Massive Bank and High Profile Resignations Across the World

[Sabrina]

Encouraging when they actually write it up in the main stream media - can't be a conspiracy theory then can it ...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ss-police.html

20 March UK

Celebrities, politicians and VIPs had their sex attack files hidden from investigating officers by police top brass

Hundreds of documents on famous suspects marked 'secret' or 'restricted'
Experts believe that celebrities like Savile protected above children abused
Police claim tight circle was to prevent any leaks to the media

Hundreds of files on celebrities, politicians and other VIPs accused of sex attacks and abuse were so heavily protected by senior police that investigating officers could not access them, it emerged today.

Information on high profile suspects was marked as 'secret' or 'restricted' and only available to a small number of officers - a system which may have helped prolific offenders like Jimmy Savile and MP Cyril Smith escape prosecution.

The approach to sensitive files was designed to stop officers from leaking information to the media, experts say.
The issue of detectives being unable to access relevant intelligence was highlighted in a report on the effectiveness of the Police National Database (PND) in the wake of the Savile scandal.

It came after complaints about Savile made to different police forces across the country while the TV presenter was still alive were not able to be shared by detectives.

Metropolitan Police Commander Peter Spindler confirmed that famous people were protected by high levels of confidentiality built into intelligence systems.

'Any high-profile or sensitive case will be restricted on our systems because we are not going to let 50,000 people (Met officers and staff) across London read sensitive material about celebrities, politicians or other high-profile people,' he told The Times.

'We have had some officers and staff who were prepared to leak information to the media for payment and the mechanism to prevent that was to restrict access to that information.'

But police believe their new PND, launched in 2011, will help prevent similar errors in the future.
The system allows sensitive material to be located but accessed only with the right clearance.

Speaking after the report was published last week Chief Constable Mike Barton, the Association of Chief Police Officer's lead on intelligence, said the current system is capable of being interrogated by any trained officer across the UK to 'identify suspects, offenders and patterns of behaviour'.

The National Association of People Abused in Childhood said that police had put the protection of celebrities before children.
But spokesman John Bird added that he believes police are striving to 'get it right in future'.

The first national shared database for police in England and Wales was set up in 2003, while a later system in 2006 allowed officers to search for intelligence but restricted access to sensitive records.

and

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21869330

20 March

Jim Davidson arrested over new sexual offences claims

Comedian Jim Davidson presented the Generation Game and Big Break on BBC TV



Comedian Jim Davidson has been questioned about new allegations of sexual offences as part of a probe related to the Jimmy Savile inquiry.

The 59-year-old was answering bail on Wednesday at a London police station when he was "further arrested on suspicion of sexual offences", said Scotland Yard.

Mr Davidson's solicitor says the comic "vigorously denies" the allegations.

He was initially arrested in January by detectives from Operation Yewtree.

The investigation was set up in the wake of sexual abuse allegations made against Savile.

After his second arrest, Mr Davidson was released again on bail until May.

And another man - also arrested in January on suspicion of sexual offences - was also re-bailed until May.

Scotland Yard has so far arrested 11 people under Operation Yewtree, its inquiry into historical allegations of sexual abuse linked to the entertainment industry.

The investigation was launched in the wake of revelations that ex-TV presenter and Radio 1 DJ Jimmy Savile subjected hundreds of young people and children to sexual abuse over four decades.

The operation has three strands. One is looking specifically at the actions of Savile and the second strand concerns allegations against "Savile and others".

The third strand relates to alleged complaints against other people unconnected to the Savile investigation.

Last week Dave Lee Travis, the ex-Radio 1 DJ and Top of the Pops presenter, was questioned for a second time after further allegations were made to Operation Yewtree detectives.

Mr Travis, of Mentmore, Bucks, was arrested on 11 March after answering bail following his first arrest in November 2012. He has denied any wrongdoing.

and

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21772529

13 March

'Significant' sex abuse arrests due says prosecutor



A senior prosecutor says "significant" arrests are being planned in the coming weeks of people suspected of sexual abuse.

Nazir Afzal, chief crown prosecutor for north-west England, said arrests in the wake of the Jimmy Savile revelations would continue.

He said child sex abuse was "more widespread than we ever imagined".

Mr Afzal made the comments at a seminar organised by the think-tank Policy Exchange.

The prosecutor said: "There are significant arrests scheduled for the next few weeks."

Scotland Yard has so far detained 11 people under Operation Yewtree, its inquiry into historical allegations of sexual abuse linked to the entertainment industry. The investigation was launched in the wake of revelations that Jimmy Savile subjected hundreds of victims to sexual abuse over four decades.

Those arrested include pop singer Gary Glitter, comedians Freddie Starr and Jim Davidson, DJ Dave Lee Travis and PR consultant Max Clifford. All are currently on police bail pending further inquiries. The Crown Prosecution Service had received a number of files from police officers for its advice on whether charges should be brought.

In a separate investigation, the presenter and football commentator Stuart Hall is facing a trial over allegations of rape and indecent assault, which he denies.

The think-tank meeting was told that greater efforts were being made by police and prosecutors to "build" cases against suspects to increase the prospects of conviction.

Rather than relying on the evidence of one person, corroboration was being sought and police were exploring bringing more "victimless prosecutions". These would be trials in which a victim did not want to co-operate - but other evidence was available to present to a court.

On Tuesday, the Inspectorate of Constabulary said that police forces had mishandled complaints and missed opportunities to apprehend Savile.

In a critical report, it said forces had failed to understand the depth of the late DJ's sexual offending. He is now believed to be responsible for 214 specific crimes, including 32 rapes.

[Sabrina]

French Police Raid IMF Chief Christine Lagarde’s Paris Home

AFP reporters, The Sydney Morning herald – March 21, 2013 - France

http://www.smh.com.au/business/world...321-2ggoa.html

French police have raided the Paris home of IMF chief Christine Lagarde in connection with a probe into her handling of a high-profile scandal when she was a government minister.

The investigation concerns Lagarde’s 2007 decision to ask an arbitration panel to rule on a dispute between disgraced tycoon Bernard Tapie and the collapsed bank Credit Lyonnais.

The arbitration resulted in Tapie being awarded around 400 million euros ($499 million) – an outcome that triggered outrage among critics who insisted the state should never have taken the risk of being forced to pay money to Tapie, a convicted criminal.

That view has been effectively endorsed by the CJR, a court established to assess potentially suspect actions by government ministers in office.

The CJR has deemed Lagarde’s decision to send the Tapie case to arbitration “questionable” and suggest she was personally complicit in a process characterised by “numerous anomalies and irregularities”.

Lagarde’s lawyer Yves Repiquet told AFP his client was cooperating with the investigation. “Mrs Lagarde has nothing to hide,” he said.

Lagarde herself, now 57, has defended the controversial decision to send the Tapie case to arbitration, describing it as “the best solution at the time”.

Her employers at the IMF also indicated that the ongoing investigation would have no bearing on her current role as managing director of the global body.

“As we have said before, it would not be appropriate to comment on a case that has been and is currently before the French judiciary,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said in Washington.

“Prior to its selection of the managing director, however, the IMF’s executive board discussed this issue and expressed its confidence that Madame Lagarde would be able to effectively carry out her duties as managing director.”
The arbitration panel appointed by Lagarde agreed to award Tapie 285 million euros (400 million euros including interest) in compensation linked to his 1993 sale of the sports group Adidas.

Tapie argued successfully that the state should compensate him following the collapse of the publicly owned Credit Lyonnais because the bank had defrauded him by consciously undervaluing Adidas at the time of the sale.
Most of the huge award to Tapie went to clearing his debts and tax liabilities but he reportedly retained up to 20 to 40 million euros which he has used to relaunch his business career.

He recently purchased a newspaper group in the south of France and there has been speculation about him re-entering politics as a candidate for mayor of Marseille in 2014.

Tapie was a minister under Socialist president Francois Mitterand but he backed right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2007 and 2012 presidential elections.

His support for Sarkozy has been put forward as a possible explanation for the allegedly favourable treatment he received from Lagarde, who was Sarkozy’s finance minister at the time.

Tapie is best known as the former owner of France’s best-supported football club, Olympique Marseille, and his role in a 1993 match-fixing scandal for which he was sent to prison.

Lagarde has been the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 2011, having taken over from her compatriot Dominique Strauss-Kahn who resigned after an alleged sexual assault on a New York hotel maid.

She is the first woman to head the organisation and her appointment was seen as the culmination of a glittering career in law and politics.

After rising to the executive board of US legal consulting giant Baker & McKenzie, she became France’s first female finance minister after Sarkozy was elected in 2007.

[Sabrina]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/131723620/...anks-Rev-FINAL

Ireland

Via American Kabuki - doesn't say who is behind it. S.




TAKE NOTICE
that WE the free and sovereign people of
Éire firmly counter and rebut the recent regrettable decision taken by fraudsters, i.e. the mortgage banking industry,to escalate foreclosures against the living flesh and blood people of the ancient land of
Éire, thereby directly attacking them in a far from subtle way.The time has come now for you to be held accountable, with full personal liability, forthe actions you have taken in your corporate roles as you weave your businesseswithin unlawful and immoral boundaries under which your corporations flourish;behind the veil of LEX ROMANA.

WHEREBY;
WE now give, Issue and Order this DUE and FAIR NOTICE that; any and allforeclosures or 'repossessions' executed, or attempted to be executed in any way,against any and all of the family homes and dwellings of the several, one, free andsovereign people of Éire by your corporations and upon your direction, on or after the31st of March 2013 will result in the precise collection of all relevant data by certainpeople in a full personal accounting for each and every one of you, the above namedChief Executive Officers, and Others who directly or indirectly aid and abet thewrongdoers.Transgressions, and the restitution for them, will not exclude Officers of the CentralBank of Ireland nor of the Department of Finance, at the appropriate positions. You allnow bear full personal unlimited liability, of your own account, for the actions you takeon or after March 31st 2013.These transgressions are considered to be Crimes Against Humanity and will not betolerated any longer. You are not immune in your corporate roles and the gravity of what you are about to commence should be considered very carefully by you.Recent events describe precedent for the above from the International Tribunal intoCrimes of Church and State, ITCCS.org, resulting in convictions and the issuance of livearrest warrants in the interim since March TH
last against many prominent figures in our world. These warrants are backed by at least one western government and theywill be executed in due course.A full template for true justice under the one true law of standing in this world, being the common law of the land; to “violate no other, nor their property,” NOW exists. Itwould be irresponsible for the people of this island to fail to adopt and engage thesemodels to address and rebut the fraudulent nature of your monetary, banking andmortgage industry and to obtain fair remedy for the consequences of your actions.

2


Four years on now from the engineered financial crash and We still live with the liesand manipulation of the Truth by our media and our political class. When the peoplestand in Truth nothing on this earth can counter them. You know it and We know it.There will be opportunity this time to tell the whole Truth about the banking industry.Be that under 'your' legal system, or in the courts of the people and We NOW herebymake you responsible, in your own individual capacities, with full personal unlimitedliability; because We know what you are doing and; SO SHALL IT BE.The Truth of the matter is as follows :-1.The value of the currency of the alleged debt, the value of any and allpurported fiat currencies is vested in the sovereign life and labour of the individual. It is drawn on the people. We provided the value. Weprovided the loans in the actual
factum. Without that there is nothing,only worthless fictitious value. Now we are going to make it stick.2.The Central Bank of Ireland is in fact a foreclosed institution. Whatthat means is that there is a prior claim, a commercial lien on anyand all title, property, equity, assets, liens, sureties, bonds andbullion of the Bank for International Settlements, its members,subsidiaries and beneficiaries thereof; to include the ECB, CentralBank of Ireland and any commercial Bank holding a licence issued byeither of them.Those are the facts as described in Uniform Commercial CodeDocument# 2012114586 as Registered in Washington DC. Thisdocument is just another endorsement of the truth; that truth being that modern banking violates natural law and order and hastherefore been foreclosed forever by we the people.3.Therefore, no banking institution in Ireland has any lawful claim toforeclose or repossess any property belonging to any one of the living,flesh and blood people of Éire. That is the truth of the matter, and theTruth is Sovereign in Commerce.

3


4.If banking institutions would persist with their fraudulent claims inthe pursuance of the living, flesh and blood people of
Éire in the execution of fraudulent instruments, to which they do not possesstitle, through the courts, along with the inherent human loss anddamage that encumbers that; then, that can only be described as'malicious prosecution', even in the eyes of an Admiralty Court. You are a Corporation, the title to whose entire equity has transferredto the people. We OWN you, therefore you have no valid claim and theTruth is Sovereign in Commerce.5.We, the free and sovereign people of
Éire have sought and obtainedlawful remedy for the wrongs that have been perpetrated against usfor hundreds of years, the bindings that have carefully been wovenaround us by those who would subjugate us and the human spirit.We have NOW freed ourselves from such falsity and aberration; thisis the voice of
Ériu, the voice of our sacred ancestors, the voice of ourone, true heritage, the voice of the voiceless and the voice of ourbeing; to ALL of which you are now held accountable.6.Your remedy, on which all systems of justice must necessarily rely, isto comply immediately with this Order; to do so in in writing, innotarized form, on paper, signed, sealed and delivered to theRegistrar of Companies, entitled Declaration of Compliance, in thecapacity of the relevant officer of the instant Corporation, prior to theexpiry date March 31 st 2013.The Registrar will maintain and secure for safe keeping the saiddocuments for public registration at a later date if necessary, and inthe meantime for inspection by any one of the several, living fleshand blood people of Éire on request.

4


WE, the several, one, true, free and sovereign people of Éire -

[Sabrina]

That' one arrest I'm looking forward to posting here...

Citizens’ Campaign to Arrest Former UK PM Blair Continues

Citizens band together to arrest former British prime minister over involvement in Iraq’s invasion a decade ago.

By Simon Hooper , Al Jazeera – Mar 21 2013


http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/fea...727608817.html

London, United Kingdom – It was only as David Cronin saw Tony Blair and his entourage striding towards him that he finally plucked up the courage to go through with his plan to attempt to arrest the former British prime minister over his role in the invasion of Iraq and claim a bounty on his head.

“I walked up to him very briskly and managed to put my hand on his arm and say, ‘Mr Blair, this is a citizen’s arrest,’” Cronin told Al Jazeera of the 2010 encounter at the European Parliament in Brussels, where he worked as a journalist.

“I didn’t have time to say anything else before his bodyguards pushed me away, so I just shouted at him, ‘You are guilty of war crimes!’ He looked at me for a split-second before I was bundled off. I can only describe it as a look of puzzlement and contempt.”


“It’s a complete joke that a guy who had helped to start two wars in the wider Middle East region is now swanning around posing as a peace envoy.”

Ten years since British forces joined the US-led assault, many in the UK are more critical than ever of the country’s involvement in a conflict documented by the Iraq Body Count database to have killed more than 112,000 civilians.

More than a fifth – 22 percent – of Britons polled by YouGov this month said they believed Blair should be tried as a war criminal for his role in the conflict, which was preceded by massive anti-war demonstrations in London and other cities.
Fifty-three percent said the invasion was wrong, while half said Blair, a key international ally of US President George W Bush, had deliberately misled the British people over the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction.

Blair’s schedule these days is a closely guarded secret to avoid ambushes by the protesters who stalk his public appearances armed with eggs, shoes and banners reading: “BLIAR”. Even his testimony at last year’s phone-hacking inquiry was interrupted by an intruder shouting, “This man is a war criminal!”

Online campaign
Cronin, meanwhile, is one of four people to have claimed a reward from an online campaign, Arrest Blair, which offers a share of a bounty pot for each attempted arrest.

Launched in 2010, the campaign has already paid out about $16,600, though it concedes its efforts are largely symbolic. According to its rules, attempts must be non-violent and must be reported by at least one mainstream media outlet.
Cronin, who donated his $4,200 bounty to a Gaza-based charity, said he was moved to act not just by Iraq but also in protest at Blair’s appointment as Middle East envoy for the Quartet of the UN, the US, the EU and Russia.

“It’s a complete joke that a guy who had helped to start two wars in the wider Middle East region is now swanning around posing as a peace envoy,” Cronin said.

Moves to hold Blair accountable are also gaining momentum in Scotland, where some campaigners believe he could be tried under the country’s separate legal system.

Margo MacDonald, an independent member of the Scottish parliament, told Al Jazeera that she planned to table a motion on Wednesday calling for Scottish law to be amended to make illegal “the waging of aggressive war with the intention of regime change”, specifically so that Blair could be brought to trial.

“Theoretically, we believe he could face a court in Scotland,” MacDonald told Al Jazeera. “We are simply adding to the pressure.”

In an article published in last weekend’s Sunday Herald newspaper, Alex Salmond, the leader of the ruling Scottish National Party, appeared to lend weight to MacDonald’s cause, writing: “The illegal invasion and war in Iraq is a disgrace without parallel in modern times, the shame of which will echo down the ages for Blair and all of those who were complicit in sending young men and women to risk their lives on the basis of a gigantic fraud.”

Legal obstacles
But James Sloan, an expert in international criminal law at Glasgow University, told Al Jazeera that any attempt to prosecute Blair, whether in Scotland, elsewhere in the UK, or at The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC), could face near-insurmountable legal obstacles.

While the crime of aggression – the likeliest charge that Blair could face – fell under the ICC’s jurisdiction, Sloan said it was not yet prosecutable because signatories of the court’s founding statute in 1998 had not been able to agree on a definition.
A definition was finally agreed on in 2010, but is not due to come into force at the ICC until 2017. That could pose problems for any effort to apply the charge of aggression to Blair’s actions more than a decade earlier, Sloan said.

“It’s a fundamental principle of criminal law that you cannot retrospectively try someone for something that was not criminal at the time. There could be a pretty good defence that he couldn’t expect to know how the crime would be defined in 2013 or later when he was acting in 2003.”

Blair has maintained that the war in Iraq was justified and that even the subsequent sectarian violence was a price worth paying for ending Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship.

In the introduction to A Journey, his 2010 autobiography, he wrote: “I have often reflected as to whether I was wrong. I ask you to reflect as to whether I may have been right.”

In response to an email seeking comment, a spokesperson for Blair’s office directed Al Jazeera to remarks made this week in an article in the Sun newspaper and to the BBC, in which he suggested that an eventual uprising against Saddam could have been even bloodier than the current conflict in Syria.

Blair has also brushed off protesters’ efforts to confront him. In footage of an attempt last year by a British activist to arrest him during a lecture in Hong Kong, he can be heard to say: “You’ve made your point and that’s democracy for you,” and then jokes, “Actually, I’m used to it.”

Hardening attitudes
But Chris Nineham, a founder of the UK’s Stop the War coalition, sees a hardening of attitudes against Blair and growing recognition of the weight of war crimes allegations against him in political and media circles.

Even the Sun, a cheerleader for the invasion, felt obliged to run a piece alongside Blair’s in which the father of a British soldier killed in Iraq accused him of being a war criminal and said he should be in prison.

“In a way I suspect it is official politics and mainstream media beginning to catch up with where the public has been for a long time now,” said Nineham, the author of a forthcoming book titled The People v Tony Blair.

“A lot of people want to see justice but in the public imagination, I think Tony Blair has already been effectively vilified and it has humiliated him. That is very important because other politicians in the future who are looking at the possibility of more wars and more invasions will think twice.”

Nineham said Blair could also expect to be harried by protesters for a long time to come.
“You only need to send an email out saying Blair is going to be appearing at such and such an armaments manufacturing conference, and you’ll have hundreds of people phoning in or emailing saying, ‘Yeah, come on then, where is he?’”

Arrest Blair’s Guide To Arresting Tony Blair
The method we recommend is calmly to approach Mr Blair and in a gentle fashion to lay a hand on his shoulder or elbow, in such a way that he cannot have any cause to complain of being hurt or trapped by you, and announce loudly: “Mr Blair, this is a citizens’ arrest for a crime against peace, namely your decision to launch an unprovoked war against Iraq. I am inviting you to accompany me to a police station to answer the charge.”

If any police officers are accompanying Mr Blair, you should explain the charge to them, and encourage them to support you by arresting him. You are advised not to put yourself at risk of charges of assault or false imprisonment. In other words, do not cling onto Blair or attempt to drag him anywhere.

[Sabrina]

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy Charged in Funding Probe

Sarkozy Charged in Funding Probe

France

By Odile Duperry, AAP, The Australian – March 22, 2013


http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1226603112331

FORMER president Nicolas Sarkozy has been charged with taking financial advantage of France’s richest woman, as part of a probe into illegal party funding that could shatter his hopes of a political comeback.

His lawyers said they would appeal against the decision to formally investigate Sarkozy over allegations he took advantage of elderly L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt when she was weakened by poor health.

He was unexpectedly summoned on Thursday to the Bordeaux offices of Jean-Michel Gentil, the judge in charge of the case, for face-to-face encounters with at least four former members of Bettencourt’s staff.

The surprise confrontation came over claims he had accepted envelopes stuffed with cash from the world’s richest woman to fund his 2007 election campaign.

Gentil was seeking to establish how many times Sarkozy had visited Bettencourt during his successful campaign.

Sarkozy, 58, has always maintained that he visited Bettencourt’s residence only once during the campaign, to meet her late husband. Members of the multi-billionaire’s staff have, however, contradicted his version of events.

Sarkozy’s lawyer Thierry Herzog lambasted the decision to pursue his client as “legally incoherent and unfair”.
He said he would immediately initiate proceedings to have the charges dropped.

Back in November, Gentil and two other examining magistrates spent 12 hours questioning Sarkozy.

They decided not to formally charge him then but to continue investigating the allegations against him.
France’s legal system has nothing that exactly matches the charges or indictments brought in English, or US courts; but an investigating judge’s decision to place someone under judicial investigation is the closest equivalent.

Bettencourt is now 90. Medical experts say her mental capacity began to deteriorate from the autumn of 2006.
The allegation is that Sarkozy obtained significant amounts of money from her, breaching electoral spending limits and taking advantage of a person weakened by ill health.

Bettencourt’s former accountant, Claire Thibout, told police in 2010 she had handed envelopes filled with cash to Bettencourt’s right-hand man, Patrice de Maistre, on the understanding it was to be passed on to Sarkozy’s campaign treasurer, Eric Woerth.

Woerth has already been charged in the affair.

Investigators suspect up to 4.0 million euros ($A4.98 million) of Bettencourt’s cash subsequently made its way into the coffers of Sarkozy’s UMP party.

Sarkozy lost immunity from prosecution when he was defeated in the 2012 presidential election by Socialist Francois Hollande.

French judges have already successfully pursued Sarkozy’s predecessor as president, Jacques Chirac, who was convicted in 2011 on corruption charges related to his time as mayor of Paris.

Chirac, excused from attending his trial because of ill health, received a two-year suspended prison term.

[Sabrina]

http://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/o...on-greenlight/

22 March UK

A new initiative to invite the sharing of information of child abuse in the UK:

Operation Greenlight was set up because we were appalled by the revelations of sexual and other abuse of children and vulnerable young people in this country spanning decades. Operation Greenlight is intended to drive awareness of the situation by providing a focused resource that links to the wealth of publicly available information relating to abuse in children’s homes and other institutions. The purpose is to alert people to be more aware in order to protect our current and future generations.

GLO is intended to help build a clearer picture of the scale of abuse that has occurred. It is searchable by name, geographic region or police operation, and the system contains clickable links to take users directly to the source material for more detailed study.

How can you help?

We are currently collecting and publishing evidence from mainstream sources. These include press reports, local authority minutes, police operation reports and mainstream news sites.

Anyone with a spare half hour can help us find this evidence and send it to the email address below or, better still, leave it in the ‘comment’ section for the relevant area at the website below.

We just need links, no text or explanation required.

More information and and contact details at link

[Sabrina]

Local American press coverage of one citizen using the One People's Trust - OPTT - documentation re: a speeding fine and his debts. They've given it a fair write-up - interesting to see how this one goes.


http://www.lovelycitizen.com/story/1951884.html

US

The Revolution has begun: Local resident says police enforcement illegal and all debt is canceled

On Wednesday, March 13, local resident Ira Goodman was stopped for speeding, going 31 mph in a 15 mph zone, by Eureka Springs Police Officer Shannon Hill. He was issued a citation.
But he's not worried.

He's not going to pay it, and furthermore, as of Monday, he says he no longer owes money on his student loan, as his debt was cancelled, and he's busy discharging other financial obligations, such as his electric bill.

Goodman maintains that all branches of government and their agencies, as well as corporations all over the world, have been foreclosed on and no longer have any power over the people, including any institutions to which people are indebted. All that has gone away.

Goodman refused to sign his speeding ticket, wrote the words "under duress" on the signature line and later hand-delivered "courtesy notices" to the police department, specifically Police Chief Earl Hyatt and Officer Hill, that explain that they have unlimited personal liability for their actions, that Goodman does not give consent to any actions against his "secured BE'ing" and they are ordered to cease and desist all action against him. If they don't, he will send them, per each future contact, invoices for amounts from 5,000 to up to 10,000 troy ounces of 99.9 percent pure silver, which he says is the people's "real money," instead of the paper "play" money printed by the government.

He said he will not appear in court. He served Judge Tim Parker with a courtesy notice as well.

He said he has also served notices to the Department of Workforce Services over unemployment benefits, a notice to Sallie May about his student loan, and notices to officers of the court in Pea Ridge where he received another speeding ticket.

"He is one of these types of people who does not believe that the government has authority over him," said Hyatt by phone Friday. "He does not believe he is subject to the laws. We call them 'sovereign citizens.' They don't recognize the banks, the government, all that kind of stuff."

Goodman is acting on the premises of a movement called the "One People's Public Trust 1776" which contends that in December 2012 it "foreclosed on all governments and banks, removed the financial elite's power, returning all wealth and gold back to its rightful owners, the people."

And on Monday, OPPT filed actions which have now cancelled all debt.

Goodman says he called Sallie May on Monday, and they told him his student loan debt was cancelled as a result of these OPPT filings. He said he did not ask for documentation confirming that, but he will.

According to its website, OPPT was started by three trustees, Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf, an alleged former international banking lawyer; Caleb Paul Skinner; and Hollis Randall Hillner.

In her career, Tucci-Jarraf said she saw fraud everywhere: "corrupt government corporations in bed with banks and the world's powerful financial elite."

OPPT claims the Declaration of Independence and original Constitution were usurped when the U.S. government was corporatized and the Federal Reserve system was established, and citizens became enslaved as collateral. When corporations took over and deliberately crashed the stock market, causing the Great Depression, governments were forced into debt, and the "slavery by debt" system was entrenched.

The OPPT used the little-known and little-understood Uniform Commercial Code to file its foreclosures, allegedly freeing everyone from debt and being subject to rules and laws, it explains on its website. It provides templates for people to give notice to corporations, banks and governments, informing them they no longer have power or legal authority to collect debts and that any so-called debts can be paid by money set aside after each individual's birth certificate created a fictional "strawman" which the corporations hold as collateral.

Goodman says these foreclosures apply even to his speeding ticket.

"When you get a ticket, it's an offer for a contract and falls under contract law," he said. "It's like buying an automobile. You have three days to turn around and say, 'This does not work for me.' It's the same with a traffic ticket. You have three days to bring it in and say 'refused for cause.'"

The police, acting under the authority of the city, are in effect disbanded, he says, because the City of Eureka Springs was incorporated, and the corporations no longer exist.

"They are acting as fictional governments," he said. "They are not true governments. Under the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights we are the sovereigns, we are the rulers, and the government is beneath us. That whole thing was flipped because of the series of bankruptcies the country went through."

Goodman said the whole premise of everyone acting as individuals is that when human beings are not put in positions of emotional distress created by fear and greed, they will act with love and goodwill toward each other and work out their problems between themselves without Big Brother intervening.

"We are in a different time. The planet and the people are evolving right now. The old consciousness is ending, and now we are moving into a new consciousness of love," he said.

He said rules such as speed limits are arbitrary and "meant to control us."

"The excuse they give is they are going to protect us from ourselves."

Goodman said he has no hard feelings toward Hyatt or Hill.

"I think they are great guys, and this is nothing personal about them," he said. "We have to get over this fiction.... Since the agency has been foreclosed, that fiction no longer exists."

Hyatt doesn't quite see it that way.

"I can't predict the future, but if someone does not pay and fails to appear in court, then their driver's license is suspended and a warrant is issued for their arrest and they go to county jail," he said. "He would be given an opportunity to go in front of the judge, and if he doesn't follow the orders of the court, there will be consequences."

He said others claiming to be sovereign citizens have paid and/or served time.

"The law is the law; everybody has to follow it," Hyatt said. "Mr. Goodman refused to sign the ticket. Shannon could have arrested him at that point but didn't because he's a local resident."

Hyatt said he is not familiar specifically with OPPT, but this was not the department's first "go-around with this type of person."

"Quite frankly, it's kind of entertaining."

21 March

[Sabrina]

Very much what is going on with the financial crises at the moment and announcements of imminent financial disaster (as in Cyprus)... Sab.

http://tavistockagenda.weebly.com/introduction.html

From: Introduction - Flashforward -- Predictive Programming - Tavistock (Institute) breaks the news and your mind at the same time.



There is a psychosocial war for your mind, your body, even your soul. By making their mental health guidelines and human relations practice the standard, Tavistock became the de-centralized arbiter of what is considered sane and what is deemed ‘crazy.’ But they have employed the devices of toxic interaction and deployed them against the populace. By framing reality, naming the issues and producing iconic imagery, they have sold us a media gloss that simulates and substitutes the “Big Lie” for truth. “Too big to fail” and bailouts are recent examples.

[Sabrina]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/2...droponic-farm/

Reckon this is a good resignation! Look of the shift of perspective going on!

US

Former MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan quits TV to run organic hydroponic farm

Former MSNBC host and author of the book Greedy Bastards Dylan Ratigan has announced that after leaving his show in June of 2012, he has re-launched his life as an organic, hydroponic farmer. In an open letter on his website DylanRatigan.com, Ratigan proclaimed that his life changed direction when he found himself burnt out by “hollow political debates” and “in search of meaning and purpose in my work and life.”

Ratigan said that it was meeting a Marine combat veteran war protester and his wife who appeared on “The Dylan Ratigan Show” in June that inspired him. The couple explained to him a technique for hydroponic farming that reportedly uses 90 percent less water than a conventional farm, but produces three times as much food.

“It was a business that promised to cure food deserts – areas where access to fresh and healthy food is limited – while having the potential to create jobs for thousands of combat veterans, each of whom was the beneficiary of $1 million in military training while on active duty,” wrote Ratigan Wednesday.

“Since I left MSNBC and dylanratigan.com last June, I first started working with these inspiring visionary veterans on the phone, and then in person to expand their dream and help turn it into a reality,” he continued. “The process alone has restored meaning and purpose in my life, my health and spirit have taken on a renewed vitality and, because of my time with you, I have had the opportunity and privilege to literally put my money where my mouth is.”

Ratigan has relocated from New York City to San Diego County, California, where he is working with Colin and Karen Archipley at their hydroponic organic farm, “Archi’s Acres” full-time. He and the project’s other backers see the program as a means of providing sustainable food crops in the U.S. while offering job opportunities to veterans.

Ratigan will appear Thursday, March 21 on ABC’s “The Chew” and on Friday, March 22 on MSNBC’s “Martin Bashir” to discuss the project and share his recipe for a delicious organic kale salad.

[image via DylanRatigan.com]

20 March

[Sabrina]

Now this is an interesting one. We've just had the unheard of happen with the last Pope resigning. Remember saying that if the Queen resigned as well - that would really signify that things were happening. She's always given the impression she would carry on regardless. Lord Prescott is not the most admired and perhaps not the brightest politician there is (unless that's all bluff and he's in with the Galactics and keeps a white hat in the closet), but this boldness from a mere commoner is unusual, so perhaps there's an intriguing power game starting here. We're living in increasingly interesting times ...


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...-suggests.html

24 March UK

The Queen should think about retiring, Lord Prescott suggests

The Queen should think about abdicating, Lord Prescott has suggested.

The Queen should think about abdicating, Lord Prescott has suggested.

The former Labour deputy Prime Minister said he wanted to pass on concerns from a friend that, at the age of 86, the Monarch was “overburdening” herself and was risking her health by continuing on the throne.
He added that the Queen herself had confessed privately that she was unsure of her own health after her recent illness which left her in hospital.

Lord Prescott, who is a member of the Privy Council which advises the Queen, said: “Even her doctors seem baffled by her illness, with the Queen reportedly telling Kamalesh Sharma, the Commonwealth Secretary General: ‘They’re not sure what’s the matter with me’.”

Writing in the Sunday Mirror, Lord Prescott said that a "straight-talkingYorkie" friend had told him of "his concern ... that the Queen, who is 87 next month, is overburdening herself.

“He felt she had done a remarkable job over her 60 years on the throne but was increasingly concerned at recent cancellations of public duties because of her ongoing ill health.

“My friend noted the monarch would be delivering her 61st Queen’s Speech in May, where she’ll announce her future trips abroad, on top of her many other public duties.

“So he asked me, as a Privy Councillor, to tell her that he didn’t expect her to see out her royal duties as the Queen. She deserves a break and he wouldn’t think less of her if she stepped down.”

Lord Prescott added: “The point is important as we’ll all become more concerned for the heavy load she continues to carry as Head of State.

“She has given wise counsel to 12 Prime Ministers, from Churchill to Cameron, and has made her mark on the country she loves.

"I’m not sure whether the Queen reads the Sunday Mirror, or indeed my column. But if you do, Ma’am, I thought I’d pass on my friend’s concern.

“He feels you have done so much for the UK and the Commonwealth that you deserve to break convention and consider enjoying a long and fulfilling retirement.”

However Tory MPs said the Queen should ignore Lord Prescott’s advice. Mark Field MP said: “I think it is inappropriate for anyone in politics to speculate on the Monarch’s health.

"What is clear is that she is very capable of handling a very big schedule. “Under no circumstances will we see the Queen abdicate. It would undermine the very principle of monarchy. She continues to do a fantastic job.”

George Freeman MP said: “God save us. Never has this poor nation been more in need of the Queen’s quiet and understated wisdom, leadership and tireless public duty.

“After a decade of Blair and Prescott’s ‘get rich quick’ cronyism, Her Majesty The Queen’s reign is one of the few things in Britain the public still trust and have confidence in. May she long reign over us.”

Conor Burns MP added: “John Prescott is the antithesis of the Queen. She is a model of selfless public service and duty. He is frittering away any last vestiges of dignity his career had with these sort of pig ignorant comments. Luckily for Her subjects I'm sure the Queen will ignore his silly advice.”

Robert Buckland MP added: “Lord Prescott fails to remember that the Queen took an oath to serve for the rest of her life.

“It was an abdication that put her in direct line to theThrone, so I do not think that this is viewed by her as an option. Stop speculating and let her get on with the job.”

Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said: "The Queen is anointed our Sovereign for life. It is a vocation not a job. Lord Prescott should remember his oath as a Privy Counsellor and as a peer."

The Queen said on her 21st birthday that she regarded ruling Britain as a job for life. Buckingham Palace declined to comment this morning.

and

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ll-health.html

25 March


John Prescott slapped down over Queen comments suggesting she should abdicate following recent bout of ill health

Said he wanted to pass on concerns the Queen was 'overburdening' herself

Wrote the comments suggesting she should abdicate in Sunday column

John Prescott sits on the Privy Council which advises the monarch

Tory MPs queued up to criticise the former deputy prime minister

John Prescott has come under fire for suggesting the Queen should abdicate because of her recent bout of ill-health.

The former deputy prime minister said he wanted to pass on concerns that the 86-year-old monarch was 'overburdening' herself.

As a former Cabinet minister, Mr Prescott sits on the Privy Council.

In his column for a Sunday newspaper, he wrote: ‘Last week a straight-talking Yorkie friend asked me what Privy Councillors do. I said we formally advise the Queen.

‘Now, my friend is a staunch royalist but he said something which got me thinking.

‘His concern was that the Queen, who is 87 next month, is overburdening herself. He said she had done a remarkable job over her 60 years on the throne but was increasingly concerned at recent cancellations of public duties because of her ongoing ill-health.

‘My friend noted the monarch would be delivering her 61st Queen’s Speech in May, where she’ll announce her future trips abroad, on top of her many other public duties.

‘So he asked me, as a Privy Councillor, to tell her that he didn’t expect her to see out her royal duties as the Queen. She deserves a break and he wouldn’t think less of her if she stepped down.

more at the link

[Sabrina]

http://www.silverdoctors.com/dutch-b...gold-delivery/

24 March

GOLD BANK RUN BEGINS? DUTCH BANK ABN AMRO HALTS PHYSICAL GOLD DELIVERY!

*Breaking

The Cyprus/ Eurozone crisis has just intensified, as Dutch Bank ABN Amro has sent a letter to clients this weekend informing them that they will halt extradition and physical delivery of their clients’ gold holdings effective April 1st!

No worries however, Amro ensures its clients that there is no need to panic or do anything rash (such as remove your phyzz prior to April 1st:

We ensure that we have your investments in precious metals now the new way to handle and administer

Forget traditional imminent deposit bank runs in Cyprus, has a physical gold bank run begun?


The release in English via Google Translate: (ABN AMRO)

Changes in the handling of orders in bullion

On 1 April 2013,. ABN AMRO to another custodian for the precious metals gold, silver, platinum and palladium. This we your investments in precious metals otherwise handle and administer. In this letter you can read more about it.

What will change?

With the transition to the new custodian will include the following from 1 April 2013 for you to change.
• You can have your precious metals to your investment account no longer physically let us extradite
• Gives you order in precious metals via the giro ABN AMRO? Then the settlement of orders that henceforth performed at bid prices or at the offer prices prevailing on the market for precious metals. No longer based on the mid-price, as you used to.

• The bid price is the price that merchants offer for precious metals that are offered for sale, so if you sell.
• The ask price is the price at which traders want to sell precious metals, so if you buy.
• We are the positions in these precious metals in your investment statements against future bid prices appreciate

You can read more about investing in precious metals in Chapter 4 (Supplementary conditions for investing in precious metals) of the Conditions Beleggersgiro. You can find these at abnamro.nl / Conditions invest

Should I do anything?

You need do nothing. We ensure that we have your investments in precious metals now the new way to handle and administer.

And the human English translation via an SD reader:
Changes in the handling of orders in bullion

As of 1 April 2013, ABN AMRO will switch over to another custodian for precious metals gold, silver, platinum and palladium.
Therefor we will handle and administer your investments in precious metals differently. In this letter you can read more about this.
What will change?
With the transition to the new custodian, the following will change for you as of 1 April 2013:
• You can no longer request physical delivery of your precious metals from us
• Do you execute orders for precious metals via the ABN AMRO account? Then the settlement of these orders are henceforth performed at bid price or ask price prevailing on the market for precious metals. No longer on the mid-price, as you are used to.
• The bid price is the price that merchants offer for precious metals that are put up for sale, when you sell.
• The ask price is the price at which traders want to sell precious metals, when you buy.
• From now on we will value the precious metals in your investment portofolio at bid prices
You can read more about investing in precious metals in Chapter 4 (Supplementary conditions for investing in precious metals) of the Investment Account Conditions. You can find these at abnamro.nl/voorwaardenbeleggen
Should I do anything?
You don’t need to do anything. We will make sure to handle your investments in precious metals in this new way from now on.
Any Questions?
If you have any questions about the contects of this letter, then you can call our Investment Service Desk op 0900-1474 (from abroad +31 76 5491755). Our employees can be reached monday to friday from 8am to 6pm.
Do you want to palce orders or do you have other questions about investing, then you can call your advisor or the Capital Hotline at 0900-9215 (from abroad +31 10 2407004). Our employees from the Capital Hotline can be reached monday to friday from 7am to 8pm and during the weekend from 9am to 5pm.
We are happy to assist you,
With kind regards,
ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
h/t ZH

[Sabrina]

Rumours of suicide came out very quickly as his death was announced (there's been a lot of 'suicides'...). Some friends have also been quoted as saying that wasn't in his nature at all...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...h-8547301.html

Boris Berezovsky death: the final hours of Russian oligarch

Body found in bathroom which had been locked from the inside – police refuse to rule out foul play as Russian journalist reveals details of 'confused' and 'anxious' interview hours before his death

The lifeless body of Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky was found by a member of staff at his sprawling Berkshire mansion, inside a bathroom which had been locked from the inside, police said last night.

Officers investigating the death of the Russian businessman and political powerbroker at his home in Ascot said they were “retaining an open mind” about how he died, but added that the crime scene showed “no signs of third-party involvement”.

A handheld device which tests for background radiation – carried by one of the paramedics who were called to his mansion near Wentworth Park golf club – sounded on exiting the property. As a result, specialist chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear officers were called in to inspect the house for hazardous substances – but they found nothing and gave police the all clear to enter.

Thames Valley Police said that one of Mr Berezovsky’s employees claims to have found their employer on the floor of his bathroom at 3pm on Saturday, after becoming concerned over his whereabouts having not seen him since 10.30pm the previous evening. The person, understood to be his bodyguard, forced his way through the door, which was locked from the inside.

A very public enemy of Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin, the tycoon was also facing severe financial and personal problems. Having led an unimaginably extravagant lifestyle in his 67 years, it is unsurprising that foul play, suicide and natural causes have all been cited as potential causes for his death. Police have not revealed what state Mr Berezovsky’s body was in. A post-mortem examination is unlikely to take place until today at the earliest.

Mr Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov elaborated on a letter supposedly written by Mr Berezovsky to the Russian President a few months ago, in which he is said to have asked for forgiveness for his mistakes and permission to return to Russia. “The letter was addressed to Putin personally, and I don’t know if he will want to make the full text public,” said Mr Peskov. He also said that if a request was made, the Kremlin would consider allowing Mr Berezovsky’s funeral to take place in Russia. “It’s true that he always wanted to go back to Russia, but I don’t believe he wrote to Putin, this sounds like something made up by Putin’s people,” said Evgeny Chichvarkin, a Russian businessman who fled to London in 2009 after criminal charges were launched against him in Russia.

Mr Berezovsky was the standout figure of Russian politics in the wild east days of the mid 1990s, but he fell out spectacularly with Mr Putin in 2000 in an argument almost entirely of his own engineering, and came to Britain in self-exile. Last year he lost a $6.6bn (£4.5bn) court battle against his one-time business associate, Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, on which his financial future was all but dependent.

Most damning of all the words spoken during the case were those of the judge, Mrs Justice Gloster, who described him in her verdict as an “inherently unreliable witness” and “someone who regarded truth as a transitory concept, that could be moulded to fit his current purposes”. According to friends he had been feeling down ever since, failing to make social engagements from which he once took immense pleasure. But many disputed he was the type to take his own life. “When I spoke to him he wasn’t in a good mood, he has been down ever since the court case. But it wasn’t such a bad mood to induce suicide,” said Mr Chichvarkin.

Yuri Felshtinsky, a historian and author who had known Mr Berezovsky since 1998, added: “We do not have facts yet, but we must bear in mind that there have been several questionable deaths of Russian émigrés in the UK. Badri Patarkatsishvili, Boris Berezovsky’s business partner, died in February 2008 [in Surrey] and until yesterday everybody including me thought that was a death by natural causes, but now I’m not so sure.”

Last night it was reported that the widow of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned in London in 2006, said Mr Berezovsky had “many enemies” and that it was “not likely” he had committed suicide.

An interview given by Mr Berezovsky on the eve of his death, in which he spoke of his profound depression and his desire to return to Russia, has also emerged. The conversation, with a journalist from the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, was supposed to be an off-the-record chat, but the journalist said, given Mr Berezovsky’s death, he felt compelled to publish it. “I don’t want anything more than to be able to return to Russia,” the tycoon says. “I never quite realised how important Russia is to me, and that I’m incapable of being an emigrant.”

When asked whether he would have been prepared to go to jail in Russia, like Mikhail Khodorkovsky, another oligarch who fell out with Mr Putin, Mr Berezovsky said: “I don’t have an answer to that question. Khodorkovsky managed to stay true to himself though.”

The journalist noted Mr Berezovsky looked deeply confused and anxious throughout the interview. “I don’t know what I should do,” said the former oligarch. “I’m 67. And I don’t know what I should do next.”

24 March

and

http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/...-oligarch.html

25 March

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...itain-sex.html

Vice girls in back of limo at 140mph: Boris Berezovsky flew teenagers to Britain for sex

Berezovsky ordered drivers to speed while girls performed sex acts on him

Chauffeur Mark Pendlebury said he had a steady supply of girls

Police still calling his death 'unexplained' but find no radioactive material

Experts fear he could have been murdered by the Kremlin in 'revenge' attack

Others say he was 'destroyed' after losing £3bn court case with Abramovich

Kremlin will not block any request for his body to be flown back to Russia

In 24 hours before his death he was seen dressed all in black and 'shaking'
Litvinenko's widow rules out suicide and says Berezovsky had 'enemies'

Oligarch Boris Berezovsky regularly paid for teenage girls to fly from Eastern Europe or Russia to the UK for sex, the Mail has learned.

Well wonder who fed it to the Mail...


story at link

[Sabrina]

There are threads on the Cyprus story, but am including it here for the record as it is part of the falling dominoes scenario imo....I feel for the ordinary people caught up in all of this EU game.

http://rt.com/business/bank-cyprus-c...-deposits-789/

25 March Cyprus

Bank of Cyprus to cut 30% off deposits over €100,000

Depositors in the Bank of Cyprus, the biggest bank on the island, will reportedly lose 30 percent on their holdings above 100,000 euros, the chairman of the Cypriot parliamentary finance committee said on Monday.

"I haven't heard a formal announcement about the haircut, but this is the figure I heard," Irish radio quotes Nicholas Papadopoulos as saying.

At dawn on Monday, Cyprus and the troika of international backers (EU, ECB, IMF) reached agreement on a €10bn bailout plan, aimed at preventing the bankruptcy of the island’s financial system and the country’s exit from the Eurozone.

Under the plan the depositors in Bank of Cyprus will be compensated with equity in the bank, while Laiki Bank, which is the island’s second largest financial institution, will be closed down.

Those with deposits under 100,000 euros in both banks will continue to enjoy the protection of the state's guarantees, after an earlier proposal to impose a 6.75% tax on them provoked anger.

"I think they continue stealing what's already been stolen. We need to understand what this story will finally lead to," Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev commented on the move during a meeting with his aides on Monday.

Banks are due to reopen on Tuesday, however, withdrawal limits will be imposed to avoid a run of capital.

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/bailout/s...-deal/20130325

Cyprus Mail 25 March

cyprus and international lenders reached a draft deal in the early hours of this morning.

Details of the deal were sketchy but involved heavy levies on both of Cyprus’ biggest banks. Other banks appeared to have been spared. And no charges will be incurred against any Cypriot bank account with less than 100,000 euros in them, EU officials said.

Reuters reported that the deal involves setting up a "good bank" and a "bad bank" and will mean that Popular Bank of Cyprus, known as Laiki, will effectively be shut down.

Deposits below 100,000 euros in Laiki will be transferred to Bank of Cyprus. Deposits above 100,000 euros, which under EU law are not insured, will be frozen and will be used to resolve debt. It remains unclear how large the writedown on those funds will be.

Some reports suggested it might be as high as 40 per cent.

"It should be fairly easy for finance ministers to agree to this," an EU official told Reuters. "We have been in close contact with all relevant eurozone countries during this negotiation process and there is broad agreement."

The plan is likely to mean very heavy losses for uninsured deposits in Laiki, which has suffered since writing down the value of its holdings of Greek government bonds last year.

Around 35 billion euros is held in Cypriot accounts with more than 100,000 euros in them, but it is not clear how much of that total is held in Laiki bank.

If sufficient funds can be found in Laiki to pay off debt and restructure the Cypriot banking sector, uninsured depositors in Bank of Cyprus may not incur any losses, although that remains to be seen.

One of the officials said shareholders and bondholders in Bank of Cyprus would be part of the "bail-in", with those investors receiving equity in the bank in exchange.

The draft proposal was agreed by President Nicos Anastasiades in negotiation with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. The plan was presented to eurozone finance ministers for discussion, a short time later.

Cyprus acting President Yiannakis Omirou confirmed in Nicosia that an initial agreement had been reached in Brussels.
According to Cyprus
News Agency (CNA) sources close to the government, the agreement foresees a 30 per cent “haircut” on Bank of Cyprus deposits over 100,000 euros. But crucially there would be no restructuring of the Bank of Cyprus and it would not be forced to absorb the 9 billion euro burden of emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) of Laiki. This idea, a red line for Anastiasides, had been abandoned the sources said. However, the details remained unclear.

Anastasiades had at one stage threatened to resign last night during tense and protracted negotiations with international lenders.

If a bailout deal is not done and dusted by midnight tonight, the economy faces total collapse as emergency liquidity assistance from the European Central Bank (ECB) will be cut off.

Although Anastasiades travelled to Brussels on a private jet sent by the European Commission early yesterday morning, the day-long talks with the EU, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the ECB were fraught with tension. On top of that, Anastasiades had to talk back and forth with the presidential palace in Nicosia where political party leaders were holed up awaiting regular briefings from the president.

At one point during the meeting, he reportedly told international lenders during a heated exchange that their proposal to saddle the Bank of Cyprus with some €9 billion in emergency liquidity assistance owed by the Popular Bank to the European Central Bank, effectively meant the lender’s closure in six months.

“I table one proposal, you don’t accept it; I table another, same thing. What else do you want me to do? Do you want to force me to resign? If that’s what you want, let me know,” Anastasiades was quoted as telling international lenders.

"He offered to resign," a source later told Reuters, describing the meeting, which included IMF Chief Christine Lagarde, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and other top officials, as tense.

A decision had already been taken to resolve the island’s second biggest lender, Laiki, while Nicosia had earlier offered to accept a 20 per cent levy on deposits of over €100,000 in BoC and 4.0 per cent in other banks.

Other reports said the EU was considering a haircut of Cyprus’ debt, similar to what happened in Greece, which the Europeans said had been a one-off.

The government spokesman said earlier the president and his team had a "very difficult task to accomplish to save the Cypriot economy and avert a disorderly default".

The EU's economic affairs chief Olli Rehn said there were no good options but "only hard choices left" for the latest casualty of the euro zone crisis.

Anticipating a run when banks reopen on tomorrow, parliament has given the government powers to impose capital controls.

Earlier yesterday, Anastasiades instructed Cypriot officials to halt talks on the transfer of Cypriot banks’ Greek units to Greece as part of the island’s bailout deal.

Observers suggested that Cyprus wanted to use this as a bargaining chip during last night’s negotiations.
With the operations still in Cypriot hands, a potential collapse of the island’s economy could spread to crisis-stricken Greece.

Reports said that over half of the €9.0 billion in ELA absorbed by Popular had been used to prop up its Greek operations.

French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici rejected charges that the EU had brought Cypriots to their knees, saying it was the island's offshore business model that had failed.

"To all those who say that we are strangling an entire people ... Cyprus is a casino economy that was on the brink of bankruptcy," he told Canal Plus television.

Analysts say failure to clinch a deal could cause a wider financial market selloff, but some say the island's small size - it accounts for just 0.2 percent of the euro zone's economic output - means contagion would be limited.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said there had been little progress since last weekend's attempted bailout deal involving a levy on all bank deposits, which the Cypriot parliament overwhelmingly rejected, but he hoped people in Cyprus now had "a somewhat realistic view of the situation".

Schaeuble said the financial numbers had worsened, if anything, in the intervening week. Asked what a solution would look like, he said: "What we agreed last week."


and this blog's view on it all:

http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/...prus-plot.html

THE CYPRUS PLOT

"The Turks are interested in buying Israeli gas...

"Any pipeline from Israel to Turkey would run through Cyprus," Israel's Haaretz reported.

Turkey-Israel gas pipeline deal would cut through Cyprus

Reportedly, the USA, Israel and the EU want Greek Cyprus to do the following:

1. Unite with Turkish Cyprus, thus ending its hostility to Turkey.

2. Allow Greek Cyprus's natural gas, and 'Israel's' natural gas, to be taken by pipeline, through Cyprus, to Turkey, and then onwards to Western Europe.
This would compete with pipelines from Russia.

3. Join NATO.
4. Hurt Russia financially.
5. Become a bigger market for German goods.
A country awash with theories.

21 March

and

http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/...ve-cyprus.html

WHY RUSSIA WOULD NOT SAVE CYPRUS


Russia wants to remain friends with Turkey, so, Russia would not save Turkey's 'enemy', Greek Cyprus.

Russia rebuffs Cyprus, EU awaits bailout Plan B | Reuters

In December 2012, Putin signed 11 different agreements with Turkey.

Russia and Turkey: Cool pragmatism | The Economist

"The level of economic and political relations is such that neither Turkey can forgo Russia, nor Russia Turkey," wrote Mehmet Ali Birand, a veteran commentator.

Russia is Turkey's top trading partner, and this is mainly in Russia's favour.

1. Russia sells natural-gas to Turkey.

Turkey has agreed to let Russia build a second pipeline via the Black Sea to Europe.

2. Russia is to build Turkey's first nuclear- power plant, near the Mediterranean port of Mersin.


3. Russia is the biggest market for Turkish contractors.

4. Turkey is the top destination for Russian tourists.

5. Rusia and Turkey's two-way trade is expected to triple to some $100 billion in the coming years.

6. Putin said in Istanbul that Turkey and Russia "share the same goals in Syria" but "differ on how to get there."

22 March

[Sabrina]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-head-MI5.html

25 March UK

Britain's top spy steps down after just six years as head of MI5

Sir Jonathan Evans ends 33-year career with the Secret Service

Last year warned of the threat to the UK posed by Arab Spring

The head of MI5 is to quit next month, MPs were told today.

Home Secretary Theresa May said Sir Jonathan Evans would step down after six years in charge of Britain’s spies.
It ends a 33-year career with the secret service, which has been transformed from dealing with the Northern Ireland troubles to the threats posed by the Arab Spring on cyber terrorists.

Mrs May paid tribute his ‘dedicated’ service over three decades. Speaking at Home Office Questions in the Commons, she told MPs: ‘During this time his contributions have varied from investigating counter espionage, developing and implementing key policies on security and most recently countering the threat of international terrorism.

‘He has experienced the service evolving over the years and as Director General has lead the service through particularly challenging times of change and unrest, including the aftermath of the 7/7 bombings.

‘His tireless work helped ensure the delivery of a safe and successful Olympic and Paralympic Games last year.’
Born in 1958, Sir Jonathan read Classical Studies at Bristol University before joining the Secret Service in 1980.

He initially focused on Irish-related terrorism in the 1980s and 1990s, before moving on to international counter-terrorism investigations in 1999.

He was appointed director of international counter-terrorism just 10 days before the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.

He became Director General of MI5 in April 2007, succeeding Lady Manningham-Buller, and his departure comes at the end of his contract term.

Last year in a rare public speech just a month before the Olympic Games began in London, Sir Jonathan said the Arab world was in ‘radical transition’.

‘Today parts of the Arab world have once more become a permissive environment for al Qaida,’ he said.
‘Some will return to the UK and pose a threat here. This is a new and worrying development and could get worse as events unfold.

‘So we will have to manage the short-term risks if there is to be a longer-term reward from the Arab Spring.’
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: ‘We also give thanks for the work Sir Jonathan Evans has done over many years for the security of this country.’

[PathWalker]

Meanwhile, Cash Exodus From Cyprus Surges Despite Bank Closures, Capital Controls
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-0...-bank-closures

When Cyprus put its banks into lockdown last weekend until... well indefinitely, now that capital controls are established, the main reason was to halt all capital outflows from the henceforth liquidity starved island whose banks will only exist as long as the ECB provides an ever greater dose of liquidity to account for the collapse in deposit funding. Which is why it is surprising, make that shocking, that as Germany FAZ reports, in the past week there has been a surge in cash outflows from Cyprus, even as its financial system has been supposedly ringfenced from the world, which by the way is the only thing preventing the EUR17 billion bailout from soaring by orders of magnitude because should a liquidity leak be discovered, it is all over for the country's financial system.

How is it possible that cash is leaving the country even with a bank halt? It isn't, unless of course, the banks aren't really halted, and some outbound wire transfers, which are permitted, are more equal than other wire transfers which are stuck on the island. Of course, that would imply an "Europe Farm" type of arrangement, which in the bastion of fairness, equality and honesty which is Europe, would be absolutely impossible.

On the other hand, if indeed the drain of the Cypriot banking system has continued despite all the enacted halts during the past week, then it's game over for Cyprus, which will soon have only the ECB to thank for providing liquidity, an arrangement that may not be the best long-term outcome for a nation whose economy has basically been gutted in the span of one week.

It also means game over for the bailout as envisioned, as the EUR17 billion is history, and much more cash will have to be injected to cover for the stealth outflows.

Of course, in what is now a Pandora's Box experiment in kicking the box, nothing could possibly surprise us. After all, even in a worst case scenario, there are GETCO algos doing the bidding of the BIS and literally bidding up the EURUSD to such levels as allow everyone to ignore the absolute terminal disaster that has happened in Europe in the past week.

Things are rolling out of control.
If the above report will be put in the MSM, it is a clear indication that the whole banking system is out of control.

I am very hopeful this is the case.

[Sabrina]

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/0...92F07R20130326

26 March Cyprus

Cyprus students hold protest rally as banks stay shut

(Reuters) - The chairman of Cyprus's biggest commercial bank offered his resignation and thousands of students protested in the capital as banks stayed shut to stop a run on deposits after the island agreed a painful bailout to avert bankruptcy.

The banks were ordered to remain closed until Thursday, and even then will impose capital controls to prevent depositors from stripping out all their funds.

A Reuters eye witness estimated up to 3,000 high school students protested outside parliament, the first real expression of popular anger after Cyprus agreed the 10 billion euro (8.5 billion pounds) bailout with the European Union. Though the deal prevented a meltdown in its banking system, it could also saddle the country with years of austerity.

The chairman of the Bank of Cyprus, Andreas Artemis, who found himself at the centre of the financial turmoil gripping the east Mediterranean island, offered to resign on Tuesday, a source at the bank said.

"He sent a resignation letter this morning which will be examined by the Board of Directors convening this afternoon," the bank source said, requesting anonymity.

After returning from last-ditch negotiations in Brussels, President Nicos Anastasiades said late on Monday that the rescue plan agreed with international lenders was "painful" but essential.

He agreed to close down the second-largest bank, Cyprus Popular, and inflict heavy losses on big depositors, many of them Russian, after Cyprus's outsize financial sector ran into trouble when its investments in neighbouring Greece went sour.

European leaders said a chaotic national bankruptcy that might have forced Cyprus from the euro and upset Europe's economy was averted. Investors in other European banks are alarmed by the precedent of making depositors bear losses.

"The agreement we reached is difficult but, under the circumstances, the best that we could achieve," Anastasiades said in a televised address to the nation.

Many Cypriots say they do not feel reassured by the bailout deal, however, and are expected to besiege banks as soon as they reopen after a shutdown that began over a week ago.

Reversing a previous decision to start reopening at least some banks on Tuesday, the central bank said late on Monday that they would all now stay shut until Thursday to ensure the "smooth functioning of the whole banking system".

TEMPORARY MEASURE

Little is known about the restrictions on transactions that Anastasiades said the central bank would impose, but he told Cypriots: "I want to assure you that this will be a very temporary measure that will gradually be relaxed."

Finance Minister Michael Sarris said capital controls to prevent big outflows of cash would probably last "a matter of weeks".

Such controls are at odds with the European Union's ideals of a common market but the government is anxious to prevent any panic that would cause even more disruption to the economy.

The central bank has imposed a 100-euro daily limit on withdrawals from ATMs at the two biggest banks.

Without an agreement by the end of Monday, Cyprus risked becoming the first country to be pushed out of the European single currency - a fate that Germany and other northern creditors seemed willing to inflict on a nation that accounts for just a tiny fraction of the euro economy and whose banks they felt had overreached themselves.

The plan will wind down the largely state-owned Cyprus Popular Bank, known as Laiki, and shift deposits under 100,000 euros to the Bank of Cyprus to create a "good bank", leaving problems behind in, effectively, a "bad bank".

Deposits above 100,000 euros in both banks, which are not guaranteed by the state under EU law, will be frozen and used to resolve Laiki's debts and recapitalise the Bank of Cyprus, the island's biggest, through a deposit/equity conversion.

PRECEDENT SET

The raid on uninsured Laiki depositors is expected to raise 4.2 billion euros of the 5.8 billion euros the EU and IMF had told Cyprus to raise as a contribution to the bailout, Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said.

Laiki will effectively be shuttered, with thousands of job losses.

Comments by Dijsselbloem on the need for lenders to banks to accept the potential risks of their failure had a knock-on effect in the euro zone, raising the cost of insuring holdings of bonds issued by other banks, notably in Italy and Spain. (comments designed to cause more panic no doubt)

Senior members of the European Central Bank sought to row back from Dijsselbloem's comments, insisting that Cyprus is a special case and not a model for other countries that might need rescuing.

Russia signalled it would back the bailout, even though it would impose big losses on Russian depositors, who by some estimates may hold a third of all deposits in Cypriot banks.

Cyprus's tottering banks held 68 billion euros in deposits, including 38 billion in accounts of more than 100,000 euros - enormous sums for a nation of 860,000 people that could never sustain such a big financial system on its own.


and

http://rt.com/news/cyprus-bailout-protests-banks-848/

Emotional rollercoaster’: Cypriot students protest amid bailout furor

Scores of Cypriot students have flocked to the presidential palace, chanting slogans and waving banners, following the announcement that banks will not reopen until Thursday. The eurozone bailout has heightened frustration at the government.

“People wake up, they are sucking your blood,” said one sign. “Death to Merkel,” said another.

The country’s youth are also expressing concerns about their future: “‘Troika’ will bring us to the point that we have no future. We cannot find a job,” a Cypriot student told RIA Novosti.

As protesters took to the streets on Tuesday, Bank of Cyprus Chair Andreas Artemis submitted his resignation in opposition to plans to restructure the bank.

Unrest has widened following the $13-billion bailout deal which has seen the freezing of deposits over €100,000. A withdrawal limit has been imposed on ATMs, and capital controls are in place to prevent the movement of funds.

The eurozone bailout did not alleviate the island nation's worries. Residents who have not taken to the streets in anger are also feeling the pinch, especially with the central bank remaining closed. Cypriots feel that a line has been crossed, and are worried about cash flow, jobs and savings.

Even the manager of the Bank of Cyprus, Demetris Antoniou, fears for his employment prospects: “For the first time in my life – for 30 years – I worried. And the last week, and especially in the last two days. I worried a lot. It was like… I was going to wake up, and listen to the news that I don’t have a job anymore. And I’m 50. I’m not 20. To start my life and say ‘okay.’”

“It is like they want to push us – the Bank of Cyprus – after a few months, to collapse? I wonder – what is this? It’s not fair,” he added.

The recent events in Cyprus have prompted fears that similar moves could be enforced in other countries, and could be a template for how problems are dealt with in the future.

“If there is a risk in a bank, our first question should be 'Okay, what are you in the bank going to do about that? What can you do to recapitalize yourself?' If the bank can't do it, then we'll talk to the shareholders and the bondholders, we'll ask them to contribute in recapitalizing the bank, and if necessary the uninsured deposit holders,” Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem told Reuters.

There is additional concern that Germany may have been trying to make an example of the country, and that a precedent has been set for potential future bailouts.

“If there’s unrest in Cyprus – it’s not Portugal. It’s not Spain, it’s not Greece – it’s not a massive country. So what Germany was actually able to do was to enforce its might on a small country in which any kind of unrest, violence or protest will be relatively contained,” said Financial Advisor Margaret Bogenrief, co-founder of ACM Partners.

“If you’ve been reading the press – they’ve been extremely upset about footing the bills for these other countries, and I think what they were saying was ‘look, just to let you guys know – we can do this,’” she concluded.

[Sabrina]

BRICS Wrangle Over New Development Bank

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies – March 26, 2013

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa...641350653.html

Leaders of world’s emerging economies gather in South Africa to discuss proposal to challenge World Bank domination.

BRICS emerging powers sought a deal on setting up a development bank that would rival Western-backed institutions, trying to iron out significant differences ahead of a leaders’ summit in Durban.

The grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and hosts South Africa are racing to elaborate on proposals for an infrastructure-focused lender that would challenge seven decades of dominance by the World Bank.
Just hours before leaders kick off the summit at 17:30 GMT on Tuesday, finance ministers were still working to agree key elements of the plan.

Disputes remain over what the bank will do, with each side trying to mould the institution to their foreign or domestic policy goals and with each looking for assurances of an equitable return on their initial investment of about $10bn.

Failure to secure a deal would be a major embarrassment for many of the participants and would play into the hands of those who argue that the BRICS have little to bind them together.

‘Positive headway’
Xi Jinping, who has underscored the growing importance of the group by making Durban his first summit as China’s president, earlier expressed hopes for “positive headway” in establishing the bank.

In a keynote speech in Tanzania on Monday Xi pledged Beijing’s “sincere friendship” with the continent, and a relationship that respects Africa’s “dignity and independence”.

Meanwhile, host President Jacob Zuma has lauded the summit as a means of addressing his country’s chronic economic problems including high unemployment.

“BRICS provides an opportunity for South Africa to promote its competitiveness” Zuma said in a speech on the eve of the summit.

“It is an opportunity to move further in our drive to promote economic growth and confront the challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment that afflicts our country.”

A failure to take concrete steps would raise questions about whether the BRICS grouping can survive.
“Ironically it may be the cleavages within the BRICS grouping that more accurately hint at the future of the global order: tensions between China and Brazil on trade, India on security, and Russia on status highlight the difficulty Beijing will have in staking its claim to global leadership,” said Daniel Twining of the German Marshall Fund.

But if the leaders succeed it would be the first time since the inaugural BRICS summit four years ago that the group matches rhetorical demands for a more equitable global order with concrete steps.

That would send a loud message to the US and European nations that the current global balance of power is unworkable.

Together the BRICS account for 25 percent of global GDP and 40 percent of the world’s population.
But members say institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations Security Council are not changing fast enough to reflect their new-found clout.

Diplomats say it could start with $10bn seed money from each country, but the exact role of the bank is up for debate.


BRICS FACTS
Economic data shows that the grouping of Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa now account for 25 percent of global GDP and 40 percent of the world’s population.

China has become the informal leader of the group. With a GDP of $8.25 trillion in 2012, the IMF estimates that the Chinese economy will climb by a whopping 8.2 percent in 2013.It remains the globe’s most-populated country, with 1.34 billion inhabitants.

Brazil: With a GDP of $2.425 trillion in 2012, Brazil is the world’s seventh largest economy. It holds only a modest place in world trade activity, however, and experienced sluggish growth of one percent last year.

Russia: Ranking ninth on the list of the world’s biggest economies, Russia accumulated a GDP of $1.953 billion in 2012, boosted mainly by its gas exports, making it the world’s eighth largest exporter.

India: Despite its population of 1.24 billion, India remains a smaller player among the world’s economies, falling into a 10th place with a GDP worth 1.946 trillion.

South Africa: Smallest of the BRICS economies is South Africa. Placing 41st world exporters, the country has a GDP of $390 billion and a population of 50.5 million.

[Sabrina]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...ective-1785273

26 March UK

Paedo MP cover-up claim: Top cop removed from sex abuse probe after naming politicians as suspects


The officer suddenly found himself booted off the case and put on a disciplinary after revealing ­politicians were among the suspects

Tasked with flushing out ­paedophiles preying on vulnerable youngsters at children’s homes, Detective Chief Inspector Clive Driscoll relished the challenge.

But the officer suddenly found himself booted off the case and put on a ­disciplinary after revealing ­politicians were named among the suspects.

At least one of the figures is understood to have been an MP.

And former Labour councillor Anna Tapsell claims she was visited by a police chief to “warn her off” after she raised concerns that detectives would not ­properly investigate allegations of ­paedophile activity in care homes.

Mr Driscoll launched his probe into child sex abuse claims in the South London borough of Lambeth in 1998.

But he claims Scotland Yard began meddling as soon as the politicians were named.

The officer, now spearheading the fresh investigation into teenager Stephen Lawrence’s murder, said: “I was unhappy with the interference of some senior officers who did not appear to have a logical connection to my investigation into child sex abuse in Lambeth.

“There were allegations made by several people that named politicians had been involved but I never had a chance to investigate them because I was moved before I could do so.”

full story at link

[Sabrina]

http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2013/03/...us-depositors/

GLOBAL LOOTING: Bernanke shifty on US depositors.


The global roll-out of thieving from citizen savers continues. I missed this three days ago, but I’m grateful to a US Slogger for pointing it out to me: on March 22nd, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke refused to say that the United States will not use Cypriot techniques of taxing the people by confiscating a percentage of their savings accounts.

During a press conference held to explain his view on economic conditions in the United States, Bernanke said his meetings with the Federal Open Market Committee drew him to the conclusion that the economic outlook is “following its own pre-established expectations”….which could of course mean down a mineshaft or up in an Atlas rocket.

However, when pressed about whether an EC-style approach to Cyprus (involving taking money from savers) might be on the cards in the US, Bernanke spoke less than plainly.

The government of Cyprus last week accepted the principle of stealing funds from private citizens as a condition to get a so-called ‘bailout’ from the five-humped camel of eurozone aid. “I was wondering if you can tell me,” one reporter asked optimistically, “how if a run on the banks happens in Cyprus, how that might affect U.S. markets. And also is it possible for the U.S. to levy a tax on regular deposits here? Or why not?”

Bernanke replied somewhat oddly, “the only trigger for actions such as the ones taken in Cyprus would be if depositors panicked”. I say ‘oddly’ because surely the catalyst for panic would be, um, if news leaked that the US Government was indeed about to rob depositors.

Either way, by not stating clearly whether it could happen in the U.S. or not, Bernanke effectively suggested that the door is open for money-seizing in the U.S.

Bernanke added that he believed it to be unlikely that a Cyprus’ scenario could replicate in the United States. He then reminded the audience that in the U.S. the FDIC insures savings and that this fact is an assurance for depositors who may be concerned. However, as The Slog revealed two days ago, the FDIC recently wrote a paper jointly with the Bank of England openly suggesting depositor haircuts.

Indeed, in February 2012 President Obama expressed concern about the FDIC’s ability to meet its obligations, suggesting that the entity could easily become insolvent. On March 4, Congresswoman Chairman Sheila Bair went further in saying that the FDIC was on its way to becoming insolvent, and that its job to insure bank deposits must therefore be in danger.

In the case of Cyprus, its own government’s word came to nought, because European bankers had that government by the balls: it is they who decided what would be done in Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy, and latterly in Cyprus.

The lesson from this and previous posts on the subject is crystal clear: we can no longer trust any banking institution to defend our savings against State rape. Indeed – when in dire straits – they will actively encourage it.
25 March

and

http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2013/03/...oney-has-left/

26 March

EC rape of Cyprus gets into gear….AFTER the Russian money has left.

Stand by for further wealth transfer to Asia

Some of the unresolved questions about the Cyprus episode seem to be sorting themselves out – if you’re prepared to join up the dots. At the link in that last sentence, I tried to explain the likelihood of what the Cyprus bank heist was really about, and I’ve seen nothing since to change my mind. But the one dimension I couldn’t bottom out concerns why Russia seemed happy to let a lifetime opportunity to get into to Med with bases at the trifling cost of €18 billion euros wither away.

The sky may well be clearing on that one. Zero Hedge had an interesting piece last night confirming what I’d been told: that most of the Russian money quietly seeped away over the last week – prior to haircuts and capital controls. ZH reports:

‘While ordinary Cypriots queued at ATM machines to withdraw a few hundred euros as credit card transactions stopped, other depositors used an array of techniques to access their money. No one knows exactly how much money has left Cyprus’ banks, or where it has gone. The two banks at the centre of the crisis – Cyprus Popular Bank, also known as Laiki, and Bank of Cyprus – have units in London which remained open throughout the week and placed no limits on withdrawals. Bank of Cyprus also owns 80 percent of Russia’s Uniastrum Bank, which put no restrictions on withdrawals in Russia. So while one could not withdraw from Bank of Cyprus or Laiki, one could withdraw without limitations from subsidiary and OpCo banks, and other affiliates. Just brilliant.’

Once again, it seems likely that Schäuble was lying his considerable balls off when he said that most of the victims would be Russian crooks. Pointedly, when asked about capital flight from Cyprus thus far, he declined to give figures. Well, he would, wouldn’t he?

Where I differ from Zero Hedge on this is their final conclusion:

‘…if there was any doubt that the entire process of destroying one entire nation was simply to punish Cyprus, it can be completely cleared away now….an entire nation becomes collateral when pursuing a wealthy group of people. And the “wealthy group” is victorious in the end despite everything….’

If I may say so, that strikes me as The View from America. I don’t think Brussels-am-Berlin was remotely interested in pursuing wealthy individuals: Schäuble almost certainly knew last Thursday that much of the Oligarcash had been leaking out for the previous two days – even before the overseas withdrawals scam was used by the late runners. I think Obama, Putin, Merkel, Erdogan and probably Hollande knew precisely what was going to happen. Given our base in Cyprus, I’d imagine Cameron was also informed early.

The ‘warning to Latvian officials’ not to help Russian money get away was, conveniently, not given until yesterday. The Moscow talks – as some of us felt almost immediately – were never ‘on’. When Medvedev said yesterday “All that’s been stolen here is stolen money” he was unconsciously acknowledging his willingness to toe the Big Power line. Going into this disgraceful episode, everybody had an agenda….and everyone but Cyprus and Greece left the deal very happy indeed.

The EC and Berlin prefer monopolies and rules to real market competition: the economic model of Cyprus had first to be rubbished, and then destroyed…and the markets shown that they were in control. Recep Erdogan wanted a weak Nicosia, and payback for his help on the Syrian spin-fest: he pointedly got the Turkish press to publish a ridiculous map of ‘total Turkiye’ as the Cyprus rape unfolded. Putin wanted to poke some enemies in the eye: the assumption that all the Russian money on the island was crooked is rubbish – much of it belonged to the Russian Opposition. The Americans wanted status quo and firm action to calm the markets – which they got on the whole: a Cypriot default would’ve blown everything sky-high. And the British kept the military presence unique….albeit offering Washington use of their runways whenever required. So even NATO is a happy little gun-bunny this morning.

The truth (as so often in these bailout dramas) is that Nicosia would’ve been far better off defaulting – and the world would’ve been a better place afterwards. While an array of Slog contacts around the world heartened me somewhat yesterday by overcoming their usual cold-heartedness to express disgust at what B-am-B did, the fact is that the mobsters got away with it again.

The problem the Euromafia now face, however, is that the 90% absent trust element in their words and actions just went up to 100%. Call me wacky, but I am absolutely certain most of the Mob are underestimating how much money will leak away to safe places over the next few weeks. I’m guessing here, but my hunch is that by next Christmas, currency and capital controls will be near universal in the West and the Anglosphere. I think folks will move to the least vulnerably currency - and those banking centres least prone to the thieving hands of a bankrupt West. Looting will go global in the end: but not just yet.

On that basis, for once I find myself disagreeing with Greek blogger Yanis Varoufakis when he writes that one ‘good’ part of the Cyprus finale was ‘Unlike the Eurogroup’s original decision, deposit insurance for accounts up to €100,000 will be respected. The reversal of the decision to ‘tax’ insured depositors constitutes a last minute restoration of common sense’. I don’t think it restored either the Rule of Law or common sense: moderately wealthy savers and bondholders have been wiped out by this ‘deal’. All B-am-B did was change the description from ‘levy’ to ‘reconstruction’. In the Orwellian world we have entered, terms like Open Bank Reconciliation (OBR) are becoming as commonplace as QE, Zirp, and all the other methods used by those at the top when tilting the game in their favour.

I’m sending lots of my dwindling pile to Asia. What you do my friends is your business: the Lady isn’t even fat yet, let alone singing. But she might still be for turning. Stay tuned.

[Sabrina]

http://itccs.org/2013/03/26/stopping...and-the-crown/

From the International Tribunal of Crimes into Church and State

26 March

STOPPING THE VATICAN AND THE CROWN

Church actions in five countries mark start of Easter Reclamation Campaign as Queen of England may resign
Brussels:

On the verge of the possible resignation of Elizabeth Windsor as Queen of England, groups in Canada, the United States, England, Ireland and Italy banished the Roman Catholic, Church of England and other churches from their communities as part of an escalating campaign to stop criminal institutions, and arrest their leaders.

The groups staged protests, church occupations and infiltrations of Catholic and Protestant church services. They plan to mobilize even greater numbers for next Easter Sunday.

"The groundswell is finally building because the truth is irrefutable" remarked ITCCS Field Secretary Kevin Annett, who along with Cree activists read and posted the Common Law Court Banishment Order at the main Catholic cathedral in Vancouver, Canada. (see attachments)

"Our campaign is now even forcing the Queen of England to step down because, like the former Pope Benedict, she is personally implicated in crimes against children, and she knows it" .

ITCCS groups in twenty one countries are planning to escalate the reclamation campaign and seize church and Crown property next Easter Sunday, and beyond.

Police forces in these countries will be publicly deputized this week to fulfill their oath of office by assisting the ITCCS enforce the lawful court order of its judicial arm, the Intertnational Common Law Court of Justice, of March 5, 2013. This Order commanded the arrest of thirty heads of church and state, including the Queen and the Pope, and banished their organizations from our communities.

Further announcements will be issued this Good Friday, March 29.



Issued 25 March, 2013
ITCCS Central, Brussels