent restructuring of privately held debt).

Previous debt crises pointed to the low likelihood that such large debts could be lowered to sustainable levels through adjustment and growth alone. The IMF failed to insist on these lessons from the past. Rather, bowing to the exigencies of European politics, it cobbled together low-probability assumptions about future growth, how quickly tax systems could be reformed, how rapidly government spending could be cut and when markets would re-engage in heavily indebted countries.

How could the IMF have put tens of billions of dollars into such fundamentally flawed programmes? Ten years ago, a similar question was debated in the aftermath of the Argentine default. Two views were pressed.

The first was that there was no institutional framework for orderly private debt restructuring. This view drove the 2002-03 effort to introduce a statutory sovereign debt restructuring mechanism (SDRM), bankruptcy-type procedures for sovereign restructuring. Creditors and debtors alike rejected the SDRM but settled on a scaled-down initiative – collective action clauses (CACs) in international bond issues – to facilitate restructuring. These set up provisions for creditor agreement on changing the financial terms of bond contracts. Most international bond issues now have CACs.

The second view was that the IMF is fundamentally unconstrained in deploying almost limitless financing even when debt sustainability is questionable. The IMF has always had quantitative ceilings on its loans but the history of ignoring them is impressive. To meet these concerns, four qualitative criteria – parsimonious yet on the mark – that must be met in large bailout cases were established in 2003: (i) the borrowing country must face exceptional balance of payments pressures; (ii) there must be a determination, based on a rigorous, systematic analysis, of a high probability that the country's debt burden will be sustainable; (iii) the country must have good prospects of regaining access to private capital markets; and (iv) the policy programme must have good prospects of success.

Neither innovation was seriously tested during 2003-2009 – a period of reprieve from catastrophic debt crises requiring IMF support. Some relatively small debt restructurings were concluded through "voluntary" approaches, often without activating CACs. The four criteria were mostly honoured in the few relatively uncontroversial cases.

But with the mess in Greece, questions about provisions for restructuring and constraining IMF bailouts need to come back on the table. From the outset, Greece patently needed debt restructuring. The eventual restructuring in 2012 was more costly and less comprehensive than it would have been at the outset. Ad hoc restructuring negotiations were fraught with uncertainty and brinksmanship.

It is debatable whether an SDRM would have made a substantial difference. True, negotiations were not protracted and were ultimately successful in their limited objectives. But debtors and creditors might have been less resistant to restructuring at the outset had an institutional framework for negotiations been in place.

More clear cut, however, was the failure of the four criteria to constrain the ill-fated IMF bailout. IMF staff would not state with confidence that Greece's debt burden was sustainable (that is, Greece did not meet the second criterion for exceptional access), so IMF financing should have been contingent on restructuring private debt. Instead, the IMF changed the rules, amending the second criterion to exclude crises that risk "systemic spillovers".

This punt begged three questions. Would restructuring in Greece have significant systemic spillovers? Why are sustainable debt dynamics not essential when systemic spillovers are at stake? How could a country regain access to capital markets (criterion iii) if its debt dynamics were not sustainable?

Exceptional access for Ireland and Portugal (where debt sustainability also was not affirmed) was similarly justified by the risk of systemic spillovers. These precedents will not be forgotten: the IMF now effectively has no constraint on large bailouts in unsustainable conditions.

Several questions now need answers. How can the highly politicised IMF be constrained from supporting countries with unsustainable debt burdens and increasing the ultimate costs of restructuring? Is a sovereign bankruptcy process needed as a backstop should "voluntary" restructuring fail?

Until these questions are answered and an objective voice for the IMF is secured through respected procedures for handling debt crises, the institution will remain adrift.

• Susan Schadler, former deputy director of the IMF's European department, is currently a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation and the Atlantic Council.

[Sabrina]

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/11/07/nuclear-korea-idUKL3E8M721C20121107


UPDATE 4-South Korea widens nuclear lapses probe; KEPCO chief resigns


Wed Nov 7, 2012 9:21am GMT

* Probe widened to all 23 South Korean nuclear reactors

* KEPCO chief tenders resignation, for "personal reasons"

* KEPCO shares close down 3 pct at 4-wk low

* Officials say no risk to exports to UAE

By Meeyoung Cho and Somang Yang

SEOUL, Nov 7 (Reuters) - South Korea widened a probe into how thousands of parts for its nuclear reactors were supplied using forged safety documents, with regulators set to inspect all 23 of the country's facilities - a move that could test public support for the industry and threaten billions of dollars worth of exports.

more at link

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20215993

6 Nov Canada

Montreal Mayor Tremblay resigns amid corruption inquiry

Gerald Tremblay denies any wrongdoing

The mayor of Canada's second-largest city, Montreal, has resigned amid a deepening corruption scandal.

Gerald Tremblay, 70, told a news conference that he was leaving public life after 25 years in politics.

A public inquiry heard last week that Mr Tremblay was present at a meeting in which illegal donations for his party - Union Montreal - had been discussed.

Despite his resignation, Mr Tremblay continues to deny the allegations against him.

"After 25 years of service to this community, I'm leaving public life," Mr Tremblay told the news conference.

"My father told me to never get into politics because it was dirty and would destroy me. But my passion and love for Quebec and Montreal set the path I had to follow."

Correspondents say pressure on Mr Tremblay has been growing following damaging testimony at the corruption inquiry known as the Charbonneau Commission.

It has been told that Union Montreal ran a vast political financing scheme that collected illegal contributions from construction firms in return for municipal infrastructure contracts, the Toronto Star reports.

However, there is no indication that Mr Tremblay is suspected of breaking the law or is under investigation by the police, it adds.

Mr Tremblay was elected mayor of Montreal in 2001.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/nov/02/denis-macshane-resigns-expenses

UK

Denis MacShane resigns as MP over expenses

Former minister takes responsibility for 'foolishness' after Commons committee rules that he submitted false invoices


Denis MacShane, Britain's most tireless pro-European campaigner, ended his political career when he resigned from parliament after a cross-party committee of MPs called for him to be suspended from the House of Commons for 12 months after submitting false invoices.

The former Europe minister, who acted as an informal envoy across the EU for Tony Blair after leaving government in 2005, said he would take responsibility for his "foolishness" in the wake of damning findings by the House of Commons standards and privileges committee.

A byelection will now be held in the safe Labour seat of Rotherham which the former journalist first won in a 1994 byelection and which he held with a majority of 10,462 at the last general election.

MacShane decided to resign after Kevin Barron, the Labour chair of the cross-party committee, described the findings against him as the "gravest case which has come to the committee for adjudication".

The committee recommended that MacShane should be suspended from the Commons for 12 months, with loss of pay and pension rights for the period, after ruling that he had submitted false invoices to pay for official trips to EU countries.

He also allowed interns to keep laptops, paid for by parliament, when their internships came to an end.

The strong findings raise the prospect of a second police investigation into MacShane's expenses. The police decided to take no action against MacShane in July after a lengthy investigation. But a Metropolitan Police spokesman said Scotland Yard would now examine the committee's report. The spokesman said: "We are aware of the report and will be assessing its content in due course."

However, the police investigation may be limited because the evidence gathered by Lyon and report are subject to parliamentary privilege.

The committee report said that "proceedings in parliament cannot be impeached or questioned in the courts".

MacShane said he would resign after accepting the findings of the investigation by John Lyon, the parliamentary standards commissioner, which was launched after a complaint by Michael Barnbrook, a former BNP member. Lyon, who resumed his investigation after the police decision in July, submits reports to the Commons standards and privileges committee which then makes a recommendation about any disciplinary action.

MacShane said: "In the light of the Parliamentary Commissioner's decision, supported by the Committee of Standards and Privileges, to uphold the BNP complaint about expenses claimed in connection with my parliamentary work in Europe and in combating antisemitism, I have decided for the sake of my wonderful constituency of Rotherham and my beloved Labour party to resign as an MP.

"I have been overwhelmed by messages of support for my work as an MP on a range of issues but I accept that my parliamentary career is over. I appreciate the Committee's ruling that I made no personal gain and I regret my foolishness in the manner I chose to be reimbursed for work including working as the prime minister's personal envoy in Europe."

The committee was highly critical of the way in which MacShane submitted invoices through the European Policy Institute, which he established, to fund official trips to other EU countries. He claimed £12,900 between 2004-09 for what he described as "European travel, buying books and papers, work related to my parliamentary duties there".

full story at link

[KiwiElf]

British Bankers Association proposes culling most Libor rates by April
By Huw Jones
Reuters November 9, 2012, 7:12 am

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/15336780/british-bankers-association-proposes-culling-most-libor-rates-by-april/

LONDON (Reuters) - Most Libor interest rates should be scrapped by April to restore trust in what remains of the tarnished benchmark that was rigged by Barclays and other banks, a trade body said on Thursday.

The British Bankers Association (BBA) said only 30 of 150 variations of the London Interbank Offered Rate should remain under a proposal it published for consultation.

After Barclays paid a record 290 million pound fine for manipulating Libor in June, the government asked Financial Services Authority Managing Director Martin Wheatley to come up with changes to the benchmark which is used to price products like home loans and credit cards worth $300 trillion (187.7 trillion pounds).

Wheatley said thinly traded Libor rates should be scrapped, recommending a cut to just 15 but gave no fixed timetable.

The BBA said discussions with market participants showed that 30 rates should be kept.

The UK banking trade body proposed scrapping the sterling repo rate by the end of December, and ending several maturities in all 10 currencies used by the end of January.

Under the BBA plan, all remaining maturities based on the Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar, Canadian dollar, Danish crown and Swedish crown would be scrapped by the end of March.

From April only the overnight, one week, one month, three months, six months and 1 year maturities would remain in euro, Japanese yen, sterling, Swiss franc and U.S. dollar.

"I welcome the BBA's first steps towards implementing a key recommendation of the Wheatley review of Libor through its consultation ... which needs to be subject to an open process and market feedback to ensure that enough time is given to allow market users to adapt," Wheatley said in a statement.

The BBA will be stripped of its Libor oversight role sometime in 2013, another of Wheatley's recommendations.

"In the event that oversight of Libor is transferred away from the BBA prior to these proposals being fully implemented, any changes should be open to ongoing review by the new admininistrative body," the BBA said in a statement.

The role of running Libor will be put out to tender.

Royal Bank of Scotland is expected to be the next bank to be fined for trying to rig Libor as the authorities in Britain, the United States and elsewhere pursue several lenders.

Libor is currently set by banks submitting quotes for rates they believe they could borrow at from another bank but this is likely to change in future, with more input from actual market transactions into the process.

(Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by Stephen Nisbet)

[KiwiElf]

RBS, UBS Traders Said to Face Arrest in Libor Probe
By Lindsay Fortado - Nov 10, 2012 4:47 AM GMT+1300
Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-09/rbs-ubs-traders-said-to-face-arrest-in-libor-probe.html

U.K. prosecutors are poised to arrest former traders and rate setters at UBS AG (UBSN), Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS) and Barclays (BARC) Plc within a month for questioning over their role in the Libor scandal, a person with knowledge of the probe said.

Police, directed by Serious Fraud Office prosecutors, will act in the next month, said the person, who declined to be identified because the matter isn’t public. Arrests in the U.K. are made early in investigations, allowing people, who may not be charged, to be questioned under caution.

The SFO has 40 people working on the probe into manipulation of the London interbank bank offered rate, a benchmark for financial products valued at $360 trillion worldwide, and has involved the City of London Police, said David Green, the agency’s director.

“Significant developments” in the case are coming “in the near future,” Green said yesterday in an interview at his office in London, without giving further details and declining to comment on possible arrests.

The SFO opened the investigation in July at the request of British politicians after Barclays was fined a record 290 million pounds ($462 million) for rate manipulation. Regulators across the globe are investigating claims banks altered submissions used to set Libor in an effort to benefit traders, or so the lenders would appear financially healthier.

The arrests could be temporarily delayed because of disruptions to the SFO’s schedule caused by a move in offices.

Egregious Attempts

Green said the agency is focusing on the most egregious attempts to manipulate Libor and other related benchmarks. Investigations into firms, managers, traders and rate setters at lesser offenders will come later.

Regulators in the U.S. and U.K. are looking into how derivatives traders and bankers who submitted interest-rate data colluded to rig benchmarks to benefit their own trades, and whether lenders low-balled submissions in 2008 to hide their true cost of borrowing. Criminal probes by the SFO and U.S. Department of Justice are running in parallel with civil investigations being conducted by the DOJ’s fraud division, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the U.K. Financial Services Authority.

Barclays spokesman John McGuinness, UBS spokesman Richard Morton and RBS spokesman Michael Strachan all declined to comment.

UBS and RBS are next in line to settle with the regulators, people familiar with the case have said. Edinburgh-based RBS fired four traders following an internal probe.

UBS Review

More than 25 people have left UBS after an internal review of interest-rate manipulation, a person familiar with the matter said. Robert Diamond, who stepped down as Barclays chief executive officer after the fine, said 14 traders were involved in wrongdoing at the bank.

The SFO has “hoovered up all the stuff from the FSA and loaded it onto our computers,” Green said. It has also received evidence from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and some of the banks.

The SFO is cooperating with the DOJ on a request for access to information from the U.K., Green said. That could include U.S. investigators sitting in on SFO interviews with suspects, or having access to evidence the agency has gathered.

The request, which came under a mutual legal assistance treaty, or MLAT, was initially stalled while the SFO sought to get up to speed on the case. The DOJ submitted an amended request in recent months with “very substantial” information sought, Green said.

‘Anxious to Execute’

“Obviously when we first received it there was anxiety that execution of the request could mop up SFO resources,” he said. “We are anxious to execute it” and will “certainly” assist, he said.

Green said the agency, while working closely with the DOJ, is also competing to bring charges first in order to handle the prosecution of any British citizens in the U.K., reducing the chance of extradition.

The SFO’s previous director, Richard Alderman, declined to get involved in the case. Green took over as director in April.

The agency, which is considering bringing charges of conspiracy to defraud, is unlikely to conduct raids on banks in the case, Green said. It’s mostly targeting individuals and are also considering whether they can bring charges against firms. In order to do so, the SFO would have to prove that a “controlling mind” at a bank knew of the behavior, Green said.

The agency doesn’t have any cooperating witnesses yet in the case, but that’s a possibility, he said. The DOJ is working with several and is basing part of their case on the evidence gained from them, a person familiar has said previously.

Jane de Lozey and Matthew Wagstaff are overseeing the Libor investigation, with staff from external consultancy, accounting and law firms, and with two people from the Crown Prosecution Service, Green said. The Treasury has earmarked 3.5 million pounds for the SFO’s Libor investigation.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lindsay Fortado in London at lfortado@bloomberg.net[COLOR="red"][COLOR="red"]

[KiwiElf]

Lockheed fires incoming CEO Kubasik for alleged ethics violation
Reuters November 10, 2012, 11:02 am

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/15347245/lockheed-fires-incoming-ceo-kubasik-for-alleged-ethics-violation/

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Christopher Kubasik, the incoming chief executive of Lockheed Martin , resigned on Friday after an internal ethics investigation revealed he had had an improper relationship with a subordinate, the company said.

Kubasik, who was Lockheed's chief operating officer, had been slated to become CEO in January.

(Reporting By Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Leslie Adler)

[Michelle Marie]

http://the2012scenario.com/2012/11/did-hurricane-sandy-hide-the-shutdown-of-the-fed/#more-151068

Did Hurricane Sandy Hide the Shutdown of the Fed


There are rumors that one of the functions of Hurricane Sandy was to create a cloak behind which the Federal Reserve could be taken down. Here is one news story that demonstrates that there was in fact a disruption in service at the Fed. We’ll be asking Archangel Michael for his view of the matter tomorrow.

Hurricane Sandy disrupts Federal Reserve operations
New York Federal Reserve suspended operations for a day as hurricane battered eastern US; temporary measures taken to support banking in face of disruptions to power, communications and staffing

Central Banking | 31 Oct 2012

http://www.centralbanking.com/central-banking/news/2221493/hurricane-sandy-disrupts-federal-reserve-operations

The Federal Reserve and regional Federal Reserve banks suspended some operations and undertook temporary measures to allow the financial system to continue to function as a hurricane battered the eastern US on October 29 and 30.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in one of the worst affected areas, was open on October 29, but suspended open market operations the following day. The settlement of transactions that took place on Monday was postponed until today (October 31), and purchases of Treasuries and agency mortgage-backed securities scheduled for October 30 were cancelled.

Hurricane Sandy was a tropical storm that originated in the Caribbean and moved up the eastern US, striking New York and the surrounding area late on October 29. Parts of the US were left without power and New York experienced major flooding. Scores of people were killed.

The Federal Reserve issued a joint statement on October 30 with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation setting out contingency measures for financial institutions affected by the hurricane. The Fed called on banks to “work constructively” with borrowers affected by the hurricane. “The agencies recognise that efforts to work with borrowers in communities under stress can be consistent with safe-and-sound banking practices,” the statement said.

Supervisory reporting requirements disrupted by the hurricane were adjusted so as to not impose unfair penalties. Federal regulators agreed to “expedite” any request to set up temporary banking facilities in affected areas as “banks face power, telecommunications, staffing and other challenges in re-opening facilities after the hurricane”.

Other Federal Reserve banks were also affected. Cash operations at the Philadelphia Fed and the Baltimore branch of the Richmond Fed were suspended, and the Boston Fed opened with only essential staff on October 30. Normal cash operations resumed today.

I had a very strong intuitive hit about something going on and the strategic "distraction" of the news. Now I'm sure the banks will find a way to also profit from the compassion of the people with fake philanthropy. I'm calling for more Truth awareness. Their MO is becoming obvious...like kindergarten lies by now.

[Sabrina]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20281355

Another intriguing tale .... :)

10 Nov US

Gmail probe led FBI to CIA chief David Petraeus's affair

CIA director David Petraeus's extramarital affair, which forced him to resign, was uncovered during an investigation into a potential breach of his Gmail account, reports say.

Unnamed officials said the FBI was checking his private account when it found Mr Petraeus was having an affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.

Mr Petraeus described his behaviour as "unacceptable" for the leader of the nation's main intelligence agency.

President Barack Obama has praised him.

His resignation came just three days after President Obama's re-election.

The four-star general became CIA boss in 2011 after heading international forces in Iraq and later in Afghanistan.

He was the highest-profile military officer of the post-9/11 years, winning plaudits for his role running the "surge" in Iraq and implementing a counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan.

He left his command role in Afghanistan in mid-2011, resigning from the US Army to head the CIA after Leon Panetta became defence secretary.

'Extremely poor judgment'
Shortly after Mr Petraeus resigned, reports emerged that the FBI had uncovered the affair during the course of an investigation into a potential breach involving his emails.

The FBI was monitoring Mr Petraeus's email account to check whether Mrs Broadwell had access to it, administration officials were quoted as saying.

FBI agents then met Mr Petraeus to discuss the investigation.

Announcing his decision to stand down, the former general was full of contrition.


Paula Broadwell graduated from the same West Point academy as Mr Petraeus
"After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair," Mr Petraeus said in a statement.

"Such behaviour is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organisation such as ours. This afternoon, the president graciously accepted my resignation."

Mrs Broadwell is a Harvard University research associate and PhD candidate at King's College, London.

She has a military background, graduating from the same West Point Academy as Mr Petraeus. She is married to radiologist Scott Broadwell and lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.

She spent months alongside the then-general in Afghanistan while researching her 2011 book, All In: The Education of General David Petraeus. The book was widely seen as a positive account of his leadership methods.

Last week Mrs Broadwell wrote a piece for Newsweek entitled General David Petraeus's Rules for Living.

Obama praise
In his statement, Mr Obama said Mr Petraeus had "provided extraordinary service to the United States for decades", citing both his time as CIA director and as a top general.

"By any measure, through his lifetime of service David Petraeus has made our country safer and stronger."


"Going forward, my thoughts and prayers are with Dave and Holly Petraeus, who has done so much to help military families through her own work."

Senior Obama adviser David Axelrod said the president had not known about the Petraeus issue during the campaign, and that the former general had come to Mr Obama after the election to offer his resignation.

CIA deputy director Michael Morell will serve as acting director of the agency, the White House confirmed. Eventually Mr Obama must nominate a new director to head the agency, who will then need to be confirmed by the Senate.

Mr Morell, who is well respected at both the White House and on Capitol Hill, also served as acting director following the departure of former CIA chief Leon Panetta.

He is expected to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee at a hearing scheduled for next week on the deaths of US personnel during an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

The CIA faces a potential period of instability after Mr Petraeus' resignation, as it also deals with a budget squeeze.

[Sabrina]

This is re: the UK Savile abuse scandal and looks to me like a grand distraction away from the high profile names who may be implicated... the main stream media have really played their part in all of this sadly. Let's hope the 11.11 energy pushes out the truth.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20284124

11 Nov UK

George Entwistle resigns as BBC director general

The BBC's director general, George Entwistle, has resigned in the wake of the Newsnight child abuse broadcast.

In a statement given outside New Broadcasting House, Mr Entwistle said: "I have decided that the honourable thing to do is to step down."

Earlier, Mr Entwistle said Newsnight's report, which led to Thatcher-era Tory Lord McAlpine being wrongly implicated, should not have been broadcast.

The broadcast covered cases of child abuse at north Wales care homes.

Mr Entwistle took up the post of director general on 17 September, and his sudden resignation makes him the shortest-ever serving BBC director general.

In his statement, he said: "In the light of the fact that the director general is also the editor in chief and ultimately responsible for all content, and in the light of the unacceptable journalistic standards of the Newsnight film broadcast on Friday 2 November, I have decided that the honourable thing to do is to step down from the post of director general."

full story at link

and


http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/

a comment on this site:


McAlpine prior to yesterday.

Messham has either been threatened or bribed or both. And that would only have been done if McAlpine was guilty.

Events of the past few days represent a highly sophisticated Psyop designed to 1. stop the momentum of the revelations about elite involvement in Savile's activities, 2. create another narrative which can become the media focus, and 3. discredit information on the internet about elite paedophilia.

Schofield was primed to "ambush" Cameron with a list of names and to emphasise that he got them "in three minutes on the internet".

Messham was set up to participate in a Newsnight programme which would specifically not mention names and state that evidence was insufficient to do so.

Look at the company which did the "investigation" for Newsnight. It is dominated by individuals from Common Purpose such as Bell.

The net effect of this has been to create a narrative that McAlpine is innocent, that there should not be an aggressive attempt to uncover elite paedophiles, and to distract attention away from Savile's extensive links with very senior politicians and royalty, the manner in which he was granted control of a secure mental hospital etc.

[Sabrina]

http://the2012scenario.com/2012/11/examples-of-pre-nesara-forgiveness/#more-151786



Below are three stories from three different countries illustrating attempts at financial reform: from the humanity of cancelling evictions through debt forgiveness to providing funds for families.

Story 1: Spain’s Politicians Pledge To Stop Evictions After Suicide
By Iciar Reinlein, Reuters – November 10, 2012

http://tinyurl.com/abz6y8n

(Reuters) – Spain’s conservative prime minister and the leader of the opposition aim to agree measures on Monday to stop banks evicting homeowners after a woman’s suicide before her property was repossessed caused public outrage.

“No one should be without a home for not being able to pay,” Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, leader of the opposition Socialist Party said on Saturday.

Northern Spanish mortgage lender Kutxabank said it was suspending repossessions after 53-year-old former Socialist councillor Amaia Egana threw herself out of her fourth-storey apartment window in Barakaldo in the Basque Country as court officials came up the stairs to evict her on Friday.

Egana’s death, the second eviction-related suicide in Spain in recent weeks, added urgency to an agreement reached on Wednesday between the ruling conservative People’s Party and the Socialists to seek a bipartisan deal over repossessions.

Graffiti accusing bankers of murder and calling for an end to evictions appeared on some bank branches in the Basque Country on Saturday, Spanish media reported.

“We are living through things that no one likes to see, situations that are competely inhumane,” Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told a political meeting hours after Egana’s death. “I hope that on Monday we’ll be able to talk about a temporary suspension of evictions for the most vulnerable families.”

One measure would be to grant grace periods, Spanish media reported. Rajoy said the rules would not be retroactive, while Rubalcaba called for previous evictions to be included.

There have been nearly 400,000 evictions in Spain since a property bubble burst in 2008. Unemployment hit 25 percent in the third quarter, a record high and the European Commission expects the economy to contract 1.4 percent this year and next as the second recession since the end of 2009 drags on.

Last week, European Union Advocate General Juliane Kokott issued a non-binding report concluding that Spanish legislation on evictions contradicts European norms for protecting consumer rights. Europe’s highest court will now have to deliver an opinion.

Jose Miguel Domingo, a newsstand owner in Granada, in southern Spain, hung himself on October 25, before he was due to lose his home, local media reported.

The same week an unemployed man in Burjassot, a town in the eastern region of Valencia, threw himself off a balcony on the day his family was to be evicted from their apartment. Reports said the man survived the fall.

Story 2: UAE Frees Hundreds of Emirati Debtors From Jail
By Amena Bakr, Reuters – November 10, 2012

http://tinyurl.com/a9u85js

(Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates has released from prison around 290 people convicted of bouncing cheques, the state news agency said on Saturday, the latest step by one of the world’s richest countries to help its citizens deal with their debts.

The drive to help debtors underlines moves by the government to expand its support to the population, as the UAE and other countries across the region boost welfare spending in the wake of last year’s Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East.

Signing cheques without sufficient funds to back them is a criminal offence under UAE law and the order to release citizens who had defaulted on cheque payments was given last month by President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan.

In May, the president allocated around 5 million dirhams ($1.4 million) to settle defaulted loans for each indebted Emirati.

The UAE central bank told commercial banks in August to extend maturities on certain personal loans held by UAE citizens by more than four years.

The state news agency said on Saturday authorities have given certificates to those released from jail protecting them from future criminal prosecution over their cases.

However, an official quoted by the agency said creditors could still try to recover debts through civil courts.

The latest amnesty does not extend to all debtors. A number of foreigners, most of them real estate developers and businessmen who worked in Dubai during its economic boom several years ago, remain in prison after being convicted and sentenced over bounced cheques.

Story 3: Pakistan Marks “Malala Day”, Poor Children to Get Cash For School
By Katharine Houreld, Reuters – November 10, 2012

http://tinyurl.com/bf8ttnq

(Reuters) – The families of more than 3 million poor children in Pakistan will receive cash stipends if their children go to school, the government said as officials prepared to mark “Malala Day” on Saturday in support of a schoolgirl shot by the Taliban.

U.N. officials declared Malala Day one month after 15-year-old Malala Yousufzai and two of her classmates were shot by the Pakistan Taliban. She had been targeted for speaking out against the insurgency.

In the days following the shooting, Yousufzai became an international icon and world leaders pledged to support her campaign for girls’ education. She is now recovering in a British hospital.

On Friday, Pakistani president Asif Zardari added his signature to petitions signed by more than a million people urging Pakistan to pay stipends to families who put their girls in school in honor of Malala.

“Malala’s dreams represent what is best about Pakistan,” said former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown as he presented the petitions to President Zardari.

Tens of thousands of Britons have called on the government to nominate Malala Yousufzai for a Nobel Peace Prize for her work promoting girls’ education.

On Friday, the government announced that poor families will now receive $2 a month per child in primary school.

The program will be funded by the World Bank and Britain and distributed through the government’s Benazir Income Support Program, designed to give small cash payments to needy families. The families in the program already receive $10 a month for basic expenditure.

After a stipend program was put in place in Pakistan’s Punjab province, a World Bank study found a nine percent increase in girls’ enrolment over two years, said Alaphia Zoyab, the South Asia campaigner for internet activist group Avaaz.

Pakistan is struggling to overcome widespread poverty, a Taliban insurgency and massive, endemic corruption. Less than 0.57 percent of Pakistan’s 180 million citizens pay income tax, money that the government could use to educate poor children.

Instead, the Pakistani government relies on foreign donors to fund many social programs. Britain is due to spend around $1 billion on helping Pakistan educate poor children by 2015.

[Sabrina]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9666748/Occupy-Wall-Street-campaigners-buy-up-debt-to-abolish-it.html

And more on debt forgiveness:

Occupy Wall Street campaigners buy-up debt to abolish it

A group of campaigners linked to the Occupy Wall Street movement is buying-up distressed loans for pennies in the pound and cancelling them to "liberate debtors at random".

The Rolling Jubilee project is seeking donations to help it buy-up distressed debts, including student loans and outstanding medical bills, and then wipe the slate clean by writing them off.

Individuals or companies can buy distressed debt from lenders at knock-down prices if it the borrower is in default or behind with payments and are then free to do with it as they see fit, including cancelling it free of charge.

As a test run the group spent $500 on distressed debt, buying $14,000 worth of outstanding loans and pardoning the debtors. They are now looking to expand their experiment nationwide and are asking people to donate money to the cause.

David Rees, one of the organisers behind the project, writes on his blog: "This is a simple, powerful way to help folks in need - to free them from heavy debt loads so they can focus on being productive, happy and healthy.

"Now, after many consultations with attorneys, the IRS, and our moles in the debt-brokerage world, we are ready to take the Rolling Jubilee program live and nationwide, buying debt in communities that have been struggling during the recession."

A video released to promote the project says: "We shouldn't be forced into debt to cover basic needs like healthcare, housing and education. We need a jubilee, a clean slate. The math is on our side; a little bit of money goes a long way. If we can raise $50,000 we can buy a million dollars worth of debt and abolish it.

"We bailed-out the banks and in return they turned their backs on us. We don't owe them anything, we owe each other everything. It's time for a bail-out of the people, by the people."

9 Nov

1Qs9w1XlJKE

[Sabrina]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9668717/Barclays-probed-by-US-over-Saudi-banking-licence.html


Barclays probed by US over Saudi banking licence

Barclays is under investigation by US authorities into whether it made improper payments to secure a banking licence in Saudi Arabia, according to reports.

Officials at the Department of Justice are examining how the UK bank got a licence to run investment banking and wealth management operations in the Gulf country in 2009, the Financial Times reported on Friday night.

Barclays disclosed last week that it is co-operating with an investigation by the DoJ and the Securities and Exchange Commission into whether it breached the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The FCPA gives US authorities powers to levy heavy fines and potentially prosecute individuals if corruption has been perpetrated by a company with strong ties to the US.

The bank is already facing an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office in the UK into the fees it paid in 2008 to Qatar's sovereign wealth fund as it raised capital at the height of the financial crisis. Last week's disclosure of the probe by US authorities overshadowed the first set of results from Anthony Jenkins, the new chief executive of Barclays.

Mr Jenkins replaced Bob Diamond, who quit after Barclays paid £290m to settle allegations some of its traders tried to manipulate the interest rate libor. Analysts have warned that the potential costs of the ongoing investigations Barclays faces is a shadow over the bank's share price. The bank reported a pre-tax loss of 47m pounds last quarter after taking setting aside 700m pounds to compensate customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance.

Barclays shares closed down 2.7pc to 230.5p in London.

9 Nov

[Sabrina]

More on the UK Savile abuse story and naming of Tory bigwig McAlpine - see story above about BBC boss resignation and large media distraction, while claiming McAlpine is innocent. Certainly, some named him years ago. Extensive media manipulation now going on to cover up the abuse story.
i

http://jailhouselawyersblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/open-letter-to-lord-mcalpine.html

Jailhouse Lawyer's blog from Mexico:

Open letter to Lord McAlpine

Dear Lord McAlpine

I saw your press statement dated yesterday via Nick Sutton on Twitter.

(here: http://www.twitlonger.com/show/juld91 )

For the record I am neither an ill- or uninformed commentator. The evidence is that I correctly identified you as the person whom Newsnight refused to name for legal reasons.

Of late there has been a number of rich and powerful people using libel laws and injunctions in an attempt to hide their indiscretions from public gaze. On the other hand, we have seen those on Community Service having to wear High-Visability jackets to expose them to public gaze. So, not everybody is equal in the eyes of the law.

I identified you not as the guilty man of the child abuse allegations, but as the man Newsnight refused to name. It is for the courts to decide guilt or innocence.

Indeed a substantial number of people got your name after I published it on my blog and on Twitter. I reasonably inferred it was you and took a gamble and it paid off.

Indeed there was a media frenzy, and I did my best to whip up a storm. Sometimes the lesser constrained social media achieves where the constrained MainStreamMedia fails. Sometimes the MSM provides pieces of the jig-saw puzzle and lets the new media piece the picture together then the MSM prints what is on the internet.

I care naught for threats of being sued for defamation of character, because being a 'man of straw' I know that being poor is a libel lawyer's worst nightmare. The downside is that when I get libeled I cannot afford the lawyers fees to sue.

It is a shame that Clwyd Council chose not to publish the report. I feel it should have done so with a rider that some parts cannot be substantiated. There is a feeling that the report was suppressed because of the alleged involvement of rich and powerful people. There is an allegation that the son of a Peer was not prosecuted in spite of his confessing to the police that he had engaged in paedophile activities.

In conclusion, I have not been malicious in exposing your name.

Yours sincerely

John Hirst (Jailhouselawyer).



and this from David Icke:

'If the real and full truth comes out about what really goes on away from the public eye it will bring down the British political establishment across all parties and make the monarchy history.'

That, in my view, is what Steve Messham’s sudden about-turn after decades is really about and the mainstream media may run, and much of the 'alternative' media may run, but I bloody won't.




Some of us are not chickens and our heads are still intact. Some of us will not go back to sleep because we were never asleep in the first place.




Is it only me that finds all this absolutely inexplicable?




I doubt it.




So who’s got the guts to say so?

[Sabrina]

Scamming the bankers :)

arKmquuJJY4

[Sabrina]

http://www.veteransnewsnow.com/2012/11/10/pundit-tears-for-petraeuss-fall/

One view on the Petraeuss resignation in the US (covered above):

Pundit Tears for Petraeus’s Fall

Consortium News Exclusive: Much of Official Washington is in mourning after David Petraeus admitted to an extramarital affair and resigned as head of the CIA. Top pundits were as smitten by the former four-star general as his mistress was, writes ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern.

A day after the surprise announcement that CIA Director David Petraeus was resigning because of marital infidelity, the pundits continue to miss the supreme irony. None other than the head of the CIA (and former bemedaled four-star general) has become the first really big fish netted by the intrusive monitoring of the communications of American citizens implemented after 9/11.

It is unclear whether it is true that, according to initial reports, Petraeus’s alleged mistress and biographer, Paula Broadwell, was caught trying to hack into his e-mail. What does seem clear is that the FBI discovered that she had “unusual access” (to borrow the delicate wording of this morning’s New York Times) to Petraeus during his time as commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan from July 2010 to July 2011. The potential for compromise of sensitive information is equally clear.

Among those lionizing/eulogizing Petraeus on the morning after his resignation was Washington Post columnist (and longtime CIA apologist) David Ignatius, who argued that Petraeus “achieved genuinely great things.” Ignatius lamented Petraeus’s admission of the extramarital affair with the poignancy you might find in a novel by Leo Tolstoy or Victor Hugo about an admirable but ill-fated hero. Not surprisingly, Establishment pundits are disconsolate that their beloved David Petraeus has been brought down in such a tawdry way. They are already at work trying to salvage his legacy as the implementer of George W. Bush’s much-heralded “successful surge” in Iraq (even though the sacrifice of nearly 1,000 more dead U.S. soldiers did little more than provide a “decent interval” between Bush’s departure from office in 2009 and the final U.S. withdrawal/defeat at the end of 2011).

Got that? That’s probably right out of Petraeus’s PhD dissertation at Princeton, or from a how-to book that might be called “Management Rhetoric for Dummies.”

If only Petraeus and his colleague generals remembered the smaller — but far more relevant — ideas inculcated in all of us Army officers in Infantry School at Fort Benning in the early Sixties. This is what I recall from memory regarding what an infantry officer needed to do before launching an operation — big or small — division or squad size.......................

full story at link.....................

If, by now, you get the idea that I think David Petraeus is a charlatan (and I am not referring to sexual escapades), you would be correct.

The next question, however, is his replacement and whether the policies will change.


also another line from Sorcha Faal:

http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1626.htm

n.b. if anyone ever posts any stuff on Faal on Avalon there is also the repeated mantra this is disinfo - some of it may or may not be - or there may be a grain of truth - but I've read so much msm disinfo in the last few days that a little alternative disinfo - or otherwise - won't make any difference :)... there is obviously something going on here!!

Obama Topples Top Coup Leader After Washington Gunbattle

The Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) is reporting today that President Barack Obama has accelerated the purge of US Military officers involved in a coup against his regime by the “firing in disgrace” of former Four-Star Army General and current Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) David Petraeus [photo 2nd left] yesterday.

According to this report, after his refusal to meet at the White House with Obama this past week, US Federal Forces loyal to the President stopped General Petraeus’ vehicle in DuPont Circle in Washington D.C. yesterday (Friday) morning whereupon a short gun battle ensued (Washington D.C. police are reporting this incident as an attempted robbery). General Petraeus was, then, apprehended, brought before Obama and forced to resign in disgrace over his supposedly admitting to an extramarital affair.

General Petraeus’s toppling follows similar attacks by the Obama regime in the past 3 weeks that has seen the unprecedented ouster of many top US Military leaders including Rear Admiral Charles M. Gaouette, US Army General Carter Ham, Brigadier General Jeffery A. Sinclair, and US Navy Commander Joseph E. Darlak, all of whom we had previously reported on in our reports “Obama Coup Plot Slams Into Russia” and “Obama Fires Top Admiral As Coup Plot Fears Grows.”

GRU analysts in this report say that Obama’s moves against his rebellious military most closely resembles those actions taken by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933 against those involved in what is now referred to as “The Business Plot” engineered by wealthy American businessmen who were plotting to create a fascist veterans' organization and use it in a coup d'état to overthrow the US government.

Under great pressure to jail and charge with treason many top US Military officers after the failed 1933 coup attempt, this report says, Roosevelt, instead, opted to simply oust those Generals and other high-ranking officers in order to spare his country the turmoil such a revelation would cause among the American people.

Most ominous, however, in this report is it, likewise, comparing Obama’s ouster of General Petraeus to the 1961 firing of CIA Director Allen Dulles (1893-1969) by President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963). Though never proven, it is believed by many that Dulles ordered the assassination of Kennedy after a cryptic assassination directive was found in a leaked document in 2009, and in what can only be termed as ironic, Dulles was a central member of the Warren Commission investigation into Kennedy’s assassination that blamed this shocking murder on a “lone gunman.”

Unbeknownst to General Petraeus, or the other coup-plotters, this report continues, Obama had ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to begin conducting covert human and electronic surveillance against hundreds of US Military officers when this coup plot was discovered.

The coups “master plan”, this GRU report says, was for US Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney to be assassinated just prior to the 6 November election whereupon General Petraeus would become the Republican candidate under their party’s rules allowing him to be put into Romney’s place by a majority of State Representatives as allowed under RNC party rules.

If such a scenario were allowed to occur, this report continues, General Petraeus would have most certainly became the next President of The United States due to his unprecedented popularity with the American people.

Important to note is that the only US mainstream media outlet attempting to report on this coup attempt was the magazine GQ, who in an article this past week, written by Marc Ambinder, detailed the massive security forces ordered by Obama to be put around both himself and Romney during the final weeks of the election and the many assassination attempts that were, likewise, foiled.

full story at link

[ThePythonicCow]

http://tinyurl.com/abz6y8n
http://tinyurl.com/a9u85js
http://tinyurl.com/bf8ttnq

None of these three links work for me.

They all get an error page on the reuters.com website, saying "Page Not Found"

[Sabrina]

http://tinyurl.com/abz6y8n
http://tinyurl.com/a9u85js
http://tinyurl.com/bf8ttnq

None of these three links work for me.

They all get an error page on the reuters.com website, saying "Page Not Found"

Sorry Paul don't know what's going on here as the 2012 site is usually pretty good on its sources. Got to wean myself off computer now and jump thru' 11.11 portal, so will look later if am not totally 5 Dimensionalized by then...... :).. Sab.

[Robert J. Niewiadomski]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9666748/Occupy-Wall-Street-campaigners-buy-up-debt-to-abolish-it.html

And more on debt forgiveness:

Occupy Wall Street campaigners buy-up debt to abolish it

A group of campaigners linked to the Occupy Wall Street movement is buying-up distressed loans for pennies in the pound and cancelling them to "liberate debtors at random".

The Rolling Jubilee project is seeking donations to help it buy-up distressed debts, including student loans and outstanding medical bills, and then wipe the slate clean by writing them off.

Individuals or companies can buy distressed debt from lenders at knock-down prices if it the borrower is in default or behind with payments and are then free to do with it as they see fit, including cancelling it free of charge.

As a test run the group spent $500 on distressed debt, buying $14,000 worth of outstanding loans and pardoning the debtors. They are now looking to expand their experiment nationwide and are asking people to donate money to the cause.

David Rees, one of the organisers behind the project, writes on his blog: "This is a simple, powerful way to help folks in need - to free them from heavy debt loads so they can focus on being productive, happy and healthy.

"Now, after many consultations with attorneys, the IRS, and our moles in the debt-brokerage world, we are ready to take the Rolling Jubilee program live and nationwide, buying debt in communities that have been struggling during the recession."

A video released to promote the project says: "We shouldn't be forced into debt to cover basic needs like healthcare, housing and education. We need a jubilee, a clean slate. The math is on our side; a little bit of money goes a long way. If we can raise $50,000 we can buy a million dollars worth of debt and abolish it.

"We bailed-out the banks and in return they turned their backs on us. We don't owe them anything, we owe each other everything. It's time for a bail-out of the people, by the people."

9 Nov

1Qs9w1XlJKE
This very humane idea :) Did this myself to the close relative... But what about inhumane "revenue service system" in many countries? In my country such canceling of debt would be considered a donation subject to being taxed (3% min 20% max). Don't know if non charitable donation are tax deductible in US and UK. So for this "Occupy Debt Action" they should tread carefully not to make another trouble for bailed out debtors. Maybe buying the debt is good idea without cancelling it but with the promise of never execute it...

[Sabrina]

Good old American Kabuki. He's started another list - government authority changes - that's the American side of the pond.

The same thing is happening in the UK. BBC's Director General, George Entwistle has resigned with a fat pay off - probably happy to cause a distraction on the Savile sexual abuse scandal while the real high profile culprits get off - well for now.

We certainly live in unprecedented times me thinks :)....


http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/p/us-govt.html

GOV'T AUTHORITY CHANGES *NEW*



12/??/12 US Attorney General Eric Holder - ????? (Holder said he might not continue in office)
11/09/12 US General David Petraeus CIA DIRECTOR - Resignation adultery
11/07/12 Russia Defense Chief Viktor Zubkov - Implicated in Corruption and Adultery
11/05/12 US Brigadier General Jeffery A. Sinclair - Accused of Sexual Misconduct
11/03/12 US Navy Cmdr. Joseph E. Darlak, skipper of the USS Vandegrift - under investigation "due to loss of confidence after demonstrating poor leadership and failure to ensure the proper conduct of his wardroom officers"
11/03/12 US Navy Executive officer Lt. Cmdr. Ivan A. Jimenez and the ship's chief engineer and operations officer were also relieved "for personal conduct involving use of alcohol and not adhering to established liberty policies,
10/27/12 US General Carter HAM US AFRICAN COMMAND - Resignation
10/27/12 US Rear Admiral Charles M. Gaoutette USS JOHN C. STENNIS STRIKE GROUP - Reassigned


Benjy Fulford's take on it all is here:

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2012/11/12/benjamin-fulford-11-12-12-world-intervention-saves-obama-prevents-world-war-3/#more-15952

[Sabrina]

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/11/09/former-u-s-prosecutor-negotiating-plea-deal-for-jackson-jr/

US


Former U.S. Prosecutor Negotiating Plea Deal For Jackson Jr.

CHICAGO (CBS) – A former U.S. attorney representing embattled Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is negotiating a plea deal with the federal government, CBS 2 has learned.

CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine has the exclusive details.

The plea deal would end Jackson’s 17-year career as a congressman representing Chicago’s South Side and suburbs

At the center of negotiations is white-collar criminal defense attorney Dan Webb, who served as Chicago’s top federal prosecutor in the 1980s, when several Cook County judges were indicted for public corruption under the “Operation Greylord” investigation.

Webb, the chairman of Winston & Strawn LLP in Chicago, has been the point person for Jackson in talks with the U.S. Justice Department in Washington.

The tentative deal includes:

–Jackson resigning for health reasons.

–His pleading guilty to charges involving misuse of campaign funds.

–The congressman’s repayment of any contributions that were converted to personal use, such as home furnishings, improper travel or gifts.

At least some jail time would appear to be inevitable for Jackson, the son of civil-rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. and spouse of Chicago 7th Ward Ald. Sandi Jackson.

Webb was also involved in the high-profile political plea deal for the late Dan Rostenkowski, who pleaded guilty to converting a congressional postage allowance into cash for himself. Rostenkowski got 17 months in jail but kept his $126,000-a-year pension for the rest of his life.

The onetime chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee died two years ago.

Jackson’s pension for 17 years in Congress would be between 65,000 and $80,000 a year, plus health benefits. But he’s only 47 and won’t be eligible for pension payouts until 62.

Jackson’s pension is also part of the current negotiations.

The Congressman is currently being treated for a bi-polar disorder, both at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and as an outpatient at his home in Washington. He has been on medical leave since June and did not campaign in-person to be re-elected to his 2nd Congressional District seat. He won his bid Nov. 6.

Those who have seen and spoken with Jackson say there are serious doubts as to whether health issues would ever permit his return to Congress.

As for a timetable for the agreement, a source familiar with those negotiations said as soon as possible and probably by the end of the year.

Webb, reached Friday, had no comment.

If Jackson resigns, as expected, a special election will determine his successor. Jackson himself replaced the disgraced U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds in 1995.

.

[KiwiElf]

Lloyd Blankfein on line 1! Goldman employees await news
Reuters November 13, 2012, 11:44 am
By Lauren Tara LaCapra

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/15366220/lloyd-blankfein-on-line-1-goldman-employees-await-news/

(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc is due to name new partners on Wednesday, but the benefits of receiving the title are not what they used to be.

Goldman is the only major Wall Street bank to retain this relic from its private partnership days, when senior investment bankers owned the firm, contributing capital and taking home their share of profits.

Employees with the "partner" title still get a bigger portion of the bonus pool than other employees, and more say in Goldman's strategic direction.

But changes to the compensation structure have made the partner paycheck less lucrative, because more of their rewards are tied up in Goldman shares that have years-long restrictions on selling, sources familiar with the matter said. Other perks have been eliminated either because of new regulations or as part of a broader cost-cutting effort.

Those who make it will get a phone call either from Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein or Chief Operating Officer Gary Cohn informing them of their achievement around 8:30 a.m. (1.30 p.m. British Time) on Wednesday morning from New York. Those who don't make it are told the previous day by their supervisors.

Until then, both the identity of partners and number of partners is a closely held secret.

As of November 2, Goldman had 407 partners, down from 440 in February, according to regulatory filings. The investment bank tries to keep its partner pool at around 1 percent of the overall workforce.

The bank is expected to announce a significantly lower number of partners than its prior announcement, when it named 110 new partners. Some bankers say it might be the lowest number of new partners added to the group since Goldman went public in 1999.

People inside and outside the bank watch the announcement closely, because becoming a Goldman partner is seen as prestigious. Potential partners must go through a months-long process known as "cross-ruffing," in which coworkers and partners analyze candidates in minute detail and scrub through their work and personal history to determine whether they deserve the position.

This is the first year that vice chairman Michael Sherwood, a high-profile London-based trader, is overseeing the process, a duty that previously belonged to Cohn. Those two executives, along with Edith Cooper, head of human resources, are the only ones who know exactly who will become a new partner before the announcement.

The decline in partners reflects the bank's overall decline in staffing. Goldman had 32,600 employees as of September 30, down 3,100, or nearly 9 percent, since the end of 2010.

Goldman is in the final stages of a cost-cutting program that will save the bank $1.9 billion (1.2 billion pounds) a year. But as the industry automates more trading, and new capital rules make the trading business more expensive, Goldman and its rivals are widely expected to have to cut more staff to ensure that the business earns its keep.

(Reporting by Lauren Tara LaCapra in New York; Additional reporting by Dan Wilchins; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

[KiwiElf]

Japan lawmakers agree to avert "fiscal cliff", election looms
Reuters November 13, 2012, 8:36 pm
By Tetsushi Kajimoto

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/15372258/japan-lawmakers-agree-to-avert-fiscal-cliff-election-looms/

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's ruling and opposition parties agreed on Tuesday to quickly pass a deficit funding bill in parliament, in a move that will keep the country from falling off its version of a 'fiscal cliff' as the prime minister eyes elections as early as next month.

The bill is needed to borrow some $480 billion and fund roughly 40 percent of this fiscal year's budget.

Without it, the government could run out of money by the end of this month and would have to stop debt auctions next month, just as the economy teeters on the brink of a recession.

Until recently the opposition has used its control of the upper house to stall the bill in a bid to press Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to call an election. Noda had promised in Agusut to go to the polls "soon" in order to win support for an unpopular plan to hike the sales tax.

Hoping to force Noda's hand, however, the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its former coalition ally New Komeito have changed tack and looked poised to pass the deficit bond bill Noda has set as a condition for calling elections.

"I'm glad that we have demonstrated the wisdom of parliament by overcoming differences between ruling and opposition parties," Goshi Hosono, policy affairs chief of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), told reporters.

"We managed to show the people even at the last minute that parliament is functioning," he said, after striking a deal with his counterparts from the two opposition parties.

The bill is expected to pass in the lower house as early as Thursday and looks set to be enacted in the upper house with the backing of the two opposition parties during the current parliament session that ends on November 30.

In reaching the deal, the Democrats made concessions to the opposition parties by promising to review spending earmarked for the current fiscal year and curb deficit bond issuance.

The three parties agreed to allow issuance of deficit bonds through the fiscal year that starts in April 2015, meaning that passage of deficit bond bills would be secured without the bills being taken as a political hostage in the coming few years.

Countering a concern that guaranteeing issuance of deficit bonds may jeopardise fiscal discipline, the three parties said in a statement that the deal was aimed at stabilising fiscal management on condition that the government keeps such bond issuance under control and maintains sustainable finances.

The three parties also said they would seek a swift end to deferrals on government spending such as on tax grants to rural governments, which have been put in place since September to avoid a cash crunch due to the deadlock over the funding bill.

Finance Minister Koriki Jojima told reporters on Tuesday that swift passage of the bill is badly needed as the government is considering crafting an extra budget at some point to stimulate the economy after a contraction in the third quarter.

Noda, under opposition pressure to call an early poll, looks to be leaning towards holding one as early as next month, after pledging support for a controversial U.S.-led free trade pact.

But some in his party would prefer to delay the day of reckoning with support for his government at its lowest since Noda took office last year.

The risk that Japan could lurch over its "fiscal cliff" -- a term coined to describe massive tax hikes and spending cuts that could hit the United States early next year -- has prompted fresh warnings from rating agencies that a prolonged political gridlock could prompt credit downgrades.

(Editing by Kim Coghill)

[Robert J. Niewiadomski]

Good old American Kabuki. He's started another list - government authority changes - that's the American side of the pond.

The same thing is happening in the UK. BBC's Director General, George Entwistle has resigned with a fat pay off - probably happy to cause a distraction on the Savile sexual abuse scandal while the real high profile culprits get off - well for now.

We certainly live in unprecedented times me thinks :)....


http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/p/us-govt.html

GOV'T AUTHORITY CHANGES *NEW*



12/??/12 US Attorney General Eric Holder - ????? (Holder said he might not continue in office)
11/09/12 US General David Petraeus CIA DIRECTOR - Resignation adultery
11/07/12 Russia Defense Chief Viktor Zubkov - Implicated in Corruption and Adultery
11/05/12 US Brigadier General Jeffery A. Sinclair - Accused of Sexual Misconduct
11/03/12 US Navy Cmdr. Joseph E. Darlak, skipper of the USS Vandegrift - under investigation "due to loss of confidence after demonstrating poor leadership and failure to ensure the proper conduct of his wardroom officers"
11/03/12 US Navy Executive officer Lt. Cmdr. Ivan A. Jimenez and the ship's chief engineer and operations officer were also relieved "for personal conduct involving use of alcohol and not adhering to established liberty policies,
10/27/12 US General Carter HAM US AFRICAN COMMAND - Resignation
10/27/12 US Rear Admiral Charles M. Gaoutette USS JOHN C. STENNIS STRIKE GROUP - Reassigned


Benjy Fulford's take on it all is here:

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2012/11/12/benjamin-fulford-11-12-12-world-intervention-saves-obama-prevents-world-war-3/#more-15952

This article quotes Clinton as saying she is not staying for another term. There is rumor of John Kerry becoming SoD... ehem... i mean Secretary of Defense ;)
Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505267_162-57548823/susan-rice-likely-hillary-clinton-replacement/

Susan Rice likely Hillary Clinton replacement
(CBS News) President Barack Obama is putting together his cabinet for a second term, including a new CIA director. So far, only Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has confirmed she will leave. And Republicans are already objecting to her potential replacement.

CBS News has learned that President Obama is likely to nominate Susan Rice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Rice), the current U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to replace Clinton as Secretary of State.

White House sources say the president feels he should be able to choose the cabinet members he wants, and they say that Rice has performed well on Iran and North Korea. But Rice was the public face of the administration's response to the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, saying that they were prompted by a spontaneous protest -- not terrorism -- and she has come under fire from Republicans.

When asked about the possibility of Rice's nomination as Secretary of State, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., had this to say on CBS News' "Face the Nation": "I'm not entertaining, promoting anybody that I think was involved with the Benghazi debacle. We need to get to the bottom of it. The president has a lot of leeway with me and others when it comes to making appointments, but I'm not going to promote somebody who I think has misled the country or is either incompetent. That's my view of Susan Rice."

White House sources inside the White House say these objections are unfounded, that Rice was not in charge of Benghazi information and Graham should be aware of her minimal role.

Sen. John Kerry (http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kerry), D-Mass., was also talked about as a possible Secretary of State candidate, but White House sources are now talking about him as Secretary of Defense, replacing Leon Panetta. And John Brennan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_O._Brennan), the president's Homeland Security adviser, is a shoo-in to head the CIA, unless he wants to retire, in which case the job is likely to go to his deputy, Michael Morell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Morell).

For Bill Plante's full report, watch the video above


Some of replacements appear to begin their career in Bush office... and John Brennan was accused of supporting torture...

[modwiz]

Valerie Jarrett was born in Iran and spoke Farsi as a child, something that could be refreshed, IMO. She has a reputation for being a very strong person.

[Sabrina]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/13/retired-bishop-peter-ball-arrested

13 Nov UK

Retired bishop Peter Ball arrested on suspicion of child sex offences

Rt Rev Peter Ball thought to be most senior Church of England figure to be arrested in connection with a sex abuse inquiry

Detectives investigating complaints of sexual abuse in the Church of England have arrested a retired bishop on suspicion of eight sexual offences against eight boys and young men ranging in age from 12 to early 20s.

Officers from the Sussex police serious crime directorate involved in a six-month investigation into historic allegations at the diocese of Chichester arrested the Rt Rev Peter Ball, former bishop of Lewes and later bishop of Gloucester, on Tuesday morning at his home address near Landport, Somerset.

Ball is thought to be the most senior figure in the church to be arrested in connection with a sex abuse investigation. The bishop, now 80, has connections to Prince Charles, whom he has described in the past as "a loyal friend".

Police also arrested a 67-year old retired priest at his home address near Haywards Heath on suspicion of two separate sexual offences against two teenage boys in East Sussex between 1981 and 1983.

Detectives carried out a "comprehensive and painstaking" three-month analysis of two reports from Lambeth Palace, "which contain reviews of church files relating to certain child safeguarding issues within the Chichester diocese from between 20 and 25 years ago". They also reviewed internal church files containing details of clergymen's careers in the diocese, including Ball's.

A spokeswoman for a group representing the survivors of abuse by clergy said the arrests were "historic in terms of the seniority of the people being looked at". "This is the first bishop we have seen arrested over abuse allegations," said Ann Lawrence, of the Ministry and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors Group.

Sussex police said: "The investigation, which relates to alleged offences not previously reported to Sussex police, has taken six months so far. This is a very complex inquiry, in the course of which many people, all now adults, have had to be traced, together with other witnesses and records from a wide variety of sources, and there is continuing consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service.

full story at link

[Sabrina]

A lot of people being taken to account at the moment.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/nov/13/margaret-moran-bogus-mp-expenses

13 Nov UK

Margaret Moran received £53,000 in bogus MP expenses, jury finds

Former Labour MP falsely tried to claim £60,000, and received £53,000 – the largest expenses claim uncovered during scandal


Margaret Moran, former Labour MP for Luton South, received more than £53,000 in fraudulent expenses, a jury has found, despite her being mentally unfit to stand trial.

Though jurors at Southwark crown court in London were unable to return a guilty verdict, they unanimously ruled the 57-year-old former assistant whip committed 15 counts of false accounting and six counts of using a false instrument over claims for parliamentary expenses between 2004 and 2008.

The ruling followed a rare "trial of issue", which Moran did not attend. She will not face a criminal conviction but may be subject to a supervision order, a hospital order or absolute discharge, where no further action is taken against her.

Adjourning the case, Judge Mr Justice Saunders said: "She is presently being treated by psychiatrists at home and that treatment will continue".

James Sturman QC, defending, said the case represented "a very, very unhappy period for British democracy".

more at link

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=14090&ArticleId=415076

13 Nov Brazil

Senior Brazilian Official Arrested in Corruption Case

RIO DE JANEIRO – Deputy Tourism Minister Frederico Silva da Costa was arrested Tuesday together with another 37 people in an operation against alleged corruption, Brazil’s Federal Police said.

The arrests were made in Brasilia, Sao Paulo and Macapa as part of Operation Voucher, which involved close to 200 police.

A judge issued arrest warrants on the basis of evidence uncovered during a months-long investigation by federal prosecutors and a special police unit.

Federal Police said that the operation led to the dismantling of a ring that was dipping into public funds.

Investigators said that the Tourism Industry signed inflated no-bid contracts with the Brazilian Institute of Sustainable Infrastructure Development, which apparently lacked the technical capability to provide the services specified in the contracts.

The ministry’s press office said it had no information about the accusations or the Federal Police investigations.

The operation comes as corruption scandals over the last few days have implicated the Transport and Agriculture Ministries.

On Monday a group of prosecutors seized computer memories from the Agriculture Ministry, whose head, Wagner Rossi, was subpoenaed by Congress and an executive branch ethics panel.

Last month close to 25 Transport Ministry officials were dismissed amid allegations of corruption.

The scandal forced the resignation of Alfredo Nascimento, who up to a month ago held the post of transport minister.

Nascimento was the second minister to resign since January, when Dilma Rousseff took office as Brazil’s first woman president.

The first to go was presidential chief of staff Antonio Palocci, who also had to leave the government for suspected corruption. EFE

[Sabrina]

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/11/11/271529/political-maelstrom-in-postelection-us/

Why else did the CIA spymaster resign?

US General David Petraeus, former CIA chief

By Gordon Duff Columnist for Press TV

Sun Nov 11, 2012 8:55AM GMT

By Gordon Duff
The real issue is dealing with political uncertainty, the difference from what is publicly said, what is publicly seen and what actually exists.”

The United States is undergoing a political maelstrom that, in many ways, parallels what is currently going on in China. Though the election ended days ago, a significant victory for Obama, perceived by most as a repudiation of American support for Netanyahu, the real issues are far more sinister.


Powerful forces within the government are reacting, not just to threats of civil war, assassination and domestic terrorism. There is a vast and well-orchestrated clandestine effort to centralize power behind the presidency, preparation likely to lead to an expansion in executive power.

All competing factions, Pentagon, State Department, CIA and courts face disembowelment by the Obama administration.

Does this represent a change in American policy, both domestic and foreign, or is this a consolidation at the behest of the unseen ruling elites many claim controlled both candidates, Obama and Romney, equally?


Today, General David Petraeus resigned as CIA director sighting “poor judgment” in his personal life, an “extramarital affair” as the reason.

No one believes him.

A top American general, the “Patton” of our time, CIA chief and potential presidential candidate is now a broken man, career in ruins, supposedly over an affair with a female American intelligence operative.

From Veterans Today:

First, we are not ready to throw Petraeus to the wolves.

He came to the CIA in handcuffs, historically tied to the phony war on terror, his role in the “Sunni Awakening” which paid off Baathist terrorists who are now tearing Iraq apart.

Then there was his job in Afghanistan, having to clean up the mess made by Stanley McChrystal, who, with Richard Holbrooke, knows more about heroin than Arnold Rothstein ever did.

It is obvious that Petraeus was compromised by a foreign power or found to be involved in something so serious that he would destroy his career and reputation in writing rather than some other consequence, typically “suiciding” or arrest.

We share friends and all I know of Petraeus makes this, the most obvious conclusions, very difficult to believe. He is a man of humor and insight though very ambitious.

Who could have “set up” the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency?

A week ago, Vice Admiral Gaouette, in command of the USS Stennis and her support task force including nuclear submarines, was “perp walked” off the flight deck of the giant American carrier, twenty miles off the coast of Iran, as though he were a common criminal.

Issues

Even President Obama admits his first term was unsuccessful. We can submit his actions to analysis; a man openly opposed to how the war on terror was waged has now increased drone attacks significantly and threatens military interference in Syria.

Conversely, he has been adamant in his refusal to support Netanyahu’s threats against Iran though his pre-election military display in the Persian Gulf may well have ended in disaster.

The removal of Gaouette is unique in military history with one exception, the firing of General McArthur by President Harry Truman during the Korean War. Truman fired MacArthur for not just planning but preparing a nuclear attack on China and a full-scale invasion of the Chinese mainland.

With only one direct parallel in the last century, it is reasonable to assume that Gaouette was following in the path of former 5th Fleet commander, Admiral Cosgriff.

Cosgriff, according to Gwyneth Todd, Chief Political Officer for the fleet, reported Cosgriff to the Department of State when she learned that he was planning false flag terror attacks against American troops in the Persian Gulf theatre and was planning to sail American warships well into Iranian waters.

False Flag

To those who have gained a conspiratorial analytical hypothesis when examining the methodologies implemented by the mysterious command authority, the one that ordered the Air Force “stand down” on 9/11, the one that allowed a nuclear bomber to be stolen from Minot Air Force Base, allowing criminal elements in the government to openly take control of the reins of history, we submit the following:

The largely privatized military/intelligence complex, driven by criminalized monopolies in narcotics, banking, oil, arms, pharmaceuticals and human trafficking has, without any question, gained control of the operations of most agencies of government, of all national economies and all media, be it news or entertainment, in the West.

That this range of control, a misinformed electorate confined to voting for political candidates constrained to be no more than actors on a stage, has created a climate where anyone speaking with clarity, not just today, but as long ago as the First World War and every major conflict thereafter, would be labeled a “monster.”

Today, the news is General David Petraeus. It is now obvious that he agreed to be kept on until after the election. His punishment, total self-destruction, shooting himself might have been a kindness, is difficult to fathom.

What could he have done? Andrew Breveik, the pro-Israeli mass murder of Norway has suffered a kinder fate for the murder of 77 children.

The Unknown

There is clearly an information void. Most “professional” news sources serve an agenda. Some, Press TV being one, serve an Iranian target audience and, on the whole, serve a unique, accurate and balanced view of the rest of the world.

Thus, they are banned, stricken from the air and stand accused. I was accused, last week, of “working for the Iranian government” in having my writings carried by Press TV and for agreeing to take part in talk shows and political debates.

I nearly laughed myself to death. I am an American defense contractor and counter-terrorism specialist by profession. However, with 43 years of experience, I am unlikely to be led around by the nose and much less likely to be pushed or threatened.

There is a threat to the world. It is not Islamic extremism or even Americans gone crazy as they do each election, stirred into a self-destructive mental “haze” through third-rate propaganda.

The real issue is dealing with political uncertainty, the difference from what is publicly said, what is publicly seen and what actually exists.

Were America and the West simply Machiavellian, those of us trained in what the British once called “the great game” might understand. Now no one understands.

We are living with chaos, either that or political systems bent on only entropy.

Thus, we examine the mosaic, what we can know, discard the analysis we are fed, knowing it is always false, always deception, “wiki-deception,” and look for what we cannot see through the analysis of what we are not told, of what we don’t see, of what is avoided, not what is shown.

This is our only tool set, our only view of the world other than conjecture, “Imagineering” or accepting the garbage we are fed.

The Plan

One thing is clear, Obama is not entering his second, his last term as president without taking advantage of the fact he no longer needs to be concerned about election.

What he also knows is that his predecessor left him with vast extra-constitutional powers, the Patriot Acts, FISA (some), the NDAA provisions and suspension of habeas corpus.

What has been telling, what has added to the mosaic, has been the failure of a “liberal” president to disassemble the tools of oppression.

Then we face the question, Is President Obama entering on a phase of building a “legacy” of economic stabilization, of peace, of stability or is he going to “vacation” his way through his political life as George “W” Bush had done?

The other aspect of the mosaic is inextricable. Is President Obama currently in the process of “cleaning house” toward an agenda? Does he plan to attempt to influence Israel’s politics as they attempted to rig America’s election?

If unsuccessful at that, will, as many suspect, Israel be “quarantined?”

Enemies At Home, “Special Ops”

It has become clear that, under the guise of misrepresentation, there are those advocating service to Israel, to Wall Street and the drug cartels and “wrapping themselves in the flag” as we call it. They, those former members of the military, current and retired, who are drawn toward being “groupies” for wealthy (and violent) extremists, are selling their souls for a crust of bread, a glass of scotch and the services of an underage prostitute of indeterminate sex.

I know enough of these to fill an arena.

They are long on talk, usually drunk; few have more than five minutes of facing danger in military careers that spanned decades of seat warming and petty theft.

As we speak, their expertise, not so much in education or intelligence, not so much in physical prowess or agility but rather steeped in treason, in anger, in self-deceit and greed, these groups are raising funds to attempt to overthrow America’s government.

Donald Trump and Ted Nugent, who, at the word of Willard Romney’s landslide defeat smeared himself from head to foot in human feces, the same way he avoided military service during the Vietnam War, this pair and others, human vermin, plan to divide America.

Let Them?

The threats are there, our question is whether they are recognized and the force is used to keep the American union as one, even if all of Wall Street is dragged off to prison and every corporation that has moved overseas is repatriated and taxed into the oblivion it deserves.

The signs, the mosaic, be it the obscure and inexplicable exit of Petraeus or the upcoming demise of others we hear are heading for the “chopping block,” are clear.

America will change, it has changed. Rot set in long ago. Perhaps amputation is a cure.

It may well have begun, on a piecemeal basis. Perhaps it can grow.

I have a list.

(Gordon Duff writes for Veterans Today)

[Sabrina]

FT

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/321001ea-2ab9-11e2-802d-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2C8IOLqzO

Lockheed hit as new chief resigns

By Robert Wright in New York

Succession plans at Lockheed Martin were thrown into disarray on Friday when the the US’s biggest military contractor by sales announced the resignation of its incoming chief executive over a “close personal relationship” with a subordinate.

Christopher Kubasik, Lockheed Martin’s chief operating officer, had been due to take over on January 1 from Bob Stevens, who is retiring as chief executive.

The company said a board meeting on Friday had instead appointed Marillyn Hewson, vice-president of electronic systems, to be the next chief executive. She was immediately promoted to be chief operating officer.

The change of plan comes as Lockheed and other large military contractors face acute uncertainty over future military spending levels. The Department of Defense is to absorb 50 per cent of the spending cuts set to come into force in early January under the deal reached last year to avert a crisis over the raising of the US’s debt ceiling.

Spending on most military programmes would be automatically cut by about 10 per cent if the swingeing cuts – which both political sides want to avoid – come into force.

Mr Stevens said he was “disappointed and saddened” by Mr Kubasik’s behaviour, which he said was “inconsistent with our values and standards”. However, his departure would have no effect on the company’s operations, Mr Stevens said.

“We believe that strategically, operationally and financially we will not miss a beat,” Mr Stevens said.
Loren Thompson, a military analyst at the Virginia-based Lexington Institute, said the switch might ultimately prove beneficial to Lockheed by highlighting high standards of corporate governance.

“The lesson is the rules apply equally to everybody at Lockheed Martin,” he said.

Ms Hewson was “a very capable executive,” he added. “She’s probably more capable than Kubasik.”

The company had brought in outside investigators to investigate after an employee came to the company with concerns over the relationship in late October, Mr Stevens said.

“That investigation concluded with today’s board meeting,” he said.

Mr Stevens declined to answer questions about how long the relationship had gone on, whether the company should have discovered the relationship earlier or whether vetting of senior executives had missed the it. Those were all private matters, he said. The subordinate with whom Mr Kubasik had had the relationship had also left the company, Mr Stevens said.

“We have acted clearly and decisively with regard to the action that we have taken,” he said.
The company had always sought to ensure it had as many “ready-now” replacement executives as possible, according to Mr Stevens. Ms Hewson was a product of the company’s policy of rotating executives regularly between challenging assignments to ensure they were ready for promotion, he said.

Ms Hewson said she intended to continue following the transition plan the company originally set out in April. She will work closely with Mr Stevens, who will become executive chairman and remain in post throughout 2013 to ensure a smooth transition.

The change was announced after the market closed. Lockheed shares rose 0.07 per cent in after-market trading to $90.04.
9 Nov

[Sabrina]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2012/nov/13/petraeus-scandal-derails-another-generals-promotio/

Petraeus scandal derails another general's promotion

By Stephen Dinan

The Washington Times
November 13, 2012, 12:38PM

Petraeus scandal derails another general's promotion

The Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday said it is putting off a hearing on the nomination of Gen. John Allen to be NATO's Supreme Allied Commander after his name popped up in the same investigation that toppled CIA Director David Petraeus.

Early Tuesday Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he had ordered an investigation into Gen. Allen after the FBI uncovered emails between the general and Jill Kelley, a 37-year-old Florida woman whose complaints led the FBI to begin investigating Mr. Petraeus.

The Senate committee was supposed to hold a hearing Thursday on elevating Gen. Allen from his current position as top commander in Afghanistan to become NATO commander. But after Mr. Panetta's announcement the committee put Mr. Allen's nomination on ice.

"Because of the Department of Defense Inspector General's pending review, the confirmation hearing for General Allen to be Commander of U.S. European Command and NATO's Supreme Allied Commander has been postponed until a later date. That change of command is expected no earlier than March," committee Chairman Carl Levin and ranking Republican John McCain said in a statement.

Gen. Allen has reportedly denied that he had an inappropriate relationship with Mrs. Kelley.

Mr. Petraeus, a retired general, resigned on Friday after admitting he had an extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.

The affair came to light after Mrs. Kelley complained of anonymous emails warning her to stay away from Mr. Petraeus. The FBI traced the emails to Ms. Broadwell.

[Sabrina]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20320993

14 Nov Europe

European workers stage austerity protests

Workers across the European Union are staging a series of protests and strikes against rising unemployment and austerity measures.

Organisers of the strike are urging national leaders to abandon austerity and address growing social anxiety.

Strikes are expected in Spain, Greece, Portugal and Italy, with other protests planned in Belgium, Germany, France the UK and some eastern EU states.

Airlines across Europe have been cancelling and rescheduling flights.

Spain and Portugal have been particularly hit, and airlines are recommending passengers to check the schedules before travelling to airports.

The European Trade Union Confederation urged workers to walk out on Wednesday.

"Austerity is a total dead end and must be abandoned," the group said in a statement.

Some 40 groups from 23 countries are involved in Wednesday's demonstrations.

Continental protests
Unions in Spain and Portugal started strikes at midnight to protest against austerity measures that have combined tax rises with cuts in salaries, pensions, benefits and social services.

Marchers came out late on Tuesday in Spain, where 25% are unemployed, the highest rate in Europe.

"I have two sons in my house, one is getting subsidies, the other has been at home for the last three years," said protesting housewife, Paqui Olmo.

"It is not that he doesn't want to work, there is just no work."

The BBC's Chris Morris in Lisbon says union pickets have been out on the streets of the Portuguese capital since the early hours.

Public transport has come to a virtual standstill, and many schools and public offices are expected to be closed, our correspondent says.

In Italy, transport workers are expected to join a four-hour national strike, though airlines said they did not expect flights to be disrupted.

full story at link

[Sabrina]

Berlin intelligence boss resigns

November 15, 2012


BERLIN (AFP) - The head of the domestic intelligence agency in the German capital said Wednesday she was stepping down after it emerged that key files on the neo-Nazi scene were shredded on her watch. Claudia Schmid, who had held the job at the Berlin division of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution since 2001, handed in her resignation to the city-state’s top security official, Frank Henkel. “Ms Schmid asked me to be reassigned. She wants to clear the way for a managed fresh start,” he told the intelligence committee of the state legislature. “I agreed to this request.”


hmmm a lot of movement in the world of the spooks - do they have clandestine leaving parties in shady bars, sending out invites via dead letter drops, as their emails are so compromised :)....

[Sabrina]

Another new resignation list - don't we love them :)... I don't buy into the earth changes shift fear mongering tho' - personally think shift is leading to the demise of these people.


http://www.disclose.tv/news/Strange_elite_exodus_Why_so_many_simultaneous_resignations/86343#ixzz2C7i9ajBy

STRANGE ELITE EXODUS: WHY SO MANY SIMULTANEOUS RESIGNATIONS

November 12, 2012 - Why so many simultaneous resignations? Is there something big is about to go down or rather “come down"?

As earth changes continue to assault countries of the world, creating drought and deluge, intense storms, booming, shifting, and cracking land, the cover-up attempts continue.

What will the wealthy and powerful do as the last weeks before the potential pole shift arrive and earth changes wreak havoc on their comfortable lifestyles and the ability to control?

When wooden ships were in common use, there were always rats on board. If the rats knew that the ship was in trouble and sinking, they would jump off and swim away to safety. Unlike the captain and sailors trying to save the ship, the rats would just run away. And, so the phrase “like rats deserting a sinking ship” was born, referring to those who ditch what they see as a lost cause to save themselves.

Do the so-called elite believe that end times are near? Are they quietly leaving the scene on their Lear jets and literally and figuratively heading for the hills. Like rats deserting a sinking ship, are they slipping away in the dead of night to their secret and hopefully safe enclaves.

In recent days, a conspicuous number of high-level officials have tendered resignations, many within the past three days alone.

(Sat, Nov 11) – George Entwistle resigns as BBC Director General, after holding the job for only 53 days (will receive a £450,000, equivalent to one year’s salary)

(Fri, 11/10) – Canada – Laval Mayor Gilles Vaillancourt resigns under a cloud of suspicion

(Fri, 11/10) – Canada – Mayor Michael Applebaum resigns from Montréal’s executive committee

(Fri, 11/10) – Canada – Robert Dutton, President of Canada's largest network of home-improvement retailers, steps down

(Thurs, 11/9) – Christopher Kubasik, former Lockheed Martin President/COO and “incoming” CEO, ousted

(Thurs, 11/9) – Canada – PetroShale announces resignation of Director Daniel Jarvie

(Tues, Nov 6) –CEO of South Africa’s Stortec, Tim Knowles, renounced his position saying it is time for a change

(Mon, Nov 5) – Canada – Mayor of Montreal Gérald Tremblay resigns, announcing he is leaving politics.

(Thurs, Nov 8) – Billionaire Frank Stronach (est. net worth of more than $1.7 billion) steps down from Magna International board chairmanship

(Tues, Oct 30) – Ashok Mittal, Head of India Investment Banking for Swiss Bank UBS resigns. He had been head of India Investment Banking since June of last year .

(Tues, Oct 16) – Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit abruptly resigns, receiving a bonus of $6.7 million for work he did this year.

(Mon, Oct 15) – Canada – Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty unexpectedly resigns

Well, they are leaving Florida, New York City, and coastline areas like Houston and other seaside locations to “head for the hills,” literally and figuratively – into the hills of Alberta, Canada or the Ozarks, into rock cavities built especially for them, and well stocked with supplies. They are avoiding places expected to be crowded, from overpopulated areas such as the East Coast of the US, Europe, and the Pacific Rim, as well as countries dominated by Islam to avoided culture clash and perhaps resultant hostility.

"Bunkering" into mountains has been a favorite theme since the days of Mt. Weather. The so-called elite, once arrogantly assumed that bunkering into mountainsides would provide fail-safe protection. However, given the projected size of pole shift earthquakes (in the 9.0 magnitude range worldwide), mountain building and continental rifts tearing apart, underground facilities will hardly be a safe haven.

As major earth changes steadily increase, with a steady uptick in earthquakes and volcanic activity, a discernible earth wobble, and wild weather extremes and punishing storms, maintaining the cover-up is impossible.

But, what about the rest of us who are not counted among the so-called "elite"? What of us? What are we to do? Should we just go on with their lives, residing in known danger zones? Should we remain living on coastlines or in cities to drown or die as cities flood and skyscrapers come crashing down?

Yes. This is what the so-called elite would have us do, at least until they are safely tucked away from masses and the coming chaos.

Such is the nature of the cover-up.

+++ UPDATE +++ Elite Resignations Last 48 Hours +++

NEW: BBC General Director George Entwistle resigns over elitist child sex ring allegations

[http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/10/bbc-director-general-resigns-after-erroneous-child-abuse-report/?hpt=hp_t1]

CIA director David Petraeus resigns in wake of extramarital affair

Lockheed Martin’s incoming CEO resigns; replacement named

Laval’s scandal-plagued mayor resigns

Applebaum resigns from Montreals’s executive committee

Rona’s top executive resigns

Frank Stronach steps down from Magna board chairmanship

Roger Ortiz’ resignation official, Cameron Co. searches for replace…

KU VC Sharma resigns

PetroShale Announces Resignation of Director

Hoskins, Sousa resign from cabinet, opening door for Ontario Libera… :

Hillary Clinton stepping down

Eric Holder (Attorney General)

... and the list goes on ...


and......................


I wasn't sure about Hilary Clinton going, as lots of articles just say it's probable - but there's something here (sorry just edited as realise Robert has posted article above confirming this as well)....

http://www.lawyerherald.com/articles/2389/20121107/hilary-clinton-secretary-state-resigns-despite-obama.htm

The once rival of President Barrack Obama in the 2008 elections and current Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, says that despite Tuesday night's victory, she plans to resign from a post as Secretary of State.

State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland told The International News, "I don't think the secretary's plans have changed...You've heard her say many times that she intends to see through a transition of a successor and then she will go back to private life and enjoy some rest, and think and write and all those things," adding that "She seems pretty set in her plans."

Recently, Clinton announced that she took full responsibility for the terrorist attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya, in which the U.S. Ambassador to Libya - Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed.

Clinton leaves the office with a 70 percent bipartisan job-approval ratings according to the Wall Street Journal. There is still no clue released as to whom President Obama plans to appoint as Secretary of State during his second term.

But some suspect that 65-year-old Clinton might run for presidency in 2016, a supposition Clinton brushes off.
more at link


and this on Eric Holder:

http://www.examiner.com/article/attorney-general-holder-expected-to-resign-say-law-enforcement-officials

Now that President Barack Obama has successfully garnered four-more years in the White House, attention to his second-term cabinet is increasing with many questioning the future of Obama's controversial U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, according to several police sources who spoke to the Law Enforcement Examiner on Saturday.

Over the weekend, several national news organizations pointed to statements Holder made regarding possibly leaving the Obama administration before the start of the president's second-term, according to Kenneth Schortgen Jr. at Examiner.

Many believe that if the GOP members of the House and Senate continue to delve into their investigation of an undercover gun-smuggling operation gone wrong, it will force Holder to resign. The Obama "attack dog" has already been found in contempt of congress for failing to comply with requests for documents related to the ATF's Operation Fast & Furious.

Although lawmakers and government watchdog groups are focusing on the Benghazi consulate attack, especially the discovery of more and more information that contradicts what the American people were told by the Obama administration and reelection campaign, many have not forgotten the so-called Operation Fast & Furious debacle and cover-up.
more at link

[Sabrina]

There's a good thread on the UK Savile and wider sexual abuse stories on Avalon, but for the record and resignation tally, here's another. However, I reckon there's a lot of distraction and media manipulation going on to keep high profile offenders from being named - and a lot of threats behind the scenes no doubt.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-20336798

15 Nov UK


Dave Lee Travis arrested on suspicion of sexual offences


Former Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis has been arrested as part of the police probe set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal, the BBC understands.

The 67-year-old was arrested at his home in Mentmore, Buckinghamshire, on suspicion of sexual offences.

The Met said their investigation into alleged abuse by Savile and others - Operation Yewtree - had so far recorded 200 allegations of sexual assault.

They have now identified about 450 potential victims of sexual abuse.

The arrest of Mr Travis is the fourth so far in connection with the Savile investigation.

In a statement, the Met said the latest arrest "falls under the strand of the investigation we have termed 'Others'", meaning the allegations are unrelated to Savile.

But the force said that the "vast majority" of the 450 possible victims were alleging sexual abuse by former BBC TV presenter and DJ Savile, who died last year aged 84.

full story at link


and

David Icke's view on the current saga in his forthcoming newsletter:

http://www.davidicke.com/headlines

... SO I ASK 'CRAZY' QUESTIONS

The David Icke Newsletter Goes Out On Sunday

Steve Messham said that the problem of 'mistaken identity' arose because police showed him a picture in the 1990s of the person that he said abused him and they told him that it was Lord McAlpine. Now they had shown him a picture of Lord McAlpine 'in the last hour' and he had realised that it is not the man in the picture that police showed to him in the 1990s.

We are being asked to believe that in the 15-20 years between Steve Messham allegedly being shown the picture of 'Lord McAlpine' by police and accusing him of sexually abusing him in an unbroadcast part of the interview with Newsnight that Messham has never once Googled 'Lord Alistair McAlpine' and seen the pictures of him widely available ever since he said he was abused??

Yet a few days before Messham came out with his sudden ‘mistaken identity’ apology, he had told Channel Four News that he had broken into the flat of an abuser in North Wales and taken away dozens of photographs of abusers raping boys, including himself, and some clearly showed the face, he said, of what he claimed was the ‘prominent Tory abuser’.

Was he talking in the Channel Four News interview about the same person that he later said he had mistakenly identified or someone else? We need clarity on this, Steve, because it’s all very confusing.

Further, he said that he not only had polaroid photographs of the ‘prominent Tory abuser’, but the man had told him who he was and how he would have him killed if he ever spoke out. This is his interview with Channel Four News about the photographs:

videos and more at link

[modwiz]

Another new resignation list - don't we love them :)... I don't buy into the earth changes shift fear mongering tho' - personally think shift is leading to the demise of these people.

Although lawmakers and government watchdog groups are focusing on the Benghazi consulate attack, especially the discovery of more and more information that contradicts what the American people were told by the Obama administration and reelection campaign, many have not forgotten the so-called Operation Fast & Furious debacle and cover-up.
more at link

I think it is a lot of shifty people who are getting caught being full of shift.

[latshaw]

Wow! I think all the insiders should go to trial and then put Martha Stewart on the Jury! Now that's what I would call justice!:cool:

[Sabrina]

And of course there is no doubt a much higher level of secret money stashes by those higher up the pyramid...wonder if this detracts from this reality in some ways...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9665741/HSBC-Investigation-clients-of-Britains-biggest-bank-exposed.html

HSBC Investigation: clients of Britain's biggest bank exposed

Britain’s biggest bank is at the centre of a major HM Revenue and Customs investigation after it opened offshore accounts in Jersey for serious criminals living in this country, The Telegraph can disclose.

The tax authorities have obtained details of every British client of HSBC in Jersey after a whistleblower secretly provided a detailed list of names, addresses and account balances earlier this week.

The Telegraph understands that among those identified on the list are Daniel Bayes, a drug dealer who is now in Venezuela; Michael Lee, who was convicted of possessing more than 300 weapons at his house in Devon; three bankers facing major fraud allegations and a man once dubbed London’s “number two computer crook”. A series of other accounts containing six-figure deposits are also registered to modest addresses in relatively poor parts of the country.

The disclosures raise serious questions about HSBC’s procedures in Jersey, with the bank already preparing to pay fines of around $1.5 billion in America for breaking money laundering rules.

The bank is legally obliged to report to the authorities any suspicions about the source of money deposited in its accounts.

HM Revenue and Customs is now understood to be trawling through a list of the names and addresses of more than 4,000 people based in Britain who had bank accounts at HSBC in Jersey.


This work is expected to lead to the identification of hundreds of people who are evading tax as the accounts have not been previously disclosed.

Last night, a spokesman for HMRC said: “We can confirm we have received the data and we are studying it. We receive information from a very wide range of sources which we use to ensure the tax rules are being respected.
“Clamping down on those who try to cheat the system through evading taxes and over claiming benefits is a top priority for us and we value the information we receive from the public and business community.”

The Telegraph has established from public records that HSBC has opened bank accounts in Jersey for several people who are wanted by the police or have serious criminal convictions.

The information obtained by HMRC is thought to be the biggest data leak identifying holders of offshore accounts ever obtained by the British tax authorities.

The list identifies 4,388 people holding £699 million in offshore current accounts and they are also likely to have billions of pounds more in investment schemes. Several celebrities and other well-known figures are understood to be identified in the client data.

Tax authorities around the world are involved in an increasingly aggressive race to obtain details of their citizens with offshore bank accounts, many of which are suspected to be linked to tax evasion or other criminal activity. An insider at HSBC in Switzerland has already sold details of the bank’s clients in Geneva to tax authorities in 2008. This led to the creation of the so-called “Lagarde list”, named after the then French finance minister, with about 2,000 Britons identified. Last week, a Greek journalist was threatened with prosecution after disclosing details of Greek account holders on the Lagarde list.

The leak of the Jersey data, which is understood not to have involved HMRC paying for the list, is expected to have global ramifications as more than 4,000 residents of other countries are identified, although British residents account for more than half of all the clients.

The HSBC Jersey client list is understood to be heavily dominated by senior figures in the City. Dozens of bankers are understood to have deposited six-figure sums offshore with some institutions said to have “clusters” of employees taking advantage of the accounts.


Doctors, mining and oil executives and oil workers are also heavily represented in the list. More unexpectedly, a greengrocer in the East End is understood to have more than £80,000 in his HSBC current account in Jersey.
Although some of the individuals may have declared the offshore holdings, HMRC is currently understood to be comparing the new documents with tax records to identify anomalies.

One investment manager has more than £6 million in his account, while the average amount held is £337,000. Under Britain’s non-domicile rules, those with foreign roots only have to pay tax on money entering Britain – provided it is earned abroad. However, more seriously for HSBC, dozens of people with no obvious legal source of substantial income are holding large sums in Jersey.

Daniel Bayes was branded “monstrous” for refusing to return from Venezuela after £500,000 of cannabis was found growing at his farm in 2006.

His father was jailed for three years in his absence. Mr Bayes is understood to have deposited £250,000 in an offshore account, although police said they would still like to question him.

A couple who live in a small house in Teignmouth, Devon, deposited £85,000 in an offshore account. More than 300 firearms, including Israeli Uzi submachine guns and pump-action shotguns, were found in their house after a police raid in 2001. Michael Lee was jailed for two years in 2002.

Around the world, HSBC has faced repeated accusations that it was not maintaining sufficient controls over the source of money deposited in its accounts. Money laundering rules demand that banks monitor the source of money and report any suspicions to the relevant authorities. Most banks take an active approach to this duty.

In July, a US Senate investigation found that money-laundering controls were largely absent in HSBC’s operations in Mexico. The bank has also faced serious criticism for hiding Iranian transactions.

One analyst called HSBC’s practices “a wink/nod business model” that showed “a profound lack of controls”.
Stuart Gulliver, the chief executive of HSBC, previously admitted: “We failed to spot and deal with unacceptable behaviour.” He insisted the bank would begin to operate at “a single standard globally that is determined by the highest standard we must apply anywhere”.

A spokesman for the bank said last night: “HSBC has a duty of confidentiality and cannot comment on clients even to confirm or deny they are clients. We have good relationships with our regulators and co-operate with investigations when required to do so.”

Whistle-blowers helping authorities chase tax evaders
TAX authorities around the world are involved in an increasingly aggressive and often clandestine race to gain information on the identities of those with offshore bank accounts.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has paid hundreds of thousands of pounds to whistle-blowers in return for information about offshore account holders. German authorities reportedly paid €2.5 million (£1.9 million) to an unnamed individual for a CD containing details of HSBC clients in Switzerland in 2010.

The data contained information that led prosecutors to believe that more than £1 billion of undeclared income had been deposited by 1,100 wealthy Germans.

Last week, a Greek magazine published a list of HSBC’s Swiss bank account holders. It is known as the “Lagarde List”, because the then French finance minister Christine Lagarde — now the International Monetary Fund director — handed it to Greek authorities in 2010.

HMRC also received details of British residents from this list and has investigated 500 of those identified.
HMRC is understood not to have paid for information about HSBC’s Jersey clients but the data it has received is thought to be the single biggest disclosure of a bank’s offshore customers.

The Daily Telegraph understands that the whistleblower who has obtained the information also has further lists of offshore HSBC clients with addresses outside Britain, including 602 in Israel, 527 in France, 333 in Spain and 117 in the US. In total, the leaked HSBC Jersey client list is thought to contain the names and addresses of 8,474 people. More than half are based in this country.

The use of tax havens by British residents and citizens to minimise tax is legal but subject to a range of complex rules and regulations. British taxpayers have a duty to report to HMRC details of money held offshore that is liable to tax.

15 Nov

[Sabrina]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/fsa-is-set-to-investigate-former-chief-over-hbos-supervision-8324206.html

17 Nov UK


FSA is set to investigate former chief over HBOS supervision

Crosby also 'headed bank for some of relevant period' ahead of near collapse



The City watchdog is to investigate whether its former deputy chairman Sir James Crosby had an "undue influence" on its oversight of HBOS in the run-up to the bank's near collapse, it emerged last night.

Sir James joined the board of the Financial Services Authority in January 2004, and became deputy chairman there in 2007, having been appointed by Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer. Mr Brown has previously told the Treasury Select Committee that he took "full responsibility" for the appointment.

Sir James was still chief executive of HBOS at the time he joined the watchdog's board and did not step down from the bank until 2006 when he was replaced Andy Hornby, the former retailer who was in charge of the bank when it had to be rescued by Lloyds Banking Group in a deal brokered by Mr Brown's government.

Summary minutes of the watchdog's September meeting reveal that directors discussed the fact that Sir James, "the previous deputy chair of the FSA" had been "CEO of HBOS for part of the relevant period" and that the report "needed to address any perceived influence of his position on the FSA's supervision of HBOS".

Sir James's role at the FSA became hugely controversial after allegations that he had sacked HBOS's former head of risk Paul Moore, who in 2003 and 2004 argued that the bank was exposed to too much risk.

Mr Moore's arguments centred on concerns about borrowers' ability to repay loans rather than wholesale lending markets shutting down, which left the bank fatally exposed and led to its rescue by Lloyds. Mr Moore's dossier of complaints was originally investigated by KPMG, the City accountancy firm and former HBOS auditor, which concluded that HBOS did in fact have appropriate risk controls in place at the time. This was originally accepted by the Financial Services Authority.

Sir James resigned from his role at the FSA to protect it from mounting criticism after the news that Mr Moore had raised concerns about the bank's risk profile broke.

Were the report to find that Sir James had exerted any influence over the supervision of HBOS it could ignite a powder keg and draw Mr Brown in, although there is no suggestion that this is the case.

The analysis of the FSA's conduct will be carried out by Grant Thornton after all the "big four" accounts, which include PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte and Ernst & Young in addition to KPMG declined the work citing conflicts of interest.

Board members also discussed the fact that the report will likely prove to be more expensive than a similar probe into the collapse of Royal Bank of Scotland. Costs will be met by Lloyds Banking Group as HBOS's owner.

The report is not expected to see the light of day until next summer. It was commissioned after Peter Cummings, who led the bank's commercial lending arm, was fined £500,000 and banned from the City, bringing to an end the only disciplinary action to result from the bank's failure.

The Parliamentary Inquiry into Banking Standards has also been considering HBOS's near collapse.

[Sabrina]

Bit of a middle England rant worthy of the UK's Mail, but reckon what it really shows is that people are waking up and others are being relentlessly exposed. And no doubt this is the same across the world. But the hysteria about the BBC is a clever distraction from the alleged McALpine abuse story in my opinion. Altho' they are up to their neck in it in allowing the abuse by Savile and other to go on there of course. A lot of shifty people in the shift as Modwiz says so moral indignation is a good tool to detract from the real morally bankrupt stories lol...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2234234/Cynicism-rules-OK.html

17 Nov UK

This week's elections expose the collapse of the public's trust in our institutions
By DOMINIC SANDBROOK

few weeks ago, I found myself standing outside a handsome office building on London’s Embankment, staring at a blue plaque.

According to the plaque, this was Savoy Hill — one of the first homes of the British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation) after it began broadcasting in November 1922, exactly 90 years ago.

Today, seven days after the shambolic resignation of BBC director-general George Entwistle, that first BBC looks almost completely unrecognisable.

Back then, its handful of employees were largely drawn from engineering firms such as the Marconi Company. Its ethos was one of cheerful amateurism, and inside its tiny studio, the amiable spirit of the British boffin prevailed.

Above all, it was an institution with a profound sense of moral mission, epitomised by its first director-general, the stern Scottish Presbyterian John Reith.

Under Reith, the BBC refused to broadcast before noon on Sundays so that listeners would attend church instead. And one BBC legend holds that when Reith caught an announcer kissing his secretary, he banned the man from reading the late-night religious programme, Epilogue.

As the BBC marked its 90th birthday this week, those innocent days seem a long way away.

The celebrations were almost completely overshadowed by the fallout from Newsnight’s catastrophically inaccurate allegations against Lord McAlpine, which forced the resignation of George Entwistle.

And even the BBC’s greatest admirers must admit that the scandal surrounding Jimmy Savile, now exposed as a squalid child abuser, has left a deep stain.

But the furore engulfing the BBC is just one of an apparently endless number of recent controversies to have soiled the reputation of Britain’s greatest institutions. From Parliament and the police to the banks and the courts, the tide of allegations has rolled inexorably on.

A generation ago, it would have seemed unthinkable that a newspaper would hack into an abducted girl’s phone, that an MP might fiddle his expenses, or that a hospital would allow an eccentric DJ to rampage through its children’s wards.

Perhaps we were naive. If so, our naivety has been comprehensively dispelled.

Polls show that the British people are inexorably losing faith in their governing elites and institutions.

According to researchers Ipsos-Mori, only 29 per cent of us trust our bankers, while a mere 19 per cent trust the Press. In just two years, trust in our judges has fallen by 8 per cent and in teachers by 7 per cent.


But these professions are positively popular compared with those most loathed and despised characters, our nation’s politicians. Astonishingly, just 14 per cent of us trust politicians to tell the truth, and only 17 per cent of us trust government ministers.

As for our leaders themselves, David Cameron’s favourability rating stands at minus 29 per cent, while Nick Clegg’s is an atrocious minus 45 per cent.

The turnout for Thursday’s three by-elections was shamefully small: 18 per cent in Manchester Central (the lowest in a parliamentary by-election since World War II) and 25 per cent in Cardiff South; and even worse — only 15 per cent — for the new votes for police and crime commissioners.

These figures, which make a mockery of the democratic process, tell a terribly disheartening story.

Perhaps never in our modern history has the reputation of politics itself been so tarnished, and never has the lack of trust in our governing institutions been so glaringly apparent.

What does this say about the health of our democracy? It is little wonder, though, that Parliament’s reputation is in the gutter. Many of us will never forgive our MPs for the grotesque avarice and corruption of the expenses scandal.


...........................more at link

Sadly, it is the same story with many other institutions that were once seen as impeccable pillars of society.

The judiciary, for example, are no longer held in automatic respect, partly because they often seem so limp and powerless in the face of European courts and directives.

It is little wonder that many ordinary people are losing faith in the British justice system. Even now, the Coalition is planning to introduce more secret courts, with judges listening to civil cases behind closed doors.

Once again, transparency and democracy are being sacrificed at the altar of so-called national security. Do our rulers care nothing for our proud traditions of law and freedom?

Then there is the NHS, the institution that film director Danny Boyle celebrated so enthusiastically in his acclaimed Olympic opening ceremony.

Polls show that ordinary Britons admire the NHS more than any other institution — no doubt because, at crucial moments such as childbirth, illness and death, most of us are so grateful for the aid and comfort of our doctors and nurses.

Yet, just like the BBC, the NHS appears to be up to its neck in the Jimmy Savile scandal. There are stories of Savile scouring the wards at Stoke Mandeville Hospital and Leeds General Infirmary for victims.

more at link

[Sabrina]

Interesting quote from Lord McAlpine 'apparently' falsely accused in part of the current UK sexual abuse scandals

http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/

From the horses mouth

Quote taken from “The New Machiavelli: The Art of Politics in Business” 1999 by Lord McAlpine
Lord McAlpine’s views on dealing with the media: “Another option is for the businessperson to learn the art of dealing with the media, using all the tricks that go with that trade – such as the false defeat: when a person seems to lose, in order to gain public sympathy, or the false triumph: where a person seems to win in order to appear strong – thus giving credibility to any number of dubious propositions that person may wish to make in the future. Neither of these ploys are examples of the use of true facts, rather of false facts given to the media to chew on, much as a dog chews on a bone. Another useful ploy is the false accusation. First, create a situation where you are wrongly accused. Then, at a convenient moment, arrange for the false accusation to be shown to be false beyond all doubt. Those who have made accusations against both the company and its management become discredited. Further accusations will then be treated with great suspicion. Always remember that people’s memories are very frail, remembering only both the high spots and the lows of a person’s career, and then seldom remembering accurately. People believe in the facts that it suits them to believe.” p176.

BBC saga is a sideshow that detracts from the real victims

[Sabrina]

From 14 Nov demonstrations - photos at link

https://rt.com/news/austerity-protests-eu-solidarity-727/

We have no future!' EU anger unites millions in protest (PHOTOS, VIDEO)


Massive anti-austerity strikes and protests swept across Europe as millions took to the streets to express their frustration over rising unemployment and dire economic prospects. Many rallies ended with violent clashes with police.

Workers marched in 23 countries across Europe to mark the European Day of Action and Solidarity.

General strikes had been called in Spain and Portugal, paralyzing public services and international flights, in Belgium and France transport links were partially disrupted by strikes and demonstrations, in Italy and Greece thousands of workers and students marched through the streets.

Other EU countries, such as Germany, Austria and Poland, saw well attended union-led rallies.

full story at link


and

http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2012/11/italian-newspapers-report-secret-bilderberg-meeting-in-rome-shares-hotel-with-international-film-festival-2-2497168.html

Italian Newspapers Report Secret Bilderberg Meeting in Rome Shares Hotel with International Film Festival


(Intelhub | By JG Vibes) Various newspapers and online articles in Italy are suggesting that a good portion of the Bilderberg group, at least 80 of them, have been called to Rome this week for a secret meeting regarding the engineered Euro financial crisis and the unrest that has come as a result.

This meeting is particularly unusual because it is so small and informal, but it is possible that they may have switched up their tactics after the massive turnout for this year’s Bilderberg protest. It is also possible that these smaller meetings happen all the time, but were always able to slide under the radar.

This meeting is also unusual because they aren’t renting out an entire hotel, in fact, they are using a hotel that is hosting a massive event at the same time. The hotel they have chosen is “the De Russi”, which is the site of this year’s International Film Festival, so that was either a major scheduling error or an attempt to hide in plain sight.

Despite all of the commotion surrounding the hotel this week, local publications were able to publish detailed lists of those who are attending the event. Most of the publications to cover the meeting are suggesting that the topic of discussion will be the new commissioner for Spain, Greece, Italy and other areas of the European Union that are in dire economic crisis…..Lees verder

[Sabrina]

http://canadianawareness.org/2012/11/reports-of-bilderberg-meeting-in-rome-being-raided-by-activists/

More on the Bilderberg Meeting in Rome last week


Reports Of Bilderberg Meeting In Rome Being “Raided” By Activists
BY TERRY WILSON – POSTED ON NOVEMBER 16, 2012

POSTED IN: WORLD NEWS

The Italian website novopress.info Published this article titled Giovane Italia action against a meeting of the Bilderberg Group on November 14 2012:

Yesterday, activists Roman Giovane Italia, the structure of young PdL (the Freedom Party, born of the union between Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and former MSI became National Alliance), raided a meeting Bilderberg Group held in the eternal City.

Implemented quickly, this action against the globalist group influence, which holds its meetings in the greatest secrecy (Rome, there were leaders, bankers but also journalists …), wanted to say that no one can trample the sovereignty of the people. Such as banks. This is why Giovane Italia opposes wear and financialization.

But especially Giovane Italia has protested against the presence of the Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti – yet supported by the PdL – the man of Goldman Sachs, at this meeting. “Mario Monti must be part of this meeting in Parliament and state what is being said. It is a shame that Prime Minister participates in these secret meetings where bankers and technocrats decide the future of the people, “said the press Cesare Giardina, President Giovane Italia Roma.

and


http://geraldcelentechannel.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/breaking-news-emergency-bilderberg.html

Breaking News ~ Emergency Bilderberg Group Meeting in Rome 13 Nov 2012

The huge EU Protests probably behind the Emergency Bilderberg Meeting . Italian Newspapers Report Secret Bilderberg Meeting in Rome Shares Hotel with International Film Festival "It seems like a provocation. The Bilderberg Group meets in secret in Rome. Likely to decide the fate (and maybe the commissioner) of Italy, Greece and Spains. In secret, but in the wrong place, because the hotel chosen for the meeting, the De Russie, in these days is besieged by reporters, photographers and fans for the presence of stars participating in the International Film Festival in capital." one italian newspaper wrote today


some of the non Italian participants as reported by some Italian media are : Tom Enders, ceo of the Eads, Marcus Agius of Barclays, Edmund Clark, Canadian chairman of Td Bank group, Kenneth Jacobs head of Lazard, the american Klaus Kleinfeld chairman of Alcoa , Jorma Ollila of Shell. Two big shots David Rockefeller and Jean Claude Trichet instead gave up probably fearing for their security in the known chaos of Rome says an Italian newspaper
(15 Nov)

[Sabrina]

Are we asked to believe that he did this all by himself? Or is it fudging something else?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/nov/20/ubs-rogue-trader-guilty-fraud

20 Nov

UBS 'rogue' trader found guilty of fraud

Jury convicts Kweku Adoboli of one count of fraud in relation to £1.5bn trading loss at one of world's best-known banks

A "rogue" UBS employee who helped lose £1.5bn for one of the world's best-known banks by trading huge sums in off-the-book deals, has been convicted of fraud.

A jury at Southwark crown court convicted Kweku Adoboli, 32, of one count of fraud. They are still considering one more count of fraud and four of false accounting.

Adoboli bowed his head when the jury foreman gave the unanimous verdict of all 10 jurors. Judge Brian Keith told the jury to seek similar verdicts on the remaining counts, but told them he would accept majority verdicts of 9-1 if necessary.

The trial heard how Adoboli accepted that his unofficial trades cost UBS more than £1.5bn, but he said he had been working in the best interests of a bank whose bosses placed him under enormous pressure to increase profits. He said colleagues on the exchange traded futures desk where he worked knew about his activities.

Prosecutors told the court that at one point the potential liabilities to UBS of Adoboli's illicit trades totalled more than £7bn, a sum big enough to bring down the bank.

The Ghanaian-born, British-educated trader was arrested on 14 September last year after back-office accountants began to press him on apparent anomalies in his trading records. Walking out of his London office, Adoboli went home to compose an email accepting "full responsibility for my actions and the **** storm that will now ensue" and apologising for putting the bank at risk.

The prosecution portrayed Adoboli, whose combined salary and bonus rose from £30,000 to £360,000 during his eight years with UBS, as a reckless gambler obsessed with his status as a rising star and desperate to boost his bonus. From late 2008 he began making unofficial deals, exceeding his daily limits and failing to make matching hedged trades, a requirement which restricts profits but caps possible losses.

Adoboli initially accrued substantial profits, which were lodged in a secret account he called his "umbrella" and then drip-fed back on to the regular books. But as European markets hit turmoil in the summer of 2011 the trades began to make losses, which he attempted to recoup with ever-bigger punts.

Giving evidence, Adoboli insisted his colleagues knew about the umbrella, and spoke of a prevailing culture in which even relatively junior traders such as himself were given minimal oversight and tacitly urged to make money by whatever means necessary.

The dramatic nine-week hearing saw Adoboli described as a gambling-mad markets obsessive who worked long hours and spent much of his leisure time devoted to financial spread betting. He lost £123,000 in the year before his arrest and, despite his huge income, was forced to take out a series of short-term "payday" loans.

Adoboli, who sat with his legal team rather than in the dock so he could advise them on the technical terms used, wept repeatedly when he gave evidence, saying he had been devoted to UBS and only wanted to help the bank survive market turmoil.

[Sabrina]

This goes back to the UK Murdoch/News International phone hacking saga earlier in the year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20405915

20 Nov UK


Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks face Operation Elveden charges


Ex-Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson and ex-News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks are to be charged in connection with payments to police and public officials.

Journalists Clive Goodman and John Kay and MoD employee Bettina Jordan-Barber also face charges, the CPS says.

Mr Coulson, who was editor of the News of the World before moving to Downing Street, says he denies the allegations.

Operation Elveden is the Met Police investigation into corrupt payments.

Mr Coulson, Mr Goodman, Mrs Brooks and Ms Jordan-Barber are to be charged with conspiring to commit misconduct in public office.

Mr Kay, who was the chief reporter of the Sun, has already been charged.

Mr Coulson and Mr Goodman, a former royal correspondent at the now-defunct News of the World, are to be charged with two conspiracies relating to the request and authorisation of alleged payments to public officials in exchange for information - including a royal phone directory known as the "Green Book".

'Public interest'
It is said to have contained contact details for the Royal Family and members of the royal household.


Former Sun journalist John Kay has been charged
The two counts of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office involve one between 31 August 2002 and 31 January 2003 and another between 31 January and 3 June 2005.

In a statement, Mr Coulson said he was "extremely disappointed" by the CPS's decision.

"I deny the allegations made against me and will fight the charges in court," he said.

Ms Jordan-Barber, Mr Kay and Mrs Brooks face one count of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office between 1 January 2004 and 31 January 2012.

The MoD said it would not comment on the charges related to its employee.

Alison Levitt, principal legal adviser to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), said: "All of these matters were considered carefully in accordance with the DPP's guidelines on the public interest in cases affecting the media.

Other inquiries
"This guidance asks prosecutors to consider whether the public interest served by the conduct in question outweighs the overall criminality before bringing criminal proceedings."

Mr Kay has been bailed to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on 29 November 2012.

The other four are set to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on a date to be fixed.

There is one remaining suspect who is still being investigated in relation to the charges faced by Mrs Brooks, Mr Kay and Ms Jordan-Barber.

So far 52 people have been arrested as part of Operation Elveden.

Two of them, a retired police officer and a former journalist, have been informed that they will face no further action.

Operation Elveden is being run alongside two other inquiries - Operation Weeting, which is looking at allegations of phone hacking, and Operation Tuleta, an inquiry into accusations of computer hacking and other privacy breaches.

The investigations into possible media and police misconduct followed allegations of phone hacking at the News of the World, which led to the closure of the paper after 168 years.

[Sabrina]

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/sec-rocked-by-lurid-sex-and-corruption-lawsuit-20121119#ixzz2CkEmebGi%C2%A0

US

SEC Rocked By Lurid Sex-and-Corruption Lawsuit

Move over, adulterous generals. It might be time to make way for a new sexual rats'nest – at America's top financial police agency, the SEC.

In a salacious 77-page complaint that reads like Penthouse Forum meets The Insider meets the Keystone Kops, one David Weber, the former chief investigator for the SEC Inspector General's office, accuses the SEC of retaliating against Weber for coming forward as a whistleblower. According to this lawsuit, Weber was made a target of intramural intrigues at the agency (which has a history of such retaliation) after he came forward with concerns that his bosses may have been spending more time copulating than they were investigating the SEC.

Weber vs. the SEC: The Full Complaint

Weber claims that in recent years, while the SEC Inspector General's office has been attempting to investigate the agency's seemingly-negligent responses in such matters as the Bernie Madoff case and the less-well-known (but nearly as disturbing) Stanford Financial Ponzi scandal, two of the IG office's senior officials – former Inspector General David Kotz and his successor, Noelle Maloney – were sleeping together.

Weber also claims that Kotz was also having an affair with a lawyer representing a key group of Stanford victims, a Dr. Gaytri Kachroo. Where the story gets really strange is where Weber claims that Maloney last year refused to meet with Kachroo as part of the Stanford investigation. By then, Kotz had stepped down as SEC IG and Maloney had replaced him as Acting IG. The complaint describes Weber confronting Maloney over the issue, asking why she wouldn't meet with the lawyer representing a key group of Stanford victims.

Maloney asked Weber to close the door to her office. Maloney told Weber that she would deny the following conversation if Weber were to repeat it.

Maloney then said that, "David [Kotz] was ****ing that lady . . ." Maloney stated that Kachroo had received special treatment. Maloney even questioned whether the OIG would have ever opened an investigation into the SEC's oversight over the Court-Appointed Receivership in SEC v. Stanford.

The Weber lawsuit is the latest chapter in an ongoing drama that began when Kotz stepped down last January amid not-world-shaking ethics questions (including, of all things, receiving Philadelphia Eagles tickets from a financial adviser). Subsequently, however, an investigation by the U.S. Postal Service Inspector General David Williams concluded more seriously that Kotz violated rules by overseeing investigations involving people with whom he had "personal relationships."

Weber's complaints, made early last year, were apparently the impetus for that Williams investigation. If what happened to Weber subsequently was retaliation, it didn't take long. Weber was placed on leave in May after being accused of being a "personal threat" who wanted to bring a gun into the office. The "gun" incident was highly publicized, and Weber was ridiculed in the media (sample from the Atlantic Wire: "Do You Really Need a Gun to Police the SEC?").

Weber was fired on October 31st. Apparently he has decided not to take the firing quietly. "When David Weber began to uncover the depth of dysfunction at the SEC, they fired him," his attorney Cary Hansel said. "He has no intention of being silenced by threats and false allegations."

The filing of this lawsuit now by Weber officially begins the raging cluster**** portion of the story, as he and his lawyers are releasing lurid details not only about Kotz and Maloney, but about a host of other SEC and SEC IG officials. It's very strong stuff: the only things missing from this lawsuit are tales of SEC officials running white-slavery rings and snorting brown-brown off the corpses of strippers with West African rebels.

There are, for instance, allegations that officials handed out SEC contracts to buddies at influential Beltway consulting firms, claims that sexual harassment cases were covered up and accusations that the SEC failed to properly screen contractors who were given full access to SEC databases (it cites an example of one contractor who was on early parole from a 10-year narcotics bid in Virginia). The suit also alleges that the SEC security chief, William Fagan, "watched the video feed from security cameras outside of the [Inspector General's] suite, in order to determine the identities of . . . potential whistleblowers."

Perhaps most crazily, however, the suit alleges major security violations. In one section, Weber claims that SEC investigators took sensitive, highly-protected system data from financial exchanges like the NYSE – systems so carefully protected that they have to be "air gapped," i.e. not connected to the internet – and loaded them on unencrypted laptops before flying to Vegas to attend a "Black Hat" convention for security specialists and hackers. From the suit:

Many government and law enforcement officials who attend the "Black Hat" conference register under aliases, keeping their identities and employers secret. However, the SEC staff who attended, with unencrypted laptops containing sensitive exchange information, registered under their own names and identified their employer. Walking around this convention with a name tag and, regardless of name tag, registered as an SEC IT information security examiner, is the equivalent of wearing a giant target on one's back.

Reassuring!

It's hard to say how all of this will shake out. Certainly, from a P.R. standpoint, it'll be ugly for the SEC. One other storyline to follow: If the Weber retaliation claims are true, they fall within an ongoing and increasingly disturbing pattern of federal whistleblowers who have come forward and experienced reprisals themselves instead of having their claims investigated properly.

Another story to follow is the possibility that the SEC Inspector General's office in recent years was weakened or compromised by these sexual scandals in any way. If all this kink was common knowledge within the agency, it is not hard to imagine that OIG investigations into things like the Madoff mess might have had their momentum slowed by internal politics.

Anyway, crazy stuff, more to come down the line. SEC spokesman John Nester by the way had no comment on the story today, except to say: "We look forward to filing our response with the court."

19 NOv

[modwiz]

Are we asked to believe that he did this all by himself? Or is it fudging something else?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/nov/20/ubs-rogue-trader-guilty-fraud

20 Nov

[B]UBS 'rogue' trader found guilty of fraud




Giving evidence, Adoboli insisted his colleagues knew about the umbrella, and spoke of a prevailing culture in which even relatively junior traders such as himself were given minimal oversight and tacitly urged to make money by whatever means necessary.

Adoboli, who sat with his legal team rather than in the dock so he could advise them on the technical terms used, wept repeatedly when he gave evidence, saying he had been devoted to UBS and only wanted to help the bank survive market turmoil.

His devotion is still apparent, he is willing taking the hit for the bigger boys. He is raw meat hung out for angry people. He is just the 'chitlins', the real juicy meat is still safe. Let us hope not too much longer. The nonsense has to stop.

[modwiz]

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/sec-rocked-by-lurid-sex-and-corruption-lawsuit-20121119#ixzz2CkEmebGi%C2%A0

US

SEC Rocked By Lurid Sex-and-Corruption Lawsuit

Move over, adulterous generals. It might be time to make way for a new sexual rats'nest – at America's top financial police agency, the SEC.

In a salacious 77-page complaint that reads like Penthouse Forum meets The Insider meets the Keystone Kops, one David Weber, the former chief investigator for the SEC Inspector General's office, accuses the SEC of retaliating against Weber for coming forward as a whistleblower. According to this lawsuit, Weber was made a target of intramural intrigues at the agency (which has a history of such retaliation) after he came forward with concerns that his bosses may have been spending more time copulating than they were investigating the SEC.

Weber vs. the SEC: The Full Complaint

Weber claims that in recent years, while the SEC Inspector General's office has been attempting to investigate the agency's seemingly-negligent responses in such matters as the Bernie Madoff case and the less-well-known (but nearly as disturbing) Stanford Financial Ponzi scandal, two of the IG office's senior officials – former Inspector General David Kotz and his successor, Noelle Maloney – were sleeping together.

Weber also claims that Kotz was also having an affair with a lawyer representing a key group of Stanford victims, a Dr. Gaytri Kachroo. Where the story gets really strange is where Weber claims that Maloney last year refused to meet with Kachroo as part of the Stanford investigation. By then, Kotz had stepped down as SEC IG and Maloney had replaced him as Acting IG. The complaint describes Weber confronting Maloney over the issue, asking why she wouldn't meet with the lawyer representing a key group of Stanford victims.

Maloney asked Weber to close the door to her office. Maloney told Weber that she would deny the following conversation if Weber were to repeat it.

Maloney then said that, "David [Kotz] was ****ing that lady . . ." Maloney stated that Kachroo had received special treatment. Maloney even questioned whether the OIG would have ever opened an investigation into the SEC's oversight over the Court-Appointed Receivership in SEC v. Stanford.

The Weber lawsuit is the latest chapter in an ongoing drama that began when Kotz stepped down last January amid not-world-shaking ethics questions (including, of all things, receiving Philadelphia Eagles tickets from a financial adviser). Subsequently, however, an investigation by the U.S. Postal Service Inspector General David Williams concluded more seriously that Kotz violated rules by overseeing investigations involving people with whom he had "personal relationships."

Weber's complaints, made early last year, were apparently the impetus for that Williams investigation. If what happened to Weber subsequently was retaliation, it didn't take long. Weber was placed on leave in May after being accused of being a "personal threat" who wanted to bring a gun into the office. The "gun" incident was highly publicized, and Weber was ridiculed in the media (sample from the Atlantic Wire: "Do You Really Need a Gun to Police the SEC?").

Weber was fired on October 31st. Apparently he has decided not to take the firing quietly. "When David Weber began to uncover the depth of dysfunction at the SEC, they fired him," his attorney Cary Hansel said. "He has no intention of being silenced by threats and false allegations."

The filing of this lawsuit now by Weber officially begins the raging cluster**** portion of the story, as he and his lawyers are releasing lurid details not only about Kotz and Maloney, but about a host of other SEC and SEC IG officials. It's very strong stuff: the only things missing from this lawsuit are tales of SEC officials running white-slavery rings and snorting brown-brown off the corpses of strippers with West African rebels.

There are, for instance, allegations that officials handed out SEC contracts to buddies at influential Beltway consulting firms, claims that sexual harassment cases were covered up and accusations that the SEC failed to properly screen contractors who were given full access to SEC databases (it cites an example of one contractor who was on early parole from a 10-year narcotics bid in Virginia). The suit also alleges that the SEC security chief, William Fagan, "watched the video feed from security cameras outside of the [Inspector General's] suite, in order to determine the identities of . . . potential whistleblowers."

Perhaps most crazily, however, the suit alleges major security violations. In one section, Weber claims that SEC investigators took sensitive, highly-protected system data from financial exchanges like the NYSE – systems so carefully protected that they have to be "air gapped," i.e. not connected to the internet – and loaded them on unencrypted laptops before flying to Vegas to attend a "Black Hat" convention for security specialists and hackers. From the suit:

Many government and law enforcement officials who attend the "Black Hat" conference register under aliases, keeping their identities and employers secret. However, the SEC staff who attended, with unencrypted laptops containing sensitive exchange information, registered under their own names and identified their employer. Walking around this convention with a name tag and, regardless of name tag, registered as an SEC IT information security examiner, is the equivalent of wearing a giant target on one's back.

Reassuring!

It's hard to say how all of this will shake out. Certainly, from a P.R. standpoint, it'll be ugly for the SEC. One other storyline to follow: If the Weber retaliation claims are true, they fall within an ongoing and increasingly disturbing pattern of federal whistleblowers who have come forward and experienced reprisals themselves instead of having their claims investigated properly.

Another story to follow is the possibility that the SEC Inspector General's office in recent years was weakened or compromised by these sexual scandals in any way. If all this kink was common knowledge within the agency, it is not hard to imagine that OIG investigations into things like the Madoff mess might have had their momentum slowed by internal politics.

Anyway, crazy stuff, more to come down the line. SEC spokesman John Nester by the way had no comment on the story today, except to say: "We look forward to filing our response with the court."

19 NOv

We are a little closer to the top of the food chain here. A lot less fat and more lean meat in this story.

[Chester]

at some point - there will only be a few PTBs left standing... what will we do with them then? And if we lop off all their heads, what then will be running the show? Drake? Apologies... anyways - I sure hope this "bad dream" ends before my children's death so at least their soul's have a better shot at choosing a paradigm that celebrates life as opposed to this one that seeks day and night to destroy it.

[Sabrina]

More euro games going on with Greece stuck in the middle of it...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hCVu1u-1Szswe7Lf0T0gTM9UDerA?docId=CNG.a8854340feb095a38c2b21e2c7d6c276.481


21 Nov Greece

AFP

Greek PM lashes out at bailout holdup after eurozone meet
(AFP)

ATHENS — Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Wednesday called on his EU peers to step up efforts to release vital funds to Athens, warning of a threat to the eurozone after finance ministers failed to settle the matter.

"It's not only the future of our country but the stability of the entire eurozone which depends on the success of the conclusion of this effort in the next few days," Samaras said in a statement.

"Our partners and the IMF have a duty to do what they have taken on," he said hours after the eurozone finance ministers failed to strike a deal, prolonging a five-month wait in Athens for the badly needed cash.

The discord continued in comments made by senior officials on Wednesday.

French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said the eurozone was only a "whisker" away from a deal, in comments to Europe 1 radio.
And German Chancellor Angela Merkel told lawmakers in the Bundestag lower house of parliament that "there is a chance" of a solution at a follow-up meeting set for Monday.

But a source close to the talks insisted to AFP that Europe and the International Monetary Fund were "really not close to a deal."
A major bone of contention between Greece's lenders has been whether to give Athens, which faces a sixth year in recession, an extra two years until 2022 to arrive at a point where it can raise its own funds.

Samaras' frustration was palpable, as the latest holdup came only days after his coalition government had taken a beating in parliament to vote another controversial round of austerity measures.

"Greece did what it had to do, and what it had pledged to do... whatever technical difficulties in finding a technical solution do not justify any negligence or delay," the prime minister said.

Samaras' main coalition partner, the socialist party, was equally scathing.

"The eurozone cannot use Greece as an alibi to justify its inability to deal the various forms of the crisis in a determined, final and visionary manner," said socialist party leader Evangelos Venizelos.

The main opposition Syriza party said the prime minister had "lost the last shred of credibility" after subjecting the Greek people to "vulgar blackmail" by claiming the latest austerity sacrifices would be enough to unblock the loans.

"A government that is subjugated and tied to Merkel's chariot cannot carry out aggressive negotiation," said party leader Alexis Tsipras.

Greece has been waiting since June for a loan instalment of 31.2 billion euros ($40 billion), part of a 130-billion-euro financial assistance package initially granted early this year.

By the end of the year, Athens is also due to receive two more aid payments, worth 5.0 and 8.3 billion euros, in exchange for which it has pledged to implement a series of unpopular austerity measures.

The government raised some quick cash last week to repay five billion euros in maturing debt on November 16.

But it now needs to repay another seven billion euros in December.

Greece's repayment schedule in the next two years is even more daunting.

According to figures from the state statistics office, Greece needs to redeem 30.4 billion euros in maturing debt next year and another 25.1 billion in 2014, the state news agency said on Wednesday.

Samaras is to fly to Brussels later in the day to attend the EU summit on the bloc's 2014-2020 budget, which starts on Thursday.
Austerity-driven nations led by British Prime Minister David Cameron are demanding huge cuts to EU spending to match domestic belt-tightening, but face opposition from poorer nations to the east and south who benefit from the Brussels budget.

[Sabrina]

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/open-letter-president-obama

An Open Letter to President Obama from Michael Moore

read at link as can't copy...

and Happy Thanks Giving to you Avalonians the other side of the pond. :)

[penn]

Happy Thanksgiving to you Sabrina. Thanks for all the great posts! Penn

[Sabrina]

Brave woman. Some whistle blowers and victims are finally being heard in the UK following some of the recent sexual abuse allegations. Suppression is still most certainly going on but some say the suppression, threats and untruths can no longer exist as the frequencies of the world go higher and everything has to come out. Bring it on. There's a lot of high profile names implicated in it all. And this is mirrored right across the world of course.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/alison-taylor-woman-who-blew-the-whistle-on-abuse-breaks-her-silence-8348387.html

25 Nov UK


Alison Taylor: Woman who blew the whistle on abuse breaks her silence

Exclusive interview: She was sacked and shunned, and paid a heavy personal price, but the former care worker tells Sarah Morrison she has no regrets


Alison Taylor, the former care worker who blew the whistle on abuse in children's homes in North Wales knows what it feels like to be vilified. When she handed a dossier of allegations to officials, detailing how those in charge were mistreating vulnerable children, she thought she might lose her job. She had no idea her actions would lead to the biggest inquiry into child sex abuse in Britain.

She was not only right, but also vindicated. The Waterhouse inquiry, set up as a result of Ms Taylor's complaints, albeit more than a decade later, found that hundreds of children's lives in care homes in North Wales between 1974 and 1990 had had their lives "grossly poisoned" by authority figures. The 1,391-page report confirmed evidence of widespread physical and sexual abuse and found a paedophile ring was in existence, with men targeting boys in their mid-teens, particularly those in care. It condemned the "cult of silence" that had kept it hidden for so long.

Had it not been for Ms Taylor, that silence might never have been broken. "What happened was horrendous. More horrendous than I knew," Ms Taylor, 68, tells me, as we sit in her new house in Bangor, North Wales. "A number of other social workers managed to live with it. One said to me that if I said something I'd be 'committing professional suicide'. But if I come across something morally wrong, I can't leave it. I thought sooner or later someone had to stand up and be counted."

But this came with a price. Months after Ms Taylor handed a county councillor a folder of notes she had taken, of abuse she had witnessed or been told about in care homes across North Wales, she was fired. The official reason: a "breakdown of professional communications", but she says "everyone knew why I had been dismissed". She was dubbed "subversive" by the local police, whose inquiry into the allegations was later deemed "sluggish and shallow". She was shunned by her co-workers, the council, and some in her community.

It was this paper that first took her claims seriously, publishing an exposé into the abuse allegations in 1991. But for a long time, she could not find anyone to listen to the "well-known but hidden facts". Now she can. Ms Taylor was 32, and a mother of two, when she became deputy head of Gwynedd County Council's flagship children's assessment centre. She describes it then as "chaotic, understaffed, and over-full of kids". The 12-bed unit often housed up to 15 "very, very needy children."

She remembers vividly the first time she saw a colleague "slap" three teenage girls. She reported physical abuse to the council; the perpetrator went on sick leave and didn't return. She said after that, she regarded the local government as a "closed shop". Another time, she saw a senior co-worker "knock" a young boy around. "This boy had been promised home-leave, but at the last minute [my colleague] decided he wasn't having it. So the kid absconded. We got him back, and my colleague was knocking him about. Then he told him to kneel down and lick his shoes."

Years later, Ms Taylor spent almost three months at Bryn Estyn, one of the worst homes, where one of the principal offenders, Peter Howarth, worked. He was convicted in July 1994 of eight sexual offences and sentenced to 10 years in prison. "I knew things were going on, I could tell by the atmosphere and the children's wariness," Ms Taylor says. "When I asked about Howarth's 'flat list' [a list of boys who were invited to visit his flat], everyone clammed up. Staff started to freeze me out. I thought the best thing to do was kind of shut up, you know, or see if the opportunity arose to express them in the right quarter. It didn't arise."

It was only when she headed up her own residential unit that some of the children, referred to her from other homes, began to confide in her. "The brutality inflicted on girls and boys was absolute," she says. "When girls were on their period, they weren't allowed their own sanitary towels, they had to ask staff every time they wanted a fresh one; food was rationed, they weren't allowed their own toothpaste or soap. It was these little things that amounted to total humiliation." Children also came with serious concerns that others were being sexually abused.

The trigger, for Ms Taylor, was when a young boy in her care died, after a colleague sent him to a B&B to fend for himself. "I knew I had to do something; the whole thing was rotten," she says. What followed has been documented; she reached out to a county councillor, lost her job, and suffered constant smears to her reputation. But when Waterhouse was published, it was with this note: "Without Alison Taylor's complaints … there would not have been any inquiry into the alleged abuse of children in care in Gwynedd." But she certainly doesn't want to be seen as a hero.

"I don't want it to define me," she says. "Yes, it's a waste that my career ended so early. But it was a case of realising, yes, there's something here, and it needs to be sorted out." She adds: "It's very hard to explain, if you haven't worked in an enclosed space, but just like in a prison, it's not only the inmates who are imprisoned, it's the staff as well. It takes you a while to see how insidious it can be, how invasive, how it all creeps up without you knowing." Certain now why the offenders treated those they were meant to be caring for with such contempt, she says: "It's because they can."

She adds: "The death camps in Auschwitz were not run by monsters, but by perfectly normal German people, who before the war had done ordinary things. They are taken into that environment and poisoned by it." She tells me this kind of behaviour "can never be eradicated" because it is "part of human nature to bully the weaker ones".

The Government has just launched two fresh inquiries into the scandal, and Ms Taylor thinks "a lot of questions remain unanswered. For example, why certain people weren't prosecuted". But the care-worker-turned-crime-writer, who has had five novels published, has always warned journalists about misidentification. She described the recent Newsnight, which wrongly implicated Lord McAlpine in sex abuse allegations, as "shoddy journalism".

Shaking her head, she tells me she has to get back to editing her sixth book. It is about a "girl who gets beaten to within an inch of her life and then recovers." When I ask if her novels are a thinly veiled dig at the inept police service in Britain, she laughs before answering, no. They are merely "an exploration of people's faults; their good and bad parts".

and

http://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/2012/11/24/a-tweeter-asks-some-important-questions/

and this is an interesting take on the recent McALpine Twitter saga in the UK with his lawyers sending out communications re: alleged misinformation implicating him with abuse stories.

Don't think anyone has been sued.

[foreverfan]

at some point - there will only be a few PTBs left standing... what will we do with them then? And if we lop off all their heads, what then will be running the show? Drake? Apologies... anyways - I sure hope this "bad dream" ends before my children's death so at least their soul's have a better shot at choosing a paradigm that celebrates life as opposed to this one that seeks day and night to destroy it.

Alex Jones is teaming up with David Icke and Ron Paul.

5gC5OoT-2NM

[Sabrina]

Ex Goldman Sachs but white hat or otherwise? Interesting comments from his wife as well. New people are supposed to be coming through at this time if you resonate with the current shift in consciousness.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9703559/Mark-Carney-most-qualified-person-in-the-world-for-Bank-of-England-Governor.html

26 Nov UK

Mark Carney 'most qualified person in the world' for Bank of England Governor

Chancellor George Osborne announces to the Commons that Canadian central bank chief Mark Carney will take over from Sir Mervyn King as Governor of the Bank of England.

Mr Osborne described Mr Carney as "the best and most experienced" candidate for the job who would bring a "fresh perspective" to the role.

"He is quite simply the best, most experienced and most qualified person in the world to be the next Governor of the Bank of England," Mr Osborne told MPs.

Mr Carney, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker who successfully helped to steer the Canadian economy through the global crisis, will succeed Mervyn King next year.

Mr Osborne said Mr Carney brought the skills to revamp British financial regulation at a time when the BOE will take on a new role in change of British bank supervision.

He said Mr Carney had helped Canada avoid the worst of the global financial crisis.

"During his five years as the Canadian Bank Governor, Canada is acknowledged to have weathered the economic storm better than any other major western economy, bank bailouts have been avoided, sustained growth has returned," said Mr Osborne.
BOE deputy Governor Paul Tucker, who had spent his entire career at the central bank, had been the hot favourite to succeed King.

Mr Carney, meanwhile, had previously strongly played down suggestions he would move to the BOE.

Mr Carney is not a British national, although Mr Osborne said he would apply for UK citizenship, and he studied at Oxford University.

Mr Carney will serve at the Bank of Canada until May, and then starts at the Bank of England in July. He will serve a five-year term, rather than the eight-year term that had been expected for the next BOE governor.

and

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9704385/New-Bank-of-England-Governor-Mark-Carneys-wife-an-eco-warrior-who-says-banks-are-rotten.html


New Bank of England Governor Mark Carney's wife: an eco-warrior who says banks are rotten

The British wife of the new Bank of England Governor is a strident environmental activist who urges people to spend less money on possessions, and once declared: “Having more stuff does not make us happy.”

Diana Carney has expressed sympathy for the anti-banking Occupy movement and suggested that global financial institutions are “rotten or inadequate”.

She has described the notion that humans should halt all consumption to save the environment as a “good point” but “very hard given the way our societies function”, and has also lamented the “relentless exhortations to buy and the fact that much of our sense of self is tied up in our possessions”.

Mrs Carney, who met her husband, Mark, at Oxford, is vice-president of Canada 2020, a Left-wing think tank, and reviews environmentally-friendly products. The couple, who have four daughters with dual British-Canadian citizenship, live in Rockcliffe Park, Ottawa, one of Canada’s richest enclaves where their neighbours include ambassadors and executives. Mr and Mrs Carney bought their home for £800,000 in August 2003, but its value is believed to have risen substantially. Records suggest that they made £95,000 of improvements in 2009.

In an article this month, Mrs Carney said that income inequality in countries such as Canada and Britain was “the defining issue of our time”.

“The politics of division are coming home to roost,” she wrote. “The grass is always greener on the other side and the Occupy movement has provided a voice to many unhappy people.”

Attacking the “visibility and excess” of top earners, she added: “I perceive a fear that the institutions that underpin our country and the global system are either threatened, rotten or inadequate to face down the challenges of the future.”

Mrs Carney met her husband after he put his career on hold in 1991 to study for a master’s degree then a doctorate in economics at Oxford. She had obtained a First-class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and earned a Masters in agricultural economics. The couple married in 1995, before Mr Carney returned to investment banking.

Mrs Carney also urges readers of her website to live frugally. Describing herself as a “farmer’s daughter” she wears recycled vegan shoes, describes environmentally-friendly ways to tackle head lice and recommends “gardening with cow poo”. “Reducing consumption, or returning it to levels that are sustainable, is critical overall,” she wrote online.

“Fortunately, it has been repeatedly shown that having more stuff does not make us happy, so we should be able to make that step”.

[Sabrina]

Interesting to see how this will be used - even for the good :)...

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/11/21/presidential-memorandum-national-insider-threat-policy-and-minimum-stand

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release November 21, 2012
Presidential Memorandum -- National Insider Threat Policy and Minimum Standards for Executive Branch Insider Threat Programs

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

SUBJECT: National Insider Threat Policy and Minimum Standards for Executive Branch Insider Threat Programs

This Presidential Memorandum transmits the National Insider Threat Policy and Minimum Standards for Executive Branch Insider Threat Programs (Minimum Standards) to provide direction and guidance to promote the development of effective insider threat programs within departments and agencies to deter, detect, and mitigate actions by employees who may represent a threat to national security. These threats encompass potential espionage, violent acts against the Government or the Nation, and unauthorized disclosure of classified information, including the vast amounts of classified data available on interconnected United States Government computer networks and systems.

The Minimum Standards provide departments and agencies with the minimum elements necessary to establish effective insider threat programs. These elements include the capability to gather, integrate, and centrally analyze and respond to key threat-related information; monitor employee use of classified networks; provide the workforce with insider threat awareness training; and protect the civil liberties and privacy of all personnel.

The resulting insider threat capabilities will strengthen the protection of classified information across the executive branch and reinforce our defenses against both adversaries and insiders who misuse their access and endanger our national security.

BARACK OBAMA

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/benjamin-fulford-11-20-12-why-west-lost.html#more

Benjy Fulford's take on it all 20 Nov.

[Pete]

It seems to me that we have a situation where differing paradigms are beginning to close in upon each other. I have not been following this story very closely recently and it has allowed me to see how much closer Ben's narrative is moving closer to that of others.

On the face of it with Obama issuing;

" For Immediate Release November 21, 2012 Presidential Memorandum -- National Insider Threat Policy and Minimum Standards for Executive Branch Insider Threat Programs"

This initiative seems quite long winded and given the time frame we are all expecting something to happen within, it does not seem possible that it will have any major effect.

But it does re-focus the mind to look for an enemy within and it does provide the foundation for further legislation and intelligence to be drip fed into the mix.

So on one hand it seems a little ineffectual to make any rapid impact, but on the other it could easily be seen as indication of intent and helps the general populace to reconsider their own individual paradigm.

Anyhoo, for what it's worth, that's my take on what is happening and it all seems to be in the right direction, I have no doubt in my mind that this actually happening and I am enjoying the ride, hope you all are as well.

[Robert J. Niewiadomski]

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/27/us/family-of-frank-olson-man-drugged-by-cia-plans-suit.html

Suit Planned Over Death of Man C.I.A. Drugged
Published: November 26, 2012

WASHINGTON — Nearly 60 years after the death of a government scientist who had been given LSD by the Central Intelligence Agency without his knowledge, his family says it plans to sue the government, alleging that he was murdered and did not commit suicide as the C.I.A. has long maintained.

Eric and Nils Olson, whose father, Frank Olson, was the scientist, said they plan to file a lawsuit in United States District Court here on Wednesday accusing the C.I.A. of covering up the truth about Mr. Olson’s death in 1953, one of the most infamous cases in the agency’s history.

During the intelligence reforms in the 1970s, the government gave the Olson family a financial settlement after the C.I.A. was forced to acknowledge that Mr. Olson had been given the hallucinogenic drug nine days before his death. President Gerald R. Ford met with the Olson family at the White House and apologized.

At the time, the government said Mr. Olson had killed himself by jumping out of a hotel window in Manhattan. But the Olsons came to believe that he had been murdered to keep him from talking about disturbing C.I.A. operations that he had uncovered.

Mr. Olson’s sons said that their past efforts to persuade the agency to open its files and provide them with more information had failed, and that a court challenge is the only way to find out the truth.

“The evidence points to a murder, and not a drug-induced suicide,” said Eric Olson, Frank Olson’s older son, who has devoted much of his life to investigating his father’s death. When the government told his family that his father had committed suicide, “one set of lies was replaced with another set of lies,” he said.

Jennifer Youngblood, a C.I.A. spokeswoman, said the agency does not comment on pending court cases, but she noted that the C.I.A.’s most controversial episodes from the early cold war years, like Mr. Olson’s death, “have been thoroughly investigated over the years, and the agency cooperated with each of those investigations.”

The Olson case was one of the most explosive revelations about the C.I.A. during the post-Watergate investigations of the United States intelligence community in the mid-1970s, and was part of a series of disclosures about a C.I.A. program known as MK-Ultra, which included brainwashing, mind control and other human behavioral control experiments during the early days of the cold war.

Over the decades, the Olson case has gained a kind of pop culture status as one of the signature examples of government secrecy and abuse, and references to the death have been made in television, film, books and music.

“The C.I.A.’s wrongful conduct in this case continues under the present administration,” said Scott Gilbert, a Washington lawyer representing the Olson brothers. “I have met personally with senior agency officials who still refuse to acknowledge the truth and to provide us with all documents relevant to this matter.”

Frank Olson was a bioweapons expert working at the special operations division of the Army’s Biological Laboratory at Fort Detrick in Maryland. The C.I.A. worked jointly with the special operations division, researching biological agents and toxic substances.

In 1953, Mr. Olson traveled to Europe and visited biological and chemical weapons research facilities. The Olson family lawsuit alleges that during that trip, Mr. Olson witnessed extreme interrogations, some resulting in deaths, in which the C.I.A. experimented with biological agents that he had helped develop. Intelligence officials became suspicious of him when he seemed to have misgivings about what he had seen, the lawsuit contends. Eric Olson said Frank Olson also appeared to have deep misgivings about the use of biological weapons that was alleged in the Korean War.

A few months later, he attended a meeting with officials from both the special operations division and the C.I.A. at Deep Creek Lake, Md. Sometime during the meeting on Nov. 19, 1953, he was given a drink of Cointreau that had been secretly spiked with LSD by C.I.A. officials.

Mr. Olson returned home, and over the following weekend told his wife that he wanted to leave his job. Eric Olson said his mother later recalled that Frank Olson did not seem suicidal or psychotic that weekend, but was reflective about his work.

On Nov. 24, Mr. Olson told a colleague that he wanted to resign, according to the lawsuit. Instead, he and several C.I.A. officials traveled to New York, supposedly for a psychiatric evaluation. On Nov. 28, Mr. Olson fell to his death from his room in the Statler Hotel. His sons now express skepticism about the government’s official story that he had committed suicide because he was given LSD more than a week earlier.

In the 1990s, the family had Mr. Olson’s body exhumed and an autopsy performed, and the New York district attorney’s office later conducted an inconclusive investigation into the death.

Eric Olson says that his father’s death and its aftermath had devastating consequences for his family. He said his mother, who is now dead, suffered from alcoholism. “We want justice,” Mr. Olson said. “This has cost me an immense amount of time and years of my life.”

A version of this article appeared in print on November 27, 2012, on page A21 of the New York edition with the headline: Suit Planned Over Death Of Man C.I.A. Drugged.

[Sabrina]

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Czech%20Defense%20Minister%20Alexandr%20Vondra%20Resigns


Czech defence minister Alexandr Vondra resigns, citing election loss to corruption scandal

Wednesday, November 28, 2012
By The Associated Press


PRAGUE - Czech Defence Minister Alexandr Vondra is resigning from his post, citing a lack of public support.

Vondra says Wednesday he decided to resign after he failed to be re-elected to Parliament's upper house in October elections.

Prime Minister Petr Necas says Vondra, a former anti-communist dissident and keen supporter of close ties with the United States, was the best defence minister in the last 20 years and described his resignation as "a loss."

Vondra has been under fire from the opposition for years over an overpriced audiovisual deal he was responsible for in 2009 that was linked to the country's EU presidency. Vondra denies any wrongdoing and has not been charged. But he acknowledged the case contributed to his defeat.

Necas has yet to name a replacement.

[Carmody]

25 Oct

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/9634530/British-ExxonMobil-oil-chief-assassinated-in-Brussels-street.html


British ExxonMobil oil chief 'assassinated' in Brussels street

A British executive for the oil company ExxonMobil has been shot dead in front of his wife in an assassination-style killing in Brussels.


Belgian police have imposed a news blackout after Nicholas Mockford, 60, was shot as he left an Italian restaurant in Neder-over-Heembeek, a suburb of the capital.

The executive was shot three times, once as he lay on the ground, after leaving the Da Marcello restaurant in Rue de Beyseghem at around 10pm on Oct 14.

His wife, Mary, was left beaten and covered in blood. Mr Mockford died on the way to hospital.

Witnesses said they saw the couple walk across the street to their car, a silver Lexus 4x4, before shots were fired.

The attack was said to have happened very quickly and Mrs Mockford was left cradling her husband in the street, shouting for help. According to reports, two men were seen running away carrying a motorcycle helmet.

Initially police said they were not excluding any possibilities, including a carjacking, but Mr Mockford's car was not stolen.
The Belgian prosecutor's office said last night that there was a "judicial instruction" from Martine Quintin, the investigating judge, that meant they could give no "explanation" and no detail about the killing.

"This is usual in such a serious murder investigation," a spokesman said.
Mr Mockford had worked for the company since the 1970s, and was the head of marketing for interim technologies for ExxonMobil Chemicals, Europe, promoting new types of greener fuel.

He was a keen sailor and was the skipper of an Exxon team who won first prize in a race in the Channel last year aboard their yacht Musette.
He was also interested in motor cycling. Mr Mockford had been married to his second wife, who is Belgian, for 15 years, and
had three grown-up children from his first marriage, all of whom live in Britain.

He was brought up in Leicestershire and had last lived in this country in Chichester, but had been abroad for some years, mostly in Belgium and Singapore.

One family member told The Daily Telegraph he believed Mr Mockford had been killed in a professional hit.
The relation, who asked not to be named, said: "We are all confused about what has happened. Nick was a genuinely lovely, clean-cut, mild mannered, family man.

"I don't think he would put up a fight or argue with someone trying to steal his company car.
"He was shot so calmly and so quickly, it smacks horribly of a professional hit, but we can't fathom why. He isn't the type to cave in to blackmail and it just doesn't compute."

A spokesman for ExxonMobil said: "We are shocked by the tragic death of one of our employees on Sunday, October 14 in Brussels.

"Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues and we are supporting them as best we can at this very difficult time."
The relation said Mrs Mockford was recovering from the ordeal and had not been badly hurt. "He was always very tight-lipped about what he did, even when sitting around with the family," the relation added.

The theory he was the victim of a professional hit, possibly by Eastern European gunmen, is being examined because ExxonMobil have refused to release details about his work in 'intermediate technologies'.


...However, the ferocity of the attack and the fact that Mr Mockford received a ‘coup de grace’ shot to the upper body as he was bleeding on the floor have prompted detectives to consider other options.

There were claims on Belgian websites that he had been killed by eco-terrorists angered by ExxonMobil's involvement in Nigeria, Chad and Indonesia.

One contributor wrote: 'Carjackers don't execute someone with shots to the head, fail to steal the car and leave a witness alive. This has to do with the environment.'

~~~~~~~

As I suspected and speculated, in another thread on this given event.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2224301/Nicholas-Mockford-Widow-British-oil-executive-shot-dead-Brussels-denies-target-hitmen.html#ixzz2DgZK6FDO

[Sabrina]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/world/asia/south-koreas-top-prosecutor-resigns-amid-scandals.html

South Korea’s Top Prosecutor Resigns Amid Scandals and Infighting

By CHOE SANG-HUN
Published: November 30, 2012

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s top prosecutor resigned Friday after a wave of scandals and public infighting in his office. The resignation of the prosecutor, General Han Sang-dae, was quickly accepted by President Lee Myung-bak, who urged the nation’s prosecutors to undertake “self-reflection” and “reform to restore the trust of the people.”

For weeks, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office has been embarrassed by a series of scandals. Early in November, a senior prosecutor named Kim Kwang-joon was arrested on charges of accepting $826,000 in bribes from a conglomerate and from the alleged mastermind behind a Ponzi scheme. Days later, it was revealed that a junior prosecutor had had sex in his office with a female suspect he had been questioning on theft charges.

Amid the uproar over those episodes, another prosecutor issued a public call for thorough reform in the agency — but, in a text message meant for a friend that became public after he mistakenly sent it to a reporter, wrote that he was merely paying lip service to the idea in hopes of appeasing the public and the news media.

A survey released this week by a government anticorruption panel found that South Korea’s law enforcement authorities — prosecutors, the police and the Justice Ministry — were viewed as the most corrupt arms of the government.

“I bow before the people in apology because the prosecution caused a great shock and disappointment,” Mr. Han said on Friday.

Prosecutors in South Korea have long been accused of wielding outsized influence. They supervise police investigations and have exclusive power to decide who is indicted (South Korea has no grand jury system). The office’s elite Central Investigation Unit, which investigates high-profile corruption cases among tycoons, politicians and relatives of high-ranking officials, is feared by politicians and derided by civic groups that say it essentially serves the interests of the political establishment, by pursuing some targets and ignoring others. Critics cite this unusual dynamic between prosecutors and politicians to explain why repeated efforts — most recently by President Lee’s predecessor, the late Roh Moo-hyun — to curtail prosecutors’ influence have all failed.

But pressure on the office has been escalating. The National Police Agency has demanded more freedom to conduct investigations independent of prosecutors’ supervision. All of the major candidates in the Dec. 19 presidential election have promised to rein in their power. The main opposition candidate, Moon Jae-in, has pledged to establish a new, separate agency to investigate corruption within the government, and some lawmakers in the governing party support the idea.

Mr. Han had been working on a reform package said to include many of the opposition’s demands, including the elimination of the Central Investigation Unit and the introduction of a grand jury system — until he faced a public revolt from his subordinates. Choi Jae-kyong, head of the Central Investigation Unit, publicly clashed with Mr. Han over whether the unit should be scrapped.

Mr. Han then ordered an internal investigation of Mr. Choi. It emerged that Mr. Choi had sent text messages to Mr. Kim, the prosecutor accused of taking bribes, advising him on how to stonewall news media inquiries. “Say ‘I did nothing against the law. That’s not true,’ ” one text message read. “Then stop there and give them no details.”

By this week, the spat between Mr. Han and Mr. Choi appeared to have expanded into a full-blown staff rebellion. Senior prosecutors confronted Mr. Han as a group, asking him to resign to take responsibility for the recent scandals. Mr. Han reportedly insisted that he would resign only after seeing his reforms through.

But on Friday, Mr. Han said he was leaving the question of reforms to his successor, who was not named immediately. Mr. Choi indicted that he, too, would resign from his post.

[Sabrina]

More on the UK Jimmy Savile abuse - let's see these people of 'significant standing' brought to justice soon...

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/jimmy-savile-probe-fourth-celebrity-1466085

1 Dec - UK

Jimmy Savile probe celebrity feels 'suicidal': Trauma of children's TV star quizzed for five hours


An ex-Scotland Yard detective also claimed people of “significant standing” would be arrested in the weeks ahead

A close friend of the fourth celebrity quizzed by the Jimmy Savile probe squad yesterday accused police of indiscriminately rounding up suspects.

He insisted the children’s TV presenter, who is in his 80s, had done nothing wrong.

His backing came as a source close to the Operation Yewtree abuse investigation revealed the elderly star was “almost suicidal”.

The TV host’s mate, who has known him for 50 years, fumed: “Is everyone who ever worked with that man Savile going to be hauled in?

He is being tainted with guilt by association.

“Quite frankly, I think the police should be ashamed of what they’re doing. He wouldn’t do anything like this.

"We’ve spent hours on the river together and in each other’s homes, and we often confide in each other.”

The children’s TV presenter, who we cannot name for legal reasons, was questioned under caution on suspicion of sexual offences at a South London police station on Thursday.

He was released without charge after five hours.

more at link

[Sabrina]

Another shift of power going on? It might take time but Starbucks has got worried about possible boycotts by some of the public and has turned on the PR charm...

UK

MPs Attack Amazon, Google and Starbucks Over Tax Avoidance

Report also criticises (UK) HM Revenue & Customs for leniency in dealing with corporations that pay little or no corporation tax

By Rajeev Syal and Patrick Wintour, The Guardian – December 3, 2012

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/dec/03/amazon-google-starbucks-tax-avoidance

Amazon, Google and Starbucks have been accused of an “immoral” use of secretive jurisdictions, royalties and complex company structures to avoid paying tax on British profits by a committee of MPs.

A hard-hitting report released on Monday by the Commons public accounts committee, the parliamentary spending watchdog, also criticises HM Revenue & Customs for being “way too lenient” in negotiations with corporations which pay little or no corporation tax. It calls on the government to draw up laws to close loopholes and name and shame companies that fail to pay their fair share.

The report’s scheduled release, following a humiliating parliamentary session for the three multinationals’ executives, prompted a flurry of media activity over the weekend. On Saturday night, Starbucks announced that it is reviewing its tax approach to Britain with a view to paying more following widespread criticism of the coffee chain’s tax regime.

George Osborne will on Monday announce an extra £77m a year for two years for more staff at Revenue & Customs to pursue companies which avoid paying tax. The chancellor said the extra investment would help secure an extra £2bn a year in unpaid tax.

He is also expected to confirm a deal with Switzerland which the chancellor hopes will raise more than £5bn in previously uncollected taxes from Swiss bank accounts over the next six years.

Danny Alexander, the Treasury chief secretary, said of the Starbucks statement: “I am delighted they are taking this issue seriously and they are listening to the feedback from their UK taxpaying customers.” He too had been boycotting Starbucks. “I might be able to buy a coffee from Starbucks again soon.”

Margaret Hodge, the chair of the PAC, said its report showed that corporations had been allowed to get away with “ripping off” taxpayers because of a weak tax authority, poor legislation and a lack of international co-operation.

“Global corporations with huge operations in the UK generating significant amounts of income are getting away with paying little or no corporation tax here. This is an insult to British business and individuals who pay their fair share.

“Corporation tax revenues have fallen at a time when securing proper income from taxes is more vital than ever.

“The inescapable conclusion is that multinationals are using structures and exploiting current tax legislation to move offshore profits that are clearly generated from economic activity in the UK,” she said.

Executives from the multinationals who appeared before the committee last month were singled out for criticism.

Responses to questions by Andrew Cecil, Amazon’s director of public policy, were “evasive”, “unprepared” and lacking credibility.

The company’s UK website reported a turnover of £207m for 2011, but its tax bill was just £1.8m.

Amazon avoids UK taxes by reporting European sales through a Luxembourg-based unit, MPs alleged. This structure allowed it to pay a rate of less than 12% on foreign profits last year – less than half the average corporate income tax rate in its major markets.

Troy Alstead, Starbucks’ global chief financial officer, claimed that the firm has lost money in the 15 years it has been operating in the UK except in 2006.

The world’s biggest coffee chain paid £8.6m in total UK tax over 13 years during which it recorded sales of £3.1bn.

Alstead’s claim was “difficult to believe” when contrasted with boasts of success sent to shareholders, according to the report.

Starbucks has been able to cut its tax bill, MPs said, by paying fees to other parts of its global business, such as royalty payments for use of the brand.

Google had £2.5bn of UK sales last year, but despite having a group-wide profit margin of 33%, its main UK unit had a tax charge of £3.4m in 2011.

The company avoids UK tax by channelling non-US sales via Ireland, an arrangement that has allowed it to pay taxes at a rate of 3.2% on non-US profits. It also diverts some profits through Bermuda.

Revenue & Customs has been asked by the committee to be bolder in challenging tax avoidance by multinationals and to be ready to prosecute if necessary.

“Top officials need to challenge the status quo and be more assertive, for example in accepting that excessive levels of royalty payments are appropriate when businesses are making a loss,” the report states. Benchmarks for common charges such as royalty payments and intellectual property rights could be published by the Treasury or tax officials. A company’s tax practices should also be made part of its mandatory reporting requirements, which would increase transparency, the MPs say.

The government and the tax authorities should also take a greater lead internationally in closing loopholes and increasing transparency in tax havens, particularly across Europe, the report concludes.

Osborne told BBC 1′s Andrew Marr Show that he will work closely with France and Germany to close tax loopholes. “It will be a big priority for the G7, G8, which we host next year,” he said.

A spokesman for HMRC said it had reduced tax avoidance by large businesses in recent years. “We relentlessly challenge those that persist in avoiding tax and have recovered £29bn additional revenues from large businesses in the last six years, including £4.1bn in the last four years from transfer pricing inquiries alone. These figures speak for themselves.”

[Sabrina]

They're getting outspoken at the Bank of England :)...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9719300/Loss-of-income-caused-by-banks-as-bad-as-a-world-war-says-BoEs-Andrew-Haldane.html

3 Nov UK


Loss of income caused by banks as bad as a 'world war', says BoE's Andrew Haldane

The financial crisis has been as economically devastating as a world war and may still be a burden on “our grandchildren”, a top Bank of England official has said.

Andy Haldane, the Bank’s executive director for financial stability, added that public anger at the banks was fully justified and that pay in the industry remained too high.

“In terms of the loss of incomes and outputs, this is as bad as a world war,” he said. “It would be astonishing if people weren’t asking big questions about where finance has gone wrong.

“If we are fortunate, the cost of the crisis will be paid for by our children. More likely it will still be being paid for by our grandchildren. There is every reason why the general public ought to be deeply upset by what has happened – and angry.”

Four years since the crisis struck, the economy is still 3pc smaller than at its peak. The scale of the problems will be exposed again on Wednesday when the Chancellor updates the country on the economic outlook and his austerity plans.

To boost “growth, job creation, exports, investment, and business confidence”, George Osborne needs to be “bold” in his mini-Budget, the British Chambers of Commerce said as it downgraded its growth forecasts for next year and 2014.

more at link

[Sabrina]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/9719101/Tom-Mockridge-quit-News-Corp-after-major-Murdoch-shake-up-left-him-with-a-role-he-didnt-want.html

3 Nov

Tom Mockridge quit News Corp after major Murdoch shake-up left him with a role 'he didn't want'

Tom Mockridge resigned as chief executive of News International, publisher of The Times and the Sun, because a major management shake-up at Rupert Murdoch's media empire has left him with a role he does not want.

He resigned hours before Mr Murdoch announced a major management reshuffle at News Corps' troubled newspaper and book publishing business.

Mr Mockridge, News Corporation’s most senior executive in Britain, said in a letter to staff: "To be direct, the reason I am leaving is that the new structure does not offer me a role I am comfortable with and, after 22 years with the company in five countries, I feel I have made enough of a contribution to make a personal choice to go."

News Corp is separating the publishing assets from its more valuable film and television businesses to limit the damage caused by the News of the World hacking scandal to the rest of the media empire. The entertainment arm generates 74pc of its $33.4bn (£20.9m) revenues and 90pc of its profits.

Mr Murdoch announced that Robert Thomson, the managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, would become the new chief executive of News Corp's publishing business when the company splits in two.

As part of the management shake-up, Mr Mockridge's role will be taken up by Mike Darcey, the chief operating officer of BSkyB.

more at link

[Sabrina]

Iceland shows the way: reject austerity as Pravda says...



http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/Iceland_Trade_Surplus_ISK_15_Billion_in_October_0_395835.news.aspx


0.11.2012 |
Iceland Trade Surplus ISK 15 Billion in October

The value of exported goods from Iceland during the month of October totaled ISK 63.3 billion (USD 503 million, EUR 387 million) and imports ISK 48 billion (USD 383 million, EUR 293 million).

The trade surplus therefore amounted to ISK 15.2 billion (USD 120 million, EUR 92.9 million) compared to ISK 8.3 billion (USD 66 million, EUR 50 million) in October 2011, according to the latest data from Statistics Iceland.

Marine products, mainly fresh fish, and aluminum products made up the majority of exported goods.

The value of exported marine goods during the first ten months of this year totaled ISK 230 billion (USD 1.8 billion, EUR 1.4 billion).

and

http://www.fourwinds10.net/siterun_data/government/foreign_policy_and_government/news.php?q=1354386412

Iceland shows the way: reject austerity
Pravda-Nov 27, 2012
When, in September 2008, the economic and financial crisis hit Iceland - a small island in the Atlantic with 320 000 inhabitants - the impact was ...



Iceland: crowd-sourcing the constitution
New Zealand Listener-Nov 26, 2012
The first place to look is Iceland – another small, isolated, island nation. ... In Reuters' summary: “Residents of Iceland have voted for their ...



Iceland starts to recover its voice after financial crisis
The Guardian-Nov 23, 2012
As north Atlantic gales batter the harbour of Reykjavik and dark creeps over the city by late afternoon, one building refuses to be dulled by the ...


Moody's Affirms Iceland's Rating on Improving Economy
Wall Street Journal-Nov 23, 2012
Moody's Investors Service affirmed Iceland's investment-grade ... Moody's affirmed Iceland's rating at Baa3, one notch into investment grade.

[Sabrina]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/former-hbos-chief-executive-sir-james-crosby-sold-off-shares-in-bank-on-the-eve-of-crash-8376368.html

4 Dec UK

Former HBOS chief executive Sir James Crosby sold off shares in bank on the eve of crash

Ex-HBOS chief admits selling two-thirds of holding in two years before near-collapse



The former chief executive of HBOS has told members of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards that he sold two thirds of his shares in bank in the two years before its near collapse.

Sir James Crosby also admitted that lending by bankers at HBOS was “incompetent” after a heated exchange in which he was challenged on at least 15 separate occasions by Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Commission.

Sir James earned nearly £8m while chief executive of the bank he brought to life by stewarding the merger of Halifax with Bank of Scotland. He retired on in the middle of 2006 on an index linked pension of £570,000, Commission members were told.

His staggering admission is now likely to put him on a level of Fred Goodwin, former boss of Royal Bank of Scotland, as one of the chief villains of the financial crisis.

Mr Tyrie described the collapse of HBOS as “a terrible catastrophe” and accused Sir James of getting out before the crash.

Sir James said in response: “In effect yes, but not knowingly. I was essentially balancing my portfolio of assets.”

The bank was ultimately rescued by Lloyds in a Government brokered deal, and its cavalier lending was largely responsible for Lloyds having to go cap in hand to the taxpayer for two multi billion pound bail outs.

The last available public information on Sir James’ shareholding is in the 2005 HBoS annual report. It shows that he had a “beneficial interest” in 284,758 HBOS shares. However, a further 218,000 in long term awards vested in 2006 plus 50,000 more under a short term scheme bringing to the total to more than 550,000. On his last day at work in the middle of 2006 the share price stood at 946.72p. Six months after Sir James left, the shares had increased in value to more than £11 each.

Yesterday shares in Lloyds Banking Banking Group, which took over HBOS in 2009, stood at 45.74p.

Sir James for the first time apologised for the near collapse of HBOS saying: “I was horrified and deeply upset by what happened. Hugely distressing in every respect to see the impact on shareholders, former colleagues... and taxpayers.

“I’m apologising for the fact that I played a major part in building a business that failed.”

But he said he hadn’t followed Mr Goodwin, former chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland who lost his knighthood as a result of the crisis, by giving up any of his index linked pension. He said this was because “I lost money because I had long term incentives sitting there”. Executives often have millions locked up in long term incentive plans linked to company performance.

Asked if he grasped the public’s anger about the money he made from the failed bank and his failure to give up any Sir James insisted that he did.

Mr Tyrie later pointed out that 10 per cent of HBOS loans had gone bad, twice that of the next worst bank - Royal Bank of Scotland - and more than three times more normal banks such as HSBC or Barclays.

Sir James sought to portray the financial crisis as “unprecedented” although he admitted that HBoS stress testing was inadequate. However, he said it was impossible to foresee the collapse of the international lending markets on which HBOS relied for funding.

Mr Tyrie challenged him, saying the figures suggested that the bank’s lending was “incompetent”.

He said: “ You were a founder ceo of the merged business (of Halifax and Bank of Scotland that HBOS) and set the first strategic plan. If you look at that plan it is ambitious possibly aggressive in terms of its overall targets.”

Mr Crosby said this could be true “with the benefit of hindsight”.

He was then asked: “Do you recognise that this was incompetent lending.”

Sir James said: “With the benefit of hindsight it wasn’t good lending.”

Mr Tyrie then repeatedly made the point before Sir James finally accepted that “with the benefit of hindsight it (the lending) was incompetent”.

“I will agree that in the end corporate losses were excessive and the lending was very poor ,” he continued.

Sir James’s positions at the heart of the financial establishment have become increasingly controversial. He was Gordon Brown’s banking advisor and a director of the Financial Service Authority. His role at the regulator is now being investigated to see whether he had “undue influence” in the oversight of HBoS as part of a planned report into the bank’s demise.

Sir James’ successor Andy Hornby later described events at the bank as “appalling” before the Commission. Mr Hornby subsequently landed a £1m a year role as chief executive of Boots which he left after less than a year. He is now the boss of Coral’s, the bookmaker.

[Sabrina]

http://www.communitycare.co.uk/articles/03/12/2012/118742/chair-of-rochdales-safeguarding-children-board-resigns.htm

UK


Chair of Rochdale's Safeguarding Children Board resigns

Lynne Jones is the third senior figure to leave in the months following the borough's grooming scandal

The chair of Rochdale’s Safeguarding Children Board has resigned with immediate effect.

Lynne Jones had chaired the board since 2010, recently leading on a review into the sexual exploitation of young girls in the borough. It was commissioned after news broke that girls as young as 13 had been groomed and abused by a gang of men in the area.

The review revealed that social workers repeatedly ignored victims of sexual exploitation because they perceived teenage girls to be “making their own choices”.

An investigation into the failings by Rochdale council and a serious case review are due to be published soon.

Jones, who has chaired a number of safeguarding boards and was previously assistant director of children’s services in Bolton, said it was the right time to bring in a new chair........................

Lynne Jones is the third senior manager to quietly leave the scene and people will be wondering if there will be any managers left to be held to account when the council eventually get round to delivering their verdict," he said.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/world/article/ukraine-government-resigns-stays-on-in-acting-role/

3 Dec Ukraine

Ukraine government resigns, stays on in acting role

KIEV, Dec 3 — Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich today accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and his government and told the cabinet to stay on in an interim capacity, according to a decree published on the presidential website.

A number of government members, including Azarov, were elected to parliament in an election on October 28 and had been expected therefore to resign from their cabinet posts.
In his 2⅟₂ years as prime minister, Azarov has sought to revive an indebted economy that was hard hit by recession in 2009.

But growth rates have fallen again this year as markets for main exports, such as steel, have shrunk.

He has also been at the forefront of tough — and so far unsuccessful — negotiations with Russia, Ukraine’s main energy provider, to try and persuade Moscow to bring down the price of strategic supplies of natural gas that the government says are way above market price and are a huge drain on the economy.

Yanukovich now has the option of reappointing Azarov and individual ministers if he chooses.

If he decides to discard Azarov, he might choose to replace him with central bank chief Serhiy Arbuzov, with whom Yanukovich is personally close, commentators say. — Reuters

and via AFP


KIEV (AFP) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and the entire government resigned Monday in a surprise move after controversial elections as the economy teeters on the brink of recession.

[Sabrina]

Not a resignation but a very strange so called suicide...

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/officials-serbias-nato-ambassador-leaps-death

AP 5 Dec

OFFICIALS: SERBIA'S NATO AMBASSADOR LEAPS TO DEATH

BRUSSELS (AP) — Serbia's ambassador to NATO was chatting and joking with colleagues in a multistory parking garage at Brussels Airport when he suddenly strolled to a barrier, climbed over and flung himself to the ground below, a diplomat said.

By the time his shocked colleagues reached him, Branislav Milinkovic was dead.

His motives are a mystery. Three diplomats who knew Milinkovic said he did not appear distraught in the hours leading up to his death Tuesday night. He seemed to be going about his regular business, they said, picking up an arriving delegation of six Serbian officials who were to hold talks with NATO, the alliance that went to war with his country just 13 years ago.

Belgian authorities confirmed that the ambassador had killed himself.

"It was indeed a suicide," said Ine Van Wymersch of the Brussels prosecutor's office. She said no further investigation was planned.

A former author and activist opposed to the authoritarian regime of Serbia's former strongman Slobodan Milosevic, Milinkovic was outgoing, had a warm sense of humor and worked to keep good ties with ambassadors from other ex-Yugoslav countries, according to diplomats and acquaintances.

The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details, said they knew of no circumstances — private or professional — that would have prompted him to take his own life.

But Milinkovic, 52, had mentioned to colleagues at diplomatic functions that he was unhappy about living apart from his wife, a Serbian diplomat based in Vienna, and their 17-year-old son.

One of the diplomats described his death to The Associated Press, saying she had spoken to a member of the delegation who had witnessed the leap from the 8- to 10-meter-high (26- to 33-foot-high) platform.

The diplomats all spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not permitted by foreign service regulations to speak publicly to the press.

The death cast a pall on the second day of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers. Officials said they were shocked by the news of the death of a very popular and well-liked man.

NATO's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was "deeply saddened by the tragic death of the Serbian ambassador."

"As Serbian ambassador to NATO he earned the respect and admiration of his fellow ambassadors," he said.

When Yugoslavia was a united country, Milinkovic worked for a prominent Yugoslav foreign policy think-tank. But when Milosevic seized power in Serbia in late 1980s, Milinkovic joined other liberals who opposed the former strongman's regime and presented a rare voice of moderation during the era when much of Serbia was engulfed in nationalist fervor. He established close ties with international human rights and other groups and remained active in anti-war groups.

After Milosevic was ousted in 2000, Milinkovic was appointed Serbia's ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe, or OSCE, in Vienna.

He was transferred to NATO as Serbia's special representative in 2004. Serbia is not a member of the military alliance, but Milinkovic was named ambassador after Belgrade joined NATO's Partnership for Peace program, which involves neutral states.

The move to join the NATO program had angered Serbian nationalists who are now in power. They have pledged that Serbia will never join NATO because of the alliance's 1999 bombing campaign that forced Milosevic's forces to withdraw from Serbia's southern province of Kosovo. In 2008, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, which has never accepted that loss.

Milosevic was widely blamed for instigating the '90s Balkan wars that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia, conflicts that claimed more than 100,000 lives and left millions homeless.

At NATO, Milinkovic worked to foster closer ties with the representatives of all five other nations that gained independence after the bloody 1991 breakup of the former Yugoslav federation into Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Serbia.

Relations were still politically charged when Milinkovic first arrived in Brussels, but they have since improved drastically.

Two months ago, when Croatia's ambassador to NATO was being transferred to Moscow, Milinkovic organized a dinner for all five of his counterparts and a band played music from all parts of the former Yugoslav federation.

He is survived by his wife and son.



By SLOBODAN LEKIC and DUSAN STOJANOVIC
—

also story in UK's Daily Mail

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2243510/Branislav-Milinkovic-NATO-ambassador-jumps-death-seconds-laughing-joking-diplomat-colleagues.html

[Sabrina]

http://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/

More on sexual abuse and the BBC in the UK

Stuart Hall Arrested Over Rape Allegations

The broadcaster Stuart Hall has been arrested and questioned over allegations of rape and indecent assault, the BBC understands.

The investigation, led by Lancashire Police, relates to historical allegations but the force will provide no further details.

The 82-year old BBC radio presenter, from Wilmslow in Cheshire, has been questioned at an undisclosed location.

When contacted his agent would not make any comment.

Mr Hall is best known for his distinctive style of sports reporting on BBC Radio 5 live – as well as his work on the 1970s hit show It’s A Knockout. (see pix at the link on Hall and some of the Royals)

and

The CPS Statement On The Stuart Hall Charges That Will Shock You.
Posted in full and without comment.


The Crown Prosecution Service has today authorised Lancashire Police to charge Stuart Hall, aged 82, from Wilmslow, Cheshire with three charges of indecent assault following recent complaints to police about alleged incidents in the 1970s and 1980s.

John Dilworth, Head of CPS North West Complex Casework Unit said

“Following investigations by Lancashire Police into allegations of sexual assault by Stuart Hall I have reviewed all the evidence that they have gathered and have authorised Lancashire police to charge him with three counts of indecent assault. The charges are that between 1 September 1974 and 31 December 1974 he indecently assaulted a woman who was then aged 16 or 17 years, that between 1 January 1983 and 31 December 1983 he indecently assaulted a girl then aged 8 or 9 years, and that between 1 July 1984 and 27 September 1984 he indecently assaulted a girl then aged 13 years. He has been bailed to appear at Preston Magistrates’ Court on 7 January 2013.

“This decision is made in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors and I have concluded that there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that it is in the public interest to prosecute this case. With criminal proceedings now underway, I would like to stress the importance that nothing is placed in the public domain that could prejudice a future trial. For these reasons, we will not be commenting further about the case at this time.”

[Sabrina]

http://news.yahoo.com/uk-publicist-max-clifford-arrested-sex-case-150510005.html

6 Dec UK

UK publicist Max Clifford arrested in sex case

LONDON (AP) — For years, the affable, white-haired Max Clifford has been the "go to" guy for British celebrities seeking help with public relations fiascos. Now it is Clifford who may need help: He was arrested Thursday as part of a wide-ranging U.K. inquiry into sex abuse.

News of the arrest shocked Britain's entertainment and media communities; Clifford has long been seen as a sage advisor with an uncanny ability to shape the news in his client's favour.

He is known for his fabled ability to get certain stories into the papers — and keep others out.

It is too early to judge the impact of Thursday's arrest on Clifford's formidable reputation. Few details were available, and it is not clear if the 69-year-old will be charged with any offences.

Police did not name Clifford, as is customary, but his lawyer, Charlotte Harris, confirmed his arrest, which had been widely reported in the British media. She said he was cooperating with detectives.

"Max Clifford is being interviewed by police," she said in a statement. "Mr. Clifford will assist the police as best he can with their inquiries. When we are in a position to provide further information, we will."

Police said that a man in his 60s was arrested Thursday morning in Surrey, south of London, on suspicion of sexual offenses and is being questioned at a central London police station.

The police statement said the arrest was part of Operation Yewtree, a broad investigation into child sex abuse spurred by the case of Jimmy Savile, a prominent BBC television host who has, since his death last year, been linked to serial sex abuse of underage girls. Police have said there may be several hundred victims.

The police statement does not link Thursday's arrest to child sex abuse. It was not clear what Clifford was being questioned about, and other people arrested as part of Operation Yewtree have not been charged with criminal offences.

Clifford has been a fixture on British television news programs and in British newspapers, which frequently seek his thoughts on how celebrities can come up with novel marketing strategies to maximize their appeal — and how celebrities dealing with marital breakdowns, drug problems, legal issues or fading popularity can rebound.

His clients include entertainment mogul Simon Cowell, former Harrod's owner Mohamed al-Fayed, and the late reality TV star Jade Goody, as well as dozens of ordinary people who found themselves at the vortex of the news and who sought to sell their stories to the press, which is a common, and lucrative, practice in Britain.

Clifford's easy sense of humor, elegant clothes and friendly manner made him a media mainstay. And he has been comfortable discussing the Savile inquiry with reporters, telling The Associated Press in October that many celebrities were worried they might become ensnared in the investigation.

"They're phoning me and saying, 'Max, I'm worried that I'm going to be implicated.' A lot of them can't remember what they did last week, never mind 30 or 40 years ago," he said.

Clifford did not answer calls placed to his mobile phone Thursday.
The Savile allegations have hugely embarrassed the BBC, which has been accused of failing to report on investigations into their late star's alleged crimes and instead broadcasting tributes to the entertainer, who hosted several popular children's shows.

Four other people have been arrested in the investigation of the alleged abuse. No one has been charged.

British media have identified the suspects as including comedian Freddie Starr and former glam rock star Gary Glitter.

and

http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/


On 6 December 2012, UK police investigating the Jimmy Savile abuse scandal arrested PR guru Max Clifford on suspicion of sexual offences, it has been reported.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/

Max Clifford's clients have included Simon Cowell.

One of Cowell's friends was Jonathan King - jailed in 2001 for sexually assaulting five teenage boys.

Louis Theroux told Cowell: "Word on the street is that you're gay."

On American Idol, host Ryan Seacrest told the audience that Cowell's favourite song was Village People's YMCA and his favourite club was called Manhole.

Max Clifford's clients have included Simon Cowell.

One of Cowell's friends was Jonathan King - jailed in 2001 for sexually assaulting five teenage boys.

Robert Murat, formerly a suspect in the Madeleine McCann case. (pix at link)

Robert Murat was also a client of Max Clifford.

MADELEINE MCCANN AND STRANGE LINKS:

http://aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/madeleine-mccann-and-strange-links.html


(Madeleine McCann was the British girl who disappeared while on holiday with her doctor parents at a family resort in Portugal a few years ago).

[Sabrina]

http://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/

At least one British MP is trying to emphasise the extent of the sexual abuse scandals and the cover ups in the UK.

6 Nov UK

John Hemming MP Speech 13th Nov

There are those in the MSM and the establishment who would like to portray the alternative media and the public’s wish to expose the historic and current child abuse in the UK’s care system as irrational and uneducated hubris.

My own view is that only by exposing the extent of the establishment cover-ups can we protect children in care today and in the future. Many powerful people have participated in child abuse, many more have been complicit in it’s cover-up. While these people still have the power to influence, nothing will change. These people are subject to blackmail by the current batch of child abusers and fear of exposure will ensure that they will continue to protect those that abuse children right now. Only by exposing those powerful people can we render them impotent, so that these disgraceful crimes can not be perpetuated.

The public exposure of celebrities is welcome, only in as much as all child abuse is equally vile, and all victims are equally deserving of justice but only when the politicians, the judges, the civil servants, and the police officers who have abused children, and protected those that have abused them, are publically exposed and brought to justice can the public have any confidence that children in care in the future will be safe.

Below is a speech by John Hemming MP made in the House of Commons. The bolds are my own. Please take the time to read it. Child abuse cover-up is not conspiracy theory it is conspiracy fact, and I question the motives of those in the MSM and the establishment who would lead the general public to believe otherwise.

13 Nov 2012 : 4.39 pm

John Hemming (Birmingham, Yardley) (LD): I echo what has been said about listening to victims; whoever they are criticising, they must be listened to.

It is unfortunate that the statue of a naked 13-year-old boy on the front of Broadcasting House was carved by someone who abused children. However, this is not about the BBC; it is the children who matter the most. The BBC does not matter, dead celebrities do not matter, mistaken identities do not matter in the same way; what really matters is that children should be expected to be safe in the control of the state. These children are the most vulnerable because they do not have the protection of their parents and depend entirely on the state.

Only 20% to 30% of the children subject to child sexual exploitation on the narrow definition of the term are in care. Obviously, that means that 70% to 80% of those children are living in the family home. The cost of supporting a family can be as little as £3,000 per annum, whereas secure care can cost as much as £200,000 or even £500,000 per year. I accept that we need a child protection system and that not all parents are “good enough”, but I make no apology for concentrating on the failings of the state. Penny Mellor, who has campaigned against state-tolerated abuse for many years, was imprisoned because of her campaign, and was present for the north Wales inquiry, has said:

“The state as a parent is abominable, proven in Rochdale and proven in North Wales. If we are going to remove children into the care of the state then it is about time we ensured that the state is a better parent than the one we removed them from. The who is not relevant, sexual abuse perpetrated by anyone is devastating.”

It is important to recognise that the state system is still harming children. Rochdale, Rotherham and Oxford are not the whole story. One problem is the lack of accountability. Individual practitioners are basically allowed to get on with things as they wish. There are good practitioners but also bad practitioners, and their bad practice is not picked up by the system. A good example of this is from New Zealand, where social workers encouraged a 14-year-old girl to have group sex with a number of St John Ambulance workers and “divorce” her parents, who wished to discourage this. St John Ambulance has still not finally dealt with this issue and some of the workers are scheduled to receive a Queen’s Award. Another example is from Birmingham, where a child was first sexually harassed in a foster placement and then got pregnant at the age of 15, while in the control of the state. Practitioners in Birmingham have argued in the past that children should be permitted to prostitute themselves while not being allowed to make toast for each other, for health and safety reasons.

As at 31 March 2011, 160 girls in care had had their first child before the age of 16 and 120 had had their first child at the age of 16. So what happens? We know that the girls at Duncroft school were punished for complaining about Jimmy Savile. If a child in the power of the local authority wishes to complain about their treatment, they have to complain to an employee of the local authority or someone funded by the local authority. Where is the independence in that? The lack of independence in the complaints system is why many cases of abuse are not picked up until the children subject to the abuse become adults—not necessarily at age 18 but when they get the required confidence aged

25, 30 or later. Very rarely, a Gillick-competent child in his or her mid-teens may make contact with one of the very rare solicitors who are willing to take on the local authority, but usually nothing happens at least until the children are adults.

One of the worst examples of a cover up comes from Jersey. Children in Jersey had the chief of police, Graham Power, and the health Minister, Stuart Syvret, to protect their interests. However, in 2008, as soon as action was taken to investigate historical abuse, the health Minister was sacked and the chief of police suspended. What hope did those children have? It is now roughly the fourth anniversary of the sacking of Jersey’s chief of police, Graham Power, and he has put out a statement to coincide with it. I will not read it all because time is limited, but this is part of what he says:

“I would however simply for the record, remind readers what has been established from a number of credible and independent sources and disclosures. Namely, that my suspension was based on falsified documents, fabricated evidence, misleading information provided to States Members and the public by Jersey Ministers, and the testimony of a number of senior individuals who have since been publicly discredited.

The events relating to Jimmy Saville and other revelations have heightened the general awareness of the issue of Historic Child Abuse, and the substantial difficulties which stand in the way of those who attempt to bring abusers to justice.”

This cover-up has been continued by the UK Border Agency, which assisted Jersey in avoiding scrutiny by banning a US journalist, Leah McGrath Goodman, from Jersey. She is now applying again for a visa, and I hope that the Minister will expedite it.

Teresa Cooper, who says that she was held down by six members of staff and injected with drugs while at Kendall House at the age of 14 and that she was also sexually assaulted in a drugged state, is continuing at the age of 45 to battle to get the evidence to find out why the Government did not act to stop that. We have a duty to provide her and other survivors with the records they ask for.

There have also been numerous police operations, including Operation Rose in Northumbria, Operation Care in Liverpool, Operation Aldgate and Operation Gullane in Yorkshire, Operation Goldfinch and Operation Flight in south Wales, and Operation Camassia in Birmingham. Frequently, such operations do not get to the bottom of the issues. A few, such as that in Kincora, managed to make the link between the abuse and people external to the institution. We need to empower the survivors by providing them with the information to argue their cases. Perhaps we can then also consider the question of who turned a blind eye.

It is often easier to see that there is a cover-up than to get to the truth. For example, if people listen to last Friday’s interview with Stuart Syvret on BBC Radio Jersey—it will be available on iPlayer for a few days—they will hear how the BBC is acting as a tool of the establishment by trying to prevent him from arguing his case. Mike Stein, in his excellent article in Child and Family Social Work in February 2006, explains how widespread this problem was, with a possible one in seven of children in care being subject to abuse. Australia has implemented an all-embracing inquiry, which is a good idea, although the details are complex. I believe, however, that the priority should be to empower the survivors.

We also need to act urgently to find out what is happening to children in the care system today. In the year to 31 March 2011—I do not have the later figures—according to the SSDA903 return, 430 children aged one to four, 350 children aged five to nine and 630 children aged 10 to 15 left care for “other reasons”. These are the children who have left care and we do not know what has happened to them. Have they been trafficked, have they been abducted or have they run away to live on the streets because they were unhappy in the control of the state?

The statistical system used in the USA is called AFCARS—the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System— and records when children run away, but our Government do not bother. Clearly, they do not care sufficiently to ask local authorities to tell them. When I asked the erstwhile Minister, the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton), to record such instances and change the statistical basis, his response was that to find out nationally how many children are trafficked from care, abducted or run away would lead to “an unnecessary increase in reporting requirements.”—[Official Report, 13 December 2011; Vol. 537, c. 642W.]

We need to go further. We clearly cannot trust all local authorities to tell the whole truth about everything. We already have a system for auditing what happens to the money. We really ought to have a system for checking whether we are told the truth about what happens to the children, or do the Government only care about the money and not about the children?

The secrecy, lack of transparency and consequent failures in accountability clearly failed children in the past, but they are also failing children today. We need to protect the rights of children and adults to complain and bring in greater scrutiny of family court proceedings. It is the secrecy that arises from the family courts that allows the system to avoid scrutiny and local authorities to simply say, “We are acting in the best interests of the child,” when clearly they are not.

Finally, Parliament needs to be more willing to look at individual issues before they hit the top of the news agenda. There needs to be a threshold at which collective action occurs.

There is disagreement between two particular positions that have been debated today. I have a little time, so it is worth going into this in detail. There is an argument that all we need is a bit more information sharing, but the evidence from Rochdale is that that does not work and that people are not acting. We need to ensure that people are motivated. That is the problem with the independent reviewing officer—they are not independent. The independent reviewing officer is employed by the local authority. I want to address the Lancashire county council case.

via Hansard

[Sabrina]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9726979/Starbucks-bows-to-outrage-and-offers-20m-extra-tax.html

6 Nov UK

Starbucks bows to outrage and offers £20m extra tax

Starbucks has bowed to public outrage over its tax affairs and made a voluntary £10m annual offering to HMRC, on top of the tax it currently pays, for the next two years.


Several weeks ago it emerged that the coffee chain had only paid £8.5m in corporation tax since it launched in Britain in 1998, despite enjoying sales of £3bn. Since then other companies including Amazon and Google have also attracted criticism over their own tax payments, and protest groups have called for a boycott of the coffee chain.

The managing director of Starbucks UK, Kris Engskov, on Thursday made an unprecedented offer to pay an extra £10m to HMRC each year, "until we are paying corporation tax at a material rate".

Up until now, Starbucks has insisted that its UK business does not make a profit because of the high rents it pays for its shops, and therefore has paid little corporation tax.

The coffee chain also uses a number of perfectly legal mechanisms to further reduce the tax it pays, including handing a 4.7pc licensing fee to a separate arm of Starbucks in the Netherlands for image rights. It also buys its coffee from a Swiss division of Starbucks which charges a 20pc premium on the product.
more at link

and

background from Nov:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/nov/12/starbucks-tax-avoidance-controversy


and


http://occupylondon.org.uk/events/refuge-from-the-cuts-target-starbucks

Occupy London

Refuge from the cuts: target Starbucks

Join UK Uncut on Saturday Dec 8 and help transform the tax dodger Starbucks into a library, refuge, creche or other public service.

Check the actions page to find an action near you. If there isn’t one, see the UKUncut step-by-step guide on how to organise one yourself.

UK Uncut actions are creative and fun. If anyone is nervous or has any questions, get in touch by emailing ukuncut@gmail.com

Occupy Starbucks, to show that we refuse to lose vital services to cuts… and that Starbucks’ tax dodging has a lot to answer for.

Bring your own coffee… see you on the high streets!

www.ukuncut.org.uk/blog/call-out-8-dec-refuge-from-the-cuts

:)

[Sabrina]

http://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/2012/12/07/max-clifford-the-ringmaster-of-scandal/

Max Clifford: The Ringmaster of Sex Scandals

7 Dec

Interesting article on UK publicist Max Clifford, arrested and now release re: sexual abuse.


and also this

http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/max-clifford-pamela-bordes-oliver-north.html

MAX CLIFFORD, PAMELA BORDES, OLIVER NORTH, SPOOKS...

7 Dec

[Sabrina]

http://news.sky.com/story/1022526/starbucks-tax-row-protestors-occupy-stores

8 Dec UK

Starbucks Tax Row: Protestors Occupy Stores

Campaigners stage demonstrations at Starbucks coffee shops, turning some into refuges, creches and homeless shelters.

Anti tax avoidance activists have staged protests at more than 50 Starbucks stores to complain about the coffee chain's tax arrangements.

UK Uncut said it was the most widespread day of action it had ever held, showing the depth of anger at the scale of tax avoidance by some large companies.

Pictures uploaded to its Facebook page showed campaigners holding banners and posters while others staged sit-in protests.

The demonstrations went ahead in cities including London, Glasgow, Belfast, Liverpool, Sheffield and Portsmouth even though the US giant announced changes to its tax payments.

Starbucks said it expects to pay around £10m in UK corporation tax for each of the next two years, following the revelation that it paid just £8.6m in 14 years of trading in Britain and nothing in the last three years.


Starbucks' Kris Engskov wrote an open letter to customers on Thursday
UK Uncut said it had "transformed" Starbucks stores into refuges, creches and homeless shelters to highlight the tax issues as well as the effect of Government cuts on women.

There was a police presence at many of the protests, with some of the demonstrators told to report to a police station within seven days. There were two arrests in London.

A UK Uncut spokesman said: "It has been an overwhelming success, sending a clear message to the Government as well as to huge corporations."

One store in Vigo Street, central London, was occupied by protesters at noon and then temporarily closed.

Dozens of activists chanted and waved placards and banners outside, shutting off the street to traffic under the gaze of the police.

The store was transformed into a domestic violence refuge as the protest sought to highlight the "disproportionate" effect that the coalition's cuts to the public sector are having on women.

Lisa Stewart, a 30-year-old UK Uncut activist, said: "Women are bearing the brunt of these cuts, and if they (the Government) made tax-dodgers like Starbucks pay that would bring in £25bn a year.

"Think of all the spending cuts that we could cover with that."

Ms Stewart said the reaction from customers inside the store had been positive, adding: "There is lots of anger out there and people realise they are being lied to."

In an open letter to customers on Thursday, Kris Engskov, managing director of Starbucks UK, said the company had begun "a process of enhancing trust with customers and the communities that we have been honoured to serve for the past 14 years".

He said the company injects nearly £300m annually into the UK economy, and will train more than 1,000 apprentices over the next two years.

and

http://metro.co.uk/2012/12/08/jpmorgan-in-500m-payback-talks-over-tax-avoidance-bonus-pot-3307727/

8 Dec UK

JPMorgan in £500m payback talks over tax-avoidance bonus pot


JPMorgan could be set to pay back £500million to the UK government over a tax-avoidance scheme it used to pay staff bonuses.

The US investment bank, which is winding up a Jersey-based trust, has asked more than 2,000 current and former staff to contribute to the settlement, according to the Financial Times.

It comes amid a public backlash against big companies and controversial tax affairs.

Starbucks has agreed to pay £20m to HM Treasury after it emerged the coffee corporation had paid only £8m in taxes since 1998. The chain has seen protests across its UK shops today.

JPMorgan had an employee benefit trust (EBT), which had previously enabled companies and staff to avoid paying employer’s national insurance contributions and income taxes.

Many EBTs are now being wound up after laws were passed clamping down on them.

A spokesman for JPMorgan said: ‘Our employee trust has always been transparent… and its independent trustee has consistently paid taxes in accordance with UK tax law.’

An HM Revenue and Customs spokesman said: ‘The government has legislated to remove any doubt that arrangements involving third parties, including EBTs, are ineffective as a way of avoiding tax.

‘Our view is that a large number of EBT schemes didn’t work under the previous legislation; where that is the case we have challenged and are continuing to challenge them.’

[Sabrina]

https://rt.com/news/italy-monti-resign-budget-621/

9 Dec Italy

Italian PM Mario Monti to resign as soon as 2013 budget finalized

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has told President Giorgio Napolitano that he intends to resign after making sure the country's parliament passes next year’s budget.

According to a statement issued by the president’s office, Monti does not consider it possible to further carry out his responsibilities, and has accordingly expressed his intention to resign.

Giorgio Napolitano's office announced Monti's plan to resign on Saturday night after the head of state met with Monti for nearly two hours at the presidential palace in Rome.

The announcement comes a day after former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom party called for an "orderly" end to the current emergency government, withdrawing its support to Mario Monti.

“We want to conclude this parliamentary term in an orderly fashion without sending the institutions and the country to rack and ruin,” the People of Freedom Secretary Angelino Alfano said after his party went against Monti’s government in two confidence votes Thursday.

"This has nothing to do with Monti as a person, his service to the institutions and his honesty with the political parties and with us in particular," Alfano added.

Meanwhile, Silvio Berlusconi announced he is dropping his plans for retirement and would be running to regain the premiership for the fourth time in elections in early 2013.

"I have always entered the race to win," Berlusconi told reporters outside the training facilities of his soccer team AC Milan on Friday.

Speaking of the seat of the Italian goverment, the former television magnate said, "this is a thing that I never missed, not even for a minute. I return in despair to politics and I'm doing it again for a sense of responsibility.''

The announcement came amid Berlusconi's current legal troubles, being convicted of tax fraud earlier this year. The former prime minister is also on trial for allegedly paying for sex with an underaged prostitute, charges he strongly denies. The 76-year-old politician resigned in November 2011 over Italy's economic troubles.

[modwiz]

http://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/

At least one British MP is trying to emphasise the extent of the sexual abuse scandals and the cover ups in the UK.

6 Nov UK

John Hemming MP Speech 13th Nov

There are those in the MSM and the establishment who would like to portray the alternative media and the public’s wish to expose the historic and current child abuse in the UK’s care system as irrational and uneducated hubris.

My own view is that only by exposing the extent of the establishment cover-ups can we protect children in care today and in the future. Many powerful people have participated in child abuse, many more have been complicit in it’s cover-up. While these people still have the power to influence, nothing will change. These people are subject to blackmail by the current batch of child abusers and fear of exposure will ensure that they will continue to protect those that abuse children right now. Only by exposing those powerful people can we render them impotent, so that these disgraceful crimes can not be perpetuated.



John Hemming
Let us remember this name so we can have our aha moment when he ends up as a suicide or dead of something. It's been a few weeks now, his time should be coming up.

Meanwhile:

Paedophiles who trade child porn will not be sent to prison: New sentencing laws suggest community punishments

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2243739/New-sentencing-laws-suggest-community-punishments-paedophiles.html

I wonder what other legal plans are in the works?

[Sabrina]

11 Dec

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/three-arrested-in-connection-to-rate-rigging-scandal/


3 Men Arrested in Rate-Rigging Investigation

The Serious Fraud Office of Britain said on Tuesday that it had arrested three people in connection with rate rigging. Three men, British citizens aged 33 to 47, were taken into custody by the police in early morning raids at their houses on the outskirts of London.

One of the people is Thomas Hayes, a 33-year-old former trader at Citigroup and UBS, according to people with knowledge of the matter. At least one of the other two men worked for R P Martin, a British brokerage firm that previously surfaced in the Canadian investigation into rate manipulation, another person briefed on the matter said.

British criminal authorities typically make arrests at the early stages of an inquiry, and the actions do not necessarily mean the individuals will be charged with wrongdoing. A Citigroup spokeswoman declined to comment. A UBS spokesman declined to comment. A lawyer for Mr. Hayes could not immediately be identified.

The arrests signal a new phase of the sprawling rate-rigging investigation.

Regulators around the world are investigating more than a dozen big banks that help set benchmarks like the London interbank offered rate, or Libor. Such benchmark rates are used to determine the borrowing costs for trillions of dollars of financial products, including credit cards, student loans and mortgages.

In June, the British bank Barclays agreed to pay $450 million to settle charges that some of its traders attempted to manipulate Libor to bolster profits. Authorities also accused Barclays of submitting low rates to deflect concerns about its health during the financial crisis. The scandal prompted the resignations of top bank officials, including the chief executive, Robert E. Diamond Jr.

Regulators are now pursuing a number of criminal and civil cases.

The Royal Bank of Scotland, which is holding talks with regulators, said it would probably disclose fines before its next earnings report in February.

The Swiss bank UBS is close to finalizing a settlement deal with American and British authorities. The bank is expected to pay more than $450 million to settle claims that some employees reported false rates to increase its profit. When American authorities announce their case against UBS in the coming days, Mr. Hayes is expected to figure prominently, one of the officials said.

Mr. Hayes built his reputation as a trader at UBS. He worked at the Swiss bank from about 2006 to 2009, before departing for Citigroup.

But his career at Citigroup was short-lived. In 2010, the bank suspended him after he approached a London trading desk about improperly influencing the yen-denominated Libor rates, a person briefed on the matter said. He was fired in September 2010, and the bank reported his suspected actions to authorities.

UBS also implicated Mr. Hayes to authorities, according to another person briefed on the matter. The Swiss bank discovered that Mr. Hayes had worked with traders at other banks to influence rates, according to officials and court documents.

Mr. Hayes emerged in court documents filed this year by Canadian authorities. The documents – collected by Canada’s Competition Bureau, the country’s antitrust authority – highlight an alleged scheme in which Mr. Hayes and other traders colluded to push yen Libor rates up and down. The Canadian investigation, which covers conduct from 2007 to 2010, also referenced traders at JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, Deutsche Bank and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The traders, the documents said, at times corresponded using instant messages on Bloomberg machines. While the flurry of activity took place outside Canada, the trading affected financial contracts in the country that were pegged to yen Libor.

“Traders at participants banks communicated with each other their desire to see a higher or lower yen Libor to aid their trading positions,” the Canadian documents said.

The traders also relied on middlemen at brokerage firms “to use their influence” on other banks that set Libor, according to the documents. The brokers included employees at R P Martin, a person briefed on the matter said.

Under British law, Mr. Hayes and the other men can be held for 24 hours. The authorities can then apply for an extension if they need more time for questioning.

The Serious Fraud Office started a criminal investigation into Libor manipulation in July, in response to the furor over the rate-rigging scandal at Barclays. The criminal investigations by the British authorities and their counterparts at the Justice Department parallel similar civil inquiries by international authorities, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Financial Services Authority, the British regulator.

The arrests come as the agency tries to repair its reputation. In April, the new director of the Serious Fraud Office, David Green, pledged to overhaul the office after a series of mistakes by the organization.

Legal professionals say the appointment is a step toward rejuvenating the agency, which has lacked significant firepower to police London’s financial services sector. The Serious Fraud Office has been given extra resources by the British government to pursue a criminal investigation related to Libor.

“The S.F.O. works incredibly slowly,” said a defense lawyer representing individuals implicated in the Libor inquiry, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the continuing investigation. “It’s not surprising that people have been arrested. But how long it will take to lead to criminal charges is another matter.”

[Sabrina]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2243596/Stuart-Hall-charged-sex-attacks-young-girls-Its-A-Knockout-host-facing-claims-dating-decades.html

11 DEC UK

Stuart Hall is charged with sex attacks on young girls: It's A Knockout host facing claims dating back decades

Veteran broadcaster was arrested at his home in Wilmslow, Cheshire, yesterday morning
Hall charged by detectives investigating historical allegations of indecent assault relating to three different girls aged between 8 and 17
Alleged offences are said to have taken place between 1974 and 1984
Former presenter was this evening bailed to appear in court on January 7

Veteran TV and radio presenter Stuart Hall was last night charged with indecently assaulting three girls.
The former It’s A Knockout host and BBC Radio 5 Live commentator was arrested by police during a dawn swoop on his £1.5million detached home yesterday.

The 82-year-old was then taken to a police station where he was questioned for several hours over accusations of indecent assault.

Last night he was charged with indecently assaulting three girls – one as young as eight – in alleged attacks dating back to 1974.
John Dilworth of the Crown Prosecution Service said: ‘Following investigations by Lancashire Police into allegations of sexual assault by Stuart Hall I have reviewed all the evidence that they have gathered and have authorised Lancashire Police to charge him with three counts of indecent assault.’

The first charge is that between September and December 1974 Hall indecently assaulted a woman who was then aged 16 or 17 years.
The second charge alleges he indecently assaulted a girl aged eight or nine in 1983.

Finally he is accused of indecently assaulting a 13-year-old girl between July and September 1984.
Mr Dilworth said: ‘I have concluded that there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that it is in the public interest to prosecute this case.’

Hall, famed for his distinctively highbrow approach to football commentary, was released from custody and bailed to appear before magistrates next month.

He was arrested in the early hours of yesterday morning at his family home in a quiet leafy area of Wilmslow, Cheshire, where he lives with his wife of 44 years, Hazel, 74.

more at link

[Sabrina]

I'm not sure what this story is really about, given the amount of this that goes on behind the scenes anyway by tptb and those who really run some of the drug cartels. Wonder what's really behind this?



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financial-crime/9736167/HSBC-pays-1.92bn-to-settle-US-money-laundering-claims.html

11 Dec

HSBC pays $1.92bn to settle US money laundering claims

HSBC will pay US authorities a record $1.9bn (£1.18bn) to settle allegations that its failure to enforce anti-money laundering rules left America's financial system exposed to drug cartels.

The payment includes a deferred prosecution agreement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ), HSBC said in a statement, but not a settlement with UK regulators, which the bank said it would complete shortly.

Stuart Gulliver, HSBC's chief executive said in a statement: "We accept responsibility for our past mistakes. We have said we are profoundly sorry for them, and we do so again [...] we will continue to work closely with governments and regulators around the world.”

The lender said that the DoJ would continue to monitor the bank's progress over the next five years to ensure that the bank "fully implement[ed]" additional compliance measures.

Shareholders in HSBC were warned earlier this year by chief executive Stuart Gulliver that a settlement could cost more than $1.5bn.
The bank apologised over the summer for failures to enforce anti-money laundering rules, with Mr Gulliver admitting that HSBC needed to "take responsibility for fixing what went wrong".

In July, senior HSBC executives were hauled before a powerful Senate committee to explain the failures that stretched between 2004 and 2010.

A damning Senate report said HSBC left America's financial system exposed to exploitation by drug cartels and terrorist organisations due to its failure to comply with anti-money laundering laws.

The report also contained strong criticism of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a top US bank regulator, saying the regulator failed to crack down on the bank despite multiple red flags, allowing money laundering issues "to accumulate into a massive problem".

On Monday HSBC named Bob Werner, a former senior official at the US Treasury, as the head of group financial crime compliance at the bank.
HSBC said it continues to co-operate with US authorities.

The US government is aggressively pursuing breaches of anti-money laundering rules and a number of British banks are still under investigation.
Shares in HSBC edged up 0.3pc to 642.8p in early trading in London.

[ThePythonicCow]

I'm not sure what this story is really about, given the amount of this that goes on behind the scenes anyway by tptb and those who really run some of the drug cartels. Wonder what's really behind this?
Indeed ... a strange and curious story.

[Sabrina]

http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2012/12/10/paedophile-power-you-ask-how-jimmy-savile-got-away-with-it-read-this/

PAEDOPHILE POWER: You ask how Jimmy Savile got away with it….read this.


A long last, the Dutch government has brought somebody involved in a paedophile case to Court. The Dutch nation eagerly awaits the result of the man’s second trial that begins today, December 12th 2012.

There’s just one problem. The man they’re putting on trial is investigating the alleged perpetrator. But surprise surprise, the man he’s been investigating was until recently the highest Law officer in the Land.

Dutch journalist Micha Kat has been on the trail of the former head of the Dutch Ministry of Safety and Justice Joris Demmink for a long time now. But he has been far from alone in accusing his prey.

First named by inference by the Netherlands press in 1994 in the context of ‘the involvement of a top official from the Hague in the abuse of minors’, in 1996 Turkish police alleged they had evidence proving that Demmink organized sex parties in Turkey during which minors were abused. They stated that the sex parties were organized in collaboration with drug offenders who had contacts with the Turkish government.

In 1998, a Dutch TV documentary revealed that young boys were smuggled from Poland to the Netherlands with the assistance of “a top official of the Dutch government”. It added that a top official named “Joris” had been sentenced to 240 hours of community service and six months of conditional imprisonment. Claims then appeared in the Dutch media that this was not Demmink, although information was at zero on who it actually was.

But shortly afterwards, the Amsterdam authorities investigated a paedophile network. It was found to include a former lawyer of the Dutch queen, two main prosecutors, a former minister and a professor. Documents were leaked suggesting that Demmink had tried to sabotage the investigation.

In 2002, Kurdish PKK sympathiser Hüseyin Baybasin – arrested in the Netherlands for “criminal activities” related to “drug trafficking, extortion and murder” – was sentenced to life imprisonment. Ever since his arrest in 1998, Baybasin had claimed that, because of his Kurdish activism, Ankara had put pressure on the Netherlands to arrest him by threatening to disclose information on Demmink’s abuse of minors in Turkey.

But despite all these clouds, Demmink was appointed to be the highest-ranking Justice officer in the Netherlands. Dutch intelligence agency AIVD has since revealed that it investigated “circa 40 rumours about the lifestyle of Demmink”, and that intelligence officers tried strenuously to block the appointment because of Demmink’s “sexual lifestyle”.

The magazines Panorama and GayKrant decided the following year to cooperate on an independent investigation of Demmink. They published articles revealing that Demmink had abused children in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and while visiting a sex bar in Prague. A man named Frank Leenders comes forward to claim that Demmink had been present during the filming of a porn movie in the Czech Republic where a child died as a result of penetration with a dildo. Dutch NOS News then named Joris Demmink as a child abuser.

But the then Minister of Justice Piet Hein Donner placed a gagging order on the press, threatening to prosecute any media mentioning the name of the “suspected official”. Subsequently, the Dutch Public Prosecutor declared, “the complaint against Joris Demmink is false”….but without presenting any evidence, as such.

The case remains very high-profile in the Netherlands. Two months ago, Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad revealed Piet Hein Donnerhad indeed been warned by two of his own senior government officials about Joris Demmink’s murky track record. Yet he did nothing.

Also this Autumn, Demmink was accused of raping two teenage boys, now men, during a visit to Turkey in 1990s. One of them recently shared his story on US television and testified to a Senate Committee. Demmink has in turn been accused by publications like Die Welt in Germany, and several well-evidenced books throughout Europe. But he sat tight.

Prominent Dutch barrister Adele Van der Plas continues to call for justice against Demmink, but concludes ruefully, “I think it could be that more people are maybe involved.”

She is very probably right. Connected paedophile rings are known to pass both information and victims across borders to and from Turkey, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Holland….and Britain. A middle-ranking Conservative MP confided to me two years ago his belief that “at least one” senior Minister had used the Diplomatic Bag to facilitate this trade.

And yet today, it is the investigative journalist Micha Kat who is on trial. The 49-year-old faces a Court in the Hague on charges of insulting the Dutch royal family, two bomb threats, death threats against a journalist of Dutch mainstream newspaper Telegraaf. Two months ago he was put on probabtion for scrawling “danger: paedophile” on the house of Joris Demmink.

The charges (except the scrawl, which he admitted) feel both odd (insulting royals?) and trumped up. However, Kat himself is no stranger to controversy about his eccentric beliefs, which include Holocaust denial – although he is himself Jewish. He does also have a long history of facing slander and libel suits, as well as various suspensions from legal and journalistic institutions.

Were this affair entirely down to the trigger-happy Misha Kat, I wouldn’t be blogging about it. But I sense that in this case, Joris Demmink has been extremely lucky in his choice of main enemy.

[KiwiElf]

Kiwi Ponzi Schemers - Six years jail for fraudster Evan Cherry
MATT NIPPERT
Last updated 16:02 11/12/2012

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/8065096/Six-years-jail-for-fraudster-Evan-Cherry

Fraudster Evan Cherry has been sentenced to six years and two months in prison after admitting stealing $4.7 million as part of a decade-long Ponzi scheme.

Cherry pleaded guilty in September to four charges of theft by a person in a special relationship and was remanded without bail until his sentencing in the North Shore District Court this afternoon.

Cherry, an unregulated financial adviser, operated financial company Investment Solutions from 1996 accepting money from friends and family to invest - supposedly - in shares, notes, bonds and listed companies.

Cherry admitted recycling investor contributions, and appropriating $582,000 for personal expenses.

Business Day understands the personal expenses included paying the mortgage on a $1.3m home in a gated community in Coatesville, lease payments on Porsche and Audi cars and fees for his daughter to attend the exclusive private Pinehurst School.

Investors in Cherry's schemes, who advanced $9m in total, have been told by liquidators to expect a shortfall of at least $5m.

Simon McArley, acting chief executive of the Serious Fraud Office said the case was one of many recent instances of affinity fraud.

"This case is one of a series of similar cases we have dealt with over the past year or so where trusted investment advisors have manipulated or failed to invest investors' funds as promised and provided false statements to conceal losses or misappropriations.

"We continue to warn those wishing to invest to remember every investment is business, not personal," he said.

Cherry's sentence is on par with recent multi-million-dollar white-collar convictions.

Jacqui Bradley was sentenced in October to seven years and five months' imprisonment after her B'On investment company was found at trial to be a $15.5m Ponzi scheme.

Former Capital + Merchant directors Wayne Douglas and Neal Nicholls were given seven-and-a-half years' jail in July on various fraud counts involving about $28m of transactions, after Justice Edwin Wylie said they were motivated by greed and self-interest.

DataSouth director Gavin Bennett got eight years' jail in May for defrauding South Canterbury Finance, while Bridgecorp director Rod Petricevic got almost seven years in April for misleading investors and spending company money on a luxury yacht.

Former ASB bank employee Stephen Velsalko got six years' jail time in a 2010 case involving $17m stolen from his employer, while in 2009 Michael Swann was given nine-and-a-half years' jail relating to a huge fraud against the Otago District Health Board.


- © Fairfax NZ News

[modwiz]

Chump change and chumps going to jail. These are just crumbs, but they do point at the sumptuous meals being consumed. Fear is beginning to make the rats turn on each other, throwing bodies out to try and slow the trail down. What a train wreck.

[Sabrina]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20701000
12.12.12 !! UK

Times newspaper editor James Harding to quit

The editor of the Times newspaper is to leave his post after five years but will remain with Rupert Murdoch's organisation, the BBC has learnt.

James Harding will leave within a month and is expected to be replaced by John Witherow, says our business editor, Robert Peston.

Our correspondent says Mr Harding could move to Mr Murdoch's publishing firm, Harper Collins.

Mr Witherow is the editor of the Times' stablemate, the Sunday Times.

Meanwhile, News International Group, which owns both the Times titles as well as the Sun newspaper and published the now-closed News of the World, announced its full-year figures.

They revealed losses of £153m in the year to July 2012, compared with a profit of £113m a year earlier.

The group said the main cause of the loss was the closure of the News of the World, which folded in July 2011 in the wake of allegations of widespread phone hacking.

The company said this year contained a "high level of uncertainty" in respect of potential damages and legal costs which may be payable as result of the legal action by those alleging their private messages were intercepted by the News of the World in search of stories.

A number of individuals have received compensation payments, including the parents of murdered schoolgirl Millie Dowler.

Split
The change at the Times newspaper comes hard on the heels of another move at the top of Mr Murdoch's company.

Last week, the chief executive of News International, the News Corporation subsidiary whose assets include the Times newspapers, said he would leave his role before the end of the month.

Tom Mockridge had taken over from Rebekah Brooks in July 2011.

Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corp, said Mr Mockridge's decision was "absolutely and entirely his own".

The announcement comes as News Corp plans to split into two businesses, separating its newspaper and book publishing interests from its now dominant and much more profitable TV and film enterprises.

Rupert Murdoch said: "James has been a distinguished editor for the Times, attracting talented staff to the paper and leading it through difficult times.

"I have great respect for him as a colleague and friend, and truly hope we can work together again."

Mr Harding, who is 43, was one of the youngest journalists to take charge of the paper.

[Sabrina]

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/12/12/reutersworld/1212121414-singapore-speaker-resigns-in-fresh-sex-&sec=reutersworld

Singapore Speaker resigns in fresh sex scandal

SINGAPORE: Singapore's parliamentary Speaker announced his resignation Wednesday after admitting an extramarital affair, in the latest sex scandal to hit the city-state, local media reported.

Michael Palmer, 44, a married father of one who was sworn in as Speaker in October 2011, also quit his seat in parliament and membership of the ruling People's Action Party, online media reports said.

It was the latest high-level scandal to hit Singapore after the former head of the narcotics police was put on trial for allegedly seeking sexual favours from a contractor.

Another senior civil servant is scheduled to be tried in January on a similar charge. - AFP

[Sabrina]

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/world/article/cayman-islands-leader-arrested-in-corruption-probe/
12.12.12

Cayman Islands leader arrested in corruption probe


GEORGE TOWN (Cayman Island), Dec 12 – The leader of the Cayman Islands was arrested yesterday on suspicion of corruption in connection with a graft investigation in the Caribbean offshore financial centre, authorities said.

Premier McKeeva Bush was detained at his home by members of the Financial Crime Unit of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, a police statement said.

The 57-year-old premier is suspected of theft, alleged misuse of a government credit card and abuse of office over the alleged importation of explosive substances without valid permits, it said.

“It would be inappropriate ... to make any further comment in relation to these matters at this time,” the statement said. “Further updates will be made available in due course.”

A police spokeswoman declined to elaborate on the arrest.

Leonard Dilbert, Bush’s chief of staff, said the premier had been detained on suspicion of wrongdoing pending an investigation but had not been formally charged with any crime.

“It is important to remind the people of the Cayman Islands not to rush to judgment,” he said.

“Being suspected of having done something is far from it having been proven that you did that thing.”

Bush was elected in 2009 as premier of the island chain, a British Overseas Territory with a population of 55,000 people and a leading global tax haven.

The islands are home to most of the world’s hedge funds, offering tax advantages and financial secrecy to companies and investors.

Bush also holds the position of minister of finance and tourism. He is the longest-serving member of the Caymans’ Legislative Assembly and was first elected in 1984.

Police searched Bush’s home after his arrest and set up roadblocks restricting access to his residence, said a government official who requested anonymity because the investigation is still ongoing.

Earlier this year, Cayman Islands Police Commissioner David Baines said Bush was the subject of three police investigations, two of them involving what he described at the time as financial irregularities.

Bush publicly denied any wrongdoing.

Officials from Bush’s United Democratic Party are examining the impact of his arrest on the government, according to a statement from Deputy Premier Julianna O’Connor-Connolly.

“We the government understand the gravity of this matter,” she said.

Alden McLaughlin, an opposition leader from the People’s Progressive Movement party, said Bush’s arrest had opened “a period of uncertainty.”

“The arrest of the premier is a hugely damaging body blow to the reputation of these islands and to confidence in our government,” he said in a statement. – Reuters

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/international/Police_arrest_Serbias_richest_man_in_anti-graft_probe.html?cid=34168726

12.12.12

Police arrest Serbia's richest man in anti-graft probe

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Billionaire retail tycoon Miroslav Miskovic, one of Serbia's most influential figures, was arrested with his son and seven other people on Wednesday as part of an anti-graft probe, a government official said.

"They are suspected of siphoning funds and property from privatised road maintenance companies and making financial gains of as much as 30 million euros ($39 million)," the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.

Estimated to be Serbia's richest man, Miskovic has interests in retail, agribusiness, real estate and insurance in Serbia and the Balkan region.

He created his Delta Holding empire under late strongman Slobodan Milosevic during Yugoslavia's bloody collapse in the 1990s and expanded it after his ouster in 2000.

Miskovic, 67, was worth a billion dollars in 2007, according to Forbes, wealth which at the time placed him among the richest 1,000 people in the world.

In 2011 he sold his Delta Maxi supermarket chain to Delhaize, a Belgium-based retailer, for 932.5 million euros ($1.3 billion), one of the largest foreign investments ever in the European Union applicant country.

Miskovic has twice been questioned by police in the past 10 days. Delta Holding, on behalf of Miskovic, has repeatedly denied any irregularities in its business dealings.

The company employs 7,200 people and turned over 1.42 billion euros ($1.85 billion) last year, according to its website.

Among those arrested are Miskovic's son Marko, who police last week prevented from leaving the country, and Milo Djuraskovic, the owner of a now-bankrupt group of road maintenance companies called Nibens.

The government official said they would be remanded in custody for 48 hours and questioned by organised crime prosecutors.

Over the past several months, police in Serbia have arrested more than a dozen businessmen, including two ex-cabinet ministers from the former ruling Democratic Party, on charges of corruption, fraud and abuse of office.

Serbia's six-month-old government, an alliance of socialists and nationalists last in power at the tail end of Milosevic's 13-year-rule, says it is serious about rooting out organised crime and corruption as the country seeks membership of the European Union.

Following Miskovic's arrest, police stepped up security of Aleksandar Vucic, the deputy prime minister tasked with fighting organised crime and corruption, the government official said.

In 2003, Serbia's then pro-Western Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was assassinated in a plot by nationalists, an organised crime gang and disgruntled members of a now-disbanded special police unit.

Some Western diplomats, however, fear the government is motivated more by political score-settling than genuine reform. ($1 = 0.7693 euros)

(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by)

Reuters

[Sabrina]

http://www.watoday.com.au/breaking-news-world/mali-pms-resignation-not-a-coup-20121211-2b7g1.html

Malian Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra's resignation after his arrest by soldiers is not a coup and a new premier will be named soon, the spokesman for the country's ex-junta says.

"This is not a new coup d'etat," Bakary Mariko told France 24 television on Tuesday after Diarra's arrest on the orders of Mariko's boss, former coup leader Amadou Sanogo.

Mariko said Diarra was "not a man of duty" and added that a successor will "be named in the coming hours by the president".

Diarra, an astrophysicist who has worked on several NASA space programs and served as Microsoft chairman for Africa, was due to leave for Paris on Monday for a medical check-up.


The resignation plunges further into chaos a country already effectively split in two after armed Islamists linked to al-Qaeda and Tuareg rebels took control of the vast desert north.

Mariko said Diarra, who backed plans to send in a West African intervention force to drive out the extremists who are running the zone according to their brutal interpretation of sharia law, had not fulfilled his task.

Such foreign intervention is fiercely opposed by Sanogo, who launched a coup on March 22 to oust President Amadou Toumani Toure's government only six weeks before an election marking the end of his time in office.

"He had two main missions - to free the north and to organise free and transparent elections," Mariko said, accusing Diarra of only working to "hold on to power eternally".

"The Malian army has the necessary resources and the will to go and liberate the country," he said.

"If the international community drags its feet, the Malian army will assume its responsibilities to liberate its territory."

European Union foreign ministers on Monday approved plans to deploy an EU military training mission in Mali to help the government regain control of the north.


11 Dec

[KiwiElf]

And some people still don't think "mass arrests" are happening???? (They need to read this thread!)

It seems that the arrest(or)s are working their way to the top of the pyramid as well as the ones at the "lower levels" ;)

[KiwiElf]

Mitsubishi Bank fined $8.6 mn for flouting US sanctions
AFP December 13, 2012, 3:55 pm

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/15628892/mitsubishi-bank-fined-8-6-mn-for-flouting-us-sanctions/

NEW YORK (AFP) - Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's biggest bank, must pay US authorities a fine totaling some $8.6 million for flouting US sanctions on Iran, Sudan, Myanmar and Cuba, the US Treasury Department said.

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubish-UFJ (BTMU) circumvented the sanctions between April 2006 and March 2007, Treasury said in a statement.

"BTMU's Tokyo operations engaged in practices designed to conceal the involvement of countries or persons subject to U.S. sanctions in transactions that BTMU processed through financial institutions in the United States," the US government authority said in its statement.

Washington said the bank's "egregious" conduct "displayed reckless disregard for US sanctions."

"BTMU employees systematically deleted or omitted from payment messages any information referencing US sanctions targets that would cause the funds to be blocked or rejected, prior to sending the transactions through the United States," the Treasury Department statement said.

"As a result of these practices, BTMU processed at least 97 funds transfers, with an aggregate value of approximately $5,898,943, through BTMU's New York branch or other banks in the United States."

Treasury said the deception was uncovered in 2007 by senior officials at the Japanese bank, who undertook an internal audit and brought their findings to US officials.

[KiwiElf]

Four Deutsche Bank employees jailed on Thursday
Reuters December 14, 2012, 6:10 am

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/15633539/four-deutsche-bank-employees-jailed-on-thursday/

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Four of the five Deutsche Bank employees arrested for money laundering or obstruction of justice related to a carbon trading scheme will remain in jail, the Frankfurt prosecutor said on Thursday.

One Deutsche Bank employee was allowed home on health grounds, the prosecutor said.

The employees were arrested during raids on Germany's flagship lender on Wednesday.

It is too early to conclude whether the raids, by 500 tax inspectors, police and prosecutors, would yield any new evidence, Frankfurt prosecutor Guenter Wittig said, adding, "This will take months. I cannot comment about an ongoing investigation."

The prosecutor's probe is focussed on tax evasion linked to tax credits and a scheme involving the trading of carbon permits. As a result of the scheme, Deutsche Bank's 2009 tax return needed to be adjusted.

Deutsche Bank has said it voluntarily corrected its 2009 tax return, but noted that authorities disagreed over whether this had been done in a timely fashion.

It declined to comment further on Thursday.

On Wednesday prosecutors said they were investigating 25 bank staff on suspicion of severe tax evasion, money laundering and obstruction of justice, and searched the bank's headquarters and other premises in Berlin and Duesseldorf.

The investigations included probing the role of Deutsche Bank co-chief executive Juergen Fitschen and Chief Financial Officer Stefan Krause.

(Reporting By Kathrin Jones and Edward Taylor; Additional reporting by Philipp Halstrick; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters and Elaine Hardcastle)

[KiwiElf]

The Queen seeks answers for financial crisis
Reuters December 14, 2012, 1:39 pm

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/15636872/the-queen-seeks-answers-for-financial-crisis/

LONDON (Reuters) - The Queen put central bankers on the spot when she quizzed them about the errors that led to the financial crisis in a rare public intervention during a visit to the Bank of England on Thursday.

She asked whether complacency was a factor and if the financial watchdog lacked teeth, touching on a sensitive debate that has raged since the near collapse of the banking system and triggering widespread attention in the British media.

The 86-year-old monarch avoids entering political debate, but four years ago pointedly asked academics why nobody had foreseen the crisis, which forced Britain to rescue leading banks, stoked a record budget deficit and sent the economy into recession.

The Bank staff attempted to answer her inquiry during her visit, giving a technical explanation that prompted the queen to explore the subject further.

"I suppose in money terms it is very difficult foreseeing (things). But people had got a bit ... lax?" she said, before agreeing with an official that the real problem could have been "complacency".

She asked whether the bank regulator at the time lacked the powers it needed, reflecting plans to abolish the Financial Services Authority and divide its responsibilities between the Bank and a new watchdog.

"It was really quite new, wasn't it? But it didn't have any teeth or something?" she asked in comments captured in television footage of the visit.

The central bank team giving the Queen an account of the crisis were introduced to the monarch by an official as "some of the staff who hopefully will spot the next one coming".

Her 91-year-old husband, Prince Philip, also on the visit and fond of making off-hand quips, prompted nervous laughter when he responded: [B]"There isn't another one coming, is there?"

(Reporting by Tim Castle; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

[norman]

I heard a little soundbite of her speaking, and it just sounded like feeble small talk to me.

I got the impression the BBC ( at least ) were squeezing hard to get even a drop of news out of the situation.

[PathWalker]

Israeli minister for Foreign Afair resign, for allegation of corruption
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4319915,00.html


Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced Friday that he has decided to resign from office following the breach of trust indictment pending against him.

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein announced the decision to file charges against Lieberman on Thursday, in a case involveing the promotion of former Israeli ambassador to Belarus Ze'ev Ben Aryeh.
Once the decision was made public, the Yisrael Beiteinu (Parliament Party) chairman called on the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) to lift his parliamentary immunity immediately so he could confront the charges "as soon as possible."

In a statement released Friday, Lieberman said: "Today, I held meetings with my attorneys and members of the election campaign. Considering the nature of the indictment and the circumstances of the case – and despite the fact that according to legal opinion I am not obligated to do so – I have decided to resign from office."
"I know that I have done nothing wrong, but out of desire to put this matter behind me… I have decided to step down as foreign minister and deputy prime minister and, as I said yesterday, have my parliamentary immunity removed immediately.
"After 16 years of having various investigations held against me, I wish to end this matter without delay and clear my name completely," Lieberman said.

"I believe that the Israeli public deserves to go the ballots after this matter has been settled, meaning with a ruling given before the elections, so I can continue serving the State of Israel and its public as part of a strong, united leadership."

He stressed that the lengthy investigation against him was without merit, saying that "After all these years and legal proceedings, even top legalists believe this case has no criminal aspects."

Lieberman's resignation will have no bearing on Yisrael Beiteinu's election campaign, nor is it likely to affect Lieberman's own bid for the Knesset.
The foreign minister was the focus of two investigations, which were launched in 2001 and spanned nine countries.
The AG decided to close the second case against him, which involved suspicions of money-laundering and bribery, citing "lack of evidentiary merit."
"I am convinced that there is no reasonable chance of a conviction in the offenses Lieberman is suspected of and that case should be closed," Weinstein said in his decision.
'Cynical, meaningless move'
Senior political sources told Ynet that following Lieberman's resignation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to keep the foreign relations portfolio in his office, and will be the acting foreign minister until after January's elections.

Should Netanyahu decide to name a replacement for Lieberman, his short list will include Vice Premier Silvan Shalom and Education Minister Gideon Saar.

Netanyahu reportedly announced that he intends to "keep the portfolio in trust" until after next month's elections, with aim of reinstating Lieberman, "If the law so allows."

In the event that Lieberman is cleared of all charges and is reelected, his position as the No. 2 man on the Likud-Beiteinu (ruling parliament party) list will enable him to choose one of the top three offices – the Foreign Ministry, the Treasury or the Defense Ministry.


My native perception: this is another spin by TPTB. Israel is a make belief law state. Yet the AG has politically rigged himself to impossible lose-lose position, when he must indict the person after 11 years of investigation.
Loosers.

[Sabrina]

The changing of the guard - including a clip with Neil Keenan.


BnC1_o2Rmqk



THE TRANSCRIPT OF THE VIDEO (via the David Wilcock Divine Cosmos website)

Here is a full transcript of the text in the video -- including Neil Keenan's remarks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaPXcq72ZcQ


TRANSCRIPT:

The global debt crisis is a fraud.

The bankers would have us believe there’s just not enough wealth to feed the hungry.

Not enough economic growth to create jobs.

Not enough money to pay global debts – or to deal with climate change.

Not enough gold to back our money with something real.

It seems there is only enough money to keep paying interest on massive debt – to the bankers themselves.

The truth is there’s more than enough for everyone. And the bankers have known it for a long time.

They decided long ago to keep that to themselves.

But now their cover has been blown. The truth is coming out.

And the hidden wealth of our planet – an astounding abundance in the hundreds of trillions of dollars – is about to become available.

But not to the banks. Not to multinational corporations.

But to the people.

To those who are making a difference.

To deliver free energy. To help farmers. To fund health clinics.

To empower women in the developing world.

And to remind us all how it feels to be free. To enjoy a day of peace and sunlight.

It all sounds far too good to be true. But it’s real. A new day is about to dawn.

An alliance of over 160 nations has banded together to create a new and fair financial system – and to restore the stolen wealth of the nations to its proper guardians.

For nearly 200 years, the central bankers worked to control the currencies of the world by seizing the global gold reserves – by means of war, conquest and theft.

[They also did this] by taking from the people the power to coin money, and placing it in the hands of central banks – controlled by a small group of tightly-knit banking families.

The hidden trigger behind many wars, their quest for control of the world’s gold finally succeeded after World War II.

[This was] when this accumulated wealth of many nations, now known as the Global Collateral Accounts, came under the control of the victorious allies.

It was agreed [that] the accounts would be used to restore and heal the world.

President Sukarno of Indonesia, where much of this gold was hidden, became Trustee, on behalf of the nations, to guard this fund – so it would benefit mankind.

But the bankers had other ideas.

The fund was secretly abused by the elite and used to foment wars, to topple governments, and to fund top-secret projects – removed from the people’s knowledge.

In 1963, John F. Kennedy quietly worked to put the Federal Reserve out of business – and return the control of currency to the American people.

In Geneva, Switzerland, he signed the Green Hilton Memorial Agreement with President Sukarno.

[This Agreement allowed the US Treasury] to borrow funds from the Global Accounts to back new Treasury dollars – and remove the power of the central bankers to control America’s destiny.

On November 11, 1963, he signed Presidential Directive 11110, to authorize US Treasury silver certificates – a direct move against the bankers’ power.

Eleven days later, [President John F. Kennedy] was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

In the years since then, the central bankers seemed on the brink of taking final and complete control of human destiny.

[They] promoted – with shocking frankness – a vision of a planet depopulated to a more “manageable” number of about 500 million.

But the human spirit has proven more resilient than they knew.

A generation of brave new voices began to seek the truth behind the façade.

And the emergence of the Internet allowed a flood of previously hidden information to reach the people.

In late 2011, David Wilcock revealed to the world a groundbreaking lawsuit filed against the banking interests.

And the world first heard the name Neil F. Keenan – an international businessman who had been appointed Trustee of 134 billion in bonds by a group of powerful Asian families.

When these funds were stolen by certain factions of the banking cabal, Keenan saw it as his responsibility to recover them on behalf of the rightful owner.

[Keenan] followed one evidence after another until the trail led to the Sukarno Trust, to Indonesia, and to the truth of the stolen wealth of mankind.

In Monaco, in the fall of 2011, an accord was reached by a group of non-aligned countries – now more than 160 -- to unite against the Western oligarchy.

[They agreed] to create a new financial system – using asset-backed currency, and anchored by the newly-freed global collateral accounts.

Upon the signing of the agreements, the assets will then be released to the Keenan group.

[This group will] help guide this inheritance of mankind and free it from oligarch control – which hijacked the system not once, but twice over the last 60 years.

The agreement will finally free Indonesia to thrive – as President Sukarno, elected by the world as M1 Monetary Controller, had anticipated – through the establishment of humanitarian projects using the Global Collateral Accounts.

Mr. Keenan has been chosen through ceremony by the indigenous elders of Indonesia.

[They] have been guardians of the Global Accounts for more than 60 years – people of immense integrity – to control and manage these accounts for their originally intended purpose – the benefit of humanity.

And now, taking a few minutes from his busy schedule in the heat of Jakarta, Indonesia, a message from Neil Keenan.


NEIL KEENAN:

Hello. My name is Neil Keenan.

I would like to update you for the first time in relation to the re-filing of my case, and also the Global Accounts that we are working on here in Jakarta.

We are in Jakarta at this moment, in Indonesia.

We are nearly complete with the preface in relation to the re-filing of the case.

After that, we will include the jurisdiction and the new evidence that we have procured from a very main source. [Laughs]

[This is] an international source that has come forward. Most likely, he says he will be willing to testify – [but] we will find out if he is or he isn’t.

That’s the key to that. If he does, then the whole thing just explodes. It opens up every box possible. We will know where everything is hidden.

I am hoping for that. They told me this morning that they are going to do that. So let’s see. Okay? Let’s see.

In the meantime, we do have everything pretty well in place. We know what we’re doing. We’re almost there.

Two months here. I haven’t been sleeping. I’m really tired.

We can go further than that. We can go into the Global Accounts.

I’ve met with various Elders here. I have been very surprised by the response that I have gotten.

They claim that they have been waiting for me for 30 years, and they knew who I was 30 years ago.

I didn’t know who I was 30 years ago!

They claimed that they knew who I was 30 years ago, and they knew I was coming here. I would be here. And I would be the person to help them.

Apparently I am here, and I am going to help them. And we are going to do things with the Global Collateral Accounts.

We are trying to work out the parameters of an Agreement right now, or a mandate – one that will be beneficial to both sides.

Once I get that, we will be able to wrap things up, and enter them into the trading programs.

We have the traders already in place. We have the banks.

We have to audit the accounts before we can do anything, because we have to know what’s real and what is not.

And that’s going to be a hum-dinger, I’m sure.

That might take some time – but when we get enough out, when they audit enough, we can probably put it in package form -- and start helping the nations of the world.

In the meanwhile, we should be able to help Greece. We should be able to help Spain and Portugal and Ireland.

We should be able to save them from those culprits – the European Commission.

All in all, we’re looking good. We’re really looking good.

The reason why I’m doing this, and I’m telling you this, is because it’s Christmas. (Smiles. Laughs.) And I have liked every holiday Christmas.

You will find out soon the rest.

By the way, if you don’t know about this, Daniel Del Bosco approximately three years ago did steal Federal Reserve Notes from me.

They were owned by the Dragon Family, but they were entrusted to me.

If he hadn’t stolen them, we probably would have free energy today, in the world.

That’s what we were going to do with those notes. Place them into trade.

We had a cashier’s check coming for 13 billion, which would have gone to the Dragon Family and toward the free energy itself.

So I’m sorry that we never got that far. We were a day short. What did my father say? A day late and a dollar short. That’s what we were.

Dal Bosco took them, ran with them. He fled to the Italian government, he fled to the United Nations, he fled to the World Economic Forum and anyone who would listen to him – the OITC and anything else.

Daniel Dal Bosco is the reason we don’t have free energy today. Okay? Because it was all planned. It was all set. He knows it very well.

Anyway, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Happy Holidays. Enjoy your turkey or whatever it is you’re going to have.

And I hope, right before Christmas, we have an announcement to make. A good one. For you, for me and for everyone.

Thank you, and enjoy your holidays, as I said. Take care. God bless.

[Sabrina]

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/12/12/more-than-30-top-u-s-officials-guilty-of-war-crimes-boyle-says/

More Than 30 Top U.S. Officials Guilty of War Crimes

More than 30 top U.S. officials, including presidents G.W. Bush and Obama, are guilty of war crimes or crimes against peace and humanity “legally akin to those perpetrated by the former Nazi regime in Germany,” the distinguished American international law authority Francis Boyle charges.

U.S. officials involved in an “ongoing criminal conspiracy” in the Middle East and Africa who either participated in the commission of the crimes under their jurisdiction or failed to take action against them included both presidents since 2001 and their vice-presidents, the secretaries of State and Defense, the directors of the CIA and National Intelligence and the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and heads of the Central Command, among others, Boyle said.

“In international legal terms, the U.S. government itself should now be viewed as constituting an ongoing criminal conspiracy under international law,” Boyle said in an address Dec. 9th to the Puerto Rican Summit Conference on Human Rights at the University of the Sacred Heart in San Juan. Boyle is a Professor of International Law at the University of Illinois, Champaign, and the author of numerous books on the subject.

Besides the presidents, Boyle identified as war criminals Vice Presidents Dick Cheney and Joseph Biden; Secretaries of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Gates and Leon Panetta; Secretaries of State Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, and Hillary Clinton; National Security Advisors Stephen Hadley, James Jones, and Thomas Donilon; Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte and James Clapper and Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) Directors George Tenet, Leon Panetta, and David Petraeus.
In the Pentagon, war criminals include the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and some Regional Commanders-in-Chiefs, especially for the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), and more recently, AFRICOM. Besides Chairman General Martin Dempsey, U.S. Army, JCS members include Admiral James Winnefeld Jr.; General Raymond Odierno, Chief of Staff of the Army; General James Amos, Commandant of the Marine Corps; Admiral Jonathan Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations; and General Mark Welsh, Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

Those who have headed the Central Command since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan include Lt. General Martin Dempsey; Admiral William Fallon; General John Abizaid; General Tommy Franks; Lt. General John Allen; and current commander General James Mattis. General Carter Ham of AFRICOM bears like responsibility.

Boyle told the Puerto Rican conference that President G.W. Bush had shamelessly exploited the 9/11 tragedy and “set forth to steal a hydrocarbon empire from the Muslim states and peoples living in Central Asia and the Middle East and Africa under “bogus pretexts.” These pretexts included fighting a war against “international terrorism” or “Islamic fundamentalism”, eliminating weapons of mass destruction, the promotion of democracy, and humanitarian intervention, Boyle said.

The serial aggressions of the U.S.violate such basic documents of international law as the Nuremberg Charter, the Nuremberg Judgment, and the Nuremberg Principles, Boyle said. As well, they violate the Pentagon’s own U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10 on The Law of Land Warfare, which applies to the President himself as Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Armed Forces under Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution.

U.S. administrations since 9/11 may be charged with “crimes against peace” for their attacks in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, Somalia,Yemen, and Syria, “and perhaps their longstanding threatened war of aggression against Iran,”
Boyle said.

The eminent international authority went on to charge that the war crimes included “torture, enforced disappearances, assassinations, murders, kidnappings, extraordinary renditions, ‘shock and awe’ (bombings), and (the use of) depleted uranium, white phosphorus, cluster bombs, drone strikes,” and the like.

Boyle said Americans “must not permit any aspect of their foreign affairs and defense policies to be conducted by acknowledged ‘war criminals’” but must insist upon “the impeachment, dismissal, resignation, indictment, conviction, and long-term incarceration of all U.S. government officials guilty of such heinous international and domestic crimes.”

Boyle said the so-called “targeted killing” of human beings in a non-battlefield situation is “pure murder” under basic principles of Anglo-American common law and international criminal law. And in this case, where these murders are both widespread and systematic, these murders constitute a Crime against Humanity under Article 7(1)(a) of the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court.

Although the United States is not a party to the Rome Statute, Boyle said, “nevertheless President Obama is subject to the jurisdiction of the ICC and its Prosecutor for murdering people in ICC member States.”

(Sherwood Ross is an American public relations consultant who works for good causes. He formerly worked for major dailies and wire services as a reporter and columnist. Reach him at sherwoodross10@gmail.com)

[Sabrina]

http://www.divinecosmos.com/start-here/davids-blog/1097-russiantv

Latest from David Wilcock today 16 Dec:

Top Russian TV Station Exposes Financial Tyranny [PICS, VIDEO!]

On December 4, 2012, one of Russia's top TV networks contacted us -- to do the world's first-ever full exposure of our Financial Tyranny investigation in mainstream media!

This show will air just hours after we have made this post -- and we hope to get a copy of it.



BLOWING IT WIDE OPEN

The significance of what REN-TV is about to do cannot be undermined.

REN-TV is one of the top television networks in Russia, with a potential audience of 113.5 million viewers. Their website is ren-tv.com.

[In the Russian alphabet, a P is equivalent to an R, and an H is equivalent to an N -- hence the "PEH" in the above logo means "REN", not some variant of "meh."]

No major media outlet has ever been willing to touch this story in video form -- as it used to be considered far too dangerous... not to mention highly classified.

Courthouse News Service was the only mainstream print media source to have ever tackled it -- and this was only on a website.

The first "official" independent video that revealed this case only appeared just this past Thursday, on December 13, 2012 -- around 11PM.

We will have more about that, including a link to it, in just a moment.


A DEEPER DESCRIPTION OF REN-TV

Here is the best online description of REN-TV I've found so far, with a link to read the text for yourself:

REN-TV Online Description
http://nowwatchtvlive.com/2011/07/ren-tv-online-ren-tv-live-watch-ren-tv-russia/

REN TV is one of the largest private federal TV channels in Russia. Founded by Irena Lesnevskaya and her son, Dmitry Lesnevsky, who had been running REN TV as a production house for other national Russian television channels, it has broadcast since 1 January 1997.

Its target audience is a young to middle-age city worker. Even though it focuses mostly on the audience in the 18 to 45 demographic, REN offers programming for a wide range of demographics, since the target viewer has a family and respects family values.

The channel has won 13 TEFIs awards presented by the Academy of Russian Television.

REN TV’s network is a patchwork of 406 independent broadcasting companies in Russia and the CIS. REN’s signal is received in 718 towns and cities in Russia from Kaliningrad in the West to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in the East.

It has a potential audience of 113.5 million viewers (officially 120 million viewers ) with more than 12 million of them living in Moscow city and Moscow Oblast (Moscow Region).

REN TV works with 10 broadcaster affiliates and 19 cable operators in the CIS and Baltic states; 181 cities can receive REN TV’s signal.

By many political fringe groups REN TV is considered to be “one of the last bastions of free media” in Russia.

It is the only channel up-to-date which covers the meetings of socialist and liberal groups and takes interviews from leaders of the political fringe.


ABOUT TO MAKE HISTORY

REN-TV is about to make history -- releasing a documentary on the stolen gold, the Keenan lawsuit, the Illuminati, the Federal Reserve, Financial Tyranny and the now-160-nation alliance that has formed to end the oppression.

This was arguably the most classified and dangerous information on Earth -- until the story began to blow open in November 2011, when tangible documents first started to be revealed.

Only then did the pioneering work of Benjamin Fulford -- the former Asia-Pacific bureau chief for Forbes, the world's largest business magazine -- produce a provable, indisputable piece of physical evidence.

This evidence appeared in the form of a lawsuit that Fulford had been telegraphing and anticipating for over a year.

The lawsuit was filed by Neil Keenan against the UN and many other global players. It was massive -- over 100 pages long -- and extremely detailed, as I revealed in this article.

This lawsuit was deliberately timed to be released on the anniversary date of the Kennedy assassination, as we since found out.


A LONG-ANTICIPATED DOCUMENT

For many months, Fulford had been talking about this pending lawsuit.

Most interestingly, he said that it had the full backing of the "good guys" in the Pentagon and US military, as well as an alliance of about 57 nations at the time -- which has since ballooned to 160.

Unlike many people's stereotypes that "they're all in on it," in truth there is only a very small group of 'controllers' who have used murder, threats, blackmail and bribery to maintain power over much larger groups.

Politics have been used to manipulate Americans into turning against each other -- such as by blatant attempts to create a "race war" by painting blacks as all living off of the money earned by the hard work of the whites.

This campaign reached astonishing new levels of clarity and boldness during the 2012 election -- but it did not produce the desired result.


THE ENEMY IS WITHIN

Rather than turning against each other, the mass public has continued to discover, more and more, that the real problem is not found in the 99 percent -- but rather in the 1 percent wealthiest entities in the world, and the steps they have taken to preserve their power.

The most astonishing omission in the 2012 elections, in my opinion, was any mention of the 26 trillion dollars of American currency that the Federal Reserve paid to its own member banks -- many of which are overseas.

As I revealed in Financial Tyranny, Congressman Ron Paul, Congressman Alan Grayson and Sen. Robert Byrd pushed through a successful bill to audit the Federal Reserve.

The result was absolutely shocking -- and it received hardly any attention in the mainstream media whatsoever.

see full story at the link



Interesting as to why RT.com doesn't pick this up and add their own spin to the story. Makes me wonder about them - and their coverage of the recent US shooting story.

[Sabrina]

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/12/15/278137/us-to-collapse-sovietstyle-gorbachev/

Soviet-style disintegration awaits US: Gorbachev

The last head of state of the former Soviet Union, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, has warned the US of an imminent Soviet-like collapse if Washington persists with its hegemonic policies.


Speaking at a Thursday conference on the future of the Middle East and the Black Sea region in the Turkish city of Istanbul, Gorbachev noted that disintegration was the atonement that the former Soviet Union made for its mistakes and the same fate awaits the US if Washington continues to repeat similar blunders.

On 26 December, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the world's first and largest Communist state, was formally dissolved into fifteen independent republics, marking an end to the Cold War.

He said the Soviet Bolsheviks sought to undermine Islamic values while in power, and noted that during the Cold War era, the world powers used religion as a tool and a weapon.

Gorbachev denounced the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan during the Cold War era as an “unpardonable mistake” and pointed out that the US is now repeating the same mistake.

The United States and its allies launched the war on Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but after 11 years, the foreign troops have still not been able to establish security in the country.

[Sabrina]

http://www.ianfraser.org/dear-mr-cameron-if-bankers-are-above-the-law-we-need-an-urgent-explanation/

UK

Dear Mr Cameron: Please explain why bankers are now considered above the law

An open letter to David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, from Mrs N Turner

Dear Mr Cameron,

I and many other people were stunned by the quotes from Mr Andrew Bailey, the chief executive-designate of the Prudential Regulation Authority, which were reported in the Daily Telegraph yesterday (December 14th, 2012).

Mr Bailey seems to have confirmed that, irrespective of their criminal actions, banks are not only “too big to fail”; they are also “too big to prosecute”. In an interview with the Telegraph, Mr Bailey said that prosecuting banks and by implication their executive and non-executive directors,

“would be a very destabilising issue. It’s another version of too important to fail. Because of the confidence issue with banks, a major criminal indictment, which we haven’t seen and I’m not saying we are going to see… this is not an ordinary criminal indictment.”

Mr Cameron, unless I am completely mistaken, Mr Bailey seems to be telling us that banks, and therefore bankers, are now officially considered to be above the law in this country and that, in the interests of confidence in the banking industry (which is already at rock bottom among the British public, and therefore can hardly sink any lower), they cannot be prosecuted.
I am writing to ask you, as Prime Minister, for some clarification.

Does your government endorse the notion that banks and bankers should be given a licence to commit criminal acts without any fear of prosecution? Is this now official government policy? Are the British public now being asked to accept that, despite incontrovertible evidence of multiple criminal acts by banks, including money-laundering, drug-money-laundering, Libor rigging, multiple frauds and assorted Ponzi schemes, bankers are considered to be immune from prosecution? And if so, can I ask on what grounds your government, or indeed the government of any democratic country, can justify such a policy?

Since this article appeared, I have spoken to several well-informed people who are so outraged by this proposition that they cannot believe Mr Bailey made this statement — the ramifications are so immense and so terrifying to the democratic process.
In his position as chief executive designate of the Prudential Regulation Authority, Mr Bailey has a duty to adhere to the FSA Principles, FSMA 2000 and, of course, the United Kingdom law. Yet it seems this legislation can be overturned without due process, without any regard to the consequences and without any regard to the fact that the regulator — if it fails in its duty to enforce FSMA or to report criminal acts to the relevant authorities — could become an accessory to the crimes it is failing to report.

There is no doubt the people of this country, having been collectively ‘mugged’ by its major financial institutions in recent years, feel completely let down by successive governments, given that the governments have:-

Allowed the banks to fail abysmally thanks to the adoption of ’light touch regulation’ from about 2002;
Bailed out failed financial institutions without any enforceable conditions at a cost of scores of billions of pounds;
Failed to bring any banker to account despite transparent misdeeds;

Permitted bankers to continue to demand and get millions of pounds in rewards for failure while the rest of the country endures ever greater austerity measures;

Failed via the regulators to stem the increasing rise of institutional fraud against investors and the general public.
After having been so badly let down by regulators and governments we, the people of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, had been patiently waiting for the law of the land to be applied, in the expectation that people and institutions that are guilty of criminal acts would be held accountable via the justice system. Perhaps naively, we thought that, even where other institutions had failed us, we might rely on the law and the judicial process as the cornerstone of democracy.

Mr Bailey’s statement calls this into question. He would appear to be suggesting what a few of us have long suspected – that there is, in fact, one law for the many and another one for the few. I am afraid, Mr Cameron, that such a scenario cannot work in a democracy. I have spent over five years investigating criminal activity in a major United Kingdom bank and, in April 2012, my husband and I became so concerned about the perceived ability of banks to manipulate the government and judicial processes that we wrote to the director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer. In our letter we said:

“….People will have to question whether the Law can fulfil its primary function to protect the public – or whether it has simply become a private members’ club?”

If justice is indeed now a ‘private members’ club’, then it is to up to you, Mr Cameron, to explain this to the British public. And, as I am sure you are aware, there is a real danger that the country will descend into lawlessness if the law is unevenly applied and enforced. If you really intend proceeding down the path seemingly advocated by Mr Bailey, then you risk going down in history as the Prime Minister who did more than any other to undermine the legitimacy of the British state.

I would be grateful to receive confirmation of your government’s official position on Mr Bailey’s statement.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs N Turner
15 Dec

[Sabrina]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/mining/9745228/Blow-for-Nat-Rothschild-as-Volex-falls.html

Blow for Nat Rothschild as Volex falls

Troubled financier Nat Rothschild has suffered a fresh setback after Volex, the electricals company which he owns nearly a quarter of, issued its second profit warning in three months, sending its shares plunging.

The London business, which specialises in power cables and other electrical components, said a “general softening of demand” for its products would hit sales and profits. The shares fell 51¼ – or 37pc – to 89p, wiping £20m off the company’s value and £5m from Mr Rothschild’s fortune.

The blow follows Volex’s revelation in September that it had been hit by change in demand and “product component strategy” by its largest customer, which is thought to account for 30pc of Volex’s business.

Volex did not go into detail, or identify the company by name, but it is understood to have been hit by Apple’s decision to introduce a smaller charger socket for its iPhone 5 than it had used for previous iterations of the smartphone.

In its latest profit warning, Volex said the recent dip in demand had not affected its largest customer, but that sales were now likely to between $470m and $485m, compared to earlier analyst forecasts of $529m. Operating profits are now on track for between $11m and $14m.

Volex was also hit by delays to orders to some of its products, and a change of management at the top of its sales operation.
full story at link
14 Dec

[modwiz]

My native perception: this is another spin by TPTB. Israel is a make belief law state. Yet the AG has politically rigged himself to impossible lose-lose position, when he must indict the person after 11 years of investigation.
Loosers.

There is a lot of that going around these days. Being honest is for suckers, apparently.

So, I suck. :)

[Sabrina]

http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2012/12/11/dragon-family-gold-and-us-federal-reserve-system-iii.html

17 Dec

Dragon Family Gold» and US Federal Reserve System (III)

Part I, part II

The terms of return to the owners differ though they have expired anyway. According to one of the versions (David Wilcock, the Financial Tyranny), the Chinese gold had to be returned in 60 years, that is in 1998. Allegedly the successors of Guomindang, settled in Taiwan, went to the International Court in the Hague. The Court was said to hold close sessions and handed down the decision to return the gold no later than September 12, 2001, the day before the well-known events took place in New York, the terrorist act that destroyed the Twin Towers.

They say there is a direct link between the 9/11 tragedy and the «black» gold, that had been stored under the Trade Center skyscrapers and mysteriously disappeared in the fire after the buildings went down… They even say the estimated value of the lost gold was - $130 billion. So, the owners were allegedly cheated. The code of silence was broken by the complaint lodged by the Dragon Family, something we started the story from.

«Black» gold: low quality of «information product»

So the story is captivating. But it’s neither a thriller nor an action movie. It’s the latest version of the new history, something discussed seriously by world media, lawyers, economists and US congressmen. I can tell you right now: the documents related to the «black» gold contain a lot of absurdities (I would like to make a reservation: I have never gone through the process of identifying the authenticity of documents, securities and vault pictures copies, though they say there are many strange things there). For instance, these are the irregularities that strike an eye:

1 The «black» gold reserves mentioned in the documents (2, 4 million tons) by far exceed the amount of gold extracted and accumulated in the history of mankind.

2. According to the «guerillas», nowadays the gold is stored in vaults; their number is around a hundred and a half. These are giant vaults that make Fort Knox look like a dwarf. All the vaults are supposed to be situated in different countries, mainly in the Philippines. There are pictures to make the story real, that show the camouflaged vaults from outside and inside (the halls with innumerable ingots). How come nobody in the Philippines and other Asian countries ever knew about the vaults and what was inside? It’s almost incredible. If the vaults existed, the leaders of the countries would have been tempted to confiscate the «black» gold. It would not have been a plunder, but rather doing a just thing. Why should some Dragon Family go to a New York district court when the gold could have been taken in the country it was stored in?

3. The gold was accumulated by the Federal Reserve Banks in the period between the two world wars. More often they mention the years 1928, 1934, and 1938. It’s known that soon after the election, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued the executive order №6102 of April 5, 1933 that made it obligatory for all individuals and legal entities, including banks, to transfer gold to the US Treasury at the price of around $20 per troy ounce. There was a special Fort Knox storage built for the purpose. The banks received so called «gold certificates» instead of gold. The private gold ownership was forbidden in the country for four decades (the ban was cancelled under President Nixon). The question comes up – how the Federal Reserve Banks could deal with gold in 1934 and 1938 when the operations were banned according to the presidential executive order?

4. The «guerillas» say the «Group 77» countries had their people in the Amanah Trustees Association. The group mainly included the developing countries, it was influential enough globally in the 1970s – the first half of the 1980s, and it had clout in the United Nations and positioned itself as an anti-imperialist force actually acting under the aegis of the Soviet Union. Why the Group 77, that fought the world imperialism, didn’t resort to such a powerful weapon as Federal Reserve securities and «black» gold reserves on the territory of the member states? Probably, because such the weapon never existed and the whole story related to the Federal Reserve System’s «black» gold and securities is invented accompanied by different kinds of fakes.

Transformation of real facts and «information product» of conspirology

At the same time every gold related conspirology story has some real foundation that gets distorted beyond recognition. For instance, let’s take the «willing-compulsory» transfer of gold during WWII. It really took place. But it was the transfer into the US custody, not authorized capital stock or bank deposit. There were official agreements concluded, the leaders of the states knew about it. The amount of gold kept in US storage is known. It was no secret foreign gold was kept in the Federal Reserve vaults in Manhattan. For instance, A.V. Anikin, a historian who was well-known in Soviet times, wrote, «the vaults in Manhattan appeared in the 1930s, when many European states faced the threat of Hitler’s invasion and kept part of their gold reserves in New York. When it became possible for West European and some other countries to exchange their growing dollar reserves for gold, they didn’t bring it back but kept it in US custody as a rule. By the end of 1972 the foreign gold reserves stored in the US went up to 12,7 thousand tons. There were economic and political reasons to do so. The majority of gold possessing West European countries kept a significant part of their reserves in New York. France was an exclusion, as tradition and government policy goes, it keeps its reserves on its territory…

There are up to 20 thousand tons of gold, or around 60% of accumulated capitalist world reserves, stored in the United States. The amount barely changed in the 1970-1980s (A.V. Anakin, Gold: International Economy Aspect, publishing house International Affairs, 1988, p. 98, 100). As one can see the amount of gold stored in the US is twice as small as the amount adduced by «information guerillas». The topic of foreign gold stored in the United States goes beyond the limits of the article. I only want to note, there are many pressing issues related to the subject. For instance, the illegal use of gold by the New York Federal Reserve Bank. But these issues are of no interest to the «guerillas», the study is too time and effort consuming and the scale is not up to par. The results of such «study» may be really perilous.

Another example. 9/11. Independent studies of the so called terrorist acts show the gold was really stored in the Trade Center’s vaults; it really disappeared after the skyscrapers went down. But its amount was rather insignificant. According to the Times Online there had been gold and silver reserves equal to $960 million. Only $230 million were found as a result of rescue operations in November 2001. The circumstances were rather strange: the gold was kept in armored heavy-load Brinks trucks in the tunnel under the Trade Center’s building. Why was it kept in vehicles? Who took it, when was it done and where the gold was taken to? The government never explained. It was all hushed up and ascribed to terrorists. Besides, the gold stored in the Trade Center was not «black», it had concrete owners.
«Countless» gold riches of China

Finally, the countless gold riches of China are extremely exaggerated. It goes down to the thousand years old history of trade relations with Europe. The trade was unbalanced, the export to Europe may times exceeded the import leading to the accumulation of gold in the country. According to experts (Timothy Green, for instance) there had been a few hundred, a thousand tons at best (not hundreds of thousands or even millions of tons as the «guerillas» affirm), accumulated by the beginning of XIX. Those days it was an enormous amount. The West, especially the British, did their best to return the gold. To great extent they succeeded thanks to two opium wars unleashed by the British and supported later by the French. There was little left of the fabulous riches by the end of XIX.

One cannot fully negate the fact that some countries partially keep gold out of official reserves, it is not included into statistics, the specially designed secret funds are created, and that is something a very limited number of state leaders are aware of. Going back to A.V. Anikin «AS Western experts estimate, the IMF official data related to gold excludes some secret and closed funds, especially in oil exporting countries of the Middle East. According to Green, the estimated secret reserves were equal to 1 thousand tons» (A.V. Anikin, the publications mentioned above, p.95). Please note: it’s 1 thousand tons, not 2, 4 million tons, according to the «guerillas» estimates!

Cui prodest? (who stands to gain?)

Irregularities surface not only when the «black» gold information is compared with serious scientific sources, but with various «guerillas» information as well. For instance, David Wilcock says the Chinese gold was stored under the Trade Center’s twin towers in New York. He offers his own new story of the 9/11events. Benjamin Fulford describes with passion the outside and inside look of the vaults in the Philippines and other Asian countries the Guomindang gold is kept in.

There are discrepancies concerning other «details»: some call the securities «certificates», others – «bonds», some say the securities were issued by the US Treasury, some - the Federal Reserve Banks etc.

The list of irregularities and «discrepancies» may be prolonged. Personally I have no doubts, we deal with falsifications. What’s more interesting: who needs the «black» gold story? Who really stands behind the Dragon Family? Who organizes and coordinates the «information attacks» against the Federal Reserve System? It’s hard to believe the «information guerillas» are enthusiastic individuals. There is someone who creates the «most favored regime» in media. Someone provides them with (or uses agents to deliver) expensive fake documents and securities, as well as antique trunks, boxes and other containers to store them in. Real art is required to make them. Finally, someone helps to organize publicly known cases and hires expensive lawyers.

The intuition says this «someone» is the one who had made the Occupy Wall Street movement be in the focus of public attention a bit earlier. Perhaps the individuals acting in different countries should not be called «guerillas» waging just liberation war against financial occupants, but rather conscientious saboteurs, used by behind the curtains actors? Like if acting before such suspicions appear, the «guerillas» say they act in the name of:

a. A significant number of Pentagon generals and senior officers, dissatisfied with the Federal Reserve that has captured power in the country and imposes its foreign and internal policy on the United States;

b. dozens of countries that had to deliver their gold in a «willingly compulsory» way to the Federal Reserve, later joined together in the Association of Trustees (the Trust of Sukarrno);

c. The Dragon Family.

Talking about the last version, there are a lot of murky things. On November 23, 2011, the date the complaint was lodged, everyone was sure rich Guomindang Chinese were behind the Dragon Family. But in April 2012, Benjamin Fulford, one of the most well-known «guerillas», resolutely disassociated himself from the Dragon Family supporters, saying the Rothschilds, Rockefellers and other major Federal Reserve System shareholders were behind it.

There is something that is, perhaps obscurely, expressed between the lines: nowadays the era of paper currency is over, world oligarchs play with the idea of getting back to the gold standard at the new turn of history. To achieve the goal gold should leave the clandestine storage places and become white instead of being «black». Though it’s not clear how the Rothschilds and Rockefellers will use the gold they don’t possess. But I think «effective solutions» will be found here in the near future. The intriguing unfolding of events goes ahead like if it were an action movie.

Let’s not jump the gun with ready answers. My cautious conjecture is that one should not trust too much the conspirology related publications devoted to world finances. Still, it looks like they are going to multiply by leaps and bounds.

[modwiz]

http://www.divinecosmos.com/start-here/davids-blog/1097-russiantv

Latest from David Wilcock today 16 Dec:

Top Russian TV Station Exposes Financial Tyranny [PICS, VIDEO!]

On December 4, 2012, one of Russia's top TV networks contacted us -- to do the world's first-ever full exposure of our Financial Tyranny investigation in mainstream media!

This show will air just hours after we have made this post -- and we hope to get a copy of it.



BLOWING IT WIDE OPEN

The significance of what REN-TV is about to do cannot be undermined.

REN-TV is one of the top television networks in Russia, with a potential audience of 113.5 million viewers. Their website is ren-tv.com.

[In the Russian alphabet, a P is equivalent to an R, and an H is equivalent to an N -- hence the "PEH" in the above logo means "REN", not some variant of "meh."]

No major media outlet has ever been willing to touch this story in video form -- as it used to be considered far too dangerous... not to mention highly classified.

Courthouse News Service was the only mainstream print media source to have ever tackled it -- and this was only on a website.

The first "official" independent video that revealed this case only appeared just this past Thursday, on December 13, 2012 -- around 11PM.

We will have more about that, including a link to it, in just a moment.


A DEEPER DESCRIPTION OF REN-TV

Here is the best online description of REN-TV I've found so far, with a link to read the text for yourself:

REN-TV Online Description
http://nowwatchtvlive.com/2011/07/ren-tv-online-ren-tv-live-watch-ren-tv-russia/

REN TV is one of the largest private federal TV channels in Russia. Founded by Irena Lesnevskaya and her son, Dmitry Lesnevsky, who had been running REN TV as a production house for other national Russian television channels, it has broadcast since 1 January 1997.

Its target audience is a young to middle-age city worker. Even though it focuses mostly on the audience in the 18 to 45 demographic, REN offers programming for a wide range of demographics, since the target viewer has a family and respects family values.

The channel has won 13 TEFIs awards presented by the Academy of Russian Television.

REN TV’s network is a patchwork of 406 independent broadcasting companies in Russia and the CIS. REN’s signal is received in 718 towns and cities in Russia from Kaliningrad in the West to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in the East.

It has a potential audience of 113.5 million viewers (officially 120 million viewers ) with more than 12 million of them living in Moscow city and Moscow Oblast (Moscow Region).

REN TV works with 10 broadcaster affiliates and 19 cable operators in the CIS and Baltic states; 181 cities can receive REN TV’s signal.

By many political fringe groups REN TV is considered to be “one of the last bastions of free media” in Russia.

It is the only channel up-to-date which covers the meetings of socialist and liberal groups and takes interviews from leaders of the political fringe.


ABOUT TO MAKE HISTORY

REN-TV is about to make history -- releasing a documentary on the stolen gold, the Keenan lawsuit, the Illuminati, the Federal Reserve, Financial Tyranny and the now-160-nation alliance that has formed to end the oppression.

This was arguably the most classified and dangerous information on Earth -- until the story began to blow open in November 2011, when tangible documents first started to be revealed.

Only then did the pioneering work of Benjamin Fulford -- the former Asia-Pacific bureau chief for Forbes, the world's largest business magazine -- produce a provable, indisputable piece of physical evidence.

This evidence appeared in the form of a lawsuit that Fulford had been telegraphing and anticipating for over a year.

The lawsuit was filed by Neil Keenan against the UN and many other global players. It was massive -- over 100 pages long -- and extremely detailed, as I revealed in this article.

This lawsuit was deliberately timed to be released on the anniversary date of the Kennedy assassination, as we since found out.


A LONG-ANTICIPATED DOCUMENT

For many months, Fulford had been talking about this pending lawsuit.

Most interestingly, he said that it had the full backing of the "good guys" in the Pentagon and US military, as well as an alliance of about 57 nations at the time -- which has since ballooned to 160.

Unlike many people's stereotypes that "they're all in on it," in truth there is only a very small group of 'controllers' who have used murder, threats, blackmail and bribery to maintain power over much larger groups.

Politics have been used to manipulate Americans into turning against each other -- such as by blatant attempts to create a "race war" by painting blacks as all living off of the money earned by the hard work of the whites.

This campaign reached astonishing new levels of clarity and boldness during the 2012 election -- but it did not produce the desired result.


THE ENEMY IS WITHIN

Rather than turning against each other, the mass public has continued to discover, more and more, that the real problem is not found in the 99 percent -- but rather in the 1 percent wealthiest entities in the world, and the steps they have taken to preserve their power.

The most astonishing omission in the 2012 elections, in my opinion, was any mention of the 26 trillion dollars of American currency that the Federal Reserve paid to its own member banks -- many of which are overseas.

As I revealed in Financial Tyranny, Congressman Ron Paul, Congressman Alan Grayson and Sen. Robert Byrd pushed through a successful bill to audit the Federal Reserve.

The result was absolutely shocking -- and it received hardly any attention in the mainstream media whatsoever.

see full story at the link



Interesting as to why RT.com doesn't pick this up and add their own spin to the story. Makes me wonder about them - and their coverage of the recent US shooting story.

I think RT is the good cop.

[Sabrina]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/15/money-privatised-stealth

`UK

Money has been privatised by stealth

The greatest privatisation in history has gone unnoticed. It's time to take from the banks the power to produce money

It's common knowledge that printing your own £10 notes at home is frowned upon by Her Majesty's police. Yet there's a small collection of companies that are authorised to create – and spend – more new money than the counterfeiters have ever been able to print. In industry jargon, these companies are called "monetary and financial institutions", but you probably know them by their street name: "banks".

The money that they create, effectively out of nothing, isn't the paper money that bears the logo of the government-owned Bank of England. It's the electronic money that flashes up on the screen when you check your balance at an ATM. Right now, this electronic money makes up over 97% of all the money in the economy. Only 3% of money is still in that old-fashioned form of real cash that can be touched.

Hard to believe, isn't it? Martin Wolf, one of the experts who sat on the independent commission on banking, put it bluntly, saying in the Financial Times that "the essence of the contemporary monetary system was the creation of money, out of nothing, by private banks' often foolish lending".

Here's how it works. When you ask the bank for the money to buy a one-bedroom box in London, the money that appears in your account isn't borrowed from some prudent grandmother's life savings. In fact, the bank simply types those numbers into your account, creating brand new money that you can now spend. As other banks do exactly the same, the amount of money in the economy grows and grows. Every new mortgage creates new money, which pushes up house prices just a little more and forces the next buyer to borrow even more from the banks. (A more detailed and fully-referenced explanation of this process is given in the book Where Does Money Come From? published by the New Economics Foundation.)

Through this process of creating money, banks have been able to inflate the money supply at a rate of 11.5% a year, pushing up the prices of houses and pricing out an entire generation.

Of course, the flipside to this creation of money is that with every new loan comes a new debt. This is the source of our mountain of personal debt – not money that had been prudently saved up by pensioners, but money that was created out of nothing by banks and lent to anyone and everyone. Eventually the debt burden becomes just too high, and we see the wave of defaults that triggered the start of the ongoing financial crisis.

But how did something as important as money become privatised? How did the power to create money fall into the hands of the same banks who caused the crisis, with such devastating consequences for millions of ordinary people?

Incredibly, the law that makes it illegal to print your own tenners at home has never been updated to apply to the electronic money that is now created by banks. As we began to use electronic money to make the vast majority of payments, cash became less important and the power to create money shifted to the banks that caused the crisis. Without anyone noticing, the power to create money was privatised by stealth.

So while criminal gangs manage to create about £2.5bn of fake cash each year, the banks collectively create more than £100bn a year without breaking a single law. Their reward for doing so is the interest that is currently being collected on nearly every pound in existence. The cost to the rest of us is a lifetime in debt.

This brings us to a very simple solution to the financial crisis. Many of the current protesters might be surprised to hear that the answer to our current crisis comes from a former Tory prime minister. Back in 1844, Sir Robert Peel realised that metal coins, which at that time were the only legal form of money, had been superseded by new paper notes issued by banks. These paper notes were lighter and more convenient, and therefore much more popular. Peel's 1844 Bank Charter Act took the power to create paper money away from the banks and placed it back under control of the Bank of England. We should now do exactly the same with the power to create electronic money. My own organisation, Positive Money, has even drafted the legislation that would be required to do this.

By reclaiming this power, we can ensure that new money is not used to blow up house price bubbles and fund risky speculation. Instead, newly created money can be put in at the roots of the economy, through ordinary consumers. It will then end up with shops, businesses and factories, who can use it to invest, grow and create jobs. Simply "getting banks lending again" won't help when the public are already saddled under a mountain of debt. What we need is more money, not more debt. This is impossible while all money is created by banks when people go into debt.

Of course, we need to shelter this power to create money from vote-seeking politicians. But the power to create money is far too dangerous to leave in the hands of the banks who caused the crisis. Taking this power away from them is our best hope of both ending the current crisis, and preventing the next one.
15 Dec

[KiwiElf]

Breaking – Israeli foreign minister Lieberman resigns following indictment


Friday, December 14th, 2012 | Posted by Veterans Today

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/12/14/breaking-israeli-foreign-minister-liberman-resigns-following-indictment/


A 12 Year Investigation Resolved with Indictment a Month Before Elections


Editors Note: Israeli politicians beat a lot of these corruption charges. This could easily follow that path



Rampant Israeli corruption spawns investigations lasting more than ten years

(JTA) — Avigdor Lieberman has resigned as Israel’s foreign minister following his indictment for fraud and breach of trust.

“I have committed no offense but I wish to put behind me this issue, which is what remains of many years of investigation,” Lieberman said in a statement Friday.

Liberman said he would also step down as vice prime minister and lift his immunity from prosecution, to which he is entitled as a member of Knesset.

On Dec. 13, Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein closed a 12-year investigation on Lieberman, dismissing most of the charges.

But he indicted Lieberman for fraud and breach of trust for advancing former ambassador to Belarus Ze’ev Ben Aryeh’s position in the Foreign Ministry allegedly in exchange for information about an investigation against Lieberman being conducted in Belarus. Last spring, Ben Aryeh confessed that he had received and passed documents to Lieberman in 2008.

In his statement, Lieberman added: “I am stepping down also because I believe the citizens of Israel deserve to go to the ballot box with this thing already settled, so I can resume serving the state of Israel and its citizens.”

According to Ynet, Lieberman does not plan to resign as number two of Halikud Beiteinu — the merger of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and the movement headed by Lieberman, Yisrael Beiteinu.

Lieberman has said he wished for a “quick trial” but it is not known whether this could be concluded ahead of Israel’s general elections scheduled for January 22.

A statement by the Prime Minister’s Office said Netanyahu spoke with Lieberman “and wished he [Lieberman] would soon prove his innocence in the sole remaining issue at hand and return before long to take up a senior cabinet post.”

Labor Chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich said in a statement that Netanyahu’s words “left a bad taste” and reflected “poor judgement.” She called Netanyahu’s statement “an ignominious blessing.”

Editing: Jim W. Dean

______________________________________
36

Latest Posts:
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Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News – December 14, 2012
How to Add a ship to the AO Vietnam Presumptive list & Sgt Shaft Note about SBA

Related Posts:
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Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=232699

[modwiz]

The gravity of the reporting and stories lately is on an other order of revelation. As I've said, bone is now being exposed. The marrow is next. First, a little more bone has to show.

[Conchis]

http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2012/12/11/dragon-family-gold-and-us-federal-reserve-system-iii.html

How come nobody in the Philippines and other Asian countries ever knew about the vaults and what was inside? It’s almost incredible. If the vaults existed, the leaders of the countries would have been tempted to confiscate the «black» gold. It would not have been a plunder, but rather doing a just thing. Why should some Dragon Family go to a New York district court when the gold could have been taken in the country it was stored in?

Here is a small part of a very interesting and convoluted story. I met the guy that handled a part of this lawsuit once upon a time and got a lot of details on it from him and he was certainly convinced. At any rate here is something that you might find interesting in a part of this story that I think is related. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogelio_Roxas

[KiwiElf]

Report unmasks tax evasion among Pakistan leaders
AFP Updated December 13, 2012, 12:36 am

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/15619976/report-unmasks-tax-evasion-among-pakistan-leaders/

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - More than 60 percent of Pakistan's cabinet and two thirds of its federal lawmakers paid no tax last year, according to a report released Wednesday on tax evasion among the country's political leaders.

The study entitled "Representation without Taxation" by investigative journalist Umar Cheema takes Pakistan's elected leaders to task for paying little or no tax despite an estimated average net wealth of $882,000.

"The problem starts at the top. Those who make revenue policies, run the government and collect taxes, have not been able to set good examples for others," said the report, likely to increase pressure on Pakistan to implement tax reform.

There was no immediate reaction from top politicians, although a spokesman for the main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N party told AFP it was up the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to take action against any evaders.

Pakistan has one of the lowest tax-to-GDP ratios in the world, estimated at 9.2 percent. Only 260,000 out of 180 million citizens have paid tax consecutively for the last three years, according to the FBR.

According to the findings, President Asif Ali Zardari did not file a tax return in 2011 and neither did 34 of the 55 cabinet members including Interior Minister Rehman Malik.

Information was not available for one cabinet minister.

Of the 20 cabinet ministers who did pay, most made only negligible contributions, including Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, with 142,536 rupees ($1,466) and Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar with 69,619 rupees ($716).

The cabinet member who paid the most was state minister for commerce, Abbas Khan Afridi, who paid 11.5 million rupees last year ($118,677). Religious Affairs Minister Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah paid the least with 43,333 rupees ($446).

Among all the lawmakers in the upper and lower houses of the federal parliament, 67 percent failed to file tax returns in 2011; 28 percent did and five percent were not possible to verify, according to the report.

It also found that 78 members of parliament are still not registered with a national taxation number.

Pakistan's refusal to implement sweeping tax reform was instrumental in the collapse of a $11.3 billion IMF bailout programme in November 2010.

The country is one of the biggest recipients of Western aid -- payouts that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and British Prime Minister David Cameron have said are difficult to increase when Pakistan's own elite pays no tax.

But the report also suggested there had been some improvement since the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) government was elected in 2008. In 2010, none of the then cabinet, including premier Yousuf Raza Gilani, paid tax, Cheema's report said.

It says Gilani, who was dismissed by the supreme court in June for contempt, registered to pay tax in July 2010 -- more than two years after coming to power.

The report, which marks the launch of the Centre for Investigative Reporting in Pakistan, based its findings on information from the FBR and lawmakers themselves. It urged politicians to disclose their tax returns voluntarily in future.

The report comes after the chairman of the FBR, Ali Arshad Hakeem, offered Pakistani tax evaders the chance to pay around $420 to have the slate wiped clean in return for committing to pay tax regularly from next year.

Under a new law, yet to be approved by parliament, those unwilling to sign up for the amnesty and pay their taxes will face having assets seized, cell phone connections frozen and could be barred from leaving Pakistan.

"We have standing instructions to our party leaders and officials to pay tax and to uphold the supremacy of law. But you cannot force an individual," PML-N spokesman Mushahidullah Khan told AFP.

"We will bring reforms to our tax system when we come to power," he added.

[Sabrina]

More on the Lieberman resignation in Israel

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/12/14/2381139/israeli-fm-lieberman-resigns.html

Lieberman pre-election exit roils Israeli politics



By IAN DEITCH — Associated Press

JERUSALEM — The resignation of powerful Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Benjamin Netanyahu's top Cabinet partner, has shaken up Israeli politics a month before elections. Analysts say Netanyahu is likely to survive, but is losing a valued ally.

Lieberman announced his resignation Friday, a day after the attorney general filed an indictment for breach of trust in a fraud and money-laundering case.

He insisted "I did not break any law" and voiced confidence he would be cleared before the Jan. 22 election.

Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu and Netanyahu's Likud Party recently joined forces in the parliamentary election, enabling the charismatic ultranationalist to position himself as Netanyahu's heir.

Opinion polls have predicted the list would be by far the largest bloc in Israel's parliament, the Knesset, and would lead a new coalition government. But without Lieberman's sway, negotiations for such a coalition among an array of fractious parties will be more complicated.

Also, analysts doubted Lieberman could make the case go away before the election as Lieberman was hoping.

The blunt-talking politician, a native of Moldova, has amassed power with support from immigrants from the Soviet Union and from others drawn to his broadsides against Israeli Arabs, dovish groups, the Palestinians and Western Europe.

His resignation could mean that Netanyahu would be stuck with a list of leftovers offering little appeal to voters.

Lieberman spokesman Tzachi Moshe said the minister is not resigning from the party list, meaning he is still running for parliament.

Avraham Diskin, a political scientist at Hebrew University, said that Netanyahu would still probably be re-elected and might make himself foreign minister too. But he said Lieberman's absence might push voters to parties even farther on the right.

Israelis welcomed his decision, saying that it reaffirms the high standards of behavior to which the country has traditionally held politicians.

"Lieberman's resignation was very important because it strengthens the norms of our court system where if an official is suspected of corruption they step down even though legally they don't have to, in order to preserve the public's faith in the government," said Moshe Negbi, Israel Radio's legal affairs commentator.

Shelly Yachimovich, leader of the opposition Labor Party, also rejoiced. "This is a corrupt man who harmed the public's trust in the rule of law and democracy, it's good that he decided to resign," she said on Israel's Channel 2 TV.

Lieberman has endured 16 years of investigations into suspicions that he illicitly received millions of dollars from businessmen and laundered the cash through straw companies in eastern Europe while he was a lawmaker and Cabinet minister.

But in the end, there wasn't enough for a prosecution, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein said Thursday.

"There is no reasonable chance of a conviction ... and that case should be closed," Weinstein said.

Instead, Lieberman was charged with the lesser offense of breach of trust, for allegedly receiving official material about the investigation against him from the former Israeli ambassador to Belarus.

The envoy had received the documents from the Foreign Ministry, which sought additional information on Lieberman from Belarus authorities. The ambassador, Zeev Ben-Aryeh, reached a plea bargain in the case earlier this year.

Lieberman said that when he received the documents he immediately ripped them up and flushed them down the toilet because he knew he shouldn't have been given them.

A longtime Netanyahu aide, he was elected to parliament in 1999, and Yisrael Beitenu was the third largest party in 2009 elections, having broadened its base beyond Russians to native Israelis.

Since becoming foreign minister in 2009, he has agitated partners in government with various legislative proposals and utterances viewed by critics as xenophobic or anti-Arab, such as a failed bill that would have forced Israelis to sign a loyalty oath or lose their citizenship.

He also has embarrassed Netanyahu by expressing skepticism over peace efforts at a time when the prime minister was talking them up.

This week he made fresh waves by saying many world leaders would sacrifice Israel to radical Islam just as Europe appeased the Nazis before World War II.

[Sabrina]

http://www.maltastar.com/dart/20121215-judge-ray-pace-resigns

Malta

Judge Ray Pace resigns

Tearful judge and acting chief justice Ray Pace early on Saturday afternoon handed his resignation to President of the Republic George Abela before he was returned to his cell at the forensic ward of Mount Carmel Hospital where he has been held since Thursday 13 December 2012 after he was charged in court with corruption related to drug trafficking.

After an emergency Cabinet meeting on Saturday morning Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi presented Speaker of the House Michael Frendo with two impeachment motions against Judge Ray Pace and Judge Lino Farrugia Sacco.

The Office of the President said that Abela received Pace at around 3pm at the San Anton Palace during which the judge presented his letter of resignation.

"In his letter, Raymond Pace declared that, irrespective of the final outcome of the criminal case against him or any possible further developments, he recognised that his position as judge is no longer tenable".

The Court of Magistrates gave its authorisation for the meeting to take place.

Speaker of the House Michael Frendo has also been informed over Pace's resignation.

In the meantime Judge Lino Farrugia Sacco has refused to resign.

15 Dec

[Sabrina]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9748949/Parliamentary-Banking-Commission-to-call-for-banks-to-be-broken-up-rather-than-just-ring-fenced.html

UK

Parliamentary Banking Commission to call for banks to be broken up, rather than just ring-fenced

The Coalition’s financial reforms could be seriously challenged this week by demands from the banking commission for a far more radical overhaul of British lenders.

In a report due on Friday, which is thought to be more Volcker than Vickers, the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards is expected to call for legislation to be drafted that would allow the banks to be broken up, rather than just ring-fenced.
The report, which is a response to the Bank Reform Bill, is not yet finished, but members of the Commission are said to be determined to beef up the Coalition’s reforms in the wake of more fines and criticism of the sector.

UBS is braced for a fine of more than $1bn (£618m) in settlement with regulators investigating the global Libor rigging scandal. The penalty could be as high as $1.5bn, according to Swiss reports, and is expected to be unveiled this week.

Over the weekend it was also reported that the state-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland could be fined as much as £350m for its role in rate-rigging, although the settlement is not due until the new year.

Meanwhile Barclays, which has already paid a £290m Libor settlement, has been forced to defend itself from another $470m (£291m) penalty from America’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). In a defence filed in a US court on Friday night, Barclays said FERC’s claim that the bank had manipulated electricity markets was “baseless” and “hollow

George Osborne, who established the Banking Commission in July, recently warned it members against “unpicking a consensus” on his plans to ring-fence retail banking operations – as proposed by Sir John Vickers in his report.
But Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Commission, is under pressure from members to toughen the proposals. The Tory MP is an admirer of Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve whom he credited with giving “extremely impressive evidence” on the separation of the banks.

During evidence sessions, Lord Lawson has pushed along the argument for total separation. Lord Turnbull, former head of the Civil Service, has also argued for radical reforms. However Mr Tyrie has also complained that the Commission is being rushed and needs more time.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph today, Antonio Horta-Osorio, the chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, has argued that as well as “cultural change, there needs to be structural change in banking.” Although he stops short of calling for a Volcker-style division of banks, Mr Horta Osorio argues that “financial stability will be greatly enhanced from an ex-ante separation of retail and investment banks”. He adds: “That is why I fully support ring-fencing as the right way forward.”

However business leaders have urged the Government not to put economic recovery above their reforms. Archie Norman, chairman of ITV, warned of “political indulgence” in pushing regulatory reforms. He told The Sunday Telegraph that “regulation and reserve capital does not come for free. It comes with a cost and the price of the attack on banks will be lower growth.”

[Sabrina]

Heneghan's view on it all - discernment as usual needed :)...

http://uk.myspace.com/tom_heneghan_intel/blog/546549349

Deutsche Bank Accounts Are Frozen

by Tom Heneghan (12 Dec)
International Intelligence Expert


UNITED States of America - It can now be reported that on the direct orders of the IMF (International Monetary Fund), the U.S. Provost Marshal, European INTERPOL and the German Police, all Deutsche Bank derivative-riddled proprietary accounts were frozen today on 12-12-12.

Item: The crooked U.S. Federal Reserve has now been totally neutralized by what took place in Europe today.

The announcement by Fed Chairman Bernard Bernanke of his program QE Infinity is not a stimulus but the continuation of a ponzi scheme to buy back toxic assets aka worthless mortgage-backed securities tied to major U.S. financial giants (gangster banks) and none other than their underwriter, the Nazi "Skull and Bones" Deutsche Bank.

P.S. Now that the Deutsche Bank has had their derivative accounts frozen there are really no derivatives outstanding for the crooked Fed to prop up.

Translation: QE4 is now Titanic5.

P.P.S. At this hour we can also divulge that gangster U.S. banks like Goldman Sachs and U.S. Bank are now totally exposed in new illegally cross-collateralized derivative positions aka written call options in crude oil and unleaded gasoline futures markets, which were designed to protect their already undermargined naked long positions in natural gas.

P.P.P.S. So, at this hour, the IMF and the U.S. Provost Marshal continue to order massive asset redemption and repatriation of collateralized assets aka precious and industrial metals.

In closing, we can now directly report that after the freezing of the Deutsche Bank proprietary accounts that took place today, 12-12-12, the IMF is now prepared to fully implement the Wanta-Reagan-Mitterrand Protocols with the Obama Administration absent.

Finally, it is time to buy the black gold and sell the yellow gold.

http://uk.myspace.com/tom_heneghan_intel/blog/546539955


Sunday December 9, 2012

Eyes Over Deutsche Bank
Part 2 of 2

by Tom Heneghan
International Intelligence Expert


P.P.S. The recent resignation of Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti signals the return of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Item: A new Italian government will reissue Italian lire, default on the crooked, illegally marketed Goldman Sachs derivatives that were sold to Italian financial institutions and, accordingly, set a time table to leave the European Union.

P.P.P.S. Stay tuned for future intelligence briefings, which will include an update on the massive radiation crisis that still threatens all of North America.

We will also be focusing on a new financial scandal (ENRON 2), which fingers the crooked financial giant Goldman Sachs conspiring with power companies in Texas to artificially increase the price of natural gas using illegal cross-collateralized derivatives (naked written put options) linked to none other than the crooked Deutsche Bank.

In closing, general hospital update as Protocol implementation is imminent. Deutsche Bank stockholder, former U.S. President George Herbert Walker Bush remains in the hospital. Former money launderer, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry 'Hank' Paulson. Current Venezuela President and Goldman Sachs client Hugo Chavez remains in the hospital. Last but not least, current Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin is out of the hospital after surviving a poisoning attempt.

There is good news though, remember all of these aforementioned parties are eligible for free Obamacare next year in 2013.

The other piece of good news is IMF President Christine Lagarde is not in the hospital and current U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has yet to check into the hospital.

One last question: Will U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton check in to the hospital before she testifies on Benghazi-gate or will she travel out of the country on a diplomatic mission to the Congo.

Click here on Bloomberg News. com for an update on ENRC Dan Gertler-Marc Rich's Glencore Commodities Congo-gate.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-08/enrc-offers-550-million-to-buy-gertler-out-of-congo-unit.html

[Sabrina]

Via American Kabuki - fascinating one this one - more truths coming to the surface... :)

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-13/rigged-libor-with-police-nearby-shows-flaw-of-light-touch.html

Secret Libor Transcripts Expose Trader Rate-Manipulation

By Liam Vaughan and Gavin Finch
December 13, 2012 11:01 AM EST

Every morning, from his desk by the bathroom at the far end of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc’s trading floor overlooking London’s Liverpool Street station, Paul White punched a series of numbers into his computer.

White, who joined RBS in 1984, was one of the employees responsible for the firm’s submissions to the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, the global benchmark for more than $300 trillion of contracts, from mortgages and student loans to interest-rate swaps. Behind him sat Neil Danziger, a derivatives trader at the bank since 2002. On the morning of March 27, 2008, Tan Chi Min, Danziger’s boss in Tokyo, told him to make sure the next day’s submission in yen would increase.

“We need to bump it way up high, highest among all if possible,” Tan, known by colleagues as “Jimmy,” wrote in an instant message to Danziger, according to a transcript made public by a Singapore court and reviewed by Bloomberg before being sealed by a judge at RBS’s request.

The trader typically would have swiveled in his chair, tapped White on the shoulder and relayed the request, people who worked on the trading floor said. Instead, as White was away that day, Danziger input the rate himself.

The next morning RBS said it paid 0.97 percent to borrow in yen for three months, up from 0.94 percent the previous day. The Edinburgh-based bank was the only one of 16 surveyed to raise its rate. If it had lowered its submission in line with others, the cost of borrowing in yen would have fallen one-fifth of a basis point, or 0.002 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Even that small a move could mean a gain of $250,000 on a position of $50 billion.

Events like those that took place on RBS’s trading floor, across the road from Bishopsgate police station and Dirty Dicks, a 267-year-old public house, are at the heart of the biggest and longest-running scandal in banking history.


UBS Said to Face Fines of More Than $1 Billion in Libor Probes

For years, traders at RBS, Barclays Plc (BARC), UBS AG (UBSN), Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), Rabobank Groep and other firms that stood to profit worked with employees responsible for setting the benchmark to rig the price of money, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg and interviews with two dozen current and former traders, lawyers and regulators. Those interviews reveal how the manipulation flourished for years, even after bank supervisors were made aware of the system’s flaws.

The conspiracy wasn’t confined to low-level employees. Senior managers at RBS, Britain’s largest publicly owned lender, knew banks were systematically rigging Libor as early as August 2007, transcripts of phone conversations obtained by Bloomberg show. Some traders colluded with counterparts at other banks to boost profits from interest-rate futures by aligning their submissions. Members of the close-knit group knew each other from working at the same firms or going on trips organized by interdealer brokers such as ICAP Plc (IAP) to Chamonix, a French ski resort, or the Monaco Grand Prix.



“We will never know the amounts of money involved, but it has to be the biggest financial fraud of all time,” said Adrian Blundell-Wignall, a special adviser to the secretary general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris. “Libor is the basis for calculating practically every derivative known to man.”

Now, more than five years after alarms first sounded, regulators and prosecutors are closing in. Three people, including a former trader at UBS and Citigroup Inc. (C), were arrested in London this week in connection with the probe into rate manipulation, the first apprehensions in an investigation involving more than half a dozen agencies on three continents.

Barclays paid a record 290 million-pound ($468 million) fine in June to settle with regulators, and the London-based lender’s three top executives, including Chief Executive Officer Robert Diamond, departed after criticism by bank supervisors and politicians. Other firms, including RBS and Zurich-based UBS, are negotiating settlements, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. UBS may face a fine of more than $1 billion from U.S. and British regulators within days, a person with knowledge of the investigation said today. Spokesmen for Barclays, RBS and UBS declined to comment.

The industry faces regulatory penalties of at least $8.7 billion, according to Morgan Stanley. (MS) The European Union is leading a probe that could see banks fined as much as 10 percent of their annual revenue. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. and U.K. claiming losses on products pegged to Libor.

The scandal demonstrates the failure of London’s two-decade experiment with light-touch supervision, which helped make the British capital the biggest trading hub in the world. In his 10 years as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown championed this approach, hailing a “golden age” for the City of London in a June 2007 speech. Even after the FSA pledged to toughen its rules following the 2008 financial crisis, supervisors failed to act on warnings that the benchmark was being manipulated.

Regulators have known since at least August 2007 that banks were using artificially low Libor submissions to appear healthier than they were. That month, a Barclays employee in London e-mailed the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, questioning the numbers that other banks were inputting, according to transcripts published by the New York Fed.

Nine months later, Tim Bond, then head of asset allocation at Barclays’s investment bank, publicly described the Libor figures as “divorced from reality,” saying in a Bloomberg Television interview that firms were routinely misstating their borrowing costs to avoid the perception they were facing stress.

The New York Fed and the Bank of England say they didn’t act because they had no responsibility for oversight of Libor. That fell to the British Bankers’ Association, the industry lobbying group that created the rate and largely ignored recommendations from central bankers after 2008 to change the way the benchmark is computed. Regulators also were preoccupied with the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, and forcing banks to be honest about their Libor submissions might have revealed they were paying penalty rates to borrow.

Libor is calculated daily through a survey of banks asking how much it costs them to borrow in different currencies for various durations. Because it’s based on estimates rather than actual trade data, the process relies on the honesty of participants. Instead, derivatives traders at banks around the world sought to influence their firms’ Libor submissions and managers sometimes condoned the practice, according to documents and transcripts of instant messages obtained by Bloomberg.

Some former regulators say they were surprised to learn about the scale of the cheating.

“Through all of my experience, what I never contemplated was that there were bankers who would purposely misrepresent facts to banking authorities,” Alan Greenspan, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006, said in a phone interview. “You were honor-bound to report accurately, and it never entered my mind that, aside from a fringe element, it would be otherwise. I was wrong.”

Sheila Bair, a former acting chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. from 2006 to 2011, said the scope of the scandal points to the flaws of light-touch regulation.

“When a bank can benefit financially from doing the wrong thing, it generally will,” Bair said in an interview. “The extent of the Libor manipulation was eye-popping.”

Libor debuted in 1986, the year British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s so-called “Big Bang” program of financial deregulation fueled a boom in London’s bond and syndicated-loan markets. It was intended to be a simple benchmark that borrowers and lenders could use to price loans.

In 1997, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange switched the rate used in pricing Eurodollar futures contracts to Libor, solidifying its position as the principal benchmark for the swaps market, which by June 2012 had a notional value of $639 trillion, according to the Bank for International Settlements.

That decision created a temptation for swaps traders to game Libor, particularly in the days before International Money Market or IMM dates, when three-month Eurodollar futures settle. The value of traders’ positions, often billions of dollars, was affected by where the dollar Libor rate was set on the third Wednesdays of March, June, September and December.

The manipulation of Libor was discussed openly at banks.

“We have an unbelievably large set on Monday,” one Barclays swaps trader in New York e-mailed the firm’s rate- setter in London on March 10, 2006. “We need a really low three-month fix, it could potentially cost a fortune.”

The rate-setter complied with the request, according to Britain’s Financial Services Authority, which published the e- mail following its investigation of the bank’s role.

The 2007 credit crunch increased the opportunity to cheat. With banks hoarding cash and not lending to one other, there was little trading in money markets, making it impossible for rate- setters to assess borrowing costs accurately. Instead, traders said they resorted to seeking input from interdealer brokers, colleagues and acquaintances at other firms, many of whom stood to benefit from where the rate was set. They described it as legitimate information-sharing in the absence of trading.

On Aug. 20, 2007, days after BNP Paribas SA (BNP) halted withdrawals from three funds, forcing the European Central Bank to offer lenders unlimited cash and marking the start of the credit crisis, Paul Walker, RBS’s head of money-markets trading and the person responsible for U.S. dollar Libor submissions, discussed with Scott Nygaard, then Tokyo-based head of short- term markets for Asia, how banks were using Libor to benefit their trading positions.

“People are setting to where it suits their book,” Walker said in a phone call with Nygaard, a transcript of which was obtained by Bloomberg. “Libor is what you say it is.”

“Yeah, yeah,” replied Nygaard, an American who joined RBS in 2006 after six years at Deutsche Bank in Japan.

Walker and Nygaard, now global head of treasury markets based in London and a member of the Bank of England’s money- markets liaison group, both declined to comment.

Each day, the BBA asks banks to estimate how much it would cost them to borrow in 10 currencies for periods ranging from overnight to one year. The top and bottom quartiles of quotes are excluded, and those left are averaged and made public before noon in London. Submissions from contributing banks also are published. The dollar Libor panel consists of 18 banks, while the one for sterling has 16, and 13 firms set the yen rate.

It didn’t take a conspiracy involving large numbers of traders at different firms to move the rate. By nudging their submissions, traders at a single bank could influence where Libor was fixed. Even inputting a rate too high to be included could push up the final figure by sending a previously excluded entry back into the pack. A move in Libor of less than 1 basis point, or one-hundredth of a percentage point, could be valuable for traders managing billions of dollars in swaps.

“If you have a system like Libor, where highly subjective quotes are built into the process, you have a lot of opportunity for manipulation,” said Andrew Verstein, a lecturer at Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut, and co-author of a paper on Libor rigging to be published in the Winter 2013 issue of the Yale Journal on Regulation. “You don’t need a cartel to make Libor manipulation work for you. It certainly wouldn’t hurt, but it didn’t have to happen.”

At UBS, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Rabobank, RBS and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), rate-setters were given no training or guidelines for making submissions, according to former employees who asked not to be identified because investigations are continuing. At RBS and Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank, derivatives traders on occasion made their firm’s submissions, they said. Spokesmen for all the banks declined to comment.

As the credit crisis intensified in the fourth quarter of 2007, Libor was a closely scrutinized gauge of the health of financial firms. After years of relative stability, the benchmark became more volatile. The average spread between the highest and lowest submissions to the three-month dollar rate widened to about 8 basis points in the three months ended Oct. 30, 2007, from about 1 basis point in the previous three months, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The volatility drew the attention of investors and regulators. As Japan endured its most intense heat wave in 100 years on August 20, 2007, a sales manager at RBS in Tokyo received a call from a trader at hedge fund Brevan Howard LLP in Hong Kong, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

RBS’s rate-setter in London had increased the bank’s submission for three-month yen Libor by 9 basis points from the end of the previous week, helping to push the benchmark to its highest level since 1995.

Brevan Howard wanted to know why the rate jumped, even after the Fed had announced unprecedented steps to boost liquidity at the end of the week, something that should have lowered the measure, the people said.

RBS employees in London and Tokyo discussed the hedge fund’s call in instant messages. Nygaard phoned Walker in London to say RBS should be “careful how we speak with them about what we, how the rate is set,” according to a transcript of an instant-message conversation obtained by Bloomberg.

On a conference call later that day that included Walker and Darin Spilman, an RBS sales manager, Danziger told the Brevan Howard trader how the bank calculated its submissions in the absence of any cash trading and gave his views on what he expected to happen to the Tokyo interbank offered rate, or Tibor. Danziger, Spilman, Walker, Nygaard and Tan declined to comment, as did Anthony Payne, a spokesman for Brevan Howard in London.

About a week later, on Aug. 28, 2007, Fabiola Ravazzolo, an economist on the financial-stability team at the New York Fed, received an e-mail from a member of Barclays’s money-markets desk in London, accusing the firm’s competitors of making artificially low Libor submissions, according to transcripts published by the regulator that didn’t identify the sender.

Barclays that day had submitted the highest rate to three- month dollar Libor, while the lowest was posted by London-based Lloyds Banking Group Plc (LLOY), suggesting Barclays was having more difficulty obtaining funding than Lloyds, a bank later bailed out by the U.K. government.

“Today’s U.S. dollar Libors have come out and they look too low to me,” the e-mail said. “Draw your own conclusions about why people are going for unrealistically low Libors.”

Lloyds, in an e-mailed statement, declined to comment on what it called “speculation by traders at other banks.”

It wasn’t until the following year, prompted by a March 2008 report by the Bank for International Settlements and an April article in the Wall Street Journal suggesting banks were lowballing their submissions, that the New York Fed and the Bank of England asked the BBA to review the rate-setting process.

In June 2008, New York Fed President Timothy F. Geithner sent a memo to Bank of England Governor Mervyn King and his deputy, Paul Tucker, putting forward a list of recommendations for fixing Libor, including increasing the number of contributing banks, basing the rate on an average of randomly selected submissions and cutting maturities in which little or no trading took place.

“These are pretty modest reforms, they probably wouldn’t have invalidated contracts and they might have reduced some of the abuses,” Yale’s Verstein said. “On the other hand, it would likely have caused Libor to go up, which could have affected a great many people.”

Aside from creating a committee to review questionable submissions and promising to increase the number of contributors to dollar Libor, the BBA chose not to implement Geithner’s suggestions. Angela Knight, then the group’s CEO, said in a December 2008 statement that Libor could be trusted as “a reliable benchmark.”

Privately, regulators were skeptical. As the BBA was drafting its proposals, King wrote to colleagues including Tucker on May 31, 2008, describing the group’s response as “wholly inadequate,” according to documents released by the Bank of England in July. Rather than press the BBA to change the way Libor was set, the Bank of England, the FSA and the New York Fed demanded that any references to them be removed from the BBA review, the e-mails show.

A spokesman for the Bank of England said Britain’s central bank “had no supervisory responsibilities” for Libor at the time. The New York Fed also “lacked direct authority over Libor” and didn’t want to be seen endorsing a private association’s plan, according to Jack Gutt, a spokesman. The New York Fed continued to press for reform through 2008, he said.

Liam Parker, an FSA spokesman, referred to earlier comments FSA Chairman Adair Turner made to British lawmakers in July that the regulator was in contact with the CFTC at a “very early stage” in the U.S. commission’s investigation. It’s in the nature of such probes that one regulator takes the lead and others assist and decide at a later date whether to get “directly and formally involved,” Turner said.

The BBA said in an e-mail that it’s working with the regulators “to ensure the provision of a reliable benchmark which has the confidence and support of all users.”

By failing to act, regulators allowed rate-rigging to continue over the next two years. At RBS, the abuse was most pronounced from 2008 until late 2010, according to people close to the bank’s internal probe. At Barclays, manipulation continued until the second half of 2009. Japan’s financial services agency banned Citigroup from trading derivatives linked to Libor and Tibor for two weeks in January in punishment for wrongdoing that started in December 2009.

Barclays former chief operating officer, Jerry Del Missier, went further, saying that the Bank of England encouraged the lender to suppress Libor submissions. In October 2008, days before RBS and Lloyds sought bailouts, the central bank asked Barclays to lower its quotes because they were stoking concern about the bank’s stability, Del Missier told a panel of British lawmakers July 16. Tucker, the Bank of England deputy director, has said he never gave such instructions.

“It’s not adequate for the authorities to say, ‘We didn’t have responsibility,’” said Paul Myners, a Labour Party member in Parliament’s House of Lords and the U.K. government’s financial-services minister from 2008 to 2010. “It was a huge oversight by the regulators not to realize that Libor and other benchmarks were of such critical importance that they should fall within the regulatory ambit.”

In the end, it was a U.S. regulator without any banking oversight that brought Libor rigging to a halt. Vincent McGonagle, a top enforcement official at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in Washington, initiated a probe into Libor after reading the April 2008 Wall Street Journal story.

The CFTC sent letters to several banks that fall requesting information, according to a person with knowledge of the investigation. The commission decided it had the authority to act because Libor affects the price of commodities, including futures contracts that trade on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

A decade earlier, the CFTC had lost out in an attempt to regulate the market for over-the-counter derivatives, including those pegged to Libor, following the 1998 collapse of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management LP. The bid was opposed by then-Fed Chairman Greenspan and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin. In 2000, Congress passed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, leaving the OTC markets unregulated.

“That’s reflective of the hands-off, light-touch, markets- can-regulate-themselves approach to regulation that has been shown to be so flawed,” Bair said.

Banks opened their own investigations after the CFTC inquiries. Barclays initially looked into allegations it had lowballed dollar Libor. It appointed Rich Ricci, then co-head of its investment bank, to oversee the inquiry. As the team sifted through thousands of pages of e-mail correspondence and transcripts of instant messages and phone conversations, it uncovered evidence that traders were manipulating the rate both up and down for profit, according to two people with knowledge of the probe.

The CFTC came to the same conclusion in late 2009 or early 2010, according to the person with knowledge of the commission’s inquiry. It happened when Gary Gensler, who had been chairman for less than a year, stood in the foyer of his ninth-floor Washington office as Stephen Obie, acting head of enforcement at the time, played a Barclays tape of a conversation between traders and rate-setters, the person said.

“We had to vigorously pursue this,” Gensler said in a Dec. 9 interview. “Sometimes practice in a market gets confused and over the line, but nonetheless it may still be illegal.”

The Barclays internal probe retained two law firms working outside the bank’s Canary Wharf office and cost 100 million pounds, according to people briefed on the matter. Diamond, who was interviewed during the in-house inquiry, wasn’t made aware of the full extent of the findings until less than a week before the bank announced its settlement in June because of his status as a witness in the probe, the people said.

The settlement revealed how widespread the manipulation was. The bank’s derivatives traders made 257 requests for U.S. dollar Libor, yen Libor and Euribor submissions between January 2005 and June 2009, according to the settlement. The requests for U.S. dollar Libor were granted about 70 percent of the time.

Former Barclays trader Philippe Moryoussef is under investigation by the CFTC, FSA and U.S. Department of Justice for colluding with counterparts at Deutsche Bank, Credit Agricole SA (ACA) and HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) to influence Euribor, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because the probes are continuing. The Deutsche Bank trader was Christian Bittar, head of money-markets derivatives trading, one of the people said.

Thomas Hayes, among those arrested in London on Dec. 11, also is being probed by Canada’s Competition Bureau for rate manipulation along with counterparts at five banks including HSBC, RBS and JPMorgan, according to a person briefed on the investigation. The 33-year-old trader worked with two of the others during his time at RBS in London between 2001 and 2003, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

The extent of the rate-rigging surprised Martin Taylor, Barclays’s CEO from 1994 to 1998.

“Pretty much anything you could do to increase the revenue of your organization appeared legitimate,” Taylor said in an interview. “Here was the market doing something blatantly dishonest. I never imagined that people in the financial markets were saints, but you expect some moral standards.”

Michael Golden, a Deutsche Bank spokesman, said that the conduct of a “limited number” of employees, acting on their own initiative, fell short of the bank’s standards, and that the firm is cooperating with regulators. Spokesmen for Barclays, HSBC and Credit Agricole declined to comment, as did Bittar. Hayes and Moryoussef couldn’t be located through directory and web searches or by contacting former employers.

At RBS, managers condoned and sometimes encouraged rate- rigging by employees, according to Tan, who sued the bank for wrongful dismissal in Singapore in December 2011. Tan says executives including Nygaard and Kevin Liddy, global head of short-term interest-rate trading, were aware of the behavior.

Other RBS managers sought to manipulate the benchmark themselves. In an instant-message conversation on Dec. 3, 2007, Jezri Mohideen, then RBS’s head of yen products in Tokyo, instructed colleagues in the U.K. to lower the bank’s six-month Libor submission that day, according to a transcript of the discussion seen by Bloomberg.

“We want lower Libors,” Mohideen said in the chat. “Let the money markets guys know.”

“Sure, I’m setting,” said Will Hall, a trader in London who set the rate that day in the absence of the rate-setter.

“Great, set it nice and low,” Mohideen said.

Hall agreed to set the rate at 1.01 percent and followed through with the request, data compiled by Bloomberg show. No reason was given in the message as to why he wanted a lower bid.

RBS put Mohideen on leave Oct. 12, two weeks after Bloomberg reported the conversation, according to two people with knowledge of the move. White, Danziger and Tan were dismissed in 2011 following the bank’s internal probe into yen Libor known as Project Zen. Andy Hamilton, who traded derivatives tied to the Swiss franc, also was fired in 2011 for trying to influence Libor.

White is now the commercial manager for Welling United football club and writes match-day programs for the Wings, as the non-league soccer team in southeast London is known. On his LinkedIn profile, he describes himself as: “Former trader: looking for employment or a fresh challenge.” He declined to comment, as did Tan, Danziger, Hamilton and Liddy. Mohideen said in a statement issued by his lawyer that he never sought “to exert pressure on anyone to submit inaccurate rates.”

The manipulation of Libor was a common practice in an unregulated market small enough for most participants to know one another personally, investigators found. Traders who worked 12-hour days without a lunch break were entertained by interdealer brokers soliciting business, according to three people familiar with the outings.

In March 2007, five months before the onset of the credit crisis, a dozen traders from firms including Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. traveled to Chamonix, according to people with knowledge of the outing. The group, traders of yen-based derivatives, spent a day skiing before gathering over mulled wine at a restaurant. They flew back late on Sunday, in time for a 6 a.m. start the next day.

The trip was organized by London-based ICAP, the world’s biggest interdealer broker, which lines up buyers and sellers of securities and takes a percentage from every trade. Brokers such as ICAP and RP Martin Holdings Ltd., also in London, were sounding boards for those trying to set rates, especially after money markets dried up, traders interviewed by Bloomberg said.

ICAP said in May that it had received requests from government agencies probing banks’ Libor submissions and is cooperating fully. The firm has suspended one employee and placed three others on paid leave pending the outcome of the investigation. Brigitte Trafford, an ICAP spokeswoman, declined to comment. Two RP Martin brokers were arrested in London on Dec. 11 as part of an inquiry into Libor-rigging. RP Martin spokesman Jeremy Carey declined to comment.

RBS has fired four traders and suspended at least three others for alleged rate manipulation, according to a person with knowledge of the probe. Barclays has disciplined 13 employees and dismissed five, Ricci, now head of corporate and investment banking, told British lawmakers on Nov. 28.

More than 25 people have left UBS after the Zurich-based lender’s internal probe, a person with knowledge of the investigation said last month.

Not until Barclays settled with regulators in June, five years after flaws in the rate-setting process emerged, did the U.K. government order an inquiry into Libor. It recommended stripping the BBA of its oversight role, handing it to the Bank of England and introducing criminal sanctions for traders seeking to rig the benchmark rate.

“Governance of Libor has completely failed,” FSA Managing Director Martin Wheatley, who led the review, said as he released the report. “This problem has been exacerbated by a lack of regulation and a comprehensive mechanism to punish those who manipulate the system.”

In the final chapter of his report, published in September, Wheatley said Libor wasn’t the only rate vulnerable to abuse. Two months later, the U.K.’s $480 billion gas market came under the spotlight for alleged manipulation after a journalist at the ICIS price agency reported deals he suspected were being done below “prevailing” levels. UBS and RBS suspended four traders in Singapore for rigging benchmarks used to set prices on foreign-exchange contracts.

“Libor is just the beginning,” said Rosa Abrantes-Metz, an economist with New York-based consulting firm Global Economics Group Inc., an associate professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business and co-author of “Libor Manipulation?” a paper published in August 2008. “Regulators are carrying out a general review of dozens of benchmarks around the world” and most have problems similar to Libor, she said.

The ubiquity of contracts pegged to Libor leaves banks vulnerable to lawsuits. Barclays was ordered by a British judge last month to release the names of all individuals involved in Libor-rigging at the bank after Guardian Care Homes Ltd., a Wolverhampton, England-based owner of about 30 homes for the elderly, sued the bank for 38 million pounds over interest-rate swaps that lost it money.

In Alabama, mortgage-holders have filed a class action in federal court alleging that 12 banks colluded to push Libor higher on the dates when repayments are set. The plaintiffs include Annie Bell Adams, a pensioner whose home was repossessed, and Dennis Fobes, a 59-year-old salesman of janitorial supplies whose house in Mobile is now worth less than his mortgage. He said he refinanced in 2006 with a $360,000 adjustable-rate mortgage linked to six-month dollar Libor.

“It’s just another example of how the banks have manipulated everything in their power,” Fobes said in a telephone interview. “I will fight them to the day I die to save my home.”

Savers also are suing. The city of Baltimore and Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW), the largest independent brokerage by client assets, have filed suits claiming banks colluded to keep Libor artificially low, depriving them of fair returns. At least 30 such cases are pending in federal court in New York.

“Our hope is that the exposure of this illegal conduct results in systemic changes in Libor that prevent similar abuses in the future,” Sarah Bulgatz, a spokeswoman for Schwab, said in an e-mail.

In London, lawyers at Collyer Bristow LLP, a 252-year-old firm, are working on a plan that would force banks to reimburse customers for any payments they made under derivatives contracts pegged to Libor. Three of the five partners on the financial- litigation team are working full time on Libor-related cases.

Stephen Rosen, who runs the practice, said clients who entered into interest-rate swaps with banks are entitled to cancel those contracts because manipulation was so entrenched. Swaps are contracts that allow borrowers to exchange a variable interest cost for a fixed one, protecting them against fluctuations in interest rates.

“It’s possible on legal grounds to set aside the swap contract entirely, which could mean you can recover all the payments you’ve made under the swap,” Rosen, who wears thick- rimmed glasses and speaks in clipped, precise tones, said in an interview at his office in a Georgian townhouse in the legal district of Gray’s Inn. “The bank, when they entered into the swap, made an implied representation that Libor would not be unfairly manipulated.”

Rosen said his clients include a publicly traded real estate company, three nursing homes and at least 12 more firms that bought Libor-linked interest-rate swaps from banks. He declined to identify them by name, citing confidentiality rules.

“The client will argue, ‘Had you told me the truth -- that you were fraudulently manipulating this rate -- I would never have entered the contract with you,’” he said. “We are calling this the nuclear option.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Liam Vaughan in London at lvaughan6@bloomberg.net; Gavin Finch in London at gfinch@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Edward Evans at eevans3@bloomberg.net

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/kerry-replace-hillary-state-dept-report-article-1.1220883

Obama will name John Kerry to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State: news report

Kerry, who was rumored to be Clinton's choice to follow her to the State Department, currently chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

BY JONATHAN LEMIRE / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2012, 10:56 AM

J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts is now believed to be President Obama’s pick to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.

President Obama has chosen Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to succeed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, according to a report.

Obama will announce his choice of Kerry in the coming weeks, the Chicago Sun-Times reported, citing a source.

The White House has not confirmed the selection.

It is widely known that Kerry was interested in the job, and the former presidential nominee emerged as the clear favorite after another contender, UN Ambassador Susan Rice, withdrew from consideration last week.

Rice, who many believe was Obama's first choice, backed out before facing a contentious confirmation battle. Several key Republicans vowed to fight her selection, believing that she misled Congress and the American public about the investigation into September's deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Rice is expected to stay in her current post and may eventually take another position — perhaps national security adviser — within the administration.

Kerry, who is rumored to be Clinton's choice to follow her to the State Department, is widely respected on the international stage and currently chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

His spot on the prestigious committee will be filled by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), according to the Sun-Times.

Kerry's looming departure from the Senate could trigger a fascinating political battle in Massachusetts. It is widely expected that Republican Scott Brown, who lost his own Senate seat to Elizabeth Warren last month, would run in a special election to fill Kerry's vacant seat.

[ThePythonicCow]

Heneghan's view on it all - discernment as usual needed :)...

http://uk.myspace.com/tom_heneghan_intel/blog/546549349

Deutsche Bank Accounts Are Frozen

by Tom Heneghan (12 Dec)
International Intelligence Expert


UNITED States of America - It can now be reported that on the direct orders of the IMF (International Monetary Fund), the U.S. Provost Marshal, European INTERPOL and the German Police, all Deutsche Bank derivative-riddled proprietary accounts were frozen today on 12-12-12.
I cannot confirm this report.

I track about 18 "alternative media" financial news and analysis sites, and it has been 5 days now since the date on the above report, so sufficient time has elapsed for initial reports to get out.

I cannot find any report like this.

Not even Jim Willie, CB's monthly Hat Trick Letter, which just happened to come out yesterday, and which has a length section involving gold fraud and several banks including Deutsche Bank, makes any mention of Deutsche Bank derivative accounts or of any Deutsche Bank accounts being frozen or anything like that. The main complaints that one might have about Jim Willie's newsletter are that it's too long and includes too much dubious muck raking items :). Not a sign of this one.

"discernment" -- Yup :)

[Sabrina]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/libor-scandal/9751750/Libor-scandal-More-than-30-UBS-bankers-to-be-implicated-in-rate-rigging.html

17 Dec

Libor scandal: More than 30 UBS bankers 'to be implicated in rate rigging'

Authorities are this week expected to say that more than 30 bankers and managers at Swiss banking giant UBS were involved in the alleged rigging of the key Libor interest rate.

The Swiss bank is also set to reveal on Wednesday that it will pay a $1.5bn (£926m) fine to regulators in the UK, US and Switzerland. The bank’s Japanese securities unit is also expected to plead guilty to a US criminal offence, but it is not expected to lose its licence to operate in the country.

The fine follows an agreement between UBS and regulators such as the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, US Department of Justice, UK’s Financial Services Authority and UBS’s main Swiss supervisor Finma.

The news comes as RBS is reported to have reached a sticking point in negotiations with the City regulator over the scale of its involvement in fixing Libor, a key City interest rate used as the reference rate for loans and financial derivatives worth more than $300 trillion.

RBS, which is majority owned by UK taxpayers, is believed to be concerned that any admission of liability could leave it open to a flurry of civil lawsuits. However, Stephen Hester, chief executive of RBS, is on record saying he expected the bank to have reached at least one settlement before it reports its full-year results in February.

Last week, three former City traders were arrested over the alleged manipulation of Japanese borrowing rates as part of a Serious Fraud Office investigation into Libor-rigging. The men were the first to be arrested in connection with the criminal investigation and were taken into custody by City of London Police last Tuesday.

Former Citigroup and UBS trader Thomas Hayes, as well as Terry Farr and Jim Gilmour, employees of inter-dealer broker RP Martin, are believed to be the men arrested at their homes in Surrey and Essex.

All three are understood to have been involved in trading connected to Yen Libor, the benchmark Japanese borrowing rate.
So far, Barclays is the only bank to have been fined for attempting to rig the interest rate, paying £290m in June to settle with British and US investigators. This led to the resignations of the bank’s chief executive, Bob Diamond, as well as its chairman Marcus Agius and chief operating officer Jerry del Missier.

It is not clear how many of the UBS bankers will face criminal charges, but the agreement is believed to have evidence of an international scheme to manipulate the Yen-Libor interest rate over several years.

[Sabrina]

http://www.cortezjournal.com/article/20121217/API/1212170866/Egypt's-top-prosecutor-submits-resignation

17 Dec Egypt

Egypt's top prosecutor submits resignation
AP

Egypt's prosecutor general submitted his resignation Monday less than a month after he was swiftly sworn in by the Islamist president, who is embroiled in a power struggle with the judiciary.

If Talaat Abdullah's resignation is accepted, it will be a blow to President Mohammed Morsi, who last month had given himself near absolute powers placing him above judicial oversight. Morsi issued decrees that banned judges from challenging him or the Islamist-dominated panel that wrote the country's contested draft constitution.

On Monday, hundreds of public prosecutors staged a sit-in outside Abdullah's office in Cairo. They were pushed back by police when they tried to storm the building.

They were demanding he resign, saying the president's appointment of Abdullah was improper. They said the Supreme Judicial Council should have been the one to nominate him, in order to ensure a separation of powers, since the prosecutor is also tasked with looking into complaints against the government.

Abdullah said in a statement carried by the official MENA news agency that he would be willing to step down on Sunday, a day after the second leg of voting in a nationwide referendum on the draft constitution.

His predecessor, Abdel-Maguid Mahmoud, was appointed by former President Hosni Mubarak and served in the post for more than a decade. Mahmoud faced widespread accusations that his office did a shoddy job collecting evidence against Mubarak and other ex-regime officials in trials.

While many in Egypt were not opposed to Mahmoud's removal, some disagreed with the way he was ousted and replaced by Abdullah.

Morsi first tried to fire Mahmoud in October but had to rescind his decision when he found that the powers of his office did not give him the authority him to do so. He appointed Abdullah with his newly declared powers in late November.

The decrees sparked mass demonstrations and deadly clashes.

In another blow to Morsi, the State Council of Judges said Monday it will not oversee the second part of the vote on the draft constitution. They join the powerful judges' union and most of Egypt's judges, who are refusing to monitor the vote to protest Morsi's actions against the judiciary.

Zaghloul el-Blashi, the head of Egypt's committee overseeing the referendum on the constitution, told the privately-owned CBC TV station that the State Council of Judges' boycott affects 1,500 judges out of 7,000 who oversaw the first leg of the vote last Saturday. The second leg is scheduled for this Saturday.

On Sunday, representatives of seven rights groups charged that there was insufficient supervision by judges in last Saturday's vote in 10 of Egypt's 27 provinces, and independent monitors were prevented from witnessing vote counts.

According to Egyptian law, voting must be overseen by judges, and their absence could cast doubt on the legitimacy of the vote.

[Sabrina]

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/benjamin-fulford-world-will-not-end.html#more

Benjy Fulford's take on it all via American Kabuki. But I'm bored with this misinformation about the 'end times' on 21 Dec. As we know, the Mayans never said it was the end of the world - but the beginning of a new world and shift of consciousness. And just witness what a shift we've had in the last few years with untruths coming out and people waking up to see their so called authority figures are anything but. Even arrests rolling out at various levels of the food chain. Let's see what unfolds by the end of this week!!! Sab. :)

Benjamin Fulford: The world will not end this Friday, December 21st 2012, but it almost did


American Kabuki comment:
The earth is too important to end by the hands of the cabal. They had their time, its now over. Some are still in denial of that and attempt to retrain that control, and lash out at those who with brave courage have exposed them. The energies now present prevent the cabal from reasserting control through their lies, illusions and technologies. It is affecting their very mental abilities, plans, and in many cases causing declining health in those who persist in the old ways. Just look at them. They are not well. How that turns out for the cabal is still in their choice, its the old evolutionary issue, adapt and evolve or become irrelevant. Divine Source loves all, but also allows free will. However the Divine will and plan will not be thwarted. Go with the flow or the flow will make you go away... its your choice cabal. Time is running out. Zero point is almost here. -AK




The world will not end this Friday, December 21st 2012, but it almost did

Posted by Benjamin Fulford
December 17, 2012

This Friday will be the long talked-about Mayan etc. December 21st, 2012 end of the world date. When that date comes and goes, it will be time to examine forensically exactly who was behind the various Nibiru, Planet X, photon belt, rapture etc. stories that all predicted the death of 80% or more of all humans. We need to do this because a very real plot to start World War 3 and a fake end-times did exist and, although the plot has been stopped, many extremely dangerous mass murderers behind this satanic scheme still walk the corridors of power in the West.

The purge of the over 26 pentagon generals who [redacted? -AK] and the fall of the Bush family are just a start. We need to deal with the rest of the cabal in order to make sure that humanity will never again be enslaved.

To help carry out this process, this week we will provide detailed forensic intelligence on some of the still-active cabalists and their on-the-ground agents. We would also like to report extremely good, very concrete news on the new financial system, but loose lips sink ships so we cannot give out much detail yet.

Since many of the top cabalists, like the Rockefellers and Rothschilds are well known, we will concentrate on people who were directly involved in fighting against the White Dragon spokesperson. In Japan, the first people who began threatening, trying to drug and trying to kill me were self-described Ninja’s sent to me by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s Finance Minister Heizo Takenaka. Their names are Shiramine and Tenzan Nakai. Shiramine threatened to kill me and Nakai tried to get me to drink a glass of orange juice spiked with amphetamines so he could ruin my image by filming me stoned.

Later an agent then going by the name of Slasha Zaric but now going by the name Alexander Romanov came to me with 70 kilos of marijuana laced with mind-destroying chemicals. The marijuana was delivered to Romanov by a South African using the name Spencer. Spencer, who is linked to MI6, says MI6 was fooled into sending Zaric to me by the CIA and says the spiked marijuana came from a man named Rodriguez (now dead) who was the former right-hand man of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. Steve McLure, the “music journalist” who talked me into taking a line of cocaine while being secretly filmed also got his cocaine from the same ultimate CIA route.

This brings us to Tom Clines of Iran Contra South American drugs-for-weapons fame because his is the name dropped by Neil Keenan when he first contacted me.

MI6 asset Dr. Michael Van de Meer once warned me that former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair had bragged to him that I was going to be jailed on drug charges. Recall that Blair, together with George Bush Jr. both went to the pope to ask for protection and convert to Catholicism after leaving office.

Since that takes us to the Vatican, let us then return to the incident in Chiasso, Italy where two Japanese, Akihiko Yamaguchi and Tsuyoshi Watanabe, had $134.5 billion worth of bonds seized from them by the Italian police. After the bonds were seized, self-described Italian P2 lodge “prince” and heir Leo Zagami introduced Daniel Dal Bosco as a Vatican banker who could cash the bonds.

Neil Keenan was also involved because he was given an additional 1 trillion worth of bonds to hand over to Dal Bosco for cashing. [Didn't Neil Keenan say they were stolen? -AK] Dal Bosco was then closely followed until the trail ended with the UN offering Dal Bosco $100 million to go away. Also, out popped a rival group calling itself the OITC, using David Sale as a spokesperson, claiming that it had the historical rights to the bonds.

At this point Peter Hans Kolvenbach [the retired Jesuit "Black Pope" now living in Syria -AK], the Agnelli Brothers, Giancarlo Bruno, Vincenzo Mazzara, the Orsini family, Baron Thyssen [Prescott Bush was WWII finance man for Fritz Thyssen's holdings in N. America -AK], Carl Rove, David Eisenhower and a whole bunch of characters straight from central casting pop out.

Then, when the money still did not flow from Asia to the cabal, Japan was attacked on March 11, 2011 with nuclear weapons placed on the seabed to cause a tsunami and timed with the destruction of the Fukushima nuclear plant with a micro-nuke planted by the Israeli company Magna BSP. J. Rockefeller, Yasuhiro Nakasone, Ichiro Ozawa, Benjamin Netanyahu, Leo Zagami and Peter Hans Kolvenbach have all been forensically linked with this attack. When this mass murder still did not force the Asians to fork over more money, multiple attempts, all stopped by the Pentagon, were made to start World War 3.

There has also been a rash of murders and murder attempts. Some of the victims have been Japanese finance ministers and ambassadors as well as Dr. Van de Meer. The Van de Meer murder has been linked to David Eisenhower and the Bushes. None of these murders has caused the funds to flow.

There have also been murder attempts. On March 10th, the night before the attack, an attempt to poison me was made by yet another self-described Ninja linked to J. Rockefeller. Alexander Romanov also survived an assassination attempt that day. The next poisoning attack against me, when I was stabbed with a poisoned needle in June of this year, has been traced to a North Korean agent by the name of Mutsuaki Okubo, according to Chinese sources.

My suggestion is to round all these people up and start questioning them if they do not voluntarily come forward to confess.

Meanwhile, the Cabalists now seem to have split into two opposing camps. The Rockefellers and the pope are hoping to arrest the Rothschild family and dethrone the Queen, according to Neil Keenan.

Keenan, who has just returned from Indonesia, meanwhile, succeeded in photographing the, until now, legendary bunkers full of cash and gold that are there. The photos can be seen at this link:

http://www.divinecosmos.com/start-here/davids-blog/1097-russiantv

Nonetheless, Keenan has still not been able to actually start dispersing any of the funds because he is still being blocked at some mysterious level. The man who was supposed to help him remains in jail in Indonesia.

This writer was also shown bunkers full of gold and cash last week but I have not been given permission to publish any photographs of them. However, we believe that the new government in Japan and the soon-to-be new government in Korea will coordinate with the new bosses in China and the re-elected Obama government to release a flood of money to the people of the world soon. We would like to believe it will happen in time for the December 25th solar new year celebration known as Christmas.

However, that depends on all the players giving up selfish thoughts.

[Sabrina]

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/pakistanis-capture-billions-in-nato.html

Benjamin Fulford: Pakistanis Capture Billions in NATO Drug Mafia Money


http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ja&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fbenjaminfulford.typepad.com%2F

This video shows one billion dollars worth of dollar bills taken from drug mafia NATO in Pakistan. Looking for help to open the box.

The following link was sent by people in Pakistan who say they have seized billions of dollars in 100 dollar bills from the NATO drug mafia. They are looking for help in getting them open. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm23r9x9wqs

(I can make the vid play via American Kabuki's site, but not via You Tube, so you need to look at his site. Sab.

[ThePythonicCow]

The following link was sent by people in Pakistan who say they have seized billions of dollars in 100 dollar bills from the NATO drug mafia. They are looking for help in getting them open. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm23r9x9wqs

(I can make the vid play via American Kabuki's site, but not via You Tube, so you need to look at his site. Sab.

Here ya go:
pm23r9x9wqs

P.S. - Sabrina might have had a different video in mind; I can't be sure.

[Tane Mahuta]

Merry Christmas Sabrina

robbie

[KiwiElf]

Fines and new rules will help tackle greed - FSA
Reuters December 20, 2012, 6:15 am
By Kirstin Ridley and Huw Jones

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/15680187/fines-and-new-rules-will-help-tackle-greed-fsa/

LONDON (Reuters) - Hefty fines and tough new rules will discourage the Libor rate rigging seen at Swiss bank UBS and other banks - even if some traders will always be motivated by greed, a top UK regulator said on Wednesday.

Tracey McDermott, head of enforcement at the Financial Services Authority (FSA), said big fines had an impact on the status, reputation and credibility of banks, both in the UK and overseas.

"There will always be some people who are motivated by greed to do the wrong thing," she said.

"But I think the combination of a new, much more robust framework (of rules), the increased emphasis and understanding of the issues by the firms and the fact people will be seeing these sanctions will significantly impact on how anybody would be tempted to do this."

The FSA, jointly with Swiss and U.S. regulators, earlier on Wednesday hit UBS with a $1.5 billion fine -- the second highest penalty ever slapped on a bank -- for manipulating the London interbank offered rate (Libor) over six years to 2010.

McDermott said the FSA was investigating "a number of individuals" in relation to the UBS case, but she declined to elaborate. [On BBC News last night, it was stated that 35+ individuals were being investigated].

In a move to strengthen its armoury, Britain approved a new financial services law on Wednesday to make the rigging of Libor and other market benchmarks a criminal offence from next April - with tougher penalties.

However, the law will not be applied retroactively, meaning the FSA will have to continue fining on the basis of breaches of general conduct principles.

The FSA has said it is focusing its investigations on seven financial institutions, but McDermott warned against assuming there would be five more fines after the UBS settlement and a similar, if much smaller, Barclays fine in June.

"We cant say until we conclude our investigations whether or not people will be fined because not necessarily every investigation ... will result in penalties," she said.

But she added: "We are beginning to focus significant resources on Libor and I'm fairly confident in saying there will be more cases - but I cant give you precise numbers."

Royal Bank of Scotland is expected to settle allegations of Libor rigging by February.

The FSA is juggling a number of Libor probes alongside U.S., European, Canadian and Japanese peers, but McDermott said she did not anticipate any reduction in the amount of resources devoted to enforcement generally.

(Editing by David Cowell)

[KiwiElf]

Benghazi fallout grows as US officials resign
AFP Updated December 20, 2012, 12:00 pm

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/15675532/benghazi-fallout-grows-as-us-officials-resign/

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The scandal over a deadly attack on a US consulate grew Wednesday as three officials resigned after a probe denounced security failures and calls mounted for Hillary Clinton to testify to Congress.

Deputy Secretary Bill Burns admitted the months-long investigation into the September assault on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, had taken "a clear-eyed look at serious, systemic problems, which are unacceptable."

He told reporters the department had "learned some very hard and painful lessons in Benghazi," where four Americans, including ambassador Chris Stevens, were killed in an attack by dozens of armed militants linked to Al-Qaeda.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the whole department "take responsibility" for the issues highlighted by the Accountability Review Board (ARB) and accepted all of its 29 recommendations, he stressed.

But top Republican lawmaker Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said the panel made it clear in their 39-page report that a lack of leadership and management "is to blame for the series of errors that resulted in the loss of life.

"The recent resignations of three State Department officials is not the end, as the administration must continue to be held accountable," said Ros-Lehtinen, chairwoman of the House foreign affairs committee.

Clinton, who had to pull out of this week's scheduled congressional hearings due to illness, must "answer for these failures," she added in a statement.

US television networks said Assistant Secretary Eric Boswell, head of the bureau of diplomatic security, and Charlene Lamb, deputy assistant secretary for international programs, had stepped down, citing unnamed officials.

The third person to submit their resignation was not identified. State Department officials would not immediately confirm the reports to AFP.

Only hours earlier the panel blamed "systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels" in the bureaus of diplomatic security and Near Eastern affairs for "grossly inadequate" security in Benghazi.

"Frankly, the State Department had not given Benghazi the security, both physical and personnel, resources it needed," ARB chairman veteran diplomat Thomas Pickering told reporters, after briefing lawmakers early Wednesday on a classified section of the report.

Incoming Republican House committee chairman Ed Royce said after the briefing that he was "not surprised at all that these three State Department officials have resigned."

"In this day and age, with radical ideologies and weapons spreading, there is no excuse for a leadership failure like this. It is simply unacceptable," he said in a statement.

Asked why the lessons learned from the twin embassy bombings in Africa in 1998 had failed to be fully applied, ARB vice chairman Admiral Mike Mullen said "the world has changed dramatically in this decade."

"I think we are in a much more difficult and challenging position with respect to meeting the needs to be out there and engage and doing so in a way that our people are very specifically secure."

Mullen also stressed that while Clinton has taken responsibility, as head of the department which deploys more than 60,000 people around the world, she had not been made aware of the specific security concerns in Benghazi.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who sits on the intelligence committee, insisted however Clinton's testimony was "indispensable to any effort to address this failure and put in place a process to ensure this never happens again."

The Benghazi attack also complicated President Barack Obama's plans for his second term cabinet, as his rumored top favorite to replace Clinton, the US envoy to the United Nations, Susan Rice, was forced to drop out of the running.

Rice had come under relentless Republican fire for saying, days after the assault, that, according to the best intelligence the available, it was triggered by a "spontaneous" protest outside the mission.

The ARB panel confirmed there had been no protest prior to the September 11 attack, nor was there any intelligence of a threat of any kind.

[Sabrina]

Merry Christmas Sabrina

robbie

And a Merry Christmas to you Robbie, and also for a wonderfully big shift of consciousness for 21st Dec, and to all Avalonian followers of the non fear-based truth :) Sabrina xxx

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/chaos-and-confusion-bbc-forced-to-replace-senior-news-executives-following-damning-report-into-its-complete-inability-to-deal-with-jimmy-savile-crisis-8425581.html

20 Dec UK

'Chaos and confusion': BBC forced to replace senior news executives following damning report into its 'complete inability' to deal with Jimmy Savile crisis

Pollard report exposes atmosphere of meltdown inside the BBC as Newsnight reporters who first persuaded Savile’s victims to talk on camera are vindicated after £2m inquiry

The BBC was forced to replace a tranche of senior news executives following a damning report into the “chaos and confusion” that surrounded the corporation’s “complete inability” to deal with the Jimmy Savile crisis.

Stephen Mitchell, deputy head of news, resigned yesterday following criticism of his role in an aborted Newsnight investigation into Savile’s child abuse, detailed in an excoriating report compiled by Nick Pollard, a former head of Sky News.

However, other BBC executives, including Helen Boaden, director of news, and Peter Rippon, the Newsnight editor, again rejected criticism of their role in the affair and will remain at the BBC, despite Mr Pollard’s finding that “leadership and organisation seemed to be in short supply”. Pollard’s report vindicated the Newsnight reporters Liz MacKean and Meirion Jones, who first persuaded Savile’s victims to talk on camera and fought hard to stop their investigation from being quashed.

“Their belief that Savile had a history of abusing young women was correct,” Mr Pollard ruled. “They provided Newsnight with cogent evidence of this. The programme could have broken the story almost a year before the ITV documentary revealed it.”

Welcoming that vindication of the original story, Liz Dux, solicitor for 40 women who have since come forward, said: “The victims don’t want to see months more of BBC navel gazing.”

Mr Pollard found no evidence to support the most serious allegation, that senior executives had placed pressure on Mr Rippon to drop the Newsnight report, which would have exposed Savile as a paedophile, because the BBC had a series of tribute programmes planned. But his inquiry, which cost £2m and trawled through 10,000 emails, found that the decision to abort the report was “flawed” and that Mr Rippon had made “a bad mistake in not examining the evidence” gleaned from Savile’s victims.

The BBC said that Mr Rippon and his deputy editor, Liz Gibbons, will be replaced by a new team that would “revitalise” the stricken programme. Mr Rippon, who will be found a new role at the BBC, contested Mr Pollard’s conclusion. He said: “I do not agree that my decision on this occasion was flawed.”

Mr Mitchell was criticised for the “fundamental” mistake of taking the Savile story off the BBC’s Managed Risk Programmes List, which flags up potentially risky projects to senior managers. Resigning after 38 years at the BBC, he also rejected the findings. “Whilst I feel vindicated that the review has found that I put no undue pressure on Peter Rippon, I disagree with the remainder of Mr Pollard’s criticisms in relation to me,” Mr Mitchell said.

Adrian van Klaveren, Radio 5 Live Controller, reluctantly accepted a move to a new job at BBC Television. He had only held a temporary role overseeing Newsnight following the initial chaos – and was involved in approving the catastrophic 2 November report that falsely implicated Lord McAlpine in allegations of abuse at a Welsh children’s home. Three BBC employees have been subject to disciplinary action as a result.

In a separate report, the BBC’s Editorial Standards Committee condemned a “grave breach” of the BBC’s editorial standards, compounded by the use of a freelance reporter, Angus Stickler, who made a “terrible mistake” by not asking his witness to identify Lord McAlpine from a picture.

Mr Van Klaveren, forced to give up one of the BBC’s plum roles, said his 5 Live departure was “hard to take... I am leaving as a result of events which had nothing to do with how I carried out my job here. Rather it happened after I had just begun a temporary role in the most challenging of circumstances”.

Ms Boaden was criticised for the “casual” and “inappropriate” way she sought to tip off George Entwistle, who later became Director-General, at a lunch that a Savile investigation was under way when he was planning Christmas tribute programmes to the star. She should have taken “greater responsibility” when her news division was plunged into “virtual meltdown” once ITV revealed the Savile story, Mr Pollard found. But Ms Boaden’s lawyers challenged the claim that she failed to show leadership and she will return to her director-of-news post tomorrow.

Interviewed by Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight yesterday, the BBC acting Director-General, Tim Davie said he would not have accepted Ms Boaden’s offer to resign. He added that he want people to “work at changing the culture of the BBC” rather than presiding over a raft of staff changes. He apologised that the Savile evidence was not passed on to police earlier.

The report revealed Mr Entwistle had failed to respond to emails sent by senior broadcasting executives warning him of Savile’s “darker side”. The first was sent two years before Entwistle became Director-General. The executive said he was “queasy” about preparing an obituary on the star, then ill, because he knew the “truth” about him.

The email showed that “there was knowledge, not just rumour... about the unsavoury side of Savile’s character” in the BBC before and after his death. Mr Entwistle, who quit last month following the McAlpine scandal, said he had not read a second email sent to him after the entertainer’s death. Mr Entwistle claimed he had been exonerated since the report attributed any “managerial shortcomings” to “unsatisfactory internal communications”.

[Sabrina]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/libor-scandal/9757354/Hong-Kong-joins-UBS-Libor-rigging-probe-as-US-charges-two-ex-traders-at-bank-with-conspiracy-to-manipulate-rate.html

20 Dec

Hong Kong joins UBS Libor rigging probe as US charges two ex-traders at bank with conspiracy to manipulate rate

Hong Kong is to investigate possible Libor rigging by UBS, a day after the Swiss bank agreed to pay £940m to regulators for trying to manipulate the key rate on an "epic scale" and two former traders at the bank were charged with conspiracy.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the city's de facto central bank, said it has received information from overseas regulators about "possible misconduct" by UBS involving submissions for the city's interbank rate, known as Hibor, and other reference rates in Asia.

UBS was fined by Swiss, British and US regulators on Wednesday after an investigation revealed evidence of massive misconduct in the setting of the London interbank offered rate (Libor), a global reference that affects trillions of dollars of loans and mortgages.

The penalty is the second-largest banking fine ever.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said it had "commenced an investigation to assess whether the potential misconduct had any material impact on Hibor, which is considered a key benchmark interest rate for economies in the region.
It will work with overseas regulators to gather information and "consider further actions that need to be taken" pending the findings of the investigation.

Tom Alexander William Hayes, 33-year-old British former Tokyo-based trader, and Roger Darin, a Switzerland-based managing director responsible for the bank’s Libor submissions, were both charged with conspiracy, the US Justice Department said.
They are the first to face criminal charges in the investigation into Libor manipulation by global regulators.
Mr Hayes was also charged with wire fraud and a "price-fixing violation arising from his collusive activity with another bank to manipulate Libor".

He was one of three men arrested last week by the Serious Fraud Office in connection with its own investigation into Libor-rigging.

Mr Hayes, was described by the US investigators as one of UBS’s most successful yen derivatives traders and was said to have generated profits for the bank in the three years before he left in September 2009 of $236m. The size of his profits meant the banker could have earned anything up to $20m over the period based on the way banks pay their top traders.
UBS's fine is more than three times the £290m fine levied on Barclays in June for attempting to rig the Libor benchmark rate used to price financial contracts around the world.

It includes a £160m payment to the Financial Services Authority, the largest penalty ever levied by the British watchdog, $1.2bn paid to US authorities and a 59m Swiss franc 'disgorgement of profits' order from the Swiss.

As part of the settlement, UBS' Japanese arm has agreed to enter a plea to one count of wire fraud relating to the manipulation of certain benchmark interest rates, including yen Libor.

The steep fine for UBS is despite the bank, since 2011, co-operating with law-enforcement agencies in their probes. The bank said it received conditional immunity from some regulators.

In a statement on Wednesday, UBS said that certain personnel had "engaged in efforts to manipulate submissions for certain benchmark rates to benefit trading positions".

"Certain employees at the bank colluded with employees at other banks and cash brokers to influence certain benchmark rates to benefit their trading positions," UBS added.

The bank said that this conduct related to seven benchmark interest rates, although the nature and extent of the behaviour in question varied significantly from one currency to another.

UBS chief executive Sergio Ermotti said: “During the course of these investigations, we discovered behaviour of certain employees that is unacceptable. Their misconduct does not reflect the values of UBS nor the high ethical standards to which we hold every employee."

"We have co-operated fully with the authorities and taken decisive and appropriate actions to correct the issues and to strengthen our control processes and procedures," he added.

"We deeply regret this inappropriate and unethical behaviour. No amount of profit is more important than the reputation of this firm, and we are committed to doing business with integrity.”

The FSA said at least 45 people were involved in or were aware of the rigging and that the breaches occurred over a five-year period between January 2005 and December 2010.

The watchdog described the misconduct as "extensive and widespread", with at least 2,000 requests for inappropriate submissions documented and "unquantifiable" number of oral requests.

In its final notice to UBS, the FSA details some of the interactions, saying that "in the course of one campaign of manipulation", a UBS trader agreed with his counterpart that he would attempt to manipulate UBS' submissions in "small drops" in order to avoid arousing suspicion.

The FSA added that the "total disregard for proper standards by these traders and brokers" is clear from documented communications in which they referred to each other in "congratulatory and exhortatory terms" such as "the three muscateers [sic]", "superman" and "be a hero today".

In one example, the FSA quotes a UBS trader saying: “if you keep 6s [the six-month yen Libor rate] unchanged today ... I will [expletive] do one humongous deal with you ... Like a 50,000 buck deal, whatever ... I need you to keep it as low as possible ... if you do that ... I’ll pay you, you know, 50,000 dollars, 100,000 dollars ... whatever you want ... I’m a man of my word.”
Its final notice also revealed that UBS made "corrupt payments" of £15,000 per quarter to brokers to reward them for helping the Swiss bank manipulate interest rates.

Tracey McDermott, FSA director of enforcement and financial crime, said: “The findings we have set out in our notice today do not make for pretty reading."

"The integrity of benchmarks such as Libor and Euribor are of fundamental importance to both UK and international financial markets. UBS traders and managers ignored this," she added.

"They manipulated UBS’s submissions in order to benefit their own positions and to protect UBS’s reputation, showing a total disregard for the millions of market participants around the world who were also affected by Libor and Euribor. "

[Sabrina]

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-2250968/Troubled-coal-miner-Bumi-loses-directors.html

20 Dec

Troubled coal miner Bumi loses two more directors

Bumi, the coal miner brought to the FTSE by billionaire financier Nat Rothschild, has been plunged further into disarray as two more directors headed for the exit.

It came after the Takeover Panel ruled that powerful Indonesian co-founders the Bakrie family were acting ‘in concert’ with Bukit Mutiara, a vehicle controlled by director Rosan Roeslani.

Roeslani subsequently resigned from the board and will be followed out of the door by Bakrie nominee Nalin Rathod.

Their departures follow the resignations of cofounders Ari Hudaya and Indra Bakrie, amid spats over governance failings raised by Rothschild, who also resigned.

Bumi said it was working towards a transaction that would separate the Bakrie Group from Bumi.

But it rejected a proposal from Rothschild that would have seen investors Borneo Lumbung and Buki Mutiara offload their stock to new investors.

Shares in Bumi fell 1.9p to 268.6p.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=263605

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - COBELL SETTLEMENT MONEY ON THE WAY - NATIONAL CONGRESS OF AMERICAN INDIANS

Date: Tuesday, 18-Dec-2012 23:53:58
Cobell Settlement Money on the Way - National Congress of American Indians

For Immediate Release
December 18, 2012

Cobell Settlement Money on the Way;
NCAI Launches Radio Ad Campaign to “Protect Native Money”
First round of Cobell settlement checks scheduled this week.

Washington, DC – On Monday the Indian Trust Settlement Administrator began issuing checks for the Cobell settlement to an estimated 400,000 American Indians who are Individual Indian Money (IIM) account holders. In an effort to raise awareness about the possibility of fraud and scams targeting these account holders the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) has released a Public Service Announcements (PSA) for radio stations as part of the organization’s Protect Native Money initiative.

“This settlement can benefit you, your family and your communities, but we must all be aware of the potential negative impacts. You or others may be a target for scams,” says NCAI’s Jefferson Keel in the radio PSA being distributed to Native American radio stations throughout the United States (click here to download). “Dishonest people know about the settlement and are figuring ways to take money from you. Be aware and be watchful. If you suspect a scam, you can contact your State’s Attorney General Office of Consumer Protection or your tribe.”

Keel and NCAI is also encouraging Native people to become educated and visit the organization’s site full of information on the issue at www.ncai.org/protectnativemoney. NCAI has also developed an “alert” with information for tribes to provide to their members (download here).

Keel closes the PSA by saying, “Remember, it’s your money, it’s Native money. Let’s keep it that way for generations to come.”

NCAI outlines specific ways in which recipients may be targeted. Individuals in these circumstances usually get mail, phone calls, and email with ideas for how to spend the money. For example, individuals or their family might get offers for new or used vehicles, credit card or loan offers, rent-to-own “deals”, or an advance on the money. The organization is encouraging individuals to determine how to save or spend their money, and to be wary of scams that encourage people to “Act Now!”, make big promises, offer no risk, or tell people to “keep it secret” referring to the offer.

NCAI says the best way to protect Native money is to make a plan, “take your time” when deciding how to spend the money”, ask questions, and talk to someone your trust.

The Cobell settlement payments, being made by the Indian Trust Settlement Administrator, will be distributed in two payments with the first being the $1,000 to everyone in the class. These payments are expected to be mailed on Monday December 17, 2012. The remaining payments will go out within six months of the first payment. $1.5 billion is slated for individuals in these initial payouts. $1.9 billion will go to repurchase fractionated interests over the next 10 years. A major number of the recipients are in Montana, North and South Dakota, Idaho, Washington, California, Arizona, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Minnesota.

NCAI has also learned that the court will issue an order this week appointing a “special master” to oversee the distribution of the funds with a focus on efforts to locate all eligible beneficiaries. Efforts will be made to reach out to tribes to help locate members who may be eligible but who may need to update their addresses.

NCAI is directing individuals who have questions about payments for class members of the Cobell v. Salazar settlement, to contact the claims administrator, Garden City Group, Inc., directly.

Call: 1-800-961-6109 toll free
Email: info@IndianTrust.com
Mail: Indian Trust Settlement, P.O. Box 9577, Dublin, OH 43017-4877

Trust Beneficiary Call Center — beneficiaries can contact the Trust Beneficiary Call Center for the Office of Special Trustee, toll-free, at 1-888-678-6836

About The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI):
Founded in 1944, the National Congress of American Indians is the oldest, largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization in the country. NCAI advocates on behalf of tribal governments and communities, promoting strong tribal-federal government-to-government policies, and promoting a better understanding among the general public regarding American Indian and Alaska Native governments, people and rights. For more information visit www.ncai.org

………………………………………………………

Thom Wallace

Communications Director

National Congress of American Indians
Learn More @ www.ncai.org

Contact Information

Office (202) 466-7767 ext. 207

[Sabrina]

Happy 21 Dec 2012 Avalonians - now this is a sign of a shift towards something? :)


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fiscal-cliff-20121221,0,7954081.story

21 Dec USA

Boehner's 'fiscal cliff' plan fails

The speaker cancels a vote on his Plan B tax idea for lack of Republican support. He now assumes a lesser role in talks with President Obama and Democrats.


WASHINGTON — House Speaker John A. Boehner abruptly canceled a vote on his Plan B tax proposal late Thursday after failing to find enough GOP support, a stunning political defeat that effectively turned resolution of the year-end budget crisis over to President Obama and the Democrats.

The speaker had spent the last few weeks negotiating one-on-one with the president, establishing himself as the second-most powerful figure in Washington. But with his strategy imploding, Boehner conceded that he would play a lesser role.

"Now it is up to the president," he said, to work with a fellow Democrat, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, "to avert the fiscal cliff."

The proposal the speaker had hoped to bring to a vote would have prevented a year-end tax increase for all but those earning more than $1 million a year.

But the Ohio Republican said in a statement, "It did not have sufficient support from our members to pass."

The unexpected turn of events caused an immediate reaction on Wall Street, where after-hours investors began to yank money out of U.S. stocks. Futures that track the Standard & Poor's 500 fell 1.5%, and the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 1.6%.

Now, Obama faces a crucial test of his leadership, with little time left to craft a deal.

Obama's most recent offer is likely to be the starting point. He made a substantial concession: raising taxes only on household income above $400,000, rather than the $250,000 threshold he campaigned on for reelection.

As he pursues votes in Congress, the president will need to face down Democrats, particularly the liberal wing that may feel emboldened to demand that a deal be tilted toward their views — perhaps with additional spending on infrastructure or unemployment benefits.

Any compromise will need substantial Democratic support. Although the president needs the speaker to allow legislation to come to a vote in the GOP-controlled House, Boehner emerges in a weakened position and has little leverage to demand further concessions. His Senate counterpart, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), will need to decide whether to become a final line of defense against Obama or step aside for a Democratic-led plan.

"The president's main priority is to ensure that taxes don't go up on 98% of Americans and 97% of small businesses in just a few short days," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said after Boehner canceled the vote. "The president will work with Congress to get this done, and we are hopeful that we will be able to find a bipartisan solution quickly."

Without a compromise, most Americans will see their taxes automatically rise and spending cuts ripple across the economy in the new year. The White House and the speaker had been closing in on a broad deficit-reduction deal to steer around the coming "fiscal cliff," but Boehner suddenly changed course this week to gauge the sentiment of House Republicans.

The support expressed by top Republicans for new taxes has cracked the party's anti-tax orthodoxy and opened the door to a compromise that would have been unthinkable before the November election.

Mindful that his own job as speaker comes up for a vote in two weeks, Boehner must make a difficult choice: whether to allow a plan to come to the House floor without support from his majority, or play a key role in sending the nation over the fiscal cliff and raising taxes on most Americans.

As the speaker and his lieutenants trolled for votes earlier Thursday, buttonholing lawmakers in scenes like those in the movie "Lincoln," Carney dismissed Boehner's Plan B as a "multi-day exercise in futility."

"Instead of taking the opportunity that was presented to them to continue to negotiate what could be a very helpful large deal for the American people, the Republicans in the House have decided to run down an alley that has no exit," he said.

Late in the evening, as the time for voting neared, the House took an unscheduled recess — a sign that the tally had come up short. With Democrats almost unanimously against the bill, Boehner could afford to lose only two dozen Republican defectors.

The speaker and his top lieutenants then convened a late-night meeting of rank-and-file lawmakers and announced they were pulling the bill.

"We don't have the votes," the speaker said, according to a lawmaker in the room.

Conservatives split over Plan B, complicating Boehner's quest. He received a major assist when anti-tax stalwart Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform declared that the bill was a vote for lower taxes and did not violate the pledge most Republicans had signed not to raise taxes. But other leading conservative groups opposed it, including FreedomWorks, which is extremely influential with tea party supporters.

[PathWalker]

Egypt's vice president resigns amid polls
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/12/201212221603489388.html



Mahmoud Mekki, who took leading role in hosting "national unity" talks, quits as country votes on draft constitution.
Egypt's vice president has announced his resignation on the day of a referendum on a new constitution, state TV reported.

Mahmoud Mekki's resignation on Saturday was announced just hours before the end of voting in the second and final round of a referendum on a disputed Muslim Brotherhood-backed constitution.

Mekki, a career judge, has said he intends to quit once the charter is adopted.

The new constitution eliminates the post of vice president.

However, a statement by Mekki read on state TV hinted that the motive of his hurried departure could be linked to the policies of President Mohamed Morsi.

"I have realised a while ago that the nature of politics don't suit my professional genesis as a judge," he wrote.

He said he first submitted his resignation last month but events forced him to stay on.

Mekki took a leading role in hosting "national unity" talks called by Morsi, although the main opposition politicians stayed away.

Mekki, 58, was a respected judge before Morsi named him to the post in August.

He led judicial opposition to ousted leader Hosni Mubarak, but eschewed calls to become a presidential candidate himself, saying he wished to stay politically independent.

Egypt's Central Bank chief also reportedly resigned on Saturday, state television reported, before later citing a cabinet source denying that he had stepped down.

State television reported that Faruq El-Okd, the bank's head since 2003, might be replaced by his former deputy, Hisham Ramez.

The conflicting reports come amid economic turmoil in the country, which has seen its currency reserves dwindle and foreign investment shrink two years after an uprising overthrew president Hosni Mubarak.

Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna, reporting from Cairo, said if true, Okd's resignation would be "significant".

"He's been central in economic development, in particular, shoring up the pound in recent months, which has come under immense pressure from international currencies," said Hanna.

"And critically, he's been at the centre of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund about a critical $4.1bn loan which Egypt is attempting to secure," said Hanna, adding that those negotiations are on hold because of what the IMF said was "the political situation in Egypt".

Voting extended

After a first round vote last week, polls opened on Saturday at 08:00 local time (06:00 GMT) in areas analysts expected would give another "yes" vote.

The vote is taking place in 17 of Egypt's 27 provinces with about 25 million eligible voters.

The latest polls had been scheduled to close at 17:00 GMT, but will now remain open until 23:00. Voting was also extended in the first leg.

The vote comes a day after clashes between supporters and opponents of President Morsi in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.

The violence, which hurt several dozen people, is the latest episode in more than four weeks of turmoil over the president's powers and the constitution.

The proposed new constitution has deeply divided Egypt, with supporters of Egypt's elected president backing the new documents, and mainly liberal opponents decrying it as too partisan.

The first phase on December 15 produced a "yes" majority of about 56 percent with a turnout of some 32 percent, according to unofficial results.

A comfortable "yes'' majority would strengthen Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood supporters.

The opposition, however, said voting in the first round was littered with abuses. But officials overseeing the poll have said there were no major irregularities.

Low turnout

In an interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday, Seif Allah al-Khawanky, of the National Salvation Front, said the low turnout is "an act of showing the rejection to this project, which they don't believe in".

"The legitimacy of this referendum is really questionable," al-Khawanky said. "No one was represented except one group in drafting this constitution."

Morsi and his backers say the new constitution is needed to seal a transition from decades of military-backed autocratic rule, while opponents say it ignores the rights of women and minorities, including the 10 percent of Egyptians who are Christian.

A leading Muslim Brotherhood official dismissed concerns that the new constitution will lead to greater division or upset Egypt's fragile political balance.

"Egypt is not divided and is not facing any internal dangers," said Essam El-Erian, the deputy head of the Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party.

"In reality Egypt is now on the verge of building a new political system that will be open to all political forces," he said.

Widespread demonstrations erupted when Morsi awarded himself sweeping powers on November 22, and then fast-tracked the constitution through a drafting assembly dominated by his Muslim Brotherhood allies and boycotted by many liberals.

My perspective on this drama.
Another PTB orchestrated make belief regime change. It is actually the same lady with different dress.

[Sabrina]

http://www.stripes.com/news/navy/navy-commanders-relieved-of-duty-in-2012-1.168999

US

Navy commanders relieved of duty in 2012

Cmdr. Derick Armstrong, commanding officer of the guided missile destroyer USS The Sullivans, was relieved "as result of an unprofessional command climate that was contrary to good order and discipline."

Cmdr. Martin Arriola, commanding officer of the USS Porter, fired Aug. 30 due to loss of confidence in his ability to command after the vessel collided with a tanker.

Capt. Antonio Cardoso, commanding officer of Training Support Center San Diego, fired Sept. 21 for violating the Navy's policy on hazing.

Capt. James CoBell, commanding officer of Oceana Naval Air Station's Fleet Readiness Center Mid-Atlantic, was fired Sept. 10 pending an investigation into his leadership.

Cmdr. Joseph E. Darlak was replaced as the skipper of the USS Vandegrift on Nov. 2, after a rowdy and booze-fueled port visit to Vladivostok, Russia, in the month previous.

Cmdr. Franklin Fernandez, commanding officer of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 24, fired Aug. 21 due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command for allegedly driving under the influence.

Rear Adm. Charles M. Gaouette was replaced as commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis pending the outcome of an internal investigation into allegations of inappropriate judgment, the Navy announced on Oct. 27.

Cmdr. Ray Hartman, commanding officer of the amphibious dock-landing ship Fort McHenry, dismissed Nov. 19 for allegations of misconduct.

Cmdr. Jon Haydel, commanding officer of the amphibious transport dock USS San Diego, fired March 12 amid an investigation into "personal misconduct."

Cmdr. Diego Hernandez, commanding offer of the ballistic-missile submarine USS Wyoming, relieved Feb. 4 after he was convicted in an admiral's mast of dereliction of duty for mishandling classified materials.

Cmdr. Lee Hoey, commanding officer of the Navy Drug Screening Laboratory, San Diego, fired May 1 due to poor command climate.

Cmdr. Dennis Klein, commander of the submarine USS Columbia, fired May 1 for inadequate performance in administration and operations.

Capt. Marcia “Kim” Lyons, commander of Naval Health Clinic New England, relieved April 6 after problems were identified in an annual command climate survey.

Capt. Chuck Litchfield was relieved from command of the USS Essex after it collided with the replenishment oiler Yukon off the Southern California coast on May 16.

Capt. Robert Marin, commander of the USS Cowpens, relieved Feb. 10 on suspicion of "inappropriate personal behavior."

Capt. Sean McDonell, commander of Seabee reserve unit Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 14 in Jacksonville, Fla., relieved of duty Nov. 26 for mismanagement and unspecified “major program deficiencies.”



Cmdr. Corrine Parker, head of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 1, fired April 16 after an investigation revealed the possible falsification of administrative records.

Capt. Lisa Raimondo, commander of Naval Health Clinic Patuxent River, Md., relieved of command on June 29 due to a "a significant lack of leadership and integrity that eroded good order and discipline in the command."

Capt. Jeffrey Riedel, program manager of the Littoral Combat Ship program, was “temporarily reassigned” pending a command investigation into allegations of inappropriate personal behavior.

Cmdr. Sara Santoski, commanding officer of the Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15, fired Sept. 1 due to a loss of confidence in her ability to command following a crash that resulted in the death of two sailors.

Cmdr. Sheryl Tannahill, commanding officer of Navy Operational Support Center Nashville, relieved of command Sept. 16 amid allegations of an inappropriate relationship.

Cmdr. Michael Ward, commanding officer of the USS Pittsburgh, fired Aug. 10 for personal misconduct.

Capt. Michael Wiegand, commanding officer of Southwest Regional Maintenance Center in San Diego, relieved Nov. 8 amid allegations that funds were misused under his watch.

Capt. Ted Williams, commanding officer of the Mount Whitney in Italy, was fired Nov. 19 for allegations of misconduct.

Cmdr. Jeffrey Wissel, commander of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 1, fired Feb. 27 amid allegations of “personal misconduct.”

13 Dec

[Sabrina]

Further to PathWalker's story, it appears that Egypt's Central Bank governor also handed in his resignation.


http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/12/22/256541.html

Egypt

Egypt’s vice president, Mahmoud Mekky, resigned on Saturday, state television reported, on the day of a referendum on a new constitution that leaves unclear whether his position would be maintained.

In a statement obtained by AFP, Mekki said he was stepping down because “political work does not suit my professional character as a judge.”

Reports also surfaced that Central Bank governor Okadah handed his resignation to President Mursi during a meeting later on Saturday.

But Reuters quoted a Cabinet spokesman denying the reports.

Both the former governor and his deputy helped steer the central bank during last year’s uprising that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak and worked to keep the Egyptian currency relatively stable despite the political turmoil.

Vice President Mekky said he had initially submitted his resignation on November 7, but delayed it until now because of a series of events, including the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and a decision by Mursi last month to bolster his own powers.

“I saw that today (Saturday) was an appropriate time to announce my resignation as vice president of the republic, and I will continue to volunteer as a soldier,” he said.

Mekky took a leading role in hosting “national unity” talks called by President Mohamed Mursi, although the main opposition politicians stayed away.

Mekki, 58, was a respected judge before Mursi named him to the post in August.

He led judicial opposition to ousted leader Hosni Mubarak, but eschewed calls to become a presidential candidate himself, saying he wished to stay politically independent.

Mekki had previously intimated to Egyptian media that he considered resigning. His brother, Ahmed Mekki, is Mursi’s justice minister. Mekki was only the second Egyptian vice president in more than 30 years.

Mubarak never filled the post during his three-decade tenure, until he named his intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, to the job in February 2011, in the midst of the revolt that eventually toppled him.

Born in Alexandria in 1954, Mekki studied at the country’s police academy and is a former officer in the interior ministry, which he eventually left to join the judiciary.

22 Dec

[Sabrina]

http://rt.com/news/pedophile-canada-deacon-charged-700/

24 Dec Canada

Montreal deacon known for criticizing pedophiles charged in child porn case

A deacon known to be strong critic of the way the Catholic Church has dealt with sex abuse by the clergy is to appear in front of a judge on charges of producing and distributing child pornography.

The sixty-five year-old, William Kokesch of St. Edmund of Canterbury Parish in Beaconsfield, was arrested Friday after police carried out searches at his house and church, securing more than 2,000 files on his computer as well as messages left on chat-room sites.

Following the news of his arrest, the Archdiocese of Montreal has immediately banned him from pastoral activity, saying in a statement that “child pornography is an affront to human dignity, and our first concern rests with those who are its victims.”
The arrest was the result of a tip-off from a member of the local community.

Montreal police have urged anyone with more information on the case to contact their local police station.

[Sabrina]

News of the Bush camp:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2253034/George-H-W-Bush-88-spends-Christmas-hospital-continues-struggle-cough-weakness.html

25 Dec

George H.W. Bush, 88, spends Christmas in the hospital as he continues to struggle with cough and weakness

Former President George H.W. Bush will spend Christmas with his wife and other family members in a Houston hospital after developing a fever and weakness following a monthlong, bronchitis-like cough, his spokesman said Monday.

A hospital spokesman had said the 88-year-old ex-president would be released in time to spend the holiday at home, but that changed after Bush developed a fever.

'He's had a few setbacks. Late last week, he had a few low-energy days followed by a low-grade fever,' Jim McGrath, Bush's spokesman in Houston, told The Associated Press. 'Doctors still say they are cautiously optimistic, but every time they get over one thing, another thing pops up.'

He said the cough that initially brought Bush to the hospital on November 23 is now evident only about once a day, and the fever appears to be under control, although doctors are still working to get the right balance in Bush's medications. No discharge date has been set.

'Given his current condition, doctors just want to hang on to him,' McGrath said, adding that he didn't know what had caused the fever.

Bush's wife, Barbara, his son, Neil, and Neil's wife, Maria, are expected to visit on Christmas, McGrath said.

Since he was hospitalized, Bush has been visited by many of his children and grandchildren, including former President George W Bush, who came twice, and former Florida Gov Jeb Bush, McGrath said. With 37 members in the immediate family, Bush has received many emails and phone calls, McGrath said.
more at link

[Sabrina]

And Hilary Clinton's also ill and out of action....

Ill health grounds globetrotting Hillary Clinton
By: Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the most traveled US top diplomat ever, has had her wings clipped by ill health and will not be able to make any trips for several weeks, a top aide said Wednesday.

"Given her condition, the secretary's doctors have advised that she may not fly for any significant duration in the coming weeks," her closest aide, Philippe Reines said in a statement.

"So as things stand we are not planning any travel through mid-January."

The news will come as a blow for Clinton who has flown almost a million miles since taking office four years ago, visited 112 countries and spent some 400 days in a plane.

Clinton, 65, has been off work sick since early December after she contracted a bad stomach virus during a five-day trip to Europe. She had to cancel a planned trip to North Africa and Abu Dhabi due to the illness.

Her doctors said at the weekend that she had become severely dehydrated due to the effects of the stomach bug and had fainted, suffering a concussion.

They have recommended she rest at home for a second week and stay off work, although she has been in touch with her staff by phone and email this week.

On Tuesday State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland denied as "completely untrue" claims from critics that Clinton was just faking her illness in order to get out of having to testify to US lawmakers this week.

"The secretary had anticipated testifying," Nuland stressed, but added ",she is still under the weather."

Clinton is due to step down from her post in early 2013, with the US administration seemingly poised to soon name a replacement. Veteran senator John Kerry is said to be the odds-on favorite for the job.

222 Dec

[KiwiElf]

Hmmmm some call it karma... a "dose of their own medicine" & "methods" perhaps? ;)

[Sabrina]

http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2019991822_apusbushhospitalized.html

More on Bush senior in hospital

27 Dec US

Ex-President George H.W. Bush in intensive care

Former President George H.W. Bush remained in guarded condition overnight in the intensive care unit at a Houston hospital after a day marked by "a series of setbacks including persistent fever," according to his spokesman.

story at link

[Sabrina]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/12/2012122614513868810.html

Syria military police chief defects to rebels

Ex-general Abdel Aziz Jassem al-Shallal purportedly joins rebels on YouTube, saying army turned into "murderous gangs".


The head of Syria’s military police has defected from President Bashar al-Assad's government and accused the army of having turned into "murderous gangs", according to a security source in an online video.

In the video circulated by opposition activists on Wednesday, the military-clad officer said: "I, General Abdel Aziz Jassem al-Shallal, commander of Syrian military police, announce that I am defecting from the regime army, to join the people's revolution."

"The army has deviated from its essential mission, which is to protect the country, and it has morphed into murderous, destructive gangs," Shallal charged in the video published on the internet video-sharing website YouTube.

"The destruction of cities and villages, and the commission of massacres against our people, defenceless civilians, who took to the streets calling for freedom" prompted Shallal to defect, he said.

His defection comes as military pressure builds on the regime, with government bases falling to rebel assault near the capital Damascus and elsewhere across the country.

A Syrian security source confirmed the defection but played down its significance, saying that Shallal was due to retire and had defected to "play hero".

Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Vall reporting from Beirut said: “Since the defection of the Syrian Prime Minister in August this could be one of the most important.

“There is a pattern of Syrian officials trying to play down this kind of defection. They have said he was on the verge of retiring and his defection is not significant.

“Defections of this kind usually happen when the regime and its defences are crumbling,” he added.

video at link

updated 27 Dec

[Sabrina]

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/treasury-finance-ag-final-bullet-report.html

26 Dec via American Kabuki


TREASURY FINANCE AG: FINAL BULLET REPORT - PARADIGM
A Report On Bank, Judicial and Government Corruption


AK Note: The following PDF has been HTML-ized and
reformatted for easier reading on the Internet, and minor
spelling errors corrected. For the original PDF
reference document click the Scribd icon below:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/118067922/PARADIGM-DOCUMENT-FROM-THE-TREASURE-FINANCE-AG-INDUSTRIESTRASSE-21-CH-6055-ALPNACH-DORF-SWITZERLAND


FINAL BULLET REPORT
∞ PARADIGM ∞


INVESTIGATION AUTHORIZATION SUMMARY


INVESTIGATION : "PARADIGM"
SENSITIVITY : CLASSIFIED; CONFIDENTIAL
ORIGINAL PRIORITY : TIME PERMISSIVE
AMENDMENTS : EPOCH-FACTUAL BASIS
AUTHORIZED : YES
ORIGINAL TIME : DISCRETION OF INVESTIGATION LEAD
AMENDMENTS :EXPEDITED-FACTUAL BASIS
AUTHORIZED : YES
APPROACH :MACRO- MICRO
ORIGINAL PROTOCOL :WATCHER
AMENDED PROTOCOL : SUBMERSIVE PARTICIPANT
AUTHORIZED : YES
ORIGINAL OBJECTIVES : INTERNAL-BANKING, TRADE, FINANCE
AMENDED OBJECTIVES : PUBLIC TRUST
AUTHORIZED :YES
ORIGINAL SECURITY : SLIGHT
AMENDED SECURITY : SILENT
AUTHORIZED : YES
REPORT AUTHORIZED : YES
REPORT VERIFICATION : TRINITY PROTOCOLS
REPORT PROTOCOL : TREASURY
COURTESY PREVIEW : SELECTIVE
RESTRICTIONS : QUIET
AUTHORIZED : YES
AUTHORIZATION LEAD : Karl Langenstein
INVESTIGATION LEAD : Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf
INVESTIGATIVE TEAM : GLOBAL
SUPPLEMENTED : YES--USA NATIONAL













PARADIGM
ULTIMATE FINDINGS & CONCLUSIONS


THE PRIVATE-MONEY-FOR-PUBLIC-USE BANKING SYSTEM, THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK, IS A THREAT TO:

) ALL HUMANITY AND ITS INALIENABLE RIGHT AND LIBERTY
) STATE AND NATIONAL AMERICAN SECURITY
) INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
) GLOBAL SECURITY
) THE SECURITY OF THE HEAD OF THE PRINCIPALS TO THE FEDERAL RESERVE
) COMMERCE: STATE; NATIONAL; INTERNATIONAL; GLOBAL
) JUSTICE

THE PRIVATE-MONEY-FOR-PUBLIC-USE BANKING SYSTEM IS THE CONSTANT FORUM, DENOMINATOR, AND PRIME OF ALL CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, SOVEREIGNS, CONTRACT, AND COMMERCE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO BREACH OF PEACE, TRESPASS, AND INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE, THROUGH ILLEGAL FRAUD, COERCION, FORCE, THEFT AND DECEPTIVE PRACTICES AND ACTS

THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK, AND ITS PRINCIPALS, ARE THE ABSOLUTE AND FINAL PARTY LIABLE AS ISSUER OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE NOTES

THE ONLY SOLUTION TO THE THREATS, AND TO MITIGATE LIABILITIES GLOBALLY, IS TO CHANGE THE UNITED STATES BANKING SYSTEM TO THE TRIED AND TRUE PUBLIC-MONEY FOR-PRIVATE-USE BANKING SYSTEM, USING STATE CENTRAL BANKS AND A NATIONAL CENTRAL BANK

THE AMERICAN PUBLIC BANKING SYSTEM, GOVERNMENT, ESPECIALLY THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM MUST BE 100% TRANSPARENT, ACCOUNTABLE, AND LIABLE

THE PRIVATE BANKING SYSTEM'S AGENTS HAVE HELD THE HIGHEST OFFICES OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT STEADILY SINCE WOODROW WILSON AND THEY HAVE ESTABLISHED AN EXTERNAL SUPPORT SYSTEM THROUGH CONGRESS, LOBBYS, AND MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS;

THROUGH CAREFUL SELECTION AND PLACEMENT OF THE PRIVATE BANK SYSTEM'S AGENTS, THE GOVERNMENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IS AND HAS BEEN SERVING THE PRIVATE BANKING SYSTEM TO THE DETRIMENT AND HARM the people of America and the people of the world; THE PRIVATE BANKING SYSTEM HAS ILLEGALLY FORCED PRINCIPLES ON A GLOBAL SCALE

THE public trustees of The United States Public Trust, AND The Public Trusts of the states of America, HAVE THE ONLY CLEAN, PURE AND SENIOR POSITION IN AMERICA, LEGALLY AND FACTUALLY, TO ORDER THE NEW BANKING SYSTEM AND ORDER their GOVERNMENT TO CLEAN ITSELF UP

THE CURRENT GOVERNMENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ITS OFFICES, AGENCIES AND THEIR OFFICERS, AGENTS, ASSIGNS AND SUCCESSORS, CAN ONLY RESTORE THEIR NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CREDIBILITY THROUGH ITS principal... the public trustees of The United States Public Trust, AND The Public Trusts of the states ofAmerica

THE public trustees MUST BE GIVEN THE DUE RECOGNITION AND SUPPORT FROM its GOVERNMENT, WORLD GOVERNMENTS AND SOVEREIGNS

THE public trustees MUST BE GIVEN THE DUE RECOGNITION BY THE CUSTODIANS OF THE PUBLIC WEALTH IN ORDER TO RESTORE BALANCE AND HUMANITY IN THE WORLD

A CLEAN AND TRANSPARENT AGREEMENT MUST BE ESTABLISHED BETWEEN the public trustees AND THE WORLD'S OLD PARADIGM BENEFICIARIES TO BEGIN FINAL SETTLEMENTS TO CLEAN ALL ASSETS ILLEGALLY TAKEN TO THE SUFFERAGE OF ALL HUMANS

EVERY NATION AND GOVERNMENT, EACH LIVE PERSON IN EVERY STATION, OFFICE, AND SEAT, SHALL DETERMINE FOR THEMSELVES WHETHER THEY ARE: 1.) A HOSTAGE TO THE OLD PARADIGM, CHOOSING TO FREE ITSELF FROM THE ACTS AND CHOICES OF THEIR PREDECESSORS; or 2.) A COMPLICIT PARTICIPANT WITH THE OLD PARADIGM, AND ENSLAVER OF the people; EACH SHALL IDENTIFY THEMSELVES FOR FREEDOM OR TO BE MADE AN EXAMPLE OF THROUGH ENFORCEMENT "'PARADIGM"'

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PARADIGM-ASSESSMENT
public trustees

THE public trustees HAVE PRODUCED AND PROVIDED their REPORT. INVESTIGATION LEAD HAS VETTED THE trustees REPORT. THE INVESTIGATION LEAD SUGGESTED, AND IT WAS AGREED, THAT ALL ORGANIC PLANS OF STRUCTURE, IMPLEMENTATION, AND ENFORCEMENT OF THE PUBLIC BANKING SYSTEM BE DELIVERED IN PERSON. THE INVESTIGATION LEAD HAS CHOSEN AND ACCEPTED THE POSITION AS public trustee liaison TO ORGANIZE MEETINGS FOR FINAL DETERMINATION OF STRUCTURE, AUTHORIZATIONS, AND ORDERS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
BANKING SYSTEM AND CLEAN GOVERNMENT.

THE public trustees ARE EXTREMELY COMPETENT;

Trustees' INTENT IS BEYOND REPROACH AND PROVEN BY ACTION AND WORDS TO BE FOR THE BENEFIT OF humankind AND the earth AND NOT JUST TO THE LIMITS OF THE AMERICAN SOIL AND Americans;

Trustees' POSITION AS public trustees IS WELL DEFINED, UNDERSTOOD, ACCEPTED, ACTIVE AND UNPENTRATABLE; THE CHANGES ARE HAPPENING REGARDLESS OF EFFORTS OF THE AGENTS AND SUPPORTERS OF THE OLD AND HARMFUL PARADIGM

Trustees ARE JUST, SUPPORTED BY their AWARENESS THAT they ARE NEUTRAL AS TO JUDGMENT OF people; JUDGEMENT AND FORGIVENESS ARE INHERENT IN EACH person AS IS THE human will;

Trustees ARE READY, WILLING AND ABLE TO SUPPORT EACH person IN their PROCESS OF SEL-JUDGMENT AND SELF-REDEMPTION AS IT IS PRESENTED;

Trustees RECOGNIZE THAT OFFICES AND AGENCIES OF AMERICA ARE EXTREMELY TRAINED AND CAPABLE OF DOING THEIR JOBS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONSTITUTION AND ARTICLES IN ESTABLISHING THE NEW PARADIGM, DRIVEN BY PUBLIC-MONEY-FOR-FOR-PRIVATE-USE SYSTEM, STATE AND NATIONAL, AND CLEANING THE GOVERNMENT AND JUDICIAL IS CRITICAL TO UNITED STATES OF AMERICA RE-ESTABLISHING ITS CREDIBILITY WITHIN WITH THE WORLD;

THIS IS CRITICAL FOR THE WORLD TO TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE FREE FROM THE SELFNG, PROFITEERING OF THE PRIVATE BANKING SYSTEM AND THE ABUSE, CRIMES, AND SLAVERY THAT HAS BEEN A PART OF WORLD HISTORY FOR NEARLY THE LAST 100 YEARS;

The trustees ARE DIVERSE IN their BACKGROUNDS, SKILLS, AND TALENTS, BUT they ARE THE SAME their POSITION AS origin source, INTEGRITY, PURITY, AND COMMITMENT WITH THE POSSIBLE EXCEPTION OF ONE, ALL trustees ARE "sensitives", "batteries".

THERE IS ONLY ONE CURRENT public trustee WHOSE STAMINA THE INVESTIGATION LEAD HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO DETERMINE: Tucker-Rey.

Trustees HAVE SPENT DECADES TESTING AND PREPARING ORGANIC STRUCTURE AND PLAN, FINAL VERSION TO BE MUTUALLY DETERMINED AND IMPLEMENTED AND ENFORCED WITH COOPERATIVE EFFORTS OF THE public trustees, GOVERNMENTS, SOVEREIGNS, THE CUSTODIANS, THE earth, AND THE source OF ALL.

Trustees' VIEW AND APPROACH ARE COMPETENT, NEUTRAL, GRACEFUL AND ELEGANT.

INVESTIGATION LEAD HAD HAD THE FIRST HAND OPPORTUNITY TO WATCH, OBSERVE, TEST AND VET THE MAJORITY OF THE trustees AT THE HIGHEST AND MOST INDEPTH LEVELS.

INVESTIGATION LEAD GIVES FULL APPROVAL, ENDORSEMENT AND RECOGNITION TO THE public trustees AND their ACTIONS.

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PARADIGM---BACK SUMMARY

In October of 2008, the Authorization Lead ordered an investigation to be launched to streamline internal operations and time management of the house and its members due to extreme amounts of waste being incurred as a result of large quantities of fraudulent "assets" being presented from the banking, trade, and finance industries. The original goals of the investigation were solely internal, and they were to:


Identify and assess the entry points of the fraud and reverse engineer to the origin source;
Assess and present options for an internal database that could be readily and easily updated from external sources to record and track perpetrators, vehicles used, and the instruments of fraud;
Identify and assess creative options and sources to supplement house in tel;
Review and strengthen house security protocols; Identify the possible global cause and effect that proposed internal solutions may have

Primary Investigations (Annex1): concluded approx. January of 2010.

Follow-Up Investigations: concluded approx. July of 2010.

Summary of Findings: The general entry points of fraudulent "assets" originally identified as the brokers and reverse engineering led to the origin source consisting of the highest levels of banking. Follow-up intel and tracking revealed that highest levels of banking [are] actually [the] general entry point and creator of fraudulent "assets".

'Assets" then generally given to brokers, directly or indirectly, and then taken back up through the system. This finding was supplemented and further supported with data obtained that banking officers were covertly sifting sensitive client information to selective external person(s), "groups", in finance industry for banker's personal enrichment. The cloaked external investment opportunity usually starts in generally one of three ways:
bank purporting to have "vetted" numerous potential investment opportunities, presenting their group, the group that "vetted" above all others to client;

leaking clients sensitive information so banker's partner could approach client externally, knowing and maneuvering client to ultimately come to the banker for on an "investment" opportunity that client had no idea was pre-arranged; or,

the banker trespasses on and utilizes client account/assets, without disclosure and without client's consent for such actions, in such a mann that it is virtually untraceable. The last option generally requires highest positions, in internal financial institutions to manage the lower employees, but also with with external institutions, privately held central banks, and government. Perpetrators use unsuspecting persons to implement compartmentalized parts of plan. Security Protocols were internally adjusted. Intel sources were consolidated. Intel operations were compartmentalized for security. Global cause and effect of internal solutions significant as to house reputation in banking, trade, and finance industries and global government. Industry consensus = morality is not as profitable.

CONCLUSION: THE FRAUD AND CORRUPTION ARE TOO DEEP; THE EFFECTS GLOBAL; THE OF THE PRIVATELY HELD BANKING SYSTEM AS WE HAVE KNOWN IT FOR NEARLY LAST 100 YEARS, THE PRIVATE-MONEY-FOR PUBLIC-USE SYSTEM, HAVE ERODED THEIR OWN CREATION FUELED BY THEIR OWN GREED, TO THE POINT THE SYSTEM IS IMPLODING ON ITSELF; BANKING TOUCHES EVERY INDUSTRY, EVERY PERSON, EVERY ACTION ON THE PLANET AND THE EFFECTS ARE GLOBAL AND SYSTEMIC; THE BANKING SYSTEM IN ITS CURRENT FORM CANNOT SURVIVE THE EXPONENTIAL AND PERPETUAL AWAKENING OF THE COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS AS THE INHERENT POWER BALANCES THE INJUSTICE; THE PERPETRATORS' CONVERSION(S) OF THEIR PERSONAL ASSETS TO SUBSTANCE TO AVOID THE FINAL EQUITY CALL IS USELESS, AS SAID CONVERSION(S) ARE ALREADY DULY RECOGNIZED TO BE PURCHASED BY UNCLEAN FUNDS, FUNDS PRODUCED BY SLAVERY, TRACKED EVERY STEP OF THE WAY.



In March of 2009, the Authorization Lead ordered the investigation's parameters to be expanded in correlation to the data gathered and obtained by the Investigation Lead. As the data base and comprehension expanded exponentially regarding the various systems and the extremely sensitive and restricted data, the Authorization Lead ordered the Investigation Lead to alter the goals to external, and they were to:
Present possible alternative solutions and strategies of implementation to maintain private banking system;
Identify the key vehicle the public could identify with to use as the forum to replace the dying private banking system that is private-money-for-public-use with the original public-money-for-private-use system;
Identify, assess, and test the weaknesses of key industries vital to the implementation of dying private banking system;

Preliminary Investigations*: concluded approx. February 2009.

Investigations Plan for Follow-Up***: concluded approx. March of 2009; testing forthwith implemented.

Summary of Findings: An old paradigm is at the end of its operation and existence. Its current central method of implementation bas been the private-money-for-public-use system and the "for-profit corporation" system. The original government in America was ingeniously converted and grudgingly accepted by other world Principals through threat, coercion, and force; Unknowingly accepted by the people of America and other world peoples, resulting in involuntary servitude; implemented and enforced by and through illegal and unconscionable, deceptive, non-transparent means and methods, void of any accountability.

Casualties are in the billions. Many possible alternative solutions for operating in the current private banking system were explored and policies and protocols were created, adjusted; of all tested-all failed.

Principal of the private banking system in America, most notably headed by the conservator, House of Rothschild, is finding that their own hidden intent, agendas, presumptions and arrogance, are being over-shadowed by those of their Agents, resulting in the self-destruction of the private banking system and global stability.

This would not be of concern to the head of the Principal nor the other world Principals, except that the public collective conscious has grown at rates unexpected and unpredicted to the point that their expected replacement system cannot be implemented without full out breach of peace and annihilation of the public by the Principals and their Agents. The agents have been permitted to some degree to practice breach of peace and annihilation when it served the purpose and intent of Principals, however, the Principals are now subject to victim of the breach of peace and annihilation. Dis-accord and greed within a Principal has always been a reality, but now the head of the Principal has the opportunity to see the level of power of political and financial influence of their Agents, often fueled by the junior membership or other world Principals. Regardless, ALL PRINCIPALS will find that the Agents, and junior membership, being at first necessary, then tolerable, are now unacceptable.

The most notable of the rogue Agents warned as the Texas Camp. All attempts to contain the Agents and their established networks have been time and resource intensive and an inconvenience to the head Principal and the other world Principals. ALL PRINCIPALS are going to realize that the Agents now pose a detriment and threat to the head of the Principal, and the other world Principals, and not just the pre-selection of humanity. The fraud cannot be controlled or eliminated in the private banking system because it is inherent in its existence.

The head of the Principal and other world Principals have lost control over its Agents due to the Agents addiction to self-interest, profit and arrogance. Inaction by ALL THE PRINCIPALS is their estoppel and destroys their ability for self-correction, threatening their viability and survivability.


As was discovered and proven repeatedly in American history prior to 1930's, a public-money-for-private-use banking system, implemented and enforced by the knowledgeable public and their government, and recognized and relied upon by the entire world, is the only solution to prevent the threat and abuse inherently existing in a private banking system.

The prior two tests of the private banking system concluded in a shorter life-span, due to swift public reaction by a knowledgeable and watchful public with enforcement of penalties against the agents of the Principal. Infiltration and manipulation of key industries were critical to the preservation of the final and current banking system: Education and Judicial.

At the time of the second test, the public and the judicial were cohesively one and the same. The judicial worked with an official hat, but they recognized under the hat they were one of the public. An educated public and a judicial that did not differentiate itself from the public was detrimental and key to the final destruction of the first two tested private bank systems. It was necessary to deconstruct a knowledgeable public and disassociate the judicial from their own public.

Media and Education Systems were key industries targeted to create an uneducated public. Slowly and methodically the industries were infiltrated and manipulated with adjustments made over a period of decades to address those who were familiar with the public interests and paradigms in order to reach the level of valueless and selective media we have now. Media holdings were consolidated to certain Agents to maintain and manipulate. With technological advancements, telecommunications was included as a key Industry to address.

The creation of the Internet was the most life changing and is still a key threat to the private banking system. The internet is the sole problem they have yet to contain. It is humorous that ALL PRINCIPLES acquire the talents of those to contain the internet and yet ALL PRINCIPALS are blinded by the arrogance of their own presumptions and have failed to recognize that the true masters of the technology, young to old, are inherently aware that the old paradigm has no purpose and are assisting aggressively, yet ever so covertly, in the shift to the new collective conscious paradigm.

The Judicial has been much more interesting to the Investigation Lead due to her background. The Judicial had to be made a partner as an uneducated Judicial was not a realistic or effective option. However, the Judicial was not as easy to infiltrate initially. Once "communism" quieted on American soil and the education and media industries were pretty much under control, real legal education, constitutional based, was covertly modified to the current system with the BAR's infiltration at the highest levels of Judicial appointment and is secured by the occupation of the highest positions of local, state and national authority agencies and corporations in America. This was not possible however, while the BAR was on the communist list. Investigations have been conducted in the past on the BAR and political and financial influence were used to quiet them; as is true with those who investigated the American bankruptcy, the Federal Reserve, etc, anyone who rejected or refused the political and financial influence were imprisoned, disappeared, terminated or discredited to the point of public annihilation.

Much intel has come from the head of the Principal's own house, the houses of other world Principals and usual intel sources of our house. The past level of commitment of the private banking system and its Principal is undeniable. The past prowess of negotiating and implementing the world acceptance of the private banking system has been genius and ruthless. The intent and actions required to implement and maintain it are abhorrent and have traditionally never been accepted by the public, when known by the public. Evidence of the premeditation, calculation, planning, and constant reassessment and adjustment used to preserve this last and current private banking system, and its Principal, are in the public forum. Selective agents of the public and watchers have tracked, monitored and vaulted the evidence until infrastructure and trustees came forward. Global intel also maintains records, waiting for the order. The beginnings of ALL PRINCIPALS, agencies, offices, and the general body of the original American government were not corrupt. The Principals, the agencies, offices, and the general body of the current American government, if corrupt, are only so through self-interest, profit and arrogance of the heirs, agents and assigns of the origin source of their existence.

The Authorization and Investigation Leads jointly identified the American mortgage issue* (see Annex 1) as the key vehicle the public could identify with to use as the forum to unite the people of the United States of America, and the people of the world, to replace the dying private banking system that is private-money-for-public-use with the public-money-for-private-use system. The Investigation and Authorization Lead discussed with members of the global team and agreed that the Investigation Lead was to remain in the states and use her own home as the test case; that the Investigation Lead was in a unique position to test and flush out the remaining points for discovery of eventual implementation of the public-money-for-private-use system and the reinstatement of true justice.


The public trustees initiated contact with the Investigation Lead on December 10, 2010, and gave details that they possibly not have known about the Authorization Lead, the Investigation Lead, the Swiss custodians of the public wealth, and details related to prior investigations and current issues plaguing the highest levels of trade, bank and finance.

By "social standards" review, they are the least likely to be in possession of this information. An extensive check with the Authorization Lead and intel sources proved the opposite. Per Authorization Lead's order, the trustees were invited to watch and assist at the tail end of the investigation in order for the Investigation Lead to establish an assessment of the trustees' competency, intent, and position. It was a mutual assessment that took place. Their intent was the same as the leads, if not more comprehensive as they included that the new banking system could only work and survive if the Judicial house in America operated on full transparency secured by the full personal liability of each Judicial officer, agent, and assign. Investigation Lead spent two months testing the Judicial House and investigating the current system of liability of its officers, agents and assigns. While generally the agents work under full personal liability and the judicial is required to be bonded, in practice, accountability and liability does not exist, ie. Codes and statutes require a bond to be posted before taking judicial or public office, however, private contracts, employment or other, contain "hold harmless clauses" or a simular immunity not disclosed to the public, and the lower levels are protected to a limited degree by restricting access and process of claims, which are self-administered by the counties where the judicial house resides and in conjunction with the Insurance Industry.

Investigation Lead reported findings and conclusions (identified herein) to Authorization Lead = resounding "Green Light" to prepare the forums for implementation of the public-money-for-private-use system, state and national levels. Individual report can be issued on foreclosure and judicial issues with greater detail.


CONCLUSION: (GLOBAL). THE PRIVATE BANKING SYSTEM IN AMERICA IS A THREAT TO STATE, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY. IT IS A THREAT TO HUMANITY WHO HAS BEEN ENSLAVED AND UNJUSTLY CONTRIBUTED TO THE SELECTIVE WEALTH OF THE PRINICIPALS. MORE INTERESTING, THE PRIVATE BANKING SYSTEM HAS BECOME A THREAT TO THE SECURITY ALL PRINCIPALS (HEAD OF THE PRINCIPAL OF THE AMERICAN PRIVATE BANKING SYSTEM AND
WORLD PRINCIPALS) THE THREAT CREATED BY THE UNCONTROLLABLE AGENTS CAN BE MITIGATED CONSIDERABLY BY AGREEMENT BETWEEN ALL PRINCIPALS AND THE public trustees. AS THIS PROCESS OF AGREEMENT FOR FINAL SETTLEMENT OF INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE AND UNJUST ENRICHMENT BEGINS, INDIVIDUALS, ESPECIALLY THE UNCONTROLLABLE AGENTS, COVERTLY AND BLATENTLY SERVING SELF-INTEREST, SELF-PROFIT, AND SELF-PRESERVATION SHALL REVEAL THEMSELVES TO BE MADE EXAMPLES OF BY THEIR OWN CHOICE.


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PARADIGM---REQUIRED

An immediate face-to-face meeting between Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf (on behalf ofthe public trustees) and Karl Langenstein (on behalf of of representations): the public trustees discussions withthe Investigation Lead have recognized the necessity of the current system operators to have the one time opportunity for quiet implementation of the new paradigm and its national and state banking system backed by the assets that shall remain in the Swiss custodians care. Therefore, they appointed Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf as the Public Trustee Liaison to Karl Langenstein to initially organize and arrange terms, conditions and protocols for meetings between the public trustees and those who will structure, implement and enforce the public banking system, the cleaning of government, especially the the judicial, and meetings for formal settlement of the unjust enrichment gained through slavery and other crimes against humanity. Full discussion of authorizations, orders, preliminary plans and requirements done at this meeting. Final plans, authorizations, orders, terms, and conditions require 100% approval both sides

Trustees, specifically Charles C. Miller, has already given notice of slavery claim and equity call duly served on all appropriate parties. The trustees are ready, willing and able to receive offers of final settlement and appointments to negotiate mitigation of civil damages.

Exclusive authorization has already been agreed to be granted to Karl Langenstein to organize and collect through his systems and methods. Said systems and methods shall be directed by Karl Langenstein to Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf at the face-to-face meeting for security reasons.

Location of meeting and transport: to be determined and arranged by Karl Langenstein for security.

This report and its annex is hereby issued by the Investigation Lead, under authorization and order,
full personal liability, under the penalty of peijury, reserving the sole and exclusive right to the
determination of all definitions and intent of format and content contained herein. Done this _____
day of ______ , 2011 , in ___________ , in the state of Washington, executed by my unique signature and personal seal herein; all rights reserved.

Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf
Investigation Lead



PARADIGM---ANNEX 1

*PRIME INVESTIGATION CATALYST TRIGGERS: (NOTE-WELLS FARGO MATTER
REGARDING TIGRAN SARGYSIA SCAM INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, AGAPE
CHRISTIAN FOUNDATION AND MAKARIZO (PANAMA) ACCOUNTS, NOT INCLUDED IN THIS REPORT AS STATUS OF AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATION IS UNKNOWN; UPON REQUEST)

CATALYST 1 : 2008-2009 HSBC-UBS "RENAUD" INVESTIGATION
BANKS : HSBC (LONDON, BEJING), UBS (SWITZERLAND)
ORIGIN PERSON : PATRICK WANG SHUI CHUNG (HSBC Director); others withheld for cause
ORIGIN TIME : cir. Summer 1998 (USA De-reg period of Glass-Stealy Act)
INTEL CONTACT : WONG SHUI LUNG (GEN. WONG)--CHINA
MAIN OBJECTIVE
: (SCOPE LIMITED TO BANKER CORRUPTION) Microscopic Investigation for assessment of(amended to include solution to release) High Net-Worth ($500M USD equiv. and greater) clients in bank initiated and maintained contracts that created an unregulated and untrained industry ofleased Proof of Funds, Capital Accounts, and other contractual structures to enhance financial positions of persons of the general global public; brokers industry.
REPORT
:At least one or more Origin Person(s) created, implemented and maintained an internal bank infrastructure of core persons that could be used complimentary or quid pro quo externally amongst financial institutions. The infrastructure was discovered to be highly complex, running the divisions with plants, bought or coerced, from the wire room to the board room. Complexity of design was prima facia of pre-meditation, willful intent, and long-term commitment, strategies and implementation at the highest levels. De-regulation permitted bank contracts to be implemented; subsequent laws rendered bank contracts illegaL Bank contracts were purposefully kept in-house with no copies permitted to leave, thus clients funds were essentially rendered irretrievable, hence this investigation in 2008. Microscopic case revealed bank contract induced by long-time relationship and trust built with Origin Person. Investigation ceased prior to determining whether Sir Peter Davis was complicit or had knowingly benefited from Origin Person; deemed not-relevant as deceased. It was determined that although Sir John Bond was removed as HSBC Chairman for his previous tapping of client gold reserves and moved to the private banking arm, his infrastructure inside HSBC London main was not extinguished. Patrick Wang Shui Chung had access and opportunity for implementation and his operation ran internationally with damages to the public globally and intel reported terrorist ties and possible activity.
ACTIONS : Recommended=Meeting with General Wong; Held; Hand-off to BIG 3 & withdrawal
EX REPORTS-RAMS:
: Microscopic client's funds discovered buried in Switzerland by Origin Person and his agents. Three (3) or more high level executives (HSBC-London) reported dead; mid to low management/employees; quiet international "investigation" by various global alphabets / political pressures from China, USA, & Canada; CHINA received special tax treatment of investment in the US. PUBLIC-US demand for Swiss disclosure of American clients for "tax evasion" and other various allegations. Tabled.

CATALYST2 :2008-2009 POON I LI SHA INVESTIGATION
BANKS :HSBC (BEJING)
ORIGIN PERSONS :POON KONG I LI SHA
PURPOSE
:To investigate and assess origin persons and assets for pending Asset Management Contract
CONTACT :Authorization Lead, and Jonathan D. Betts of Atlantica
INTEL CONTACT :Authorization Lead; WONG SHUI LUNG (GEN. WONG).
MAIN OBJECTNE
:(SCOPE LIMITED TO BANKER CORRUPTION) Microscopic Investigation for assessment (amended to include solution to case account with request for official assistance from China; branched into informal semi-global negotiations regarding master accounts and AU) of one or more case accounts vith signatory Poon Kong. Allegations involved high level bankers who performed tasks, in the normal course of banking, pursuant to client orders up to last required step and certain bankers demanded "personal payments" prior to making normal banking external confirmations to third parties/institutions.
REPORT
:Parties and Factors initially deemed sensitive and amended to critically sensitive due to international master accounts and historical parties, treaties and agreements. Complexity involved in microscopic case was minimal, more a matter of "unauthorized and illegal institutional practices by world~wide bankers"; POON/LISHA due to their failure/inability to follow pre~set and party-mandated secret protocols of enactment and engagement, the fmal report recommended termination


CATALYST 3 :2008-2009 PANAMA-COOSEMUPAR INVESTIGATION
BANKS :VARIOUS, PRIMARY-HSBC (PANAMA)
ORIGIN PERSONS :COOSEMUPAR
PURPOSE :To investigate and assess all levels of corruption and political/fmancial influence
INTEL CONTACT :Authorization Lead, Coosemupar Counsel
MAIN OBJECTIVE
:(SCOPE LIMITED TO BANKER CORRUPTION) Microscopic Investigation for assessment (amended to include solution to case account with request for official assistance from China). Follow-up investigation by global team discovered more complex "land grab" and money laundering by "mirror" World Bank loan as used by Saddam's food for oil program. Involved parties included but were not limited to senior officials of Torrijos Administration, major Panamanian law firms, and bank officials. Subsequent data was collected on possible involvement of senior American officials with direct or indirect interests in agriculture and food industries, exerting financial and/or political influence in Panama; other Latin American similar influence;
REPORT
:Parties and Factors initially deemed semi-sensitive and amended to critically sensitive on Authorization Lead's order based on notice given by internationals of their intent to intervene, directly or indirectly. First deliver of Report to Mr. Torrijos, ineffective as it was later discovered that he and his wife were investigated for "unjust enrichment". Second delivery to Mr. Martinelli, used but data collected at the tail-end of investigations uncovered the beginning of undisclosed/disclosed relations and partnerships resulting in prima facia knowing and willing complicitness on his part.



CATALYST 4 :2008-2009 FANNIE/FREDDIE INVESTIGATION
BANKS :VARIOUS, PRIMARY- JP MORGAN
PURPOSE :To investigate and assess difficulties with securities: Freddie/Fannie securities, CMO, and other MBS
INTEL CONTACT :managed- Authorization Lead, supplemented (dove-tail World Bank Loan investigation)
MAIN OBJECTIVE
:Microscopic Investigation for assessment of validity of various Securities, including, but not limited to Freddie/Fannie Securities; Monetization of said securities, and options for trade.
REPORT
:Parties and Factors initially deemed not sensitive and amended to critically sensitive due to investigation's preliminary findings. Securities reported on screens (NASDAQ, ETC.); attempts to investigate behind the screens were thwarted, prevented or otherwise hindered externally by issuers stating fraud, and yet no actions were taken by issuers to remove, handle, or report them as fraud to take them off the market. Investigation report recommended tabeling in February '09, for further investigation plan completed in March '09, and structuring possible solutions through testing from March '09 and completed February 16,2011. Final report recommendation for solution, "Green Light" for implementation of solution given February 16, 2011, by Authorization Lead.
CATALYST 5 2010 ECUADOR
BANKS COUNTRY CENTRAL BANK
ORIGIN ENERGY PROJECT
PURPOSE
To assess and assist with a "Letter of Credit" for an external "contract" for state energy equipment and infrastructure
CONTACT BROWN ENERGY GROUP (BEG), LOCAL COUNTERPARTS, MINISTERS
INTEL CONTACT Managed- Authorization Lead; supplemented
MAIN OBJECTIVE
BEG wanted assistance with monetizing a purported Letter of Credit issued by the state central bank/governrnent. Preliminary assessment revealed that Letter of Credit had not been issued, contract had not been officially awarded; main objective changed by client to securing contract.
REPORT
Parties and Factors initially deemed sensitive and amended to critically sensitive due to international political and financial influence. Investigation discovered corruption of governrnent officials, suspected from data gathered to be organized and covertly controlled by cousin of President. A funding solution was presented that did not demand or require state concessions detrimental to the state and its people; no potential bidders/parties could compete with offer; China left table only to come back later indirectly through Venezuela; Caterpillar implemented deceptive practices and undue political and possibly fmancial influence over the situation; All was predicted and the funding solution presented was purposefully designed by terms and conditions to ferret out government and third party corruption, and political/financial influence; China came back through Venezuela. International media reported that China had agreed to a 50 Billion arrangement with Venezuela's Chief for oil. First report recommendation was to terminate involvement with Ecuador due to time intensity required to resolve. Investigative Intel reports were that it was actually to be a sale of the frozen Venezuela USA accounts to China disguised by the oil arrangement and Venezuela's influence on Ecuador to indirectly re-enter table of energy project. Ecuador President was called to Venezuela and preliminary deal cut for a "loan". Subsequently, Ecuador returned to request funding solution reporting that all agreements with Venezuela failed, due to failure of China-Venezuela agreement. Follow-up Investigative Intel revealed that USA intervention on frozen accounts with China was the cause. Report recommended termination of interaction with Ecuador due to other obligations already engaged.



*FOLLOW-UP INVESTIGATION CATALYST TRIGGERS:
Investigation and interviews within "broker" industry; incompetent by design; general industry incapable of competency at this time only due to current conditions

*FORECLOSURE SUMMARY:
TOTAL MORTGAGES REVIEWED: APPROX. 23,000

TYPE: CMO, various MBS packages, REMICS, Individual Mortgages, Legal Case Reviews

TEST STATE: Washington State

TEST COUNTY: Pierce County (primary), supplemented by Thurston, Mason

TEST HOUSE: 3809 I 16th st ct NW, Gig Harbor, Washington, 98332

PURCHASED: 2003, Statutory Warranty Deed

AMOUNT: $255,000 Cash-"loan" mix. Deed of Trust Executed/Recorded, without note, MERS beneficiary.

DEFECTIVE DEED OF TRUST: YES.

METHOD: Deed of Trust/Promissory Note CANCELED FOR CAUSE. Recorded. Filed. Served.

HELOC: 2004, "50,000 heloc", Deed of Trust, without ID of secured debt, Executed/Recorded, without note

DEFECTIVE DEED OF TRUST: YES.

METHOD: Deed ofTrust/Promissory Note CANCELED FOR CAUSE. Recorded. Filed. Served.


PENDING LEGAL ACTIONS: YES.

CONTROL: other mortgages used and monitored for comparison.

OBJECTIVES:
test general cancellation process,
test judicial bank, commerce, corruption,
test local bank attorneys, corruption,
test law enforcement, commerce, corruption,
test homeowner base level knowledge,
assess and test strategies for cleaning judicial house,
establish cases in various jurisdictions, court levels, for use during implementation of public-money-for-private-use bank system and the opportunity for banks to adjust to formal settlements for survival in new system.


Due to the Judicial's mutual and incestuous relationship with the banks and the insurance companies, the only time the court will find in favor of the homeowner is generally when one of two things happen, no matter what the specific fact pattern is:

the homeowner actually gets an honest judge with the backbone for justice (a needle in a haystack); or
the evidence is so overwhelming in establishing fraud or other criminal acts by the bank/lender, that if the judge found in favor of the bank it would result in public outrage, hence, breach of the peace.


PRELIMINARY CONCLUSION OF INVESTIGATION, TESTING AND FINDINGS:

THE JUDICIAL HOUSE (SYSTEM) IS CORRUPT THROUGH ITS ELITE AND PRIVILEGED MENTALITY AND PROFIT MAKING, ORDERED, FOSTERED AND ENCOURAGED BY THE PRIVATE BANKING SYSTEM, FILTERED AND MAINTAINED BY THE BAR

LAW ENFORCEMENT IS AN ORDER TAKER, AND GENERALLY SPEAKING, THEY TURN A BLIND EYE TO THE CRIMES THEIR "SUPERIORS" ARE COMMITTING. LAW ENFORCEMENT IS NOT CORRUPT IN GENERAL TERMS, AND THEY SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING, THEY JUST NEED SUPPORT, AND ORDERS, TO RE-IGNITE THEIR STAMINA AND COURAGE TO ENFORCE TRUE JUSTICE.

ALL MORTGAGES ARE FRAUD-THE EVIDENCE OF THE FRAUD ARE IN THE BOOKKEEPING AND TAX REPORTING; FURTHER SUPPORTING EVIDENCE IS IN THE HISTORICAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY OF FREDDIE/FANNIE, SPECIFICALLY WITH REGARDS TO THE "UNIFORM INSTRUMENT" DEED OF TRUST, AND CHANGE IN THE LAWS, JUDICIAL AND EDUCATION SYSTEMS OVER THE DECADES

THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE FRAUD ARE THE DEED OF TRUST AND PROMISSORY NOTES, WHICH ARE ILLEGAL SECURITIES, COMMERCIAL LIENS, AND LANDLORD TENANT LEASES

THE ONLY CORRECT RESPONSE TO A MORTGAGE IS CANCELLATION AND CORRESPONDING TAX REPORTING (1099A, 1099C, 10990ID, 1096) AND RUNNING EVERYTHING UCC

JUDICIAL CLERKS TRESPASSED ON THE CASE (FAILING TO SCAN DOCUMENTS FILED, REMOVING SCANS FROM RECORD, ETC.)=SOLUTION: RUN CASE THROUGH UCC

COUNTY RECORDERS REFUSED TO FILE RECORDINGS; CANCELATION WAS ALTERED TO MAKE IT SO THAT RECORDERS HAD TO FILE; INITIAL RESPONSE WAS TO CHARGE FILER FOR EVERY REFERENCE TO PREVIOUSLY FILED AND PAID FOR AUDITORS FILINGS RESULTING IN A FILING ORIGINALLY COSTING $63 TO GO AS HIGH AS $1600; INVESTIGATION LEAD SPOKE WITH PIERCE COUNTY AUDITOR ABOUT AN INTERNAL EMAIL BETWEEN COUNTY AUDITORS IN WASHINGTON STATE, SUBSEQUENTLY REPORTS THAT THE FEE HAD GONE BACK DOWN WERE MADE=NEEDS TO BE RUN THROUGH UCC AS WELL FOR INDEPENDANT PUBLIC RECORD AS WELL AS FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES

CANCELATIONS HAVE BEEN TESTED AND ARE MAKING WAVES, IT WILL BE FURTHER SOLID WHEN DONE IN CONJUNCTION WITH TAX REPORTING AND UCC FILINGS

HOMEOWNER BASE LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE IS MINIMAL, BY DESIGN; THE HARDEST POINT FOR HOMEOWNERS TO COME TO TERMS WITH ARE THAT NO LOAN WAS MADE;
END OF ANNEX
END OF PRIMARY REPORT
END OF PRIMARY INVESTIGATION



Posted by Obi-Wan Kabuki at 10:26 PM
Labels: Banking Fraud, Banksters, Fraud Investigation, New Banking System

[Sabrina]

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2012/12/27/important-document-2-originally-released-3-6-11-treasury-finance-ag-final-bullet-report-paradigm-a-report-on-bank-judicial-and-government-corruption/

Here's one update on the post above via Kauliapele, who also received the document along with American Kabuki.

[UPDATE 2139 PM: One sentence in this document is, "The most notable of the rogue Agents warned as the Texas Camp." I asked the sender what this meant, and here is what I was told. "GHWB [George H.W. Bush] is known and referred to us by the name used by our contact in the Rothschilds…’the Texas Camp’.”]

[Sabrina]

http://itccs.org/2012/12/22/update-and-new-evidence-from-the-international-common-law-court-of-justice-the-case-of-genocide-in-canada/

Canada (22 Dec)

Update and new evidence from the International Common Law Court of Justice: The case of genocide in Canada

ITCCS Communiqué from Brussels

The Prosecutor's Office of the Common Law Court of Justice has today posted new evidence and an update about its work, in the attached youtube link. The enormous response to the Court's November 6 commencement as well as considerable new evidence it has acquired has necessitated this slight delay.

Please share the attached youtube and post it widely.

The next session of the online Court will conclude the Prosecution's case concerning Crimes against Humanity by church and state in Canada. It is anticipated to be posted at www.itccs.org later in January.

Please stand by for further news.

Respectfully,

ITCCS Central
Brussels

[kae1KlXk13Q




About the ITCCS:
Background and Rationale

The abuse, trafficking, torture and murder of children appears endemic to European culture, and continues to be actively practiced, and condoned and protected, by church, state, judicial and police forces around the globe.

These same institutions are equally responsible for the historic genocide of indigenous peoples at the hands of European Christendom: an enormous crime against humanity which has never stopped, and continues to ravage and destroy the innocent and the earth.

Because these crimes have emerged from within the heart and laws of so-called western civilization, they have not faced judgment or accountability. We believe it is time for both.

Two of the main practitioners of this genocide of the innocent – the Vatican and the Crown of England – are effectively immune from prosecution under existing laws and customs. It is therefore incumbent upon all citizens to take action to safeguard their children in the face of the refusal of courts and governments to bring to justice those who threaten public safety and wellbeing.

On this basis, our Tribunal has been established to enforce common law and try and convict the institutions and their officers responsible for such historic and ongoing crimes against humanity. We therefore constitute a de jure Court under common law, with full power of arrest, conviction and enforcement.

We have issued a Public Summons to Joseph Ratzinger (aka “Pope Benedict”) and six senior cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church, inc. to appear before our opening session on September 12, 2011 in London. A similar Summons will be delivered to other church and state officials in the coming months.

Common Law peace officers working for our de jure Court and Tribunal will apprehend these persons and bring them to trial, and will enforce the verdicts of our Court, if regular peace officers refuse to do so.

Our Court and its officers will follow the normal Common Law rules of due process in all of its deliberations and decisions, guided by natural law principles of equity, reason and justice, and the maxim Actus nemini facit injuriam: The act of the law does no one wrong.

In addition, our Court will recognize and allow in its proceedings the Land Law tribal jurisdiction of any indigenous nations or persons who bring suit against those parties summoned to our Court.

It is understood by our Court that its decisions, based as they are on Natural and Common Law, supersede and invalidate all statutes and statutory laws which conflict with the decisions of the Court, particularly when those statues uphold crimes or their concealment, or the protection of the guilty. Similarly, our Court does not recognize the jurisdiction or authority of any contending legal systems, such as the so-called “Canon Law”, or any form of personal, diplomatic or legal immunity governing any person or institution, including heads of states, churches and corporations.

As a de jure Court and a popular forum to address grievances, crimes and consequences, our Tribunal is by definition a public process that can only fulfill its mandate with wide participation, especially from survivors of church and state crimes.

Accordingly, in other countries and communities, the Tribunal will seek to hold public forums to coincide with its London sessions, and which will be linked by simultaneous telecast, to allow people to present their affidavits and testimonies which will become part of the official Court transcript and Tribunal record.

The final verdicts and findings of the Court and Tribunal will be made public in the form of a final public Report whose decisions will be enforced by the Common law Peace Officers and their agents, if regular peace officers refuse to do so. These decisions can and will include the imprisonment and community sentencing of the guilty, the issuing of commercial Liens and Orders of Expropriation against church, corporate and state institutions and their property and assets, orders of Reparation and Compensation, and the return of all land, property, unpaid taxes, and revenue obtained through forced labor.

Our Court and tribunal derive their ultimate authority from the self-evident Natural Law which resides within the reason and compassion of every man and woman, and from the Common Law right of the informed citizenry to establish their own Courts, Policing and Laws when normal institutions fail or refuse to uphold the liberty, rights, safety and well being of the community.

Issued by the Legal Advisory Committee of the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State – January 3, 2011

[PathWalker]

Executives at collapsed Iceland bank jailed for fraud
http://12160.info/page/executives-at-collapsed-iceland-bank-jailed-for-fraud?xg_source=activity

Reuters December 29, 2012, 4:19 am

REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Two former executives at an Icelandic bank which collapsed in the 2008 financial meltdown were sentenced to jail on Friday for fraud which led to a 53 million euro loss, in the first major trial of Icelandic bankers linked to the crisis.

All three of the small North Atlantic island's top banks collapsed in quick succession in October 2008 due to big debts incurred during a rapid overseas expansion.

Glitnir was the first to fall after the collapse of Lehman Brothers caused international credit markets to freeze up.

A Reykjavik court sentenced Glitnir's former chief executive, Larus Welding, and former head of corporate finance, Gudmundur Hjaltason, each to nine months in jail, of which six months were suspended for two years. They had denied the charges.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

French Constitutional Council overturns 75% tax rate on rich
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/12/30/280811/french-council-rejects-tax-rate-on-rich/

The French Constitutional Council has rejected a plan proposed by President Francois Hollande that would tax the ultra-wealthy at a 75-percent rate.


The council struck down the tax rate on Saturday, calling it unconstitutional.

The council also stated that it “failed to recognize equality before public burdens.”

The tax rate would apply to incomes over one million euros ($1.3 million) a year.

Later in the day, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement that the French government would redraft its tax rate proposal.

“The government will propose a new system that conforms with the principles laid down by the decision of the Constitutional Council. It will be presented in the framework of the next Finance Act.”

The head of the right-wing opposition Union for a Popular Movement, Jean-Francois Cope, hailed the ruling and said, “While the whole world watched us in dismay, Francois Hollande deceived the French into believing that ‘taxing the rich’ would be enough to solve our country’s problems.”


“In reality, discouraging entrepreneurs and punishing the most wealthy until they leave our country inevitably puts the tax burden on the middle class. This moral error was sanctioned today.”

Europe plunged into financial crisis in early 2008. The worsening debt crisis has forced the EU governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms, which have triggered incidents of social unrest and massive protests in many European countries.

[PathWalker]

Egypt allows tons of building materials into Gaza
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/12/30/280816/egypt-allows-building-materials-into-gaza/

Egypt has allowed building materials into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing for the first time since Israel imposed a blockade on the Palestinian territory more than five years ago.


According to Egyptian and Palestinian officials, thousands of tons of cement, steel and other building materials started crossing into Gaza on Saturday.

A Hamas government official confirmed that a total of 20 trucks carrying materials crossed the Rafah border into Gaza.

Under the authoritarian rule of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, building materials were not allowed to cross into the coastal enclave.


The Egyptians launched a revolution against the pro-Israeli regime in January 2011, which eventually ended the 30-year dictatorship of Mubarak in February 2011.

Gaza has been blockaded since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty for Palestinians.

The apartheid regime of Israel denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages and adequate healthcare and education.


Interesting article point of view. Failing to notice that the blockade on Gaza was Israel + Eygpt collaborating together.
Now both Israel and Egypt remove the blockade, as it seems ineffective to their goals.
The Egyptians wish to take the role of liberators, it is all an illusion of TPTB.

After all this conflict is too precious to be solved.

[PathWalker]

Sweden’s War on Cash Runs Into a Wall – and a Heroic Bank
http://lewrockwell.com/salerno/salerno13.1.html

The war on cash in Sweden may be stalling. The anti-cash movement has been vigorously promoted by major Swedish commercial banks as well as the Riksbank, the Swedish central bank. In fact, for three of the four major Swedish banks combined, 530 of their 780 office no longer accept or pay out cash. In the case of the Nordea Bank, 200 of its 300 branches are now cashless, and three-quarters of Swedbank’s branches no longer handle cash. As Peter Borsos, a spokesman for Swedbank, freely admits, his bank is working “actively to reduce the [amount] of cash in society.” The reasons for this push toward a cashless society, of course, have nothing to do with pumping up earnings from bank card fees or, more important, freeing fractional-reserve banks from the constraints of bank runs. No, according to Borsos, the reasons are the environment, cost, and security: ”We ourselves emit 700 tons of carbon dioxide by cash transport. It costs society 11 billion per year. And cash helps robberies everywhere.” Hans Jacobson, head of Nordea Bank, argues similarly: ”Our mission is to make people understand the point of cards, cards are more secure than cash.”

Fortunately, it seems that the Swedish people are not falling for the anti-cash propaganda spewed by private bankers and Riksbank officials and are resisting the trend toward a cashless economy. It is reported that last year the value of cash transactions in Sweden were 99 billion krona which represented only a marginal decrease from ten years ago. And small shops continue to do one-third to one-half of their business in cash. Furthermore a study of bank customers satisfaction released by the Swedish Quality Index in October 2012, indicated that the satisfaction index was pulled down among customers of Swedbank, Nordea and SEB by their policy of eliminating cash transactions at their bank branches. Even more heartening is the fact that Handelsbanken, the largest bank in Sweden, is committed to serving consumers who demand cash. As Kai Jokitulppo, head of private services at Handelsbanken, puts it:

“As long as we know that our customers are asking for cash, it is important that we as a bank [are] providing it. . . . We see places where other banks are taking other decisions, we get customers from them and positive response.”

Fewer then 10 of Handelsbanken’s 461 branches currently do not handle cash and the bank’s goal is to have cash in every branch by the first quarter of 2013.

This is an indication that TPTB grip on the banks is loosening.

[PathWalker]

Fed members gave their own banks $4 trillion during bailout
http://www.blacklistednews.com/Fed_members_gave_their_own_banks_%244_trillion_during_bailout_/23300/0/38/38/Y/M.html

A report just released by the US Government Accountability Office explains how the Federal Reserve divvied up more than $4 trillion in low-interest loans after the fiscal crisis of 2008, and the news shouldn’t be all that surprising.

When the Federal Reserve looked towards bailing out some of the biggest banks in the country, more than one dozen of the financial institutions that benefited from the Fed’s Hail Mary were members of the central bank’s own board, reports the GAO. At least 18 current and former directors of the Fed’s regional branches saw to it that their own banks were awarded loans with often next-to-no interest by the country’s central bank during the height of the financial crisis that crippled the American economy and spurred rampant unemployment and home foreclosures for those unable to receive assistance.

Although the crisis continues to have an effect on Americans that were devastated by the recession, the banks that survived the near meltdown were largely able to do so because some of their CEOs sat on the same Federal Reserve board the decided on how to dish out trillions of dollars.

"This report reveals the inherent conflicts of interest that exist at the Federal Reserve,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) says in a statement about the report. “At a time when small businesses could not get affordable loans to create jobs, the Fed was providing trillions in secret loans to some of the largest banks and corporations in America that were well represented on the boards of the Federal Reserve Banks,” adds Mr. Sanders. “These conflicts must end."

The GAO’s report is believed to mark the first time that the Fed’s records about their major bailout identifying the parties involved to the public.

In a press release published on the official US Senate website for Mr. Sanders, the lawmakers singles out JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon over an alleged conflict of interest that could have contributed to the bailout his bank received through the Fed. Sanders also calls out General Electric CEO Jefferey Immelt for sitting on the same Federal Reserve board that approved massive funding to GE during a time of financial insecurity in the United States.

Sen. Sanders’ office has released a report summarizing the information published by the GAO in a four page document hosted on his website titled “Jamie Dimon Is Not Alone.”

“Jamie Dimon, the Chairman a CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has served on the Board of Directors at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since 2007,” the report mentions. “During the financial crisis, the Fed provided JPMorgan Chase with $391 billion in total financial assistance. JPMorgan Chase was also used by the Fed as a clearinghouse for the Fed’s emergency lending programs.”

One year later, the report notes, the Fed handed Dimon’s bank $29 billion to help acquire Bear Stearns. In the case of General Electric’s Immelt, Sanders recalls that the Fed handed over $16 billion in low-interest financing to GE during the five-year span that the company’s CEO sat on the Federal Reserve’s board of directors.

Other Fed members that benefited by the bailout include officials at the top of Citigroup, Lehman Brothers, SunTrust Banks and PNC, among others.

Testifying before the US Senate Banking Committee this week, Dimon apologized for a recent JP Morgan Chase in-trading gaffe that cost the institute billions.

Read More... (http://rt.com/usa/news/fed-federal-reserve-report-938/)

Can anyone verify if this is published in MSM.

[Referee]

Coast Gaurd Captain Re assigned. Cant find much more on this..

gQFgxO8Xpp4

[Sabrina]

Fed members gave their own banks $4 trillion during bailout
http://www.blacklistednews.com/Fed_members_gave_their_own_banks_%244_trillion_during_bailout_/23300/0/38/38/Y/M.html

A report just released by the US Government Accountability Office explains how the Federal Reserve divvied up more than $4 trillion in low-interest loans after the fiscal crisis of 2008, and the news shouldn’t be all that surprising.

When the Federal Reserve looked towards bailing out some of the biggest banks in the country, more than one dozen of the financial institutions that benefited from the Fed’s Hail Mary were members of the central bank’s own board, reports the GAO. At least 18 current and former directors of the Fed’s regional branches saw to it that their own banks were awarded loans with often next-to-no interest by the country’s central bank during the height of the financial crisis that crippled the American economy and spurred rampant unemployment and home foreclosures for those unable to receive assistance.

Although the crisis continues to have an effect on Americans that were devastated by the recession, the banks that survived the near meltdown were largely able to do so because some of their CEOs sat on the same Federal Reserve board the decided on how to dish out trillions of dollars.

"This report reveals the inherent conflicts of interest that exist at the Federal Reserve,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) says in a statement about the report. “At a time when small businesses could not get affordable loans to create jobs, the Fed was providing trillions in secret loans to some of the largest banks and corporations in America that were well represented on the boards of the Federal Reserve Banks,” adds Mr. Sanders. “These conflicts must end."

The GAO’s report is believed to mark the first time that the Fed’s records about their major bailout identifying the parties involved to the public.

In a press release published on the official US Senate website for Mr. Sanders, the lawmakers singles out JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon over an alleged conflict of interest that could have contributed to the bailout his bank received through the Fed. Sanders also calls out General Electric CEO Jefferey Immelt for sitting on the same Federal Reserve board that approved massive funding to GE during a time of financial insecurity in the United States.

Sen. Sanders’ office has released a report summarizing the information published by the GAO in a four page document hosted on his website titled “Jamie Dimon Is Not Alone.”

“Jamie Dimon, the Chairman a CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has served on the Board of Directors at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since 2007,” the report mentions. “During the financial crisis, the Fed provided JPMorgan Chase with $391 billion in total financial assistance. JPMorgan Chase was also used by the Fed as a clearinghouse for the Fed’s emergency lending programs.”

One year later, the report notes, the Fed handed Dimon’s bank $29 billion to help acquire Bear Stearns. In the case of General Electric’s Immelt, Sanders recalls that the Fed handed over $16 billion in low-interest financing to GE during the five-year span that the company’s CEO sat on the Federal Reserve’s board of directors.

Other Fed members that benefited by the bailout include officials at the top of Citigroup, Lehman Brothers, SunTrust Banks and PNC, among others.

Testifying before the US Senate Banking Committee this week, Dimon apologized for a recent JP Morgan Chase in-trading gaffe that cost the institute billions.

Read More... (http://rt.com/usa/news/fed-federal-reserve-report-938/)

Can anyone verify if this is published in MSM.


There's stories on various alternative sites in June 2012.. hers's rt.com - msm or semi msm :)...

http://rt.com/usa/news/fed-federal-reserve-report-938/

[Sabrina]

http://www.opinion-maker.org/2012/12/seals-killers-of-osama-dying-or-being-killed/

US Navy Seal Commander, Who Killed Osama Bin Laden, Commits ‘Apparent Suicide’ In Afghanistan

- UNBELIEVABLE: ‘More Than 20 Navy SEALS From The Unit That Killed Osama Bin Laden’ Die In Helicopter Crash

US Navy Commander who killed Bin Laden, commits suicide (The Siasat Daily, Dec 25, 2012):

Hyderabad – SEAL Team 4 Commanding Officer Job W. Price commit suicide. He was best known for finding and then killing Osama bin Laden.

Cmdr. Job W. Price, 42, died Saturday, Dec. 22, of a non-combat-related injury while supporting stability operations in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan.


Suicide of the Officer of this grade raises many questions among the media, as the team was best known for killing Osama Bin Laden that assaulted his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 1, 2011.

Military officials are looking into the death of Cmdr. Job W. Price as a possible suicide, but that his death remains under investigation.
Price, 42, of Pottstown, Pa., was in charge of coordinating all Team 4 missions.

Price was in Afghanistan supporting stability operations in Uruzgan Province. He was assigned to an East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit based in Virginia Beach, Va.

SEAL Team 4 is among eight SEAL team deployments. SEAL Team 6 is best known among them for finding and then killing Osama bin Laden.

- US Navy Seal’s ‘apparent suicide’ in Afghanistan under investigation (Guardian, Dec 25, 2012):

US military officials are investigating the apparent suicide of a Navy Seal commander in Afghanistan.

Navy Seal Commander Job W Price, 42, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, died on Saturday from a non-combat-related injury while supporting stability operations in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan.

A US military official said the death “appears to be the result of suicide”. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the death is still being investigated.

“The Naval Special Warfare family is deeply saddened by the loss of our teammate,” said Captain Robert Smith, commander of Naval Special Warfare Group Two, which manages all Virginia-based Navy Seal teams.

“We extend our condolences, thoughts and prayers to the family, friends, and NSW community during this time of grieving.”
Smith added: “As we mourn the loss and honour the memory of our fallen teammate, those he served with will continue to carry out the mission.”.

A US military official confirmed Price was from Virginia Beach, Virginia-based Seal Team 4, which is part of the mission to train Afghan local police to fend off the Taliban in remote parts of Afghanistan.

Price is survived by a wife and a daughter.

[Sabrina]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2254003/Anguish-families-Iraq-report-delayed-Publication-delayed-ongoing-security-row.html

UK

Anguish for families as Iraq report is delayed again: Publication held back after ongoing security row

Sir John Chilcot's report initially due in 2011 not likely until late 2013

Inquiry team has met resistance to releasing key papers

Documents include conversations between Tony Blair and George W Bush

Reg Keys whose son died in Iraq described delay as 'frustrating'

Relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq spoke of their prolonged agony as it emerged the inquiry into the war has been delayed until late next year.

Sir John Chilcot’s report, initially due out in 2011, has been beset by more delays due to an ongoing secrecy row with the Government, which is blocking publication of classified documents.

A source revealed it is now likely to be published at the end of next year if not early 2014 if the issues are not resolved soon.

Reg Keys, whose son Lance Corporal Tom Keys was killed in Iraq in 2003 aged 20, said the new delay was ‘frustrating’ and suggested waiting any longer would diminish its impact.

The inquiry was set up by Gordon Brown three years ago to get to the bottom of the Government’s decision to join the USA in going to war against Saddam Hussein in March 2003, and conduct right up to the withdrawal of British troops in July 2009.

But Sir John’s five-strong panel of academics and former diplomats have met resistance from the civil service to publishing key documents, in particular transcripts of phone conversations between George W Bush and Tony Blair in the run-up to the conflict.

Frustration: Reg Keys, whose son Lance Corporal Tom Keys was killed in Iraq in 2003 aged 20, suggested the delay would diminish its impact and described it as 'frustrating'

Mr Keys, of Llanuwchllyn, North Wales, who founded the campaign group Military Families Against the War said: ‘The report was due to be published in 2011 when it was still a very hot potato, but by the time we eventually see it, people might think it was all a long time ago and that it doesn’t really matter any more.

I can understand why Mr Blair and a few others don’t want things to come out, because there was deceit behind closed doors.
‘But for me and the other families, the delays just keep poking a wound that you’re trying to heal. You try to put things in a box, but until this is done and dusted you can’t move on.’

In July, Sir John wrote to David Cameron to warn him about delays in persuading the government to declassify ‘a significant volume of currently classified material’ that he believed the public should see.

This is thought to relate to the intelligence produced by M15, M16. GCHQ and the Joint Intelligence Committee regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction; and key question of whether Mr Blair promised to back the US invasion before he had the backing of parliament.
Sir John predicted the panel might contact those who would be criticised in the report in the summer of 2013 to give them the right to reply. But it is understood his team are still in deadlock with the Cabinet Office.

A source told the Daily Telegraph: ‘The big issue still remains the inquiry’s belief that it should be able to publish documents that the Cabinet Office is still withholding.

‘Sir John is hoping to send letters out to people next summer to invite their responses to any criticisms he might intend to include in his report.

Their responses could take weeks or months to come back, then the inquiry will have to consider whether it needs to change the wording of the report in the light of their responses.

‘So it’s likely to be well into well into the autumn before anything is published.’

The inquiry -which took evidence from 150 witnesses with its last public hearing last February - has cost more than £6million and the year-long delay is set to cost an extra £1.4million. His report is expected to run to a million words.

It was claimed last night that a secret document relating to discussions between George W Bush and Tony Blair has not been provided by the Cabinet Office nine months after it was ordered to do so by the Information Commissioner. No one from the Cabinet Office was available for comment last night.

28 Dec

[Sabrina]

http://www.thecommonsenseshow.com/2012/12/25/ex-feds-and-wall-street-execs-are-going-into-hiding-why/

US

Ex-Feds & Wall Street Execs Are Going Into Hiding-Why?

by Dave Hodges - thecommonsenseshow.com

In my role as a talk show host, I have been approached by individuals who claim to have “insider information” about what is coming, and according to these individuals, what is coming is very bad. Most credible sources demand complete anonymity. As a result, I have found myself in a position to try and evaluate whether to write about and broadcast some very controversial information. Sometimes, my insider information turns out to be stunningly accurate as evidenced by the Chris Stevens murder story which was spot on. My information on the Aurora Batman shootings has also proven to be very accurate.

There is a risk in using unnamed sources. Simply, they could be wrong, they could be disinformation agents or they might just be crazy as they are looking for their 15 minutes of fame. It takes a degree of courage to air information derived from confidential sources. Therefore, I want to thank Doug Hagmann for daring to publish his dire warnings which come from an inside source at DHS. I have subsequently decided to reveal what I know as well. The decision to air these warnings will undoubtedly encourage others to come forward. Hopefully, so many “insiders” will come forward that it will become impossible to hide what it is coming from those who are actively seeking answers. To the general public, it does not matter what they are told, for they will still believe that the government will take care of them, CNN truthfully reports the news and Santa Claus exists. As a result, these fools will never know what hit them.

Although the Hagmann warnings differ somewhat from my sources, there are some common threads. One area that Hagmann’s source did not focus on is the dropping out of sight by ex-federal officials and prominent figures on Wall Street. and that is the remaining focus of this article.

The Marrs Observation
In a December 9, 2012 interview on The Common Sense Show, Jim Marrs discussed how approximately 400-500 top level bankers have left their positions and have gone into seclusion. Marrs reminded my listening audience of how the elite have developed seed vaults which only they have access to. Marrs was clearly alluding to the fact that some very bad events are coming and the global elite are aware of it and are moving to meet the threat. My insider sources inform me that the same thing is happening in various federal organizations who have recently retired from the CIA, DHS, NSA and FEMA. This fact is indisputable. I have firsthand knowledge of three ex-fed officials and their families who have relocated to safety enclaves when doing so was very disruptive to their respective family’s lives. Increasingly, it is looking like some major event(s) is/are coming and persons with insider information are attempting to remove themselves from harm’s way.

Massive Retirements From
the Alphabet Soup Agencies
When government officials, from the various alphabet soup agencies, retire en masse, it is not necessarily a noteworthy event. However, when the same officials retire en masse and then relocate to form their own survivalist enclaves, then this is something that we should all sit up and take notice of, especially when we are seeing the same behavior on the part of Wall Street executives.

In my dealings with purported alphabet soup agency informants, I have been receiving some very dire warnings in terms of what lies ahead for America. Given the above facts, it should be understandable why I found the recent Hagmann interview with Rosebud to be a little bit more than interesting. I have had conversations with two insiders and a relative of another insider who tell similar stories of a coming series of apocalyptic events. Much of the Hagmann information, to a large extent, corresponds to the information I’ve received except for the fact that many ex-feds are forming self-sustaining communities. Therefore, this installment will strictly deal with the fact that officials from the NSA, CIA, DHS and FEMA are retiring/early retiring and going into seclusion with their former comrades in arms.

DHS and CIA Relocations
It is a matter of official agency policy that some current DHS and CIA officials and their families will be provided safe sanctuary in various strategic locations in Colorado in times of trouble. Most people in the know are aware of the underground facilities which lies below the Denver International Airport which has an underground connected railway to the Cheyenne Mountain NORAD/Fort Carson/Peterson Air Force Base underground facilities. The structures are part of the Continuity of Government program developed by the United States government in the early days of the Cold War. However these facilities are increasingly becoming the planned refuge for many of the global elite residing within the United States when all hell breaks loose. In September 2011, the evacuation of the elite to this safe hideaway was rehearsed in the DHS exercise known as Operation Mountain Guardian in which the Denver airport was shut down to commercial air travel except for specific, undesignated planes which were allowed to land in preparation for some staged catastrophe. This aforementioned event is not newsworthy because it has been reported in the mainstream. However, where this even becomes noteworthy to the public is because it is not coincidental that the CIA has relocated its major data collection facilities to underground structures in the Denver International Airport. The implications for residents living in or near the Washington DC Metropolitan area should be clear. The planned obsolescence for the nation’s capital is becoming increasingly apparent. If I were you and I lived in this area, I would be looking for a new place to live in the very near future. The previous information is what is publicly available. The following information has not been disseminated but is highly relevant to what lies ahead.

Ex-CIA and DHS Relocations
Parallel to the Colorado being prepared to become the new capital, it is highly relevant to note that retired officials from the DHS and the CIA, who are not part of the privileged elite but who know what is coming, have developed their own enclaves in the Rocky Mountains outside of Denver and Colorado Springs. As it has been described to me that these facilities are a poor man’s imitation of the Denver International Airport facilities. The structures are largely natural, but are very well equipped and the resources include a self-contained air supply. My source for this information is a former DHS insider. This is the same insider who revealed to me in mid-2008 of a rift between the old guard of the New World Order and the up and coming new wealth of the same group. His information at that time proved to highly credible then and I believe that this is credible as well.

NSA Relocations
Recently, retired officials from the NSA have relocated to an area in the Ozarks where they have access to underground safety zone which have/are being transformed into mini-villages of self-sustainable protection. Their properties consist typically of 5 to 10 acres for each family, contains a portable water supply, residents are armed to the teeth, have alternative communications that are not reliant on the grid and have years of stored food. My source is an individual who retired from the NSA almost two years ago. His decision to participate in the relocation was triggered by the impending re-election of President Obama which he said will hasten the onslaught of what is to come because Obama’s administration fully embraces the destruction of America.

Ex-FEMA Relocations
Recently retired officials from FEMA are relocating to mountainous areas, in North Carolina, approximately one hour from the coast. Their enclave contains the same resources involving air, water, food and guns. These enclaves also include underground structures which are sensibly self-contained and can serve to isolate the inhabitants from the outside. I have two sources on this information which includes a family member and a retired FEMA official who has chosen not to participate in this relocation. The nonparticipant ex-official from FEMA did not seek sanctuary with these groups because he feels that several of these enclaves will be targeted for destruction by the powers that be because of the knowledge contained by the inhabitants in this case of “dead men tell no tales.” This makes sense because it would allow the elite, following the coming cataclysms, to rewrite history in their own version without any contradiction from knowledgeable individuals that know what really has gone on. This insider knowledge is a threat which would serve as an obstacle to the new truth. Personally, I think this view has a great deal of merit.

Conclusion
I fully realize that unnamed sources don’t carry as much credibility as documented sources. However, as similar stories make their way into the national discussion, it might be wise to take a closer look. I don’t ask that the facts presented here be taken at face value, I encourage everyone to do their own research and if you find credibility to the claims made in the following parts in this series, it would be prudent to take the proper precautions.

What is coming, you ask? That will be the topic of Part Two.

(25 Dec)

[Sabrina]

http://m.smh.com.au/business/the-four-business-gangs-that-run-the-us-20121230-2c1e2.html

From the Sydney Morning Herald's reporter Ross
Gittins:

31 Dec

The four business gangs that run the US

IF YOU'VE ever suspected politics is increasingly being run in the interests of big business, I have news: Jeffrey Sachs, a highly respected economist from Columbia University, agrees with you - at least in respect of the United States.

In his book, The Price of Civilisation, he says the US economy is caught in a feedback loop. ''Corporate wealth translates into political power through campaign financing, corporate lobbying and the revolving door of jobs between government and industry; and political power translates into further wealth through tax cuts, deregulation and sweetheart contracts between government and industry. Wealth begets power, and power begets wealth,'' he says.

Sachs says four key sectors of US business exemplify this feedback loop and the takeover of political power in America by the ''corporatocracy''.

First is the well-known military-industrial complex. ''As [President] Eisenhower famously warned in his farewell address in January 1961, the linkage of the military and private industry created a political power so pervasive that America has been condemned to militarisation, useless wars and fiscal waste on a scale of many tens of trillions of dollars since then,'' he says.

Second is the Wall Street-Washington complex, which has steered the financial system towards control by a few politically powerful Wall Street firms, notably Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and a handful of other financial firms.

These days, almost every US Treasury secretary - Republican or Democrat - comes from Wall Street and goes back there when his term ends. The close ties between Wall Street and Washington ''paved the way for the 2008 financial crisis and the mega-bailouts that followed, through reckless deregulation followed by an almost complete lack of oversight by government''.

Third is the Big Oil-transport-military complex, which has put the US on the trajectory of heavy oil-imports dependence and a deepening military trap in the Middle East, he says.

''Since the days of John D. Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Trust a century ago, Big Oil has loomed large in American politics and foreign policy. Big Oil teamed up with the automobile industry to steer America away from mass transit and towards gas-guzzling vehicles driving on a nationally financed highway system.''

Big Oil has consistently and successfully fought the intrusion of competition from non-oil energy sources, including nuclear, wind and solar power.

It has been at the side of the Pentagon in making sure that America defends the sea-lanes to the Persian Gulf, in effect ensuring a $US100 billion-plus annual subsidy for a fuel that is otherwise dangerous for national security, Sachs says.

''And Big Oil has played a notorious role in the fight to keep climate change off the US agenda. Exxon-Mobil, Koch Industries and others in the sector have underwritten a generation of anti-scientific propaganda to confuse the American people.''

Fourth is the healthcare industry, America's largest industry, absorbing no less than 17 per cent of US gross domestic product.
''The key to understanding this sector is to note that the government partners with industry to reimburse costs with little systematic oversight and control,'' Sachs says. ''Pharmaceutical firms set sky-high prices protected by patent rights; Medicare [for the aged] and Medicaid [for the poor] and private insurers reimburse doctors and hospitals on a cost-plus basis; and the American Medical Association restricts the supply of new doctors through the control of placements at medical schools.

''The result of this pseudo-market system is sky-high costs, large profits for the private healthcare sector, and no political will to reform.''

Now do you see why the industry put so much effort into persuading America's punters that Obamacare was rank socialism? They didn't succeed in blocking it, but the compromised program doesn't do enough to stop the US being the last rich country in the world without universal healthcare.

It's worth noting that, despite its front-running cost, America's healthcare system doesn't leave Americans with particularly good health - not as good as ours, for instance. This conundrum is easily explained: America has the highest-paid doctors.

Sachs says the main thing to remember about the corporatocracy is that it looks after its own. ''There is absolutely no economic crisis in corporate America.

''Consider the pulse of the corporate sector as opposed to the pulse of the employees working in it: corporate profits in 2010 were at an all-time high, chief executive salaries in 2010 rebounded strongly from the financial crisis, Wall Street compensation in 2010 was at an all-time high, several Wall Street firms paid civil penalties for financial abuses, but no senior banker faced any criminal charges, and there were no adverse regulatory measures that would lead to a loss of profits in finance, health care, military supplies and energy,'' he says.

The 30-year achievement of the corporatocracy has been the creation of America's rich and super-rich classes, he says. And we can now see their tools of trade.

''It began with globalisation, which pushed up capital income while pushing down wages. These changes were magnified by the tax cuts at the top, which left more take-home pay and the ability to accumulate greater wealth through higher net-of-tax returns to saving.''
Chief executives then helped themselves to their own slice of the corporate sector ownership through outlandish awards of stock options by friendly and often handpicked compensation committees, while the Securities and Exchange Commission looked the other way. It's not all that hard to do when both political parties are standing in line to do your bidding, Sachs concludes.

Fortunately, things aren't nearly so bad in Australia. But it will require vigilance to stop them sliding further in that direction.
Twitter: @1Ross Gittins

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.payvand.com/news/12/dec/1272.html

30 Dec

Iran: Police announce more arrests around currency crisis

Source: Radio Zamaneh

The Tehran Police force has announced that 88 "gold and foreign currency brokers" have been arrested, as disputes have intensified between the Iranian government and the Central Bank over handling the crisis in the currency and gold markets.

Police officials reported today, December 30, that 88 people had been arrested for being engaged in the illegal and criminal handling of gold and foreign currencies, the Fars News Agency reports.

The detainees are charged with selling "fake gold coins, stealing money from their customers, and distributing counterfeit dollars and low-quality coins."

The possible distribution of $5 billion in counterfeit money was noted in Parliament in recent months.

The currency market has been highly volatile in Iran in the past several months, and the government previously had announced a number of arrests prior to this, also in connection with the fluctuations in the currency market.

Some MPs have accused the Ahmadinejad administration of deliberately keeping the foreign currency market in a state of fluctuation in order to make greater profit from the sale of state dollars.

The government has denied the allegations and blames the intensification of international sanctions for the steep fall in the national currency.

In first half of 2009, the dollar was traded in Iran at about 10,000 rials, but in the past year the exchange rate in the free market has risen to 35,000 rials.

EU and U.S. sanctions on Iran's oil and financial sector have reduced Iran's oil revenues by half, which has had a direct effect on Iran's foreign currency reserves.

... Payvand News - 12/30/12 ... --

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/28/iceland-crisis-idUSL5E8NS4TN20121228

Executives at collapsed Iceland bank jailed for fraud

Dec 28 (Reuters) - Two former executives at an Icelandic bank which collapsed in the 2008 financial meltdown were sentenced to jail on Friday for fraud which led to a 53 million euro loss, in the first major trial of Icelandic bankers linked to the crisis.

All three of the small North Atlantic island's top banks collapsed in quick succession in October 2008 due to big debts incurred during a rapid overseas expansion.

Glitnir was the first to fall after the collapse of Lehman Brothers caused international credit markets to freeze up.

A Reykjavik court sentenced Glitnir's former chief executive, Larus Welding, and former head of corporate finance, Gudmundur Hjaltason, each to nine months in jail, of which six months were suspended for two years. They had denied the charges.

Prosecutors said the two approved a loan to a company which owned shares in Glitnir so that the company could in turn repay a debt to Morgan Stanley.

The decision, taken outside the regular decision-making process, meant Glitnir was too exposed to the company and cost the bank at least 53.7 million euros ($71 million), the prosecution said.

The sentence was less than the jail terms of at least five years demanded by Iceland's special prosecutor, who is looking into alleged wrongdoing connected to the crisis.

"We have a conviction, which is of course the main thing," prosecutor Holmsteinn Sigurdsson told reporters outside the courtroom when asked whether he was disappointed with the length of the sentence.

The special prosecutor is also looking into alleged wrongdoing linked to the collapse of the other two former top banks, Landsbanki and Kaupthing. ($1 = 0.7563 euros) (Reporting by Omar Valdimarsson; Writing by Patrick Lannin in Stockholm; Editing by Pravin Char)

[Sabrina]

More on Hillary Clinton's illness:


http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2012/12/31/hillary_clinton_hospitalized_with_blood_clot.html

31 Dec US

Hillary Clinton's Blood Clot Is Between Brain and Skull

UPDATE: Now can we all agree she wasn't faking it? Hillary Clinton's doctors on Monday released a brief statement describing the secretary of state's blood clot. Here's the full text, via CNN:

"In the course of a routine follow-up MRI on Sunday, the scan revealed that a right transverse sinus venous thrombosis had formed. This is a clot in the vein that is situated in the space between the brain and the skull behind the right ear. It did not result in a stroke, or neurological damage. To help dissolve this clot, her medical team began treating the Secretary with blood thinners. She will be released once the medication dose has been established. In all other aspects of her recovery, the Secretary is making excellent progress and we are confident she will make a full recovery. She is in good spirits, engaging with her doctors, her family, and her staff."

- Dr. Lisa Bardack, Mt. Kisco Medical Group, and Dr. Gigi El-Bayoumi, George Washington University
Meanwhile, Sen. Joe Lieberman has echoed John Kerry and others in asserting that Clinton will testify on the Benghazi attacks once she's better, Talking Points Memo reports. John Bolton, Allen West, and other conservatives have insinuated in recent weeks that Clinton faked her ailments to avoid exactly that.

Monday, Dec. 31, 9:21 a.m.: Hillary Clinton’s run of ill health continued on Sunday as she was hospitalized with a blood clot discovered in a follow-up exam related to the concussion she suffered earlier this month. The concussion came after she fainted from dehydration while battling a stomach virus.

Doctors at New York Presbyterian Hospital had the secretary of state on blood-thinning medications Monday. She was expected to stay through Tuesday so they could monitor her condition, according to a statement from aide Philippe Reines.

Clinton has not been seen in public since early December, the Washington Post notes. She has canceled an overseas trip, missed her scheduled testimony on the Benghazi attack, and was not in attendance on Dec. 21 when President Obama nominated John Kerry to succeed her as secretary of state. It's not yet clear how the blood clot will affect Kerry's confirmation, which some Republicans have vowed to block until Clinton testifies on Benghazi.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

How US Banks And Federal Law Enforcement Worked Together Bringing Down Occupy Wall Street

Naomi Wolf, The Guardian
Jan. 1, 2013, 10:14 AM

Occupy Wall Street May Day

Lisa Du, Business Insider

It was more sophisticated than we had imagined: New documents show that the violent crackdown on Occupy last fall — so mystifying at the time — was not just coordinated at the level of the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and local police.

The crackdown, which involved, as you may recall, violent arrests, group disruption, canister missiles to the skulls of protesters, people held in handcuffs so tight they were injured, people held in bondage till they were forced to wet or soil themselves — was coordinated with the big banks themselves.

The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, in a groundbreaking scoop that should once more shame major U.S. media outlets (why are nonprofits now some of the only entities in America left breaking major civil liberties news?), filed this request.

The document — reproduced here in an easily-searchable format — shows a terrifying network of coordinated DHS, FBI, police, regional fusion center, and private-sector activity so completely merged into one another that the monstrous whole is, in fact, one entity: In some cases, bearing a single name, the Domestic Security Alliance Council.

And it reveals this merged entity to have one centrally-planned, locally-executed mission. The documents, in short, show the cops and DHS working for and with banks to target, arrest, and politically disable peaceful American citizens.

The documents, released after long delay in the week between Christmas and New Years, show a nationwide meta-plot unfolding in city after city in an Orwellian world: Six American universities are sites where campus police funneled information about students involved with OWS to the FBI, with the administrations' knowledge (p51); banks sat down with FBI officials to pool information about OWS protesters harvested by private security; plans to crush Occupy events, planned for a month down the road, were made by the FBI — and offered to the representatives of the same organizations that the protests would target; and even threats of the assassination of OWS leaders by sniper fire — by whom? Where? — now remain redacted and undisclosed to those American citizens in danger, contrary to standard FBI practice to inform the person concerned when there is a threat against a political leader (p61).

As Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director of the PCJF, put it, the documents show that from the start, the FBI — though it acknowledges the Occupy movement as being, in fact, a peaceful organization — nonetheless designated OWS repeatedly as a "terrorist threat":

"FBI documents just obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) … reveal that from its inception, the FBI treated the Occupy movement as a potential criminal and terrorist threat … The PCJF has obtained heavily redacted documents showing that FBI offices and agents around the country were in high gear conducting surveillance against the movement even as early as August 2011, a month prior to the establishment of the OWS encampment in Zuccotti Park and other Occupy actions around the country."

Verheyden-Hilliard points out the close partnering of banks, the New York Stock Exchange and at least one local Federal Reserve with the FBI and DHS, and calls it "police-statism":

"This production [of documents], which we believe is just the tip of the iceberg, is a window into the nationwide scope of the FBI's surveillance, monitoring, and reporting on peaceful protestors organizing with the Occupy movement … These documents also show these federal agencies functioning as a de facto intelligence arm of Wall Street and Corporate America."

The documents show stunning range: In Denver, Colorado, that branch of the FBI and a "Bank Fraud Working Group" met in November 2011 — during the Occupy protests — to surveil the group. The Federal Reserve of Richmond, Virginia had its own private security surveilling Occupy Tampa and Tampa Veterans for Peace and passing privately-collected information on activists back to the Richmond FBI, which, in turn, categorized OWS activities under its "domestic terrorism" unit.

The Anchorage, Alaska "terrorism task force" was watching Occupy Anchorage. The Jackson, Michigan "joint terrorism task force" was issuing a "counterterrorism preparedness alert" about the ill-organized grandmas and college sophomores in Occupy there. Also in Jackson, Michigan, the FBI and the "Bank Security Group" — multiple private banks — met to discuss the reaction to "National Bad Bank Sit-in Day" (the response was violent, as you may recall). The Virginia FBI sent that state's Occupy members' details to the Virginia terrorism fusion center. The Memphis FBI tracked OWS under its "joint terrorism task force" aegis, too. And so on, for over 100 pages.

Jason Leopold, at Truthout.org, who has sought similar documents for more than a year, reported that the FBI falsely asserted in response to his own FOIA requests that no documents related to its infiltration of Occupy Wall Street existed at all. But the release may be strategic: If you are an Occupy activist and see how your information is being sent to terrorism task forces and fusion centers, not to mention the "longterm plans" of some redacted group to shoot you, this document is quite the deterrent.

There is a new twist: The merger of the private sector, DHS and the FBI means that any of us can become WikiLeaks, a point that Julian Assange was trying to make in explaining the argument behind his recent book. The fusion of the tracking of money and the suppression of dissent means that a huge area of vulnerability in civil society — people's income streams and financial records — is now firmly in the hands of the banks, which are, in turn, now in the business of tracking your dissent.

Remember that only 10 percent of the money donated to WikiLeaks can be processed — because of financial sector and DHS-sponsored targeting of PayPal data. With this merger, that crushing of one's personal or business financial freedom can happen to any of us. How messy; criminalizing and prosecuting dissent. How simple, by contrast, just to label an entity a "terrorist organization" and choke off, disrupt, or indict its sources of financing.

Why the huge push for counterterrorism "fusion centers," the DHS militarizing of police departments, and so on? It was never really about "the terrorists." It was not even about civil unrest. It was always about this moment, when vast crimes might be uncovered by citizens — it was always, that is to say, meant to be about you.

This article originally appeared on guardian.co.uk

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/us-banks-and-law-enforcement-together-ows-domestic-security-alliance-council2013-1

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Reasons to be cheerful to quote Ian Drury....

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/india-launches-new-social-welfare-system.html


India launches new social welfare system
Updated: 15:31, Tuesday, 01 January 2013

India will send billions of dollars in social welfare money directly to its poor under a new programme beginning today.

The scheme aims to cut out the middlemen blamed for the massive fraud that plagues the system.

Previously officials often only handed out cash to the poor after taking a cut and were known to enrol fake recipients or register unqualified people.

The country has 440 million people living below the poverty line.

The new programme would see welfare money directly deposited into recipients' bank accounts and require them to prove their identity with biometric data, such as fingerprints or retina scans.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram has described the venture as "nothing less than magical".

However, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has accused the ruling Congress party of using the programme to gain political mileage ahead of elections expected in 2014.

Other critics accuse the government of hastily pushing through a complex programme in a country where millions do not have access to electricity or paved roads, let alone neighbourhood banks.

The programme is loosely based on Brazil's widely praised Bolsa Familia scheme, which has helped lift more than 19 million people out of poverty since 2003.

India's programme will begin in 20 of the country's 640 districts today, affecting more than 200,000 recipients.

Minister Chidambaram said it will be progressively rolled out in other areas in the coming months.

"In a huge new experiment like this you should expect some glitches. There may be a problem here and there, but these will be overcome by our people," Mr Chidambaram said.

He appealed for patience with the programme, which he called "a game changer for governance".

As a first step, the government has said it plans to begin directly transferring money it would spend on programmes such as scholarships and pensions.

Eventually the transfers are expected to help fix much of the rest of India's welfare spending, though Mr Chidambaram said the government's massive food, kerosene and fertilizer distribution networks, which are blamed for much of the corruption and lost money, would be exempt.

The programme will use data from Aadhar, a government project working to give every Indian identification numbers linked to fingerprints and retina scans.

Currently hundreds of millions of Indians have no identity documents.

Yesterday, 208 activists and scholars published an open letter expressing concern that the government was forcing the poor to enrol in Aadhar to get welfare benefits without putting safeguards in place to protect their privacy.

They also expressed fears the government planned to eventually replace the food distribution system for the poor, the largest programme of its kind in the world.

[Sabrina]

http://www.freeworldcharter.org/en

The Free World Charter - Let's make everything free...

[penn]

http://www.freeworldcharter.org/en

The Free World Charter - Let's make everything free...


Everything starts with a dream. I signed up for the dream and it was free!

[Sabrina]

Good article on it all, but I still think that they won't get away with it all for that much longer... :)


http://www.globalresearch.ca/fraud-money-laundering-and-narcotics-impunity-of-the-banking-giants-no-prosecution-of-hsbc/5317406

Fraud, Money Laundering and Narcotics. Impunity of the Banking Giants. No Prosecution of HSBC


In another shameful decision by the US Department of Justice, earlier this month federal prosecutors reached a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with UK banking giant HSBC, Europe’s largest bank.

Shameful perhaps, but entirely predictable. After all, in an era characterized by economic collapse owing to gross criminality by leading financial actors, policy decisions and the legal environment framing those decisions have been shaped by oligarchs who quite literally have “captured” the state.

Founded in 1865 by flush-with-cash opium merchants after the British Crown seized Hong Kong from China in the aftermath of the First Opium War, HSBC has been a permanent fixture on the radar of US law enforcement and regulatory agencies for more than a decade.



Not that anything so trifling as terrorist financing or global narcotrafficking mattered much to the Obama administration.

As I previously reported, (here, here, here and here), when the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations issued their mammoth 335-page report, “U.S. Vulnerabilities to Money Laundering, Drugs, and Terrorist Financing: HSBC Case History,” we learned that amongst the “services” offered by HSBC subsidiaries and correspondent banks were sweet deals, to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, with financial entities with ties to international terrorism and the grisly drug trade.

Charged with multiple violations of the Bank Secrecy Act for their role in laundering blood money for Mexican and Colombian drug cartels, as a sideline HSBC’s Canary Wharf masters conducted a highly profitable business with the alleged financiers of the 9/11 attacks who washed funds through Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi Bank.

While the media breathlessly reported that the DPA will levy fines totaling some $1.92 billion (£1.2bn) which includes $655 million (£408m) in civil penalties, the largest penalty of its kind ever levied against a bank, under terms of the agreement not a single senior officer will be criminally charged. In fact, those fines will be paid by shareholders which include municipal investors, pension funds and the public at large.

With some 7,200 offices in more than 80 countries and 2011 profits topping $22 billion (£13.6bn), Senate investigators found that HSBC’s web of 1,200 correspondent banks provided drug traffickers, other organized crime groups and terrorists with “U.S. dollar services, including services to move funds, exchange currencies, cash monetary instruments, and carry out other financial transactions. Correspondent banking can become a major conduit for illicit money flows unless U.S. laws to prevent money laundering are followed.” They weren’t and as a result the bank’s balance sheets were inflated with illicit proceeds from terrorists and drug gangsters.

Revelations of widespread institutional criminality are hardly a recent phenomenon. More than a decade ago journalist Stephen Bender published a Z Magazine piece which found that “99.9 percent of the laundered criminal money that is presented for deposit in the United States gets comfortably into secure accounts.”

According to Bender: “The key institution in the enabling of money laundering is the ‘private bank,’ a subdivision of every major US financial institution. Private banks exclusively seek out a wealthy clientele, the threshold often being an annual income in excess of $1 million. With the prerogatives of wealth comes a certain regulatory deference.”

Such “regulatory deference” in the era of “too big to fail” and its corollary, “too big to prosecute,” is a signal characteristic as noted above, of state capture by criminal financial elites.

Indeed, HSBC’s private banking arm, HSBC Private Bank is the principal private banking business of the HSBC Group. A holding company wholly owned by HSBC Bank Plc, its subsidiaries include HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) SA, HSBC Private Bank (UK) Limited, HSBC Private Bank (CI) Limited, HSBC Private Bank (Luxembourg) SA, HSBC Private Bank (Monaco) SA and HSBC Financial Services (Cayman) Limited. All of these entities featured prominently in money laundering and tax evasion schemes uncovered by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee in their report. Combined client assets have been estimated by regulators to top $352 billion (£217.68).

According to Senate investigators, HSBC Financial Services (Cayman) was the principle conduit through which drug money laundered through HSBC Mexico (HBMX) flowed. “This branch,” Senate staff averred, “is a shell operation with no physical presence in the Caymans, and is managed by HBMX personnel in Mexico City who allow Cayman accounts to be opened by any HBMX branch across Mexico.”

“Total assets in the Cayman accounts peaked at $2.1 billion in 2008. Internal documents show that the Cayman accounts had operated for years with deficient AML [anti-money laundering] and KYC [know your client] controls and information. An estimated 15% of the accounts had no KYC information at all, which meant that HBMX had no idea who was behind them, while other accounts were, in the words of one HBMX compliance officer, misused by ‘organized crime’.”

In fact, the “normal” business model employed by HSBC and other entities bailed out by Western governments fully conform to the “control fraud” model first described by financial crime expert William K. Black.

According to Black, a control fraud occurs when a CEO and other senior managers remove checks and balances that prevent criminal behaviors, thus subverting regulatory requirements that prevent things like money laundering, shortfalls due to bad investments or the sale of toxic financial instruments.

In The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One, Black informed us: “A control fraud is a company run by a criminal who uses it as a weapon and shield to defraud others and makes it difficult to detect and punish the fraud.”

“Control frauds,” Black reported, “are financial superpredators that cause vastly larger losses than blue-collar thieves. They cause catastrophic business failures. Control frauds can occur in waves that imperil the general economy. The savings and loan (S&L) debacle was one such wave.”

Indeed, “control frauds” like HSBC “create a ‘fraud friendly’ corporate culture by hiring yes-men. They combine excessive pay, ego strokes (e.g., calling the employees ‘geniuses’) and terror to get employees who will not cross the CEO.” In such a “criminogenic” environment, the CEO (paging Lord Green!) “optimizes the firm as a fraud vehicle and can optimize the regulatory environment.”

In their press release, the Department of Justice announced that HSBC Group “have agreed to forfeit $1.256 billion and enter into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department for HSBC’s violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA).”

“According to court documents,” the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs informed us, “HSBC Bank USA violated the BSA by failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and to conduct appropriate due diligence on its foreign correspondent account holders.”

The DOJ goes on to state, “A four-count felony criminal information was filed today in federal court in the Eastern District of New York charging HSBC with willfully failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program, willfully failing to conduct due diligence on its foreign correspondent affiliates, violating IEEPA and violating TWEA.”

However, “HSBC has waived federal indictment, agreed to the filing of the information, and has accepted responsibility for its criminal conduct and that of its employees.”

In other words, because they accepted “responsibility” for acts that would land the average citizen in the slammer for decades, those guilty of “palling around with terrorists” or smoothing the way as billionaire drug traffickers hid their loot in the so-called “legitimate economy,” got a free pass. In fact, under terms of the agreement DOJ’s “deferred prosecution” will be “deferred” alright, like forever!

Why might that be the case?

The New York Times informed us that state and federal officials, eager beavers when it comes to protecting the integrity of a system lacking all integrity, “decided against indicting HSBC in a money-laundering case over concerns that criminal charges could jeopardize one of the world’s largest banks and ultimately destabilize the global financial system.”

Keep in mind this is a “system” which former United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime director Antonio Maria Costa told The Observer thrives on illicit money flows. In 2009, Costa told the London broadsheet that “in many instances, the money from drugs was the only liquid investment capital. In the second half of 2008, liquidity was the banking system’s main problem and hence liquid capital became an important factor.” Costa said that “a majority of the $352bn (£216bn) of drugs profits was absorbed into the economic system as a result.”

Glossing over these facts, Times’ stenographers Ben Protess and Jessica Silver-Greenberg, cautioned that “four years after the failure of Lehman Brothers nearly toppled the financial system,” federal regulators “are still wary that a single institution could undermine the recovery of the industry and the economy.”

“Given the extent of the evidence against HSBC, some prosecutors saw the charge as a healthy compromise between a settlement and a harsher money-laundering indictment. While the charge would most likely tarnish the bank’s reputation, some officials argued that it would not set off a series of devastating consequences.”

Devastating to whom one might ask? The 100,000 Mexicans brutally murdered by drug gangsters, corrupt police and Mexican Army soldiers whose scorched-earth campaign kills off the competition on behalf of Mexico’s largest narcotics organization, the Sinaloa Cartel run by fugitive billionaire drug lord Chapo Guzmán?

“A money-laundering indictment, or a guilty plea over such charges,” the Times averred, “would essentially be a death sentence for the bank. Such actions could cut off the bank from certain investors like pension funds and ultimately cost it its charter to operate in the United States, officials said.”

Many of the same lame excuses for prosecutorial inaction were also prominent features in the British press.

The Daily Telegraph reported that the “largest banks have become too big to prosecute because of the impact criminal charges would have on confidence in them, Britain’s most senior bank regulator has admitted.”

“In a variant of the ‘too big to fail’ problem, Andrew Bailey, chief executive designate of the Prudential Regulation Authority, said bringing a legal action against a major financial institution raised ‘very difficult questions’.”

“‘Because of the confidence issue with banks, a major criminal indictment, which we haven’t seen and I’m not saying we are going to see… this is not an ordinary criminal indictment’,” Bailey told the Telegraph.

Echoing Bailey, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer said the decision not to prosecute HSBC was made because “in this day and age we have to evaluate that innocent people will face very big consequences if you make a decision.”

This from an administration that continues to prosecute–and jail–low-level drug offenders at record rates!

“Breuer’s argument is facially absurd,” according to William K. Black. In a piece published by New Economic Perspectives, Black argues:

Prosecuting HSBC’s fraudulent controlling managers would not harm anyone innocent other than their families–and virtually all prosecutions hurt some family members. Breuer claims that virtually all of HSBC’s senior officers have been removed, so his argument is doubly absurd. Mostly, however, Breuer ignores all of the innocents harmed by the control frauds. SDIs [systemically dangerous institutions] that are control frauds are weapons of mass economic destruction that drive global crises and are the greatest enemy of ‘free’ markets. They are also the greatest threat to democracy, for they create crony capitalism. We are all innocent victims of these control frauds–and the Obama and Cameron governments are allowing them to commit their frauds with impunity from criminal prosecutions. The controlling officers get wealthy without fear of prosecution. The SDIs controlled by fraudulent officers have to purchase an indulgence, but the price of the indulgence is capped by the ‘too big to prosecute’ doctrine at a level that will not cause it any real distress. Breuer’s and Bailey’s embrace of too big to prosecute should have led to their immediate dismissals. Obama and Cameron should either fire them or announce that they stand with the criminal enterprises and their fraudulent controlling officers against their citizens.

As Rowan Bosworth-Davies, a former financial crimes specialist with London’s Metropolitan Police observed on his web site, “When you get a bank which admits, like HSBC has just done, that it is nothing more than a low-life money launderer for Mexican drug kingpins, and when it serves powerful vested interests to get round internationally-ratified sanctions against rogue nations, what possible benefit is achieved by trying to pretend that they cannot be prosecuted and charged with criminal offences?”

“Oh, excuse me,” Bosworth-Davies wrote, “it might impact the confidence they enjoy? Whose confidence, their Mexican drug traffickers, their international sanctions breakers, their global tax evaders, or the ordinary, law-abiding clients who are entitled to assume that their bank will obey the laws imposed on them and will provide a safe place of deposit?”

“Confidence,” the former Met detective averred, “what bloody confidence can anyone have when they know their bank is an admitted criminal? When their money is deposited with a bank that breaks the criminal law at every possible opportunity, which cheats them at every turn, sells them fraudulent products, launders drug money, evades international sanctions, moves foreign oligarchs’ tax evasion, safeguards the deposit accounts of Third World dictators and their families, then what is that confidence worth?”

Instead, as with the 2010 deal with Wachovia Bank, federal prosecutors cobbled together a DPA that levied a “fine” of $160 million (£99.2m) on laundered drug profits that topped $378 billion (£234.5bn).

Although top Justice Department officials charged that HSBC laundered upwards of $881 million (£546.5m) on behalf of the Sinaloa and Colombia’s Norte del Valle drug cartels, federal prosecutors investigating the bank told Reuters in September that this was merely the “tip of the iceberg.”

In fact, as Senate investigators discovered during their probe, the bank failed to monitor more than $670 billion (£415.6bn) in wire transfers from HSBC Mexico (HBMX) between 2006 and 2009, and failed to adequately monitor over $9.4 billion (£5.83bn) in purchases of physical U.S. dollars from HBMX during the same period.

Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer, said in prepared remarks announcing the DPA that “traffickers didn’t have to try very hard” when it came to laundering drug cash. “They would sometimes deposit hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, in a single day, into a single account,” Breuer said, “using boxes designed to fit the precise dimensions of the teller windows in HSBC Mexico’s branches.”

While Breuer’s dramatic account of the money laundering process may have offered a gullible financial press corps a breathless moment or two, a closer look at Breuer’s CV offer hints as to why he chose not to criminally charge the bank.

A corporatist insider, after representing President Bill Clinton during ginned-up impeachment hearings, Breuer became a partner in the white shoe Washington, DC law firm Covington & Burling. From his perch, he represented Moody’s Investor Service in the wake of Enron’s ignominious collapse and Dick Cheney’s old firm Halliburton/KBR during Bush regime scandals. Talk about “safe hands”!

Appointed as the head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division by Obama in 2009, Breuer presided over the prosecution/persecution of NSA whistleblower Thomas A. Drake on charges that he violated the Espionage Act of 1917 for disclosing massive contractor fraud at NSA to The Baltimore Sun.

More recently, along with 14 other officials Breuer was recommended for potential “disciplinary action” by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General over the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal which put some 2,000 firearms into the hands of cartel killers in Mexico.

“A Justice official said Breuer has been ‘admonished’” by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, “but will not be disciplined,” The Washington Post reported.

Breuer had the temerity to claim that deferred prosecution agreements “have the same punitive, deterrent, and rehabilitative effect as a guilty plea.”

“When a company enters into a deferred prosecution agreement with the government, or an non prosecution agreement for that matter,” Breuer asserted, “it almost always must acknowledge wrongdoing, agree to cooperate with the government’s investigation, pay a fine, agree to improve its compliance program, and agree to face prosecution if it fails to satisfy the terms of the agreement.”

As is evident from this brief synopsis, when it came to holding HSBC to account, the fix was already in even before a single signature was affixed to the DPA.

Without batting an eyelash, Breuer informed us that HSBC has “committed” to undertake “enhanced AML and other compliance obligations and structural changes within its entire global operations to prevent a repeat of the conduct that led to this prosecution.”

“HSBC has replaced almost all of its senior management, ‘clawed back’ deferred compensation bonuses given to its most senior AML and compliance officers, and has agreed to partially defer bonus compensation for its most senior executives–its group general managers and group managing directors–during the period of the five-year DPA.”

Yes, you read that correctly. Despite charges that would land the average citizen in a federal gulag for decades, senior managers have “agreed” to “partially defer bonus compensation” for the length of the DPA!

As Rolling Stone financial journalist Matt Taibbi commented:

“Wow. So the executives who spent a decade laundering billions of dollars will have to partially defer their bonuses during the five-year deferred prosecution agreement? Are you ****ing kidding me? That’s the punishment? The government’s negotiators couldn’t hold firm on forcing HSBC officials to completely wait to receive their ill-gotten bonuses? They had to settle on making them ‘partially’ wait? Every honest prosecutor in America has to be puking his guts out at such bargaining tactics. What was the Justice Department’s opening offer–asking executives to restrict their Caribbean vacation time to nine weeks a year?”

“So you might ask,” Taibbi writes,

“what’s the appropriate penalty for a bank in HSBC’s position? Exactly how much money should one extract from a firm that has been shamelessly profiting from business with criminals for years and years? Remember, we’re talking about a company that has admitted to a smorgasbord of serious banking crimes. If you’re the prosecutor, you’ve got this bank by the balls. So how much money should you take?”

“How about all of it? How about every last dollar the bank has made since it started its illegal activity? How about you dive into every bank account of every single executive involved in this mess and take every last bonus dollar they’ve ever earned? Then take their houses, their cars, the paintings they bought at Sotheby’s auctions, the clothes in their closets, the loose change in the jars on their kitchen counters, every last freaking thing. Take it all and don’t think twice. And then throw them in jail.”

But there’s the rub and the proverbial fly in the ointment. The government can’t and won’t take such measures. Far from being impartial arbiters sworn to defend us from financial predators, speculators, drug lords, terrorists, warmongers and out-of-control corporate vultures hiding trillions of taxable dollars offshore, officials of this criminalized state are hand picked servants of a thoroughly debauched ruling class.

Writing for the World Socialist Web Site, Barry Grey observed: HSBC “was allowed to pay a token fine–less than 10 percent of its profits for 2011 and a fraction of the money it made laundering the drug bosses’ blood money. Meanwhile, small-time drug dealers and users, often among the most impoverished and oppressed sections of the population, are routinely arrested and locked up for years in the American prison gulag.”

“The financial parasites who keep the global drug trade churning and make the lion’s share of money from the social devastation it wreaks are above the law,” Grey noted.

“Here, in a nutshell,” Grey wrote, “is the modern-day aristocratic principle that prevails behind the threadbare trappings of ‘democracy.’ The financial robber barons of today are a law unto themselves. They can steal, plunder, even murder at will, without fear of being called to account. They devote a portion of their fabulous wealth to bribing politicians, regulators, judges and police–from the heights of power in Washington down to the local police precinct–to make sure their wealth is protected and they remain immune from criminal prosecution.”

Regarding America’s fraudulent “War on Drugs,” researcher Oliver Villar, who with Drew Cottle coauthored the essential book, Cocaine, Death Squads, and the War on Terror: US Imperialism and Class Struggle in Colombia, told Asia Times Online, it is a “war” that the state and leading banks and financial institutions in the capitalist West have no interest whatsoever in “winning.”

When queried why he argued that the “war on drugs is no failure at all, but a success,” Villar noted: “I come to that conclusion because what do we know so far about the war on drugs? Well, the US has spent about US$1 trillion throughout the globe. Can we simply say it has failed? Has it failed the drug money-laundering banks? No. Has it failed the key Western financial centers? No. Has it failed the narco-bourgeoisie in Colombia–or in Afghanistan, where we can see similar patterns emerging? No. Is it a success in maintaining that political economy? Absolutely.”

Equally important, what does the impunity shamelessly enjoyed by such loathsome parasites say about us?

Have we become so indifferent to officially sanctioned crime and corruption, the myriad petty tyrannies and tyrants, from the boardroom to the security checkpoint to the job, not to mention murderous state policies that have transformed so-called “advanced” democracies into hated and loathed pariah states, who we really are?

As the late author J. G. Ballard pointed out in his masterful novel Kingdom Come, “Consumer fascism provides its own ideology, no one needs to sit down and dictate Mein Kampf. Evil and psychopathy have been reconfigured into lifestyle statements.”

Paranoid fantasy? Wake up and smell the corporatized police state.

Tom Burghardt is a researcher and activist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to publishing in Covert Action Quarterly and Global Research, he is a Contributing Editor with Cyrano’s Journal Today. His articles can be read on Dissident Voice, Pacific Free Press, Uncommon Thought Journal, and the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks. He is the editor of Police State America: U.S. Military “Civil Disturbance” Planning, distributed by AK Press and has contributed to the new book from Global Research, The Global Economic Crisis: The Great Depression of the XXI Century.

31 Dec

[Sabrina]

hmmm what's going on here then...

http://news.yahoo.com/cash-only-now-tourists-vatican-152529088.html

3 Jan Italy - The Vatican

It's 'cash only' now for tourists at the Vatican

VATICAN CITY (AP) — It's "cash only" now for tourists at the Vatican wanting to pay for museum tickets, souvenirs and other services after Italy's central bank decided to block electronic payments, including credit cards, at the tiny city-state.
Deutsche Bank Italia, which for some 15 years had provided the Vatican with electronic payment services, said Thursday that the Bank of Italy had pulled its authorization after Dec. 31.

The Corriere della Sera newspaper reported that the Italian central bank took the action because the Holy See has not yet fully complied with European Union safeguards against money laundering. That means Italian banks are not authorized to operate within the Vatican, which is in the process of improving its mechanisms to combat laundering.

The Vatican says it is scrambling to solve the problem for thousands of visitors who flock to its very popular Vatican Museums, which include highlights like the Sistine Chapel. The Holy See had no immediate comment on the Bank of Italy's reported reasons.

Tourists in the long lines Thursday that snaked around Vatican City walls were not happy about the inconvenience.
"It's certainly a disadvantage," said Giuseppe Amoruso, an Italian. "Credit cards provide a useful service, which needs to be accessible to everybody, everywhere."

"A lot of tourists don't have cash on them, so they have to get euros and don't know where to get them," said Fluger William Hunter, an American tourist.

The central bank said a routine inspection found that Deutsche Bank Italia hadn't sought authorization when it first started providing services at the Vatican. When it finally did, the Bank of Italy turned it down because the Vatican's banking norms, including measures to combat money laundering, didn't meet Italy's more stringent criteria of recent years, a central bank official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because there was no official statement on the case.

The Vatican has been striving to upgrade its measures to detect and discourage money laundering, hiring a Swiss expert just a few months ago. Last summer, the Holy See passed a key European financial transparency test but received failing grades for its financial watchdog agency and its bank, formally called the Institute for Religious Works.

The museums, with their entrance fees and popular souvenir shops, are a big money-maker for the Vatican. Other Vatican attractions, such as tours of the Vatican's ancient underground spaces, also charge admission.
___

[Sabrina]

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-one-peoples-public-trust.html

More on the One People's Public Trust with a conversation with trustee Heather Tucci-Jarraf at the link.

[Sabrina]

More on the One People's Trust with mp3 interview.


http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/the-one-peoples-public-trust-discussion-of-1-1-13-video-and-mp3s/


This relates to the information released last week from “The One People’s Public Trust” (TOPPT), which was posted here, here, here, here, and here:

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2012/12/26/important-document-released-12-25-12-official-announcement-from-the-one-peoples-public-trust/

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2012/12/27/important-document-2-originally-released-3-6-11-treasury-finance-ag-final-bullet-report-paradigm-a-report-on-bank-judicial-and-government-corruption/

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/important-document-what-another-one-12-28-12-one-peoples-public-trust-disclosure-announcement-2/

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/kp-message-the-email-that-got-me-into-all-this/

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/american-kabuki-12-28-12-the-complete-background-story-of-why-the-poof-video-went-away-temporarily/
This is being released simultaneously by American Kabuki, Removing The Shackles, and this blog.

This may be one of the more significant messages you hear in your lifetime. I strongly suggest putting this on and spending some time with it.

In this earlier post, I left comments open for questions about these documents, and TOPPT. In this discussion, several of those questions are answered. There are many important points made in this discussion, which should help to awaken many as to what is really going on on this planet. Particularly, the point is, we are waking up. We are taking back what is ours, in Truth.

On the call were Brian Kelly (as moderator), Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf (from TOPPT), and D of Removing The Shackles. American Kabuki was in the background, although is not heard in this presentation. [UPDATE: Incorrect... AK was indeed heard in a couple of the sections... I believe 3 and 5. In any event, he does make an appearance or two.]

I was honored with the privilege of editing all of the audio into its current form, and AK has taken that audio and produced the video below.

Questions for The One People’s Public Trust (TOPPT) may be submitted to topptquestions@gmail.com.

MP3s were volume leveled and boosted. The mp3s below are already configured for upload to iPod, iPhone, MP3 player.

MP3 segments and also whole show at the top link.

[Sabrina]

http://news.sky.com/story/1033234/swiss-bank-wegelin-to-close-after-tax-probe

4 Jan

Swiss Bank Wegelin To Close After Tax Probe

The oldest Swiss private bank is to close after pleading guilty to helping wealthy Americans evade their taxes through secret accounts.

Wegelin & Co, founded in 1741, admitted charges of conspiracy in helping US taxpayers hide at least $1.2bn (£747m) for nearly a decade.

The plea, in a New York court, sounded the death knell for one of Switzerland's most storied banks, whose original European clients pre-date the American Revolution.

The bank agreed to pay $57.8m (£35.9m) to the United States in compensation and fines.

Otto Bruderer, a managing partner at the 271-year-old bank, told the court: "Wegelin was aware that this conduct was wrong."

He said that "from about 2002 through about 2010, Wegelin agreed with certain US taxpayers to evade the US tax obligations of these US taxpayer clients, who filed false tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service".

The case against Wegelin is one of the most aggressive bank crackdowns on overseas tax evasion in US history.

It remains unclear whether the bank is required to reveal the details of its American clients.

The fate of three of its bankers - Michael Berlinka, Urs Frei and Roger Keller - indicted in January 2012 on charges later modified to include the bank, also remains up in the air.

The bank initially vowed to resist the charges last February and was declared a fugitive from justice when its Swiss-based executives failed to appear in court.

It claimed because it only had branches in Switzerland it could not be prosecuted by the US, adding that its actions were not in violation of Swiss law.

But in a statement on Thursday from its headquarters in the remote town of St Gallen near the German-Austrian border, it announced it would "cease to operate as a bank" once the matter was concluded.

Since its indictment it has moved quickly to wind down its business, partly through a sale of its non-US assets to regional Swiss bank Raiffesen Gruppe.

In a statement after the plea, assistant US Attorney General Kathryn Keneally said it was a top Justice Department priority "to find those who continue to shirk their tax obligations," as well as those who help them and profit from it.

In 2009, UBS the largest Swiss bank, entered into a deferred-prosecution agreement with US tax authorities on matters related to tax evasion and agreed to turn over the names of 4,450 clients and pay a $780m (£485m) fine.

[modwiz]

This is great information (One People's Trust) Sabrina. Even the cash only story has a positive angle to it, IMO. It certainly doesn't support a cashless society.

[markpierre]

This is great information (One People's Trust) Sabrina. Even the cash only story has a positive angle to it, IMO. It certainly doesn't support a cashless society.

So they're not plugged into 'god' anymore? Or maybe the real God knows something we don't know.
Hopefully we'll notice when they only accept gold.

[Hervé]

:confused: ... from somewhere on that American Kabuki site (http://americankabuki.blogspot.ca/2012/12/this-actually-happened.html):

Sophia Love posted the above movie trailer on her blog post today at obiwankabuki.blogspot.com (http://obiwankabuki.blogspot.com/). Something like this really did happen!

Cobra told me during the interview I did (which I will get online soon now that 12/21 is past) that the "Earth Resistance" had teleported the Rothschild gold out of their private caches in castles, chateaus and from their banks. He said they used Pleiadian teleportation technology to confiscate it all and its now in secure underground Argathan bases. It will be added to earth prosperity funds and redistributed to humanity.

The tungsten-filled gold bars that showed up in the gold markets is an attempt to hide the fact there is now no gold at all behind them anymore in the old wealth families of Europe.

Please note the above information did not come from The One People's Public Trust.

PS: I very well can imagine some Gripreaper Hitler parody on that one :)

[Sabrina]

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/toppt-transcript-conversation-with.html

I really rate American Kabuki - he's done a transcript of the recent One People's Trust interview with trustee Heather Tucci-Jarraf... I'm still going thru' it - but reckon this is one to really look at and circulate far and wide. She says the ball is now with the people to go and run with. Think she'll be sending more out on this shortly. Sab:)

TOPPT - Transcript:
A Conversation with Heather Tucci-Jarraf,
Trustee of The One People's Public Trust

NOTE: We are still reviewing this transcript, and it will change when we insert words that were difficult to hear due to the phone connection. I put it up in its raw draft state so the translators can get started on translating it to other languages. -AK


Hello everyone Brian here from the American Kabuki ground crew. I am so incredibly thrilled to be here celebrating this beautiful moment of now with all of the amazing beings who will be listening to this call over the course of the coming days and weeks. Words couldn’t possibly express the level of gratitude I feel for being blessed with the opportunity to play part, even if it is a small one of this recent unfolding of events that have been taking place in this grand cosmic shift that we are currently undergoing.

Now, whether everyone in the world realizes it yet or not, it truly is the most exciting time to be alive in the history of humanity and I thank my creator everyday for sending me front row, VIP seats to all the action.

Now, from an inner knowing that goes beyond mental comprehension, I know that we all chose to be here at this time to experience the journey we all are embarking on right now, altogether as one people united. While we may have not been shot heralding into the new age on the 21st at least consciously, like a great many out there predicted, we absolutely are experiencing an enormous shift in energies and massive transformations to our inner as well as outer worlds. I know I speak for many when I say that I fully believe that the shift of the ages, which all of the ancients prophesized would occur in 2012 is in fact unfolding right before our eyes on a myriad of levels on each moment.

Now, Ascension isn’t what we are here to discuss today, but we are here to discuss the liberation of the planet, and the 7 billion of us that call the earth “home”.

For the past year, talk of prosperity funds, whether it be in the form of NESARA, the St Germaine Trust, the Leo Wanta Funds, the Reagan-Mitterand protocol, all of the above have become a hot topic being discussed across every blog site and discussion board across the internet, leaving many very frustrated and losing hope that one day one of these funds would make it into mainstream media and pave the way into a new age for peace and prosperity.

Now, I am here to share with everyone that the moment we have all been waiting for is finally and very divinely here upon us. A few days ago, on December 25, an organization called “The One People’s Public Trust” (TOPPT) came exploding onto the scene with their first official “announcement.” This document appears to be announcing that the United Nations, the IMF, BIS (Bank of International Settlements), the Hague, the World Bank and others have been legally and officially foreclosed upon. The next part of the document which I will read here has triggered a tsunami of responses, much heated debate across the blogosphere and online forums everywhere. This passage reads,” The people, all people equally on earth have an individual, duly verified sum certain of 5 billion, that’s billion with a “B” in lawful money of the United States of America gold and silver. Over 3 quintillion, 500 quadrillion, (which, by the way is a 3 and a 5 followed by 17 zeros) just and duly verified equity debt against the debtors. There is an additionally duly verified sum of 5 billion in lawful money of the United States of America, gold and silver, for each of those people damaged by the actions and systems of the debtors, over 3 quadrillion lawful money of the United States of America, gold and silver, in duly verified debt of damages against the debtors.”
Now, what this means exactly has been left to lots and lots of speculation, obviously, so today we are here in full transparency to discover the truth of this official announcement. These are just a few highlights of what will become official announcements by TOPPT, headed by the organization’s front man, or front woman I should say, Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf.

B: Hi Heather, welcome to the call, are you there?

H: I am Brian, thank you. How are you this evening?

B: I am doing well, Heather. How are you?

H: It’s good, it’s good, thank you for having me.

B: Absolutely, and we also have on the call a special guest, D from the Removing the Shackles Blog site. D are you with us?

D: I am with you Brian. And hi Heather! Nice to talk to you again as well.

H: Hi D. Good to talk to you, too.


B: Welcome to you both. Before we dive in here ladies, let me give a little background. I have had the opportunity to get to know Heather a little bit over the last few days. I truly feel like we have known each other for a lot longer than that, but consciously speaking, our paths crossed for the first time last Friday, the 28 of December and since then we’ve exchanged a mountain of emails back and forth.

We were actually supposed to do this talk yesterday, but we ended up talking on Skype for about five hours so we weren’t able to get it in. Talking to Heather has personally answered so many questions I have myself, now in the spirit of full transparency and absolute truth, which are the watchwords as of late, it’s time to share that information with the people. What do you say, Heather? Sound like a plan? OK, perfect.

So for the purpose of this call today, Heather, my role and D’s role in this is going to be to give the public, or the people, I should say, a voice, and due to the scope of the subject matter we are dealing with here, which is obviously global in nature with the potential of effecting every person on the planet and because of that the people are obviously and rightfully so have lots and lots of questions.

Over the last couple of days, I have gathered many of those questions from Kauilapele’s blog, American Kabuki’s blog. You also sent me questions from emails that you have received; I know D’s probably got plenty of questions from her readers as well. So I will be using these to navigate the chat here as well and as best we can. Does that sound good?

B: So Heather for the purposes of the conversation, this is not an interview. It is a talk. My role in this and D’s role in this is to give the people a voice for everybody who has been following this story since last Friday. It’s global, it’s universal. It has the potential of affecting everyone on the planet. A lot of questions have been flowing in consistently. We’ve gathered these questions from various blogs, Removing the Shackles, Kauilapele, American Kabuki and emails that you’ve sent me.

B: but before we start, I have one little request of you, Heather.

H: I am not agreeing (laughter) until you tell me what it is.

B: You are obviously very well educated, you have a very uncanny ability to articulate and express yourself around anything that you have done with your legal experience. I know you have been a lawyer for ten years . . . The format has been too “legalese”. You put out an announcement that that was for very good reason – the people were not the intended audience. It was very legal stuff that you put out. But I want to keep this as street level in style and format as possible, is that fair?

H: That’s excellent, that’s more natural.

B: I already know the answer to this first question. But we need to hear it from you. . .there’s a lot of people who want to believe with heart and soul that the story we are here to discuss is true, but because they have never heard of you or TOPPT, there’s been a fairly substantial amount of resistance. Let’s start out with who is Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf and how on earth did you get involved in all this?

H: Ok, well, Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf is just one of the people, when it boils down to it all of the roles I play, I am just like all of you guys, like everyone else on the planet. I got involved for the same reasons all you guys got involved. I was searching for the truth. And here we are, I am on this call. As far as when did I get involved? I was working overseas basically, in high levels of banking trade and finance and international law and we all made a choice to go in and clean things up. It wasn’t just me, it wasn’t just the people I was working with, it was a whole slew of people within what we term as the slavery systems. And that happened, basically, the choice was made on how it was going to go in 2009. Does that answer that question?

D: Basically enough.

B: So, what happened in March 2009?

H: Actually we had been working on an investigation for approximately 3 months, maybe less regarding mirror loans at the World Bank. And we found through that mirror loans investigation that we were doing, regarding Panama, the Republic of Panama, we found Freddie Mac /Fannie Mae fraudulent paper, significant amounts of it. Out of curiosity, for one of the people that was on the investigation team, I went back behind the screens and way back to... I randomly selected some of the houses out of the Freddie and Fannie Paper, I went all the way back to the homes, that this paper, these securities of about $50 million dollars and it was probably worth, based on property that was worth, maybe, if you were lucky, 10 percent of that amount. Maybe less. So with that, that is basically what started it. It was a personal issue, a personal matter. I was a person, one of the people helping another one of the people.

We just sat there. We adjusted, we prioritized, we really just reflected. What are we doing, why are we doing it and what can we do about it, do we want to do anything about it? We sat there and thought about it and a choice was made. A choice was made. How do we make people understand no loans were made? There’s no such thing as lawful current funds. There is lawful money, but there is no lawful current funds.

These are the decisions we had to make. We were watching everyone suffer, we were suffering. Even those in the high levels of banking are suffering.

Even those in the highest levels of purported government are suffering. All the way down. You get tired of it. So that was the very beginning. Does that answer that? As far as what ended up to this phone call.

B: Absolutely, and I know your background . . . and we could sit here for hours if not days, but from here, what I kind of want to... everybody wants to see us go... The next phase in your journey was the decision to start the investigation that culminated in the putting out of the Paradigm report. Is that accurate?

H: Yeah, in fact, I mentioned the Freddie and Fannie papers, that it was taking the culmination of all of the investigations and at that point at the time when we made the decision in between the time that we saw the papers and the decision to do the investigation, we needed to figure out exactly what needed to be done, It was sort of a (muffled word) type of protocol where we had to go in and to figure out the many aspects of the investigations to alter them based on the results real time. So that was what the Paradigm Report was, it was a field (muffled) report, so there are lots of mistakes in there, typing wise, grammatical, spelling, the point is the substance of what is inside the report. That was the important part. Really we were asking can the private system be saved? Is it worth saving? and the answer is no, it could not be saved. And why put energy into something that cannot be saved?

B: Ok, so the research for the Paradigm Report spanned over 2 years? What were you researching and what was the final outcome? . . . Ultimately what was the objective of you and the people that were involved in putting that paper out?

H: What went into it? Body and soul. The goal was to go in and find the problems and identify a solution. Could the solution incorporate some of the frame work that was already existing? Would it have to be completely mowed down and built from scratch? That is basically the essence. It had to do with banking, obviously it was the nexus point for every problem on the planet. At that point we had to go back to how did that problem even come into existence? And you go back to the history of America and the first two central banks that they attempted to do the report refers to that so people can refer to that. (Muffled) In the past how did they maneuver? Using the educational and judicial systems. What right now is their biggest fear? Communication between people, or the internet. So identifying these markers or these factors allowed us to go in further, because a paper trail needs to be made where no paper trail currently exists. At least not one that connects all the dots. At that point we had a few people who had offered to go ahead use their house as a test case. It ended up being a logical choice that we used my house as a test case. It’s one thing to help someone who is freaking out, while you are trying to do the investigation, It is much easier to just control yourself and go through the factors.

B: So. . .

H: I have the most information. I have the most rounded database out of all of us. That’s how it started.

B: So essentially you put yourself up for allowing your home to go to foreclosure and be a test subject for tracing the fraud that needed to be .. to get you out of your property to trace back to the source where the fraud was coming from? You could accurately track that paper trail, correct?

H: Yeah, that’s right, essentially I was headed over to Switzerland anyway to take over the presidency of a company and they were looking for a house. I had gone in with someone. . .basically this was her pet project. . .we all have projects that are close to home that we are called to do... agricultural projects... helping to feed humanity... energy projects... getting clean energy to everyone... and those are projects that ruffle a lot of feathers. Mine went along with and the training I have was... (muffled) law. And what it came down to as of this moment, people have the opportunity to see that the connection with law with the current financial system, with the purported government systems with these private systems, that we believed have been for the people by the people, everyone can see where it goes back to the law.

B: So I am trying to put the pieces in chorological order. . .so you have the Paradigm Report. Let’s call that Phase I. What was the expectation? now that you have this Paradigm Report that says that the system is broken in a very rudimentary way of saying it, and it can’t be fixed without making some major changes in the structure of society in the way that it is managed by all of the people way up at the top.

H: Yeah, I mean essentially, what really excited me Brian was December 11 of 2010 I was introduced to someone who was involved with this thing called the Public Trust. I am not a history buff, I was introduced to concepts, the founding fathers, I mean basically we all know, ...muffled... Yet to go in and actually feel it, it moved me... I wanted to find that clean spot, I mean where can you clean this from? You have so many people in the slavery system who are trying to clean it up. And they have all the power to do it. The question is, why weren’t they doing it? Well there has to be a clean spot to do it so nobody can rebut it so it is unrebuttable. And therefore unrebutted. And that is where I found the Public Trust to be an amazing tool, because it did go back in time, further, we weren’t all moved back to prime until this last summer.

B: You’re going to have to talk about what you mean in regards to taking it all the way back to prime.

H: You know, it’s just kind of simple, everyday that a child is born, every day that a body leaves this earth. It’s a matter of creation. There’s these bodies, and yet whose the architect? I work a lot with patent law, trade law. And yet at the same time I watch all these patents and technology be stolen. Where? From within the patent law office itself. So when you go back to prime. Who is the creator? In the instance of science, or a patent, it would be the person who actually thought up the darn thing, you know, wanted to apply it…he knows the DNA of it. They were inspired..it’s the same thing here. Who created the people? If you look at every religion across the board. . .every religion proper, it is the Creator. So we go in, we go back in and look at it. I was raised in a Jesuit Catholic home. . .but studied many religions (muffled). . .it was not only that, it was the loophole to protect their things from the systems that they were enforcing against everyone else against their will.

So creator is the prime. Nobody can come up and say,” I own your body, I own your mind,” because first off, you do. . .and second off, who are you a servant to? You know, and then you take that into a commercial world, which is where they hid everything, either someone is going to claim you as the servant, or as owning yourself, you are free.

Anyone that you serve, it would be your creator, whether you want to call him Creator, God, Source, Yahweh, Allah, it doesn’t matter the point is, you are going back to prime You cannot rebut that. It is unrebuttable, and it is unrebutted.

B: Ok.

H: Does that answer your question?

B: Absolutely, so essentially what you are saying is that we the people have handed over, or bowed down to laws and rules that have been put forth against us illegally. The only reason that they were able to manage them this long is that we have given our consent. .so is that kind of in a basic way of saying it over the course of the last hundred years, if not longer?

H: Yeah that is a very accurate truth as you just stated it.

B: Ok, So you’ve got this Paradigm Report. So you laid the groundwork, you let your home go into foreclosure. You did a great amount of research on these systems and how corrupt they are. What are you now doing with this document, I mean, I am trying to bring up to the moment so we can dive into but there’s obviously this big vision from you and the People’s Trust that you are working toward. I am just trying to figure it out for everybody what that was and what your road map was to ultimately get there?

H: Yeah, I mean, I worked in banking in basically putting people in tight positions, ferreting things out, vetting assets, vetting people, doing background checks, and all that, so I had a lot of information about how things work. So if we’re going in and trying to figure out this clean up, (muffled) I wanted to make sure we were under the radar. Once the banks could figure out, that we had gone in to squeal or tell on them. Exhorbinent amount of pressure is applied ...muffled... go in and work all this stuff out (muffled) I hadn’t been in a courtroom for quite some time, so my job allowed me in the Paradigm Report basically how to go in and ferret everything out and be able to sort of test out different areas of solution. In banking, I was responsible for vetting assets, I was responsible for vetting people, I was responsible for creating policies, structures, contracts, all for banking and financing. And so I know the pressure they put on people and the methods they do that, which are pretty distasteful, so I knew what to expect, so I designed the investigation so I could be under the radar. I had to work out the on ground part of the investigation from the bottom up.

B: Ok. So what point, around what month of what year was all of this going down? I am trying to get a little bit of history here. You put out your announcements on December 25, you’ve had a couple of announcements since then, what ground work were you laying from when you finished that Paradigm Report to where you are today? What was going on in the background? Behind the scenes of all this, what were all the puzzle pieces that were getting put into place for everything that we are going through right now to become a possibility?

H: I had already investigated the banking system for a number of years, so we knew where the nexus was. The next part was just to figure out how to go in and make it...see the banks control everything...where to go in, number one, how to go in and basically unwind their support structure to the BAR, the judicial, and the educational.

Media was another one, and however we did not want the media, or any of that, because if people knew what we were doing, we never would have finished our job ever.

So there with the judicial, that was perhaps the easiest point for me to go into the trenches to build the investigation from the bottom up from street level to Wall Street level. So with that, using my house as a test case. I went in, and I do not know how many cases were filed and briefs were tested to get to the one that was approved that was the deceptive practices brief. Basically I was in the trenches for a year, almost a year and a half, in the trenches testing the judicial to see how corrupt, how closely tied, were there people in between? Were there handlers? How much access do the banks have to the systems actually used in the court, meaning like courtsmart the recording systems that the courts use in hearings. How much access they have to the clerks office. What I discovered was pretty mind blowing for someone who has been an attorney for 10 years.

During this investigation I actually had to make a choice, especially when I received Intel and reports on ongoing investigations regarding the BAR, which I was a member of and I actually ended up cancelling my BAR license during the investigation. So that was the main meat of it. We just finished that basically this July 2012. Actually the end of June 2012.

The third phase was coming over here and working with the “Powers that Were” to go in and implement a solution that was the easiest and less stressful for the people, because I was told, in fact right before I left for overseas, that there was going to be a war. There was going to be a war of such a kind that it has never been seen or known of in existence. That was unacceptable to me.

So out of the Trustees, I was the one that was most suitable to go overseas. So that people knew this wasn’t about just “America,” or “People on American Soil”. This is about the “People” all over the globe. That is what I have been doing over here and I actually was offered a job as a director of a Bank. And that was arranged through one of the main clients of the Rothschilds. So that was supposed to be our quiet room behind doors, where we could actually go in and try to hammer out a solution for implementation. When the time came it didn’t go right. I never made it to (muffled) I didn’t go there. After some long discussions with the Trustees, we felt it wasn’t right.
TRANSCRIPT CONTINUED AT NEXT LINK...

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TRANSCRIPT OF PEOPLE'S TRUST INTERVIEW CONTINUED..


B: Heather , there are going to be some people who have some confusion. You said you were working with the powers that were and you were working with the Rothschild family to find a solution. There are many people who perceive that that’s the cabal, the bad guys, but you were working with them, can you explain what that is all about?

H: Well, we weren’t working with them, we were opening doors for people to go in with the ptw to go in and hand the control back to the people. We literally went to their houses, we opened our doors. They were very fearful of that because they not want to let go of the power, of the control and in some cases they still don’t but it is too late, it is already done.

B: Okay, so you said last night that something big happened on the 4th of July. A big turning point event and I believe there was another one in December. What were those?

H: Yeah, July 4th, we announced that we were going to do the “equity call”. They had so many chances and there was so much communication going back and forth trying to hammer it out and return it to the people. So on July 4th the Trustees said, “we can wait for somebody to do something, or we can wait for the folks who were fearful to give control back.” We decided. We issued the order, it was issued July 7th and it was actually preissued as a notice the month before. So this time we registered that into the system. October, it was funny because everyone was talking about an October Surprise. And we were surprised, because we were very being very quiet. In Oct. we foreclosed on the private slavery systems of the purported UN, purported Hague, of ICC, ICJ and all of the corporations under the guise of government.

B: Ok, that was in October?

H: That was in Oct.

B: D has a question, and I have another, under what authority were the foreclosures made? And where those were registered? But D, hop in here.

D: Okay, a tiny question: the different cases of who was not playing nicely, can you tell us who?

H: Okay, basically what consists of the Texas Camp?

D: Ha Ha, Okay, which consists of who?

H: I don’t mind, traditionally, Texas Camp consists of Bush Sr., Jr., Clinton, Rumsfeld, and Cheney for the most part. There’s others. No, not J.R. Ewing, ha! So that’s Texas, another faction was of course the Rothschilds, the Zurich group we found just lovely.

We had a fun time with the Rothschilds of London, but they were not having such a fun time. And the Rothschilds in France.

The old Man in the Asian family wanted everything to come out. General Wong was always interrupting. I have met him and found him quite pleasurable, but what it comes down to what is happening in the world, it is unacceptable. That puts into perspective the Asian side.

D: Yes, what you are saying about Gen. Wong is what I’ve been getting from Intel back in October when he was on American soil and screwed things up quite royally when he was there!

H: You know, most people don’t know, and I don’t even think Fulford knows, but a lot of our communication and negotiations have had to kind of reset everything using Fulford. I would sit there and wait for his things to see what kind of proposal came next in Japan. We were supposed to have meetings with the Old Man, it didn’t matter where in the world, he was going to come to Europe, and we were headed to Switzerland for BIS, so we didn’t have the meeting. General Wong was involved in that, and supposedly he had been removed, he was swept aside and no longer captain of the team. We had already made the plans, so we went. We gave him the opportunity. It turned out that our presence and our work we were doing that week was used to force the hand of one side of the family so that things could get reset. But then returning everything to the people was still not acceptable. But everything was already done. The people own and hold...

B: Real quick, Heather, who is the “Old Man”.

H: Yeah, I know. The Old Man is basically China. He is the head or what I know to be chairman of the Elders. He was formerly seen last from my information as an emperor in China. When people call the government the Communist government in China, it is just as much an illusion as Democracy is here. Anything that divides is dividing in order for management and control. There is just the people and there is just the Creator and that is Prime. I met with the Old Man, I met with his daughter, and I met with General Wong. He is very, very old, hence “the Old Man.”

B: Give a background on all this money. How much? Where is it sourced? Some people have no idea of the background on the sources of this Gold and Silver.

H: First, the value absolute underwriting of the value is the people. The value that your are giving to them is the value of the people. There is no currency, no value, those are just illusions. The gold and silver was a representation of value specifically referred to in the Constitution of the U.S. People don’t know, but all the banks in the world operate under one umbrella. There are different families that operate under that. Within the family, there is sibling rivalry. The gold and silver was held in various locations. Things have been relocated as of this last year. And hard core, with the remaining amounts for about the last four months.

B: Ok, for anybody who follows and read David Wilcock’s “Financial Tyranny,” on Divinecosmos.com, there are lots of pictures of vaults of gold. But how have you determined how much there is?

H: The number that I used, doesn’t reflect the actual number that is out there, there’s more, that’s one thing. Number two, you are seeing a lot of tungsten/gold wrapped that is out at the street level right now, well that has been at the banking levels forever. That’s why gold transactions are difficult; they don’t want to let it go, because it is gold-wrapped tungsten in a lot of cases. The gold was ferreted away.

B: Ok.

H: There was a post on American Kabuki about Gold-wrapped tungsten bars and we went to BIS October 22 to inspect the gold and after we came home, everyone was demanding to see their gold. A couple days later the purported Queen of England went to check her gold holdings. This is no problem, the gold is safe and it’s secure. It is going to be released, but from what it sounds like, they would like to have a representation of that gold. And remember, that gold isn’t a representation of the true value, which is inside every person.

B: Ok. To bring some clarity: how can everyone know what you are talking about is real? Lots of people have seen info about the Keenan lawsuits and Drake’s so-called Green Light prediction come and go, but based on our conversation I now know that something did happen on July 4th. People are wondering if this is a fairy tale or real. What assurances do you have for people?

H: It’s all out there. We heard all along. We weren’t ignorant to the people’s needs: money, disclosure, arrests, help. We heard it all. The best way that we knew how to help was to go in and secure everything, so that it could be there for the people to go ahead and use. Legally. Nobody can contradict it. Every document that is posted belong to the people. There’s the filing date. It took me a few days to get the UCC verbiage ready then we sent it over email, which is heavily monitored thanks to our email going over exchange because Microsoft works very closely with the private system, because it is a part of the private system.

So they had notice of what we did prior to us filing. If you look at the filing dates and compare them to Intel... D and I talked about this, I know that dates that are significant to her we were able to correlate the filing dates with Intel dates.

D: Yes. Absolutely.

H: The filing dates were happening before the Intel dates, which is normal. If you look at the dates, and even some mainstream media, you’ll see reports. D, when you posted, it helped me, because I didn’t have to go fish for the information about officials, and “whole governments” that were resigning. American Kabuki kept track of all the bankers that were resigning. Go back and look at the dates, they correlate to our filings.

B: D go ahead with your question.

D: When American Kabuki published, I was flooded with emails and comments on RTS wondering if the St. Germaine Trusts, Wanta Funds, etc. were not real. They panicked. They wondered now if all of these other things were not going to happen. Let the people know a little more about that.

H: First off, I worked on most of that stuff. In one form or another, I worked on it, including Heritage Funds, I have someone in the old Slavery system who was trying to get us to open up certain of the “Collateral Accounts.” Those are watched 24/7. There are certain alarms that go off globally if they are touched. So here’s the problem, (muffled) it’s messy. It’s really messy, yet the value is really there. The value is real. It is the problem of the structure that it was being held in. We went in to assist the custodians to wipe away all of the rubbage, the barnacles that were growing on it. Whether it be Texas camp, whether it be any of them, was to take it back to Prime. It’s still sitting there, it is still sitting where it was before, but the only thing is, it is in a clean spot. An impenetrable spot. Where it is safe. Where it can now be used. On a legal and lawful basis with the documentation to show ownership, to show authority and the value. It’s still all there and it is in a much better spot than it ever was prior to this happening.

D: Thank you that is fantastic. Readers out there are all cheering and jumping up and down now.

B: Based on reading the comments on your blog, D, I am sure they absolutely are. Here’s a question for you, Heather, that came from a woman named Charlene: I would like to know when we can expect this to start affecting our current system. What steps can body of state’s take so it doesn’t get swept under the carpet? The email addresses published, Rothschilds, SBJ, etc., states of bodies should make themselves known with these entities? And lastly, what are the possibilities of recourse from the cabal? Let’s start with the first one. . when can we start to see this effecting our current system?

H: It already is affecting our current system if you look at the governments that are “reorganizing” or just completely going away, it’s already started. To be a mass distribution to over 7 Billion people, you have got to have the system to be able to do that. Look at all the systems that are currently existing and we have to put all of the legal and lawful tools and documentation that they need to be able to have the standing and authority to be able to go in and repossess those to use them. In our group, we always used the term “In the twinkling of an eye”. It can happen in the twinkling of an eye. They know what we were doing months ago, so they have got it ready to go. That’s why the move was so hard and maybe not in the twinkling of an eye for some. Did I answer that question?

B: Yes, but some are going to say, “when is this going to become public knowledge” instead of having to dig around several sites to find it? Everybody is waiting to wake up and turn on CNN for Anderson Cooper to come on with Breaking News. . so much has happened behind the scenes to head that way to be made public, but everyone is waiting for it to be out there, for neighbors, people at work, and families to see it and know that change is upon us.

D: Yeah, that is literally the driving questions of the day on RTS. Everyone is broke, everyone needs money, looking beyond that, the real driving question is when are the announcements going to be made?

H: What they really want to know is when am I going to be able to rub a couple of coins together and buy a cup of coffee? Or a tank of gas? Or a loaf of bread, right?

D: Yes.

H: That’s what they want to know.

D: There’s a lot of people out there who have been waiting for that moment of vindication, “I just want to know that I am right, that it is corrupt, and that I am not crazy.”

H: I was just talking to Brian about this. It’s sort of like that joke where a guy is stranded on an island and a boat comes by and offers help and he says, no, God’s going to help me. Then all these vehicles come forward to help him off this island, and he says, no, God is going to help him. He dies, he gets up to God and says, ‘why didn’t you try to help me?” God says, I sent you a boat, I sent you a helicopter... that’s sort of where we are. Some people are going to sit and wait for someone else to do something for them. Are they standing in responsibility? Are they standing with liability? And I guess they would ask, ok, I am ready to stand in responsibility and liability, how do I do that?

I bring this up, because when we were doing the solution, in our part of the whole, complete solution, that’s unfolding now, was, we had to recognize Universal Law part of that Universal Law is free will choice. There were a lot of people that made choices, who if they had the choice to be abundant, live in harmony where they are not going to [have someone] come knocking on their door, stealing from them, gagging them. However, they would make a choice that is much different than the one they made based on where they were. They wouldn’t have imposed limits on themselves or allowed others to impose limits on them. So it is important that everyone is able to make a new choice, to make a different choice.

So if I say it will be in three weeks, or three days, or two days, it will be in the twinkling of an eye. I tell you it can be in the twinkling of an eye, but I am also going to set a timeline by doing that and that forces people to make a choice that conforms to that timeline. Right now there are choices being made in that slavery system. The ones that have been hiding in that slavery system to allow, to manifest this new now are coming out. They are ready to become transparent. You have to be aware and open your eyes so you can see them, number one. Number two is those that were in the slavery system felt they had no other choice, they’re actually considering and making different choices now. It is unfolding right now as we speak, and you guys are making that happen. Not just American Kabuki, not just Brian, not just D and Removing the Shackles, all those people who are commenting! They are seeing all those comments. They are seeing the energy of the acceptance of this now.

It’s the new now that is manifesting. They are seeing that the people choose. The people decide. As far as the timing, I would love to tell you what the timing is. For us, we just decided to go ahead and do. Instead of waiting for the Old Man to come over and do this meeting, or instead of waiting for xx to let go and let these “collateral accounts be released” we said what can we do? We realized people are moving in ways that they shouldn’t. The right tools aren’t in place. So what can we do to help them? That’s what every one of us asked, so we went in and did it.

B: Ok. Here’s the question: This keeps getting brought up. When are the “announcements” going to be? Steve from KP’s blog asks, “Can you tell us, the people, in good old fashioned 3D English how all of this is going to be implemented? What are the protocols and procedures that allows the people to take back their freedom from the corrupt slavery systems that have controlled us?

H: The freedom is already back. First you can just recognize and accept that. That’s one. Two is be free. And the tools that we were talking about, what am I going to do to act free and be free? What do I do if a cop pulls me over? Be respectful, number one, because he is a human being. He may be a not so nice human being, but, just go in and be. Be patient. Ask the right questions, what’s your name, badge number, can you write that down for me? You want everything in writing. These are the tools.

[AK NOTE: Heather has some additional protocols she will be posting, we recognize there's much to fill in here yet, but the key point is be decent to people. See them as other mainfestions of Source like you. The police are just doing the best they can.]

Other than that, there’s nothing left to file on the UCC. There’s nothing to file to say, “I am a human being, common law is my law. “ It is already done. Know the separation of facts so that you are able to incorporate it into whatever matter is before you right now. That is what one of our advisors is gracefully allowing me to go in and alter: the template of how she is using it, and now it’s been refined, so it is in the final version. So they will just put per UCC number, XXX, “I am free”. It is already in the system. It is already noticed to all the required parties. It’s already cured. There’s already a personal bill that has been done. But you refer to it in whatever personal matter pops up after the fact.

[Sabrina]

TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW ON PEOPLE'S TRUST CONTINUED...


B: Got it. Ok. Here’s the lingering question, that I got partly from an email between you and Katie: "You can take the people out of slavery, but how do you take slavery out of the people?" There’s so many people on all the blogs, D, KP, and AK all have a big following, but there’s millions of people blind to this information. Until they know that something has changed, and they are in a position to say, hold on, you don’t have any authority over me, I am my own authority, because the only person I answer to is God. Until people are made aware of that, the UCC filings are made public on a mass level, how can people be expected to take those kinds of actions to stand up for their rights?

H: Yeah, that’s an excellent question. What I would like to do is use a real time example. Right now there is a report about OWS and the collaboration between the FBI and the big banks to take them down. The Public Trust met with Occupy Wall Street. We spoke with one of the main founders.
You know OWS was started by the banks to incite riots so they could implement certain agendas, protocols, and policies that they needed in place. It got out of control. Why? Because the people are more awake today than when they formulated the plan. The plan was formulated decades ago. They have been testing it throughout the decades up until the present moment. We talked to the guy. He was a good guy. Good intent, all of that stuff, they used this guy with his good heart, his good intent in wanting to fix the system. They put him out in the front. And yet, here’s OWS. They fed it with financing, they fed it with plants. So that’s essentially how it is. You’ve got to look around and support each other, I am free, you are too, and how can I help you understand that?

B: Heather, that makes a lot of sense. The reason I am passionate about this is because I keep getting hung up on it for so long, which is the people don’t know they are free yet. Every single one of us can go talk to ten other people and that still doesn’t scratch the surface of the population of the world. You’ve said it a million times, this is not an American thing. It’s a global thing. Obviously there’s this plan that has been developed behind the scenes for a very long time with the CIA, the Federal Marshalls and the positive military, and the new governments that have been forming. I guess...you don’t have to give a date, because a lot of people have been getting themselves in trouble [doing that]. People know it’s coming, it’s coming, in time where everything is going to come out and it’s going to explode on the scene, all of these protocols are now in place and take out the old and bring in the new. And they are already there, per what you are saying the old systems are gone and the new are in place. We are still operating under the illusion that the old systems are still in place.

H: Ok.

B: The media is still controlled, that’s a big one. That is part of the reason why not a lot more people know about this.

H: You know, let’s address this here. If what I ask people to go do, doesn’t work and they want more info, then let’s readdress it and create a new solution, OK? First, if you will go back and look at those dates, you will see it has already started. It’s not going to start in four days. What people want to know is when are they going to have two coins to rub together? Ok? And that’s fine, I am not saying [there's anything wrong with that]. It’s just for some people, they need a certain trigger so they can believe. They need some authorization to start believing now. It’s been happening. It’s just been happening quietly.

So I would suggest to do what I asked D to do, go back through those filings and look at the dates. D sharing dates about what days Intel happened will help people, to know what to look at. For example: during this time in my brokerage field, or my education field or whatever? They will be able to say, hey you know what? There are facts here to support this. To build the foundation. So, if you go back to look at the filings and look at the dates. A significant time period is the resignations and arrests. Ministry officials, bankers jumping ship. It has already started now. You saw events, but you didn’t have the complete concepts.

D: And it is steamrolling. When you talk about the arrests and the resignations, especially, people need to understand that probably 90 percent of these resignations in business, within banking, and finance are not being reported by the mainstream media. The reports we are getting, times that by a hundred and you probably have a better idea of what is happening. The rats are jumping ship. And they are doing it as fast as they can. This last month, it’s been insane.

H: Yeah, we did something this last month to kind of seal the new, you know, “what can you do now?”. We dealt with all the old, but the new was kind of xx. The people have these governments that they think are by the people, for the people, yet they weren’t. They were corporations. We had to make sure that everything was secured so that people had a tool, even just a temporary one, one that the private systems could recognize. We actually filed that Nov 28.

D: Nov. 28, yes.

H: We sent it off to the White House, to the BIS so the agents and beneficiaries of the private systems had a chance to see that at least on Dec. 1 or even earlier, that the People’s Government was already in place. We had a declaration of facts that we knew we were going to be able to give to people as they saw fit. Everything was secure on December 1 and everyday thereafter.

B: Got it. The consensus across the board is that everybody wants to understand what the money aspect of this whole thing. The numbers that have been given out are some very big numbers. Based on the way that it is written...

H: Brian, sorry to interrupt, you brought up this point and I wanted to mention it earlier. Again, it looks like big numbers to most people. It is NOT big numbers! It is a fraction, a very small fraction of... it is sort of like JP Morgan paying 500 million in a fine for a fraud they committed, they made over 300 trillion, so 500 million was the cost of doing business and basically it was "a cup of coffee".

B: Sure. Ok.

H: So I would like for everyone to put that into perspective. So let’s go forward with your question.

B: The way that it is written, that it is duly verified equity debt against the debtors. There’s more than enough gold and silver over 3 quintillion 5 quadrillion equity debt against the debtors. So somebody wrote, this is more a statement of equity debt owed than a promise to pay. Or good things like clean water or atmosphere clean up? So everybody wants to know, are they going to get a check? How does this element of this operation come together?

H: Yeah, the funny thing is about the debt versus the promise to pay. They actually promised to pay in Gold and Silver, because they set up the whole debt system. They made the promise and it was recorded inside the constitution to use the U.S. Dollars. Anytime anyone used the U.S. dollar, it represented the debt that was going to be paid in gold and silver. The only person who is responsible for an instrument is the issuer. It’s going to be a fine and someone else is going to collect it, but the issuer is responsible for paying.

The only ones responsible for paying for a Federal Reserve note are the Federal Reserve. The major shareholders of the Federal Reserve? The Rothschilds [in], London and Paris. Then you have the Rockefellers. You have other groups and organizations, but there it is in a nutshell. So they are all responsible. The gold and the silver, they already agreed to. That’s why they needed the gold and silver to be moved out. If you look at a promissory note, it says, I (...unclear...) agree to a loan of $200,000.00, which I agree that I have received in return for payment in lawful money of the United States of America. No one would connect that those are two very different things. Lawful money of the United States of America is something different. That’s why the Federal Reserve sent more than $16 billion overseas in the secret issuances, that the people found out about, they had to send them to the banks over there because the banks needed those in order to underwrite their local currencies, the Euro, the Pound, etc. Their system that they created made it so that the Federal Reserve was the number one underwriting to everything.

B: OK.

H: Does that answer, or what part didn’t I answer?

B: D, you have one more question from your blog. . . D you still there?.(D had muted mic)

D: Here’s the overwhelming question from my blog:

H: Ok

D: What can we do to help you? What can the people do to help? People are saying, I want to help, I want to be involved. What can they do?

H: I know, it’s overwhelming. I can only speak for me, but they’ve been helpful to me just by reaching out. Their energy is the value, so I recognize what that value is. They are doing it. They don’t even realize they are doing it...everytime they write a comment on your blog, or on American Kabuki or on any of them, they are saying they are interested. Not only are they interested, they want to help, now. Everybody needs to stand up to take responsibility. All they need to do is stand up and say, “I Am.” And then Be! Because with that, they are going to do. Just do. Don’t be afraid. I am here. We are here. Everyone is here. We are not afraid. Great. The more there is, the less fear there is, isn’t there?

D: Well said.

H: So we’ll figure out what can be done, but people don’t have limits! Don’t limit yourself. Be creative. If you make a mistake, we can always correct it. I am so excited about the ways they are going to figure out to do. Don’t wait. Ok, D. I am the one asking your readers, when are they going to do, and what are they going to do? That’s what I would like to know?

D: Well there you go!

H: I am so excited. There is so much potential.

D: I think that you have just set me up for my next article tomorrow.

B: H: & D: Laughter

D: RTS readers, there’s a test tomorrow morning, you better study ha, ha.

B: you know your readers are in there 30 times a day checking for your most recent post.

D: I have the most awesome readers!

H: Ok here is a moment of clarity that I would like to share with you both, to see what you feel. I really want to answer all of their questions in a clear, concise manner that fires something up that lets them know how important they are. And so they don’t really want to know who I am or who Caleb is, or who Randall is, what they are looking for is proof that some little guy was able to go in and do something and that means that I am able to go in and do something, too.

H, B & D discuss how to continue conversation, questions, recording, etc.

H: I really want to emphasize that things be clear and concise, I really want the people to be able to get what they want, because they’ve never gotten it before.

B: We’ve never gone down the Spiritual path of this thing.

H: That’s a key component. That is the foundation of it all anyways! We had to get through all the crap to get to the solution.

B: There’s a myriad of differences in what is coming out in these last few days, Keenan lawsuit, etc. The trillion dollar lawsuit, a lot of legal stuff, etc. This is different from that. This is from purely a foundation of Spirituality. From people being and having connection to their Source Creator or power to control themselves and not give that control over to anyone else. I think that might be part of an “Aha” moment. I ask these questions, because people really want to know. But so far, the element that is missing is: here is what we now have as the people. It is time to move forward and stand united. And that is part of what we still need to address in my opinion.

H: Are you recording now?

B: Yep.

H: Ok, So that is a huge example. What we learned is that contracts help you to figure out what the solution is. If you don’t have one, how are you going to know that any of them even exist. Case in point: the law is all a fraud, as far as the legal systems, I should say are all a fraud. So to go in to find a recourse or a remedy, when the system is designed so you do not have a remedy at all? How do you deal with that? I knew that was a danger for the people to even try to navigate that stuff. Alleviate it, take it out, put it in its place of truth. That’s what the paperwork, documents and the actions that we took did. Nobody has to deal with the courts again. Not if they don’t want to. But if they want to create a system of accountability, I am so excited to see what they come up with. However, the old stuff, it’s gone!

B: Ok, so when are people going to be granted the tools to empower themselves to stand up? (discusses example of DUI.) The systems are still there as of today. The courts and fines still exist, but we don’t yet have the tools or ability to convince the court that they are an illusion and a farce. Without knowing what you are doing, that’s not going to get you very far.

H: Yeah, absolutely. That was the whole key. I wanted to make sure people were able to go in and have what they needed to deal with those situations. The first ingredient is to have no fear. Number 2 have the tools to make sure that the lack of fear is rooted. Listening to your example, based on what you stated in your intent...I am in that situation...I would say, ( to officer) ok, I am showing you who I am, show me your employment contract, I’d like to know who I am talking to. Unfortunately, there are so many people pretending. That is essentially what it is. Use the Declaration of Facts. I just sent you the Declaration of Facts. That is how someone goes about using what’s been done on a current, personal matter.

B: Ok, so here’s my question.

H: Ok, so.

B: Ok, so there is all of these people pretending, playing a part... when does the system change so much so that the pretending can no longer be tolerated? When do those people playing those roles, consciously aware or not, no longer have the ability to stand there and have to step aside?

H: It’s already happening. When we went in and did the investigations, I went into a courtroom, I had experience there as a prosecutor, so they couldn’t even paint me as a “Nutter”.

It took me some time, but I had to ask the right questions. If someone asks me under what authority are you an attorney? I have a bar card, where’s the agreement that says that you can represent the state? Well, I don’t know, let me go ask my boss. . . my boss can’t even answer that question. He can’t show me the agreement where the State of Washington says the County prosecutor’s office is allowed to represent the State of Washington. And then my boss starts freaking out. We went in and tested ALL of that. But to have the people have to go through all of that and test all of that, is different.

The County I tested that in, everyone knew me. Everyone in that County knew there was something going on. And I was putting myself knowingly in these positions, when I could have just walked right out. The banks had to finally just get the judges out of the situation of the cases by offering for example one judge’s daughter a job, then that judge had to recues himself. None of the other 19 judges in the county would touch it. They recused themselves one right after the other. Why? Because they realized, “Holy ****, something is really going on.” Months after I had been in the County testing all of these cases. Everyone was making fun of me. I didn’t care what they thought, I had the information the regular person just didn’t have...

Brian that’s the draft I am sending out to you here shortly. It’s basically a list of questions that you ask them in a kind and respectful manner. Because I know, and they know, and if they don’t know, they are going to have to find out real quick and go to their bosses to get the answer and it’s not provided. They are told to drop the case. Just let it go...dismiss this, ...refund this, whatever it may be, we used the script, basically the document we filed in the UCC to put these guys in that position, they are absolutely liable. It’s already done.

B: Ok.

H: It’s just a matter of letting the people know how to do it. That’s what I am working on, getting that out.

B: So, I am going to review this document and that will give me a better idea about the tools that are getting put out there so people can start standing up for themselves. My next question would be, when are people not going to have to resort to this document any more? When is the residue of this slavery/corrupt system going to be a part of the past? People still don’t know that they have the power to stand up for themselves. People will be potentially playing out through these old paradigms. With absolutely no knowledge of what is taking place.

H: Yeah, I mean, it’s already done. They are actually changing themselves now. It’s important to look at the documents and look at the dates. They can connect the dots. The dots have already been connected. That’s going to be huge in boosting up their confidence.. .that’s one. Two is them “BE-ing”. Them...writing on the comments in the blogs. I cannot stress how much a difference that is making and dissolving the systems that have been enslaving them for all of this time. They are actually doing it right now, whether they know it or not. I am asking that they know it consciously, instead of just unconsciously. They can do that if they just go and look. Does that make sense?

B: Ok, yeah, that makes sense. I am going to review these documents, ha ha.

H: You’ve just got to be aware. You’ve just got to look. When they go back and look at the dates of those people who promised them things, they have the opportunities to realize, Oh My God, it did happen! Quietly. The Trust needed to make sure that the slavery system...[they] had to make a different choice, in order for the foreclosure suit to be absolute and unrebuttable. They cannot challenge it, because if they do, they open the door for all of the “discovery.”

So right now, anything that the people want to declare, this is it. Because they do not want to open the door and show all the bad deeds and what has been going on.

B: Yeah, this is bringing up that story about the experience I had yesterday going over to buy the webcam for this call and I was passing by all the people in the store who are completely oblivious to all this stuff, and I was thinking how everyone is going to be affected by all of this, there is no way not to. At that moment, I looked up and saw a sign in the women’s clothing department that said: “put the pieces together” talking about women’s clothing, but all of a sudden...even though I get this...I sometimes wonder if it is real, the answer I got instantly from my own inner knowing...is that it is up to we the people to really enforce it.

Once everybody knows that they have been set free, then the slavery system no longer has any power, the illusion of it fades away, like the spotlight on a shadow, the shadow ceases to exist. Now this creates the opportunity for the People to Be, the system no longer has any power over us... on a mass level, when does the realization that the systems are gone start to become a factor? We are in what now appears to be the inner circle of the only ones who know, whereas there are a lot of people facing catastrophic conditions in their lives as a result of this system...when does all this change?

H: You know, it is changing. That’s the point. It has changed. It is changing. It is going to continue to change. The speed and visibility with which it changes is with the people. Example: In Morocco, it was occupied by France, and was pieced apart in an agreement between France, England, and Spain. The People were sick of the occupation, they got together and marched through Morocco. It was the Green March. There was no violence. It makes OWS look like a bunch of unruly teens. The People marched from North to South. In that particular case, they were armed with the Koran. Their energy, their solidarity, and their unity. . .within a very short period of time, France left Morocco. They saw the power, they saw the unity and there is just nothing greater than the People.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE'S TRUST CONTINUED...


I met with China, in Hong Kong and they were dealing with uprisings in the employment sectors. People were very tired. That was one thing the military was very, very afraid of. They cannot handle and uprising of 3 billion people. Not even if they brought in aid from outside. They still can’t handle that. So if the People just unify, and I am watching them unify...your blogs are communities already...you are already doing. Well do. Then be yourself. Then be yourself with your neighbor, then with their neighbor, until everyone is together and is unified. Yeah, they are gonna fly like a rat out of the water as soon as they see the people unifying. That is what they are watching for.

B: Got it. Having more and more people become conscious of all this is the key to the information and the awareness that sets us all free.

H: Absolutely. Disclosure is one thing that they are scared of is the people. The people knowing who they are and then the people unifying together for a common goal.

B: Ok, two more questions that I skipped over earlier. KP sent them to me from his readers. First: You have said the people do not need to apply for funds, so to put it bluntly, will the People actually be receiving actual currency? If so, how and when?

H: Sure. We went in and set up everything and everything was set back to Prime. Everything was set in Gold and Silver, specifically because gold and silver was the representation of the value that all the systems had been working with and holding the people to. Nobody has gold and silver sitting in their pockets or in their homes for the most part. But because you signed a piece of paper declaring that you would pay them back in gold and silver, everything had already been agreed to gold and silver.

When we set up a new government, the new temporary government, for them (The People) to use to figure out if they want a government, even, one of the terms was that no currency could be issued. It had to all be in gold and silver. There is a specific reason for that. Currencies are typically owned by a private organization, entity, or group. We didn’t want that to happen. We made sure that the people had in their possession what was duly returned to them. And then if the people come together and don’t want to carry the gold and silver around in their pocket, then they will issue a currency based on that gold and silver. I am not saying there shouldn’t be a currency, I am saying the people have to make a decision. In owning that currency wholeheartedly, because it is their gold and silver behind it. Caleb, Randall, and I along with others want to make sure the people have a choice and knowingly, willingly, intentionally, set that representation.

Our intent was all the value was returned. A value they could rub together and buy bread and gas for the car and pay for services. That was the goal. And to build value off of that. Agriculture – growing food with nutrition in it ones that didn’t have nanotechnology or markers in it set for diseases that the big pharma could actually sell stuff to you later when it went from dormant to active. What we were thinking of is how can people get their value? And then you can issue currencies from there tomorrow. You can do it, but it has got to be the decision of the people.

B: Ok, so let’s say that happens, we issue a currency, the question that came in from Marlena from KP’s site, if everybody gets this money, whatever the dollar amount, wouldn’t the next thing that needs to happen simultaneously that there is disclosure, there wouldn’t be a need for money anymore? If we all have 500 million we might all quit our jobs, then what happens to the hospitals, grocery, etc. How do we avoid utter chaos?

H: Let’s use the medical field as an example. You have a hospital that is certainly not in the service of the people. And the doctor coming in is stressed because of malpractice insurance, all the worrying, long hours, lack of technology. Here is an example of how this is going to work. It’s not an influx of money. There’s no change in the actual base. [the total money supply is not increasing - which is the true source of inflation -AK] It’s just being put into different hands and out into all those different hands. And those people are going to be re prioritizing. Of course they are. However, if I am a doctor working at a hospital and I now have access to all of this technology that has been hidden, mind blowing technology, I might take a vacation, but I do know this, my head is going to be spinning with all of the new technologies. So those existing systems that are meant to serve the people, the hospitals are still going to be there. There is so much excitement at what is coming and what can be used that there will be more doctors on call and you are going to have to force them to go take a break. Does that answer?

B: Yes. I asked it because I asked a similar question to Poof when I did my consultation, I asked him when I could go comfortably quit my job, and do what I came here to do? He said there will be so much opportunity out there, he didn’t say when. He said, don’t shoot until you see the whites in their eyes. He did say, when everything happens, whenever that might be, and all of this becomes the new reality, everybody is going to have the opportunity to be a part of these new technologies, there’s going to be no shortage of jobs.

H: Absolutely. There’s going to be no shortage. That’s the kind of fear I hear here. How am I going to get my bread? Who’s going to collect the garbage? This isn’t about lack. This is about abundance. There’s already technology out there. We call it a cooker in the banking industry, it’s basically a cooker that you can put things into this thing and it gives you fuel. That’s actually old technology. But you never heard about those. You never saw them come out, not even in minor production. I am telling you that there is going to be an abundance of everything. I agree with Poof on that point, whoever Poof is. There is going to be so much abundance everywhere and so much possibility. People are going to actually think about what they are passionate about, now. Nobody thinks about what they are passionate about now. We are told what not to do, because it doesn’t pay very well. I picked a field in reality that wasn’t what I was passionate about. I went into law way afterward. I went into accounting. How boring is accounting? I am terrible with numbers as a lot of your viewers have seen.

B: talks about not getting hung up on the money aspect of the thing, jobs, basic needs, the Venus Project (based on bartering to live the life of abundance) The biggest distribution of wealth on this planet is happening right now, so for me right now, I want to get to the point where there is no money, where money is no issue.

H: I love the Venus project. I worked on the finance part of it early in my career. I watched it get buried. I watched them bring them in, to see how they would do it, then bury the whole thing. They thought they were going to get financing so they could actually help somebody (muffled). People talk about their mortgages, guys no loans were ever made. Private or commercial, it never was made. . . no loans were made so they do not have to be paid back. And the same goes for the debts. . .it’s all contrived no debt can exist unless a loan was made. You need to say, show me the loan.
B: What is a loan in legal terms? People are raising their eyebrows, because they have a lot of loans, and they are drowning in the payments. Explain that and how this is going to affect them.

H: People don’t know, and that’s ok. I can personally guarantee that judges don’t even know. A loan is a sum of money given to someone in exchange for a promise that they will pay it back. The debt is an amount of money that has been loaned that is due for payment. One is the action of giving the money, the other is a credit on someone’s book and a debit on another. Something that was loaned to you, that you borrowed, and you can show the transactional records or the history of what was given. Ok?

B: Right.

H: Well that’s why they cannot prove a loan was made, there was no documentation. There was one we specifically did with ---bank. They freaked out when asked to show the documentation that a loan was made. We tested it out with my mom and dad and the banks got hit hard, because of the work that we did.

B: Wow

H: There is no loans to pay back. There is national debt. There is no state debt.

B: Ok, so Federal Reserve notes. That’s not money, that’s debts, right?

H: That’s the awesome thing. Who issues the Federal Reserve note? It’s all over the paper. It says Federal Reserve. They are liable for it, but through a series of deceptive acts and practices, they made it so the people consented to take on that liability. That’s why they print that money. Because it is nothing.

B: Ok, thank you. You mentioned temporary governments.

H: Yes

B: Is that what is referred to [as] the CVAC?

H: Yes, we wanted to make sure, the people believe their government exists, right? That it is by the people and for the people? Where as in reality , in commerce, the slavery system, principals and beneficiaries set it up so everything was a corporation and hidden within commerce. The only way we could go in and make sure the people had what they wanted or to create what they wanted, was to go into the registry of the slavery system and register the ownership of the people’s government. We used the “Creation’s Value Asset Centers” (CVAC). That was the solution. One original proposal involved a claims process that would be called Creditors Value Asset Claim. When this all went back to Prime, Zero Point, we had already created the logos, so we just changed the names. We needed to make sure that it was a framework that was fluid, nonrestrictive, non limited, except for what the people want. One is that the People were owners of it and two was that the sole purpose of the government was to serve the people. No special interest, no self interest. Three that it would not abrogate, subordinate, subjugate, violate, invade, or assert the people’s standing, authority, and value. (Muffled)

B: Ok

H: That was our whole formula – registering what already is.

B: Are the CVACs in place right now?

H: Yes, the UCC is a commercial registry. And it also has uniform commercial codes that the registry is operated by to register property, to transfer property, to assign property. Ok? Commerce runs everything. So they established this commercial registry, with commercial codes and the people paid for it. They prepaid for it. There is a private owner. Right now the private owner is all the people equally on the planet. However, prior to that, little known to any one, there was a former private owner. However, that private owner would not step forward, because that would be proof that there was a slavery system. That was what we did, we put them in a corner where they are damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

B: Ok, so everything is done. Obviously someone still controls the media. Who is left that is still fighting tooth and nail?

H: People are falling on their sword right now as proof. They would rather fall on their swords but still have that private system up with the chance of some benefit and not have to worry about the accountability. The whole group of principals, agents and beneficiaries is fighting it, but there is a group within, that if they had known that when they were born they had a choice, they may have chosen differently. They are brainwashed and given a position where they have to live within that system. It’s no longer that way now, because of the people, the people are waking up. Look at the Connecticut issue, people have been dissecting that and there is nothing left. They already know the answer. So it is the people. Right now, everything rests on the people... does that answer your question?

B: Yes, it does. It takes knowledge to a whole new level, it is wisdom. It really is as simple as being. ...(talks about emails and the word being is used a lot) it creates the foundation for all of this to even exist. We only need to answer to ourselves and to our creator. If we think we have to answer to someone in the middle it is part of the illusion. From a spiritual standpoint, the foundation has now been set for people to be what they are at their core, which is soul and spirit.

H: Right. That is what they cannot rebut.

B: yeah. A question from AK, right now, the CVAC mentions 500 million per person, is that a separate sum?

H: In order to get the temporary government, you have to have backing, right?

AK: Right.

H: So 500 million from every person on the planet was appropriated to be able to fund their government to start the repossessions, start the systems of treasury, of protection, of education, technology, so that was the number we chose. It can always be changed by the people.

AK: Ok.

H: So we took the money out of their holdings to start the systems or keep the systems that they already thought were running.

AK: So this is for the organic government.

H: yes, but I had to register the government in a commercial system so the old commercial system couldn’t run anymore.

AK: Ok, got it. So this is the one that is taking hold of the assets.

H: This is the one that collapsed all of the other corporations operating under the guise of government. This is temporary so the people could establish their governments, if any.

AK: so we are removing a legal fiction?

H: Yes, we had to collapse the legal fictions by stating the fictions as the property of the people individually and collectively.

AK: Got it.

B: that makes sense.

Off the record conversation for 10 1/2 minutes.

B: So Heather, we have covered a lot of ground today and I cannot thank you enough for your commitment to service and years of blood, sweat, tears and absolute truth and effort that you put toward everything. The work is just getting started. There is going to be a whole lot more to do. We’ll do more of these calls. And live questions. Are you interested Heather?

H: Yes, I would also like to bring in Miles. People want to see proof. They want to know someone who has gotten in the water splashed around and that it is safe to go in and there are no sharks. We tested everything in our lives to make sure that we would take the liability and take the brunt of it if there were any mistakes. I have a real hard time with the word Hope, because Hope indicates something that you don’t already possess. The thing is , the people are their own hope it already is. It is when they “Be” and it is when they “Do”. Have no fear. Mistakes can be fixed. If people do that with absolute love, grace and gratitude. If we all help each other, we are going to figure out how to do this in harmony and in oneness.

B: Great. Can you paint a picture of what people have to look forward to? This is the reality we are living in?

H: First, have no expectations. Because it will not match the experience for most of us. Some can imagine it, some may have experienced it already. When people stand in responsibility and liability, it changes how they function and it changes what you can understand. So Brian, you would act differently if you knew we were watching every step you make, rather than just being alone in a room by yourself and not being held accountable to anyone. That right there is a ground shaking element to everything that is being done. Because now at this point, people feel safer, they start trusting, and distrust is going to be removed from their verbiage. Hope is going to be removed from their verbiage. Need. Want. Those are all words that indicate they don’t have something yet and they are going to start realizing they have it and they had it all along. You are going to have incredible new architecture, agriculture systems, incredible new amounts of creativity and inventions.

B: So would free energy already be included in that?

H: All the free energy stuff has been shelved. When people would bring those kinds of inventions in and some of it was inspired from a whole different part of the universe. When that technology started to show up and they needed funding for it, the banks. I cannot tell you how many times we tried to help people and then Rumsfield came in and took those inventions, either buying them out, or make it so the person was in jail and the patents would run out.

So all of that stuff is out there, you are going to have free energy, healthy food. People are going to end up having magnificent gardens in their home. The whole system of how we live is changing. The whole system is going to be self-sustaining.

B: Sounds like there are people behind the scenes working around the clock.

H: Yeah, it’s already ready to go. It was ready to go about four months ago. That’s why we needed to make sure the foreclosure was done and there was an opportunity for them to come in and basically say, “No that’s not how it is”. They never did. So the foreclosure was done in October. We needed the tool to bring this in. Everything is ready to go. It was a matter of disclosure. Disclosure naturally happened. People can go back and look at the dates and see that the dates did meet their expectations. This had to happen quietly, though. So the Powers that were couldn’t use old methods to bury them before they were actually finished.

B: Got it. Everything had to be quiet or there could have been a chance for defeat?

H: Yeah. The only ones that knew were the powers that were. We really experienced really severe pressure. I cannot imagine how it would have been if we went public. We would have been so spread thin. It just wouldn’t have gotten done. I am really satisfied with the way that things were done. Now people have the opportunity to see it was actually done and now say, wait a minute, we’re ratified. Now you are going to see that the military, what did you call it?

B: The positive military?

H: Anyway, they have been in place since September. It is just this symphony a magnificent, divine symphony to make this play out, so that people have a chance to make different choices that were in the former systems. Some of them are “checking out”. You are watching it right now. You just don’t know the context of it.

B: Well, I am going to go out on a limb and say we have a lot to look forward to here! I have learned these past few days that the more we can stop worrying about everything that has happened, and to anticipate or create some expectation, it is in everyone’s best interest to start living in the moment. Be this change, now. The real change happens inside of us. Our outside world automatically transforms around us. The outside world is inside each and every one of us. We create the world around us. Whether you realize it or not this is happening and it is time for us to be aware of it. Just be. Just be in this moment.

We will have a future forum to do this again. If your question wasn’t answered, we will have an email address TOPPTQuestions@gmail.com.

H: all of this is done without prejudice and with absolute gratitude unconditionally always.

B: Thank you to D, and to American Kabuki and Kauilapele.

Brian here from the American Kabuki ground crew. Thank you for the time. And I look forward to moving forward on this journey with each of you.

[Sabrina]

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/a-bit-of-a-light-storm-has-ensued/

4 Jan

Via Kauilapele on the People's Trust interview (as above)

A Bit of a Light-Storm has Ensued…


Well, I’m not sure what anyone else has seen, but I’ve been noting a lot of posts and emails and Skype messages, that tell me that the release of the TOPPT Discussion/Conversation VIDEO & MP3s (and now, Transcript) has created quite a Light storm (as I like to call it). Several of the group involved with this have been “gloriously swamped” with emails (and if you want to be a part of this “glorious swamping”, you may email, topptquestions@gmail.com). We’ve been seeing it in our SMS communications, and from sources I would never have suspected were interested in this.

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/the-one-peoples-public-trust-discussion-of-1-1-13-video-and-mp3s/



Here are a couple new blog sites that someone has just created for this, in Canada.

http://peoplestrustottawa.blogspot.ca

http://peoplestrusttoronto.blogspot.ca

And check out this link to see a letter D (at Removing the Shackles) received about all this.

http://removingtheshackles.blogspot.ca/2013/01/journey-down-rabbit-hole.html

Finally, a note I received from someone in Australia.

“I have to tell you that the people’s trust and the conversation with heather and all it’s implications has been the only topic of conversation for me all day with a group of people from around australia.”

Apparently, that conversation struck a definite sweet spot on the planet.

[Sabrina]

SOME RECENT FINANCIAL RESIGNATIONS (that's those that are reported)...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323689604578217600546645188.html

Official's Cousin Steps Down Amid Probe

ATHENS—The cousin of a former Greek finance minister, implicated in a scandal over a list of wealthy Greeks with Swiss bank accounts, has submitted her resignation as adviser to the country's privatization agency, an official at the agency said on Wednesday.

Eleni Papaconstantinou, who was appointed as a legal consultant to the agency in September, offered her resignation to avoid entangling the agency in a probe stemming from the so-called Lagarde List, the official said. Ms. Papaconstantinou couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

The list was drawn from data obtained by former employees of HSBC's HSBA.LN +0.77% Geneva branch, who electronically copied details of 24,000 clients, with the aim of selling those details to European governments trying to track tax evasion among their citizens, said people familiar with the matter.

The information wound up in the hands of French tax authorities, as well as those of Italy and Spain. The French tax authorities said they acquired the list in 2008 when they raided the home of one of the former HSBC employees at the request of the Swiss government. In 2010, the French tax authorities began distributing a copy of the list, which they had kept, to their counterparts in Italy and Spain. All three countries started probes to recover unpaid taxes.

In December, a Spanish court said it would release an Italian-French citizen sought by Swiss police in connection with the theft of banking data, pending a final decision on a possible extradition to that country.

This week, Greece's government asked parliament to investigate whether ex-Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou—who was given the list by former French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde in 2010—had tampered with the document listing 2,062 Greeks with offshore bank accounts.

The move came after prosecutors disclosed that some of Mr. Papaconstantinou's relatives, including Ms. Papaconstantinou, had fallen off the list sometime after it was handed to Mr. Papaconstantinou. Prosecutors said the list they saw in October had 2,059 names.

Mr. Papaconstantinou has said he removed no names from the list. Ms. Papaconstantinou, an attorney by profession, said in her resignation letter that the account she jointly held with her husband at the Swiss branch of HSBC and identified on the later version of the list was completely legal, the agency official said.

The disclosure this fall that government officials had in 2010 received a list that could lead them to potential wealthy tax evaders—and that officials hadn't pursued these leads amid two years of recession and painful austerity measures—has touched off months of controversy.

The privatization agency's board will meet in coming days to consider the resignation, the official said.

(2 Jan)

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://en.mercopress.com/2012/12/20/ecuador-central-bank-governor-resigns-admitting-he-has-no-economics-degree

Ecuador Central bank governor resigns admitting he has no Economics degree

Ecuador's central bank president, Pedro Delgado, resigned on Wednesday after admitting that he did not hold a university degree in economics.

Delgado faced accusations in recent weeks in local media that he lied when he said that he had obtained a degree in economics.

“I submit my irrevocable resignation as head of the central bank ... and I do it because I made a grave mistake 22 years ago. I made the wrong choice and to achieve an academic objective I made a mistake that now is costing me dearly,” he told reporters.

”I presented a document with no value that certified that I had a degree that I did not hold” in order to enter a business school to study for an MBA, Delgado said.
Delgado, the cousin of Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, was appointed head of the Andean country's monetary authority in November 2011.

Correa is up for re-election in February 2013. The populist leader wants four more years in office so he can continue to expand state control over the Andean nation's economy
(20 Dec)

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.philstar.com/business/2013/01/03/892593/ongpin-resigns-pbcom-board



MANILA, Philippines - Businessman Roberto V. Ongpin has stepped down as director and co-chairman of the Philippine Bank of Communications, the bank said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The bank said the former trade minister tendered his resignation last Dec. 28.

PBCom said Ongpin’s resignation will take effect immediately.

Ongpin still holds various positions in PhilWeb Corp., ISM Communications Corp., Alphaland Corp. and Atok-Big Wedge Co. Inc.

He is also involved in other listed companies, namely San Miguel Corp., Ginebra San Miguel Inc. and Petron Corp.

Last month, the Court of Appeals (CA) has temporarily frozen some 100 bank accounts linked to Ongpin pending a probe of the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1
The businessman has been subjected to a Senate inquiry on his P660 million alleged behest loans from the Development Bank of the Philippines.

In 2011, ISM Communications Corp., a publicly-listed IT and gaming firm controlled by Ongpin, won the bidding for a majority stake in PBCom.

PBCom, one of the country’s 20 largest commercial banks, was sold at a floor price of P4.3 billion or about P25 per common and preferred share. During that time, the bank has 64 branches, majority of which are located in Metro Manila.

The majority stockholders of PBCom — the Nubla, Chung and Luy families — hold a combined 97 percent stake in PBCom but had to dispose off their shareholdings as part of an agreement with state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) following the bank’s rehabilitation in 2004. PBCom received a P7.6-billion financial assistance package from PDIC.
(3 Jan)

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.daily-sun.com/index.php?view=details&archiev=yes&arch_date=03-01-2013&type=Janata-Bank-director-Parvin-resigns&pub_no=368&cat_id=1&menu_id=3&news_type_id=1&index=5

India

Janata Bank director Parvin resigns

Parvin Mahmud, Director of Janata Bank Limited, has resigned from the bank board as she said, she could not make time for the job.

She sent the resignation letter to Dr Abul Barakat, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank, Wednesday.

After receiving the letter, Janata Bank authorities sent a copy of it to the Banking and Financial Institutions Division of the Finance Ministry.

The letter revealed that Parvin Mahmud joined the state-owned Janata Bank Limited on March 21, 2012. She could not afford time for the bank’s board.

Bank sources said, after being appointed as a director, Parvin attended only two meetings of the bank board.

Showing personal ground, she tendered her resignation on January 1, 2013.

[Hervé]

From: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/02/euro-greece-barter-poverty-crisis

Euros discarded as impoverished Greeks resort to bartering


Communities set up local currencies and exchange networks in attempt to beat the economic crisis

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/12/12/1355325163645/Volos-bartering-008.jpg
Stall-holders at a bartering market in the central Greek city of Volos, where shoppers use Tem coupons to exchange services or products. Photograph: Despoina Vafeidou / AFP/ Getty Images


It's been a busy day at the market in downtown Volos. Angeliki Ioanitou has sold a decent quantity of olive oil and soap, while her friend Maria has done good business with her fresh pies.

But not a single euro has changed hands – none of the customers on this drizzly Saturday morning has bothered carrying money at all. For many, browsing through the racks of second-hand clothes, electrical appliances and homemade jams, the need to survive means money has been usurped.

"It's all about exchange and solidarity, helping one another out in these very hard times," enthused Ioanitou, her hair tucked under a floppy felt cap. "You could say a lot of us have dreams of a utopia without the euro."

In this bustling port city at the foot of Mount Pelion, in the heart of Greece (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/greece)'s most fertile plain, locals have come up with a novel way of dealing with austerity – adopting their own alternative currency, known as the Tem. As the country struggles with its worst crisis in modern times, with Greeks losing up to 40% of their disposable income as a result of policies imposed in exchange for international aid, the system has been a huge success. Organisers say some 1,300 people have signed up to the informal bartering network.

For users such as Ioanitou, the currency – a form of community banking monitored exclusively online – is not only an effective antidote to wage cuts and soaring taxes but the "best kind of shopping therapy". "One Tem is the equivalent of one euro. My oil and soap came to 70 Tem and with that I bought oranges, pies, napkins, cleaning products and Christmas decorations," said the mother-of-five. "I've got 30 Tem left over. For women, who are worst affected by unemployment, and don't have kafeneia [coffeehouses] to go to like men, it's like belonging to a hugely supportive association."

Greece's deepening economic crisis has brought new users. With ever more families plunging into poverty and despair, shops, cafes, factories and businesses have also resorted to the system under which goods and services – everything from yoga sessions to healthcare, babysitting to computer support – are traded in lieu of credits.

"For many it plays a double role of supplementing lost income and creating a protective web at this particularly difficult moment in their lives," says Yiannis Grigoriou, a UK-educated sociologist among the network's founders. "The older generation in this country can still remember when bartering was commonplace. In villages you'd exchange milk and goat's cheese for meat and flour."

Other grassroots initiatives have appeared across Greece. Increasingly bereft of social support, or a welfare state able to meet the needs of a growing number of destitute and hungry, locals have set up similar trading networks in the suburbs of Athens, the island of Corfu, the town of Patras and northern Katerini.

But Volos, the first to be established, is by far the biggest. Until recently the city, 200 miles north of Athens, was a thriving industrial hub with a port whose ferries not only connected the mainland to nearby islands but before Syria's descent into civil war was a trading route between Greece and the Middle East. Once famous for its tobacco, Volos was home to flour mills and cement factories, steel and metal works.
But, today, it is joblessness that it has come to be known for in a country whose unemployment rate recently hit a European record of 26%, surpassing even that of Spain.

"Frankly the Tem has been a life-saver," said Christina Koutsieri, clutching DVDs and a bag of food as she emerged from the marketplace. "In March I had to close the grocery store I had kept going for 27 years because I just couldn't afford all the new taxes and bills. Everyone I know has lost their jobs. It's tragic."

Last year, the Greek government stepped in with a law that supported finding creative ways to cope with the crisis. For the first time, alternative forms of entrepreneurship and local development were actively encouraged.

Although locals insist the Tem, which is also available in voucher form, will never replace banknotes – and has not been dreamed up to dodge taxes – they say it is a viable alternative.

For local officials such as Panos Skotiniotis, the mayor of Volos, the alternative currency has proved to be an excellent way of supplementing the euro. "We are all for supporting alternatives that help alleviate the crisis's economic and social consequences," he said. "It won't ever replace the euro but it is really helping weaker members of our society. In all the social and cultural activities of the municipality, we are encouraging the Tem to be used."

[Sabrina]

http://removingtheshackles.blogspot.ca/2013/01/you-have-right-to-know.html


More on the People's Trust (as above)

5 Jan


You have the Right to know

I started writing this around 11pm last night (first moment I had to sit quietly) but after writing around 6 paragraphs, I realized that it was disjointed mumble jumble. The caffeine had obviously worn off.

This morning I realized that writing in a timeline was going to be too confusing for most people so I've decided to start with the major events, and then we can go on from there and I'll fill in some of the blanks later on. I'm pretty sure the moment I publish this article, more things will come to me and I'll start writing the next one.

Take a seat and get a coffee, this might take a while. By the way, I sent this off to a few people for proof reading etc, and Heather from The People's Trust has added her own comments - they are in all Caps, and I've then responded to a few of her additions.

Now before the naysayers and negative nellies get their knickers in a twist I will preface what I'm about to say with this: This stuff is not in the main stream media. If you are going to ask me to give you links to news stories from CNN and Bloomberg to back everything I'm about to tell you up, you might as well stop reading right now. The media is the most controlled group on the planet- you all know this. The Cabal is still in control of the media and will not allow anything out that goes against them or even hints that they are in trouble of any sort. But go ahead and search if you wish- if you look closely, there are hints coming out all over the place.


What I'm going to write here is the truth as it's been told to me. As I have said several times over and over again, I do not consider anything "solid intel" unless I can get multiple confirmations from several very different sources- sources that I trust because I have already vetting their information thoroughly. I will try to give details, but I will not give names in certain circumstances for legal reasons (lol), and I will not name my sources as that would put them and perhaps their jobs (at the least) and safety in jeopardy, which I won't do. These people have a right to anonymity.



So, the most important thing that every American needs to know is that NESARA- the National Economic Security and Reformation Act. (NOT to be confused with the National Economic Security and Recovery Act) is very REAL. As real as this computer I'm typing on. (for more basic info go HERE)

Americans have been under NESARA law since December 5th 2012. (exactly 6 days after The People's Trust filed foreclosure against the Corporate US Government) ACTUALLY, SIX DAYS AFTER THE DECLARATION OF FACTS WAS FILED THAT HELPED THEIR "ATTORNEYS" PUT ALL THE PIECES TOGETHER...WE HELP WHERE WE CAN :) I DISCLOSE THAT ALL OF THIS WAS HARD FOR THEM TO DIGEST...FIRST THEY HAD TO GET PAST THEIR OWN EGOS...THEN PAST THE "HOLY ****" AS THEY REALIZED THEY PUT...EVERY...TOOL...THERE...THEMSELVES..AND THEN THEY KNEW WHO THEY BE...CREATOR'S UNDER COVER AGENTS...THAT'S WHY THEY MOVED SIX DAYS LATER...JUST SAYIN' :) "Just sayin'"?... you've been hanging out with me too long.

On Tuesday December 4th 2012, 503 congressmembers/governors/senators were arrested in DC- in what was called a "Catch & Release" event. They were arrested, brought before a supreme court judge, and they were given a document to sign which basically states that they will, from that day forward, work under constitutional law and uphold the true organic Constitution or they will spend the rest of their lives wearing orange PJs and peeling potatoes. Those were the marginal ones. The real bad ones- apparently 77- of them were shipped off to The Hague to be tried for serious crimes. I haven't been able to find out if those 77 ever came back or if they have been tried yet or sentenced. (and believe me, I've tried to get that information). HHHHMMMMM....WHEN DID HILARY PURPORTEDLY GO MISSING? MIGHT AS WELL CONNECT THE DOTS WHY YOU ARE AT IT...WHEN DID GEORGE W.H. BUSH PURPORTEDLY GO INTO THE HOSPITAL? :) I wasn't actually going to go there yet, but yes.

On Wednesday, December 5th, 2012, A new American president was sworn in- to hold the office of "interim president" until real constitutionally sound elections take place. Obama is no longer the President of the United States of America and is acting as a figurehead at the moment because they have yet to announce the changes. At that point, NESARA Law was enacted and Americans have been under NESARA since then.

Since that day, Dec 5th, we have been told at least twice a week that "the RV is happening tonight/tomorrow/in 72 hours..." and "The announcements will start tonight/tomorrow/in the next 72 hours..."....

... and then nothing happens.

Sometimes you get a reason- back doors hacked into the system that have to be fixed, more arrests (WF, UST, hackers, stooges,), arguments between countries because they don't like their currency rate (then delays as they build their assets to negotiate a better rate), and signatures needed on important documents for various Funds/Trusts, more arrests...

But, since about mid December, there have been no real excuses given. Which is unheard of. Then just before Christmas almost all of the serious intel went silent and I got told to sit in the corner and colour. The guys who told me to do that promised that everything is rolling out exactly as it is suppose to, and that announcements were imminent. I wasn't the only one told this- several people I cross reference and verify intel with were also told the same thing.

All the gold is in place- exactly where it needs to be in the US and Internationally- not only to fund the "RV", but for the WGS, PPs and St. Germaine Trust. ...and THAT is a LOT of gold. There have been massive shipments of gold and silver going out all over the world for months since mid September and it's only been in the last 3 months that the assets have been (mostly) in place for the new financial system, RV and PPs to go out. RV PART GOES BACK TO OUR DISCUSSION TODAY AND THE RELEVANCE OF WHAT HAPPENED IN ECUADOR....AND IRAQ 2001 BEING A DISCLOSURE OF A WHOLE OTHER KIND. I thought you might say that. I agree with the importance of the Ecuador stuff, but I'm not convinced- I have a few people I want to talk to about the Iraqi Constitution.... we'll talk about this some more.


One of the things I want to say to you Dinarians and the people waiting for your PPs, is that you have been lied to by years. Yes, in the past 18 months or so, there have been major moves forward to getting the Prosperity Packages released and working towards the revaluation of the Iraqi dinar. Yes things have been put into play over the course of the last 18 months that have each pushed the finish line a bit closer, but....... At no time, until the last 3 months have we been "ASN", ("any second now" for you non-chat room people), or "It's Happening!!" THE ACCOUNTS, SGT, ETC. WERE RELEASED IMMEDIATELY AFTER WE FINISHED THE FORECLOSURE (OCTOBER 27, 2012 IS THE ACTUAL DATE IT FINISHED, SERVED ON THE 24TH + 3 DAYS
TO CURE... I RECEIVED NOTICE AFTER I LANDED FROM COMING BACK FROM BIS..SWITZERLAND. hmmmm now that's interesting timing! There were some interesting rumours coming out of Reno right around then. I think I'll make a call later tonight to see what I can find out.

Yes, for a while I fell for it too. Which is why I got into the intel world to begin with, so that I could find out for myself just how close we were.

I'm going to back track for a moment here to fill in some important missing pieces of intel.

Under the cover of Hurricane Sandy, there was a very good reason that the NYSE was shut down for 3 days. Even before I was able to find out the reason why, I knew that something was up. That Monday that the storm hit there was a battle under the NYSE to take control. During that time, the Strawman accounts directly tied to your birth certificate were removed from the control of the NYSE. This is a vital piece of the puzzle that ties the huge changes together. If you do not understand "Strawman" google: Strawman and stock exchange.

In October, the Federal Reserve was closed down and taken over by UST staff. As of January first 2013, the original 100 year charter for the Federal Reserve has expired and has NOT been reissued, regardless of how many times the Cabal has tried. MARCH 6, 2011, THEY GOT NOTICE...MARCH 13TH, I THINK, OCC ACTUALLY ISSUED NOTICE TO THE BANKS ABOUT THEIR PRACTICES; FEDERAL RESERVE ISSUED A STATEMENT SHOWING THEIR INCOMPETENCY AND EGO; APRIL 11TH OR 13TH OCC MADE THE BANKS ISSUE A FORM THAT THE BANKS FOR DECEPTIVE ACTS AND PRACTICES...ALL PUBLICLY (PUBLIC COULDN'T PUT IT INTO CONTEXT), ... it was April 13th.....APRIL FED RESERVE STOPPED ACCEPTING NEW CLIENTS/MEMBERSHIP...STOPPED ACCEPTING AT DISCOUNT WINDOW...CHECK WITH YOUR SOURCES D...I USED THE PIERCE COUNTY COURT CASE OF THE TEST HOUSE (MY TEST HOUSE) TO COMMUNICATE WITH INSIDE SOURCES AND ASSIST IN ORGANIZING THE DECEPTIVE ACTS AND PRACTICES ...CLERK'S RECORD WILL SHOW THE FILINGS AND INFORMATION IN SPECIFIC DETAIL AND THE DATES...17 AG'S WERE INVESTIGATING ME WITH FBI, ALPHABETS...THEY HAD AN AHHHAAAHHH MOMENT ABOUT WHO I "MAY" REALLY BE WHEN THEY REALIZED THEY WERE USING MY DECEPTIVE ACTS AND PRACTICES BRIEF THAT MANY OF THEM HAD JUST FILED AT THE TIME...TOOO FUNNY THAT WAS!!!!! FED CHARTER WAS LAWFULLY AND LEGALLY CANCELLED OCTOBER 24, 2012....IT DID NOT EXPIRE no, it didn't get a chance to expire, but legally it would of expired Jan 1 2013

Prosperity Packages have been going out. Small numbers of them to test the system and insure that everything runs smoothly. None of these have been related to the St. Germaine Trust- which has not been released yet....

The Texas goons have been tampering with everything they can get the hands on in every way possible- including trying to force certain important Trustees to sign things that would relinquish control and threatening to kill them if they didn't do it- I am hoping to be speaking with this person over the course of this weekend to get further information from him about what happened and how he's been in constant hiding for the past few months in fear of his life.

Oh this is a good one!! (sorry, but as I'm writing I'm remembering incidents that have happened in the last few months) Luckily I didn't shut my computer off this one night and the page was still loaded on my screen the next morning and I was able to get screen shots of the articles, because by the next morning the article in Business Insider was gone - sorry not the best quality and the one article has been put through google translate so the english is a bit of a hack job. Back on Nov 28th it was reported that someone tried to process $69 TRILLION dollars worth of derivatives through the Stockholm Stock Exchange: THERE WERE MANY SPECIFIC ATTEMPTS THROUGH OUT 2012, ONE IN SPECIFIC BEFORE DAVOS MEETING...I WILL FIND THE EMAIL/DATA IN MY FILES FOR YOU....BUT NOT FOR THIS ARTICLE BEAUTY!!


THIS fiasco was an attempt by the Cabal (the Texas goons I was told) to try and recoup some of their losses. Because they have had Substantial losses in the past few months. More like: Everything. Their offshore accounts have been frozen and assets repatriated. THERE WAS A HUGE TACTIC BY THE “GOOD GUYS” OF SUPPRESSING THE GOLD PRICE BECAUSE THE TEXAS CAMPS “CURRENT FUND” SUPPLY WAS CANCELED/VOIDED AND THEY HAD TO RESORT TO CONVERTING THEIR “GOLD” HOLDINGS TO KEEP OPERATIONS GOING :) Yep, I remember that, a whole lot of trading and the price barely even wavered... left a lot of my financial friends scratching their heads.

The arrests and resignations are spiralling faster and faster right now. Take note of the arrests of the Premiers/Prime Ministers - both former and sitting- in Turks & Caicos and the Caymen Islands. Geeeee.... what are both countries known for? Hundreds of banking executives and other interfering parties have been arrested in the past 3 months- and yes, they CAN hide these arrests from the public.


My gut tells me that we are THERE. My gut tells me that this will roll out when the timing has been met. BUT.... the smoke has been ridiculously thick for the past two weeks- unbelievable rumours are being spread, most of which I've laughed my ass off at (sometimes calling a buddy of mine so that we can laugh our asses off together). And all of us who have been following this circus are royally pissed off.

We've been told over and over again that the good guys are in control- and I can see all the things that they have done so I Know that this is the truth. But where is it? I just got off the phone with two sources who are equally fed up and wanting to throw a tantrum. We. Are. Done.

So this is a message to the "Good Guys":

You've had months to do this. You've had ample opportunity to put the boots to the Texas Goons and their posse, and the European Cabal etc. Yet here we sit. For a month you've promised that it's done and that the announcements and re-education programs, that will explain to the public what has happened and why, will be starting today/tomorrow/next 72 hours. The interim President is sitting there supposedly calling the shots under NESARA law, yet no announcements. HHHHHM MMMMM....COULDN'T HAVE TO DO WITH SOME UCC'S THAT WERE FILED IN REGARDS TO CVAC....COULD IT :) REMEMBER, WE HAD TO FERRET OUT WHETHER MATTERS AND PEOPLE ARE DONE AND MADE FOR THE HIGHEST GOOD OF THE PEOPLE OF THIS PLANET EQUALLY, WITH FULL RESPONSIBILITY AND LIABILITY....OR WHETHER THEY ARE OF SPECIAL/SELF INTEREST TO THE HARM/DAMAGE OF ANY OF THE PEOPLE :)

Why?

That is the question that we want answered. WHY? Are you still wheeling and dealing? (because there has been a hell of a lot of that over the past 4 months- disgusting payoffs to corrupt officials to stop interfering in the process.) If you're still wheeling and dealing, then you obviously are not serious about getting the job done: These people are terrorists and thieves, murderers and slavers- you don't "negotiate" with people like this, you arrest them. You have all the evidence you will ever need to try all of these people with treason at the very least.

The people have a Right to know what's going on. You've kept them in the dark and fed them bull**** for too long and still you haven't done what you said you would do. The People HAVE the RIGHT to KNOW!! The people are not children to be assured that Santa is going to come down their non-existent chimney and bring them presents, they do not need to hear about the tooth fairy. We are adults. Yes the truth will shock the people, but delaying announcements doesn't change that. In my opinion, I would rather have the bandaid ripped off quickly then have someone slowly pull it off bit by bit.

The Constitution gives the people the Right to know. If America is now under Constitutional Law, then the people legally need to be told that and by withholding the truth- for ANY reason- You yourselves are breaking the very laws that you fought to put in place.


We are free people. F>R>E>E

No More Excuses.


(see link for pix)

[Sabrina]

http://www.peoplestrust1776.org/

The People's Trust documents etc.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.silverdoctors.com/truck-carrying-10-million-in-silver-bars-crashes-in-upstate-ny/#more-19588

US

TRUCK CARRYING $10 MILLION IN SILVER BARS CRASHES IN UPSTATE NY

A truck heading from Rochester to Queens, NY crashed on Interstate 81 Monday, along with its cargo of $10 million in silver bars. The truck and $10 million in silver slid down the Interstate embankment, with the silver strewn across the interstate.

In other news, Jamie Dimon spent New Years Eve vacationing in upstate New York.

We hope rescue workers were able to recover every last bar, as we are talking $1 billion in rehypothecated paper silver at risk.

(2 Jan)

[Sabrina]

http://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/op-yewtree-timeline-and-list/

More on the sexual abuse arrests in the UK following the Jimmy Savile scandal:

UK

Op Yewtree: Timeline and list.

The ITV1 documentary, ‘Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile’, researched and presented by former police detective Mark Williams-Thomas, was broadcast on 3rd Oct 2012.

The Metropolitan Police launched a criminal investigation (Operation Yewtree) on 19th Oct 2012

1) Gary Glitter [pop star], arrested 27 Oct 2012

2) Freddie Starr [comedian], arrested 1st Nov 2012

3) Wilfrid De’Arth [former BBC producer], arrested 11th Nov 2012

4) Dave Lee Travis [DJ], arrested 15th Nov 2012

5) Rolf Harris [TV presenter, pop star, artist], questioned 29th Nov 2012

6) Max Clifford [publicist], arrested 6th Dec 2012

7) An unnamed man in his 60s from London, arrested 10th Dec 2012 (This person was described by a BBC reporter as ‘not a celebrity’)

8) Ted Beston [BBC radio producer], arrested 19th Dec 2012

9) Mike Osman [comedian, DJ], arrested 2nd Jan 2013

10) Jim Davidson [former TV presenter, comedian], arrested 2nd Jan 2013

Notes:

a) This list should not be considered exhaustive. I’ve had indications that others have been questioned. For example a second man was questioned under caution on 10th Dec 2012 and another man may have been questioned around 13th and 14th Dec 2012.

b) The arrest and charging of Stuart Hall on 5th Dec 2012 on three counts of indecent assault against three girls was not part of Operation Yewtree.

(2 Jan)

[Sabrina]

http://renegadesblog.wordpress.com/2012/12/31/happy-new-year/

The Outlaw - one blog on 2012 (UK)

This will be my final blog post for 2012.

A momentous year in many respects, but for me it will always be remembered as the year of ‘Disclosure.’

A year in which many people began to finally see through the establishment smokescreen of distraction, that has been systematically laid down over the last hundred years. The Internet has played a huge part in this mass awakening, like-minded people who see through the lies are finding each other and spreading the word to every corner of the planet.

The endgame is very close I feel, the events of the last few years have had an air of desperation, and a realisation that the reins of power are slipping from the grasp of the elite, and slowly returning to the very people they fear the most. They have attempted to condition and manipulate us to the point, where the truth has come full circle, and has only served to meet their twisted vision on it’s return journey.

They have tried to poison us through our food and water supplies, have seduced us with a never-ending stream of shiny, frivolous objects who’s purpose is to expand their wealth and serves to increase our debt. They have mind-controlled us through their constant TV and media propaganda, recorded and filmed our every movement with CCTV, logged our personal information in huge data storage facilities, and have orchestrated an almost continuous reign of terror in order to keep us in a permanent state of fear.

Eroding our basic human rights, keeping the economy in permanent decline, the barbaric targeting of the older, weaker and vulnerable members of society and scaring us half to death with fictitious enemies, has been so far, the ‘accepted’ Modus Operandi.

However, one of the most abhorrent practices that has been used against us, may yet turn out to be their achilles heel and bring their whole network of fragile controls crashing down around them.

Establishment Paedophila and the systematic abuse of generations of our children, up to and including murder in some cases will, I feel, be the turning point.


“The realisation that the very people who represent us, and who are supposed to protect them, are capable of inflicting such ritualistic horror and murderous pain on defenceless, innocent children, has served only to ignite a dormant fire. The embers of which, will burst into flame, and being fanned by an unstoppable hurricane of public opinion, will burn down everything in it’s path.”

[Sabrina]

http://rt.com/news/spain-locksmiths-eviction-suicide-332/

Spain

End to evictions in Spain? Locksmiths refuse to help oust owners amid austerity drive

Dozens of locksmiths in the Spanish city of Pamplona have vowed to stop aiding authorities in evicting delinquent homeowners. The locksmiths said they would not assist in evictions that led to over 100 suicides in 2012.

If a house's locks remain unchanged, the evicted family could return whenever they liked, forcing authorities to start another – sometimes months-long – eviction process.

"As people, we can't continue carrying out evictions when people are killing themselves," Pamplona locksmith Iker de Carlos told PRI (Public Radio International).

Many eviction cases have ended in tragedy: More than 100 Spaniards committed suicide in 2012 after being kicked out of their homes.

In November, the suicide of 53-year-old Amaia Egaña – who jumped to her death from the fourth floor of her building after she was issued an eviction notice for defaulting on her mortgage payments – triggered protests across Spain. Thousands marched and chanted slogans such as “This isn’t suicide, this is homicide,” “They get the money and we get the dead” and ''Banker, remember – we have rope.''

Following Egaña's death, Barakaldo judge Juan Carlos Mediavilla pointed out that it was "necessary to amend current mortgage legislation" to prevent the recurrence of such events, while Employment and Social Security Minister Fatima Banez said the government deeply regretted Egaña's death.
(4 Jan)

[gripreaper]

http://www.peoplestrust1776.org/

This is the first I have heard of this recently released document by the Peoples Trust. I've known about this group for a couple of years, but did not pay much attention to it, even though they were on the right track in most of what they were teaching and doing.

Yet, over the years, I have seen numerous Declarations, Affidavits, Notices, and other paperwork sent all over the planet, of people telling others what they are doing, what they are rescinding, what they are restoring, who they are noticing, and how things are and will be from now on.

Few examples would be: Of course RAP, RuSA, the 13 colonies repatriation, rescission notices sent to the Hague, you name it. Then, you take this information and mix it in with Nesara, the global settlements, the St Germaine Trust, the other trusts apparently out there, and your Treasury Direct Account attached to your private side trust and we all have billions sitting around that we are not claiming as creditors, and we are allowing the elite to run rampant as imperialistic psychopathic narcissists while we accept our slavery with hardly a whimper.

There is much truth to these movements, yet they are extremely infiltrated and used by the elite to gather information about miscreants, and to stop any such extrication movements from getting any traction. So separating the wheat from the chaff is very difficult. My first reaction to the peoples trust document was: Oh great, another declaration.

Call me jaded from the years of the same. Call me pissed that Bill Cooper, Jerry and Joe Kane, Billy Faust, and others were murdered because they spoke the truth and tried to help people get free of slavery. Suffice it to say at this point, I'm taking this news with a grain of salt till I've had time to look at it closer.

[Sabrina]

http://www.peoplestrust1776.org/

This is the first I have heard of this recently released document by the Peoples Trust. I've known about this group for a couple of years, but did not pay much attention to it, even though they were on the right track in most of what they were teaching and doing.

Yet, over the years, I have seen numerous Declarations, Affidavits, Notices, and other paperwork sent all over the planet, of people telling others what they are doing, what they are rescinding, what they are restoring, who they are noticing, and how things are and will be from now on.

Few examples would be: Of course RAP, RuSA, the 13 colonies repatriation, rescission notices sent to the Hague, you name it. Then, you take this information and mix it in with Nesara, the global settlements, the St Germaine Trust, the other trusts apparently out there, and your Treasury Direct Account attached to your private side trust and we all have billions sitting around that we are not claiming as creditors, and we are allowing the elite to run rampant as imperialistic psychopathic narcissists while we accept our slavery with hardly a whimper.

There is much truth to these movements, yet they are extremely infiltrated and used by the elite to gather information about miscreants, and to stop any such extrication movements from getting any traction. So separating the wheat from the chaff is very difficult. My first reaction to the peoples trust document was: Oh great, another declaration.

Call me jaded from the years of the same. Call me pissed that Bill Cooper, Jerry and Joe Kane, Billy Faust, and others were murdered because they spoke the truth and tried to help people get free of slavery. Suffice it to say at this point, I'm taking this news with a grain of salt till I've had time to look at it closer.

Know what you mean Gripreaper - think it's a case of 'watch this space' at the moment and see what unfolds. The interview with the trustee Heather was interesting (transcript in earlier post) and believe she has more info. to send out shortly. I also rate American Kabuki (who is involved in the dissemination of info.) as a grounded type of person. But I think there's something in all of this, and it's up to all of us to do our own research on it all where possible. Bring it on anyway... :)

[Sabrina]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/06/fox-news-host-excuses-clinton-conspiracy-theories-before-she-was-hospitalized/#.UOnYb-sAa10.twitter

6 Jan US

Fox News host excuses Clinton conspiracy theories ‘before she was hospitalized’

Fox News host Greta Van Susteren on Sunday offered a defense of conservatives on her network who suggested that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could have been faking a concussion in order to delay testimony on attacks in Benghazi, saying that the conspiracy theories were put forth “before she was hospitalized” with a blood clot.

In December, Republicans like former Florida Rep. Allen West and former United States Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton — and numerous other Fox News personalities — had repeatedly mocked Clinton by suggesting that her illness was a manufactured “diplomatic illness” or “Benghazi allergy” to avoid testifying before lawmakers.

After the Daily Beast published an article which incorrectly said that Van Susteren was also peddling conspiracy theories about Clinton, the Fox News host took to her blog to demand that the website “CORRECT THIS PRONTO — and do so in a BIG WAY.”

“Of course I will accept an apology but I’m more interested in the TRUTH getting out and that I did not make this crack about the Secretary of State,” she wrote, stopping short of also calling on conservatives to apologize to Clinton.

On Sunday, ABC News host George Stephanopolous offered Van Susteren another chance to appeal for a retraction from West, Bolton, Laura Ingraham and others.

“I’m responsible for what I say, number one,” Van Susteren explained. “Those were all very dated, before she was hospitalized. And there was not much information coming out of the State Department and very early on with those quotes.”

“Look, not for one second did I doubt it,” she added. “Once these people heard that she was seriously ill, that all changed. The secretary of state will have to — should answer questions about Benghazi. There’s a lot of mystery… I have nothing beyond to say to that.”

Watch this video from the ABC’s This Week, broadcast Jan. 6, 2013.

video at link


and Twitter story:

Interesting story, because on Twitter, someone said that she was whisked out of hospital with Bill and Chelsea, and then driven round the back of hospital and went back inside again......

[Sabrina]

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/01/whats-inside-americas-banks/309196/2/?single_page=true

Jan/Feb 2013 Atlantic Magazine

What’s Inside America’s Banks?

Some four years after the 2008 financial crisis, public trust in banks is as low as ever. Sophisticated investors describe big banks as “black boxes” that may still be concealing enormous risks—the sort that could again take down the economy. A close investigation of a supposedly conservative bank’s financial records uncovers the reason for these fears—and points the way toward urgent reforms.


The financial crisis had many causes—too much borrowing, foolish investments, misguided regulation—but at its core, the panic resulted from a lack of transparency. The reason no one wanted to lend to or trade with the banks during the fall of 2008, when Lehman Brothers collapsed, was that no one could understand the banks’ risks. It was impossible to tell, from looking at a particular bank’s disclosures, whether it might suddenly implode.

For the past four years, the nation’s political leaders and bankers have made enormous—in some cases unprecedented—efforts to save the financial industry, clean up the banks, and reform regulation in order to restore trust and confidence in the American financial system. This hasn’t worked. Banks today are bigger and more opaque than ever, and they continue to behave in many of the same ways they did before the crash.

Consider JPMorgan’s widely scrutinized trading loss last year. Before the episode, investors considered JPMorgan one of the safest and best-managed corporations in America. Jamie Dimon, the firm’s charismatic CEO, had kept his institution upright throughout the financial crisis, and by early 2012, it appeared as stable and healthy as ever.

One reason was that the firm’s huge commercial bank—the unit responsible for the old-line business of lending—looked safe, sound, and solidly profitable. But then, in May, JPMorgan announced the financial equivalent of sudden cardiac arrest: a stunning loss initially estimated at $2 billion and later revised to $6 billion. It may yet grow larger; as of this writing, investigators are still struggling to comprehend the bank’s condition.

The loss emanated from a little-known corner of the bank called the Chief Investment Office. This unit had been considered boring and unremarkable; it was designed to reduce the bank’s risks and manage its spare cash. According to JPMorgan, the division invested in conservative, low-risk securities, such as U.S. government bonds. And the bank reported that in 95 percent of likely scenarios, the maximum amount the Chief Investment Office’s positions would lose in one day was just $67 million. (This widely used statistical measure is known as “value at risk.”) When analysts questioned Dimon in the spring about reports that the group had lost much more than that—before the size of the loss became publicly known—he dismissed the issue as a “tempest in a teapot.”

Six billion dollars is not the kind of sum that can take down JPMorgan, but it’s a lot to lose. The bank’s stock lost a third of its value in two months, as investors processed reports of the trading debacle. On May 11, 2012, alone, the day after JPMorgan first confirmed the losses, its stock plunged roughly 9 percent.

The incident was about much more than money, however. Here was a bank generally considered to have the best risk-management operation in the business, and it had badly managed its risk. As the bank was coming clean, it revealed that it had fiddled with the way it measured its value at risk, without providing a clear reason. Moreover, in acknowledging the losses, JPMorgan had to admit that its reported numbers were false. A major source of its supposedly reliable profits had in fact come from high-risk, poorly disclosed speculation.

It gets worse. Federal prosecutors are now investigating whether traders lied about the value of the Chief Investment Office’s trading positions as they were deteriorating. JPMorgan shareholders have filed numerous lawsuits alleging that the bank misled them in its financial statements; the bank itself is suing one of its former traders over the losses. It appears that Jamie Dimon, once among the most trusted leaders on Wall Street, didn’t understand and couldn’t adequately manage his behemoth. Investors are now left to doubt whether the bank is as stable as it seemed and whether any of its other disclosures are inaccurate.

The JPMorgan scandal isn’t the only one in recent months to call into question whether the big banks are safe and trustworthy. Many of the biggest banks now stand accused of manipulating the world’s most popular benchmark interest rate, the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), which is used as a baseline to set interest rates for trillions of dollars of loans and investments. Barclays paid a large fine in June to avoid civil and criminal charges that could have been brought by U.S. and U.K. authorities. The Swiss giant UBS was reportedly close to a similar settlement as of this writing. Other major banks, including JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Deutsche Bank, are under civil or criminal investigation (or both), though no charges have yet been filed.

Libor reflects how much banks charge when they lend to each other; it is a measure of their confidence in each other. Now the rate has become synonymous with manipulation and collusion. In other words, one can’t even trust the gauge that is meant to show how much trust exists within the financial system.

Accusations of illegal, clandestine bank activities are also proliferating. Large global banks have been accused by U.S. government officials of helping Mexican drug dealers launder money (HSBC), and of funneling cash to Iran (Standard Chartered). Prosecutors have charged American banks with falsifying mortgage records by “robo-signing” papers to rush the process along, and with improperly foreclosing on borrowers. Only after the financial crisis did people learn that banks routinely misled clients, sold them securities known to be garbage, and even, in some cases, secretly bet against them to profit from their ignorance.

When we asked Ed Trott, a former Financial Accounting Standards Board member, whether he trusted bank accounting, he said, simply, “Absolutely not.”
Together, these incidents have pushed public confidence ever lower. According to Gallup, back in the late 1970s, three out of five Americans said they trusted big banks “a great deal” or “quite a lot.” During the following decades, that trust eroded. Since the financial crisis of 2008, it has collapsed. In June 2012, fewer than one in four respondents told Gallup they had faith in big banks—a record low. And in October, Luis Aguilar, a commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission, cited separate data showing that “79 percent of investors have no trust in the financial system.”

When we asked Dane Holmes, the head of investor relations at Goldman Sachs, why so few people trust big banks, he told us, “People don’t understand the banks,” because “there is a lack of transparency.” (Holmes later clarified that he was talking about average people, not the sophisticated investors with whom he interacts on an almost hourly basis.) He is certainly right that few students or plumbers or grandparents truly understand what big banks do anymore. Ordinary people have lost faith in financial institutions. That is a big enough problem on its own.

But an even bigger problem has developed—one that more fundamentally threatens the safety of the financial system—and it more squarely involves the sort of big investors with whom Holmes spends much of his time. More and more, the people in the know don’t trust big banks either.

After all the purported “cleansing effects” of the panic, one might have expected big, sophisticated investors to grab up bank stocks, exploiting the timidity of the average investor by buying low. Banks wrote down bad loans; Treasury certified the banks’ health after its “stress tests”; Congress passed the Dodd-Frank reforms to regulate previously unfettered corners of the financial markets and to minimize the impact of future crises. During the 2008 crisis, many leading investors had gotten out of bank stocks; these reforms were designed to bring them back.

And indeed, they did come back—at first. Many investors, including Warren Buffett, say bank stocks were underpriced after the crisis, and remain so today. Most large institutional investors, such as mutual funds, pension funds, and insurance companies, continue to hold substantial stakes in major banks. The Federal Reserve has tried to help banks make profitable loans and trades, by keeping interest rates low and pumping trillions of dollars into the economy. For investors, the combination of low stock prices, an accommodative Fed, and possibly limited downside (the federal government, needless to say, has shown a willingness to assist banks in bad times) can be a powerful incentive.

Yet the limits to big investors’ enthusiasm are clearly reflected in the data. Some four years after the crisis, big banks’ shares remain depressed. Even after a run-up in the price of bank stocks this fall, many remain below “book value,” which means that the banks are worth less than the stated value of the assets on their books. This indicates that investors don’t believe the stated value, or don’t believe the banks will be profitable in the future—or both. Several financial executives told us that they see the large banks as “complete black boxes,” and have no interest in investing in their stocks. A chief executive of one of the nation’s largest financial institutions told us that he regularly hears from investors that the banks are “uninvestable,” a Wall Street neologism for “untouchable.”

That’s an increasingly widespread view among the most sophisticated leaders in investing circles. Paul Singer, who runs the influential investment fund Elliott Associates, wrote to his partners this summer, “There is no major financial institution today whose financial statements provide a meaningful clue” about its risks. Arthur Levitt, the former chairman of the SEC, lamented to us in November that none of the post-2008 remedies has “significantly diminished the likelihood of financial crises.” In a recent conversation, a prominent former regulator expressed concerns about the hidden risks that banks might still be carrying, comparing the big banks to Enron.

A recent survey by Barclays Capital found that more than half of institutional investors did not trust how banks measure the riskiness of their assets. When hedge-fund managers were asked how trustworthy they find “risk weightings”—the numbers that banks use to calculate how much capital they should set aside as a safety cushion in case of a business downturn—about 60 percent of those managers answered 1 or 2 on a five-point scale, with 1 being “not trustworthy at all.” None of them gave banks a 5.

A disturbing number of former bankers have recently declared that the banking industry is broken (this newfound clarity typically follows their passage from financial titan to rich retiree). Herbert Allison, the ex-president of Merrill Lynch and former head of the Obama administration’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, wrote a scathing e-book about the failures of the large banks, stopping just short of labeling them all vampire squids. A parade of former high-ranking executives has called for bank breakups, tighter regulation, or a return to the Depression-era Glass-Steagall law, which separated commercial banking from investment banking. Among them: Philip Purcell (ex-CEO of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter), Sallie Krawcheck (ex-CFO of Citigroup), David Komansky (ex-CEO of Merrill Lynch), and John Reed (former co‑CEO of Citigroup). Sandy Weill, another ex-CEO of Citigroup, who built a career on financial megamergers, did a stunning about-face this summer, advising, with breathtaking chutzpah, that the banks should now be broken up.

Bill Ackman’s journey is particularly telling. One of the nation’s highest-profile and most successful investors, Ackman went from being a skeptic of investing in big banks, to being a believer, and then back again—with a loss of hundreds of millions along the way. In 2010, Ackman bought an almost $1 billion stake in Citigroup for Pershing Square, the $11 billion fund he runs. He reasoned that in the aftermath of the crisis, the big banks had written down their bad loans and become more conservative; they were also facing less competition. That should have been a great environment for investment, he says. He had avoided investing in big banks for most of his career. But “for once,” he told us, “I thought you could trust the carrying values on bank books.”

Last spring, Pershing Square sold its entire stake in Citigroup, as the bank’s strategy drifted, at a loss approaching $400 million. Ackman says, “For the first seven years of Pershing Square, I believed that an investor couldn’t invest in a giant bank. Then I felt I could invest in a bank, and I did—and I lost a lot of money doing it.”

A crisis of trust among investors is insidious. It is far less obvious than a sudden panic, but over time, its damage compounds. It is not a tsunami; it is dry rot. It creeps in, noticed occasionally and then forgotten. Soon it is a daily fact of life. Even as the economy begins to come back, the trust crisis saps the recovery’s strength. Banks can’t attract capital. They lose customers, who fear being tricked and cheated. Their executives are, by turns, traumatized and enervated. Lacking confidence in themselves as they grapple with the toxic legacies of their previous excesses and mistakes, they don’t lend as much as they should. Without trust in banks, the economy wheezes and stutters.

And, of course, as trust diminishes, the likelihood of another crisis grows larger. The next big storm might blow the weakened house down. Elite investors—those who move markets and control the flow of money—will flee, out of worry that the roof will collapse. The less they trust the banks, the faster and more decisively they will beat that path—disinvesting, freezing bank credit, and weakening the structure even more. In this way, fear becomes reality, and troubles that might once have been weathered become existential.

At the heart of the problem is a worry about the accuracy of banks’ financial statements. Some of the questions are basic: How do banks account for loans? Can investors accurately assess the value of those loans? Others are far more complicated: What risks are posed by complex financial instruments, such as the ones that caused JPMorgan’s massive loss? The answers are supposed to be found in the publicly available quarterly and annual reports that banks file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board, an independent private-sector organization, governs the accounting in these filings. Don Young, currently an investment manager, was a board member from 2005 to 2008. “After serving on the board,” he recently told us, “I no longer trust bank accounting.”

Accounting rules have proliferated as banks, and the assets and liabilities they contain, have become more complex. Yet the rules have not kept pace with changes in the financial system. Clever bankers, aided by their lawyers and accountants, can find ways around the intentions of the regulations while remaining within the letter of the law. What’s more, because these rules have grown ever more detailed and lawyerly—while still failing to cover every possible circumstance—they have had the perverse effect of allowing banks to avoid giving investors the information needed to gauge the value and risk of a bank’s portfolio. (That information is obscured by minutiae and legalese.) This is true for the complicated questions about financial innovation and trading, but it also is true for the basic questions, such as those involving loans.

At one point during Young’s tenure, some members of the Financial Accounting Standards Board wanted to make banks account for loans in the same way they do for securities, by recording them at current market values, a method known as “fair value.” Banks were instead recording the value of their loans at the initial loan amount, and setting aside a reserve based on their assumptions about how likely they were to get paid back. The rules also allowed banks to use different methods to measure the value of the same kind of loans, depending on whether the loans were categorized as ones they planned to keep for a long time or instead as ones they planned to sell. Many accounting experts believed that the reported numbers did not give investors an accurate or reliable picture of a bank’s health.

After bitter battles, turnover on the board, worries about acting in the middle of the financial crisis, and aggressive bank lobbying, the accounting mandarins preserved the existing approach instead of switching to fair-value accounting for loans. Young believes that the numbers are even less reliable now. “It’s gotten worse,” he says. When we asked another former board member, Ed Trott, whether he trusted bank accounting, he said, simply, “Absolutely not.”

The problem extends well beyond the opacity of banks’ loan portfolios—it involves almost every aspect of modern bank activity, much of which involves complex investment and trading, not merely lending. Kevin Warsh, an ex–Morgan Stanley banker and a former Federal Reserve Board member appointed by George W. Bush, says woeful disclosure is a major problem. Look at the financial statements a big bank files with the SEC, he says: “Investors can’t truly understand the nature and quality of the assets and liabilities. They can’t readily assess the reliability of the capital to offset real losses. They can’t assess the underlying sources of the firms’ profits. The disclosure obfuscates more than it informs, and the government is not just permitting it but seems to be encouraging it.”

article continued in next post...

[Sabrina]

Atlantic Magazine banking article continued.. from above..

Accounting rules are supposed to help investors understand the companies whose shares they buy. Yet current disclosure requirements don’t illuminate banks’ financial statements; instead, they let the banks turn out the lights. And in that darkness, all sorts of unsavory practices can breed.

We decided to go on an adventure through the financial statements of one bank, to explore exactly what they do and do not show, and to gauge whether it is possible to make informed judgments about the risks the bank may be carrying. We chose a bank that is thought to be a conservative financial institution, and an exemplar of what a large modern bank should be.

Wells Fargo was founded on trust. Its logo has long been a strongly sprung six-horse stagecoach, a fleet of which once thundered across the American West, loaded with gold. According to the firm’s official history, “In the boom and bust economy of the 1850s, Wells Fargo earned a reputation of trust by dealing rapidly and responsibly with people’s money.” People believed Wells Fargo would keep their money safe—the bank’s paper drafts were as good as the gold it shipped throughout the country.

For a century and a half, Wells Fargo stock was also like gold, which is what led Warren Buffett to buy a stake in the bank in 1990. Since then, Buffett and Wells Fargo have been inextricably linked. As of fall 2012, Buffett’s firm, Berkshire Hathaway, owned about 8 percent of Wells Fargo’s shares.

Today, Wells Fargo still prominently displays the stagecoach logo at branches, in advertising, on the 12,000-plus ATMs that dot the country, and even at the bank’s museum stores. There, visitors can buy wholesome, family-friendly items: a stagecoach night‑light; stagecoach salt and pepper shakers; a hand-painted ceramic stagecoach pillbox. These are more than tchotchkes. They are emblems of the bank’s honest and honorable mission.

Buffett’s impeccable reputation has rubbed off on the bank. Wells Fargo is widely regarded as the most conservative of the nation’s biggest banks. Many investors, regulators, and analysts still believe its financial reports reflect a full, fair, and accurate picture of its business. The market value of Wells Fargo’s shares is now the highest of any U.S. bank: $173 billion as of early December 2012. The enthusiasm for Wells Fargo reflects the bank’s good reputation, as well as one seemingly simple fact: the bank earned solid net income of nearly $16 billion in 2011, up 28 percent from 2010.

To find out what’s behind that fact, you have to read Wells Fargo’s annual report—and that is where we began our adventure. The annual report is a special document: it is the place where a bank sets forth the audited details of its business. Although banks also submit unaudited quarterly reports and other periodical documents to the SEC, and have conference calls with analysts and shareholders, the annual report gives investors the most complete and, supposedly, reliable picture.

(Today, big banks have to answer to a dizzying litany of regulators—not only the SEC, but also the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and so on. The disclosure regimes vary, adding to the confusion. Banks confidentially release additional information to these regulators, but investors do not have access to those details. That regulators have these extra, confidential disclosures isn’t much comfort: given the inability of regulators to police the banks in recent years, one of the only groups that investors trust less than bankers is bank regulators.)

Wells Fargo’s most recent annual report, covering 2011, is 236 pages long. It begins like a book an average person might enjoy: a breezy journey through a year in a bank’s life. On the cover, that stagecoach appears. The first page has a moving story about a customer. The next few pages are filled with images of guys in cowboy hats, a couple holding hands by the ocean, cupcakes, and solar panels. In bold 50‑point font, Wells Fargo reports that it contributed $213.5 million to nonprofits during the year, and it even does the math to make sure we appreciate its generosity: “$4.1 million every week or $585,000 every day or $24,000 every hour.” The introduction’s capstone is this: “We don’t take trust for granted. We know we have to earn it every day in our conversations and actions with our customers. Here’s how we try to do that.”

The sheer volume of “trading” at Wells Fargo suggests that the bank is not what it seems.
Fortunately for Wells Fargo, most people do not read past the introduction. In the pages that follow, the sunny faces of satisfied customers disappear. So do the stories. The narrative is replaced by details about the bank’s businesses that range from the incomprehensible to the disturbing. Wells Fargo told us it devotes “significant resources to fulfilling all reporting requirements of various regulators.” Nevertheless, these disclosures wouldn’t earn anyone’s trust. They are littered with language that says nothing, at length. The report is riddled with progressively more opaque footnotes—the financial equivalent of Dante’s descent into hell. Indeed, after the friendly introduction, the report ought to bear a warning to the inquisitive reader intent on truly understanding the bank’s financial positions: “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”

The first circle of Wells Fargo’s version of the Inferno, like Dante’s Limbo, merely hints at what is to come, yet it is nonetheless unsettling. One of the main purposes of an annual report is to tell investors how a company makes money. Along these lines, Wells Fargo splits its businesses into two apparently simple and distinct parts—“interest income” and “noninterest income.” At first blush, these two categories appear to parallel the two traditional sources of banking income: interest from loans and customer fees.

But here the descent begins. Suddenly, this folksy mortgage bank starts showing signs of a split personality. It turns out that trading activities, the type associated with Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, contribute significantly to each of Wells Fargo’s two categories of income. Almost $1.5 billion of its “interest income” comes from “trading assets”; another $9.1 billion results from “securities available for sale.”

One billion dollars of the bank’s “noninterest income” are “net gains from trading activities.” Another $1.5 billion is income from “equity investments.” Up and down the ledger, abstruse, all-embracing categories appear: “other fees earned from related activities,” “other interest income,” and just plain “other.” The income statement’s “other” catchalls collectively amounted to $6.6 billion of Wells Fargo’s income in 2011. It will take the devoted reader 50 more pages to find out that the bank derives a big chunk of that “other” income from, yes, “trading activities.” The sheer volume of “trading” at Wells Fargo suggests that the bank is not what it seems.

Some bank analysts say these trading numbers are small relative to the bank’s overall revenue ($81 billion in 2011) and profit (again, $16 billion in 2011). Other observers don’t even bother to look at these details, because they assume Wells Fargo is protected from trading losses by its capital reserves of $148 billion. That number, assuming it is accurate, can make any particular loss appear minuscule. For example, buried at the bottom of page 164 of Wells Fargo’s annual report is the following statement: “In 2011, we incurred a $377 million loss on trading derivatives related to certain CDOs,” or collateralized debt obligations. Just a few years ago, a bank’s nine-figure loss on these sorts of complex financial instruments would have generated major headlines. Yet this one went unremarked‑upon in the media, even by top investors, analysts, and financial pundits. Perhaps they didn’t read all the way to page 164. Or perhaps they had become so numb from bigger bank losses that this one didn’t seem to matter. Whatever the reason, Wells Fargo’s massive CDO-derivatives loss was a multi-hundred-million-dollar tree falling silently in the financial forest. To paraphrase the late Senator Everett Dirksen, $377 million here and $377 million there, and pretty soon you’re talking about serious money.

Even conservatively run banks can be risky, as George Bailey learned in It’s a Wonderful Life. But the Bailey Building and Loan Association did not earn money from trading. Trading is an inherently opaque and volatile business. It is subject to the vagaries of the markets. And yet in the past two decades, as profits from traditional lending and brokering activities have been squeezed, banks have turned more and more to trading in order to make money.

Today, banks’ trading operations involve more leverage, or borrowed money, than in the past. Banks also obtain a form of leverage by promising to pay money in the future if some event doesn’t go their way (much like an insurance company must pay out a lot of money if a house it covers burns down). These promises come in the form of derivatives, financial instruments that can be used to hedge against various risks—like the possibility that interest rates will rise or the likelihood that a company will default on its debts—or simply to place bets on those same possibilities, hoping to profit. Because many of these bets are both large and complex, trading carries the potential for catastrophic losses.

The cryptic way Wells Fargo describes its trading raises many questions. The bank breaks what it calls “net gains from trading activities”—which doesn’t cover all of its trading income, but is an important part—into three subcategories, leaving the annual-report reader to play a kind of shell game.

Look first at “proprietary” trading—activity a firm undertakes to make money for its own account by buying or selling stocks, bonds, or more-exotic financial creations. Self-evidently, this activity might involve big risks. When this shell is lifted, the bank’s exposure seems reassuringly inconsequential: the reported loss is just $14 million. Still, there may be more under this shell than meets the eye: that $14 million might not be indicative of the bank’s true exposure. Was Wells Fargo just lucky to finish slightly down after a roller-coaster year of wild gambling with much bigger gains and losses? Without more information about the size of the bank’s bets, it is impossible to know.

A second subcategory is “economic hedging.” An activity labeled “hedging” might sound soothing. Wells Fargo says it lost an inconsequential $1 million from economic hedging in 2011. So maybe there is nothing to worry about under this shell, either. In its pure form, hedging is supposed to reduce risk. A person buys a house and then hedges the risk of a fire by purchasing insurance. But hedging in the world of finance is more complex—so much so that it requires advanced mathematics and computer modeling, and still can be little better than guesswork. It is difficult to anticipate how a portfolio of complicated financial instruments will respond as variables like interest rates and stock prices go up and down. As a result, hedges don’t always work as intended. They may not fully eliminate large risks that banks think they’ve taken care of. And they may inadvertently create new, hidden risks—“unknown unknowns,” if you will. Because of all this complexity, some traders can disguise speculative positions as “hedges” and claim their purpose is to reduce risk, when in fact the traders are purposely taking on more risk to try to make a profit. That is what the traders within JPMorgan’s Chief Investment Office appear to have been doing. Was Wells Fargo’s “economic hedging” like buying straightforward insurance? Or was it more like speculation—what JPMorgan did? Do the reported numbers suggest low risk when in fact the opposite is true? The bank’s disclosures don’t answer these questions.

Finally we come to a third shell—and there’s unquestionably something to see under this one. It carries an innocuous label: “customer accommodation.” Wells Fargo made more than $1 billion from customer-accommodation trading in 2011. How did it make so much money merely by helping customers? This should be a plain-vanilla business: a broker sits between a buyer and a seller and takes a little cut of the transaction. But what we learned from the 2008 financial crisis, and what we keep learning from incidents such as the JPMorgan scandal, is that seemingly innocuous activities that appear highly profitable can be dangerous to a bank’s health—and to our economy.

Don’t look to the annual report for clarity. Here is the bank’s definition: “Customer accommodation trading consists of security or derivative transactions conducted in an effort to help customers manage their market price risks and are done on their behalf or driven by their investment needs.”

That might seem safe, but the report notably fails to explain why this activity would be so profitable. In fact, at many large banks, customer accommodation can be a euphemism for “massive derivatives bets.” For Wells Fargo, the subcategory of “customer accommodation, trading and other free-standing derivatives” included derivatives trades of about $2.8 trillion in “notional amount” as of the end of 2011, meaning that the underlying positions referenced in the bank’s derivatives were that large then. By way of explanation: if we were to make a bet with you about how much the price of a $70 share of Walmart would change this year—we pay you any increase, you pay us any decrease—we’d say the “notional amount” of the bet is $70.

Wells Fargo doesn’t expect to gain or lose $2.8 trillion on its derivatives, any more than we would expect the payment on our Walmart bet to be $70. Bankers generally assume that the likely risk of gain or loss on derivatives is much smaller than their “notional amount,” and Wells Fargo says the concept “is not, when viewed in isolation, a meaningful measure of the risk profile of the instruments.” Moreover, Wells Fargo reports that many of its derivatives offset each other, as yours might if you placed several wagers that Walmart stock would go up, along with several other bets that it would go down.

Yet, as investors in bank stocks learned in 2008, it is possible to lose a large portion of the “notional amount” of a derivatives trade if a bet goes terribly wrong. In the future, if interest rates skyrocket or the euro unravels, Wells Fargo might sustain huge derivatives losses, just as you might lose the full $70 you bet on Walmart if the company went bust. Wells Fargo doesn’t tell investors how much of the $2.8 trillion it could lose in a worst-case scenario, nor is it required to. Even a savvy investor who reads the footnotes can only guess at what the bank’s potential risk exposure to derivatives might be.

One reason Wells Fargo is trusted more than other big banks is that its notional amount of derivatives is comparatively small. At the end of the third quarter of 2012, JPMorgan had $72 trillion in notional amount on its books—about five times the size of the U.S. economy. But even at Wells Fargo levels, the numbers are so large that they lose their meaning. And they put Wells Fargo’s seemingly immense capital reserves—$148 billion, you’ll recall—in a rather different light.

How much risk is the bank actually taking on these trades? For which customers does it place a requested bet, then negate its risk by taking an exactly offsetting position in the market, so that it is essentially acting as an agent simply taking a commission? And for all these trades, what risk is Wells Fargo taking on its customers? Many of these bets involve the customers’ promises to pay Wells Fargo depending on how certain financial numbers change in the future. But what happens if some of those customers go bankrupt? How much money would Wells Fargo lose if it “accommodates” customers who can’t pay what they owe?

We asked Wells Fargo officials if we could talk to someone at the bank about its disclosures, including those concerning its trading and derivatives. They declined. Instead, they suggested we submit questions in writing, which we did.

In response, Wells Fargo public-relations representatives wrote, “We believe our disclosures on the topics you raised are comprehensive and stand on their own.” In answering our written questions about the annual report, the representatives simply pointed us back to the annual report. For example, when we inquired about the bank’s trading activities, Wells Fargo responded: “We would ask you to refer to our discussion of ‘Market Risk-Trading Activities’ on pages 80–81 in the Management Discussion and Analysis section of the Wells Fargo 2011 Annual Report.”

Yet it was precisely those pages that generated our questions about the bank’s various categories of trading. When we specifically asked Wells Fargo to help us quantify the risks associated with customer-accommodation trading, its representatives pointed us to those same pages. But those pages don’t answer that question. Here is the most helpful of the bank’s disclosures related to customer-accommodation trading:

For the majority of our customer accommodation trading we serve as intermediary between buyer and seller. For example, we may enter into financial instruments with customers that use the instruments for risk management purposes and offset our exposure on such contracts by entering into separate instruments. Customer accommodation trading also includes net gains related to market-making activities in which we take positions to facilitate expected customer order flow.
Bankers, and their lawyers, are careful about the language they use in annual reports. So why did they use the word expected in discussing customer order flow in that last sentence? Is Wells Fargo speculating based on what one of its traders “expects” a customer to do, instead of responding to what a customer actually has done? The language the bank pointed to for answers to our questions only raises more questions.

Wells Fargo’s annual report is filled with similarly cryptic declarations, but not the crucial information that investors actually need. It doesn’t describe worst-case scenarios for customer-accommodation trades, or even include any examples of what such trades might involve. When we asked straightforward questions—such as “How much money would Wells Fargo lose from these trades under various scenarios?”—the bank’s representatives declined to answer.

Only a few people have publicly expressed concerns about customer-accommodation trades. Yet some banking experts are skeptical of these trades, and suspect that they hide huge risks. David Stockman, who was the federal budget director under President Reagan, an investment banker at Salomon Brothers, and a partner at the private-equity firm Blackstone Group, calls the big banks “massive trading operations.” Stockman has become so disillusioned by America’s financial system that he is now regarded, in some quarters, as a wild-eyed heretic, but his expertise is undeniable. He recently told reporters for “The Gold Report,” an online newsletter, “Whether they called it customer accommodation or proprietary is a distinction without a difference.”

Bankers and regulators today might dismiss warnings that customer-accommodation derivatives could bring down the financial system as implausible. But a few years ago, they said the same thing about credit-default swaps and collateralized debt obligations.

The penultimate stop on our expedition through Wells Fargo’s annual disclosures brings us to one of the most important concepts in bank reporting: fair value. It’s the topic that led Don Young to conclude that he could not trust banks’ accounting after fighting about it on the Financial Accounting Standards Board. Banks hold huge amounts of assets and liabilities, including derivatives, and are supposed to record them at their “fair value.” Fair enough? Not so fast.

Like other banks, Wells Fargo uses a three-level hierarchy to report the fair value of its securities. Level 1 includes securities traded in active, public markets; it isn’t too scary. At Level 1, fair value simply means the reported price of a security. If Wells Fargo owned a stock or bond traded on the New York Stock Exchange, fair value would be the closing price each day.

Level 2 is more worrisome. It includes some shadier characters, such as derivatives and mortgage-backed securities. There are no active, public markets for these investments—they are bought and sold privately, if at all, and are not listed on exchanges—so Wells Fargo uses other methods to figure out fair value, including what it calls “model-based valuation techniques, such as matrix pricing.” At Level 2, fair value is what accountants would charitably describe as an “estimate,” based on statistical computer models and what they call “observable” inputs, such as the prices of similar assets or other market data. At Level 2, fair value is more like an educated guess.

Many banks’ stocks are below “book value” today. This indicates that investors don’t believe the stated value of the assets on banks’ books, or don’t believe banks will be profitable in the future—or both.
Level 3 is hair-raising. The bank’s Level 3 estimates are “generated primarily from model-based techniques that use significant assumptions not observable in the market.” In other words, not only are there no data about the prices at which these types of assets have recently traded, but there are no observable data to inform the assumptions one might use to generate prices. Level 3 contains the most-esoteric financial instruments—including the credit-default swaps and synthetic collateralized debt obligations that became so popular and prevalent at the height of the housing boom, filling the balance sheets of Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, and many other banks.

At Level 3, fair value is a guess based on statistical models, but with inputs that are “not observable.” Instead of basing estimates on market data, banks use their own assumptions and internal information. At Level 3, fair value is an uneducated guess.

Surely, one would assume, Wells Fargo’s assets would mostly reside on Level 1, with perhaps a small amount on Level 2. It’s just a simple mortgage bank, right? And it seems inconceivable that Wells Fargo would be loaded with Level 3 investments long after regulators have supposedly purged the banks of toxic assets and nursed them back to health.

Yet only a small fraction of Wells Fargo’s assets are on Level 1. Most of what the bank holds is on Level 2. And a whopping $53 billion—equivalent to more than a third of the bank’s capital reserves—is on Level 3. All three categories include risky assets that might lose value in the future. But the additional concern with Level 2 and Level 3 assets is that banks might have errantly recorded them at values that were inflated to begin with. There is no way to check whether reported values are accurate; investors have to trust the bank’s managers and auditors. Scholarly research on Level 3 assets suggests that they can be misstated by as much as 15 percent at any given time, even if the market is stable. If Wells Fargo’s estimates are that far off, the bank could be sitting on billions of dollars of hidden losses.

Wells Fargo discloses in a quiet footnote in small print on page 133 of the annual report that its Level 3 assets include “collateralized loan obligations with both a cost basis and fair value of $8.1 billion, at December 31, 2011.” In English, that means that the bank is recording the value of some of its most complicated investments (composed of packages of loans to companies) at exactly the price it paid for them (the “cost basis”). Were these products bought a year ago? Two? Before the crash of 2008? Have they actually retained their value? Don Young finds it curious that the fair value and cost basis would be the same. “With interest rates much lower than most expected, why didn’t the CLOs rise in value?” he asks. But he’s the first to admit that he’s really in no position to say. Without more information about the composition of the loan packages and when they were purchased, an outsider cannot determine what these assets might be worth.

Accountants and regulators insist that categorizing an investment as Level 1, 2, or 3 is better than simply recording the investment’s original cost. But the current system permits bankers to use their own internally generated estimates. Who oversees those estimates? Auditors who are dependent on the bank for significant revenue, and regulators who are endemically behind the curve. Such a setup erodes trust. And when that trust disappears, so does any confidence in what the bank says its investments are worth.

The Level 3 issue isn’t simply theoretical. One major problem during the 2008 crisis was that banks and investors didn’t know what to trust about Level 3, so they panicked. We just suffered through a crisis in Level 3 assets. We can’t afford another.

There is an even lower circle of financial hell. It is populated with complex financial monsters once known as “special-purpose entities.” These were the infamous accounting devices that Enron employed to hide its debts. Around the turn of the millennium, the Texas energy-trading firm used these newly created corporations to borrow money and take on risks without recording the liabilities in its financial statements. These deals were called “off-balance-sheet” transactions, because they did not appear on Enron’s balance sheet.

Suppose a company owns a slice—just a small percentage—of another company that has a lot of debt. The first company might claim that it doesn’t need to include all of the second company’s assets and liabilities on its balance sheet. Let’s say we owned shares of IBM. We aren’t suddenly on the hook for all of the company’s liabilities. But if we owned so many IBM shares that we effectively controlled it, or if we had a side agreement that made us responsible for IBM’s debts, common sense dictates that we should treat IBM’s liabilities as our own. A decade ago, many companies, including Enron, used special-purpose entities to avoid common sense: they kept liabilities off the balance sheet, even when they had such control or side agreements.

As in a horror film, the special-purpose entity has been reanimated, and is now known as the variable-interest entity. In the alphabet soup of Wall Street, the acronym has switched from SPE to VIE, but the idea is the same. Big companies create these entities to borrow money and buy assets, but—like Enron—they do not include them on their balance sheets. The problem is especially worrisome at banks: every major bank has substantial positions in VIEs.

As of the end of 2011, Wells Fargo reported “significant continuing involvement” with variable-interest entities that had total assets of $1.46 trillion. The “maximum exposure to loss” it reports is much smaller, but still substantial: just over $60 billion, more than 40 percent of its capital reserves. The bank says the likelihood of such a loss is “extremely remote.” We can hope.

However, Wells Fargo acknowledges that even these eye-popping numbers do not include its entire exposure to variable-interest entities. The bank excludes some VIEs from consideration, for many of the same reasons Enron excluded its special-purpose entities: the bank says that its continuing involvement is not significant, that its investment is temporary or small, or that it did not design or operate these deals. (Wells Fargo isn’t alone; other major banks also follow this Enron-like approach to disclosure.)

We asked Wells Fargo to explain its VIE disclosures, but its representatives once again simply pointed us back to the annual report. We specifically asked about the bank’s own reported corrections of these numbers (in one footnote, Wells Fargo cryptically says, “ ‘VIEs that we consolidate’ has been revised to correct previously reported amounts”). But the bank would not tell us anything about those corrections. From the annual report, one cannot determine which VIEs were involved, or how big the corrections were.

Don Young calls variable-interest entities “accounting gimmicks to avoid consolidation and disclosure.” The Financial Accounting Standards Board changed the accounting rules that govern them in recent years, but the new rules, he says, are easy to manipulate, just like the old ones were. The presence of VIEs on Wells Fargo’s balance sheet “is a signal that there is $1.5 trillion of exposure to complete unknowns.”

These disclosures make even an ostensibly simple bank like Wells Fargo impossible to understand. Every major bank’s financial statements have some or all of these problems; many banks are much worse. This is an untenable situation. Kevin Warsh, formerly of the Fed, argues that the SEC should tell the biggest banks that their accounts are unacceptably opaque. “The banks should give a full, fair, and accurate account of their financial positions,” he says, “and they are failing that test.”

In the decades following the 1929 crash, banks were understandable. That’s not because they were financially simple—that era had its own versions of derivatives and special-purpose entities—but because the banks’ disclosures were more straightforward and clear. That clarity sprang from the fear of consequences. The law, as Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. said, is a prediction of what a court will do. And the broadly scoped laws of that time gave courts wide latitude.

Going to jail for financial fraud was a real risk back then, and bank executives worried that their reputations would be destroyed if a judge criticized what they had done. Richard Whitney, a broker who had been the president of the New York Stock Exchange, was sent to Sing Sing prison in 1938 for embezzlement. “Sunshine Charlie” Mitchell, the president of National City Bank, the predecessor to Citibank, was indicted for tax evasion after the 1929 crash and was also the first of many bankers to testify before the famous Senate Pecora Committee in 1933. The Pecora investigation galvanized public opinion, and helped usher in the landmark banking and securities laws of 1933 and 1934. The scrutiny and continuing threat of prosecution convinced many bank executives that they should keep their business simple and transparent, or worry about the consequences if they did not.

In the wake of the recent financial crisis, the government has moved to give new powers to the regulators who oversee the markets. Some experts propose that the banking system needs more capital. Others call for a return to Glass‑Steagall or a full-scale breakup of the big banks. These reforms could help, but none squarely addresses the problem of opacity, or the mischief that opacity enables.

The starting point for any solution to the recurring problems with banks is to rebuild the twin pillars of regulation that Congress built in 1933 and 1934, in the aftermath of the 1929 crash. First, there must be a straightforward standard of disclosure for Wells Fargo and its banking brethren to follow: describe risks in commonsense terms that an investor can understand. Second, there must be a real risk of punishment for bank executives who mislead investors, or otherwise perpetrate fraud and abuse.

These two pillars don’t require heavy-handed regulation. The straightforward disclosure regime that prevailed for decades starting in the 1930s didn’t require extensive legal rules. Nor did vigorous prosecution of financial crime.

Until the 1980s, bank rules were few in number, but broad in scope. Regulation was focused on commonsense standards. Commercial banks were not permitted to engage in investment-banking activity, and were required to set aside a reasonable amount of capital. Bankers were prohibited from taking outsize risks. Not every financial institution complied with the rules, but many bankers who strayed were judged, and punished.

Since then, however, the rules have proliferated, the arguments about compliance have become ever more technical, and the punishments have been minor and rare. Not a single senior banker from a major firm has gone to prison for conduct related to the 2008 financial crisis; few even paid fines. The penalties paid by banks are paltry compared with their profits and bonus pools. The cost‑benefit analysis of such a system tilts in favor of recklessness, in large part because of the complex web of regulation: bankers can argue that they comply with the letter of the law, even when they violate its spirit.

As rules have proliferated, arguments about compliance have become more technical, and punishments have been rare. Not one senior banker from a major firm has gone to prison for conduct related to the 2008 financial crisis.
In an important call to arms this past summer, Andrew Haldane, the Bank of England’s executive director for financial stability, laid out the case for an international regulatory overhaul. “For investors today, banks are the blackest of boxes,” he said. But regulators are their facilitators. Haldane noted that a landmark regulatory agreement from 1988 called Basel I amounted to a mere 18 pages in the U.S. and 13 pages in the U.K. Likewise, disclosure rules were governed by a statute that was essentially one sentence long.

Basel II, the second iteration of global banking regulation, issued in 2004, was 347 pages long. Documentation for the new Basel III, Haldane noted, totals 616 pages. And federal regulations governing disclosure are even longer than that. In the 1930s, a bank’s reports to the Federal Reserve might have contained just 80 entries. Yet by 2011, Haldane said, quarterly reporting to the Fed required a spreadsheet with 2,271 columns.

The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which Haldane said was perhaps “the single most influential piece of financial legislation of the 20th century,” was only 37 pages. In contrast, 2010’s Dodd-Frank law was 848 pages and required regulators to create so many new rules (not fully defined by the legislation itself) that it could amount to 30,000 pages of legal minutiae when fully codified. “Dodd-Frank makes Glass-Steagall look like throat-clearing,” Haldane said.

What if legislators and regulators gave up trying to adopt detailed rules after the fact and instead set up broad standards of conduct before the fact? For example, consider one of the most heated Dodd-Frank battles, over the “Volcker Rule,” named after former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. The rule is an attempt to ban banks from being able to make speculative bets if they also take in federally insured deposits. The idea is straightforward: the government guarantees deposits, so these banks should not gamble with what is effectively taxpayer money.

Yet, under constant pressure from banking lobbyists, Congress wrote a complicated rule. Then regulators larded it up with even more complications. They tried to cover any and every contingency. Two and a half years after Dodd-Frank was passed, the Volcker Rule still hasn’t been finalized. By the time it is, only a handful of partners at the world’s biggest law firms will understand it.

Congress and regulators could have written a simple rule: “Banks are not permitted to engage in proprietary trading.” Period. Then, regulators, prosecutors, and the courts could have set about defining what proprietary trading meant. They could have established reasonable and limited exceptions in individual cases. Meanwhile, bankers considering engaging in practices that might be labeled proprietary trading would have been forced to consider the law in the sense Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. advocated.

Legislators could adopt similarly broad disclosure rules, as Congress originally did in the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The idea would be to require banks to disclose all material facts, without specifying how. Bankers would know that whatever they chose to put in their annual reports might be assessed at some future date by a judge who would ask one simple question: Was the report complete, clear, and accurate?

The standard of proof for securities-fraud prosecutions, meanwhile, could and should be reduced from intent, which requires that prosecutors try to get inside the heads of bankers, to recklessness, which is less onerous to prove than intention, but more so than negligence. The goal of this change would be to prevent bankers from being able to hide behind legalese. In other words, even if they did not purposefully violate the law, because they had some technical justification for their conduct, they still might be liable for doing something a reasonable person in their position would not have done.

Senior bank executives should face the threat of prosecution the same way businesspeople do in other areas of the economy. When a CEO or CFO sits holding a pen, about to sign a certification that his or her bank’s financial statements and controls are accurate and adequate, he or she should pause and reflect that the consequences could include jail time. If bank directors and executives had to think through their institution’s risks, disclose them, and then face serious punishment if the disclosures proved inadequate, we might begin to construct a culture of accountability.

A bank seeking to comply with the principles we’ve laid out wouldn’t need to publish a 236-page report with appendices. Instead, it could submit a statement perhaps one‑tenth as long, something that a reader who made it through the introduction to Wells Fargo’s current annual report might actually continue reading. Ideally, a lay reader would be able to understand how much a bank might gain or lose based on worst-case scenarios—what would happen if housing prices drop by 30 percent, say, or the Spanish government defaults on its debt? As for the details, banks could voluntarily provide information on their Web sites, so that sophisticated investors had enough granular facts to decide whether the banks’ broader statements were true. As the 2008 financial crisis was unfolding, Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square obtained the details of complex mortgages and created a publicly available spreadsheet to illustrate the risks of various products and institutions. Banks that wanted to earn back investors’ trust could publish data so that Ackman and others like him could test their more general statements about risk.

Is this just a fantasy? The changes we’ve outlined would certainly be difficult politically. (What isn’t, today?) But in the face of sufficient pressure, bankers might willingly agree to a grand bargain: simpler rules and streamlined regulation if they subject themselves to real enforcement.

Ultimately, these changes would be for the banks’ own good. Banks need to be able to convince the most-sophisticated people in the markets—investors like Bill Ackman—that they are once again “investable.” Otherwise, investors will continue to worry about which bank will be the next JPMorgan—or the next Lehman Brothers. Today, Ackman says the risk of investing in a big bank is too great: “I think the JPMorgan loss was a really bad loss for confidence. If the best CEO in the industry has a loss like that, what about the other banks?” he says. “If JPMorgan can have a $5.8 billion derivative problem, then any of these guys could—and $5.8 billion is not the upper bound.”

The banks provide “a ton of disclosure,” Ackman notes. There are a lot of pages and details in any bank’s annual report, including Wells Fargo’s. But “it’s what you can’t figure out that’s terrifying.” In the gargantuan derivatives-trading positions, for instance, he says, “you can’t figure out whether the bank has got it right or not. That’s faith.”

A combination of clearer, simpler disclosure and stronger enforcement would help clean up the system, just as it did beginning in the 1930s. Not only would shareholders better understand banks’ businesses, but managers would have the incentive to run their businesses more ethically. The broad cultural failure on Wall Street has arisen in part because disclosure rules encourage the banks to be purposefully opaque. Today, their lawyers don’t judge whether statements are clear and meaningful but rather whether they are on the bleeding edge of legality. If bank managers faced real consequences when their descriptions proved inaccurate or incomplete, they would strive to make those descriptions as clear and simple as Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style.

Perhaps there is a silver lining in the loss of sophisticated investors’ trust. The disillusionment of the elites, on top of popular outrage, could foment change. Without such a mobilization, all of us will remain in the dark, neither understanding nor trusting the banks. And the rot will spread.

Frank Partnoy is a law and finance professor at the University of San Diego and the author of Wait: The Art and Science of Delay. Jesse Eisinger is a senior reporter at ProPublica and a columnist for The New York Times’ Dealbook section.

Video at link

[Sabrina]

http://news.sky.com/story/1034216/city-jobs-on-the-slide-amid-weak-economy

7 Jan UK

City Jobs On The Slide Amid Weak Economy

Senior management implemented major changes, including winding down entire units, as cost-cutting remained the focus in 2012.


The number of new City jobs has fallen by more than a third, new figures reveal.

Just 35,115 posts were created in 2012 - down 35% on the 54,025 in 2011.

In addition, around 800 new City jobs were available in December last year, compared with 1,490 in December 2011.

The data was released by financial services recruitment firm Astbury Marsden.

Chief operating officer Mark Cameron said: "2012 was a busy year for HR departments across the City as cost-cutting remained a key focus for senior management and board members throughout the year.

"Tighter regulation including higher capital requirements forced up costs at a time when revenues dipped due to a number of factors including a continued weak economy and less trading activity.

"Although broad cost-cutting is fairly typical in the City during a downturn, 2012 was particularly significant as senior management in banks took very decisive action and implemented major structural changes including winding down entire units.

"Hopefully we are now behind the worst of the cost-cutting. Although banks may still tinker with staffing numbers, most of the obvious and immediate cuts are likely to have now been made."

The firm believes developments in the handling of the eurozone crisis since the autumn have started to have a positive impact, which could improve hiring confidence in 2013.

"Some of the dark clouds around the euro - which has been a major concern in the City for the last 18 months - seem to have lifted which will encourage some firms who are contemplating hiring staff," Mr Cameron said.

"Whilst the closure in the US budget battle is still to come, markets have responded well to progress already made there.

"For the world's largest economy, which is so important in setting trends globally, 2013 has certainly started on a more positive note than 2012 ended, which could help mitigate the gloomy outlook around hiring."

There has been a spate of redundancies in the financial sector as it battles to gain ground in a weak economy - amid increasing regulation and public scepticism.

Last month, banking giant Citigroup announced plans to axe 11,000 jobs worldwide - some 4% of its workforce - to cut costs.

In October, Switzerland's biggest bank UBS confirmed it was cutting 10,000 jobs to shrink its investment operations.

Of the total job cuts, it said 2,500 positions would be lost in Switzerland while the rest would be felt in the UK and US.

[Sabrina]

http://justicekanata.blogspot.ca/

More on the People's Trust:


Heather Tucci-Jarraf is the new Joan of Arc!

The fact you heard Heather Tucci-Jarraf "+", Trustee of The One People's Public Trust at http://americankabuki.blogspot.ca/2013/01/toppt-transcript-conversation-with.html @ means you need to know just how real is this information!

The Fact you are part of the emergent homo-empathicus live men and women means we are the new civilization of the 21st century.

When you are the sort of live man and live woman who wants to earn your true value and worth then you are ready to discover the hidden truths of fiscal reality.

Heather gives out some great intel on the subject of public trust.

Justice Kanata states
1. "Heather Tucci-Jarraf" + is the "smoking hot gun" "everyone has been waiting for"!

2. Heather clearly comprehends and explains in layman's language the "changes" of a global economy "transmutation" from adverse belligerent abstract economics to non-adverse concrete economics. (thats the tech talk)

So, where does that leave you?

What can you do:
"LEARN THE LINGO OF ACCOUNT SCIENCE ARCHITECTURE (TM) and GET YOUR INHERITANCE BINGO"

1. Learn the language of commerce
a. Research specific word groups
i. Bailee/Bailor
ii. Creditor/Debtor
iii. Predator/Inheritor

there are 66 magic words in commerce that you need to be aware, it is here that your challenge and inherent mastery reveal your purpose

as a quick note, a thorough read of http://www.cafrman.com/index.html will provide you ample opportunity to come up to speed with language of commerce, in the specific area of accounts, in particular: surplus accounts

2. Put into action Heathers motivational inspiration.
a. learn how you learn - head to http://www.bgfl.org/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/ict/multiple_int/what.cfm
b. get a second opinion
http://expectumf.umf.maine.edu/mihome.html

3. The Five Tibetan Rites / Energy Rejuvenation Exercises I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juZxrvc8-A4

The fact you accept the reality of the difference between the PERSON and the Live Man and Live Woman means you are ready to become an efficient administrator.

We are here
We are among you
We are the persuasion and perspiration
We are the inspiration and the motivation


Justice Kanata says Heather is the real deal an emergent empathic live woman!

(5 Jan)

[Sabrina]

http://spreadlibertynews.com/family-farmers-to-take-monsanto-to-court-on-thursday-citizens-will-gather-in-support/

8 Jan US

the Organic Review: Family Farmers to take Monsanto to Court on Thursday – Citizens will gather in support

It’s no secret that Monsanto Corporation is the world’s largest producer of seeds, and the most famous manufacturer of genetically modified organisms. Monsanto is frowned upon by many people, and has been for nearly a century. As if its genetically engineered products aren’t disturbing enough, the fact that it is so tightly knit with the government is even worse.

Monsanto has also become extraordinarily famous for its seed patents as well, notably its patented Roundup Ready gene, which makes seeds able to withstand the Corporation’s patented chemical herbicide, Roundup. Monsanto has been playing a dirty game now, since abusing its patents by using its falsely acclaimed powers to gain more money out of innocent farmers.

In 2012, the Corporation dragged nearly a dozen farmers to court for patent infringement. Not only do farmers have to worry about being penalized for collecting and replanting seeds that they might not even know are genetically engineered, but even conventional and organic farmers have to worry about suffering punishment if their plants obtain cross-contamination from genetically modified ones, naturally through the wind.

Cross-pollination is one of Monsanto’s most abused legal grafts when it comes to patent violations. The Corporation not only outspends its defendants, but also spends ten million dollars a year and hires nearly eighty staffers a year to investigate and prosecute farmers. The US Department of Agriculture has even come forth and warned farmers to purchase insurance to protect themselves incase their crops are cross-contaminated. This is a perfect example of why government is not supposed to be involved in the food industry at all, and explains how Monsanto and other biotech giants got so big in the first place.

Enough is enough.

On Thursday, January 10th at 10 a.m., a Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Court in Washington D.C. will be hearing the Appeal of Dismissal in Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGTA) et as v. Monsanto. Public Patent Foundation lawyers will be representing the plaintiffs, family farmers, and will be stipulating their services voluntarily.

Over one hundred and twenty anti-Monsanto advocates have already RSVP’d to attend the Solidarity Rally in support of the family farmers who have had enough with Monsanto. You can join the event and connect with others who plan on attending the rally through the Facebook event, here: FARMERS v. MONSANTO SOLIDARITY RALLY!

Image Reference

http://www.foodrepublic.com/2012/02/28/judge-dismisses-case-against-monsanto

[Sabrina]

http://www.veteransnewsnow.com/2013/01/08/220151-yes-the-tide-is-shifting/

8 Jann US

YES, THE TIDE IS SHIFTING


The American people, are witnessing for the first time perhaps what powers are, and have long been, at play to prevent their government from pursuing the best and the most logical course of action when it comes to formulating foreign policies in that hot spot on the globe.

Whether Chuck Hagel’s nomination as the new Defense Secretary gets through the Senate confirmation process in spite of wholesale opposition by the Republicans and even some high profile Democratic Senators like Chuck Schumer and Ben Cardin (both Jewish Zionists, of course), the fact that the President has chosen him is a strong enough signal that change is on the way in the Administration’s foreign policies.

After all, it is the President that makes the policies regardless of who is appointed as the front man.
So, the signal has been sent. And what’s more, the objections against Hagel’s nomination sounded off by hard-core neocons and, above all, by the Zionist cabal in the Congress and the media questioning his pro-Israel and anti-Iran credentials are equally significant. Significant, because by nominating Chuck Hagel, President Obama has masterfully put on public display the unhealthy, almost seditious, attitude of influence peddlers who are willing to put America’s own national interests in jeopardy to serve their puppeteers.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Mr. Hagel apologize, tongue-in-cheek, of course, for his honest and true statements he had made a decade ago, that he was a United States Senator and not an Israeli Senator, or that jumping into another war in the Middle East (against Iran, this time) would not serve America’s best interests, and that he would prefer direct, unconditional negotiations with the Iranians.

The American people, however, are witnessing for the first time perhaps what powers are, and have long been, at play to prevent their government from pursuing the best and the most logical course of action when it comes to formulating foreign policies in that hot spot on the globe.

Regardless of any apologies for his past positions, or reaffirmation of his commitment for an unconditional support for Israel or to maintain the pressure on the Iranian regime, the American people are smart enough to see the handwriting on the wall: a sea change is underway in Obama’s second and final term in office as the President of these United States of America.

It is about time, Mr. President.

[Sabrina]

http://removingtheshackles.blogspot.ca/2013/01/peoples-trust-paradigm-protocol.html

More on the People's Trust and further documents:

9 Jan

Peoples Trust: Paradigm Protocol Documents

via Remove the Shackles bloodspot:

I am soooooo glad that I have wonderful friends like Kauilapele and American Kabuki who are Techie wizards and do all these wonderful things, while I sit in the corner with my dunce cap on. :>)

So many people have been asking for these documents.....



“THE ONE PEOPLE’S PUBLIC TRUST” NOW PARADIGM PROTOCOL DOCUMENTS… IN ONE ZIP FOLDER…
Posted on 2013/01/08by kauilapele

Heather and company with TOPPT have assembled a set of documents that give examples of what and how to carry out what they are talking about.

I have taken all of the Word docs and converted them to both OpenOffice docs and pdfs, for those who do not have MS Office, them created a zip folder of these. There are 13 documents in total (27 files) (6 MB) in the zip folder.

Here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/9wepj88.

Now, I cannot say that I know anything about where to go from here, after reading these. Nor do I know or understand what my role is with all of this (except in processing mp3s and making zippy files). But I do believe that Heather and company are going to present another conversation about this that will presumably clarify things for everybody.

Below are portions of an email we received from Heather about these documents.

—————————————————————————
I AM INSPIRED release of NOW PARADIGM PROTOCOL (evolved from “NEW PARADIGM”) for the people, by the people… if Truth IS… “by the people for the people”… then let’s test that out, and have some fun DO’ing while we’re at it, yes? We ask those who choose to, to co-manifest an opportunity to work/review/discuss/dissect DATA in order to close the OLD PARADIGM and choose what the NOW PARADIGM IS per what resonates within each of us…what resonates as Truth by the knowledge within…(yes, that damn broken record keeps playing on, and on, and on..infinity!)
By DO’ing by free will choice, the energy manifests, creates/co-creates, at the speed of thought, the opportunity to reflect the law of one that resonates with many by the knowledge from within…shall we?

Attached are documents of examples designed based on NOW DATA that the Trustees, Advisors and other we the people collected, willingly and sometimes under duress, through investigations and other matters that have come before us…these are just examples…

…so, whoever would like to take their shoes off and jump in the water with some DO’in so that we can finalize the people’s systems as they choose…We would be so grateful for the experience to BE and DO with all of you.

How do we the people use the REGISTERED tools done by the Public Trust, specifically the FORECLOSURE, COMMERCIAL BILL, TRUE BILL in a personal matter? How do we notice a potential predator that they will be held responsible and liable in such a manner that it IS enforced and collectible? How do we secure our property that is being held by someone purporting to be a custodian? How do we establish standing and authority while respectfully, yet firmly, simultaneously requiring those who come before us to identify and verify their standing and authority? How do we cancel the fraud already done?

Well, see the examples we have formulated thus far through moments of PRESENT that have transpired and let’s refine them together as one, as we choose, if we so choose! Please don’t ask for authorization to post or use…it was granted upon our creation!!!!

We are excited about what we the people can and choose to DO…I wanted all of this to be more organized and definitely more professional in presentation, but I need to get back to the current… I will check back in :)
with gratitude

in love
unconditionally
always
Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf
Trustee


and documents here on American Kabuki site:

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/toppt-ucc-demand-summons-court.html
http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/the-one-peoples-public-trust-now-paradigm-protocol-documents-in-one-zip-folder/

[Sabrina]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/lord-strathclyde-resigns-as-leader-of-house-of-lords-8441247.html

UK


Lord Strathclyde resigns as Leader of House of Lords

Timing of his announcement caused an unwelcome distraction to the Coalition

NIGEL MORRIS MONDAY 07 JANUARY 2013

David Cameron suffered a blow to the “relaunch” of the Coalition government as one of his most experienced Cabinet ministers announced his resignation.

Lord Strathclyde stood down with immediate effect as Leader of the House of Lords explaining that he wanted to resume his career in the private sector.

The timing of his announcement caused an unwelcome distraction to the Coalition as it prepared to set out its plans for the second half of its term in office.

Lord Strathclyde’s surprise announcement is also a setback to the Prime Minister who relied heavily on the advice of the 52-year-old hereditary peer. It follows the Government’s decision to abandon plans to reform the House of Lords – proposals that had been regarded with scepticism by Lord Strathclyde.

He was replaced as Leader of the Lords by Lord Hill of Oareford, who also becomes Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and a member of the Privy Council.


In his resignation letter, Lord Strathclyde said “I never believed it was a career for life”, when he was appointed a minister in the Thatcher government 1988.

He said: “I started my working life in the private sector and at some stage always hoped to return. I would like to do so now.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

This happened a few months ago, it's another example of gold "mysteriously" vanishing... -AK
(via American Kabuki)

http://www.silverdoctors.com/breaking-cargo-ship-carrying-700-tons-of-gold-vanishes-in-sea-of-okhotsk/

CARGO SHIP CARRYING 700 TONS OF GOLD VANISHES IN SEA OF OKHOTSK OFF RUSSIA

OCTOBER 29, 2012 BY THE DOC

*Breaking*
A cargo ship carrying 700 tons of gold ore has vanished late Sunday in the Sea of Okhotsk. A distress beacon was reportedly activated late Sunday, but Russian rescue operations have had no success locating the wreckage or survivors:

A sonar distress beacon was automatically activated near Feklistov Island in the Shantarsk Archipelago on Sunday, Russia’s Emergency Ministry reported. The tanker Novik was the first to arrive at the scene, but found no wreckage or survivors. The rescue operation was complicated by severe weather, and waves up to four meters high.

In other news, the FED reported Monday that Germany will be allowed to repatriate a portion of it’s gold reserves after all.

Full report on the lost crew, ship, and treasure below:

5 rescue vessels continue the search Monday:

Cargo carrier Amurskoe disappeared in the Sea of Okhotsk while carrying 700 tons of gold ore. Three ships, an amphibious aircraft and a helicopter are undertaking search and rescue operations to find the eight crewmembers of the lost vessel.[COLOR="red"][COLOR="red"][COLOR="red"]

¤=[Post Update]=¤

A SONG FOR OUR TIMES
Bugger The Bankers, performed by The Austerity Allstars

WSIUf2hD6Io

[PathWalker]

I am sorry to spoil the party.
My heart tells me something wrong with this Peoples Trust: Paradigm Protocol Documents, I have strong feeling of deceit here.
I do not know the facts nor the details. It is just a feeling. I trust my intuition. This could be a disinformation or a diversion.

Take it or leave it for what it worth.

[Pete]

I am sorry to spoil the party.
My heart tells me something wrong with this Peoples Trust: Paradigm Protocol Documents, I have strong feeling of deceit here.
I do not know the facts nor the details. It is just a feeling. I trust my intuition. This could be a disinformation or a diversion.

Take it or leave it for what it worth.


That's strange, because I don't get the same feeling at all. Even if this is more deception it's the way to go.

With love and with inner knowing that the truth is manifesting itself. just remember how far this thread has come. from the first days to now.

I just wanted to thank you Sabrina for your work in keeping this thread up to date and for cross referencing and helping us understand how all this news interrelates. You and all the Avolonian's that contribute or simply observe have created an important document.
:bigfish:

[Sabrina]

PathWalker, on the People's Trust I tend to go along with Pete that intuitively I feel there is something positive in it all. But of course you're absolutely right that we all need to use our gut instincts - and perhaps people will get different messages about the same thing - and perhaps there are multi dimensions and different time lines to it all - phew...

The trustee Heather tracking the foreclosure process on her home and tracing the origins, was impressive to me.

If it were disinfo, I'd make it much more bleak and scary :)...



Here's some more on it from Brian who works with American Kabuki:

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/commentary-by-brian-on-toppt-and.html#more

Commentary by Brian on the TOPPT (The People's Trust)
and a Discussion between
Lisa M. Harrison and Adnan Sakli

Brian here, from the American Kabuki Ground Crew.

In light of the recent popularity of TOPPT all over the internet (Google currently produces 17,500 hits searching “The One People’s Public Trust) I’d like to take some time to address a few things, in hopes of bringing some clarity to the many who have been asking questions as to the validity of The One People’s Public Trust.

First of all, it’s only natural to be skeptical of the claims that have been made over the last few days. I would be lying if I said that I understood all of it. Truth is, most of the legal framework is way over my head and every time I go to Heather to ask a question, each response only brings up many more questions, only to replace the one I originally posed. I too was skeptical when I first learned of everything they claimed to have done, especially as it pertained to the money aspect of this whole saga.


I found myself asking questions like, “under what authority do they have to implement the foreclosure of the FED, the BIS, the IMF, or any of these organizations who have successfully lied to and manipulated virtually every single person on the planet for so long?” How is such a feat even possible? IS it possible? And how could it be accomplished by a small group of people that very few have ever even heard of until recently? Maybe it was these questions that made me a good candidate to have the “conversation with Heather,” which we’ve put out for all to hear?

Fact of the matter is that all of these questions, and many others, have been burning in my mind since day one of being introduced to all this. What I’ve been falling back on is my FAITH that anything and everything IS possible; FAITH that stems from a background of BE’ing absolutely shocked and amazed by MIRACLES and SYNCHRONICITIES that I’ve witnessed in my life, which have utterly convinced me that TRUTH is much much stranger than fiction. This FAITH combined with the fact that I’ve found myself in a position where I totally and completely TRUST what Heather has shared with AK, KP, D and myself, has created an environment where I’m completely open to the possibilities of what can and WILL come of all this.

This TRUST is a hard thing to explain because it’s a feeling that comes from inside myself that is beyond any words I could possibly use to try to describe it. It’s not every day that a person comes into your life so willing to share anything and everything about themselves, their background and situations they have experienced, in a SPIRIT of totally raw and unadulterated TRANSPARENCY. Sure, I’ve had many people say that TRANSPARENCY is important to them, but to have someone BE this TRANSPARENCY day in and day out, in every moment and through every word, deed and action continuously, without exception, is a rare case.

After DO’ing enough of my own personal research and vetting out processes, I have come to the point where I have seen enough and heard enough to know that I am dealing with a person who is more CONNECTED to SOURCE and her relationship with CREATOR than anyone I have ever met in my 31 years of living. I share this not because I want to convince anyone to feel the same way I DO. TRUST is a CHOICE that all people need to make independently. I cannot force someone to TRUST another, nor would I want to even if I could, for that would be a direct violation of another’s FREE WILL. My objective IS to share these thoughts with anyone willing to listen, in hopes to simply supply some perspective for the many I know who are actively searching for it. My advice is to go WITHIN. At a deeper level we ALL have the answers and the ability to find our own TRUTH. This is the place inside each of us where MIRACLES occur, we just have to BE open enough to SEE them when they DO.

So, here’s the kicker, THIS IS NOT ABOUT HEATHER, nor is it about The One People’s Public Trust. THIS IS ABOUT “THE PEOPLE.” EVERYONE. ALL OF US. All Heather and her group have done is successfully created the foundation, within the legal structures, to flip the entire system onto its head, which gave “the people” back what has always been rightfully OURS. This begs the question, “how could it be that easy?”

Before I share my thoughts on this, I’d like to first point to an IM dialogue that took place between Heather and Lisa Harrison, which I’ve copied and pasted below. Lisa is a LIGHTWORKER journalist from Australia who sent the following conversation between herself and a man by the name of Adnan Sakli...

[Note: Adnan Sakli is a character something like Keenan. -AK]

This dialogue will hopefully allow me to connect some dots for everyone below. Here it IS:

(The only alterations I have made to this exchange is I’ve corrected a few misspelled words to make the conversation easier to follow. It seems Mr. Sakli is not the best with spelling and grammar ☺).

* Note: This whole conversation has much substance, but I’ve bolded the parts I’d like you to pay extra close attention to.

[1/6/2013 2:29:48 PM] Lisa M Harrison: I also imagine the name Adnan Sakli must be familiar to you?

[1/6/2013 2:49:37 PM] Lisa M Harrison: Adnan is supposed to be the major shareholder and signatory for the corporate world

[1/6/2013 3:42:56 PM] Lisa M Harrison: including the BIS

[1/6/2013 3:44:49 PM] *** Lisa M Harrison sent Adnan.jpg ***

[1/6/2013 3:50:41 PM] Jarrafusa: please stand by...

[1/6/2013 3:51:20 PM] Lisa M Harrison: ok, standing by

[1/6/2013 3:55:01 PM] *** Lisa M Harrison sent Adnan Titles Accounts.pdf ***

[1/7/2013 12:55:10 PM] Lisa M Harrison: This is a conversation I had with Adnan Sakli this morning who as I said OWNS the BIS-

[8/01/13 7:40:49 AM] Lisa M Harrison: In regards to The One People's Public Trust, according to them they have used UCC filings to forseclose on the Corporate Fiction world, including BIS, Corp Governments, Banks etc

[8/01/13 7:41:00 AM] Lisa M Harrison: http://www.peoplestrust1776.org/

[8/01/13 7:43:36 AM] ADNAN: With no legal right of authority

[8/01/13 7:44:39 AM] ADNAN: Not worth anything unless done under the sanctity of all the nations and approval and only I have the right to transfer and rights under structured sate of oversight and law.

[8/01/13 7:44:57 AM] ADNAN: everything else is false and BS

[8/01/13 7:46:10 AM] Lisa M Harrison: if it is all BS, then the UCC is has no validity at all

[8/01/13 7:46:46 AM] ADNAN: Not over sovereignty rights

[8/01/13 7:47:54 AM] ADNAN: That can only be done under unilateral rights of each and every country being protected and secured not by a bunch of idiots that act as the savior of the positions

[8/01/13 7:49:38 AM] ADNAN: If its not done properly then its a waste of time

[8/01/13 7:49:57 AM] Lisa M Harrison: how does your authority in the corporate world have any jurisdiction over the living breathing man as all corporate authority is derived from the people and all corporate entities are trustees to the living beneficiaries?

[8/01/13 7:50:21 AM] Lisa M Harrison: I don't understand the disconnect here?

[8/01/13 7:51:52 AM] ADNAN: I own BIS and the Titles. First it has to been done under legal status with all of the countries not just a group that appoints itself, then they are the same **** as before.

[1/7/2013 12:59:20 PM] Lisa M Harrison: [8/01/13 7:57:08 AM] Lisa M Harrison: for the sake of humanity and our freedom, are you not in a perfect position to support what the One People's trust are trying to achieve?

[8/01/13 7:58:16 AM] ADNAN: Yes but they are trying to organize from North America for the Indian lands to traffic the drugs for the Bush people from Mexico to Canada with no obstruction.

[8/01/13 7:58:56 AM] ADNAN: As well as bypass the EPA of the oil operations and completely destroy the land .

[8/01/13 7:59:14 AM] ADNAN: So the group you are talking about have no real motives .

[8/01/13 8:02:20 AM] Lisa M Harrison: well I hope for humanity and the planets sake you are mistaken

[8/01/13 8:04:45 AM] ADNAN: NO I AM NOT AND i AM IN THE PROCESS OF CLEANING THESE CROOKS SO THAT WE CAN SET UP THE UNILATERAL COMMISSION THAT WILL FORMULATE ALL OF THE NATIONS IN A UNIFIED WAY WITH THE STRUCTURES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW EXCEPTED AND WITH OVERSIGHT TO PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE ENIVROMENT AND CREATE REAL WORK THAT IS BASED UPON TRUE PRODUCTION AND A FARE WAGE FOR FARE WORK INTERNATIONALLY

[8/01/13 8:04:55 AM] ADNAN: SORRY DOIN TEN THINGS AT THE SAME TIME

[8/01/13 8:45:51 AM] ADNAN: Ok , Sorry I was with the authorities to lock up all of these crooks to clear the way to do what is actually legal and correct with the international agreement of all of the countries acting in a unified format that protects the interest of all of the people whether they are awake or not.

We are cleaning up all the crooks and there are about a million people that have to be prosecuted and charged around the world and in the bank and government structures. That is being done now and those people you are talking about are crooks .

[8/01/13 8:47:01 AM] ADNAN: I also need to comply the list for Australia as well since that is a major drug route for the pacific rim there and the government officials that are part of this criminal activities .

[8/01/13 8:48:55 AM] Lisa M Harrison: adnan, people who are free and prosperous are not interested in numbing themselves with drugs, there will not be a customer base for these crooks once we are free

[8/01/13 8:51:13 AM] Lisa M Harrison: when you say getting all the nations to agree and co-operate are you referring to the corporate states, as these are exactly what needs to be dissolved

[8/01/13 8:53:37 AM] ADNAN: under a international agreement where each country has control of their sovereignty and not with a bunch of fat crooks

[1/8/2013 1:35:08 PM] Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf: AND I RESPONDED QUICKLY WITH THIS:

[1/8/2013 1:35:27 PM] Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf: [1:26:03 PM] Jarrafusa: Awesome!!! Tell him to post to the people his REGISTERED OWNERSHIP and DECLARATION OF FACTS, and DULY VERIFIED AND SWORN DECLARATION OF FACTS REBUTTING EACH POINT in the people's DULY VERIFIED AND SWORN DECLARATION OF FACTS, with specificity and particularity...we look forward to receiving a copy too, for review and, if appropriate, DULY REGISTERED VERIFIED AND SWORN RESPONSE TO ANY SUCH REBUTTAL..seeing as how he purportedly OWNS the NOW lawfully and legally FORECLOSED "BIS", I am sure the people would love and appreciate seeing a purported former PRINCIPAL stand in transparency, responsibility, accountability, and liability...that is if he can get a word in edge-wise over the people yelling, "where is our MONEY!!!!" (chuckle)

[1:33:07 PM] Jarrafusa: Lovingly standing by for his duly REGISTERED VERIFIED AND SWORN DOCUMENTATION OF STANDING, AUTHORITY, VALUE, AND REBUTTAL OF EVERY POINT WITH SPECIFICITY AND PARTICULARITY! (heart)

[1:33:26 PM] Jarrafusa: Thank you, Lisa for BE'ing and DO'ing!!!

Brian's commentary continues....

I read this for the first time today. The reason why I share this with you is because there are some comments in there that helped me to put this whole thing together in my mind, in order for it all to make sense. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still a lot that’s over my head, but the one thing I was getting hung up on, became crystal clear. And it all stems from the question, “how does the TOPPT have the authority to take down organizations like the BIS, and guys like Adnan Sakli?” Here are the few statements that made this whole thing clear for me and maybe it will for you too:

Adnan said, “Not worth anything unless done under the sanctity of all the nations and approval and only I have the right to transfer and rights under structured sate of oversight and law.” Followed by, “That can only be done under unilateral rights of each and every country being protected and secured…”

It is when Lisa gave this brilliantly written response that the fireworks went off in my head, “how does your authority in the corporate world have any jurisdiction over the living breathing man as all corporate authority is derived from the people and all corporate entities are trustees to the living beneficiaries? I don’t understand the disconnect here”

The fact that this man was so shaken he began to type in all caps to defend his position, says so much in itself. But, here’s the main point: why would any motion to take down the systems that have enslaved us all, need to have the backing and support from the very systems that have enslaved us? One blog in particular, which I will not call out by name, wrote in a recent post 5 specific points, in an attempt to debunk TOPPT, and personally attack those putting out the information. I have NO INTENTION of defending or rebutting any of those statements made. My response comes in the form of one question, is it not possible that things are not as they appear and there is much more to the story than what we are being fed from our government and through the media? I will leave it at that.

All Heather and TOPPT have done is used the highly complex legal system against those who created it to protect themselves. They hid the secret of bringing the whole house of cards down inside the cracks where they were convinced no one would ever look. Quite possibly, they never knew that the formula existed. But it does, and now it’s time for the whole house of cards to come crashing down. All the documentation has been properly and LEGALLY EXECUTED and FILED. The disconnect from the community who doubts this possiblity, lies in the lack of understanding that these protocols DO NOT need the backing of the old systems (aka the BAR, the Hague, the World Court, the United States Government Corporation, etc.) to confirm or deny their validity. They DO NOT nor have EVER held such authority. We “THE PEOPLE” have always been in control. We have just been led to believe otherwise. Well guess what? The gig is up. The work has been DONE, and soon the lies will no longer be able to hide the TRUTH of what IS. We “THE PEOPLE,” NOW have the power to take back that which has always been rightfully OURS.

At this point, the only thing that separates US from true FREEDOM is the AWARENESS that we are already FREE. In a short amount of time (in the twinkling of an eye, as Sheldan Nidle likes to say) some very key ANNOUNCEMENTS and DISCLOSURES are going to be made. When this happens, this whole story that many have chalked up as conspiracy theory, a fairy tale, too far-fetched to be possible, will become our REALITY and our new way of LIFE. It is at this moment EVERYONE will have an opportunity to stand up and CREATE a NEW ERA of PEACE and PROSPERITY for ALL to IN-JOY. There are MANY ways up a mountain, but they ALL lead to the same point. How WE ultimately get there, whether it be through the efforts of TOPPT, or otherwise, IS not important. What IS important IS that WE “THE PEOPLE”, make it to the top, one way or the other. From my vantage point, in matters not how we get there, so long as the MISSION IS ACCOMPLISHED.

In closing, I will say this, if even after reading this (which are simply my own thoughts) you’re still not convinced, that’s OK. Like I said before, I’m not trying to convince anyone. In time the TRUTH will be known to ALL, and at this grand moment the most important thing for everyone to DO is put aside our differences of opinion, any ill will or resentment we’re holding onto, and join hands in CELEBRATION to help CO-CREATE our next chapter of human evolution. For it IS ultimately the TRUTH that WILL set US FREE.

From the depths of my Heart and the Oneness of my Soul, I honor each and every ONE of YOU and wish YOU ALL an ABUNDANCE of PEACE, PROSPERITY, JOY, LOVE & LIGHT. THANK YOU for taking the time to read this. I truly LOVE YOU ALL.

Brian

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Fulford's take on it all:

The holiday lull is over, the fascist’s days are numbered

Posted by benjamin
January 8, 2013
The fight {to} over the world’s financial system has been in limbo over the new year’s holiday, but big moves are now being made by various players in preparation for some upcoming decisive battles.

In the US, Obama’s regime, in a show of bravado to hide fear and desperation, has announced it will issue trillion-dollar coins, confiscate Americans’ guns, murder and imprison Americans without due process, and eliminate term-limits so Obama can be made dictator for life.

In the Middle-East, a move to revive the nation of Kurdistan, complete with control over massive oil fields, has slipped in under the radar. The Turks appear to have given a green light to this arrangement in exchange for promises of oil revenues, according to a Turkish government source.


The real game changer though, remains the ongoing process of bringing Asian gold and treasure holdings into play in the international financial system. Here some very nitty-gritty technical discussions are proceeding smoothly, if slowly.


The bottle-neck in bringing the Asian gold and treasure back into the global financial system, for the first time since President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, has been the question of who to put in charge and how to carry it out. There is concrete work going on to solve these issues but unfortunately, there is still a news embargo on the subject. However, the talks are highly detailed, involve well-known and not well-known players, smelters, warehouses of cash and other down-to-earth logistical issues. The new governments in Japan, North Korea, South Korea and China, however, are supporting this process, which is supposed to lead to the creation of a meritocratic world economic planning agency.

In the West, an exchange of hand-written memos has made it clear that the Freemasons, the gnostic illuminati and the eco-friendly branch of the Nazis, among others, also support the creation of such a meritocratic organization. Some of the major old world order bloodline groups are also tentatively supportive on the condition that traditional royal family perks remain in place.

The White Dragon Society has proposed that well-known and liked non-Western political veterans be put in charge of the initial staff selection for the agency. Three names in particular have been mentioned: Lee Kuan Yew, Mahathir Mohamad and Nelson Mandela.

None of these gentlemen have been contacted yet because the sherpas are still not finished with their work.

Such an agency would in no way replace existing structures but would instead be something entirely new and additional to the old order power structures.

The cabal, for its part, is still trying to threaten and terrorize the world in order to have its way. A recent report in the Jerusalem Post, wrongly attributed to the BBC, claimed that Iran had ordered the evacuation of 1.5 million people from the city of Ifshasan. This false report has been interpreted as a crude threat.

Despite such bravado, the situation in the Middle East seems to be moving towards some kind of settlement. The mercenary army in Syria has announced it is no longer being funded.

At the same time, two Kurdish families have been given control of vast oil fields in Northern Iraq with apparent Turkish agreement, according to MI6 and Turkish sources. The indications are that some sort of Sunni transnational alliance is emerging in the region and that the governments of Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are already on board.

The situation in the United States is a bit harder to read right now. As mentioned at the top, the Obama regime, while having prevented World War 3, is still very clearly a fascist, cabal controlled entity. Judging from the fact that top Bush/Clinton crime family members (Hillary and George Sr.) have been holed up in hospitals, it appears the US side of the cabal is now under the control of George Soros, the Rockefellers, Zbigniew Brzezinski and that group. In other words, the Nazi neo-con group lost a lot of influence when they failed to get their man Romney into the White House.

Clearly the way to liberate the United States and put an end to the fascist regime there remains removing cabal control of the process of monetary creation. This in turn hinges to some extent on the negotiations over Asian participation in that process. Some meetings this week might shed further light on how this process is advancing.

Another way to weaken cabal power is to attack the other big source (apart from central bank ownership) of their money: the international drug trade.

This newsletter has attempted to put a number on the scale of this trade by multiplying UN estimates of drug production by the average retail price. This sheds some interesting light on the economics of “drug wars.” (fyi some weird formatting problem occurred in this word processor as soon as I started writing about drugs) Heroin production in Afghanistan runs at a bit under 10,000 tons per year, or about $500 billion dollars retail. Given the annual costs of the Afghan war being $122 billion, that means the occupation of Afghanistan, in business terms, yields an annual profit margin of about 400%. Throw in cocaine at about $82 billion a year, amphetamines at about $600 billion per year and Marijuana at $1.3 trillion per year and you can see this is a roughly $2.5 trillion a year business (four times the pentagon budget), mostly controlled by the CIA and its web of gangster affiliates.

Discussion with CIA, triad, yakuza, North Korean and South American drug mafias reveal that they are all open to becoming legal, tax-paying businesses if drugs are legalized or decriminalized. This is especially easy to argue with hemp and marijuana because the overwhelming evidence, both medical and sociological, is that it should never have been made illegal in the first place.

So, by returning the right to create money to governments and by decriminalizing drugs, it is possible to cut off most of the world’s terrorist financing.

The pharmaceutical industry, another big cabal power spot, can also be co-opted by removing the taboo on life-prolonging, life-enhancing and pleasure-giving medicines.

That would leave the cabal with just oil as its last big money generator. Fortunately, the oil people have already agreed to a phased-in introduction of new energy-technology and a transformation of their industry into a geo-engineering, materials and eco-system creating industry.

In any case, we hope that during the coming week the high level information embargo will end and concrete good news will become available.


PS I don't mean to lump the People's Trust story and Benjamin Fulford together by the way, but it all gets combined together sometimes if I do another post..

[Sabrina]

http://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/1125111/daqing-dairy-chairman-and-finance-chief-resign-over

High profile auditors were dropping some clients last year - suspect they see the writing on the wall and can't be so complacent in ignoring the question marks any more.

11 Jan China


Daqing Dairy's chairman Zhao Yu and chief financial officer Fong Pin Jan resigned yesterday, according to the company.

Their resignations follow that of several directors from the mainland dairy company and its former auditor, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, which expressed misgivings about Daqing's financial statements.

Fong put in his papers because he was unable to help Deloitte resolve its misgivings due to "extensive damage to the computer and accounting records of the company in an accident disclosed in the announcement of the company dated January 9", said Daqing.

On Wednesday, Daqing said it had discovered on January 2 that heating pipes in its offices in Daqing city, Heilongjiang province, had cracked, causing extensive damage to the office facilities, computers and documents.

"The incident did not cause an impact on the daily operations of Daqing. The management anticipates the incident will not cause significant adverse impact on the profit and loss and assets of the company," it said.

Fong had previously tendered his resignation on June 15 last year but was persuaded by the board to stay on to help resolve the issues raised by Deloitte, Daqing said.

The accounting firm resigned as its auditor on March 21, citing misgivings about its accounts, Daqing said at the time.

"We continue to have concerns about matters pervasive to the financial statements including certain milk procurement transactions brought to the attention of management and acknowledged by them to be fraudulent," Deloitte said in its resignation letter to Daqing.
more at link

[Sabrina]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/libor-scandal/9794694/Libor-scandal-RBS-executives-under-pressure-to-resign.html

11 Jan UK

Libor scandal: RBS executives under pressure to resign

Two of Royal Bank of Scotland’s best-paid executives are under pressure to resign and hand back up to £15m in bonuses over alleged Libor-rigging at the group.

The pressure comes as RBS is closing in on a settlement with US and UK regulators that is likely to see the state-backed bank fined at least £300m.

John Hourican, head of RBS’s investment bank, and Peter Nielson, head of markets, are understood to be “under pressure” to step down.

Sources suggested Mr Hourican and Mr Nielson were “stunned” and “let down” by the developments, described by one insider as “political convenience for the relentless baying of blood from regulators”.

The two bankers have together earned in excess of £30m in the past four years and were yesterday working as usual in RBS’s London offices. Neither had been asked to offer their resignation.

There is no suggestion that either man knew about the alleged manipulation of Libor. However, RBS and regulators are thought to be concerned over the “culture” of the investment banking division, which allowed Libor-rigging to happen while the two were at the helm.

Traders at RBS are alleged to be among those who fixed global borrowing rates between 2005 and 2010. Mr Hourican has been at RBS for 16 years, but only took over as head of the investment bank in 2008. Stephen Hester, RBS’s chief executive, put Mr Hourican in charge of turning around the business following RBS’s £45.5bn taxpayer-led rescue.

Insiders claimed RBS wants the duo to leave without having to pay out considerable sums and while being in a position to claw back bonuses paid over the past three years. However, they conceded a final decision had not yet been made and that it was possible there was a board-level disagreement over how to respond to the scandal.

Libor-related bonus clawbacks are also expected to affect a wider group of executives.

Mr Hester said last year he would be “disappointed” if the bank were not able to announce at least one settlement over Libor before the release of full-year results on February 28.

RBS has already fired four traders and suspended the head of rates, Jezri Mohideen, while it continues to investigate alleged Libor-rigging. It is thought that the bank will sack a number of other traders, as well as a handful of their managers and one or two “top of the house” senior executives.
“This is a highly politicised time even if you are one of the good guys,” said one senior source, who claimed that the investment bank’s management team had taken a hard line on those involved in alleged rigging , but added: “In the heat of battle, in the darkest moment of RBS’s history there were other things that were prioritised. It was a bust bank .”

The news of RBS’s likely settlement came as it was reported that Deutsche Bank could have made at least €500m (£407m) from trades based on interest rates that are under investigation as part of the Libor inquiry. RBS declined to comment.

[Sabrina]

Yet more on the People's Trust via Kauliapele, in an attempt to simplify it all... so you can all make your own minds up on it all.

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/the-one-peoples-public-trust-toppt1776-presentation/

This pdf presentation explains in a bit more “to normal people who don’t necessarily want to read all of the darn legalistic type language” way what TOPPT has done, and why they have done it.



Two places to download this: 1) the Scribd page;
http://www.scribd.com/doc/119649945/TOPPT1776-Presentation

2) from my server here. The file is 7 MB size.
http://www.spirit.kauwila.net/wordpress_kauilapele/toppt1776-presentation.pdf

Here’s what is written on the Scribd page:

TOPPT1776 Presentation

“This presentation about The One Peoples Public Trust can be used for educating yourself, sharing with other individuals, or make a professional presentation to large groups. I promise you, you’ll look like a professional! If anyone has questions, direct them to the references and tell them, DO THE RESEARCH!

“The One People’s Public Trust has created and filed legal documents based on The Law of One, Universal Law, and UCC law. It states, in effect, each Hue-man is a manifestation of the Creator Source, and as such is a Creator, and is NOT subordinate to any artificial principality or corporate fiction.

“The People’s Trust is truly the PEOPLE’s, as in Every Single People On This Planet’s Trust. There is no head, there is no spokesman, woman, person, alien, or fish. There is Everyone! We are One with the Creator. We are One with Each Other. Love One Another..”

Other documents which I have posted here are at the following posts:

The One People’s Public Trust” Documents…
http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/the-one-peoples-public-trust-documents-all-in-one-zip-folder/


The One People’s Public Trust” NOW PARADIGM PROTOCOL Documents…
http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/the-one-peoples-public-trust-now-paradigm-protocol-documents-in-one-zip-folder/

[Arrowwind]

http://removingtheshackles.blogspot.ca/2013/01/you-have-right-to-know.html


More on the People's Trust (as above)

5 Jan


On Tuesday December 4th 2012, 503 congressmembers/governors/senators were arrested in DC- in what was called a "Catch & Release" event. They were arrested, brought before a supreme court judge, and they were given a document to sign which basically states that they will, from that day forward, work under constitutional law and uphold the true organic Constitution or they will spend the rest of their lives wearing orange PJs and peeling potatoes. Those were the marginal ones. The real bad ones- apparently 77- of them were shipped off to The Hague to be tried for serious crimes. I haven't been able to find out if those 77 ever came back or if they have been tried yet or sentenced. (and believe me, I've tried to get that information). HHHHMMMMM....WHEN DID HILARY PURPORTEDLY GO MISSING? MIGHT AS WELL CONNECT THE DOTS WHY YOU ARE AT IT...WHEN DID GEORGE W.H. BUSH PURPORTEDLY GO INTO THE HOSPITAL? :) I wasn't actually going to go there yet, but yes.



And were suppose to believe this unmitigated bullsh^t?
Obviouly they forgot to take Dianne Feistein to the party and a few others who are trying to railroad our contitutional rights.
What a dung pile of misinformation.
Wake up people.

[PathWalker]

Jimmy Savile police missed three chances to take case to trial, DPP admits

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/jimmy-savile/9795128/Jimmy-Savile-police-missed-three-chances-to-take-case-to-trial-DPP-admits.html

Britain's most senior prosecutor has apologised to women abused by Jimmy Savile as he disclosed that police missed three chances to take him to trial.

Police missed three chances to take case to trial, DPP admits
• Savile abused children as recently as 2009
• 450 complaints made to police
• Sexual offences began in 1955, report concludes
• Abuse was "vast, predatory and opportunistic"

Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions, criticised two police forces for being "unjustifiably cautious" and failing to properly investigate the allegations.

He released details of a report which criticised the handling of four allegations involving girls as young as 14 who said they were abused by Savile in the 1970s.

It found that police had treated the victims' allegations, which were made in 2007 and 2008, with a "degree of caution which was neither justified or necessary".

Surrey police failed to tell victims that other young women had made sexual abuse allegations. The women said that they would have been prepared to give evidence if they had known there were other victims.


Sussex Police told victims that greater corroboration was needed. The Crown Prosecution Service is also criticised in the report for failing to examine the police investigations sufficiently and for not trying to "build" a case.

Mr Starmer said he hoped the report would prove to be a "watershed" moment in the handling of child abuse cases by police and prosecutors.

He said: "Many people feel that for sexual offences, where it is “one person’s word against another’s” and there is no or little scientific or other evidence to support the allegation, no prosecution should be brought.

"But this is to ignore the reality of many sexual offences which, by their nature, do not usually take place in front of witnesses and result in no meaningful scientific evidence.

"Taking a cautious approach to all complainants, on the ground that some might be making a false allegation of a sexual offence, can have the consequence that a prosecution for a true complaint may not take place."

The Crown Prosecution Service and the Association of Chief Police Officers have developed a new approach to the handling of child abuse cases, under which the accounts of suspects will be subject to more detailed investigation.

Victims will be given more support, and a new appeal system will be developed if they feel their accusations have not been dealt with properly.

The report by Alison Levitt QC, Mr Starmer's principal legal adviser, examined four allegations of child abuse which were made against Jimmy Savile in the 1970s.

In May 2007, a complaint was made to Surrey Police alleging that Savile had sexually abused a girl aged 14 at the Duncroft Children's Home. A second allegation involving a 17-year-old girl at the home subsequently emerged. Surrey Police also investigated an allegation that Savile sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl.

In March 2008, a complaint was made to Sussex Police that Savile had sexually assaulted a woman in her early 20s in the back of a caravan. The two forces were aware of each others investigations.

Mr Starmer said: "I accept the conclusions reached by Ms. Levitt QC and, in the interests of transparency and accountability I have decided to publish her report in full. In doing so, I would like to take the opportunity to apologise for the shortcomings in the part played by the CPS in these cases."

[PathWalker]

India Signs Mandatory GMO Labeling into Law
http://www.blacklistednews.com/India_Signs_Mandatory_GMO_Labeling_into_Law/23525/0/38/38/Y/M.html

Paving the way for other nations to introduce similar legislation and inform consumers what they’re really putting into their mouths, the labeling of products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) within the nation of India is now mandated by law. The country’s Ministry of Consumer Affairsmakes declared in aJune 5, 2012 notice that all GMO-containing packaged foods must be labeled by January 1, 2013 or face legal repercussions.

Each package containing GM ingredients will clearly be labeled directly on the prime real estate of the package as ‘GM’. A warning that many heads of organizations and even bodies within the Indian government are praising for its ability to inform individuals as to what they are really feeding their family.

“The labelling will basically help inform the consumer about the presence of GM content in packaged food products,” said B.N.Dixit, Director, Legal Metrology, Department of Consumer Affairs.

In the wake of crippled labeling attempts inside the United States thanks to Monsanto-backed corporate deception, such as phony campaign materials designed to deceive California’s Prop 37 GMO labeling campaign, this is an extremely bold message by India. A message that will likely be picked up by neighboring countries where citizens have been demanding GMO labeling — or even an outright ban. The move also comes after other countries like Poland already took moves to ban Monsanto’s genetically modified maize.

Even states like New Mexico and Washington are now pushing forward with legislation that would make labeling mandatory.

While the labeling declaration is certainly a victory, some Indian experts are saying that it would be much more of a victory for somewhere like the US, where around 90% of food products are pre-packaged or processed. The opposite is true in India, where much of the food available in local markets is whole food items and raw materials. In other words, the Indian citizens still prepare meals by hand in many cases. This means that they are using non-packaged food items like produce that may not be labeled.

Nonetheless, the law allows for an advancement in the lengthy fight against GMOs, which have been linked to a host of serious illnesses ranging from tumor development to infertility.

This is the real threshold, will the people choose to avoid GMO products?
Only if natural products are cheaper!

If and only if peopel will stop consuming GMO products, GMO industry will fail on its business.

[PathWalker]

Arab Maghreb Union launches investment bank
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/01/2013110101120697531.html

Bank with $100m of capital will finance infrastructure projects in Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morroco and Tunisia.


he Arab Maghreb Union has launched a bank with $100m of capital to finance infrastructure projects in the region.

Sid Ahmed Ould Raiss, the governor of the Central Bank of Mauritania, said that the investment bank will finance projects in Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morroco and Tunisia, the five member states of the union.

Speaking at a meeting held in Noukachott, the Mauritanian capital, on Wednesday, Raiss said: "The bank is intended to finance development projects, such as highways, promoting new technologies and also investing in energy.

"The bank is destined to finance infrastructure programmes in the energy sector."

Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, lauded the creation of the bank saying it would foster integration and spur investments in the region.

"It's the first foundation for an edifice being built," said Lagarde, who was present at the meeting.

"[It is] something everyone thought necessary, from the economic activity point of view, which can be better shared, and true prosperity as well as from the point of view of job creation."

The banks were first proposed in 1991, but the launch was delayed by tension between Morocco and Algeria over Western Sahara.

The tension hindered decision-making and the operation of the union, with no summit organised since 1994.

It is hoped the creation of the bank will create jobs and increase security in the region.

This smells very bad.
Why now?
Why go public over 100m$, considered very small amount for such project?
I assess this as a public disinfo diversion.

[Sabrina]

ttp://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=266241

Millionaire bankers die in private plane fireball: Tragedy as plane carrying brokers on business trip plummets to the ground after take-off in Texas

A private plane carrying three men working for a Utah bank crashed in mysterious circumstances shortly after takeoff in Texas on Saturday, killing all three aboard, according to authorities.


The Piper PA-46 aircraft had just taken off from an airport near Paris, Texas, around 8 a.m. when it came crashing down outside the town of Glory to the south.

The Texas Department of Public Safety identified the men as Michael Endo, 50, Michael Dale Bradley, 44, and the pilot Rob Thompson, 49, according to a report in the The Desert News.

All three men worked for Utah-based Celtic Bank, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.


'This is a challenging and difficult time for the entire Celtic Bank family,' bank CEO Reese Howell Jr. said in a statement.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash. The Public Safety Department said it was reportedly foggy and the plane attempted to turn back toward the airport before descending rapidly and crashing.

The plane burst into flames upon impact, FAA spokesman Roland Herwig told the Tribune.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Public Safety didn't immediately return calls from The Associated Press for comment.

Its was not clear if the pilot had radioed for assistance prior to the crash, NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said, according to the Tribune report.

NTSB investigators were gathering evidence from the crash site, any witnesses and data radar data to determine why the plane crashed, he said.

The FAA radar lost contact with the plane 10-miles south of Paris. Lamar County Sheriff's Deputies found the wreckage a short time later.

'The investigator has been reviewing and conducting the physical inspection of the aircraft. The investigator will also request radar data, check for any air traffic control communications, review weather reports and check for any witness accounts,' National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Keith Holloway said in a statement Sunday.

The NTSB will continue to collect factual information in for the next few days, he said, noting the cause of the crash may not be known for months.

'It usually takes 12 to 18 months before we have a final report that states a probable cause,' the statement said.

The aircraft was completely destroyed in the resulting fire. The bodies of three people were found on board.

The deceased were taken to the Collin County Medical Examiner's Office.

Its was not clear Saturday whether the pilot had radioed for assistance prior to the crash, NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said.

NTSB investigators were gathering evidence from the crash site, any witnesses and data radar data to determine why the plane crashed, he said.

According to a bank press release, Bradley was a real estate broker working with Celtic on the sale of some property in Texas. Endo was the bank's senior vice president and a commercial loan officer.

Thompson was a professional pilot contracted by Celtic to fly the company's plane.

The bank issued a statement Sunday afternoon saying it did not have any additional information. 'We would ask that you please respect their privacy in these tragic and very difficult times,' said spokesman James Roberts.

[Sabrina]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9800722/Ex-Credit-Suisse-execs-extradition-approved.html

Ex-Credit Suisse exec's extradition approved

A former Credit Suisse executive can be extradited to the US to face fraud charges, a court ruled on Monday.

Kareem Serageldin is alleged to have distorted the value of mortgage securities while working at the banking giant during the financial crisis.

Prosecutors claim that the 39-year-old conspired with two of his employees to hide the deteriorating condition of the housing market in 2007 in order to keep the value of bonds based on subprime mortgages artificially high and thereby fattening their bonuses.

Serageldin, a US citizen living in London, was slated to receive more than $7m in compensation before the company learned about the alleged fraud and withheld $5.2m of his pay.

He appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday, with a court spokesman saying his extradition had been ordered and the case sent to Home Secretary Theresa May for approval.

Serageldin, the former global head of structured credit at Credit Suisse, was arrested in September last year.

He has been charged with conspiracy, falsifying books and records, and wire fraud in the US.
The charges carry a potential penalty of 45 years in prison.

Serageldin was released on bail pending the approval of his extradition, the court confirmed. His lawyers Corker Binning declined to comment after the hearing.

The alleged fraud, which prosecutors described last year as "a tale of greed run amok", was blamed for a portion of a $2.65bn write-down Credit Suisse announced in March 2008.

Two other Credit Suisse traders pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in cooperation deals with prosecutors in February 2012.
At the time, prosecutors urged Serageldin to return to the US and answer the charges against him.

The subprime mortgage crisis fuelled the financial meltdown in 2008. US federal regulators have brought civil charges against several big Wall Street firms accused of misleading investors about securities linked to risky mortgages in the years leading up to the financial crisis.

The biggest settlement of the Securities and Exchange Commission's charges was with Goldman Sachs in July 2010. The firm agreed to pay 550 million dollars (£342m).

Source: Press Association

[modwiz]

Arab Maghreb Union launches investment bank
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/01/2013110101120697531.html

Bank with $100m of capital will finance infrastructure projects in Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morroco and Tunisia.


he Arab Maghreb Union has launched a bank with $100m of capital to finance infrastructure projects in the region.

Sid Ahmed Ould Raiss, the governor of the Central Bank of Mauritania, said that the investment bank will finance projects in Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morroco and Tunisia, the five member states of the union.

Speaking at a meeting held in Noukachott, the Mauritanian capital, on Wednesday, Raiss said: "The bank is intended to finance development projects, such as highways, promoting new technologies and also investing in energy.

"The bank is destined to finance infrastructure programmes in the energy sector."

Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, lauded the creation of the bank saying it would foster integration and spur investments in the region.

"It's the first foundation for an edifice being built," said Lagarde, who was present at the meeting.

"[It is] something everyone thought necessary, from the economic activity point of view, which can be better shared, and true prosperity as well as from the point of view of job creation."

The banks were first proposed in 1991, but the launch was delayed by tension between Morocco and Algeria over Western Sahara.

The tension hindered decision-making and the operation of the union, with no summit organised since 1994.

It is hoped the creation of the bank will create jobs and increase security in the region.

This smells very bad.
Why now?
Why go public over 100m$, considered very small amount for such project?
I assess this as a public disinfo diversion.

I wonder what kind of bank it is. Usury or not?

¤=[Post Update]=¤


ttp://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=266241

Millionaire bankers die in private plane fireball: Tragedy as plane carrying brokers on business trip plummets to the ground after take-off in Texas

A private plane carrying three men working for a Utah bank crashed in mysterious circumstances shortly after takeoff in Texas on Saturday, killing all three aboard, according to authorities.


The Piper PA-46 aircraft had just taken off from an airport near Paris, Texas, around 8 a.m. when it came crashing down outside the town of Glory to the south.

The Texas Department of Public Safety identified the men as Michael Endo, 50, Michael Dale Bradley, 44, and the pilot Rob Thompson, 49, according to a report in the The Desert News.

All three men worked for Utah-based Celtic Bank, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.


'This is a challenging and difficult time for the entire Celtic Bank family,' bank CEO Reese Howell Jr. said in a statement.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash. The Public Safety Department said it was reportedly foggy and the plane attempted to turn back toward the airport before descending rapidly and crashing.

The plane burst into flames upon impact, FAA spokesman Roland Herwig told the Tribune.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Public Safety didn't immediately return calls from The Associated Press for comment.

Its was not clear if the pilot had radioed for assistance prior to the crash, NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said, according to the Tribune report.

NTSB investigators were gathering evidence from the crash site, any witnesses and data radar data to determine why the plane crashed, he said.

The FAA radar lost contact with the plane 10-miles south of Paris. Lamar County Sheriff's Deputies found the wreckage a short time later.

'The investigator has been reviewing and conducting the physical inspection of the aircraft. The investigator will also request radar data, check for any air traffic control communications, review weather reports and check for any witness accounts,' National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Keith Holloway said in a statement Sunday.

The NTSB will continue to collect factual information in for the next few days, he said, noting the cause of the crash may not be known for months.

'It usually takes 12 to 18 months before we have a final report that states a probable cause,' the statement said.

The aircraft was completely destroyed in the resulting fire. The bodies of three people were found on board.

The deceased were taken to the Collin County Medical Examiner's Office.

Its was not clear Saturday whether the pilot had radioed for assistance prior to the crash, NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said.

NTSB investigators were gathering evidence from the crash site, any witnesses and data radar data to determine why the plane crashed, he said.

According to a bank press release, Bradley was a real estate broker working with Celtic on the sale of some property in Texas. Endo was the bank's senior vice president and a commercial loan officer.

Thompson was a professional pilot contracted by Celtic to fly the company's plane.

The bank issued a statement Sunday afternoon saying it did not have any additional information. 'We would ask that you please respect their privacy in these tragic and very difficult times,' said spokesman James Roberts.

I smell more than just burning flesh here.

[Sabrina]

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/370439/Jimmy-Savile-was-part-of-satanic-ring

Interesting that part of the British main stream media (the Sunday Express in this case) has mentioned and linked satanic abuse to the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse case. Of course this is the tip of the iceberg but the readers' comments below this article are mentioning ex PM Ted Heath and Lord Mountbatten and David Icke's past articles linking them and Savile. And asking why the media is so behind on all of this :)...

JIMMY SAVILE WAS PART OF SATANIC RING

JIMMY SAVILE beat and raped a 12-year-old girl during a secret satanic ritual in a hospital.

The perverted star wore a hooded robe and mask as he abused the terrifi ed victim in a candle-lit basement.

He also chanted “Hail Satan” in Latin as other paedophile devil worshippers joined in and assaulted the girl at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire. The attack, which happened in 1975, shines a sinister new light on the former DJ’s 54-year reign of terror.

Savile, who died aged 84 in October 2011, is now Britain’s worst sex offender after police revealed he preyed on at least 450 victims aged eight to 47.

The girl kept her torment hidden for nearly 20 years before finally opening up to therapist Valerie Sinason.
Dr Sinason told the Sunday Express she first spoke to the victim in 1992. “She had been a patient at Stoke Mandeville in 1975 when Savile was a regular visitor.

“She recalled being led into a room that was filled with candles on the lowest level of the hospital, somewhere that was not regularly used by staff. Several adults were there, including Jimmy Savile who, like the others, was wearing a robe and a mask.

“She recognised him because of his distinctive voice and the fact that his blond hair was protruding from the side of the mask. He was not the leader but he was seen as important because of his fame.

“She was molested, raped and beaten and heard words that sounded like ‘Ave Satanas’, a Latin­ised version of ‘Hail Satan’, being chanted. There was no mention of any other child being there and she cannot remember how long the attack lasted but she was left extremely frightened and shaken.”

Savile was a volunteer porter and fundraiser at the hospital between 1965 and 1988 and had his own quarters there.
Five years after the hospital attack, he abused a second victim during another black mass ceremony held at a house in a wealthy London street.

The woman was 21 at the time and was made to attend an orgy, which later took on a darker twist.

Dr Sinason, director of the Clinic for Dissociative Studies in London, said: “A second victim approached me in 1993. She said she had been ‘lent out’ as a supposedly consenting prostituted woman at a party in a London house in 1980.

“The first part of the evening started off with an orgy but half-way through some of the participants left.

“Along with other young women, the victim was shepherded to wait in another room before being brought back to find Savile in a master of ceremonies kind of role with a group wearing robes and masks. She too heard Latin chanting and instantly recognised satanist regalia. Although the girl was a young adult, who was above the age of consent, she had suffered a history of sexual abuse and was extremely vulnerable.”

Both victims contacted Dr Sinason, who is president of the Institute of Psychotherapy and Disability, while she was involved in a Department of Health-funded study into sexual abuse committed during rituals and religious ceremonies. She said: “Both these witnesses did speak to police at the time but were vulnerable witnesses and on encountering any surprise or shock did not dare to give all the details.”

The police took no action.

She had been a patient at Stoke Mandeville in 1975 when Savile was a regular visitor
Dr Sinason

Dr Sinason added: “Savile was still a huge celebrity in the early Nineties, let’s not forget, and there was never any action taken against him or any of the others involved.

“Neither girl knew one another, they lived in different parts of the country and contacted me a year apart yet their experiences are very similar. Whether Savile was a practising Satanist or merely enjoyed dressing up to scare his victims even more will perhaps never be known but he left those two girls mentally scarred.”

Dr Sinason has passed details of the abuse to officers from the Savile inquiry, Operation Yewtree.

A joint report published on ­Friday by the Metropolitan Police and the NSPCC uncovered at least 30 claims of abuse at Stoke Mandeville.

The hospital said it was unable to discuss individual cases while its own “Speaking Out” investigation was ongoing.

Anne Eden, chief executive of Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “As the investigation’s name suggests, it is very keen to hear from anybody with any knowledge that they feel could help its work or anybody that needs support because of Jimmy Savile’s alleged behaviour.”
(13 JAN)

[Sabrina]

Benjamin's take on it all via American Kabuki


Signs of cabal defeat are proliferating

Posted by Benjamin Fulford
January 14, 2013

Signs that the Satanic cabal is headed for a decisive defeat are proliferating. One clear indication is that even corporate media has begun to report on Satanic paedophiliac ceremonies presided over by the likes of UK media star Jimmy Savile.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/370439/Jimmy-Savile-was-part-of-satanic-ring

Furthermore, 311 tsunami and nuclear terrorist-attack accomplice Senator J. Rockefeller announced he was not running for re-election. This is a sign the Rockefellers are joining the Bush clan in being ousted from secret power. In France, meanwhile, another cabal leader, former President Nicholas Sarkozy is facing criminal prosecution on charges of accepting bribes from foreign leaders. Then we have a mysterious visit by Obama to the Pentagon for a “personal fitness boot camp,” on January 12th.

Secret negotiations, meanwhile, continue to remove the US dollar from Federal Reserve Board control and into the hands of the 180 nation BRICS coalition. Despite attempts by cabalists to derail these talks, they are proceeding smoothly.


Also, the situation in the Middle East has taken a dramatic turn as control of Iraqi oilfields is being handed over to prominent Kurdish families as a part of the process of creating a Sunni super-state encompassing Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Libya. Three prominent Kurdish activists were killed last week to help facilitate this process, according to MI5 sources. The Turkish government is being offered Kurdish oil money in exchange for allowing limited autonomy for Kurds. The killed activists were taking a more hardline stance than Mr. Ocalan, the jailed Kurdish leader who is negotiating with the Turks on this issue. If you ever saw the movie Midnight Express, about a Western male prisoner repeatedly raped in a Turkish jail, you might wonder if a Kurdish leader in a Turkish jail is the best person to be put in charge of the negotiations. One of the killed activists was Ocalan’s girlfriend.

In any case, it is the Talabani and Bazani families that now control the Kurdish oil in Northern Iraq, according to MI5. Turkey is expected to de facto donate a slice of its territory to the emerging Kurdish state in the Syrian, Iraqi, Iranian, Turkish border region in exchange for oil. This state would then become a part of the emerging Sunni alliance.

In Japan, meanwhile, the new government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has begun to force the Bank of Japan to issue more money. However, Abe still needs a credible backer in the underworld and among right-wingers to make sure his government does not succumb to secret bullying and personal threats as was the case with previous post-war governments. He has already been warned to avoid jingoism and concentrate on fixing the economy. In particular, he was told to call off his planned invasion of the island of Takeshima, controlled by South Korea but claimed by Japan. In a similar vein, efforts by cabalists to provoke a fight with China over the disputed Senkaku or Daiyu Islands will get nowhere.

Abe’s government is also aware that relying on the United States for Japanese protection is not a viable long-term strategy. That is why he is visiting Vietnam, Korea and Indonesia this week in the hopes of finding Asian partners who are also wary of Chinese hegemony. His government will further make approaches to Russia and India over the coming months in the hopes of building an alliance of nations that border China.

What he will find out, though, is that the 180 nation BRICS alliance, including China’s neighbours, does not function according to the Western-created mentality of thinking of other countries as enemies.

World peace and harmony is the new approach and he had better figure that out.

Under the radar, meanwhile, efforts to get historical Asian gold deposits incorporated into the global financial system continue to {be} blocked by cabalist forces. The people trying to prevent this make claims the gold is “communist Chinese,” in order to try to prevent it from being sold in exchange for a basket of currencies.

For that reason, the Chinese have been taking all the dollars they have and spending them on as many physical commodities as they can buy. The huge Chinese stockpiles of gold, food, iron ore, metals etc. that have resulted may be used to back a final push to remove the US dollar from cabal-control. One plan being considered is for the BRICS to offer to exchange all US dollars for a new commodity backed currency (or various national currencies) during a fixed time period, after which dollars would no longer be accepted.

This would force the United States to start issuing a government currency like greenbacks, or else face complete economic collapse and chaos.

It is in the interests of the West to come to a compromise over that gold before the situation in Europe and North America deteriorates to the point of revolution.

On that note, the question of how long Obama will remain in power also remains unanswered. The gnostic illuminati say the staged Sandy Hook shooting incident may prove to be fatal for the Obama regime. The evidence that this was a staged mass shooting or else kidnapping of kids for Satanic ceremonies is becoming overwhelming. Here, for example, is Obama posing for a photo with one of the victims two days after she was supposed to have been shot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ouTA9sniwo

Here is another link:

http://beforeitsnews.com/conspiracy-theories/2012/12/sandy-hook-mass-media-psyop-outtakes-and-bloopers-2447064.html

It may be that the entire Sandy Hook psychological warfare operation was deliberately sabotaged so that it would rebound back on the regime. The “personal fitness boot camp,” that Obama was forced to attend is pentagon talk for a disciplinary session, according to a Pentagon source. The military are, in fact, very upset about this incident and are trying to locate the children and round up the paedophilic Satanists who were entrapped by this flawed psy-ops.

That is also what is happening with the case of Jimmy Savile of the BBC. Savile used his job as a famous TV personality to recruit children for paedophilic politicians, according to MI5 sources. One of the most notorious was former Prime Minister Edward Heath who was “getting kids and killing them,” the MI5 sources say. The other Prime Minister was Gordon Brown who had “a prolific taste for young boys.”

Heath had his affairs at the Kensington Gardens hotel which, unbeknownst to him, was a KGB-run hotel. Brown was subsequently photographed having sex with young boys and blackmailed by the KGB. The third Prime Minister linked to paedophiles is Tony Blair. However, the only hard evidence against Blair was he once approached a man in a public toilet and asked for sex. The man happened to be an undercover police officer and Blair was arrested, the MI5 sources say.

We must ask ourselves “are these the sort of people we want to rule over us?”

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.wkyt.com/wymt/home/headlines/WV-Senator-Rockefeller-will-not-run-for-re-election-in-2014-186759691.html

14 Jan US

WV Senator Rockefeller will not run for re-election in 2014



CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WYMT/WSAZ) - After nearly 50 years of public service, U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller will not seek reelection in 2014.

The senator made his official announcement Friday at the Culture Center in Charleston.

Sen. Rockefeller entered the crowded room to a standing ovation. Rockefeller's wife, their children, grandchildren, along with his sister and brother-in-law, friends and staff members were all in attendance.

Rockefeller says this was a personal decision, not a professional one.

"As I approach 50 years of public service in West Virginia, I've decided that 2014 will be the right moment for me to find new ways to fight for the causes I believe in and to spend more time with my incredible family, Rockfeller said. "Serving West Virginia in the U.S. Senate in an abiding honor and privilege, and Sharon and I are so full of gratitude to our state and to the countless friends and supporters who have made my public service possible."

On display during the news conference was a 28-page booklet of Rockefeller's record of achievements.

During his remarks, Rockefeller took time to single out some of his proudest accomplishments, including his efforts in expanding the state's economy by bringing Toyota to Buffalo.

However, he quickly pointed out his work won't stop.

"For the next two years in the Senate, and well beyond, I will continue working tirelessly on behalf of all West Virginians. Championing those most in need has been my life's calling, and I will never stop fighting to make a difference for the people who mean so much to me."

Rockefeller says during his time in the Senate his staff has traveled well over one million miles across the state since 1985 and handled nearly a quarter of a million constituent cases ranging from Social Security issues to black lung claims and veterans' benefits.

[Sabrina]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/nicolas-sarkozy/9792813/Nicolas-Sarkozy-facing-fresh-legal-headache.html

France (10 Jan)

Nicolas Sarkozy facing fresh legal headache

French judges have authorised a fresh investigation against Nicolas Sarkozy as part of the so-called 'Karachi affair', a judicial source has claimed.

Three judges have allegedly decided to proceed with an investigation to see whether Mr Sarkozy, the former French president, violated a confidentiality law when the Elysee presidential palace published a press release on the affair in September 2011.

The press release said that Mr Sarkozy's name did not figure in any of the files on the so-called Karachi affair, which stems from a 2002 bombing in the Pakistani city that killed 11 French engineers.

The engineers' families sued Mr Sarkozy over the press release, charging that it violated laws that prohibit publication of information about ongoing investigations.

Although prosecution argued that Mr Sarkozy cannot be investigated because he had presidential immunity at the time, the judges disagreed.

"The act of permitting the release of information concerning ongoing investigations does not enter into the functions of the president," the three investigating judges said in their ruling.

The Karachi bombing has spawned several other investigations implicating Mr Sarkozy, who was defeated in his re-election bid last year by Socialist Francois Hollande.

In one, two close aides to Mr Sarkozy have been charged by judges investigating alleged kickbacks on a Pakistani arms deal concluded when Sarkozy was budget minister.

He allegedly authorised the creation of a shell company used to channel kickbacks to then prime minister Edouard Balladur's unsuccessful 1995 presidential bid.

In more serious but harder to prove allegations, magistrates are also probing whether the Karachi bombing was revenge for the cancellation of bribes secretly promised to Pakistani officials.

Source: AFP

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Mentioned by Fulford:

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama had a little personal fitness boot camp at the Pentagon on Saturday.

Obama, 51, participated in what the White House described as a fitness evaluation at a Pentagon clinic, part of the periodic medical examination of him that is coordinated by the president's doctor.

He was at the Fit to Win Clinic inside the Pentagon. The clinic's website says its objective is to enhance "military readiness and civilian wellness through fitness, nutrition, health education and positive lifestyle behavior changes." :)

The White House provided few details but said "the results of the president's periodic medical exam will be released before the end of the month."

(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Doina Chiacu) (12 Jan)

[Sabrina]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2013/01/201311592859175153.html

15 Jan Pakistan

Pakistan top court orders PM arrest

Supreme Court issues arrest order in case related to rental power agreements when PM Ashraf was a cabinet member.

The Pakistani Supreme Court has ordered the arrest of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in connection with a corruption case, officials say.

The court ordered the arrest of PM Ashraf on Tuesday morning, in relation to a case relating to contracts for the purchase of rental power plants by the federal government when Ashraf was the federal minister for water and power.

Fawad Chaudhry, an adviser to the PM, condemned the court's order, calling it "unconstitutional".

The Supreme Court ordered the arrest of 16 people, including the prime minister, and directed authorities to present Ashraf in court on Wednesday, local media reported.

"[Raja Pervez Ashraf] was the power and electricity minister and during that time he is said to have embezzled millions of dollars, the case was pending at the Supreme Court and the court therefore decided that the PM should be arrested immediately," reported Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder in Islamabad.

"There were serious accusations that the PM was directly involved as minister in siphoning off millions of dollars."

The move has come as Tahir-ul-Qadri, a populist cleric, demanded the resignation of the government in protests attended by thousands of followers in the heart of the capital Islamabad. His supporters welcomed the news, celebrating at their sit-in protest outside the parliament in Islamabad.

Pakistan's benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange index fell by nearly three percent after news of the court order, highlighting investor anxiety over political uncertainty.

Yousuf Raza Gilani, the country's last prime minister, was dismissed by the Supreme Court in April last year after being found guilty of committing contempt of court by refusing to send a letter to Swiss authorities related to corruption investigations against President Asif Ali Zardari.

[Sabrina]

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/high-financial-affairs-battle-for.html

High Financial Affairs - The Battle for Control of the Global Financial System

Fascinating article sent anonymously to American Kabuki. Offers a pretty balanced view on the history of it all, possible white hats, the so called baddies, the possible veracity of some of the commentators such as Benjamin Fulford, Michael Jackson and much more. He/she also offers his/her take on Nesara and The People's Trust and there's extensive links and pix.

THis is worth a read imo... :)

[PathWalker]

It Begins: Bundesbank To Commence Repatriating Gold From New York Fed
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-01-14/it-begins-bundesbank-commence-repatriating-gold-new-york-fed

Pathwalker: Its too good to be true
Here are more links from the MSM:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-futures-tick-higher-in-asia-trading-2013-01-15?dist=lcountdown
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/15/bundesbank-retrieve-200bn-gold-reserves

In what could be a watershed moment for the price, provenance, and future of physical gold, not to mention the "stability" of the entire monetary regime based on rock solid, undisputed "faith and credit" in paper money, German Handelsblatt reports in an exclusive that the long suffering German gold, all official 3,396 tons of it, is about to be moved. Specifically, it is about to be partially moved out of the New York Fed, where the majority, or 45% of it is currently stored, as well as the entirety of the 11% of German gold held with the Banque de France, and repatriated back home to Buba in Frankfurt, where just 31% of it is held as of this moment. And while it is one thing for a "crazy, lunatic" dictator such as Hugo Chavez to pull his gold out of the Bank of England, it is something entirely different, and far less dismissible, when the bank with the second most official gold reserves in the world proceeds to formally pull some of its gold from the bank with the most. In brief: this is a momentous development, one which may signify that the regime of mutual assured and very much telegraphed - because if the central banks don't have faith in one another, why should anyone else? - trust in central banks by other central banks is ending.

Much more importantly, it is being telegraphed as such, with Buba fully aware of just what the consequences of this (first partial, and then full; and certainly full vis-a-vis the nouveau socialist regime of Francois Hollande which will soon hold zero German gold) repatriation will be in a global monetary arena, which is already scraping by on the last traces of faith in a monetary system that is slowly but surely dying but first diluting itself to oblivion. And in simple game theory terms, the first party to defect from the prisoner's dilemma of all the bulk of global gold being held by the Fed, defects best. Then the second. Then the third. Until, in this particular case, the last central bank to pull its gold from the NY Fed and the other 2 primary depositories of developed world gold, London and Paris, just happens to discover their gold was never there to begin with, and instead served as collateral to paper gold subsequently rehypothecated several hundred times, and whose ultimate ownership deed is long gone.

It would be very ironic, if the Bundesbank, which many had assumed had bent over backwards to accommodate Mario Draghi's Goldmanesque demands to allow implicit monetization of peripheral nations' debts has just "returned the favor" by launching the greatest physical gold scramble of all time.

From Handelsblatt:

Die Bundesbank hat ein neues Konzept ausgearbeitet, wo sie künftig ihre Goldreserven lagern will. Nach Informationen des Handelsblatts (Dienstausgabe) sieht dieses Konzept, das am kommenden Mittwoch bekanntgegeben werden soll, vor, den heimischen Standort aufzuwerten, in New York dafür weniger Gold zu lagern und überhaupt kein Gold mehr in Paris zu horten.



Derzeit lagert das Gold der Bundesbank ihren Angaben zufolge in New York, London, Paris und Frankfurt. In der amerikanischen Notenbank Fed lagern 45 Prozent der insgesamt 3.396 Tonnen Gold, in der Bank of England in London 13 Prozent, in der Banque de France in Paris elf Prozent und im Hauptsitz in Frankfurt 31 Prozent. Diese Verteilung soll sich nun ändern.

We present it in the original for fear of losing something in translation, but in broad English terms the above reads as follows:

The German Bundesbank is developing a new approach as to where its gold will be stored. According to exclusive information, to be fully announced on Wednesday, the bank will in the future hold less gold in the New York Fed, and no more hold in Paris (Banque de France). As a result, the distribution of German gold, of which 45% is held in New York, 13% in London, 11% in Paris and 31% in Frankfurt, is about to change.

There is no need to explain why this is huge news (for those who have not followed our series on the concerns and issue plaguing German gold can catch up here, here, here, here, and certainly here) . At least no need for us to explain. Instead we will let the Bundesbank do the explanation. The following section is the answer provided by the Bundesbank itself in late October in response to the question why it does not move the gold back to Germany:

The reasons for storing gold reserves with foreign partner central banks are historical since, at the time, gold at these trading centres was transferred to the Bundesbank. To be more specific: in October 1951 the Bank deutscher Länder, the Bundesbank’s predecessor, purchased its first gold for DM 2.5 million; that was 529 kilograms at the time. By 1956, the gold reserves had risen to DM 6.2 billion, or 1,328 tonnes; upon its foundation in 1957, the Bundesbank took over these reserves. No further gold was added until the 1970s. During that entire period, we had nothing but the best of experiences with our partners in New York, London and Paris. There was never any doubt about the security of Germany’s gold. In future, we wish to continue to keep gold at international gold trading centres so that, when push comes to shove, we can have it available as a reserve asset as soon as possible. Gold stored in your home safe is not immediately available as collateral in case you need foreign currency. Take, for instance, the key role that the US dollar plays as a reserve currency in the global financial system. The gold held with the New York Fed can, in a crisis, be pledged with the Federal Reserve Bank as collateral against US dollar-denominated liquidity. Similar pound sterling liquidity could be obtained by pledging the gold that is held with the Bank of England.

And in case the above was not clear enough, below is the speech Buba's Andreas Dobret delivered to none other than NY Fed's Bill Dudley in early November:

Please let me also comment on the bizarre public discussion we are currently facing in Germany on the safety of our gold deposits outside Germany – a discussion which is driven by irrational fears.



In this context, I wish to warn against voluntarily adding fuel to the general sense of uncertainty among the German public in times like these by conducting a “phantom debate” on the safety of our gold reserves.



The arguments raised are not really convincing. And I am glad that this is common sense for most Germans. Following the statement by the President of the Federal Court of Auditors in Germany, the discussion is now likely to come to an end – and it should do so before it causes harm to the excellent relationship between the Bundesbank and the US Fed.



Throughout these sixty years, we have never encountered the slightest problem, let alone had any doubts concerning the credibility of the Fed [ZH may, and likely will, soon provide a few historical facts which will cast some serious doubts on this claim. Very serious doubts]. And for this, Bill, I would like to thank you personally. I am also grateful for your uncomplicated cooperation in so many matters. The Bundesbank will remain the Fed’s trusted partner in future, and we will continue to take advantage of the Fed’s services by storing some of our currency reserves as gold in New York.

Incidentally, what Zero Hedge did provide after this article, was factual evidence that the Buba's very much "trusted partner" had been skimming it on physical gold deliveries on at least one occasion, in "Exclusive: Bank Of England To The Fed: "No Indication Should, Of Course, Be Given To The Bundesbank..."

So we wonder: what changed in the three months between November and now, that has caused such a dramatic about face at the Bundesbank, and that in light of all of the above, will make is explicitly very unambigous that the act of gold repatriation, assuming of course that Handelsblatt did not mischaracterize what is happening and misreport the facts, means the "excellent relationship" between the Fed and Buba, not to mention Banque de France which will shortly hold precisely zero German gold, has just collapsed.

Also, if the Bundesbank is first, who is next?

Finally, once the scramble to satisfy physical gold deliverable claims manifests itself in the market, we can't help but wonder what will happen to the price of gold: both paper and physical?

[PathWalker]

Pimco’s Gross ponders if Bundesbank gold move means central banks don’t trust each other
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/01/15/pimcos-gross-ponders-if-bundesbank-gold-move-means-central-banks-dont-trust-each-other/


PIMCO ‏@PIMCO

Gross: Report claims Germany moving gold from NY/Paris back to Frankfurt. Central banks don’t trust each other?


George Stockus ‏@gstockus @PIMCO

faith in a currency not backed by gold is one thing…faith in someone storing your gold is another!

Mazz ‏@BillyGambini

@PIMCO no I think it’s more like the Germans don’t trust anyone

maximus ‏@wolverine2710 @PIMCO inventory check …just making sure ben did not hit the cookie jar


People these are better news then the people's trus scandal. It is global news. The domino fall begins.
I hope...

[Sabrina]

Via Twitter today from report in German newspaper...

Matthew Dalton ‏@DJMatthewDalton
In news sure to make gold bugs everywhere go bonkers,Handelsblatt reports the Bundesbank to repatriate gold from the NY Fed,Banque de France


Sorry just seen Pathwalkers post with much more detail - something's afoot ??? :)

[Sabrina]

http://removingtheshackles.blogspot.ca/2013/01/whats-in-news-arrests-and-resignations.html


Most stories have been carried here already, but it's worth looking at the extent of it all with the Removing the Shackles website update of recent arrests and resignations:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/15/pakistan-orders-arrest-prime-minister


Pakistan supreme court orders arrest of prime minister on corruption charges


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/maldives/9593412/Former-Maldives-president-arrested.html


Former Maldives president arrested
MOHAMED NASHEED, THE MALDIVES' FIRST DEMOCRATICALLY-ELECTED PRESIDENT, HAS BEEN ARRESTED AFTER HE AGAIN FAILED TO TURN UP FOR THE START OF HIS TRIAL FOR ABUSE OF POWER.


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ex-philippine-president-arrested-plunder-case-101053552.html


Ex-Philippine president arrested in plunder case


http://www.chinascopefinancial.com/news/post/21294.html

POSTAL SAVING BANK PRESIDENT ARRESTED ON FRAUD CHARGES (China)




http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Former+Algerian+prime+minister+resigns+head+party+amid/7779852/story.html

Former Algerian prime minister resigns as head of party amid divisions


http://news.yahoo.com/slovenian-coalition-party-asks-premier-resign-190221649--business.html

Slovenian coalition party asks premier to resign


http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/jan/07/lord-strathclyde-resigns-leader-lords

Lord Strathclyde resigns as leader of House of Lords (UK)



http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/-/1066/1091884/-/1243htp/-/index.html

Three ministers resign as protests rock Tunis over new government


http://vestnikkavkaza.net/news/politics/35815.html

SHEVARDNADZE ADVISES SAAKASHVILI TO RESIGN


Former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze advised the current
president Mikheil Saakashvili to resign.


http://curitibainenglish.com.br/government/improvements/brazilian-bank-president-arrested/

Brazilian Bank President Arrested


http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/BBCN+President+Alvin+Kang+Step+Down+January+2013/7819010/story.html
BBCN President & CEO Alvin Kang to Step Down January 31, 2013

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/01/14/uk-europe-corruption-strasser-idUKBRE90D0TR20130114

Strasser jailed for bribery in European parliament sting


http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/09/brazil-corruption-lula-idUSL1E9C90VB20130109

Former Brazilian leader Lula likely to be investigated - papers


http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/01/08/france-minister-idUKL5E9C89FP20130108

UPDATE 3-French budget minister faces tax fraud probe


http://saharareporters.com/news-page/nigerian-financial-police-arrests-aides-nigerian-billionaire-alakija-fraud

Nigerian Financial Police Arrests Aides Of Nigerian Billionaire Alakija For Fraud

[Sabrina]

http://divinecosmos.com/start-here/davids-blog/1099-2012romancereality

Here's an update of a fascinating David Wilcock article I've only just caught up on. No English subtitles yet on the Russian TV programme. Sab.


UPDATE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16TH: HERE IT IS! (NOW WE NEED ENGLISH SUBTITLES!)

YES!

Despite some nay-sayers insisting I'd made this all up, or it wasn't going to happen, et cetera, the Russian documentary "How to Become Rich" did indeed air on REN-TV today.

It was inded a prime-time show -- on January 16th. Right up until the end, people were looking at the schedule, saying it wasn't there, et cetera -- but it was!

I am going to wait for the English subtitle version before digging in and watching it, but I am definitely in it.

Just in the first few minutes as they introduce the various speakers, I appear. I was told "most of the second hour" is all my interview footage.

Remember -- the reason why this is so important is because no media outlet has ever covered this story before.

This is the biggest secret that must be exposed to free us from Financial Tyranny and release planet-healing technology -- and it is finally happening!


h63gl--ZpHA



THINGS ARE REALLY GETTING EXCITING

We are in the process of making a variety of upgrades to the website -- including the online store, which has become much easier to use now.

We also now have a bank of older articles with corresponding graphics on the sidebar -- something I've wanted all along.

Our new software protects us from hacking attempts while still letting this many graphics-rich links appear -- for the first time.

We also have a stronger translation engine that allows anyone from any language to read everything on the site in their own language.

The translation isn't perfect, but it certainly isn't terrible. I do my best to write without colloquialisms so it translates more easily.

If you see, or produce, a copy of this video that DOES have subtitles, please let us know and we'll get it up there.

I'm really stoked about this -- and although I can't say when, another one is probably on its way very soon that I will be featured in even more.

Again, I thank you for your support. We are all grassroots-funded and look forward to seeing you either in Hawaii, in Houston or at the upcoming Conscious Life Expo in Los Angeles!

[Carmody]

It is interesting to note that the Bundesbank, the German national bank (IIRC), is pulling it's gold out in a manner that appears to reflect the level of participation in Mali by the two countries that the gold is being pulled from.

Some from the USA, and all that is in France, which reflects, on the surface... the level of commitment/involvement of the two countries, in their incursions into Mali.

Bundesbank to pull gold from New York and Paris in watershed moment
Germany’s Bundesbank is to repatriate gold reserves held abroad to tighten control and combat currency crises in the future, pulling a chunk of its holdings from New York and all its bullion from Paris.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/gold/9804444/Bundesbank-to-pull-gold-from-New-York-and-Paris-in-watershed-moment.html

Blamed on 'al-Qaeda', but I suspect that is a block against China, more than anything else. Hard to say, I'm not there in the middle of it. China is moving heavily into resource rich Africa. Using, of course, I suspect....their unwanted Federal Reserve dollars*. tis' only fitting.

*They are not US dollars. they are 'Federal Reserve bank' dollars.

[Sabrina]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-17/rio-tinto-ceo-to-step-down/4470040

(there were also a noticeable amount of resignations in the mining world last year).

17 Jan Australia

Rio Tinto chief quits after heavy writedowns


Mining company Rio Tinto has announced the sudden resignation of its chief executive Tom Albanese.


The company says Mr Albanese is stepping down after Rio made a $3 billion writedown on its coal division in Mozambique and a writedown of $10.5 billion on its aluminium assets.

The projects were two of Mr Abanese's most significant acquisitions, and Rio Tinto chairman Jan du Plessis has described the results as "unacceptable".

"I would like to pay tribute to Tom for his considerable contribution to Rio Tinto over more than 30 years of service and for his integrity and dedication to the company," he said in a statement.

Mr Albanese, who became chief executive in 2007, says his resignation is effective immediately.

"While I leave the business in good shape in many respects, I fully recognise that accountability for all aspects of the business rests with the CEO," he said in a statement.

Mr du Plessis says the head of Rio's iron ore division, Sam Walsh, will step into the role.

"He is ideally placed to cast a fresh eye over how we address the challenges and opportunities in the business and derive greater value from it," he said.

Until now, Mr Albanese had largely survived the consequences of his damaging $US38 billion acquisition of aluminium group Alcan in 2007, a top-of-the-market deal when Rio was under pressure from rivals to bulk up or be acquired.

The group has since seen years of losses in aluminium and took a $8.9 billion charge a year ago.

It had planned to shrink the division by hiving off most of its Australian and New Zealand assets for sale, but buyers have not flocked.

The finance world has expressed surprise at the announcement, but business commentator Tim Treadgold says Mr Albanese's departure was inevitable.

"These guys always look good when they're buying things and spending shareholders money, but they don't look good when it comes time to earn profits off those investments and they simply haven't been able to do that," he said.

The announcement comes a day after the mining giant unveiled record production in 2012 and beefed up expansion plans for its flagship Australian iron ore operations.

Acquisition

Rio bought Mozambique-focused coal miner Riversdale in 2011.

Doug Ritchie, who led the acquisition and integration of the Mozambique coal assets, has also stepped aside.

Neither will get a lump sum payout or outstanding bonuses.

Rio says the non-cash impairments in its 2012 results include a charge of around $3 billion relating to the Mozambique business, as well as reductions in the carrying values of Rio's aluminium assets in the range of $10 billion to $11 billion.

The group also expects to report a number of smaller asset writedowns in the order of $500 million.

The final figures will be included in Rio Tinto's full-year results on February 14.

"The Rio Tinto Board fully acknowledges that a writedown of this scale in relation to the relatively recent Mozambique acquisition is unacceptable," Mr du Plessis said.

"We are also deeply disappointed to have to take a further substantial writedown in our aluminium businesses, albeit in an industry that continues to experience significant adverse changes globally."

ABC/Reuters

[Sabrina]

http://www.dw.de/germany-begins-hauling-gold-reserves-back-home/a-16526925

More on the German gold reserves story (well the official line anyway):

17 Jan Germany


Germany begins hauling gold reserves back home

With much of its gold reserves deposited abroad, Germany has long depended on foreign countries to secure its precious metals. Now, Berlin is moving some of its reserves from New York and Paris back home to Frankfurt.

Germany's gold reserves are massive, second only to those of the United States in their quantity. They total some 3,400 tons, much of it acquired during the so-called “economic miracle,” when Germany was rebuilding after the Second World War. Around a third of the country's reserves are in Frankfurt, while the rest is deposited in France, Great Britain and the United States. But the German Central Bank, under pressure from the public, wants to start bringing much of those reserves back home.

In 1951, the Bank of the German States – the forerunner of the German Central Bank – purchased its first 500 kilograms of gold as security against a potential currency crisis. More than 60 years later, the current value of Germany's gold reserves totals 140 billion euros ($186 billion) – an incomprehensible sum to the normal person. That's why the issue is being followed by the public with such interest, with Germans debating whether the gold reserves should be sold, because they don't gain interest, or should be kept for hard times.

Fritsch says Germany's gold reserves are mostly of symbolic value
Although the value of Germany's gold reserves may be impressive at first, they play only a minor role in terms of the country's finances, according to Carsten Fritsch of Commerzbank.

“140 billion euros is not much at all when one considers that Germany's sovereign debt totals some five trillion euros,” Fritsch told DW. “But the gold reserves have a high symbolic value, because gold is considered a stable investment - an alternative currency - that has won more and more acceptance worldwide in recent years.”

And it's not just the central banks of industrial and emerging economies that are interested in gold, according to Fritsch. The German people alone privately own an estimated 7,500 tons of gold – double the amount of the German Central Bank.

Dispelling conspiracy theories :)
During the height of the Cold War in the 1950s and 1960s, West Germany feared an invasion by the Soviet Union. In order to ensure that its gold would not fall into enemy hands, the West German government divided its reserves among the Allied powers. Some 374 tons of gold were deposited in Paris, 450 tons went to London, and 1,500 tons were sent to New York City.

There has been an ongoing discussion about how Germany's gold reserves should be stored, and whether or not they even exist at all. Fritsch said that the German Central Bank, “with its lack of transparency,” is partially responsible for the spread of these conspiracy theories. If the Central Bank had regularly done its own inventory of its gold reserves, then it would have been able to take the wind out of the sails of the conspiracy theorist, according to Fritsch.

“In this way, the partial repatriation of Germany's gold reserves will help cool down the debate,” he said.

Gold reserves safe and sound :)
Carl-Ludwig Thiele, who sits on the German Central Bank's board of directors, said that he was able to personally access Germany's gold reserves deposited abroad. He tried to assure the German public that the gold reserves are safe and accounted for.

“Everywhere we were welcomed with open arms,” Thiele told a press conference in Frankfurt. “We were shown the inventory lists and inspected individual gold bars, which were then crosschecked with those lists.” :)

Now that the Cold War is over, Germany no longer has to store its gold reserves abroad to ensure their safety in the event of a Soviet invasion. Nonetheless, depositing reserves abroad still serves two important purposes, according to Thiele.

Some 300 tons of gold in New York will be shipped back to Frankfurt
“It builds domestic confidence and also give us the option – in the event of a crisis – to quickly exchange the gold for foreign currencies,” he said.

But Fritsch of Commerzbank does not find Thiele's argument convincing.
“In a crisis, gold is the currency that counts,” he said. “It doesn't make sense to me that you sell the reserves.”

Paris deposits to be brought home
The Central Bank plans to transport all of its gold deposited in Paris back to Germany by 2020. Thiele said that since France and Germany share a common currency, it no longer matters whether the reserves are in Frankfurt or Paris.

But he said that it remains important to keep some of Germany's gold reserves in countries that have strong foreign currencies like the pound and the dollar. That's why deposits will remain in London and New York City, although the Central Bank does plan to move 300 tons of gold from the US back to Germany. The Central Bank would not comment on when the gold would be moved and how it would be transported – for security reasons.
DW.DE

[Sabrina]

Well I'm all for breaking the truth embargo....

Tuesday, January 15, 2013
( BREAKING NEWS)) Very Urgent Please Share Widely
Ending The TRUTH EMBARGO

01/15/13

For Immediate Release
January 15, 2013

Los Angeles, CA - CHD2 Productions will hold a media event at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah to launch a major event/documentary project. At the press conference Apollo14 Astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell, the sixth person to walk on the Moon, will be introduced as the international spokesperson for the Citizens' Hearing on Disclosure and Jeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell will be announced as Director of a documentary film, Truth Embargo, based upon this Citizens' Hearing. See film Trailer.

The media event will be held in the Aspen Room at the Park City Peaks, 2121 Park Avenue, Park City, UT on Friday, January 18 from 2-3 pm MST.

The Citizens' Hearing on Disclosure will be produced by Paradigm Research Group and will take place between April 29 and May 3 in Washington, DC at the National Press Club where the main ballroom will be turned into a "Congressional Hearing Room." This unprecedented project will bring top researchers from around the world along with government/agency witnesses to testify for 30 hours over five days before former members of the United States Congress. The subject of this hearing is an extraterrestrial presence engaging the human race. The motto of this hearing is, "If Congress will not do its job, the people will." The last time the Congress of the United States held a hearing on what is arguably the most important issue in the world today was in 1968 before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics.

Producing the accompanying documentary film Truth Embargo will be Just Cause Entertainment, a film/television/special effects company located in Marina Del Rey, California.

Just Cause Entertainment President Reuben Langdon and Paradigm Research Group Executive Director Stephen Bassett will moderate the press conference. Langdon and Bassett will be meeting throughout the week with activist writers, directors and producers regarding endorsements for the Citizens' Hearing project.

Truth Embargo mini-trailer: www.youtube.com/embed/23ZxPuDOkfs
CHD2 Productions Contacts: Stephen Bassett Reuben Langdon
202-215-8344 818-324-6294

Media Interview Contact: Janet Donovan, Creative Enterprises International, 202-904-1035 (cell), 202-822-9318
_______________________________________
CHD2 Productions, LLC
4130 Del Rey Avenue, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
mailto:prg@paradigmresearchgroup.org


23ZxPuDOkfs

[ThePythonicCow]

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/high-financial-affairs-battle-for.html

High Financial Affairs - The Battle for Control of the Global Financial System

Fascinating article sent anonymously to American Kabuki. Offers a pretty balanced view on the history of it all, possible white hats, the so called baddies, the possible veracity of some of the commentators such as Benjamin Fulford, Michael Jackson and much more. He/she also offers his/her take on Nesara and The People's Trust and there's extensive links and pix.

THis is worth a read imo... :)
That does look interesting - thanks!

(Just what I needed ... something more to read :).)

[PathWalker]

Holland might also repatriate its gold.
http://www.markets.com/news/indices-commodities/01-17-13/morning-bell-015739.html


In a move that contrasts with the full faith and credit of Central Banks, European sovereigns are starting to quickly move to repatriate gold holding, starting with the request by Germany to return 300 tonnes from New York and Paris. Sure enough, the Dutch CDA political party has quickly followed suit and could quickly see other countries jump onboard. Meanwhile, the U.K. is considering an exit from the EU as the debate heats up ahead of a major policy speech from David Cameron. So far equities have opened mixed with the Italian MIB and dropping a steep -0.73%. The Swiss SMI continues to outperform as futures point to the upside. EURUSD continues to trade right at the 1.33 handle.

Please put some more info about this if you find any.
Since this is a blog, the information is not verified.

[Sabrina]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-launch-criminal-investigation-into-mps-child-sex-ring-8456434.html

Encouraging news this. A heavyweight investigation coming out in the main stream media at last. This is big news. The Times political correspondent has twittered that it could be HUGE... Note a police team have been investigating in secret.

17 Jan UK

Police launch criminal investigation into MPs’ child sex ring


Scotland Yard tonight launched a full investigation into allegations that Conservative politicians were members of a paedophile ring which abused children in care the 1980s.

Operation Fernbridge will centre on the alleged historic sexual abuse of children at Elm Guest House, in Rocks Lane, a suburban street in Barnes, south-west London.

Residents of a nearby care home run by Richmond Council claim they were sexually assaulted at the property by a network of prominent individuals, including Tory MPs, who used their connections to escape justice.

The allegations are one of several lines of inquiry being considered by specialist detectives at the country’s biggest force as a result of information supplied to them by Labour MP Tom Watson.

In a surprise intervention in the Commons in October, Mr Watson - who alleged widespread phone hacking at the News of the World before police began a new inquiry - urged Scotland Yard to re-open the evidence file on Peter Righton, a former child care consultant who was convicted of importing illegal homosexual pornography in 1992.

Saying that the file contained “clear intelligence of a widespread paedophile ring”, Mr Watson said at Prime Minister’s Questions: “One of its members boasts of a link to a senior aide of a former Prime Minister, who says he could smuggle indecent images of children from abroad.

“The leads were not followed up, but if the files still exist, I want to ensure that the Metropolitan Police secure the evidence, re-examine it, and investigate clear intelligence suggesting a powerful paedophile network linked to Parliament and No 10.”

In secret. five officers on the Met’s Child Abuse Investigation team began a scoping exercise, Operation Fairbank, to see if the MP’s claims merited further inquiry.

Working in secret at Empress State Building in Earl’s Court, London, they interviewed several adults who had contacted Mr Watson with information until December, when police confirmed the existence of the inquiry.

Tonight Scotland Yard confirmed the scoping exercise had reached sufficient seriousness that it passed “the threshold for a criminal investigation” and announced the creation of Operation Fernbridge.

Scotland Yard would not say how many officers are staffing Operation Fernbridge.

It is being run by the Specialist Crimes and Operations Directorate, which is known for tackling complex crime and which investigated phone hacking and other illicit newsgathering tactics that had previously escaped serious scrutiny by the police.

In a short statement, Scotland Yard said: “The Metropolitan Police Service have today, Thursday 17 January, launched an investigation, Operation Fernbridge, into historic allegations of child abuse in the early 1980s at the Elm Guest House, Rocks Lane, Barnes, London.

“The investigation will be led by the Child Abuse Investigation Command.”

The statement went on: “The allegations under Operation Fernbridge were initially assessed under Operation Fairbank which was information passed to police by MP Tom Watson. Operation Fernbridge reached the threshold for a criminal investigation.

“We will not be providing a running commentary on this inquiry.”

The police stressed that the allegations were historic and did not relate to the current occupants of the property, which has been under new ownership for some time.

A spokeswoman for the Met confirmed that Operation Fairbank would remain in existence and concentrate on other lines of inquiry provided by Mr Watson, who has been in regular contact with detectives. Those other lines of inquiry also involve politicians.

Last night Mr Watson said: “This new criminal investigation is welcome news. I am confident that the Operation Fairbank team are committed to a thorough investigation that leaves no stone left unturned. As they get nearer the truth it is vital they are given the time and space to conduct the investigation without interference.

“I urge any witnesses or victims to come forward if they think they can help with the inquiry. No matter what has happened in the past, now is the time for your voice to be heard.”

The Metropolitan Police asked anyone with information to call its hotline on 020 7161 0500.


This radio interview circulated today via David Icke is also big news.

QNelt33QP_8

Published on Jan 17, 2013
What David Icke has said for 15 years about paedophile and child killing Prime Minister Ted Heath is supported here by barrister Michael Shrimpton, an Intelligence and national security consultant and former immigration judge, from his own contacts and experience.

About Michael Shrimpton:

Michael Shrimpton is a barrister specialising in national security and intelligence law, who negotiated the national security aspects of the Pinochet case with the late Lt-General Vernon Walters, formerly Deputy Director of the CIA. He has represented and advised intelligence officers and is believed to have close connections to a number of Western intelligence services. He has briefed staffers on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Joint Congressional Inquiry into 9-11, and participated in panels on terrorism for the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) in Washington DC and at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in LA. He has observed terrorists at close quarters on the Israel/Lebanon frontier, actively assisted police and law enforcement agencies in the War on Terror and recently visited Russia, where he met senior government officials. He has a wide range of Western defence, intelligence and security contacts.
via http://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/even-im-staggered/

[Sabrina]

http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/elm-house-child-sex-ring-top-people.html

18 Jan UK

More on the sexual abuse allegations as covered in the UK press yesterday (see post above). Some big name arrests would be good on this...

ELM HOUSE - CHILD SEX RING - TOP PEOPLE

The UK police are to investigate allegations that members of a paedophile ring, based at Elm Guest House in Barnes in London, sexually abused young boys from Grafton Close children's home in Richmond, in London.

Those alleged to have abused the young boys include spies, celebrities, government ministers, senior Members of Parliament, top police officers, top judges, and people with links to the royal family.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2264103/Scotland-Yard-launch-criminal-investigation-historic-claims-senior-aide-prime-minister-links-paedophile-ring.html#ixzz2IIuejRo7

The police launched Operation Fernbridge after they obtained a list of ‘prominent people’ who allegedly stayed at the guest house in the 1980s.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2264103/Scotland-Yard-launch-criminal-investigation-historic-claims-senior-aide-prime-minister-links-paedophile-ring.html#ixzz2IIuejRo7


"Police have taken boxes of documents from the London home of Mary Moss, who worked as an advocate for abused children at the now defunct National Association for Young People in Care.

"Mary Moss said the documents contained evidence that senior figures from a number of political parties had abused children at Elm Guest House and elsewhere."

Elm Guest House - Records - Dramatis Personae allegedly include:

Carol Kazir - guest house owner

X A top person in charge of MI5.

Y MI5 officer

David Icke's Official Forums.

The documents allegedly identify:

Two former Conservative cabinet ministers.

7 Further MPs - 4 Other Tories 2 Labour 1 Liberal

Several figures with links to the right wing Conservative Monday Club

A leading figure in the National Front, now dead

A Sinn Fein member

2 Buckingham Palace Officials

2 Pop Stars

Anthony Blunt said to have used the name ‘Antony Goldstein’.

http://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/ Don’t Be Distracted !

full story at the link

[Sabrina]

http://news.sky.com/story/1040258/investment-bank-chief-to-quit-rbs-in-shake-up

19 Jan UK

Investment Bank Chief To Quit RBS In Shake-Up

Fresh restructuring of RBS's investment banking arm will involve departure of chief executive John Hourican, Sky News learns.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to embark on a further restructuring of its investment banking arm in a move that will pave the way for the departure of the unit's chief executive.

I have learned that RBS executives are at an advanced stage of preparations for splitting its markets and international banking arm (M&IB), which employs more than 16,000 people around the world, into two separate divisions.

The split, which could be announced within days, would mean that the heads of the two divisions will now report directly to Stephen Hester, RBS's chief executive.

Alongside news of the restructuring, and assuming that the plans are approved by RBS's board, it will also announce that John Hourican, chief executive of the M&IB business, is to leave the bank.

Mr Hourican's departure will end more than four years in the role, in which he has overseen one of the most radical restructurings of an investment bank ever attempted.

Formerly the chief financial officer of ABN Amro, the Dutch bank which RBS bought as part of a consortium in a spectacularly ill-fated deal in 2007, Mr Hourican has engineered a vast reduction in the level of risk-weighted assets on RBS's balance sheet.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Mr Hourican would leave RBS to satisfy demands from regulators for senior scalps as part of the taxpayer-backed lender's settlement with UK and US authorities over the manipulation of Libor, the interbank borrowing rate.

A settlement could be announced next week, although it is more likely to be confirmed at the end of January, City sources said.

RBS insiders have acknowledged that Mr Hourican was unaware of any wrongdoing by the bank's employees in relation to its role in setting benchmark interest rates, but said the division of M&IB into two units meant that the bulk of his work had now been completed.

Shares awarded to Mr Hourican in previous years are likely to vest on his departure from the bank, although he would not receive a payoff other than his contractual entitlement.

Mr Hester is understood to have given Mr Hourican his backing in recent weeks and is said to be keen that the latter's departure is not connected to any Libor-related wrongdoing by RBS staff.

Speculation suggested that Peter Nielsen, head of RBS's markets business within M&IB, would also be asked to resign by the bank's board.

I understand, however, that Mr Nielsen’s departure has not been agreed either internally or with regulators, and that he may not leave in the near future.

RBS's investment bank was given the M&IB name after a previous restructuring that involved the sale or closure of the parts of its operations which advised on areas such as mergers and acquisitions activity.

Previously called global banking and markets (GBM), it has been reduced in size to the extent that the investment bank now accounts for approximately 20% of RBS's risk-weighted assets, which provide one measure of the risk on a bank's balance sheet, compared to about 60% five years ago. The number of people working in the division has also come down from about 26,000 to roughly 16,000.

RBS will need to undertake a further year of wider balance sheet restructuring before it can begin to resemble what directors have called "a normal bank".

The future of RBS's investment banking business has become increasingly contentious in recent months as British banks come under pressure to raise the level of their protective capital buffers.

The Financial Services Authority wrote to Mr Hester last autumn to suggest that the M&IB business could be scaled back much further, and that view is understood to have the support of some board directors.

Although it is the most controversial area of RBS's business and the banking sector in general, the investment bank has yielded more than £10bn of profit since RBS was rescued by British taxpayers in 2008.

After Mr Hourican's departure, the terms of which are not yet finalised, the two M&IB units are likely to be run by John Owen, who heads international banking, and either Mr Nielsen or Suneel Kamlani, Mr Hourican's deputy.

[Sabrina]

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/52781/resignations-of-3-govt-officials-just-a-coincidence-says-palace

Resignations of 3 gov't officials 'just a coincidence', says Palace

MANILA, Philippines - Malacanang says media and the public should not read too much into the consecutive resignations of government officials, calling the recent developments merely "coincidental".

"I think nagkakataon lang ito (this is just a coincidence)," Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte was quoted by Radyo Singko 92.3 News FM on Tuesday.

According to Valte, the resignations of National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Executive Director Benito Ramos, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary Cristino Panlilio and Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) Chief Executive Officer Eduardo Banzon were "borne out of their personal choices to move on and change career paths."

"There are times when people need to move on and need to change into different career paths,” Valte said.

Ramos, who submitted his resignation letter to Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin for the third time, resigned from his post in order to attend to his wife, who is suffering from diabetes.

Similar to Ramos, Banzon resigned from his post for "personal reasons."

On the other hand, Panlilio decided to resign in order to return to his private life. He tendered his resignation last month and agreed to stay up to January 16, 2013.

Meanwhile, since there is an ongoing ban in appointing new officials or staff in vacant government positions during the election period, Valte said that temporary officers-in-charge from within the concerned agency may be considered.

“There is also an election ban and appointment ban in effect so Health Secretary Enrique Ona will be acting temporarily as the OIC of Philhealth,” Valte said.

Valte also added that she would “double check” who would head the positions vacated by Panlilio and Ramos.
(16 Jan)

[PathWalker]

Justice Hathaway Charged With Bank Fraud Days Before Resignation
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/01/19/justice-hathaway-charged-with-bank-fraud-days-before-resignation/

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) – Michigan Supreme Court Justice Diane Hathaway has been charged with bank fraud just a few days before quitting the state’s highest court.

The charge was filed Friday and titled as a criminal “information,” which means a guilty plea is expected in federal court.

Hathaway is resigning Monday, months after a series of suspicious real estate transactions were revealed . The government says Hathaway and her husband deeded a Florida home to a relative while trying to negotiate a short sale on a house they couldn’t afford in suburban Detroit.

When the sale went through, the Windermere, Fla., home went back in their names.

Her attorney, Steve Fishman, declined to comment Saturday.

Hathaway quietly filed retirement papers with the state on Dec. 20 . Her last day as a justice is Monday.

Hathaway’s term was to expire January 1, 2017. According to the government website that shares her biography Hathaway obtained a real estate broker’s license and taught real estate law and continuing education classes to real estate brokers.

[skamandar]

There was an attempt to help this politician resign permanently from the planet earth.
The interesting thing in this video is - it shows that some people have very strong Guardian Angels.
What I see here is - the assasin tries to shoot the politician in the head and the weapon missfired. Then he makes second attempt to shoot and the weapon missfired again.... How strange is that?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2265002/Ahmed-Dogan-Heart-stopping-moment-man-pulls-gun-Bulgarian-opposition-leader-makes-speech-live-TV.html

[Sabrina]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/21/vatican-secret-property-empire-mussolini

21 Jan Vatican

How the Vatican built a secret property empire using Mussolini's millions

Papacy used offshore tax havens to create £500m international portfolio, featuring real estate in UK, France and Switzerland

Few passing London tourists would ever guess that the premises of Bulgari, the upmarket jewellers in New Bond Street, had anything to do with the pope. Nor indeed the nearby headquarters of the wealthy investment bank Altium Capital, on the corner of St James's Square and Pall Mall.

But these office blocks in one of London's most expensive districts are part of a surprising secret commercial property empire owned by the Vatican.

Behind a disguised offshore company structure, the church's international portfolio has been built up over the years, using cash originally handed over by Mussolini in return for papal recognition of the Italian fascist regime in 1929.

Since then the international value of Mussolini's nest-egg has mounted until it now exceeds £500m. In 2006, at the height of the recent property bubble, the Vatican spent £15m of those funds to buy 30 St James's Square. Other UK properties are at 168 New Bond Street and in the city of Coventry. It also owns blocks of flats in Paris and Switzerland.

The surprising aspect for some will be the lengths to which the Vatican has gone to preserve secrecy about the Mussolini millions. The St James's Square office block was bought by a company called British Grolux Investments Ltd, which also holds the other UK properties. Published registers at Companies House do not disclose the company's true ownership, nor make any mention of the Vatican.

Instead, they list two nominee shareholders, both prominent Catholic bankers: John Varley, recently chief executive of Barclays Bank, and Robin Herbert, formerly of the Leopold Joseph merchant bank. Letters were sent from the Guardian to each of them asking whom they act for. They went unanswered. British company law allows the true beneficial ownership of companies to be concealed behind nominees in this way.

The company secretary, John Jenkins, a Reading accountant, was equally uninformative. He told us the firm was owned by a trust but refused to identify it on grounds of confidentiality. He told us after taking instructions: "I confirm that I am not authorised by my client to provide any information."

Research in old archives, however, reveals more of the truth. Companies House files disclose that British Grolux Investments inherited its entire property portfolio after a reorganisation in 1999 from two predecessor companies called British Grolux Ltd and Cheylesmore Estates. The shares of those firms were in turn held by a company based at the address of the JP Morgan bank in New York. Ultimate control is recorded as being exercised by a Swiss company, Profima SA.

British wartime records from the National Archives in Kew complete the picture. They confirm Profima SA as the Vatican's own holding company, accused at the time of "engaging in activities contrary to Allied interests". Files from officials at Britain's Ministry of Economic Warfare at the end of the war criticised the pope's financier, Bernardino Nogara, who controlled the investment of more than £50m cash from the Mussolini windfall.

Nogara's "shady activities" were detailed in intercepted 1945 cable traffic from the Vatican to a contact in Geneva, according to the British, who discussed whether to blacklist Profima as a result. "Nogara, a Roman lawyer, is the Vatican financial agent and Profima SA in Lausanne is the Swiss holding company for certain Vatican interests." They believed Nogara was trying to transfer shares of two Vatican-owned French property firms to the Swiss company, to prevent the French government blacklisting them as enemy assets.

Earlier in the war, in 1943, the British accused Nogara of similar "dirty work", by shifting Italian bank shares into Profima's hands in order to "whitewash" them and present the bank as being controlled by Swiss neutrals. This was described as "manipulation" of Vatican finances to serve "extraneous political ends".

The Mussolini money was dramatically important to the Vatican's finances. John Pollard, a Cambridge historian, says in Money and the Rise of the Modern Papacy: "The papacy was now financially secure. It would never be poor again."

From the outset, Nogara was innovative in investing the cash. In 1931 records show he founded an offshore company in Luxembourg to hold the continental European property assets he was buying. It was called Groupement Financier Luxembourgeois, hence Grolux. Luxembourg was one of the first countries to set up tax-haven company structures in 1929. The UK end, called British Grolux, was incorporated the following year.

When war broke out, with the prospect of a German invasion, the Luxembourg operation and ostensible control of the British Grolux operation were moved to the US and to neutral Switzerland.

The Mussolini investments in Britain are currently controlled, along with its other European holdings and a currency trading arm, by a papal official in Rome, Paolo Mennini, who is in effect the pope's merchant banker. Mennini heads a special unit inside the Vatican called the extraordinary division of APSA – Amministrazione del Patrimonio della Sede Apostolica – which handles the so-called "patrimony of the Holy See".

According to a report last year from the Council of Europe, which surveyed the Vatican's financial controls, the assets of Mennini's special unit now exceed €680m (£570m).

While secrecy about the Fascist origins of the papacy's wealth might have been understandable in wartime, what is less clear is why the Vatican subsequently continued to maintain secrecy about its holdings in Britain, even after its financial structure was reorganised in 1999.

The Guardian asked the Vatican's representative in London, the papal nuncio, archbishop Antonio Mennini, why the papacy continued with such secrecy over the identity of its property investments in London. We also asked what the pope spent the income on. True to its tradition of silence on the subject, the Roman Catholic church's spokesman said that the nuncio had no comment.

[Sabrina]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9816766/Barclays-staff-linked-to-Libor-rigging-to-be-named.html

21 Jan UK

Barclays staff linked to Libor-rigging to be named

A group of more than 100 Barclays staff named in documents linked to the Libor-rigging scandal face being publicly identified after a judge rejected their plea for anonymity.

The Barclays workers asked for their names to be subject to reporting restrictions ahead of the UK’s first trial related to the manipulation of the benchmark interest rate.

Lawyers representing the bank workers argued that naming them could prejudice any future criminal trial over the scandal.

But, dismissing their plea as a “red herring”, Judge Julian Flaux said: “I simply do not see that there is any sufficient case of prejudice.”

He added that the “cat is already out of the bag” in relation to ongoing investigations into interest rate rigging by banks.

Of the 106 current and former Barclays workers who sought the reporting restrictions, 24 were understood to be directly linked to manipulation of Libor.

The names were not immediately released by Judge Flaux but could be published later this week.
The successful challenge to the reporting restrictions was led by lawyers working on behalf The Telegraph, and was supported by other media groups.

Monday's hearing in the High Court came ahead of a case brought by Guardian Care Homes, which is seeking about £38m in damages from Barclays over interest rate swaps it claims it was mis-sold by the bank.

Guardian Care Homes says that the swap product it was sold was tied to Libor, which it argues was set dishonestly.

The Barclays staff were initially identified in documents passed to regulators investigating Libor-rigging, which led to a £290m fine for the bank. Barclays had been ordered to give lawyers working for Guardian Care Homes the identities and emails of staff that it passed to regulators investigating the manipulation of the key interest rate.

A Barclays spokesman said: “Many entirely innocent individuals may be referred to in the documents.”

US and British prosecutors are currently preparing criminal actions against some of those alleged to have been involved in Libor-rigging.

[Sabrina]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9814533/Barclays-Wealth-division-out-of-control-says-secret-report.html

UK

Barclays Wealth division 'out of control', says secret report

Barclays has moved swiftly to part company with a senior executive after investigators alleged that he shredded a highly critical analysis of the maverick culture and bullying at the bank's one-time flagship Barclays Wealth business.

Andrew Tinney, chief operating officer at the £180bn business, has resigned following an inquiry into the "shredgate" affair and allegations that he misled senior management about the existence of the report before finally confessing last month. Barclays said he left without any pay-off. His pay and perks package is estimated to have been worth £4-£5 million a year.

The latest scandal has infuriated the top management and influenced Antony Jenkins, group chief executive, in issuing last week's warning to staff to either observe a tougher ethical code or pack their bags.

Mr Jenkins has embarked on an ambitious programme to repair the damage caused by the resignation of his predecessor, Bob Diamond, over the Libor rate-fixing issue and made it clear that he wants to achieve rapid change.

Mr Tinney's role was central to the inquiry carried out by lawyers Simmons & Simmons after a whistleblower told Marcus Agius, the former chairman, about a "secret" audit into the Barclays Wealth culture.

Questions are also being asked about the role played by Tom Kalaris, the head of the business. Mr Kalaris and the Wealth board, including Mr Tinney, called in consultants Genesis Ventures to review the London and New York-based operation after regulators questioned irregularities. They asked for a follow up cultural audit after an initial report from Genesis identified weaknesses and recommended a course of action.

Genesis drew heavily on the views of disenchanted managers in reaching the conclusion that the business was "out of control", had bred a culture of fear and intimidation, was hostile to complying with banking regulations and ignored or buried problems.

Mr Tinney is alleged to have kept the report secret because he regarded it as an "uncalibrated" input into changes at Barclays Wealth. He is said to have had the only copy delivered to his home in Surrey before shredding the material.


During an investigation, Mr Tinney is said to have claimed to Mr Kalaris that there was no such report. Mr Kalaris repeated that account in a note to Mr Jenkins.

Mr Kalaris was not told about the existence of the audit report until December, when Mr Tinney is said to have admitted its existence.

Barclays said that Mr Kalaris and the Wealth management team are pushing ahead with the reforms backed by Genesis.
(20 Jan)

[Sabrina]

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/01/20/uk-georgia-president-protest-idUKBRE90J0AD20130120

Georgia

(Reuters) - Hundreds of Georgians gathered on Sunday outside the presidential administration building in the capital Tbilisi demanding the removal of President Mikheil Saakashvili, whose term in office they say should be ending.

Participants of the rally said the president's second term should expire on January 21, five years from his inauguration. The constitution limits the presidential term to five years but does not call for elections until October this year.

Saakashvili's National Movement party was defeated in parliamentary elections in October. His opponent, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, became prime minister, forcing a difficult cohabitation between them.

The protesters waved anti-Saakashvili signs and caricatures of the Georgian leader. Some threatened to block access to the presidential palace and put up tents until he leaves power.

"He is not the president of Georgia any more ... This Satan has nothing to do in this building anymore," Gocha Gurgenidze, a participant of the rally, said.

Several groups in Georgia have begun collecting signatures urging Saakashvili to step down. Since the parliamentary election, numerous former government officials have been arrested, accused of abuse of power and other crimes.

The West has warned Ivanishvili, a political novice, not to lead a witch-hunt of officials loyal to Saakashvili, who in turn is criticised by opponents for monopolising power, mistreating critics and trampling on human rights.

Saakishvili is Georgia's third president in the 20 years since the fall of the Soviet Union. The first two, Zurab Gamsakhurdia and Eduard Shevardnadze, were both toppled, one in a civil war and the other in a popular revolt.

(20 Jan)

[Sabrina]

http://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/the-first-stench-of-another-police-cover-up/

More on the current UK sexual abuse investigations:

From today’s Sunday People (20 Jan UK)

A list of names seized by police probing allegations of child abuse includes ministers, members of the royal household and a world-famous pop star, the Sunday People can reveal.

All were recorded as visitors to a suburban guest house that operated as a gay brothel.

Now some could be suspects in an investigation into a network of powerful people who were secret paedophiles for years.

Late last week police ramped up the inquiry – and arrests are believed to be imminent.

Nine officers raided the North London home of former child protection worker Mary Moss after she initially declined to co-operate with the investigation.

Documents and a laptop were seized. Ms Moss later handed over a further 19 files she had hidden in a neighbour’s shed.

The papers include a list of men who went to sex parties in the 80s at the Elm Guest House, Barnes, South West London.

Among the names are two former Conservative Cabinet ministers and four other senior Tories.

There is also a Labour MP, a prominent Irish republican and a leading National Front member.

Others on the handwritten note are two members of the royal household – one a former Buckingham Palace employee – plus the owner of a multinational company and two pop stars.

One of those is a best-selling musician, but like some others on the list he is not suspected of being involved in the child abuse.

Sunday People

So, the excuses are starting to be made.

This famous wealthy pop star just happened to be a guest of Elm Guest House, where it just so happened that young boys were bussed over for others to abuse but he didn’t abuse them and he knew nothing about what was going on, is that it ?

What about this ?

A world-famous pop star is being investigated over alleged sex offences after his name was passed to police working on theJimmy Savile case.

The platinum-selling artist, a household name, is one of 25 figures facing probes under Operation Yewtree, which began after the Savile scandalbroke earlier this year…..

……..The name of the pop star was first handed to police in 2008 when a convicted sex offender claimed he was part of a paedophile ring with Savile.

The paedo was in Whitemoor Prison, Cambs, at the time and passed a list of other child sex offenders to his probation officer. It is understood the list was handed to police but there was not enough evidence for them to act.

Now his name has come up again, he is being “actively investigated”, according to sources close to the inquiry.

The Mirror

So, this famous wealthy pop star, as well as having stayed in a small guest house where young boys were regularly abused, has also been named by a convicted paedophile in 2008 ? This is totally separate from Elm Guest House.

And that is not the limit of it, and the police know it !

There can be no excuses this time. Too much information is already in the public domain.

THE POLICE MUST HAVE THIS FINAL CHANCE BUT IF THEY COVER THIS **** UP AGAIN THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY!

[Sabrina]

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.co.uk/

India

From India: Corrupting Power Of Wealth In Politics Is Making the People Angry

This could be a headline in any number of countries.

Sonia Gandhi (born Edvige Antonia Albina Maino, 9 December 1946) is an Italian-born Indian politician and the President of the Indian National Congress, one of the major political parties of India. She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi and belongs to the Nehru–Gandhi family.

Times of India

Corruption in politics riling people, Sonia Gandhi warns party

By Subodh Ghildiyal & Palak Nandi
Jan 19, 2013

JAIPUR: Taking serious note of middle class protesters taking to the streets over corruption, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said the lifestyles of leaders is giving rise to questions about the source of their wealth.

Speaking at Congress's chintan shivir (brainstorming session) here, Sonia said, "Celebrating weddings, festivals and happy events is one thing, what of lavish and ostentatious displays of wealth, pomp and status? Does this not beg the question, where is this wealth coming from?"

Her direct remarks caused a hush to descend on the meeting. "Our citizens are rightly fed up with the levels of corruption that they see in public life at high levels, but equally with the corruption they have to deal with in their daily lives,'' she said.

Sonia urged the party not to lose touch with the middle classes that backed the Congress in the 2004 and 2009 general elections. The party cannot afford "our growing educated and middle classes to be disillusioned and alienated with the political process".

The candid references to the middle class drift away from Congress, the need to keep alliances intact, a commitment to make women feel safer, and an admission that the party's base has eroded in traditional strongholds were key aspects of her speech as she set out the political tasks for her party.

Some of her comments were also seen to reflect her concern over the government's response to the outpouring of public anger over the Nirbhaya gang rape and criticism of police action against young protestors. "We have to recognize the new changing India, peopled by a younger, more aspirational, more impatient and more demanding generation. Our people are expecting much more from their political parties. Today's India is better informed and better equipped to communicate. This is a phenomenon, a churning that we must understand and continue to respond to."

Taking cognizance of the growing concern about women's safety, she said, "Atrocities on women, both in urban and rural India, are a blot on our collective conscience and a matter of great shame."

Sonia's carefully crafted speech referred to the principal political challenges before the party and the government at a time when UPA 2's credibility is seen to have taken a beating due to corruption scandals, an anemic economy and demoralizing electoral losses. "Is it not the case that we have squandered many opportunities that people are willing to give us simply because we have been unable to function as a disciplined and united team," she said...

[Sabrina]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=169947484

23 Jan US

Bishop Apologizes For Role In Hiding Priest Abuse

by Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors who have been stymied for years in their attempts to build a criminal conspiracy case against retired Los Angeles Archdiocese Cardinal Roger Mahony and other church leaders said Tuesday they will review newly released priest files for additional evidence.

Thousands of pages from the internal disciplinary files of 14 priests made public Monday show Mahony and other top aides maneuvered behind the scenes to shield molester priests and provide damage control for the church.

Some of the documents provide the strongest evidence to date that Mahony and another key official worked to protect a priest who revealed in therapy sessions that he had raped an 11-year-old boy and abused up to 17 boys.

Legal experts, however, said even if the documents contain new evidence, it will be almost impossible to prosecute because of problems with the statute of limitations. It's also unclear whether prosecutors, who received some documents via subpoena years ago, already have seen the files made public Monday.

The time window for prosecuting obstruction of justice is 10 years and for conspiracy, it's three years after the last overt criminal act, said Lawrence Rosenthal, a criminal law professor at Chapman University School of Law.

Much of the material in the files dates to the mid-1980s, when Mahony was handling some of the most troublesome problem priests.

"The problem is, a prosecutor looking at this has to do time travel, basically, and go back to the law as it existed at the time of the offenses," Rosenthal said. "And at the time of the offense, you're going to have significant statute of limitations problems."

The top aide, then-Monsignor Thomas J. Curry, is now an auxiliary bishop for the archdiocese's Santa Barbara region. He issued a public apology Tuesday, echoing a similar statement from Mahony a day earlier.

"I wish to acknowledge and apologize for those instances when I made decisions regarding the treatment and disposition of clergy accused of sexual abuse that in retrospect appear inadequate or mistaken," Curry said in a statement obtained by the Ventura County Star. ""Like many others, I have come to a clearer understanding over the years of the causes and treatment of sexual abuse and I have fully implemented in my pastoral region the archdiocese's policies and procedures for reporting abuse, screening those who supervise children and abuse prevention training for adults and children."

Mahony apologized on Monday, expressing regret for mistakes he made after taking over the nation's largest archdiocese in 1985. An attorney for the church, J. Michael Hennigan, has denied that there was a cover-up attempt. He didn't return a call Tuesday.

The files of dozens more accused priests are expected to be released in the coming weeks as part of a 2007 settlement agreement with more than 500 alleged victims. A judge recently ruled that the church must turn the files over to attorneys for those people without the names and titles of members of the church hierarchy blacked out after The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times intervened.

The documents raise the possibility of renewed criminal scrutiny for Mahony and others in the archdiocese hierarchy. Mahony retired in 2011.

Prosecutors in Philadelphia last year secured the conviction of a monsignor who was secretary for clergy after a change in state law gave prosecutors more time to file charges and seek evidence. In Missouri, a judge found a bishop guilty last year of failing to report child abuse to the state, making him the highest-ranking U.S. Roman Catholic official to be convicted of a crime relating to the child sexual abuse scandal.

In Los Angeles, the archdiocese and an attorney representing about 30 individual accused priests has fought for years in court to keep the priests' confidential files sealed, citing the clerics' privacy rights. The church was forced under subpoena to turn over some records to the district attorney during an investigation that began in 2002.

In a 2010 memo, a lead prosecutor in that probe said the documents he had showed "the possibility of criminal culpability" by members of the archdiocese leadership, but a criminal conspiracy case was "more and more remote" because of the passage of time.

Deputy District Attorney William Hodgman said investigators had insufficient evidence to fill in a timeline stretching over 20 years hampered by the statute of limitations. He did not return a call or email seeking comment Tuesday.

The U.S. Attorney's Office convened a grand jury in 2009 to hear evidence, but it yielded no indictments. It was unclear Tuesday if that grand jury was still sitting and a spokesman declined to comment.

_____

[Sabrina]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2266705/Stuart-Hall-charged-rape-14-counts-indecent-assault-alleged-offences-decade-period.html

22 Jan UK

BBC presenter Stuart Hall charged with molesting ten young girls over 19-year period

Charged with one count of rape allegedly in 1976 against woman aged 22
Also charged with 14 indecent assault offences against ten girls aged 9-16
Arrested yesterday after attending appointment with Lancashire Police
Veteran BBC broadcaster is known for his eccentric football summaries

Stuart Hall was last night charged with rape and 14 counts of indecent assault.
The 83-year-old BBC television and radio presenter was arrested yesterday when he attended a police station by appointment.

The rape is alleged to have been of a 22-year-old woman in 1976 and the indecent assault offences are reported to have been committed between 1967 and 1986. They concern ten girls aged between nine and 16.

A Lancashire Police statement said: ‘Following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service an 83-year-old man has this evening been charged with one offence of rape and 14 offences of indecent assault.’

Hall had already been charged in December with indecently assaulting three girls.

These charges included an alleged assault of an eight-year-old, an 11-year-old and a woman who was then aged 16. The allegations cover the period between 1974 and 1984.

Hall, who is known for his distinctively highbrow approach to football commentary on Radio 5 Live, was released from custody and bailed to appear before court this month over the three charges.
But now that case will go before magistrates in Preston on April 16. He has already pleaded not guilty.

And, in light of the new allegations laid against him, he has been bailed to appear before magistrates, again in Preston, on February 7.

In December, Hall’s employers at BBC Radio 5 Live announced he would not be working for them while the police investigation was continuing.

Hall was first seized in December during a dawn swoop on his £1.5million detached home in Wilmslow, Cheshire, where he lives with his wife of 44 years, Hazel, who is 74.

Hall won legions of fans in the 1970s and 1980s for his inimitable style and habit of breaking down in fits of infectious laughter during It’s a Knockout.

He became an OBE in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to broadcasting and charity.
Hall’s solicitor, Louise Straw, said last night: ‘A number of historic allegations have been made, all of which are denied.

'None of these allegations have been raised with the authorities in the last three to four decades which raises concerns and issues.’

A police spokesman said: ‘We take all allegations of sexual abuse extremely seriously.’

[modwiz]

What I see with these sexual abuse and pedophile cases suddenly coming to light is a huge shift in the tides of power. Law enforcement turned a blind eye because it was dangerous, at least career-wise, to not do so. Suddenly, law enforcement feels safe to pursue the powerful/connected people now. This is a clear signal to me that they no longer fear reprisal. That means things are changing........for the better.

[Sabrina]

http://www.moneynewsnow.com/2013/01/davos-burning-man-billionaires/

DAVOS: Burning Man for Billionaires

World Economic Forum Revealed

What Really Goes on at the Davos Carnival to Celebrate the Global Economic System

by Johnny Punish

By now everyone in the business and political in-crowd knows about the annual World Economic Forum meeting held in Davos, Switzerland commonly known as “Davos”.

This is an invite only event for the worlds movers and shakers. Rumors that it’s led by the Bilderberg group abound making it really a dictate for their global vision as they “share” their visions with the political, business, and communication leaders from around the world.

The attendees attend meeting halls and group sessions to discuss and resolve the worlds biggest challenges. But outside the halls, many Davos participants pay no mind. They loiter in various lounges carrying on conversations with each other. The talked and talk—as though they hadn’t been talking all day. The talk while sitting on panels or while skipping panels that others sit on.

They discuss issues like “How Did We Get Here?,” “The Compensation Question,” “Global Risks 2013: over the course of five days. There are more than two hundred such sessions.

Many Davos participants rarely, if ever, attend even one. Instead, they float around in the slack spaces, sitting down to one arranged meeting after another, or else making themselves available for chance encounters, either with friends or with strangers whom they will ever after be able to refer to as friends.

The Congress Center, the daytime hub, is a warren of interconnected lounges, cafés, lobbies, and lecture halls, with espresso bars, and juice stations.

The participants have their preferred hovering areas. Wandering the center in search of people to talk is like hunting on a African savanah; one could observe, over time, which water holes were full with game, and what times of day they liked to feed.

Jamie Dimon, running shoes in hand, might be near the espresso stand at the Global Leadership Fellows Program. In the early afternoon, you may see CNNs Fareed Zakaria happily engaged with unamed others hanging out in the Industry Partners Lounge. Eventually, the trolls will emerge from their deep holes and secret passageways. And they will glide through the crowds with aides alongside like remoras stuck to their shark like bodies.

* NOTE: The World Economic Forum overtly says that Davos is an entourage-free zone. But this doesn’t seem to apply to the biggest of the fish; like heads of state. It is said that the faster you walk the more important you are.

We are talking a name-dropper’s paradise. Central bankers, industrial chiefs, hedge-fund titans, gloomy forecasters, astrophysicists, monks, rabbis, tech wizards, museum curators, university presidents, financial bloggers, virtuous heirs.

Participants get in conversations with a newspaper columnists and an executives from big think tanks; every one with an agenda.

Everyone says that you can’t get the hang of Davos until you’ve been three or four times. So many things are going on at once that it is impossible to do even a tenth of them. You could spend the week in your hotel room, puzzling over a plan, wrestling with your doubts and regrets, but a person who would do this is not the kind who would be invited to Davos anyway. This is a place for the real in-crowd. They know who they are….. and if you get invited, well, get ready for the indoctrination.

The World Economic Forum was first conceived in January 1971 when a group of European business leaders met under the patronage of the European Commission and European industrial associations. German-born Klaus Schwab, then Professor of Business Policy at the University of Geneva, chaired the gathering, which took place in Davos, Switzerland.

What happens in Davos stays in Davos!
Davos is like Congress, the Factory, Scientology, the Mormon Tabernacle, the Bohemian Grove, the “best dinner party in the world,” the financial system, Facebook, Burning Man, boot camp, high school…. Davos is an onion, a layer cake, a Russian doll. Participants are NEVER out of the loop. :)

They are the loop.
Whether you think the World Economic Forum is a worthy enterprise or a bunch of garbage, its annual meeting is an extraordinary creation—a miniature society that controls 7 billion of us through the global economic system

Forty-two years ago, a German academic named Klaus Schwab founded this cabal. Now, at seventy-five, he continues to nurture it, with dogged sincerity. Is he the most connected man on the planet?
Around the Congress Hall, they say no one walks faster than Klaus. The only question is… where does Klaus go for his marching orders? And that’s the big secret of Davos.

Some say there is another unseen level of leadership. Some say it’s the Bilderberg group. Whatever it is, it’s providing direction through influence to the worlds movers and shakers providing them a Burning Man-esque cultish experience to enjoy each and every year; a carnival to celebrate and perpetuate the global monetary economic system.

and

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/davos/9819191/Davos-2013-Live.html

23 Jan Davos, Switzerland

Davos 2013: Live

The World Economic Forum kicks off today in Davos, where some 2,500 business leaders and politicians will meet to discuss the challenges facing global economies in the coming year. The theme this year is "Resilient Dynamism". yeah....


see link for latest news (or one version of the news..)


and

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21086431

full story at link and one comment in this BBC article:

Delegates who attend Davos week - at times described as a fat cat indulgence, at times derided as a conspiracy aimed at further enriching the wealthy while squeezing the weak and the poor, at times merely dismissed as irrelevant - feel they have a vital job to do; develop "resilient dynamism" on a global scale.

[Sabrina]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/9819701/Central-bankers-should-be-brought-to-heel-by-elected-parliaments.html

Central bankers should be brought to heel by elected parliaments

Intellectual fashion is changing. Central bankers around the world no longer command the charisma of a high priesthood.

Nor should they after stoking a global bubble and then tightening just as the money supply was collapsing in mid-2008.

The onus is falling on them to justify why monetary independence is self-evidently a good thing, and why central bankers should operate beyond democratic control.

The humbling of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) this week is just the start, as Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann warned. “It is already possible to observe alarming infringements, for example in Hungary or in Japan, where the new government is massively involving itself in the affairs of the central bank, is emphatically demanding an even more aggressive monetary policy and is threatening an end to central bank autonomy,” he said.

One could say that “alarming infringements” are in the eye of the beholder. The European Central Bank that he serves is itself a political operator of unbounded power.

Professor Richard Werner, a monetary expert at Southampton University, says the men of Maastricht misread German history very badly when they created a central bank that answers to nobody. “They thought they were modelling the ECB on the Bundesbank, but they weren’t. They have instead replicated the Reichsbank, which was not accountable to any democratic institution, and led to disaster,” he said.

No political force in Germany was able to halt Reichsbank deflation in the early 1930s until Hitler took power, tore up the rule book, and appointed Hjalmar Schacht with instructions to reflate, which he did with gusto and success.

Prof Werner said the Bundesbank was deliberately brought under the control of the German parliament when created after the Second World War to avoid repeating the mistakes of the Weimar era. “Europe has unlearned all the lessons of the Bundesbank,” he added.

The ECB’s actions have certainly been remarkable. It sent secret letters to the leaders of Italy and Spain in mid-2011 with a list of sweeping demands, covering pensions, labour reform, and sensitive political issues over which it has no constitutional authority.

When Italy failed to comply with the terms, it switched off bond purchases, let yields spiral upwards, and forced Silvio Berlusconi out of office. That may be a good or bad outcome – depending on your point of view – but it is not the action of a central bank. It is the action of a political authority that has entirely slipped the leash of democratic control.

The only real constraint on the ECB is the greater political power of the German Chancellory. Each stage of escalation in ECB’s emergency policies – culminating in Mario Draghi’s August pledge to buy “unlimited” amounts of Italian and Spanish bonds, once the political trigger is pulled – first required a green light from Angela Merkel.

Princeton professor Gauti Eggertsson has long argued that independent central banks have a “deflation bias” by their nature. This was fine during the quarter century after the Great Inflation of the 1970s, but as the inflation rate fell ever lower with each business cycle it eventually became dangerous, for there lies the dreaded “liquidity trap”.

A new paper by Paul McCulley and Zoltan Poszar argues that the taste for independent central banks goes “hand-in-hand with secular private debt cycles”. It becomes faddish during credit upswings such as the era of “monetary supremacy” from 1978 to 2008. The appeal wears off as the “deleveraging cycle” gathers force and the economy slides into slump. The US Employment Act of 1946 was the low point for the Fed. The bank was entirely harnessed to US Treasury purposes until its “emancipation” in 1951.

The implication is that politicians may have to take charge of central banks and force them to monetise debt at key moments to break the vicious circle. Indeed, the banks may have to be crushed into submission in extremis as a national priority if they drag their feet.

That is more or less what has just happened to the BoJ, the poster child of “deflationary bias”. The BoJ has agreed to raise its inflation target to 2pc, to be achieved at the “earliest possible time”, and will boost the money supply with “open-ended” bond purchases. It yielded only after premier Shinzo Abe won a landslide victory on an easy money ticket, and threatened to change the bank’s statute.
The BoJ continues to mount a fighting retreat. It will not add fresh stimulus this year beyond the $170bn (£107bn) already in the pipeline. But Mr Abe will get his way as he appoints “soulmates” to replace governor Masaaki Shirakawa and two key rate-setters over the next three months.
“Throughout the election I called for aggressive monetary easing. From now on, each party will be held responsible,” Mr Abe said yesterday. Deputy governor Toshiro Muto is already talking his language – saying nothing is taboo.

The BoJ offers a cautionary tale for the West. It has been largely passive for 20 years, dabbling on the margins, buying bonds on short maturities from banks in a way that does little to revive broad money supply. “All they did was to expand reserves, but that is never going to make any difference. They created a straw man to then argue that quantitative easing does not work,” said Prof Werner, the man who coined the term QE in the early 1990s and later wrote Princes of the Yen.

The result was to let budget deficits take the strain instead. One fiscal blitz after another over the past two decades has pushed public debt to 237pc of GDP. State financing needs will be 60pc of GDP this year. This is a cul-de-sac.

The greatest indictment of modern central banks is that they chose to target the consumer price level, one variable among many, and a bad one to boot. They took their eye off credit growth and asset prices.

Now some – notably the ECB – are making the opposite mistake. Rising CPI inflation blinds them to credit contraction and surging jobless levels.

They might fare better to target nominal GDP growth of 4pc to 5pc and forget about the short-term ups and downs of inflation. Former rate-setter Adam Posen told Parliament on Tuesday that nominal GDP targeting would be a “serious mistake.”

That clinches the matter. Let’s do it.

[Sabrina]

More on Davos:

Ah that's the spin for where our money needs to go this time... should some white hat whisper 'free energy' in their ears :)...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/davos-call-for-14trn-greening--of-global-economy-8460994.html

Davos call for $14trn 'greening' of global economy

Political and business leaders warned of need to ensure sustainable growth

An unprecedented $14trn (£8.8trn) greening of the global economy is the only way to ensure long-term sustainable growth, according to a stark warning delivered to political and business leaders as they descended on the World Economic Forum in Davos yesterday.

Only a sustained and dramatic shift to infrastructure and industrial practices using low-carbon technology can save the world and its economy from devastating global warming, according to a Davos-commissioned alliance led by the former Mexican President, Felipe Calderon, in the most dramatic call so far to fight climate change on business grounds.

This includes everything from power generation, transport, and buildings to industry, forestry, water and agriculture, according to the Green Growth Action Alliance, created at last year's Davos meeting in Mexico.

The extra spending amounts to roughly $700bn a year until 2030 and would provide a much-needed economic stimulus as well as reduce the costs associated with global warming further down the line, said Mr Calderon, who leads the alliance.

It is better to try to pre-empt events like Hurricane Sandy, which cost $50bn, by keeping a lid on global warming, concluded the report, researched by the Accenture consultancy.

Mr Calderon, whose six-year term as Mexican President ended in November, said: "It is clear that we are facing a climate crisis with potentially devastating impacts on the global economy.

"Greening global economic growth is the only way to satisfy the needs of today's population and up to 9 billion people by 2050, driving development and wellbeing while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing natural resource productivity."

He added: "Economic growth and sustainability are inter-dependent, you cannot have one without the other, and greening investment is the pre-requisite to realising both goals".

Mr Calderon is calling on the UK Government and other members of the G20 to unleash a wave of private investment in green infrastructure by giving potential backers of low-carbon projects the confidence and incentives to step up their spending.

The alliance, which includes the World Bank, Deutsche Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, proposes that governments use public money to give guarantees, insurance and incentives to potential low-carbon investors at the same time as phasing out fossil fuel subsidies.

The investment is needed to stimulate spending on everything from low-emission crop practices with reduced chemical and fertiliser use to renewable power generation and energy-efficient buildings and transport.

In addition to the need for an extra $14trn of extra spending, a substantial part of the $5trn-a-year that has been earmarked worldwide for investment in traditional, fossil-fuel heavy infrastructure by 2020 will need to be diverted to greener alternatives "to avoid locking in less-efficient, emissions-intensive technologies for decades to come".

The report acknowledges that an extra $700bn is a lot of extra cash to find each year, but says that the money could be raised with an increase in global public spending of a relatively small $36bn a year, if it was targeted effectively through the right measures to support private investment.


and in a parallel universe:

Keshe Foundation patent filings

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/two-keshe-patent-filings.html

http://www.keshefoundation.org/

[modwiz]

I seems to me I recall Ben Fulford saying, in one of his most recent reports, that Abe was going to take action against the BoJ if they did not comply with a better fiscal policy. Things should get interesting now. Japan is no small potatoes economy. Hubris may prevail in some Western attitudes, but without deodorant I am sure the smell of fear can be detected. I can barely hold back my tears.

[Sabrina]

The 100th Page - Where Are We At? :)

Have just notice that we’ve reached the 100th page of this thread in about 11 months. Phew where are we at? Time to reflect. Well some will dismiss it all and say there’s been no full-scale arrests, and resignations just come and go. It would be amusing to see tptb at Davos being confronted with hand cuffs – that’s true. Or perhaps they are holding the most expensive leaving party in the world for all we know.

But things have certainly shifted. Although things are still hidden, the banks, and those in the financial, political and business worlds, have not had an easy time at all and resignations have been forced, while others have inexplicably just handed in their notice. Scrutiny has been on them all year and they have lost their status as authority figures and demi-gods. Opinion polls show the public’s failing lack of trust in these folk across the globe. Media commentators are getting more outspoken in the main stream media in some cases, and things are getting printed which might not have survived the ‘spike’ some time ago. Sometimes, the so called ‘alternative media’ is leading the agenda (see the UK Savile abuse story as one example).

Many are still having a relentlessly hard time financially across the world due to the absurdity of the constructed money system. But many stories will never be reported in the msm of people in, say euro zone crises lands, such as Greece and Spain, starting their own innovative systems to fight back. The strong currencies are no longer strong any more. Who dominates the world is changing.

People like Bradley Manning are still imprisoned, but cannot be totally conveniently forgotten due to the power of internet. And internet is still up there and running, with the good and bad, depending upon what you choose to focus on. But the communications revolution with this is breathtaking for those of us old enough to remember life before it all...

Whistleblowers and some regulators and politicians (see India yesterday) are speaking out. As Modwiz said today:

‘What I see with these sexual abuse and pedophile cases suddenly coming to light is a huge shift in the tides of power. Law enforcement turned a blind eye because it was dangerous, at least career-wise, to not do so. Suddenly, law enforcement feels safe to pursue the powerful/connected people now. This is a clear signal to me that they no longer fear reprisal. That means things are changing........for the better’.

There’s still a lot of ‘fear porn’ about, but we got through events such as the London Olympics with no predicted disaster and a lot of unexpected good energy from those volunteer goodwill ambassadors etc. dotted across the city. I could almost sense some people’s exasperation that nothing bad happened! On the other hand, we have events such as Sandy Hook with so many wheels within wheels that those psyops people must be confused themselves… But instant dismissal by many to swallow the official story is becoming the norm. The refusal to wallow in fear and intimidation is also becoming stronger.

We’re all going to have different views on this, but I personally think we are having a shift in consciousness and the new energies coming into the world are making a significant difference to what can remain hidden, and how many of the old dysfunctional 3D systems can keep operating. Dare I say it, the wheels appear to be coming off the bus…

I also think we are increasingly able to tap into our inner powers and can instantly discern what feels right or wrong to us - our own personal BS monitors... I also reckon our power of intent and attraction is getting very strong, and we could well end up on the timeline we choose (be it scary or pretty cool). We’re the ones we’ve been waiting for, as the saying goes.

It’s all been massive imo… and it’ll get more massive throughout the year I reckon. Enjoy the ride☺.

[penn]

If 100 pages equals the 100 monkey effect, may the main stream media get out the blow horn and start reporting the truth.

Thank you for all the info gathering this past year. Sabrina, your the best!

[Sabrina]

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/when-oppt-shoe-dropped-evidence-that.html

More on the One People's Public Trust via American Kabuki. What do the number crunching financially literate Avalonians think? Not to be dismissed too lightly or lazily I think :)...Sab.

When the OPPT Shoe Dropped: Evidence That The Black-Screen, Off-ledger Global Accounts Are Real


When the OPPT shoe dropped: Evidence that the black-screen, off-ledger global accounts are real

January 22, 2013
Posted by Paula

Hi all,

Let me take you through two items that appeared in my email inbox over the course of the past week. Both of these items, one video and one .pdf file, are publicly available online. Check it out for yourself.

It’s just amazing what hides in plain sight. It’s also amazing to see what happens when we use our mind’s eye.

Here’s what we’ve learned so far:

On behalf of us, the One People, OPPT has foreclosed on all of the global ‘trust’ accounts. These accounts properly belong to all of us in trust, simply because we’re all citizens of this planet, equally. Each global trust account (and these go by many and various names) represents vast sums of money, all of it backed by gold, silver, and treasure.

That’s a pretty chewy statement but let’s go with it, just as a thought experiment.

OPPT proposes that Ten Billion Dollars ($10,000,000,000) USD is held in trust for each individual on this planet. Well then! What kind of evidence exists that I might use to verify for myself that this story isn’t completely nutbar? Let’s return to the above-mentioned pair of items, which turn out to be very helpful in this regard.

The video, titled ‘Joint Release 3-36.3’, was produced at some point after Dec. 24th, 2012 by UN-SWISSINDO TELEVISION NEWS: GLOBAL WORLD, which seems to be the PR vehicle for announcements from the Soekarno Trust. So in this moment of NOW I'm transcribing the first part of an hour-long video announcing disbursements from the Trust. The payments, one after the other, are literally astronomical (see partial transcript below). There seems little question that this money is in fact available and is being sent out to its named recipients.

[Notice how he speaks of continents as "Kingdoms" also an amazing World Bank document below the fold on the Final 2012 Audio on "infinite bank statements" -AK]

IHnMtIIYxFE



Here’s my partial and slightly challenged transcript of the first 15 mins. of the video, which is all I was able to handle in one go. If someone would like to improve on it, that would be swell:

Joint Release 3-36.3

UN - SWISSINDO TELEVISION NEWS: GLOBAL WORLD

Good day.

I am Director of Joint Communications [unclear]. This is Publication 3-36, authorized release unlimited. ID 452106/66/2012, Trustee, Processee, Dynasty... Swissindo Agreement Joint Release 3-36, Joint Doctrine for Multinational Operations, ID 452106/66/2012.

For keeping information on Transactions and Treaties, International Agreements.

Treaty Event: UN Swissindo Multinational, Special Extra, Thirty Trillion US Dollars, Federal Reserve Bank, to pay to Deposit Control Settlement Investment Deposit, Freedom Forever 111, in official name, ownership [unclear], authority mandate, Personal International Trustee, plus Trustee Dynasty RMSPTD, Beneficial name, Global Development

1. Payment 1: To Committee of Treaty of UN Swissindo Multinational.
Amount: Ninety-Seven Billion ($97,000,000,000) USD.
Date: November 20, 2012.

2. Payment 1: U.N. date 24 [unclear] in the House of Representatives HR 1249, Internal Protocol Number 301 of the Great President of the Kingdom of the United Nations Organization
Amount: Five Hundred Million ($500,000,000) USD
Date: November 20, 2012.

3. Payment 1: Independent Consultant and Contractor Exhibit AB
Amount: Nine Billion and Seven Hundred Million ($9,700,000,000) USD
Date: November 20, 2012

4. Payment 1: For [unclear], Public Property
Amount: Ninety-Seven Billion ($97,000,000,000) USD
Date: November 20, 2012.

5. Payment 1: For UMD UN Swissindo, Treaty Event of Paris
Amount: Ninety-Seven Billion ($97,000,000,000) USD
Date: November 20, 2012.

6. Payment 1: Official Extra to U.N. Members of 193 Nations
Amount: Five Hundred Billion ($500,000,000,000) USD
Total: Forty-Six Trillion and Five Hundred Billion ($46,500,000,000,000) USD
Date: November 20, 2012.

7. Payment 1: U.N. Swissindo Multinational
Date: December 24, 2012

Number 1: N.A.T.O.: One Hundred and Fifty Eight Trillion and Nine Hundred and Ninety Billion ($158,990,000,000,000) USD

Number 2: S.A.T.O.[?]: One Hundred and Thirty Trillion and Nine Hundred Ninety Billion ($130,990,000,000,000) USD

Number 3: NON-BLOC: One Hundred and Thirty-Eight Trillion and Nine Hundred Ninety Billion ($138,990,000,000,000) USD

8. Payment 1: Neo Mercusuar Dunia
Amount: One Hundred and Thirty-Eight Trillion and Nine Hundred and Nineteen Billion ($138,990,000,000,000) USD
Date: December 24, 2012

9. Payment 1: Contract Project
1. Master Key Plan; Date: December 24, 2012
Amount: One Hundred and Thirty-Eight Trillion and Nine Hundred and Ninety Billion ($138,990,000,000,000) USD

1. Master Plan; Date: December 24, 2012
Amount: One Hundred and Thirty-Eight Trillion and Nine Hundred and Ninety Billion ($138,990,000,000,000) USD

10. Payment 1: Global Immunity, The World [unclear] Date: December 24, 2012
Big Top: One Hundred Twenty Person World [unclear] Most Powerful Families
Amount: Ten Billion in [unclear] Currency
Amount: Two Trillion and Two Hundred Fifteen Billion ($2,215,000,000) USD
Date: December 24, 2012

11. Payment 1: [unclear]; Date: December 24, 2012
Number 1: UN Members of 190 Nations
Amount: One Hundred and Thirty-Eight Trillion and One Hundred and Nineteen Billion ($138,119,000,000) USD

Number 2: Top Three Hundred Organizations IPO
Amount: One Hundred and Thirty-Eight Trillion and Nine Hundred and Nineteen Billion ($138,919,000,000,000) USD
Total: Four Hundred and Sixteen Trillion and Nine Hundred and Seventy Billion ($416,970,000,000) USD

Number 3: World and Indonesia [unclear]
Amount: One Hundred and Thirty-Eight Trillion and Nine Hundred and Ninety Billion USD
Total: Three Quadrillion...

[This is really funny! At the 7:30 point in the video, the number is so big that the Communications Director, who now has terrible cotton mouth from reciting non-stop, can't get his tongue around saying it successfully.]

Total: Three Quadrillion and Six Hundred and Thirty Trillion and Seven Hundred and Forty Billion ($3,630,740,000,000,000) USD
3.1. [unclear] Foundation
3.2. [unclear] Foundation
3.3. U.N. Foundation
3.4. [unclear] Republic Indonesia
3.5. USO USA
3.6. MUN [?]
3.7. OMD
3.8. [unclear]
3.9. [unclear] Indonesia
3.10. Billion Big Bang [unclear] A1 1A
3.11. UBS AG
3.12: Bank of America
3.13: Wells Fargo
3.14: Citibank N.A.
3.15. Federal Reserve
3.16. World Bank
3.17. Bank of International Settlements or BIS
3.18. International Monetary Fund
3.19. All Central Banks for 193 and 115 Top World Prime Banks
3.20. International Chamber of Commerce or ICC
3.21 Financial [?] FITFGFI
3.22. Tantara [?] National International TNI [?]
3.23. United Nations Organization
3.24. [unclear] Hospital
3.25. Thirty-Three Provinces
3.26. 29 BUMN
3.27. [unclear] Global Government

Number 4: World Mining or [unclear]
Amount: One Hundred Thirty-Eight Trillion and Nine Hundred and Nineteen Billion ($138,919,000,000,000) USD; Date: December 24, 2012

Number 5: World [unclear]
Amount: One Hundred Thirty-Eight Trillion and Nine Hundred and Nineteen Billion ($138,919,000,000) USD; Date: December 24, 2012

Number 6: World Agricultural or Brittania
Amount: One Hundred Thirty-Eight Trillion and Nine Hundred and Nineteen Billion ($138,919,000,000) USD; Date: December 24, 2012

Number 7: Communication or [unclear] Land, Ocean, and Air
Amount: One Hundred Thirty-Eight Trillion and Nine Hundred and Nineteen Billion ($138,919,000,000) USD; Date: December 24, 2012
Total: Seventeen Billion and Three Hundred and Ninety-One Million and Three Hundred and Four Thousand and Three Hundred and Forty-Eight ($17,391,304,348) USD
Total: Three Quadrillion and Eight Hundred and Ninety-One Trillion and Seven Hundred and Twenty Million ($3,891,000,720,000,000) USD; Date: December 24, 2012

Number 10: Global Development Human Obligation of the Big Five Continents and Requirement Employer of the Consultant on site of the Big Five Continents AAAA2, Asia, Africa, Europe, America, Australia

[who's the consultant? -AK]

10.1. The Great Kingdom of the Continent of Asia
Amount: Twenty-Six Quadrillion and Two Hundred Trillion ($26,200,000,000,000) USD

Date: December 24, 2012
For and on behalf of Continent of Asia, Pilot Project; Date: December 24, 2012

Club 1: Indonesia, 33 Provinces
Amount: One Quadrillion and One Hundred and Sixty-One Trillion ($1,161,000,000,000) USD

Club 2: [unclear]
Six Trillion and Eight Hundred and Sixty-Two Billion ($6,862,000,000,000) USD

Singleton[?] of one or part country, Continent of Africa
Amount: Three Hundred and Thirty Trillion ($330,000,000,000) USD

10.2. The Great Kingdom of the Continent of Africa
Amount: Six Quadrillion, Seven Hundred and Twenty Trillion ($6,720,000,000,000) USD
Date: December 24, 2012; Pilot Project for and on behalf of Africa, the Nation of Africa

10.3. The Great Kingdom of the Continent of Europe
Amount: Five Quadrillion and Nine Hundred and Twenty Trillion ($5,920,000,000,000) USD
Date: December 24, 2012

Singletonl[?] of one or part country, Continent of Africa, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Amount: Thirty-Six Trillion ($36,000,000,000) USD
For and on behalf of Continent of Europe, Nation of Africa

10.4. The Great Kingdom of the Continent of America
Amount: Three Quadrillion and Four Hundred Trillion ($3,400,000,000,000) USD
Date: December 24, 2012; Pilot Project for and on behalf of Continent of Africa,
Nation of Africa

10.5. The Great Kingdom of the Continent of Australia
Amount: One Hundred and Forty-Five Trillion ($145,000,000,000) USD
Date: December 24, 2012; Pilot Project for and on behalf of Continent of Australia,
Nation of Australia

Number 11: Requirement, Consultant, and Contractor, Swissindo, JO[?], Representing the Big Five Continents
Amount: One Hundred and Thirty-Eight Trillion and Nine Hundred and Nineteen Billion (138,919,000,000,000) USD
Date: December 24, 2012

Number 12: OMB [unclear] USA Indonesia
Amount: One Hundred and Thirty-Eight Trillion and Nine Hundred and Nineteen Billion ($138,919,000,000,000) USD
Date: December 24, 2012

• • •

I also offer for your consideration the attached 'Top Secret' 2012 World Bank audit of its black-screen off-ledger accounts. Some impressive signatures are attached to the end of the document. As you’re reading through the audit doc, you might want to keep these three things in mind:

1. it’s important to squint hard at the names of the accounts and the identities of the account holders; this info appears in the first several pages of the doc.

2. the ‘infinity’ symbol looks like a sideways numeral 8. That symbol replaces dollar values in each of the accounts because they are in fact infinite (the accounts are grown and partially harvested when mature, in perpetuity).

3. Really: check out those signatures at the end.

see documents at link or here:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/121752437/The-World-Bank-Group-USA-2012-Final-Audited-Statements

[genevieve]

Sabrina--

Page 100! Bless you a sideways 8 for your loving tenacity!


Peace Love Joy & Harmony,
Genevieve

[Taurean]

Curious maneuver,




January 24, 2013

Commissioner Jill Sommers Announces her Resignation

Washington, DC – Today, Commissioner Jill Sommers made the following statement:

“As I prepare to leave the Commodity Futures Trading Commission I would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of my fellow Commissioners and the many talented staff with whom I have had the pleasure of working for the past five years. While many challenges remain in finalizing the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act, I have every confidence that the American public will be well-served by their continuing efforts.”

http://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/pr6502-13


Dodd-Frank Act

In 2010, the US Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform act, the largest financial regulation overhaul since the 1930s.

Named after its Democratic sponsors in Congress, Senator Chris Dodd and Representative Barney Frank, the law aimed at preventing a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis.

The 2000-page act included sweeping new rules for banks, hedge funds and complex financial transactions called derivatives.

The act also created a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to protect retail users of banking products and a new Financial Stability Oversight Council to watch for looming threats to the financial system.

US regulators are now in the process of churning out hundreds of new rules that cover everything from limiting proprietary trading (taking bets with a bank’s own money rather than for clients) to regulating swaps dealers.

US president Barack Obama, who signed the act into law, said: “The American people will never again be asked to foot the bill for Wall Street’s mistakes,” but many in the financial services sector say the law and accompanying regulations are confusing, expensive and in some cases unworkable.

http://lexicon.ft.com/Term?term=Dodd_Frank-Act

[PathWalker]

Top 'Fast and Furious' official to resign
http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2013/jan/24/top-fast-and-furious-official-resign/

Republicans expressed satisfaction Thursday at news Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, the top Justice Department figure who had knowledge of the botched "Fast and Furious" gun-walking operation, is resigning.

"He knew about reckless tactics, failed to take seriously allegations that they were continuing, and only owned up to his failures once they were publicly exposed," said House oversight committee Chairman Darrell E. Issa, who led a months-long investigation into the botched operation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Mr. Breuer, who runs the Justice Department's criminal division, will become the highest-ranking person involved with the operation to step down. The Washington Post reported his resignation on Wednesday.

The Post said no date for his resignation has been given.

An inspector general's report said Mr. Breuer knew of gun-walking tactics but failed to inform either the attorney general or deputy attorney general.

"Had Breuer taken any action whatsoever, Fast and Furious would have ended eight months sooner than it did. This resignation paves the way for needed new leadership in the Criminal Division," Mr. Issa said.

His resignation follows those of two other top officials — an acting deputy attorney general and a deputy assistant attorney general — who were also criticized by the inspector general for their role in the botched operation, which saw ATF agents knowingly allow guns to be trafficked into Mexico. Two of those weapons later turned up at the scene of a shootout between Border Patrol agents and bandits that left Agent Brian Terry dead.

[Sabrina]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21191552

15 Jan UK

Barclays senior staff 'linked' to Libor affair

A lawyer in a case involving the Libor rigging scandal has said evidence links senior Barclays staff to the affair.

Tim Lord cited alleged communications from the "31st floor" of Barclays HQ - which housed senior executives - about the benchmark market interest rate.

It came after the presiding judge refused to grant anonymity to 104 of the bank's employees, including former heads Bob Diamond and John Varley.

Mr Lord represents a company claiming to be a Barclays mis-selling victim.

Guardian Care Homes accuses the bank of mis-selling it an interest rate hedging product linked to the Libor interest rate which Barclays, and other major international banks based in London, are now known to have manipulated.

Libor, a daily average of borrowing costs announced by a panel of London-based banks, is used to calculate payments on hundreds of trillions of dollars-worth of financial contracts.

Among the other 104 Barclays employees whose requests for anonymity in the case were rejected in the High Court by Mr Justice Julian Flaux were former finance director Chris Lucas, the current investment banking head Richard Ricci, and the former head of regulatory compliance Stephen Morse.

Had their request been granted, their identities would have been redacted from all documents and records studied in the court.

But the judge claimed it was in the public interest to discover how far up the chain of command knowledge of the rigging went, noting "the cat is out of the bag".

He has also instructed Barclays to disclose the minutes from further board meetings at which the interest rate was discussed.

The judge himself has noted that minutes already in the court's possession "showed some debate at a fairly high level in the bank".

A spokesman for Barclays commented: "This started as an alleged mis-selling case which the bank considers has no merit.

"The addition of a claim based on what happened with Libor does not change the bank's view."

and

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9825406/Secret-Libor-list-names-top-Barclays-executives.html

Secret Libor list names top Barclays executives

Senior Barclays executives, including investment banking chief Rich Ricci and finance director Chris Lucas, have been identified on a “shortlist” of 25 names by regulators investigating the bank’s manipulation of Libor.

The names were disclosed on Thursday alongside emails which appeared to suggest that some of Barclays’ most senior managers were aware of the rigging.

One message, sent to an employee who was responsible for submitting dollar-Libor rates and raised concerned about the rate-setting process, said: “Guidance, if you can call it that, from the 31st floor is that we don’t stick our head above the parapet in any circumstance.”

The 31st floor is a reference to the floor of Barclays’ Canary Wharf HQ where many of the company’s group managers have their offices. Sources close to the company claim the email, sent by Miles Story, a manager in the bank’s treasury department, was making a “generic reference to senior management” rather than board members.

The details were made public following the dismissal of an attempt by more than 100 current and former Barclays staff, including all but one of the shortlist, to seek anonymity. It came ahead of the UK’s first trial related to the rigging of the benchmark interest rate.

Also on the shortlist are former chief executive Bob Diamond and former chief operating officer Jerry del Missier, who both resigned following the Libor scandal. Mark Dearlove, the current head of the bank’s money-market desk who is responsible for the bank’s Libor submissions, and Stephen Morse, the former head of compliance, are also named. The longer list ranges from senior executives to traders.

The identity of all 104 individuals came to light in a case brought by Guardian Care Homes, which is seeking about £38m in damages from Barclays over interest rate swaps it claims it was mis-sold by the bank. Guardian says the swap product it was sold was tied to Libor, which it argues was set dishonestly.

Barclays was ordered to give lawyers working for Guardian the identities and emails of staff that it passed to regulators investigating Libor-fixing. Mr Justice Flaux told the High Court yesterday: “The cat is out of the bag. It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to work out who they are.” He emphasised that “it does not follow that [those on the shortlist] are people implicated in any wrongdoing – some are and some aren’t”.

The 25 individuals had previously been referred to anonymously in documents relating to the bank’s settlement with regulators over the scandal, which resulted in a £290m fine. Some were interviewed by Barclays and had disciplinary proceedings taken against them, and some were exonerated. The other 80 individuals who sought anonymity are not said to have been involved in Libor manipulation.

A spokesman for Barclays said: “The fact that someone’s documents were reviewed by the bank during its review of millions of documents does not mean that such person was involved in any wrongdoing.”

[Hervé]

US banks shaken by biggest deposit withdrawals since 9/11
http://rt.com/business/news/us-major-deposit-withdrawal-740/
Published: 25 January, 2013, 15:45


http://rt.com/files/business/news/us-major-deposit-withdrawal-740/raedle-images-joe-getty.n.jpg
Joe Raedle / Getty Images / AFP


US Federal Reserve is reporting a major deposit withdrawal from the nation’s bank accounts. The financial system hasn’t seen such a massive fund outflow since 9/11 attacks.

­The first week of January 2013 has seen $114 billion withdrawn from 25 of the US’ biggest banks, pushing deposits down to $5.37 trillion, according to the US Fed. Financial analysts suggest it could be down to the Transaction Account Guarantee insurance program coming to an end on December 31 last year and clients moving their money that is no longer insured by the government.

The program was introduced in the wake of the 2008 crisis in order to support the banking system. It provided insurance for around $1.5 trillion in non-interest-bearing accounts with a limit of $250,000. It was aimed at medium and small banks as the creators of the program believed bigger banks would cope with the crisis themselves.

So the current “fast pace” of withdrawal comes as a surprise to financial analysts because the deposits are slipping away from those banks which supposedly were safe. Experts expected savers in small and medium banks would turn to bigger players come December 31.

There are a number of reasons behind this unpredicted fund outflow. Some experts believe it has to do with the beginning of the year when the money is randomly needed here and there. Others have concluded the funds are getting down to business and being invested.

Another set of data from the US Federal Reserve shows some deposits may have moved within the banking system from one type of account to another.

[Sabrina]

http://news.sky.com/story/1043640/exclusive-banks-fury-at-mis-selling-probe

27 Jan UK

Exclusive: Banks' Fury At Mis-Selling Probe

The bosses of major UK banks hold secret talks over the industry's "persecution" by its new chief watchdog, Sky News learns.


The bosses of Britain's major banks have mounted a coruscating attack on their new regulator as they brace for the outcome of a new mis-selling probe that will result in another multi-billion pound compensation bill for the industry.

I have learned that the chief executives of some of the biggest high street lenders met for secret talks earlier this month, at which they shared profound concerns about the approach of Martin Wheatley, head of the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), to the mis-selling of interest rate-hedging products to small businesses.

The bank chiefs are understood to be concerned that Mr Wheatley will ignore recent victories for banks in mis-selling court cases and establish a compensation framework that could cost them as much as £10bn.

One bank executive said: "Repaying customers who have been mis-sold to is right and proper, but he [Mr Wheatley] seems to have an agenda to persecute the banks which goes way beyond that.

"It is getting to the point where investors will have to apply a 'Wheatley discount' to bank share prices."

The banking sector is braced for its latest bruising battle with Mr Wheatley to unfold this week when the Financial Services Authority (FSA) announces the results of a long-running pilot programme aimed at assessing the scale of redress owed to customers who were mis-sold interest rate swaps.

The FCA will be spun out of the FSA later this year.

I understand that Mr Wheatley has written in recent weeks to Royal Bank of Scotland (and possibly other major banks) to warn them that recent court victories will not determine the structure of the complaints resolution regime that will be outlined on Thursday.

In December, RBS won a case in the High Court, which dismissed a claim by a Lancashire hotelier and his business partner who had alleged that the bank had mis-sold them an interest rate swap in May 2005 as a form of insurance against their existing loan liabilities.

The attack by the bank chiefs on Mr Wheatley's handling of the swaps and other conduct-related issues was made during private talks, and is unlikely to be repeated in public.

At least one bank chief executive, however, plans to write to George Osborne, the Chancellor, to warn that the "over-zealous" FCA approach risks grave consequences for the wider economy by eating further into banks' capital reserves.

The interest rate swaps scandal comes in the wake of the payment protection insurance debacle, which has already cost the major banks well over £10bn, and with little prospect of an end to the rise in compensation costs.

Swaps are products which provide a form of insurance in the event that (in this case) there was a steep rise in interest rates during the period covered by the product.

After the banking crisis hit, deep cuts to interest rates left thousands of customers facing bills far larger than the interest they were having to pay.

The banking industry has argued robustly that the fact that some customers were left facing large bills provides in itself no evidence that the swap products were mis-sold.

To date, Barclays has set aside £450m for customer compensation, RBS £50m and HSBC a little over £130m.

Lloyds Banking Group has said the sums involved will be "not material" to it, but it could still involve a tab running to hundreds of millions of pounds.

The banks are not the only stakeholders concerned about the outcome of the swaps probe.

The Financial Times quoted Mike Cherry, national policy chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, calling for the range of businesses eligible to apply for compensation to be expanded.

[Sabrina]

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/president-george-hw-bush-religious.html

President George HW Bush Religious Crusade Bonds

Laundered Drug Money

The following is from a being known as Ernest Bey aka "Ernest Rauthchild" (no current known relationship to the banking family Rothschild)....

These are the bonds financing President George HW Bush Religious Crusade including the identifiers. They are said (by Earnest) to be laundered drug trafficking money.

-American Kabuki

http://www.scribd.com/doc/122470438/Pres-George-H-W-Bush-Global-Religious-Crusade-Bonds

And see screen shots at top link

[Sabrina]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/l-randall-wray/new-yorks-us-bankruptcy-c_b_824167.html


L. Randall WrayProfessor of Economics and Research Director of the Center for Full Employment and Price Stability, University of Missouri–Kansas City
Posted: February 16, 2011 03:00 PM


New York's U.S. Bankruptcy Court Rules MERS's Business Model Is Illegal

United States Bankruptcy Judge Robert Grossman has ruled that MERS's business practices are unlawful. He explicitly acknowledged that this ruling sets a precedent that has far-reaching implications for half of the mortgages in this country. MERS is dead. The banks are in big trouble. And all foreclosures should be stopped immediately while the legislative branch comes up with a solution.

For some weeks I have been arguing that MERS is perpetrating foreclosure fraud all across the nation. Its business model makes it impossible to legally foreclose on any mortgaged property registered within its system -- which includes half of the outstanding mortgages in the US. MERS was a fraud from day one, whose purpose was to evade property recording fees and to subvert five centuries of property law. Its chickens have come home to roost.

Wall Street wanted to transform America's housing sector into the world's biggest casino and needed to undermine property rights to make it easier to run the scam. The payoffs were bigger for lenders who could induce homeowners to take mortgages they could not possibly afford. The mortgages were packaged into securities sold-on to patsy investors who were defrauded by the "reps and warranties" falsely certifying the securities as backed by top grade loans. In fact the securities were not backed by mortgages, and in any case the mortgages were sure to go bad. Given that homeowners would default, the Wall Street banks that serviced the mortgages needed a foreclosure steamroller to quickly and cheaply throw families out of the homes so that they could be resold to serve as purported collateral for yet more gambling bets. MERS -- the industry's creation -- stepped up to the plate to facilitate the fraud. The judge has ruled that its practices are illegal. MERS and the banks lose; investors and homeowners win.

Here's MERS's business model in brief. Real estate property sales and mortgages are supposed to be recorded in local recording offices, with fees paid. With the rise of securitization, each mortgage might be sold a dozen times before it came to rest as the collateral behind a mortgage backed security (MBS), and each of those sales would need to be recorded. MERS was created to bypass public recording; it would be listed in the county records as the "mortgagee of record" and the "nominee" of the holder of mortgage. Members of MERS could then transfer the mortgage from one to another without all the trouble of changing the local records, simply by (voluntarily) recording transactions on MERS's registry.

A mortgage has two parts, the "note" and the "security" (not to be confused with the MBS) or "deed of trust" that is usually just called the "mortgage". The idea behind MERS was that the "note" would be transferred from seller to purchaser, but the "mortgage" would be held by MERS. In fact, MERS recommended that the "note" be held by the mortgage servicer to facilitate foreclosures, but in practice it seems that the notes were often lost or destroyed (which is why all those Burger King Kids were hired to Robo-sign "lost note affidavits").

At each transfer, the note and mortgage are supposed to be "assigned" to the new owner; MERS claimed that because it was the "mortgagee of record" and the "nominee" of both parties to every transaction, there was no need to assign the "mortgage" until foreclosure. And it argued that since the old adage is that the "mortgage follows the note" and that both parties intended to assign the notes (even if they did not get around to doing it), then the Bankruptcy Court should rule that the assignments did take place in some sort of "virtual reality" so that there is a clear chain of title that allows the servicers to foreclose.

The Judge rejected every aspect of MERS's argument. The Court rejected the claim that MERS could be both holder of the mortgage as well as nominee of the "true" owner. It also found that "mortgagee of record" is a vague term that does not give one legal standing as mortgagee. Hence, at best, MERS is only a nominee. It rejected MERS's claim that as nominee it can assign notes or mortgages -- a nominee has limited rights and those most certainly do not include the right to transfer ownership unless there is specific written instruction to do so. In scarcely veiled anger, the Judge wrote:

"According to MERS, the principal/agent relationship among itself and its members is created by the MERS rules of membership and terms and conditions, as well as the Mortgage itself. However, none of the documents expressly creates an agency relationship or even mentions the word "agency." MERS would have this Court cobble together the documents and draw inferences from the words contained in those documents."

Judge Grossman rejected MERS's arguments, saying that mere membership in MERS does not provide "agency" rights to MERS, and agreeing with the Supreme Court of Kansas that ruled "The parties appear to have defined the word [nominee] in much the same way that the blind men of Indian legend described an elephant -- their description depended on which part they were touching at any given time."

He went on to disparage MERS's claim that since in legal theory the "mortgage follows the note", the Court should overlook the fact that MERS separated them. He stopped just short of saying that by separating them, MERS has irretrievably destroyed the clear chain of title, although he hinted that a future ruling could come to that conclusion:

"MERS argues that notes and mortgages processed through the MERS System are never "separated" because beneficial ownership of the notes and mortgages are always held by the same entity. The Court will not address that issue in this Decision, but leaves open the issue as to whether mortgages processed through the MERS system are properly perfected and valid liens. See Carpenter v. Longan, 83 U.S. at 274 (finding that an assignment of the mortgage without the note is a nullity); Landmark Nat'l Bank v. Kesler, 216 P.3d 158, 166-67 (Kan. 2009) ("[I]n the event that a mortgage loan somehow separates interests of the note and the deed of trust, with the deed of trust lying with some independent entity, the mortgage may become unenforceable")."
That would mean not only the end of MERS, but also the end of the banks holding unenforceable mortgages because they were not, and cannot be, "perfected". MERS and the banks screwed up big time, and there is no "do over" -- there is no valid lien on the property, so owners have got their homes free and clear.

There have been numerous court rulings against MERS -- including decisions made by state supreme courts. What is significant about the US Bankruptcy Court of New York's ruling is that the judge specifically set out to examine the legality of MERS's business model. As the judge argued in the decision, "The Court believes this analysis is necessary for the precedential effect it will have on other cases pending before this Court". In the scathing opinion, Judge Grossman variously labeled MERS's positions as "stunningly inconsistent" with the facts, "absurd, at best", and "not supported by the law". The ruling is a complete repudiation of every argument MERS has made about the legality of its procedures.

What is particularly ironic is that MERS actually forced the judge to undertake the examination of its business model. The case before the judge involved a foreclosed homeowner who had already lost in state court. The homeowner then approached the US Bankruptcy Court to argue that the foreclosing bank did not have legal standing because of MERS's business practices. However, by the "Rooker-Feldman" doctrine (or res judicata), the US Bankruptcy Court is prohibited from "looking behind" the state court's decision to determine the issue of legal standing. Hence, Judge Grossman ruled in the bank's favor on that particular issue.

Yet, MERS's high priced lawyers wanted to push the issue and asked for the Judge to rule in favor of MERS's practices, too. So while MERS won the little battle over one foreclosed home, it lost the war against the nation's homeowners. The Judge ruled against MERS on every single issue of importance. And it was MERS's stupid arrogance that brought it down.

As I predicted two weeks ago, MERS would be dead within weeks. Judge Grossman has driven the final stake through its black heart. The half of America's homeowners whose mortgages are registered at MERS have been handed a "get out of jail free" card. Wall Street has no right to foreclose on their property. The tide has turned. It won't be easy, but homeowners in those states with judicial foreclosures now have Judge Grossman on their side. Those in the other states (just over half) will have a tougher time because they can lose their home before they ever get to court. But the law is still on their side -- foreclosure by members of MERS is theft -- so class action lawsuits may be the way to go.

MERS is dead, but can the banks survive? There are two separate issues. First, there are the "reps and warranties" given by the mortgage securitizers (Wall Street investment banks) to the investors (pension funds, GSEs, PIMCO, and so on). We now know that a quarter to a third of the mortgages bundled to serve as backing for the securities did not meet stated quality. Worse, we also know that the banks knew this -- they hired third parties to undertake "due diligence" to check quality. This was not done to protect the investors, rather, the purpose was to strengthen the bargaining position of the securitizers, who were able to reduce the prices paid for the mortgages. Now, the investors are suing the banks for restitution--forcing them to cover the losses and buy-back the bad mortgages at original price. To add insult to injury, even the NYFed is suing them. That is a lot like having your parents sue you for their inadequate parental oversight of your behavior.

The second issue is that the mortgages backing the securities were supposed to be placed in Trusts (affiliates of the securitizing banks), with the Trustee certifying not only that the mortgages met the reps and warranties but also that the documents were up to snuff and safely locked away. We know they were not. As mentioned above, MERS told the servicers to hold the notes, and many or most of them were destroyed or lost. Further, the notes were separated from the mortgages -- making them null and void. In any case, they are not at the Trusts. This means the MBSs are not backed by mortgages, meaning the MBSs are unsecured debt. MERS's business model ensures that. So, again, the banks must take back the fraudulent securities -- paying off the investors.

What can Wall Street do? Well, I suppose the "help wanted" signs are already up at MERS and Wall Street banks: "Needed: Burger King Kids to Robo-sign forged quasi-professional-looking docs". The problem is that even with tens of thousands of Robo-Kids, Wall Street will not be able to pull off a vast criminal conspiracy on the necessary scale. Think about it: 60 million mortgages, each sold ten times, means 600 million transactions and assignments that have to be forged. MERS's documentation was notoriously sloppy, relying on voluntary recording by members. The Robo-Kids would have to go back through a decade of records to manufacture a paper trail that would convince now-skeptical judges that there is a clear chain of title from the first recording in the public record through to the foreclosure. It ain't going to happen.

The only other hope is that Wall Street can call in its campaign contribution chips and get Congress to retroactively legalize fraud. That is what they do in those dictatorships that protestors are now bringing down in the Middle East. Is Washington willing to take that risk, just to please its Wall Street benefactors?

The court document is available here. It is terrific reading.

This post originally appeared at Benzinga.

[Sabrina]

http://www.smh.com.au/world/human-guinea-pigs-in-dark-on-drug-trials-20130126-2ddl2.html#ixzz2JBF00GZy

India 27 Jan

Human guinea pigs in dark on drug trials

INDIA's Supreme Court has condemned the global pharmaceutical industry, saying it has been using its citizens as ''guinea pigs''.

The court has restricted clinical drug trials countrywide after hearing evidence that new experimental medicines were being trialled on people, including children and the disabled, without their knowledge or permission.

''It pains us that illiterate people and the children of India are being used as guinea pigs by the multinational drug companies … uncontrolled clinical trials are creating havoc in the country,'' Justice R.M.Lodha said from the bench this month.

The court has imposed direct control of clinical trials on the health secretary, stripping authority from the government agency, the Drug Controller General, whose inaction, the court said, was allowing multinational pharmaceutical companies to run ''rackets'' across India.

Advertisement
''You have to protect the health of the citizens of the country. It is your obligation. Deaths must be arrested and illegal trials must be stayed.''

Precise figures are hard to find, but health organisations estimate that anywhere between 350,000 and 2 million people have been involved in the trials, some of which have been conducted using Australian government money.

As revealed in a Fairfax Media investigation, clinical drug trials are at the centre of a growing controversy in India, as evidence emerges before courts and, in government inquiries, of patients being put onto drug trials without their knowledge or consent, of patients dying and their families being left without compensation, and of doctors being paid generous commissions to enlist as many subjects as they can.

Figures from the drugs controller- general show that in 2011 there were deaths during clinical trials conducted by, or on behalf of, Novartis, Quintiles, Pfizer, Bayer, Bristol Mayer Squibb, and MSD Pharmaceutical.

Doctors are being told what to say - word for word - by the drug manufacturers in their assessment of the drugs they are supposed to be trialling, a parliamentary committee has found.

[Sabrina]

http://networkedblogs.com/Hy8dc

GOLD BANK RUN ACCELERATING: First Venezuela, Then Germany, The Netherlands, And Now Switzerland Want Their Gold Back!!

Bundesbank: ‘The Gold Repatriation Is – Without Doubt- “Preemptive” In Case A “Currency Crisis” Hits The European Monetary Union.’ Every Other Bank, Corporation, And Individual Will Scramble To Recover Their Own Gold Located In Some Vault In London, New York, or Paris…

FIRST VENEZUELA, THEN GERMANY, AND NOW THE NETHERLANDS WANT THEIR GOLD BACK. (OCT. 2012)

NETHERLANDS’ CITIZENS GROUP DEMANDS CENTRAL BANK REVEAL LOCATION OF COUNTRY’S GOLD RESERVES

In the wake of this week’s ruling by the German Federal Accountability Office that Germany must repatriate and audit 150 tons of its gold reserves from the NY Fed over the next 3 years, a Netherlands citizens committee has filed a petition demanding the Central Bank release information ”on the quantity and storage location of the Netherlands’ physical gold, and on the extent and nature of the gold claims.”

In the words of one of the petitioners Tom Lassing: “The last years have seen a loss of trust in the financial system and we have been fooled a lot. So I say: Just let the central banks like DNB show the gold is really there.

Should the citizens committee be successful, we are confident they will discover the vast majority of the country’s gold reserves- 10th largest in the world at 612,000 kilograms, are held in the basement of the NY Fed.

As we stated several days ago, the jig is now up. The German accountability office will trigger an avalanche of gold audit, delivery, and repatriation requests around the Western world. We wish the Fed luck staying ahead of the cascading avalanche of requests to convert unallocated (rehypothecated) gold into solid physical metal. They’re going to need it.

From Nederlands Dageblad

Almost 300 “concerned Netherlands citizens” have joined the German initiative for insight about the gold reserves….

THE GERMANS WANT THEIR GOLD RESERVES BACK IN GERMANY (JAN. 2013)
The startling news that Germany is repatriating its gold reserves from the United States and France has got precious metals speculators worried that this is the first major sign that trust between central banks across the globe could be deteriorating.

After all there is much anxiety in financial capitols about the future of the Euro as well as the feeling that the almost constant printing of new dollars to keep America running portends a terrible crisis down the road. And that crisis in the value of paper money makes physical possession of gold a no brainer. Gold, after all, has moved up every year for the last 5 years, from $900 an ounce to $1800 an ounce before slipping under $1700 an ounce. Germany has also reversed its 2011 policy of keeping gold abroad to ease the raising of foreign currency. Nativism and the uncertainty of Europe’s monetary stability warranted getting the gold back.

THE NETHERLANDS, AND NOW SWITZERLAND WANT THEIR GOLD BACK CURRENCY WAR?
But Pimco co-CEO El Erian says:

In the first instance, it could translate into pressures on other countries to also repatriate part of their gold holdings. After all, if you can safely store your gold at home — a big if for some countries — no government would wish to be seen as one of the last to outsource all of this activity to foreign central banks.

As we noted last November:

Romania has demanded for many years that Russia return its gold.

Last year, Venezuela demanded the return of 90 tons of gold from the Bank of England.

***

As Zero Hedge notes (quoting Bloomberg):

Ecuador’s government wants the nation’s banks to repatriate about one third of their foreign holdings to support national growth, the head of the country’s tax agency said.

Carlos Carrasco, director of the tax agency known as the SRI, said today that Ecuador’s lenders could repatriate about $1.7 billion and still fulfill obligations to international clients. Carrasco spoke at a congressional hearing in Quito on a government proposal to raise taxes on banks to finance cash subsidies to the South American nation’s poor.

Four members of the Swiss Parliament want Switzerland to reclaim its gold.

Some people in the Netherlands want their gold back as well.…

CURRENCY WAR?
The gold repatriation is – without doubt- related to currency.

As Forbes notes:

Officials at the Bundesbank … acknowledged the move is “preemptive” in case a “currency crisis” hits the European Monetary Union.

***

“No, we have no intention to sell gold,” a Bundesbank spokesman said on the phone Wednesday, “[the relocation] is in case of a currency crisis.”

Reggie Middleton thinks that Germany’s demand for its gold is part of a currency war.

World War 3 IMMINENT? CHINA QUADRUPLING RICE Imports In 2012. FED Printing Money Every Month In 2013. COUNTRIES RECALLING THEIR GOLD

Rutt Row !! Now the Swiss want their Gold back ….Here we go folks !! GOLDGATE !

This is gonna be epic !!

Where are the 1,040 tonnes of gold the Swiss National Bank? There’s an initiative in Switzerland demanding to know where the Swiss Gold is.

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&eotf=1&u=http://www.20min.ch/finance/news/story/Gold-Initiative-bereitet-der-SNB-Kopfzerbrechen-12181140&act=url

http://www.20min.ch/finance/news/story/Gold-Initiative-bereitet-der-SNB-Kopfzerbrechen-12181140

GOLD BANK RUN ACCELERATING…NOW THE SWISS WANT THEIR GOLD BACK- ALL 1040 TONS OF IT!
With last week’s announcement by the Bundesbank of the repatriation of 674 tons of German gold from Paris and NY over the next 7 years, we predicted that an avalanche of gold repatriation requests would soon be made to the BOE and the NYFed.

It appears that Switzerland may be next to the game, much to the dismay of the SNB. The Swiss gold initiative, an initiative to Secure the Swiss National Bank’s Gold Reserves, launched in March 2012 by four members of the Swiss parliament, has grown to 90,000 supporters.

Once 100,000 supporters are achieved, the Swiss Parliament must take up the referendum.

The initiative asserts that the Swiss people should have a right to vote on 3 things, none of which will please the banking cartel:

1. To keep Swiss gold physically in Switzerland (ie repatriate Switzerland’s gold)
2. Preventing/forbidding the SNB from selling any more of its gold reserves
3. Requiring the SNB to hold a minimum of 20% of its assets in physical gold, held within Switzerland.

Not surprisingly, the Swiss National Bank doesn’t wish to disclose where it’s physical gold is held, but it may soon be forced to once the initiative achieves 100,000 supporters.

674 tons repatriated here, 1040 tons repatriated there, pretty soon we’re talking real money!

IT BEGINS: ECUADOR DEMANDS REPATRIATION OF ONE THIRD OF ITS GOLD HOLDINGS (OCT. 2012)
One week ago, when we reported the news that the Bundesbank had secretly pulled two thirds of its gold from London years ago, we said the following:

We are confident that little if anything will be made of the Buba’s action, because dwelling on it too much may expose just who the first country will be (or already has been) when the tide finally breaks, and when it will be every sovereign for themselves. Because at that point, which will come eventually, not only Buba, but every other bank, corporation, and individual will scramble to recover their own gold located in some vault in London, New York, or Paris, or at your friendly bank vault down the street, and instead will merely find a recently emptied storage room with humorously written I.O.U. letters in the place of 1 kilo gold bricks.

It appears that the story, which has refused to go away, was not covered sufficiently fast, and precisely the worst case scenario – at least for the “asset-lite” status quo – is slowly but surely starting to materialize. From Bloomberg:

Ecuador’s government wants the nation’s banks to repatriate about one third of their foreign holdings to support national growth, the head of the country’s tax agency said.

Carlos Carrasco, director of the tax agency known as the SRI, said today that Ecuador’s lenders could repatriate about $1.7 billion and still fulfill obligations to international clients. Carrasco spoke at a congressional hearing in Quito on a government proposal to raise taxes on banks to finance cash subsidies to the South American nation’s poor.

So yesterday: Germany… today: Ecuador… tomorrow: the World?

WORLD CENTRAL BANKS WANT THEIR GOLD AT HOME — SHOULD INVESTORS? (GLD, GDX)
In an effort to meet their rising debt obligations, central banks around the globe have been printing money at a frantic pace. This phenomena is also leading to a global battle in which countries purposely weaken their currencies in an effort to increase their exports. Japan yesterday raised its inflation target from 1% to 2% and will be buying 13 trillion in yen-based assets per month starting in January 2014. The most interesting part of this global race to reinflate economies and weaken currency? Central banks are bringing most of their gold back to within their borders….

http://www.investmentblogwatch.com / link to orginal article

25 Jan

[Sabrina]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-21175531

Do India's political parties condone corruption?

India

Nearly a third of Indian MPs face criminal charges
Related Stories

Why India is in dire need of electoral reform

A panel reviewing India's laws on sex crimes after the fatal gang rape of a student has highlighted the problem of criminalisation of politics and asked lawmakers facing severe charges to voluntarily quit as a mark of respect to the parliament and the constitution.

Last year, India's most respected election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms informed us that nearly a third of MPs - 158 of 543 - in the parliament faced criminal charges.

New research has now thrown up more bad news.

After examining affidavits filed by candidates to the Election Commission at the time of contesting elections, the watchdog found that a third of all lawmakers at the centre and all states - or 1,448 of 4,835 - faced criminal charges.

A total of 641 declared serious criminal cases like rape, murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, robbery and extortion, among other things.

The watchdog also found that 98 candidates facing corruption cases were given tickets by various political parties during general and state elections in the last five years. Thirty-six of them have won the polls. They include seven MPs and 29 state legislators.

All parties appear to be responsible for this disturbing state of affairs.

The Congress party, which has promised people stronger anti-corruption laws, actually gave tickets to 24 candidates facing corruption charges in general and state assembly polls in the last five years.

The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gave tickets to five such candidates. Six key regional parties gave away tickets to 35 such candidates.

During the last general elections alone, 15 candidates with corruption cases against them were given tickets by political parties - the Congress party awarded four such candidates.

There's more.

A total of 80 candidates facing corruption charges have been given tickets by political parties in elections to state assemblies in the last five years. Twenty-nine of them have won the elections and are currently serving as lawmakers.

The majority (eight) belong to the Congress party, and most of the winners (seven) are from the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

All this makes for very depressing news. It also makes many wonder whether India's political parties can ever be serious about fighting corruption when they condone it so openly.

When will they stop giving tickets to candidates facing criminal and corruption charges? What about "fast-tracking" the cases against MPs and legislators facing these charges? The political class is totally silent on these matters.

25 Jan

[KiwiElf]

Two Bumi directors say not supportive of Rothschild's plans - FT
Reuters January 28, 2013, 2:40 pm

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/15967174/two-bumi-directors-say-not-supportive-of-rothschilds-plans-ft/

By Costas Pitas

LONDON (Reuters) - Two directors of Bumi Plc whom Nat Rothschild proposed keeping on the board of the Indonesia-focused coal miner said they do not support his plans to take back control of the company, The Financial Times reported.

Speaking to the rest of the board last week, Steven Shapiro and Graham Hearne said they did not back Rothschild who requested a shareholder vote with the aim of replacing 12 of 14 directors at the London-listed company, reported the FT.

According to the newspaper, the pair, who had both been directors of Vallar which later became Bumi, said they would resign if Rothschild secured enough support to oust the board.

Bumi's co-founders Rothschild and Indonesia's influential Bakrie family are locked in a bitter battle over plans for the future of the miner.

The two sides got together in 2010 to bring promising Indonesian assets to London, but their relationship quickly soured. The venture has instead been marked by crumbling shares - not helped by falling coal prices - an investigation into financial wrongdoing and investor battles.

The Bakries said last year they planned to unwind the company, drawing a line under their London venture and taking back the assets they and partners brought in.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas; Editing by Ryan Woo)

[Pete]

I have just come across this on American Kabuki and it did resonate most strongly with me. I apologise, if you have already seen this or feel that it is not relevant to this thread, I just felt compelled to share it here.

I also wondered if you were aware of the 2012portal.org conference

London, UK
Portal Conference

February 15th -17th, 2013

Hoxton Gallery, 12-18 Hoxton Street, London N1 6NG

see you there!



http://removingtheshackles.blogspot.ca/2013/01/jan-24-update-tantrums-spinning-wheels.html

THURSDAY, 24 JANUARY 2013
Posted by D. from Removing The Shackles


Tantrums, Spinning Wheels and falling off the top of the mountain
Ok, so I thought that going on a radio show and explaining everything that has been happening and the realizations that my inner brain finally beat my outer brain to accept.... against it's will I might add was the best way to get the information out. But obviously the problems with the audio caused issues and that didn't really work out so well. So let me try this again.

As I said on the show two days ago....

One of the biggest problems when gathering intel and information is maintaining neutrality. I have always prided myself on the fact that I have been able to keep things in perspective (most of the time) because I don't have a political, religious or racial agenda, which makes analyzing intel and data in neutrality much easier. BUT... what I hadn't factored into that is the fact that when you want something so badly, you use that want to block out other information that your subconscious picks up.

For the past six months as intel and information about the "RV" and the new financial system has been coming to me through various sources, I have had niggling doubts and questions about everything that has been happening and the people/organizations that have been involved. Some of you have also had these questions pop up in your brain because I've read them in your comments. Each of these comments furthered the doubts in my own mind and drove me to try to understand the situation on a higher level.

When I got involved in digging for intel on my own- because I realized that there were huge missing pieces in the information being put out by the "gurus"- I spent months researching everything: NESARA, World Global Settlements, Wanta Funds, St Germain and the World Trust Fund, the new financial system, the Collateral Accounts, etc, and storing all that information away for future reference. This also included a crash course in American Politics and Economic/Financial History. The more I researched, the more questions I had about the intel that I was getting and the motives behind it.

For example:

- If NESARA would also be opening the Patent Office and releasing the "new technologies", then why are the Chinese making arrangements with the various Dinar Groups to buy up their IQD at higher rates for Oil Credits? If all these new technologies are going to be opened to the public, (and yes they are real and yes there is such things a zero point energy and free energy devices) , then the use of oil was about to be radically diminished. So why is China buying up all the oil credits they can get their hands on?

- If "Debt Forgiveness" is part of NESARA, and if the Cabal are going to be arrested for their crimes- including the financial crimes that have plunged the world into economic turmoil, then why are these massive amounts of money being shipped all over the world to pay off "National/Debts"? Debt "Forgiveness" in my mind didn't mean paying off those debts to the cabal bankers/controllers that were holding entire countries hostage over those "debts". That made no sense to me. The Cabal controlled Central Banks are the ones that got us into this situation, why would "they" pay out money to them to get rid of a "debt" that in reality doesn't even exist? Yet I had incontrovertible evidence that this was EXACTLY what was happening.

- Yes, China holds a lot of the US's "Debt", and is obviously part of the BRICs and non- aligned nations that have supposedly said "Enough is Enough!!" about the horrifically corrupt US Federal Reserve bank's strangle-hold on the global economy. Yes, the US has tried to rip China off by paying them in Tungsten filled "gold bars". Yes, China's falling economy is directly linked to the failing economy in the US as American consumers can no longer afford to by Chinese made goods. Yes, China has over powered the Federal Reserve dollars by doing all trade in their own currency..... hmmmmmmmm..... none of these are motives that say "saving humanity and ushering in the golden age".

- Yet intel sources and "gurus" are trying to laud China as being the "Saviour of America and it's peoples". We've been told over and over again that a certain Chinese woman has been working with the new UST, with the IMF, with the BIS with the United Nations and Wells Fargo, to push the Global Currency Revaluation and the new Financial System through..... ummmmmm UST? IMF? BIS? Wells Fargo? United Nations? These are all Cabal controlled agencies that are just puppets used by the grand puppet masters to control all of the world.

- Then there is the intel about how this certain asian lady has been bribing a certain high(est) up American official to "stand aside" and sign off on the RV- to the tune of BILLIONS of dollars. Bribing? In what universe is THAT part of debt forgiveness or arresting the Cabal or NESARA?

- And then there is the fact that NESARA is suppose to roll out world wide. Correct me if I'm wrong, but NESARA is based on the American Constitution. What Right do they have to push the American Constitution onto other nations and people?

These are just a few of the questions that have been nagging me over and over again for months and months.

BUT, like most of you, I am Desperate. I want all these things to roll out world wide- so much so that for months I continuously shushed my inner mind on these questions and just kept pushing forward with the idea that it would all work out just fine. And when I laid in bed at night and I couldn't shut my inner brain off that was screaming that this is all about corruption and lies, I consoled myself by saying "Well, when the money comes through and I set up my foundations I will be able to help so many people and be able to get things in motion to create REAL change!"

Right up until about 10 days ago, I continued to force myself to believe in the charade that was being perpetrated on the people of Earth under the guise of the golden age of freedom.

Yes, the arrests took place on Dec 5th. Yes, Boehner was sworn in as Interim president on Dec 6th. Those are facts. I don't care if you don't believe me, that's your choice.

December 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th.... we were told that the announcements and full disclosure would roll out immediately. They didn't. For WEEKS we have been told to expect the announcements "imminently"..... Not just my sources, but all of us have heard this from all our sources from all levels of government, 3 letter agencies, foreign gov people, military.... BUT.... nothing happened.

When I got in touch with Heather, Trustee for The People's Trust, for the first time, it was like speaking to my best friend whom I hadn't seen in a year or two. There was an instant connection that was unbelievably intense. When I read the UCC documents and each of the Releases that have been filed, they jumped out at me like fireworks- while I struggled with the legalese and the non-3D language of the documents, I KNEW at the deepest level of consciousness that THIS is what I had been waiting for to happen.

As we discussed more and more of the background of OPPT, the Trustees, and the current Intel, Heather and I didn't always see eye to eye on everything. I had a smug superiority over everything to do with the RV and the new system, thinking that I really had a much better understanding of all that had been happening (and to Heather's credit, she didn't laugh at me even once!!). Heather was the epitome of saintly patience as I explained to her over and over that NESARA would be announced and that everything would be wonderfully fixed.

And of course, all during these days and days of discussions with Heather, I had continuous conference calls with various people- all of whom are telling me "Announcements Today/tonight/tomorrow"..... and of course, none of them happened. And certain sources of mine (who are in a position to make this statement) by last week were almost working themselves into an apoplectic fit and spluttering that there is no way on this earth that they would allow the inauguration to go forward.... and yet, of course, we all saw it happen, didn't we?

Finally, after weeks of refusing to listen to the inner voice that was by this time screaming at me at the top of it's proverbial lungs I woke up one morning last week and the entire situation was crystal clear.

NESARA and all the package that comes with it has been usurped by the "Cabal" and twisted to suit their needs. Turned into a pretty, shiny present wrapped up in beautiful paper and sparkly bows.... to distract from the fact that the box underneath is empty.

A few months ago, a good friend of mine told me about a conversation he'd had, about the history of China. Apparently China for thousands of years have been using the same method for controlling their population- which is that whenever the people get really really mad and start to think about uprising against the controllers, they would have a dynasty change: bring out a new face to be the leader and roll out prosperity to the people... making them all happy and complacent for a generation or two. Meanwhile it is still the same controllers in dominion over them- just disguised under a different mask, and within 50-100 years they would be right back where they started.

Does that sound familiar to you?

THIS is EXACTLY what the Cabal has tried to do with NESARA. Time for a Dynasty change. So they removed the one face of the Cabal dynasty that is in power now, and exchange it for another cabal dynasty wearing a different mask- roll out prosperity and the milk and honey, make the people happy and complacent ..... meanwhile they are still under the control of the Slave System of the Cabal. With in a few decades we would be right back where we are right now.

.... these people don't give away money or power unless they know they can get it back, plus extra, later on.

So.... we're waiting on those all important announcements. Waiting on the RV to "go live". Waiting on the New Financial System. Waiting for the milk and honey.

But it isn't' happening and everyone- even those who are involved up to their eyeballs, are scratching their heads at the very least, and throwing tantrums.

What happened to interfere with their plans? What rolled out publicly during this time?

The People's Trust UCC filings.

Now, the naysayers don't want to believe that these papers/documents mean anything. Yet anyone on the inside of Washington knows that the puppets are shaking in the boots and freaking out.

Both Boehner and Obama have ordered the Media to NOT report on the UCC filings or OPPT. The petition to the Government, that was filed TWICE in the last two days with regards to The People's Trust has been removed both times within hours if it being uploaded. Boehner called a national press conference the other night at 5pm est- he walked up to the podium then walked away for an hour and showed up with a rag tag group of congressmen and women and talked about the budget. Then it was said that he'd be on live TV on CNN at 11pm that same night to make an important announcement..... and never appeared.

These puppets are desperately trying to continue the ruse that they planned to play on the people of the planet... yet they CAN'T. They are in Stalemate. Obama was "sworn in" because they couldn't even sort out THAT part of the issue and were forced to keep playing the role that the public expects to see.

They know what the OPPT filings have done- that they are now officially foreclosed on and powerless. More than that though, is the fact that they don't have the MONEY to move ahead!!

See, the biggest shortcoming of the Cabal is their arrogance and superiority- they honestly have convinced themselves that they are all powerful- verging on omnipotent! They thought that they could bluster their way around the "trouble makers", they thought that they could force everyone to play their game.... They thought that they were king of the mountain

.... except that the "old man" who they were dealing with back in the early 1900's is still around to this day and he's NOT going to let them have the money!! Sorry guys! You've been outsmarted by your own stupidity!!! And the people that have hamstrung the world's governments and their puppet agencies can NOT be bought!!! And a big wind storm just came through town and blew them right off the top of their mountain.

........ AND..... the big guns that they though they had behind them- their bosses BOSSES.... just up and disappeared. hmmmmmmm, now what are you going to do, knowing that the big guys you thought you had on your side to back you up suddenly have vanished? Who's going to tell you what to do now? Who's going to have your back in the BIG battle now? Feeling a bit.... naked are you?

So here we sit today. The government/cabal is spinning it's wheels in frustration because it can't go forward regardless of how many tantrums they throw and who they try to buy off. Sucks to be you guys.

As for what comes next? There WILL be full understanding of everything that is and has happened and the information will be made very clear. We are waiting for that moment.

Please my friends, I know that you're confused and impatient and angry (rightfully so!) and desperate. We all are. The moment I have more information to give you on all of this I will post it immediately. I am doing my best to wade through upwards of 300 emails a day, hundreds of skype messages and to read and respond to the comments here on RTS. I'm not ignoring you, I'm just swamped. (note: emailing me the same question over and over isn't helping me make time to respond- just sayin')

Our job for this moment is to hold the light. To spread the knowledge of OPPT and the UCC filings and what that means for the people of this planet - FREEDOM. Our job is to pull the energy of Gaia up to where it should be- to play with the gold in our imagination and to manifest - not the world that we are afraid of, but the world that we KNOW we should have through our birthright as FREE human BEings.

All it takes is ONE..... but ONE backed by millions more is so much more fun!!

Posted by Obi-Wan Kabuki at 11:21 AM
Labels: D., http://removingtheshackles.blogspot.ca, Iraqi Dinar, NESARA, Removing the Shackles, Reval, RV, Vietnamese Dong