Massive Bank and High Profile Resignations Across the World

[Sabrina]

http://www.europeanvoice.com/article...sts/74199.aspx


Former Parliament president quits as as president of the European University Institute.

Josep Borrell, a former president of the European Parliament and an ex-minister in Spanish socialist governments, has been forced to resign as president of the European University Institute (EUI) in the face of allegations of a conflict of interest.

Borrell is being paid €300,000 a year as a board member of the Spanish sustainable-energy company Abengoa, a post he has held since July 2009, when he left the European Parliament. The EUI apparently only became aware of this in recent weeks, after comments in the Spanish press.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-b...o-resigns.html

7 May


(Mizzima) – Burmese Vice President Tin Aung Myint Oo, known as a strong hardliner, has submitted his resignation for health reasons, according to media reports.

A retired four-star general, Tin Aung Myint Oo, 61, has not appeared in public recently.

The report has not been confirmed by official sources.......

Burma watchers say Tin Aung Myint Oo was considered to be one of the most corrupt of the ex-generals serving in the current administration.

[Sabrina]

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/
more on this

PRESS RELEASE
April 23, 2012, 12:01 a.m. EDT
USA
Home Owners Across the Nation Sue All Bank Servicers and Their Offshore Havens; Spire Law Officially Announces Filing of Landmark Lawsuit

Largest International Money Laundering Network in History Formed During Obama Administration; U.S. Banks' Theft of Home Owners' Money Laundered Through Cayman Islands, Isle of Man and Numerous Offshore-Based Affiliates


NEW YORK, NY, Apr 23, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- In a lawsuit alleged to involve the largest money laundering network in United States history, Spire Law Group, LLP -- on behalf of home owners across the Country -- has filed a mass tort action in the Supreme Court of New York, County of Kings. Home owners across the country have sued every major bank servicer and their subsidiaries -- formed in countries known as havens for money laundering such as the Cayman Islands, the Isle of Man, Luxembourg and Malaysia -- alleging that while the Obama Administration was publicly encouraging loan modifications for home owners, it was privately ratifying the formation of these shell companies in violation of the United States Patriot Act, and State and Federal law. The case further alleges that through these obscure foreign companies, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo Bank, Citibank, Citigroup, One West Bank, and numerous other federally chartered banks stole hundreds of millions of dollars of home owners' money during the last decade and then laundered it through offshore companies. The complaint, Index No. 500827, was filed by Spire Law Group, LLP, and several of the Firm's affiliates and partners across the United States.
Far from being ambiguous, this is a complaint that "names names." Indeed, the lawsuit identifies specific companies and the offshore countries used in this enormous money laundering scheme. Federally Chartered Banks' theft of money and their utilization of offshore tax haven subsidiaries represent potential FDIC violations, violations of New York law, and countless other legal wrongdoings under state and federal law.
"The laundering of trillions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer money -- and the wrongful taking of the homes of those taxpayers -- was known by the Administration and expressly supported by it. Evidence uncovered by the plaintiffs revealed that the Administration ignored its own agencies' reports -- and reports from the Department of Homeland Security -- about this situation, dating as far back as 2010. Worse, the Administration purported to endorse a 'national bank settlement' without disclosing or having any public discourse whatsoever about the thousands of foreign tax havens now wholly owned by our nation's banks. Fortunately, no home owner is bound to enter into this fraudulent bank settlement," stated Eric J. Wittenberg of Columbus, Ohio -- a noted trial lawyer, author and student of US history -- on behalf of plaintiffs in the case.

The suing home owners reveal how deeply they were defrauded by bank and governmental corruption -- and are suing for conversion, larceny, fraud, and for violations of other provisions of New York state law committed by these financial institutions and their offshore counterparts.

This lawsuit explains why loans were, in general, rarely modified after 2009. It explains why the entire bank crisis worsened, crippling the economy of the United States and stripping countless home owners of their piece of the American dream. It is indeed a fact that the Administration has spent far more money stopping bank investigations, than they have investigating them. When the Administration's agencies (like the FDIC) blew the whistle, their reports were ignored.

The case is styled Abeel v. Bank of America, etc., et al. -- and includes such entities as ML Banderia Cayman BRL Inc., ML Whitby Luxembourg S.A.R.L. and J.P Morgan Asset Management Luxembourg S.A. -- as well as hundreds of other obscure offshore entities somehow "owned" by federally chartered banks and formed "under the nose" of the Administration and the FDIC.

Commenting further on the case, Mr. Wittenberg stated: "As if it is not bad enough that banks collect money and do not credit it to homeowners' accounts, and as if it is not bad enough that those banks then foreclose when they know they do not have a legally enforceable interest in the realty, we now learn that they have been operating under unbridled free reign given by the Administration and some states' Attorneys General in formulating this international money laundering network. Now that the light of day has been shined on it, I believe we can all rest assured that the beginning of the end of the bank crisis has arrived."

All United States home owners may have the right to bring a lawsuit of this kind if they paid money to a national bank servicer during the years 2003 through 2009.

One lawyer impacted by the corruption -- Mitchell J. Stein, who formerly represented the FDIC, the RTC and the FSLIC during the Savings and Loan scandal of the 1990s, and who predicted all of the foregoing in open court two years ago -- commented: "Two years ago, I remarked in open court to a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge, as well as to legislators including Senator Dianne Feinstein's office during a multitude of in-person meetings, that the ongoing violations of the Patriot Act by these financial institutions was outrageous and a breach of the public trust of unprecedented proportions," said Stein.

"The size and scope of this misconduct -- stretching to far-away islands never before having standing as approved United States Bank affiliates -- is remarkable and emblematic of what we have seen," he continued. "The bank crisis represents the height of corruption and brazen behavior where our historically trusted financial institutions have no qualms about breaking the law, because they have the Administration behind them. Banks do well enough when they operate lawfully without needing to be permitted to operate as criminal enterprises that steal money from United States citizens."

Additional plaintiffs' counsel Nicholas M. Moccia commented: "Having been in the trenches of the bank crisis for years, I always knew that the misconduct was being conducted by a network. When I started litigating against banks, however, I could have never imagined that it would be this extensive. I look forward to taking discovery of these thousands of obscure foreign entities and to obtaining for homeowners their constitutionally entitled injuries for this international ring of theft and deception."

Comments were requested from the Attorney Generals' offices in NY, CA, NV, and MA and the White House, but no comment was provided.
About Spire Law Group
Spire Law Group, LLP is a national law firm whose motto is "the public should be protected -- at all costs -- from corruption in whatever form it presents itself." The Firm is comprised of lawyers nationally with more than 250-years of experience in a span of matters ranging from representing large corporations and wealthy individuals, to also representing the masses. The Firm is at the front lines litigating against government officials, banks, defunct loan pools, and now the very offshore entities where the corruption was enabled and perpetrated.

Contact:
James N. Fiedler, Esq.
Managing Partner
Spire Law Group, LLP
877-475-2448
Email Contact





SOURCE: Spire Law Group, LLP

[Sabrina]

Suu Kyi Takes Seat in Burmese Parliament

VOICE OF AMERICA

Burma's long-time democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has officially been sworn in as a member of parliament, taking public office for the first time after spending much of the past two decades under house arrest.


The Nobel laureate took the oath of office Wednesday to enter Burma's lower legislative house, ending a parliamentary boycott that had threatened to interrupt the country's political reform process.

For more than a week, the 66-year-old opposition leader and her National League for Democracy had refused to take the oath because it required them to “safeguard” the constitution, which was drafted by Burma's former military rulers.

But the NLD earlier this week agreed to take the pledge, while vowing to push for constitutional change through legislative action.

Aung San Suu Kyi said after taking the oath that she has no qualms about sitting next to Burmese military members, who still make up the bulk of the country's parliament. But she said she would like to see the country's legislative bodies become more democratic.

(story no. 881 of this thread see resignation of one of the old guard from the parliament)

[Sabrina]

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2012...3s/#more-11031

Mass Arrests – New information with Bill Wood and Eva Moore 5-6-12… MP3s
Posted on May 6, 2012


Haven't listened to this yet, but Kauilapele has broken down the interview into manageable mp3 chunks - good while ironing, or chewing the cud, or flitting from 3D or 5D, or watching the prairie from the back porch or smaller back garden version if in Kent, England, or building a fire if you're a fire raiser

Christian's thread on this:
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...478#post483478

Who knows eh... Keep Calm And Carry On people ..

[Sabrina]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1490883.html
6 May Greece

Greece Elections 2012: Nikolaos Michaloliakos, Extreme Right Leader, Warns Greek 'Traitors'


ATHENS, Greece -- The leader of an extreme-right, anti-immigrant party on course for shock success in Greece's general elections Sunday lashed out at those he described as "traitors" responsible for the country's financial crisis and said his party was ushering in a "revolution."

The far-right Golden Dawn party is set to win 7 percent of the parliamentary vote, according to early projections, as Greeks punished the traditionally dominant parties who backed harsh austerity measures tied to debt-relief agreements.

Parties must exceed a 3-percent threshold of the vote to be represented in Greece's parliament. In the last general election in 2009, Golden Dawn received merely 0.29 percent. It has seen its support jump as a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment has spread in financially devastated Greece.

Golden Dawn leader Nikolaos Michaloliakos told The Associated Press in an interview that his party had delivered a blow against the country's corrupt leadership.

"They slandered us, slung mud at us, and shut us out of all the news media – the TV channels of the corrupt elite – and we beat them," the 55-year-old leader said as the votes came in. "The day of national revolution by the Greeks has begun against those who are selling us out and looting the sweat of the Greek people."

Golden Dawn campaigned hard against illegal immigration, and its supporters have been blamed for a recent spike in inner-city street attacks against mostly Asian immigrants.



An extreme party - but there's talk of a left/right coalition to work on the whole financial crisis and austerity measures imposed on the Greeks. Sab.

and Huff post today:


A VOTE FOR UNCERTAINTY?


Eurozone Faces Fresh Turmoil After Greek And French Elections See Stocks Fall

Traders have warned of more market turbulence after elections in Greece and France fuelled uncertainty over Europe's ability to solve its debt crisis.

Germany's Dax and France's Cac-40 were more than 1% lower and the main stock exchange in Athens slumped 8% on Monday as markets worried that Greece's failure to form a government has placed further doubt over the country's rescue, increasing speculation over the eventual break-up of the single currency.

The election of socialist Francois Hollande as France's new president was widely expected but will add to growing expectations of a backlash against Europe's current austerity drive led by German chancellor Angela Merkel.

London markets were shut today but could resume on the back foot after slumping 2% on Friday on fears the US recovery is running out of steam.

Analysts fear the result of the Greek elections, with no party winning enough votes to form a government, has left the country in political limbo, preventing much needed reforms.

Anita Paluch, a trader at Gekko Global Markets, said: "Having rejected the austerity, the country finds itself in a spot from where it may be difficult to meet its obligations and this is what is spooking the markets at the moment - the possibility of a disorderly default of a member state."

Ms Merkel also suffered a setback yesterday in a regional election in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein.

Manuel Maleki, an analyst at ING Bank, said a new equilibrium will have to be found in Europe.

He added: "While the markets could initially worry about tensions between Germany and France, the possibility of a revision of the current recession-austerity mix in Europe is not necessarily a bad thing for the longer term stabilising the eurozone."

As well as the fresh European uncertainty, markets are worried over the state of the world's largest economy after figures on Friday showed US jobs growth slumped in April for a second month in a row.

The developments also add to pressure on the Bank of England as it meets to decide whether to offer more emergency support for the UK economy this week.

Experts are divided over whether the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee will increase its £325 billion quantitative easing stock, after injecting £50 billion in February. Interest rates will be kept at a record low of 0.5%.

[Sabrina]

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/...miserably.html

This Is the First Time In History that All Central Banks Have Printed Money at the Same Time … And They’re Failing Miserably
Posted on May 1, 2012 by WashingtonsBlog
Simultaneous Global Printing Is Failing Miserably

Mainstream Keynesian economists argue that the failure of the European austerity measures to pull Europe out of the doldrums proves that more stimulus is needed, and that austerity is poison at this stage.

Indeed, most mainstream economists pretend that debt doesn’t exist … or believe that debt for its own sake is good and necessary.

But Martin Weiss noted last month:

Four of the world’s largest central banks have gone absolutely berserk, running the money printing presses like never before in history:


The Bank of Japan (BOJ) had already been printing money like crazy ever since their bubble economy burst in the early 1990s.

So when the debt crisis struck in 2008, the size of their balance sheet assets, which measure the cumulative total of a central bank’s money printing operations, was already the biggest in the world: About 20% of their economy.

Then, when the shock waves of the Lehman Brothers collapse struck Japan, what did they do?

They stepped up their money printing operations EVEN further — to about 30% of GDP. (See yellow line in chart above.)

Other than Brazil in the 1970s or Germany in the 1920s, no other major nation — or group of nations — on the planet had ever gone that far! (Until, that is, Europe, which I’ll get to in a moment.)

Meanwhile …

At the U.S. Federal Reserve, no Fed Chairman in history — not even notorious easy-money advocates like Arthur Burns or Allen Greenspan — had EVER run the money printing presses for any extended period of time.

But Fed Chairman Bernanke changed all that. Soon after the debt crisis hit in 2008, he nearly TRIPLED the size of the Fed’s balance sheet from about 6% of GDP to almost 17% of GDP.

And in the years since, he has pumped it up even further to about 20% of GDP! (Red line in chart.)

The Bank of England (BOE) has mostly been expanding its balance sheet in lock step with the Fed (green line).

But in the global race to print money, it’s the European Central Bank (ECB) which has been leading the pack in the past year or so, suddenly expanding their balance sheet from about 20% of GDP to close to 30% GDP (blue line).

This is absolutely massive!

Heck, in the 1990s and 2000s, just the money-printing operations by ONE central bank (the Bank of Japan) changed the world:

Global investors borrowed abundant amounts of cheap money in Japan and poured it into risky investments around the world, helping to create some of the largest bubbles — and busts — in history.

Now, imagine FOUR central banks doing the same thing at the same time!

Indeed, China and India have been printing as well, as shown by the last 2 of these 2011 charts:


full story at the link and also lots of lovely graphs....

[Sabrina]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...-rescue-bankia

7 May Spain

Resignation seen as proof Spanish government set to rescue ailing Bankia
Bankia's Rodrigo Rato steps down hours after prime minster Mariano Rajoy announced shake-up of troubled Spanish banks


[B]One of Spain's most high-profile financiers, Rodrigo Rato, has resigned as head of Bankia just hours after prime minister Mariano Rajoy announced a major shake-up of the troubled banking sector.[/B]

Rato's surprise departure on Monday was seen as proof that ailing Bankia, which holds 10% of the country's deposits, was about to be rescued by the Spanish government.

Bankia now looks likely be the centrepiece of a fresh round of financial-sector reforms as Rajoy tries to boost confidence in a country that lies at the heart of the eurozone crisis.

Rajoy looked ready to backtrack on pledges not to use more public money on banks. "The last thing I would do would be to inject or lend public money, but if it is necessary I would not hesitate to do it, just as other European countries have done," Rajoy told a radio interviewer.

He was speaking as the financial markets attempted to digest the implications of the election of the Socialist François Hollande as president in France and the outcome of the Greek elections, where the formation of a government looked unlikely.

Rajoy said details of the shake-up in Spain would come after Friday's cabinet meeting, but there were rumours that a Bankia announcement would come sooner.

Bankia is at the centre of worries about the impact on Spanish banks of toxic real estate assets left over from a residential housing bubble that burst in 2008.

It is reported to need up to €10bn, which could come via Spain's own bank restructuring fund.

Bankia is reportedly going to borrow at 8% interest through a form of debt known as contingent capital, which turns into equity in times of stress – effectively becoming a part-nationalisation.

Rato had consistently maintained Bankia could continue as an independent bank and had no solvency or liquidity problems.

The creation of a "bad bank" for toxic real estate assets is another option being explored by the government, though Rajoy said on Monday that he did not like the idea.

There have also been rumours that the European Financial Stability Facility rescue fund could be used to prop up Spain's more troubled banks – which do not include the biggest two, Santander and BBVA.

Spanish banks escaped the subprime crisis after the central bank banned them from getting involved in riskier derivatives.

But they have largely rolled over the huge loans they themselves handed out to Spanish speculators, developers and construction companies in the boom years before 2008.

With land values plummeting and house prices also dropping dramatically, many developers have gone bust and banks have been caught out.
full story at link

[Sabrina]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17987271

8 May UK

Aviva boss Andrew Moss to step down


Insurance firm Aviva has announced that chief executive Andrew Moss will be leaving with immediate effect.

The move comes after the firm suffered the embarrassment of losing a shareholder vote on executive pay at its annual meeting last week.

Mr Moss had already turned down an annual salary increase following concerns among shareholders about pay levels at the insurer.

Chairman designate John McFarlane has been asked to be interim replacement.


and 3 May BBC story:

Insurance firm Aviva has lost the vote on executive pay at its annual meeting.

Excluding abstentions, 54% voted against the remuneration report at its annual general meeting (AGM), in what will be seen as a major embarrassment for the company.

Shareholders are angry about the amount the new UK chief executive, Trevor Matthews, was paid when he joined.

Outgoing chairman Colin Sharman apologised to investors at the meeting for ignoring their views.

[Sabrina]

Changes away across Europe:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17986065
8 May


Greek election: Far-left seeks anti-austerity coalition

Alexis Tsipras says his cabinet would reject "barbaric" austerity measures

The leader of Greece's far-left is to try to form a government after parties backing an international bailout deal failed to assemble a coalition.

Alexis Tsipras aims to put together a cabinet that will reject austerity measures imposed as part of the deal.

But analysts also say his attempts, following Sunday's poll, are likely to fail to achieve the necessary numbers.

Voters in Greece, France and Italy have all largely swung in favour of anti-austerity candidates this week.

In Greece, both the centre-right New Democracy and former coalition partners Pasok, the traditional parties of power, saw their support drain away in favour of radical parties on the left and right.

France's President-elect, Socialist Francois Hollande, said in his victory speech that he would seek an alternative to austerity.

And partial results from local elections in Italy suggest a marked swing away from mainstream parties. An anti-euro protest movement led by comedian Beppe Grillo made significant inroads in Parma and Genoa.

Reacting to the election results, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said austerity measures were "not negotiable" and described Greece's reforms as of "utmost importance".

Markets slumped following the election results in France and Greece, but largely recovered later. The Athens stock exchange, however, had plunged 6.67% by the end of Monday.

In return for two EU/IMF bailouts worth a total of 240bn euros (£190bn; $310), Greece agreed to make deep cuts to pensions and pay, raise taxes and slash thousands of public sector jobs.

full story at link

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17986071

8 May Israel

Israeli PM Netanyahu strikes surprise coalition deal


Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has struck a deal to form a new coalition cabinet, avoiding snap elections he sought earlier, officials say.

They say that - in a surprise move - Mr Netanyahu's Likud party will be joined by the opposition Kadima party.

The move came as the parliament, or Knesset, debated its dissolution ahead of polls the PM planned for September.

full story at link

[Sabrina]

BIG EVENTS TO LOOK OUT FOR THIS MONTH

Bill Woods/Brockbrader mentions looking out for the big events happening this month with world leaders.

NATO 25th Summit - Chicago - 20/21 May

(Chicago is Obama's choice)

http://www.nato.int/cps/en/SID-68104...news_86891.htm


38th G8 Summit - Camp David, Maryland - 18/19 May

(Wikipedia: The 38th G8 summit is to be held in Camp David, Maryland, United States on May 18-19, 2012. It will occur alongside the NATO summit, likely generating an unusual amount of attention—positive and negative.The location of the summit was previously scheduled for the McCormick Place in Chicago, which will remain as the host city of the 2012 NATO summit beginning on May 20th).

Bildeberg Conference - Chantilly, Virginia - 31 May

G20 Summit - Mexico - 18/19 June




(ho ho)
Searching for Strategies to Restore Global Economic Stability and Growth
External event on 2nd May 2012
Location: Chicago

The G8 Summit that will take place in the United States May 19-20, 2012 will likely exhibit the same urgency that has attended other recent G8 and G20 meetings. Slow growth, high unemployment, foreign debt concerns, financial disarray, and mounting social unrest mean that the global economy will once again take center stage at the upcoming G8 meeting. Although a global depression may have been averted, recession in Europe and a further global slowdown are likely. Recovery remains uncertain and protracted at best. The situation has left leaders groping for a “desperate optimism,” as Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, recently described it. Leaders of developed economies, struggling with their own high levels of sovereign debt, are unlikely to generate new approaches to current problems without the help of others. Emerging economies like China and Brazil - which have remained relatively immune to the ongoing crisis and may hold the key to a more stable future - are themselves put at risk by adverse conditions and are not yet in a position to drive solutions.

The 2012 G8 Summit, along with Mexico City’s G20 Summit that will follow only weeks later in June 2012, are poised to serve as a crucial juncture in the unfolding global economic crisis, one that either begins to chart a new path toward stability, or one that fails to produce the mechanisms needed to avert future turmoil.

In advance of the G8 Summit, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the Center for Macroeconomics at Northwestern University, the Initiative on Global Markets at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, the Kellogg School of Management and Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), the Chinese National School of Development (CCER), the European Bruegel Institute, the Japan Economic Foundation, the Brazilian Fundação Getulio Vargas, and the Mexican Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE) will host in Chicago a two-day international conference in early May 2012 on “Searching for Strategies to Restore Global Economic Stability and Growth." The conference will bring together senior policy practitioners, business leaders, academics, and thought leaders from select G8 and G20 countries to address key challenges confronting the global political economy including: sustained financial turmoil, renewed recessionary fears, persistent macro-imbalances, continued popular protest over damaged social compacts, and rising political populism. The conference will produce a summary report that will be released around the G8 Summit to help inform conversations at the Summit and the June 2012 G20 meeting to be held in Mexico City.

[Sabrina]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/switze...k-new-york-fed

Switzerland Wants Its Gold Back From The New York Fed

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2012

Earlier today, we reported that Germans are increasingly concerned that their gold, at over 3,400 tons a majority of which is likely stored in the vault 80 feet below street level of 33 Liberty (recently purchased by the Fed with freshly printed money at far higher than prevailing commercial real estate rates for the Downtown NY area), may be in jeopardy,and will likely soon formally inquire just how much of said gold is really held by the Fed. As it turns out, Germany is not alone: as part of the "Rettet Unser Schweizer Gold", or the “Gold Initiative”: A Swiss Initiative to Secure the Swiss National Bank’s Gold Reserves initiative, launched recently by four members of the Swiss parliament, the Swiss people should have a right to vote on 3 simple things: i) keeping the Swiss gold physically in Switzerland; ii) forbidding the SNB from selling any more of its gold reserves, and iii) the SNB has to hold at least 20% of its assets in gold. Needless the say the implications of this vote actually succeeding are comparable to the Greeks holding a referendum on whether or not to be in the Eurozone. And everyone saw how quickly G-Pap was "eliminated" within hours of making that particular threat. Yet it begs the question: how many more international grassroots outcries for if not repatriation, then at least an audit of foreign gold held by the New York Fed have to take place, before Goldman's (and New York Fed's) Bill Dudley relents? And why are the international central banks not disclosing what their people demand, if only to confirm that the gold is present and accounted for, even if it is at the Federal Reserve?

Full disclosure via the Initiative's website: http://www.goldinitiative.ch/

[Kano]

Posted by Sabrina (here)
BIG EVENTS TO LOOK OUT FOR THIS MONTH

Bill Woods/Brockbrader mentions looking out for the big events happening this month with world leaders.

NATO 25th Summit - Chicago - 20/21 May

(Chicago is Obama's choice)

http://www.nato.int/cps/en/SID-68104...news_86891.htm


38th G8 Summit - Camp David, Maryland - 18/19 May

(Wikipedia: The 38th G8 summit is to be held in Camp David, Maryland, United States on May 18-19, 2012. It will occur alongside the NATO summit, likely generating an unusual amount of attention—positive and negative.The location of the summit was previously scheduled for the McCormick Place in Chicago, which will remain as the host city of the 2012 NATO summit beginning on May 20th).

Bildeberg Conference - Chantilly, Virginia - 31 May

G20 Summit - Mexico - 18/19 June




(ho ho)
Searching for Strategies to Restore Global Economic Stability and Growth
External event on 2nd May 2012
Location: Chicago

The G8 Summit that will take place in the United States May 19-20, 2012 will likely exhibit the same urgency that has attended other recent G8 and G20 meetings. Slow growth, high unemployment, foreign debt concerns, financial disarray, and mounting social unrest mean that the global economy will once again take center stage at the upcoming G8 meeting. Although a global depression may have been averted, recession in Europe and a further global slowdown are likely. Recovery remains uncertain and protracted at best. The situation has left leaders groping for a “desperate optimism,” as Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, recently described it. Leaders of developed economies, struggling with their own high levels of sovereign debt, are unlikely to generate new approaches to current problems without the help of others. Emerging economies like China and Brazil - which have remained relatively immune to the ongoing crisis and may hold the key to a more stable future - are themselves put at risk by adverse conditions and are not yet in a position to drive solutions.

The 2012 G8 Summit, along with Mexico City’s G20 Summit that will follow only weeks later in June 2012, are poised to serve as a crucial juncture in the unfolding global economic crisis, one that either begins to chart a new path toward stability, or one that fails to produce the mechanisms needed to avert future turmoil.

In advance of the G8 Summit, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the Center for Macroeconomics at Northwestern University, the Initiative on Global Markets at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, the Kellogg School of Management and Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), the Chinese National School of Development (CCER), the European Bruegel Institute, the Japan Economic Foundation, the Brazilian Fundação Getulio Vargas, and the Mexican Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE) will host in Chicago a two-day international conference in early May 2012 on “Searching for Strategies to Restore Global Economic Stability and Growth." The conference will bring together senior policy practitioners, business leaders, academics, and thought leaders from select G8 and G20 countries to address key challenges confronting the global political economy including: sustained financial turmoil, renewed recessionary fears, persistent macro-imbalances, continued popular protest over damaged social compacts, and rising political populism. The conference will produce a summary report that will be released around the G8 Summit to help inform conversations at the Summit and the June 2012 G20 meeting to be held in Mexico City.

This article was written a while ago but in light of the NATO summit in Chicago in the next couple of weeks, it reminded me to repost is. Calling it 'targetcity' just stuck out like a sore thumb. I'm not trying to fear-monger, but I do think that those initiates communicate out in plain sight when need be.
http://www.bizjournals.com/twincitie...te-street.html

[Sabrina]

http://lawyerocracyontrial.wordpress.com/

Australia

LAWYEROCRACY ON TRIAL 21 MAY 2012, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
On 21 May 2012 the Victorian Government is conducting an inquiry into the absence of professional standards in the Australian (legal) profession, and at the broad intersection of the legal profession with the upper benches of all three branches of State and Federal government (benches that these days look like little more than an exclusive lawyers club).

This unprecedented and history making trial begins at 10.00 am on Monday 21 May 2012 and will be held at 55 King Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

This hearing (sub-named Michael McGarvie - Legal Services Commissioner v Harold James Johnson) will be the biggest Australian whistleblowing, corruption and media exposing event of 2012.

[Sabrina]

http://www.wnd.com/2012/05/banking-g...al-enterprise/

WND EXCLUSIVE
BANKING GIANT HSBC 'A CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE'
Whistleblower makes damning case in video interview

video interview at link...

The global banking giant HSBC is a “criminal” operation, charges a former officer for the company’s southern New York region in a video interview with WND.

John Cruz, a former vice president and relationship manager, has turned over to WND more than 1,000 pages of documents, including customer account ledgers for dozens of companies through which, he charges, the financial institution was laundering money each month.


Cruz told WND that as a relationship manager, it was his responsibility to look up various accounts in the HSBC computer system and visit the account holders in person to offer additional banking products and services.

“I pulled these documents because I thought they were evidence of suspicious activity taking place,” Cruz affirmed when presented by WND with various HSBC computer ledgers of customer accounts. “These same documents I brought to bank security and my managers in the bank.”

To his surprise, HSBC management and security did not welcome his reports of suspicious activity.

“My managers told me I was crazy and I didn’t know what I was talking about,” he said. “They told me it was none of my business what goes on in transactions. But that’s my job.”

WND showed Cruz the HSBC account ledger for a business named United Express, as seen redacted in Exhibit 1 below:


full story and ledger copies at link

[Sabrina]

USA

via Mass Arrests Facebook page Sunday

Massive Voter Fraud caught happening in 3 states

In Maine:

Romney Camp Circulates Fake List of Paul Delegate Nominees at Maine GOP
https://youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=IcgOuuM1VkM

Also in Navada:

Interview - Nevada Delegate Fraud. Wis and Rachel.
https://youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=IcgOuuM1VkM

Also in Colorado:

Mitt Romney corruption exposed!
https://youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=oTp_CwFlg70

[Sabrina]

http://siliconfist.blogspot.co.uk/20...evolution.html

Iceland leads the Global Revolution!

In Iceland, the people has made the government resign, the primary banks have been nationalized, it was decided to not pay the debt that these created with Great Britain and Holland due to their bad financial politics and a public assembly has been created to rewrite the constitution.

And all of this in a peaceful way.

A whole revolution against the powers that have created the current global crisis. This is why there hasn’t been any publicity during the last two years: What would happen if the rest of the EU citizens took this as an example? What would happen if the US citizens took this as an example.

This is a summary of the facts:

2008. The main bank of the country is nationalized.
The Krona, the currency of Iceland devaluates and the stock market stops.
The country is in bankruptcy

2008. The citizens protest in front of parliament and manage to get new elections that make the resignation of the prime minister and his whole government.
The country is in bad economic situation.
A law proposes paying back the debt to Great Britain and Holland through the payment of 3,500 million euros, which will be paid by the people of Iceland monthly during the next 15 years, with a 5.5% interest.

2010. The people go out in the streets and demand a referendum. In January 2010 the president denies the approval and announces a popular meeting.

In March the referendum and the denial of payment is voted in by 93%. Meanwhile the government has initiated an investigation to bring to justice those responsible for the crisis, and many high level executives and bankers are arrested. The Interpol dictates an order that make all the implicated parties leave the country.

In this crisis an assembly is elected to rewrite a new Constitution which can include the lessons learned from this, and which will substitute the current one (a copy of the Danish Constitution).
25 citizens are chosen, with no political affiliation, out of the 522 candidates. For candidacy all that was needed was to be an adult and have the support of 30 people. The constitutional assembly starts in February of 2011 to present the ‘carta magna’ from the recommendations given by the different assemblies happening throughout the country. It must be approved by the current Parliament and by the one constituted through the next legislative elections.

So in summary of the Icelandic revolution:
-resignation of the whole government
-nationalization of the bank.
-referendum so that the people can decide over the economic decisions.
-incarcerating the responsible parties
-rewriting of the constitution by its people

Have we been informed of this through the media?
Has any political program in radio or TV commented on this?
No!
The Icelandic people have been able to show that there is a way to beat the system and has given a democracy lesson to the world.

- anonymous

[Sabrina]

http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com...d-the-big-lie/

Murdoch and the big lie


The malign political influence of the Murdochs poses a fundamental challenge to British democracy. This will not be dealt with by selling off the ownership of their papers, welcome though this might be, or the removal of their influence from BSkyB on the grounds that the Murdochs are not fit and proper people. The scandal has now clarified a far more breathtaking question: is Britain governed by a big lie?

The extraordinary importance of the question can be illuminated by comparing it to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, another critical turning point in the collapsing legitimacy of the UK’s political order.

Tony Blair willfully misled parliament and voters by claiming that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction that threatened directly the interests of the UK. This was a contrived excuse for the war; known in everyday language as a lie (something the Americans admitted openly). While intensely damaging for our democracy, we were not, however, misled about the actual policy.

To this day Blair, David Miliband, David Cameron et al say it was right to support the Americans at the time. Her Majesty’s Government was not pretending not to be doing what it was actually doing – in this sense it was honest. It was only lying about the justification for doing it.

We now face an altogether more profound falsehood: a government that flatly denies doing what it is doing. The Prime Minister told the BBC on its flagship Andrew Marr show that when it came to his government and the Murdochs, “It would be absolutely wrong for there to be any sort of deal and there wasn’t… There was no grand deal”.

This is a big lie. There was a deal. It was indeed wrong. We should not just be talking about the Murdochs, we should focus on the heart of the problem: the government.

The Rubicon

The Murdochs and the Conservatives “shared” the code-name ‘Rubicon’ for the BSkyB bid that would have led to its complete takeover by NewsCorp. In an email of 11 January 2011 that would make a classicist shudder, James Murdoch’s Director of Public Affairs even reports a conversation with Jeremy Hunt’s office about “the Rubicon process”.

Fortunately the ‘process’ was wider than the Rubicon itself, a river south of Ravenna in northern Italy that Julius Caesar crossed with his legion to challenge the Roman Republic. It was his point of no return. He went on to become Dictator and although assassinated turned the Roman Republic into an Empire.

The British ‘Rubicon’ was not traversed. Had it been, the plotters within Westminster would have granted domination of the country’s media to the triumphant conqueror of American television and the Wall Street Journal. But what is the state of our ‘Rome’, now that we have, for the moment at least, escaped this fate? The great nineteenth century chronicler of The English Constitution, Walter Bagehot, saw it as a unique, ermine-clad, uncodified but nonetheless vigorous ‘republic’, more effective and equally as vital as the United States’.

Can we return to such self-confidence now that Murdoch’s prurient legion of hackers, corrupt police, and fixers have been turned back? Will the vigour of our press be secure if its wealthiest defenders are an assortment of Oligarchs? We can celebrate that we are a freer, less intimidated country. Yet the outcome of the Leveson Inquiry could still be another ‘soon-to-be-forgotten’ report, its testimony merely video of the convulsions of a proud but dying system.

Last year, in a long post - After Murdoch - written fast as the Milly Dowler ‘firestorm’ created the Leveson Inquiry and ruined the BSkyB bid, and before Murdoch and Son had been summonsed to appear before the Parliamentary Select Committee, I asked how it was possible for Murdoch to have gained the power he did.

Now, in the wake of the three days of Murdoch testimony, one by James and two by Rupert, the publication of the Rubicon emails (see the pdf) between the office of the Secretary of State for Culture, Jeremy Hunt, and that of James Murdoch (which must surely lead to Hunt’s resignation before long), and after the new Report of the Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport, three specific issues can be clarified. How they are resolved will shape the future of British politics.

First: Was there an across-the-board deal or understanding, or what in a grave and thoughtful column Peter Oborne calls a “Grand Bargain”, between the two teams of the Conservative leadership of Cameron and Osborne and the Murdochs, Rupert and James?

Second: We know in detail that there was widespread criminal intrusion and the corruption of police and public officials (and maybe worse) by Murdoch staff and their agents, in News International’s News of the World, across the early years of this century. This was followed by a systematic cover-up by both News International and Scotland Yard after the Royal Editor of the News of the World, Clive Goodman, was sentenced to jail in January 2007. Did Rupert and James Murdoch know about or connive in these illegal activities? Were they holding the reins when they were happening and/or during the cover up?

Third: The cover up originally scapegoated Goodman. His editor, Andy Coulson, claimed Goodman was a “rogue reporter” acting alone and falsely claimed ignorance of hacking. But he resigned as it had taken place “on my watch”. He was then hired by David Cameron and George Osborne to handle the Conservative party’s messaging in the run up to the 2010 election. Did Cameron and Osborne also participate in the cover up through ‘willful ignorance’ and by turning a blind eye to the evidence of the Murdochs’ acting illegally, as they developed their media strategy with Coulson and in many meetings with the Murdochs and their people?

The questions are linked. If ‘no’ is the answer to all of them there is only a minor problem, one that Leveson can deal with easily.

If the answer to the first is ‘yes’ and the second two ‘no’, then there was a worked out understanding or “grand deal” – but Cameron and Osborne entered into it with two basically decent if tough chaps, Murdoch and Murdoch, who were men of integrity unaware of and opposed to any illegality. Such a deal would have been wrong, arguably profoundly wrong, but perhaps that’s politics.

If, on the other hand, the answer to the first is ‘no’ and the second ‘yes’, then there was no grand deal, but the Murdochs are responsible for a criminal conspiracy. In this case we have a serious problem with media behavior but not the politicians. Cameron and Osborne may have been foolish or wrong in their own policy but this was not one developed with and on behalf of the Murdoch team.

But if the answer to all three questions is “yes” then there was an extensive agreement between the heads of our government and a criminal network, made significantly worse by Cameron and Osborne being complicit in the illegality because they were aware of it (or wilfully unaware). Which means the government needs to fall.

And the answer to all three questions is “yes”.

Here is how we know.

The Grand Understanding

full story at link

[Sabrina]

http://www.economonitor.com/blog/201...o-the-endgame/
8 May

Europe Edges Closer to the Endgame


Later this week, I plan to write a more comprehensive post on the European sovereign debt crisis to incorporate what we have learned since the French and Greek elections. Here’s a short preview of what I will have to say.

For me the details and the minutiae can be distracting. When analysing situations like the European sovereign debt crisis that have the potential to cause seismic shifts in the economic landscape, one must develop a macro framework that produces discernable outcomes and then re-analyse the details as they come to light to understand whether that framework fits and how the details change the picture. I have argued for 18 months now that there are only three options for the euro zone: monetisation, default, or break-up. And while a lot of analysts have not shared this macro view, I believe they are coming to my way of thinking because all of the events since I developed this frame are bearing this view out.

The euro zone is unworkable in its present form because it is predicated on harmonised national fiscal and economic policies that are supposed to obviate the flexibility that a sovereign national currency affords. That harmonisation has never existed for the euro member states nor do I believe it ever will. And that means that the euro zone will always be beset by crises during economic downturns. Why?

Member states within the euro zone cannot run independent monetary policy. They cannot depreciate a national currency. They cannot depend on a central bank backstop. Nor can they run sufficiently countercyclical fiscal policy to deal with a large downturn. These are the policy tools that euro zone members have given up to benefit from the single currency due to a perceived free rider problem when the Maastricht Treaty was formulated. Without some kind of a countervailing supranational fiscal agent or sovereign risk pooling, this arrangement invariably means some sort of crisis will arise when the unharmonised economies of the euro zone result in large enough current account imbalances. Put simply, the euro zone is made for crisis. It is designed to fail.

Some of the designers knew this. They wanted the euro for political reasons and were willing to allow it to come to form in its present incomplete form. Their contention at the time was that the euro zone would develop the necessary institutions to prevent crisis before any crisis occurred – or at least before any crisis became existential. This contention has proved false as we are now in that existential crisis.

full story at link

and

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance...e-first-place/


Tim Worstall is a Senior Fellow at the Adam Smith Institute in London, and one of the global experts on the metal scandium, one of the rare earths.

Why the euro is doomed to fall apart: it was an incredibly stupid idea in the first place

[Sabrina]

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=UlHuJI5-PNc

Michael Tellinger On CNBC Africa 7 May 2012 - Constitutional Court Case

Michael Tellinger is interviewed on CNBC Africa on 7 May 2012 - regarding his Constitutional Court action against Standard Bank, The South African Reserve Bank and the Minister of Finance. On 24 April 2012 Michael served a 1100 page legal document - Notice of Motion on all three parties. The paper presents more than 30 breaches of laws, bills and acts by all three parties that have been unchallenged until now. They have until around 18th May to serve their legal defence. By 28 May all papers have to be submitted after which a date for the trial will be set by the court. This is a full bench of the Constitutional Court - 11 Judges; 22 clerks; and a host of researchers to really get to the bottom of the atrocities committed by the banks against the people of the world.

[Sabrina]

http://www.naturalnews.com/035812_Pf...#ixzz1uNgjvRax

Pfizer and Merck under investigation for colluding with Obama Administration on health care overhaul

Wednesday, May 09, 2012


(NaturalNews) Most Americans have no idea what truly went on behind closed doors during the crafting and illegitimate passing of Obamacare, also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. But a congressional investigation currently underway is seeking to unearth the dirty details, including how drug giants like Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. greased the financial wheels to make sure their pharmaceuticals received preferential treatment as part of the health care overhaul.

As reported by Bloomberg, Republicans from the House Energy and Commerce Committee have been toiling for roughly a year now to obtain key documents, emails and other pertinent information exposing the truth about Big Pharma's role in the creation of Obamacare. But to date, neither the Obama White House nor Big Pharma has cooperated in any significant way in releasing any of this information, according to the committee.

"This has been like pulling teeth, trying to get information," said Congressman Michael Burgess (R-Tex.), to Bloomberg. Besides Pfizer and Merck, drug companies Amgen Inc., Abbott Laboratories and AstraZeneca are also being pressed by Rep. Burgess and his allies for information, as are industry lobbyists, lawyers, and several doctor and hospital groups.

What is it they hope to find? To start, it is already clear that Big Pharma agreed to provide price discounts on drugs in exchange for their being covered as part of Obamacare. But other secret deals between Obama and the drug industry were likely made as well, and Rep. Burgess wants to know what those were and under what terms they were negotiated.

"For [Big Pharma], the ACA (Obamacare) is a gift, bringing in anywhere between 30 - 40 million people who could not previously afford pharmaceuticals," Peter Pitts from the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest is quoted as saying by Medical Marketing and Media.

Meanwhile, at least 26 U.S. states are currently challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare, and the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of Obamacare in late June.

This potential nullification of Obamacare at both the state and federal levels would obviously also nullify the special deals made between the Obama White House and Big Pharma. But for the time being, full disclosure and transparency -- which was the hallmark rhetoric of the Obama campaign from the beginning -- is in due order.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.bloomberg.com

http://communities.washingtontimes.com

http://www.judicialwatch.org

http://blog.beliefnet.com

http://www.infowars.com

http://www.mmm-online.com