http://www.liveleak.com/browse?q=currency Wed, 19 Jun 2013 06:30:53 -0400 Liveleak http://edge.liveleak.com/80281E/u/u/ll2/logo.gif http://www.liveleak.com/browse?q=currency Tue, 18 Jun 2013 07:14:22 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=343_1371553835 XAMOMH^I A subsidiary of Germany's state railway Deutsche Bahn paid up to EUR315,000 in bribes to Greek officials secure contracts during the construction of the Athens Proastiakos suburban railway, an investigation by a German state prosecutor has revealed. According to the S"uddeutsche Zeitung daily, the scandal has led the subsidiary, DB International (DBI), to withdraw from Greece and from a number of other countries which it deems are corruption prone, such as Libya, Rwanda and Thailand, where bribes were also paid. As a result of the scandal, DBI also announced that it has dismissed 30 managers, including the former head of its Greek subsidiary, and is suing ten of them for damages. DBI has also ordered that its foreign offices are to hold no more than EUR500 in local currency in petty cash at any time and that cash payments of more than EUR100 are banned. The Frankfurt prosecutors office said it was investigating 37 suspects, almost all former DBI staff. It said that Lahmeyer, a privately owned engineering firm that had contracts with DBI, has been issued with a EUR600,000 fine for its involvement, with one Lahmeyer employee issued with a EUR30,000 fine. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=343_1371553835 XAMOMH^I Deutsche Bahn departs from Greece amid bribery scandal Deutsche Bahn,Germany,Greece,bribery Sat, 15 Jun 2013 10:22:01 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bf2_1371305478 AngryAryan Ron Paul questions the chairman of the FED on inflation and monetary policy. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bf2_1371305478 AngryAryan Ron Paul's last Committee meeting with the Chairman of the FED Ben Bernanke America, Europe, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Middle East, Syria, Afghanistan, Hillary Clinton, Barrack Obama, Obama, Barrack, Ron Paul, Ron, Paul, Rand Paul, Rand, Paul, Joe Biden, Biden, Joe, Congress, Senate, corruption, currency, dollar, markets, war, Ron Paul Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:19:14 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=128_1371078590 NelsonAldrich 1936 Political Rally in Illinois Father Coughlin delivers remarks on the Federal Reserve Banking System. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=128_1371078590 NelsonAldrich Father Coughlin on the Federal Reserve federal, reserve, bank, unconstitutional, unamerican, father, coughlin, franklin, roosevelt, ron, paul, ben, bernanke, fractional, reserve, banking, fiat, currency, inflation, debt, boom, bust, cycle, capitalism, socialism Mon, 17 Jun 2013 02:35:07 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=347_1371450115 Abdul Ruff Colachal Iran presidency: Hassan Rouhani elected to succeed Ahmadinejad By DR. ABDUL RUFF COLACHAL Affairs ,Former university Teacher; Editor:INTERNATIONAL OPINION; Editor: FOREIGN POLICY ISSUES; Palestine Times: RANDOM THOUGHTS; ( http://abdulrubb.wordpress.com ); website: http://abdulruff.wordpress.com / mail: abdulruff_jnu@yahoo.com ] __________________________________ Iran Poll & Hassan Rouhani In a surprise way, 65 year old nuke expert Hassan Rouhani has won the presidential campaign in iran- the target of western rogue states. Iranian democracy has enabled a smooth transition of power to succeed fire-brand but simple living president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who remained the main attraction in any international summit. . Moderate candidate Hassan Rouhani secured victory in presidential election on Friday the 15th June with over 50% of the vote.. 72% of the 50 million eligible Iranians turned out at the polls. The country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with Ahmadinejad, congratulated Rouhani. Tehran's mayor, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, also conceded defeat by sending a congratulatory message to the president-elect. Other candidates did the same. Minutes after he was announced as the winner, thousands of jubilant campaigners and people across Iran poured into streets to celebrate. Rouhani, a PhD graduate from Glasgow Caledonian University and a former nuclear negotiator, has pledged to find a way out of the current stalemate over Iran's nuclear programme, which is the cause of the sanctions crushing the economy. Rouhani, who favours a policy of political openness, as well as re-establishing relations with the west, is likely to soothe international tension. He has been described by western officials as an "experienced diplomat and politician" and "fair to deal with". Rouhani served as the chief nuclear negotiator under the former president Mohammad Khatami. Under his watch, Iran agreed to halt uranium enrichment and was more co-operative with the inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Organisation. During Rouhani's term as a nuclear negotiator, Iran appeared more co-operative to the international community and, leading up to Friday's poll, he repeatedly pointed out that on his watch Iran's nuclear dossier was not referred to the UN security council. During the campaign, Rouhani repeatedly noted that on his watch Iran's nuclear dossier was not referred to the UN Security Council and no major sanctions were imposed. Although the only cleric among the eight candidates allowed to stand for election, the 65-year-old is seen as a pro-reform moderate figure. He has positioned himself as a moderate figure favouring political openness and improved relations with the west. He has pledged to find a way out of the stalemate over Iran's nuclear programme that led the west to impose tough sanctions. "It is good to have centrifuges running, provided people's lives and livelihoods are also running," Rouhani said during a TV debate. QUICK REACTION Significantly, the government had not endorsed any of the candidates. The endorsement of Rouhani earlier in the week by reformist leaders Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani injected last-minute excitement into the race, boosting his chances. The 65-year-old was the only cleric among the six presidential candidates. The turnout for Friday's vote was so high that polling stations stayed open for five hours longer than planned. Speaking after casting his vote in Tehran, spiritual leader Khamenei had urged a mass turnout to rebut suggestions by American officials that the election enjoyed little legitimacy. "I recently heard that someone at the US national security council said, 'We do not accept this election in Iran'," he said. "We don't give a damn." Seyed Hossein Mousavian, Rouhani's deputy in Iran's national security council between 1997 to 2005, and a spokesperson for Iran's nuclear negotiating team, said the early results showed that people in Iran were desperate for a change in the country's foreign and economic policies. The public support of Rafsanjani and Khatami and withdrawal of Mohammad-Reza Aref from the race had a major role in Rouhani's win. Khatami and Rafsanjani played a significant role in Rouhani's victory by holding off declarations of support and persuading a candidate Aref to drop out to avoid a split vote. Britain urged Iran's new president to set his country on a "different course" after years of deadlock and dispute with the west. The Foreign Office said that it hoped Rouhani would use his victory to engage with international concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions and develop a "constructive" relationship with the wider international community. The former British foreign secretary Jack Straw knows Rouhani and described him as "warm and engaging". "This is a remarkable and welcome result so far and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there will be no jiggery-pokery with the final result," he said. "What this huge vote of confidence in Rouhani appears to show is a hunger by the Iranian people to break away from the arid and self-defeating approach of the past and for more constructive relations with the west." He added: "On a personal level I found him warm and engaging. He is a strong Iranian patriot and he was tough but fair to deal with and always on top of his brief." Trita Parsi, of the National Iranian American Council, said: "Though hardliners remain in control of key aspects of Iran's political system, the centrists and reformists have proven that even when the cards are stacked against them, they can still prevail due to their support among the population." White House spokesman Jay Carney said: "It is our hope that the Iranian government will heed the will of the Iranian people and make responsible choices that create a better future for all Iranians." In 2009, when Ahmadinejad won his second term, the opposition Green movement, popped up and provoked by US led western terrocracies that sought to destabilize Tehran and make life conditions of Iranians more difficult, made big noise about the validity of poll and even claimed bogus victory. However people of Iran defeated all these vicious intentions again tn iran. OBSERVATIONS Today's elections all over the world, even in USA and UK, are fake and about choosing between bad and worse. Between devils and evil forces. Many corporatist strategists defending rampant corruption, bribery, sta crimes ems, illegal invasions for alien lands and resources, killing ing millions of Muslims worldwide and stealing their resources, especially much needed energy sources, say "voting is a national duty and a right given to you by God." Threatened by top world terrocracies for energy resources and pursuing anti-islamism objectives, Iran is on the brink of an extraordinary political transformation after the moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani sensationally secured enough votes to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Rouhani's victory delighted reformers who have been desperate for a return to the forefront of politics after eight acrimonious years under Ahmadinejad. It will also lift the spirit of a nation suffering from its worst financial crisis for at least two decades as a result of the sanctions imposed by western powers in the dispute over its nuclear program. The Iranian currency, the rial, recovered its value against the dollar by more 6% as results were announced in Rouhani's favour. Rouhani issued a statement on television, saying "a new season of solidarity" had begun following a result that brought "rationality and moderation" as well as "peace, stability and hope". Now iranians need peace. Both non-Muslim nations and anti-Islamic countries must now give up their tirade against iran and help iranians rebuild their economy, shattered by western rogue states and their reliable, rather faithful, agents in Tehran. Sunni Arab world should shelve their enmity towards Iran and help islam flourish and Muslim live in peace. Saudi regime should the US agentship forthwith and behave!. Strangely enough, non-Muslims are growing controlling Muslim nations. Sunni world is responsible for that funny phenomenon. ___________ http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=347_1371450115 Abdul Ruff Colachal Iran presidency: Hassan Rouhani elected to succeed Ahmadinejad Iran presidency: Hassan Rouhani elected to succeed Ahmadinejad Sun, 16 Jun 2013 01:32:54 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=77a_1371360329 AntiPropagaanda Made in Glasgow: Hassan Rouhani, the moderate who has become Iran's next president Saturday 15 June 2013 The man today declared as Iran's next president grew up in Glasgow, completing a degree and doctorate at Glasgow Caledonian University. Hassan Rouhani, an avowed reformer, urged to a wide lead in early vote counting today, and the country's interior minister declared him the victor at 5pm today. He studied at the old Glasgow Polytechnic (now GCU) in the 1970s and returned to undertake a law doctorate in the 1990s. He then went by the name of Hassan Feridon Mr Rouhani, 64, who is married with children, is a cleric who speaks English, German, French, Russian and Arabic. Earlier today, he had more than 51% of the more than eight million votes tallied so far, well ahead of Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf with about 16.6%. Hard-line nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili was third with about 13%. The strong margin for Mr Rouhani gave him an outright victory and avoided a two-person run-off next Friday. Iran has more than 50 million eligible voters, and turnout in yesterday's poll was believed to be high. Many reform-minded Iranians who have faced years of crackdowns looked to Mr Rouhani's rising fortunes as a chance to claw back a bit of ground. While Iran's presidential elections offer a window into the political pecking orders and security grip inside the country - particularly since the chaos from a disputed outcome in 2009 - they lack the drama of truly high stakes as the country's ruling clerics and their military guardians remain the ultimate powers. Election officials began the ballot count after voters queued for hours in wilting heat at some polling stations in central Tehran and other cities, while others cast ballots across the vast country from desert outposts to Gulf seaports and nomad pastures. Voting was extended by five hours to meet demand, but also as possible political stagecraft to showcase the participation. The apparent strong turnout - estimated at 75% by the hard-line newspaper Kayhan - suggested that liberals and others abandoned a planned boycott as the election was transformed into a showdown across the Islamic Republic's political divide. On one side were hard-liners looking to cement their control behind candidates such as Mr Jalili, who says he is "100%" against detente with Iran's foes, or Mr Qalibaf. Opposing them were reformists and others rallying behind the "purple wave" campaign of Mr Rouhani, the lone relative moderate left in the race. Officials did not say in which parts of the country the ballots were counted. But even Mr Rouhani's presidency could be more of a limited victory than a deep shake-up. Iran's establishment - a tight alliance of the ruling clerics and the ultra-powerful Revolutionary Guard - still holds all the effective power and sets the agenda on all major decisions such as Iran's nuclear programme and its dealings with the West. Security forces are also in firm control after waves of arrests and relentless pressures since the last presidential election in 2009, which unleashed massive protests over claims that the outcome was rigged to keep the combative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power for a second and final term. He is barred from seeking a third consecutive run. The greater comfort level by the theocracy and Revolutionary Guard sets a different tone this time. Opposition groups appear too intimidated and fragmented to revive street demonstrations, and even a win by Mr Rouhani - the only cleric in the race - is not likely to be perceived as a threat to the ruling structure. Mr Rouhani led the influential Supreme National Security Council and was given the highly sensitive nuclear envoy role in 2003, a year after Iran's 20-year-old atomic programme was revealed. "Rouhani is not an outsider and any gains by him do not mean the system is weak or that there are serious cracks," said Rasool Nafisi, an Iranian affairs analyst at Strayer University in Virginia. "The ruling system has made sure that no-one on the ballot is going to shake things up." Yet a Rouhani victory would not be entirely without significance either. It would make room for more moderate voices in Iranian political dialogue and display their resilience. It also would bring onto the world stage an Iranian president who has publicly endorsed more outreach rather than bombast toward the West. The last campaign events for Mr Rouhani carried chants that had been bottled up for years. Some supporters called for the release of political prisoners including opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi, both candidates in 2009 and now under house arrest. "Long live reforms," some cried at Mr Rowhani's last rally, which was awash with purple banners and scarves - the campaign's signature hue in a nod to the single-colour identity of Mr Mousavi's now-crushed Green Movement. "My mother and I both voted for Rouhani," said Saeed Joorabchi, a university student in geography, after casting ballots at a mosque in west Tehran. In the Persian Gulf city of Bandar Abbas, local journalist Ali Reza Khorshidzadeh said many polling stations had significant lines and many voters appeared to back Mr Rouhani. Just a week ago, Mr Rowhani was seen as overshadowed by candidates with far deeper ties to the current power structure: Mr Jalili and Mr Qalibaf, who was boosted by a reputation as a steady hand for Iran's sanctions-wracked economy. Then a moderate rival of Mr Rouhani bowed out of the presidential race to consolidate the pro-reform camp. That opened the way for high-profile endorsements including his political mentor, former president Akbar Heshmi Rafsanjani, who won admiration from opposition forces for denouncing the post-election crackdowns in 2009. This, too, may have led to Mr Rafsanjani being blackballed from the ballot this year by Iran's election overseers, which allowed just eight candidates among more than 680 hopefuls. Iran has no credible political polling to serve as harder metrics for the street buzz around candidates, who need more than 50% of the vote to seal victory and avoid a run-off. Journalists face limits on reporting such as requiring permission to travel around the country. Iran does not allow outside election observers. Yet it is clear that fervour remains strong for Mr Rouhani's rivals as well. Mr Qalibaf is riding on his image as a capable fiscal manager who can deal with the deepening problems of Iran's economy and sinking currency. Mr Jalili draws support from hard-line factions such as the Revolutionary Guard's paramilitary corps, the Basij. His reputation is further enhanced by a battlefield injury that cost him the lower part of his right leg during Iran's 1980-88 war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq, which at the time was backed by the United States. "We should resist the West," said Tehran taxi driver Hasan Ghasemi, who supported Mr Jalili. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has not publicly endorsed a successor for Mr Ahmadinejad following their falling out over the president's attempts to challenge Ayatollah Khamenei's near-absolute powers. Mr Ahmadinejad leaves office weakened and outcast by his political battles with Ayatollah Khamenei - yet another sign of where real power rests in Iran. The election overseers also rejected Mr Ahmadinejad's protege, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei ,in apparent payback. The usually talkative Mr Ahmadinejad gave only a brief statement to reporters as he voted and refused to discuss the election. Ayatollah Khamenei remained mum on his own choice as he cast his ballot. He added that even his children do not know whom he backs. Instead, he blasted the US for its repeated criticism of Iran's crackdowns on the opposition and the rejection of Mr Rafsanjani and other moderates from the ballot. "Recently I have heard that a US security official has said they do not accept this election," Ayatollah Khamenei was quoted by state TV as saying after casting his vote. "OK, the hell with you." Iran's state media hailed the apparently high turnout as a boost for the Islamic Republic's political system. "A great political epic has shocked the world," read a front-page headline in the hardline daily Kayhan today. Ayatollah Khamenei had called for a "political epic" on June 14, saying a high turnout would protect Iran against its enemies. By many measures, this election is far removed from the backdrop four years ago. Iran's security networks have consolidated near-blanket control, ranging from swift crackdowns on any public dissent to cyberpolice blocking opposition Internet websites and social media. Hackers calling themselves the Iranian Cyber Army disrupted at least a half dozen reform-oriented websites, including one run by well-known political cartoonist Nikahang Kosar. Prominent reformist politician Mostafa Tajzadeh, who was jailed after the 2009 disputed election, voted from his cell in Tehran's Evin Prison, the semi-official Isna news agency reported. The economy, too, is under far more pressure than in 2009. Western sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme have shrunk vital oil sales and are leaving the country isolated from international banking systems. New US measures taking effect on July 1 further target Iran's currency, the rial, which has lost half of its foreign exchange value in the past year, driving prices of food and consumer goods sharply higher. Outside Iran, votes were casts by the country's huge diaspora including Dubai, London and points across the United States. "I hope we take a step toward democracy," said Behza Khajavi, a 29-year-old doctoral candidate in physics from Boca Raton, Florida, as he voted in Tampa for Mr Rouhani. In Paris, a 25-year-old Iranian student, Sohrab Labib, voted at his nation's consulate while a small group of protesters gathered across the street. "It's our country. It's our future," he said. "In any case, even a little change could influence our future." http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=77a_1371360329 AntiPropagaanda Made in Glasgow: Hassan Rouhani, the moderate who has become Iran's next president Iran, President, America, Israel, Media, MSM, Demon Sat, 15 Jun 2013 04:55:26 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0ee_1371286423 absu69 Nearly six years since massive financial fraud and speculative market manipulation drove the global capitalist economy off the rails, congressional grifters in both benighted political parties have turned over the legislative process to bankster lobbyists. Talk about technocratic efficiency! Last week, The New York Times revealed that "Bank lobbyists are not leaving it to lawmakers to draft legislation that softens financial regulations. Instead, the lobbyists are helping to write it themselves." According to emails leaked to the Times, a bill that "sailed through the House Financial Services Committee this month--over the objections of the Treasury Department--was essentially Citigroup's." Despite huge losses during the capitalist economic meltdown, which included heavy exposure to toxic collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) which cost shareholders some 85 percent of asset value by early 2009, by 2012 the bank had built up an enormous cash horde to the tune of $420 billion (lb277.7bn), derived from selling some $500 billion (lb330.6bn) of "special assets" placed in Citi holdings that were guaranteed from losses by the US Treasury Department; this included untaxed overseas profits of some $35.9 billion (lb23.74bn) according to Bloomberg . As I reported last month, Citigroup was handed some $45 billion (lb29.78bn) in TARP funds while the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve secretly backstopped more than $300 billion (lb197.31bn) in toxic assets on their books. In addition to receiving "$2.5 trillion of support from the American taxpayer through capital infusions, asset guarantees and low-cost loans," as Wall Street on Parade analyst Pam Martens pointed out, like other too-big-to-jail banks such as Wachovia and HSBC, the Citi brand has long been associated with washing dirty cash for drug cartels. Hit with a toothless Consent Order by the Federal Reserve in March over "deficiencies in the Banks' BSA/AML compliance programs," federal regulators charged that Citigroup and their affiliate Banamex "lacked effective systems of governance and internal controls to adequately oversee the activities of the Banks with respect to legal, compliance, and reputational risk related to the Banks' respective BSA/AML compliance programs." The Federal Reserve "action" followed an anemic Consent Order last year by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) which also cited Citi's failure to "adopt and implement a compliance program that adequately covers the required BSA/AML program elements due to an inadequate system of internal controls." Additionally, the OCC charged that the "Bank did not develop adequate due diligence on foreign correspondent bank customers and failed to file Suspicious Activity Reports ('SARs') related to its remote deposit capture/international cash letter instrument activity in a timely manner." Nevertheless, as with other criminogenic banks such as JPMorgan Chase, similarly hit with an equally toothless Consent Order by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in January, in their infinite wisdom the Federal Reserve averred that their Citigroup action was issued "without this Order constituting an admission or denial by Citigroup of any allegation made or implied by the Board of Governors in connection with this matter, and solely for the purpose of settling this matter without a formal proceeding being filed and without the necessity for protracted or extended hearings or testimony." In other words, let's sweep this under the rug as quickly as possible and move on. But before we do, let's step back for a moment and wrap our heads around a few salient facts. Here's a bank with a documented history as the GAO revealed in 1998, of laundering drug money for well-placed Ju'arez and Gulf Cartel crony Ra'ul Salinas de Gortari, the brother of former Mexican president Carlos Salinas, charged with amassing a multimillion dollar fortune from narcotics rackets and then squirreling it away in London, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. Does this evoke any memories? According to GAO investigators, "Mr. Salinas was able to transfer $90 million to $100 million between 1992 and 1994 by using a private banking relationship formed by Citibank New York in 1992. The funds were transferred through Citibank Mexico and Citibank New York to private banking investment accounts in Citibank London and Citibank Switzerland." Beginning in 1992, Citibank "assisted Mr. Salinas with these transfers and effectively disguised the funds' source and destination, thus breaking the funds' paper trail." And they did so by creating "an offshore private investment company named Trocca, to hold Mr. Salinas's assets, through Cititrust (Cayman) and investment accounts in Citibank London and Citibank Switzerland," and then failed to "prepare a financial profile on him or request a waiver for the profile, as required by then Citibank know your customer policy." Keep in mind that when Swiss prosecutors completed their money laundering investigation, The New York Times disclosed that "Swiss police investigators have concluded that a brother of former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari played a central role in Mexico's cocaine trade, raking in huge bribes to protect the flow of drugs into the United States." That Swiss report stated, "When Carlos Salinas de Gortari became President of Mexico in 1988, Ra'ul Salinas de Gortari assumed control over practically all drug shipments through Mexico. Through his influence and bribes paid with drug money, officials of the army and the police supported and protected the flourishing drug business." Does the name of former Banamex CEO Roberto Hern'andez ring any bells? Described as "the single biggest winner" of Mexican bank privatizations engineered by the Bush and Clinton regimes during the 1990s as Narco News disclosed, a subsequent investigation revealed that "Hern'andez had been accused--publicly and via a criminal complaint--by the daily newspaper Por Esto! of trafficking tons of Colombian cocaine through his Caribbean costa properties on that peninsula since 1997." And when Citigroup acquired Banamex in 2001 for the then-princely sum of $12.5 billion (lb8.27bn), it was described as the largest US-Mexican corporate merger in history. Should it surprise us that this Citi subsidiary was named alongside parent Citigroup by the OCC and Federal Reserve for repeated failures to adequately police dirty money flowing into their coffers? Members of the House Financial Services Committee should examine why they would turn over the legislative process to a criminal financial cartel! As Times' journalists Eric Lipton and Ben Protess reported, "Citigroup's recommendations were reflected in more than 70 lines of the House committee's 85-line bill. Two crucial paragraphs, prepared by Citigroup in conjunction with other Wall Street banks, were copied nearly word for word. (Lawmakers changed two words to make them plural.)" Proving yet again, that Washington lawmakers are beholden to their Wall Street masters, MapLight , a nonpartisan research group that "reveals money's influence on politics in the US Congress," disclosed that legislators "serving" on the House Financial Services Committee "approved six bills that would roll back pieces of the Dodd-Frank Act designed to improve regulation of the derivatives market." Lawmakers who voted "yes" on HR 992 , the Orwellian-named Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act, "received, on average, 2.6 times more money from top banks than committee members" who voted "no." MapLight further disclosed that lawmakers who voted "yes" on this pernicious piece of legislative detritus "received, on average, 3 times more money from the Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate (FIRE) sector," than committee members who voted "no." The $700 trillion derivatives market, 93.2 percent of which is controlled by the four largest too-big-to-fail-and-jail US banks, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, is a cash cow and shadow market for crooked financial insiders. HR 992, which rolled-back a key provision of 2010's anemic Dodd-Frank financial "reform" legislation, Sec. 716, would have required banks to spin off their derivatives activities into separate units that would not have access to federal bank subsidies, i.e., taxpayer bailouts. "In recent weeks, the Times reported, "Wall Street groups also held fund-raisers for lawmakers who co-sponsored the bills. At one dinner Wednesday night, corporate executives and lobbyists paid up to $2,500 to dine in a private room of a Greek restaurant just blocks from the Capitol with Representative Sean Patrick Maloney, Democrat of New York, a co-sponsor of the bill championed by Citigroup." Responding to questions, Financial Services Committee member Jim Himes, a former Goldman Sachs banker, third-term Connecticut Democrat and one of the top recipients of Wall Street largess to the tune of $194,500 according to OpenSecrets told the Times: "It's appalling, it's disgusting, it's wasteful and it opens the possibility of conflicts of interest and corruption. It's unfortunately the world we live in." No Mr. Himes, it's the world you live in. While your colleague across the aisle, Stephen Fincher (R-TN), cites Bible verses to justify gutting federal nutritional assistance to 47 million hungry Americans while being the "the second largest recipient of farm subsidies in the United States Congress" according to Forbes , and received some $3.48 million (lb2.3m) since 1999 in USDA farm subsidies while doing the "Lord's work" according to the Environmental Working Group , the US Congress, including "liberal" Obama Democrats have promoted every filthy piece of legislation that facilitates Wall Street's plundering of the American people. Referencing the recent vote on HR 992, the Center for Responsive Politics reported that in the first quarter of 2013, members of the Financial Services Committee "received more than $1.3 million in donations to their campaigns and leadership PACs from the securities and investment industry and commercial banks." According to OpenSecrets, "By far the largest source of cash from the two industries was the Investment Company Institute , a trade association representing Wall Street firms. The ICI gave at least $129,000 to members of the House Financial Services Committee. Other trade groups representing banks and investment firms, including the American Bankers Association and the Independent Community Bankers of America , were also major contributors." OpenSecrets reported that "Banking industry companies increased their contributions in 2013 to $640,286, from $497,169 in early 2011. Citigroup, in particular, jumped from $19,500 in donations to committee members to $39,500. UBS went from $64,250 to $88,000. Wells Fargo also opened its checkbook a little wider this year, giving $80,000, compared with $31,250 in 2011." Commenting on this latest gift to Wall Street criminals, the World Socialist Web Site observed: "Flush with the $85 billion in cash printed up and handed to the banks every month by the Federal Reserve, business at the Wall Street casino is booming. Stock values are at record levels and so are bank profits, amidst declining wages and mass poverty." "Under these conditions," Marxist critic Andre Damon averred, "the banks have been pushing to rip up even the very modest restrictions on financial speculation, while broadening the scope of government bailout laws. The aim is simple: to give banks the maximum ability to speculate without constraint, while getting the maximum possible government assistance if and when the bubble collapses." None of this should surprise anyone who has paid the least attention to the cronyism and financial parasitism of the Obama regime. From get-out-of-jail-free-cards passed out to drug money laundering banks by Eric Holder's Justice Department, to the appointments of Citigroup alumnus and Cayman Islands tax-dodger Jacob Lew as Treasury Secretary, Debevoise & Plimpton partner Mary Jo White over at the Securities and Exchange Commission to the nomination of billionaire Hyatt Hotel heiress, subprime mortgage "pioneer" and union-buster Penny Pritzker to lead the Commerce Department, it's a bankster world, all the time. How's that for Hope and ChangeTM! http://antifascist-calling.blogspot.com/ http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0ee_1371286423 absu69 Bankster Lobbyists Writing Regulatory 'Reform' Legislation banks,writing,regulation Sat, 15 Jun 2013 04:19:47 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=4a0_1371284254 absu69 Paraguay's April 21 election of Horacio Cartes, a dodgy "tobacco magnate," rancher and banker, whose Banco Amambay has been accused of laundering drug money, tax evasion and other crimes, raises the specter of "state capture" by powerful drug cartels linked to US intelligence agencies. In the context of US efforts to manage not eliminate, the multibillion dollar global trade in illegal narcotics, Cartes electoral victory might very well be a shot in the arm for certain three-lettered US intelligence agencies, eager beavers always on the lookout for new allies--and an endless supply of black funds--to carry out hemisphere-wide dirty ops against leftist governments. The current US destabilization campaign targeting Venezuela's newly elected president, Nicol'as Maduro and the Bolivarian revolution, is instructive in this regard. A key factor driving US regional operations is control over the narcotics market. As researchers Oliver Villar and Drew Cottle revealed in Cocaine, Death Squads and the war on Terror : "Paraguay was the first country in Latin America to be publicly exposed for its involvement in the drug trade. Paraguay in the early 1970s was a vital center for the Corsican mafia, leading to the development of a vast heroin-trafficking network supplied from Turkey, and based in Marseille, the infamous 'French Connection.' Corsicans coordinated the transport of heroin from Marseille to the United States via Paraguay. The CIA," Villar and Cottle averred, "used such networks as transit stops in transporting Asian heroin to the United States with the help of corrupt high-ranking government and military officials." "Later," journalist Vicky Pelaez disclosed in The Moscow News , "cocaine trafficking was added. It was transported through Chaco's wild and rough terrain. Chaco is a vast, semi-arid and semi-humid region in western Paraguay, where there are at least 900 covert airplane runways and where between 60 and 70 tons of cocaine circulate annually, according to former Interior Minister Carlos Filizzola." "Curiously," Pelaez averred, "there are two US bases in that region. One is located in the city of Pedro Juan Caballero, in the Amambay province, and is operated by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The other, run by the Pentagon, is part of the Mariscal Estigarribia airport, in the Boquer'on province, and boasts a 3,800-meter long runway." When Fernando Lugo was removed from office last year after an expedited impeachment "trial" by Paraguay's Senate, it was widely denounced across Latin American as a parliamentary coup d''etat which had more than a passing resemblance to the 2009 ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya. And like the Honduran coup against Zelaya, the World Socialist Web Site pointed out that "both countries have been the focus of attention of the US military and intelligence apparatus, which shares intimate connections with its local counterparts. Security forces in both countries have been trained and advised by the Pentagon and would not support the overthrow of an existing government without its approval." Elected in 2008, Lugo, a former Catholic bishop and proponent of Liberation Theology, promised to combat Paraguay's endemic corruption and implement policies favoring a "preferential option for the poor." Lugo however, was no Hugo Ch'avez, Evo Morales or Rafael Correa, populist leaders who defied the Global Godfather by charting an independent course. Despite a mildly reformist agenda which increased access to healthcare and education for Paraguay's working class majority, when it came to the key issue of land reform Lugo's administration hit a brick wall. Shortly after assuming office, Lugo became the target of that nation's entrenched landed oligarchy, multinational agricultural corporations (including such paragons of virtue as Monsanto, Pioneer, Syngenta, Dupont, Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, and Bunge) and the transnational drug cartels which continue to rule Paraguay with an iron fist much as they did under the 35-year dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner. Paraguay, a landlocked nation in which 2 percent of the population control more than 80 percent of the landed wealth, most of which had been expropriated by the kleptocratic Stroessner regime and handed out to favored cronies of his Colorado party, agrarian reform should have topped Lugo's agenda. As The Moscow News pointed out, "Monsanto was naturally involved in the conspiracy. The world's largest producer of genetically modified crops disapproved of Lugo's idea to abolish the per-ton royalty of $4 on soybeans, to be paid by growers using Roundup Ready RR1 and Intenta RR2 Pro seeds. Recall that on his fifth day in office, the new president, Federico Franco, offered new concessions to Monsanto concerning the distribution of its GM cotton, soybean and corn seeds in Paraguay." According to Pelaez, "Over the past ten months, unofficial employment has soared to 66% (this proportion is higher only in Peru (67%) and in Haiti (92%)). The bulk of the shadow labor market is formed by farmers pushed off the fields by such groups as Monsanto and Cargill, which use biotechnology to industrialize agricultural production and convert farmland into a contaminated 'green desert,' slowly but surely implanting a system of 'farming without farmers'." Blocked at every step, and relying on the right's largesse to remain in office, Lugo's betrayal of the campesino base that put him in office and his retreat and capitulation to Paraguay's elite doomed his administration. In fact, as journalist and researcher Benjamin Dangl reported in UpSideDownWorld last year, "Lugo was no friend of the campesino sector that helped bring him into power. His administration regularly called for the severe repression and criminalization of the country's campesino movements. He was therefore isolated from above at the political level, and lacked a strong political base below due to his stance toward social movements and the slow pace of land reform." Using a police provocation and subsequent massacre of 11 landless farmers who had occupied land belonging to ex-Colorado Senator Blas Riquelme, illegally seized by the Stroessner regime as a pretext, the Chamber of Deputies launched proceedings to remove Lugo from office. Scarcely 24 hours later, the Senate voted to impeach the president. Who was leading the charge for Lugo's removal? Why none other than the Colorado Party's declared candidate for the presidency, then-Senator Horacio Cartes. But the final straw may have been the decision by Lugo's administration three years earlier, to cut off access to the country by the US military. By 2007, the Pentagon had deployed some 400 Marines under the guise of "medical readiness training" exercises that were denounced by grassroots activists as a ploy to identify "dangerous" rural leaders of the landless movement. At the same time, the Pentagon was planning to expand US operations at the giant Mariscal Estigarribia air base, 120 miles from the Argentine and Bolivian borders. Journalist Conn Hallinan reported back in 2005, "US Special Forces began arriving this past summer at Paraguay's Mariscal Estigarribia air base, a sprawling complex built in 1982 during the reign of dictator Alfredo Stroessner. Argentinean journalists who got a peek at the place say the airfield can handle B-52 bombers and Galaxy C-5 cargo planes. It also has a huge radar system, vast hangers, and can house up to 16,000 troops. The air base is larger than the international airport at the capital city, Asunci'on." During a 2009 press conference, Lugo rejected further US troop deployments under the Bush-era "New Horizons" program. In a decision that greatly angered Washington, Lugo remarked, "we don't see it as convenient that the Southern Command has a presence in Paraguay." Coming on the heels of Ecuador's 2009 closure of the giant US airbase at Manta, of which Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa famously said: "We can negotiate with the US about a base in Manta, if they let us put a military base in Miami," the Pentagon and CIA looked to Paraguay for a platform for what Southern Command described as "counternarcotics surveillance," but which regional neighbors denounced as a threat to hemispheric security. Ominously, the US ambassador in Asunci'on, Liliana Ayalde declared: "It's a regrettable decision." Indeed it was, for Lugo and the Paraguayan people. The (Narco) Ties that Bind In their relentless drive to accumulate riches at the expense of their citizens, comprador elites, particularly those who mix land grabs, far-right politics with currying favor from their imperialist overlords, utilize state institutions as cash cows. And when those elites are also plugged into the international narcotics trade and control the state's machinery of repression, well, it's a win-win all around! Who would imagine that a central banker would have ties to criminals and narcotraffickers? Why, the US Embassy that's who! A 2007 Cable Gate file published by WikiLeaks noted that former Central Bank president Dr. Angel Gabriel Gonz'alez C'aceres, "a strong Colorado with close ties to President Duarte, who appointed him Central Bank president in September 2003," was named "Paraguay's new director of SEPRELAD, the Secretariat for the Prevention of Money Laundering," and that reviews of his previous performance were "quite mixed." Variously described by the Embassy as "a technician with a long trajectory at the Central Bank who has cooperated with the Embassy on money laundering and terrorist financing," as Banking Superintendent however, Gonz'alez "opposed creation of SEPRELAD because he wanted the Central Bank to retain responsibility for fighting money laundering." But perhaps there were other factors, and interests, at work? According to Asunci'on Deputy Chief of Mission Michael J. Fitzpatrick, Paraguay's counternarcotics director Hugo Ibarra would have "nothing to do with" Gonz'alez. The counternarcotics chief then "volunteered that Gonz'alez had a direct personal role as Central Bank president in white-washing ('blanquear') funds for so-called pillar of the community Horacio Cartes and his Banco Amambay, noting that 80 percent of money laundering in Paraguay moves through that banking institution." "Ibarra indicated," Embassy officials averred, "that Gonz'alez is still involved with Amambay, and questioned why a former Central Bank president would take a lower level position as SEPRELAD director--managing an office with less than a dozen employees--in the absence of some other financial incentive." Certainly a relevant question; however, no answers were forthcoming. In 2008, another WikiLeaks file disclosed that shortly after assuming office, Lugo informed the US Embassy of his interest "in closer counternarcotics cooperation with the United States and requested U.S. assistance with microenterprise development during a Friday, August 29 dinner with the Ambassador." Significantly, "Lugo made clear that he does not trust some of his closest advisors or cabinet ministers. During dinner, which took place before the weekend rumors emerged regarding coup planning, Lugo told Ambassador about a tape recording of former President Duarte and General Lino Oviedo betting that Lugo will last only three to eight months in office." A 2009 secret WikiLeaks file, "Paraguayan Pols Plot Paraguayan Putsch," noted that "discredited General and UNACE party leader Lino Oviedo and ex-president Nicanor Duarte Frutos are now working together to assume power via (mostly) legal means should President Lugo stumble in coming months." Oviedo, "serving time for involvement in the 1999 assassination of Vice President Luis Argana and the subsequent Marzo Paraguayo massacre of unarmed student protesters," the Embassy noted it was Duarte "who used his control of the Supreme Court to free Oviedo from jail" in 2007. A 2003 CIA report published by the Library of Congress informed us that "Brazilian and U.S. officials generally consider former General Lino C'esar Oviedo to be head of the so-called Paraguay Cartel. He reportedly has amassed at least US$1 billion, including numerous properties in the TBA ." The Argentine investigative news magazine P'agina/12 published a 2001 Argentine Chamber of Deputies report on money laundering which noted that according to Brazilian officials, the US Embassy and the DEA, Oviedo was involved with "drug trafficking (cocaine and marijuana), weapons, money laundering and the smuggling of various items." In 1994 for example, a "load of seven tons of cocaine, worth $70 million, which was seized with the participation of the CIA, and destined for the USA," was linked to Oviedo and his employees. Later that year, according to DEA documents, another load of five tons of cocaine was seized from "Oviedo accomplices" attempting to smuggle it across the Paraguayan border. The Chamber of Deputies report concluded: "Oviedo is accused of being the head of a drug trafficking, arms trafficking and being involved in the murder of media entrepreneur Carlos Honorio Cubillas and Paraguayan Vice President Argana. The various charges against him made by the DEA were, by former U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay and the Brazilian CPI." As noted above, in 2007, Oviedo's conviction for orchestrating an attempted military coup in 1996 was annulled by Paraguay's Supreme Court. Again a candidate for the presidency in 2013, nominated by the ironically named National Union of Ethical Citizens (Uni'on Nacional de Ciudadanos 'Eticos, UNACE), Oviedo died in a "helicopter accident" after a campaign appearance in February, clearing the path to power for Horacio Cartes. The Cartel: Back in Power Last Sunday in an unusually critical article, The New York Times reported that during the campaign, Cartes "was pressed to explain why antinarcotics police officers apprehended a plane carrying cocaine and marijuana on his ranch in 2000; why he went to prison in 1989 on currency fraud charges; and why he had never even voted in past general elections." Good questions, all of which were dismissed by Cartes' top aides as "conspiracy theories" and "slander." The most serious charges involve Cartes connection to drug trafficking, money laundering and the smuggling of contraband cigarettes. Another WikiLeaks file, this one from 2010, informed us that a joint that a joint ATF-DEA-ICE-OFAC US anti-money laundering investigation dubbed "Heart of Stone," revealed that Cartes is the head of a transnational criminal organization and the main target of the operation. "OPERATION HEART OF STONE is a coordinated, transnational investigation focused on the disruption and dismantlement of a significant drug trafficking and money laundering enterprise operating within the Tri Border Area (TBA) of Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil, and elsewhere throughout the world. This investigation has established links between and among drug trafficking, money laundering and other criminal organizations and, as such, was approved as a designated Consolidated Priority Organizational Target (CPOT) investigation during April 2009." The WikiLeaks file averred: "The investigative team has implemented strategies and operations aimed at attacking the financial infrastructure of drug trafficking supply network (DTO's) and other criminal enterprises operating within the TBA. Using a strategic approach to target the international command and control centers of these criminal organizations based in the TBA, agents have successfully focused investigative activity in an effort to develop this investigation with an aim toward a DEA UC introduction to CPOT designee Horacio CARTES. Through the utilization of a DEA BACO cooperating source and other DEA undercover personnel, agents have infiltrated CARTES' money laundering enterprise, an organization believed to launder large quantities of United States currency generated through illegal means, including through the sale of narcotics, from the TBA to the United States." Despite the seriousness of the allegations, and others enumerated below, The Independent reported that Cartes "has publicly denied the allegations and says he has received assurances from the embassy that the US Drugs Enforcement Agency and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are conducting no investigations against him, something the cables allege." If true, this raises a disturbing question: did the DEA drop the ball or were they ordered to back away from the investigation by Obama's State Department? "'When it comes to drug trafficking, Horacio has made it clear what his position is,' says Julio Velazquez, a Colorado senator standing for re-election tomorrow." Ludicrously, Velazquez told The Independent: "'There's no concrete allegation against him. Horacio has investments in the US. Do you think the Americans would allow a narco to bring money into their country?'" Memo to Senator Velazquez: Not only would the Yankees "allow a narco to bring money into their country," they'd look the other way as US banksters laundered the funds and extracted hefty fees in the process! Another front in the Cartes empire involved Banco Amambay and illegal tax evasion. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists ( ICIJ ) reported earlier this month that "five directors of Banco Amambay created a secret bank in the Cook Islands with no building and no staff." Journalists Marina Walker Guevara and Mabel Rehnfeldt disclosed that "top officials of a Paraguayan bank owned by Horacio Manuel Cartes, the country's leading candidate in this month's presidential election, operated a secret financial institution in a tax haven in the South Pacific." According to the ICIJ's investigation, "Cartes' father, Ram'on Telmo Cartes Lind, and four other executives of Paraguay's Banco Amambay S.A. created Amambay Trust Bank Ltd. in 1995 in the Cook Islands, a tiny chain of atolls and volcanic outcroppings more than 6,000 miles away from the South American nation." "The Cook Islands bank, which was operational until 2000," the same year the Cook Islands landed on of the OECD's money laundering blacklist, "a dishonor roll for places the OECD considers havens for dirty money," was de-registered a month prior to OECD sanctions. Guevara and Rehnfeldt reported that the Cook Islands were condemned for "'excessive secrecy provisions'" that "allowed owners of offshore companies and accounts to hide in the shadows. It noted the islands' government had 'no relevant information on approximately 1,200 international companies that it had registered' and that the offshore banks located in the Cooks weren't required to document the identity of their customers." "It was not the only time that Banco Amambay and its officials made headlines for alleged money laundering, but the accusations have never resulted in convictions." "Just last month," the ICIJ averred, "the head of Paraguay's anti-money laundering agency said that the bank was being investigated alongside other financial institutions for illegal money transfers abroad. The following day the official recanted his words and said he had misspoken. Amambay denied any involvement in criminal activities." With the election of another "teflon president" accused of operating a drug trafficking and money laundering enterprise, and with powerful connections to prominent right-wing politicians suspected of decades' long ties to global narcotics rackets, the Pentagon and US secret state agencies must be salivating over the prospect of the cartel's return to power. After all, as State Department spokesperson Patrick Ventrell said during an April 22 press briefing when queried about Cartes dodgy record: "The United States values its relationship with Paraguay and looks forward to working with the President-elect, with President-elect Cartes, on many of our shared interests, such as defending and promoting democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, and expanding trade and economic opportunities." When pressed about Cartes long history of criminal allegations, Ventrell didn't bat an eyelash and averred: "I'm not aware of specific allegations one way or another, but we do congratulate him on his electoral victory. And I think I just was clear about working with him going forward." http://antifascist-calling.blogspot.com/ http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=4a0_1371284254 absu69 In the Wake of Last Year's 'Soft Coup' Against Paraguay's President, Will a New Narco-Dictatorship Emerge? drug,war Fri, 14 Jun 2013 20:58:00 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e85_1371257368 DEADBEEF Robert Fisk Friday 14 June 2013 Tosh! That's the only sane reaction to the White House's announcement that America the Brave is to arm the Syrian rebels. The US doesn't plan to send weapons to the horrid rebels, mark you - not to the al-Qa'ida-inspired al-Nusra Front whose chaps film themselves eating Alawites for YouTube videos, barbecue the heads of captured Syrian troops and murder 14-year-old schoolboys for blasphemy. Only to the nice rebels, the Free Syrian Army deserters who are battling the forces of Assad darkness in the interests of freedom, liberty, women's rights and democracy. Anyone who believes this knows nothing about war, killing, barbarity and, especially, greed. Because weapons are not just guns. They are currency. They are money. They are saleable commodities the moment you send them across any border. Their value in US dollars, pounds sterling, Syrian pounds or Qatari dinars is infinitely more important than their use in battle. The Western powers are dangerously close to flooding Syria with weapons and ammunition which will officially go to the nice rebels - but will quickly pass to the horrid rebels, who will sell some of them to al-Qa'ida, Iraqi insurgents, Syrian government troops, Malian militiamen, Taliban fighters and Pakistani hitmen. Guns are about money. It works like this. The nice rebels could be given anti-aircaft missiles (shoulder-fired variety preferred) to use against Assad's helicopters and Migs. Thank you - "shukran" - the nice rebels will say. But once over the border, the horrid rebel Nusra chaps will make an offer the nice rebels can't refuse: either many thousands of dollars or a threat to seize the munitions (head-chopping optional), or a mixture of both. For a hefty sum, the horrid rebels will then split the proceeds with their chaps in Iraq. Ask the Syrian government soldiers - as I have - and they'll tell you that they too would prefer the weapons to go to the nice rebels, who always run away - because the horrid rebels of the Nusra always fight to the last man. In the Lebanese civil war, not a single gun I ever saw was actually donated to the men who carried them. The Phalangists used weapons they received from the Israelis, who got them from the Americans (or with American money, the same thing). The Palestinians used guns from Syria, which had in turn imported them from the Soviet Union. Hezbollah even have a few self-loading rifles which appear to have come long ago from the Lebanese Army, which received them as surplus from the British Ministry of Defence after our chaps left Northern Ireland following the Good Friday Agreement. Back in the Eighties, the US handed out missiles and other goodies to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, one of the super-freedom fighters trying to kill lots of Russians in Afghanistan. But Mr Hekmatyar then became a super-terrorist and decided to kill lots of post-2001 American occupiers of his country - using the same weapons donated to him by those grand arms dealers Messrs Carter and Reagan Inc. In 1991, the Israelis took delivery of AGM-114C missiles from the Americans - manufactured for the US Marine Corps, who were supposed to fire them at Iraqi soldiers - and used one of them to blow up an ambulance full of Lebanese women and children in 1996. History lesson. The weapons used by both sides in the 1922-3 Irish civil war - and you can see them in museums - included Lee-Enfield .303 rifles, each bearing the imprint of a British crown on the butt. They had been made for the Brits to use against Germans in the First World War. Whoops... http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/as-the-us-wants-to-arm-nice-syrian-rebels-we-must-remind-ourselves-that-weapons-are-not-just-guns-they-are-about-money-8659784.html http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e85_1371257368 DEADBEEF As the US wants to arm 'nice Syrian rebels' we must remind ourselves that weapons are not just guns. They are about money Fisk, US, Insanity Wed, 12 Jun 2013 21:05:04 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=98b_1371082050 TheAnswer In my 2nd-Yoursay - I talk about why throwing out the constitution was a bad idea. It didn't have to end up like this. Why do we argue over Democrat or Republican? My country vs your country? My way or the highway? These are diversionary tactics the REAL-menace has created to drive a wedge between us for better control. The global power elite are real, they are controlling all world's finance, economies, resources, and even our minds. They brainwash us, dilute our currency, shape our beliefs and drive us to hate one another so we'll never see the truth and strive for true freedom. Our enemy is not acting for our interests, nor even for our country; The Power-elite come with a motive inhumane and are more deadly and deceptive than we can foresee, but not more intelligent. They believe humanity is inferior. We can break free of their hold and create our own path. Put aside all our differences so we can deal with real problems. Legalize the Constitution. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=98b_1371082050 TheAnswer Legalize the Constitution PRISM, NSA, Freedom, Free Speech, Illusion of Security, Illusion of Freedom, The Constitution Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:37:05 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8f2_1371061970 omniradar Rating Agency Upgrades US Sovereign Credit Rating: Another Propaganda Attempt to Mislead the PublicBy Matthias Chang Global Research, June 12, 2013 Recently, I wrote an article explaining why US Treasury Bonds are junk bonds and why rating agencies cannot be trusted at all, because they have been up to their eyeballs in fraudulent activities. I wrote that what I am stating may seem outlandish but it reflected reality - that the US as well as its ally in crime, the United Kingdom (UK) are bankrupt. Very few economists dare assert such a conclusion because it would be a death sentence for their careers. So, who can you trust anymore? But, does it require so much courage to expose the ugly truth when there are so much evidence to support what I have stated in my articles which can be gathered even from the mainstream media? It was taboo to suggest before the Global Financial Tsunami that America was a bankrupt state and does not deserve an AAA rating. Yet, it took a rating agency from China in early 2011 to break the taboo, China's Dagong credit rating agency says the U.S has already defaulted. As AFP reports: "'In our opinion, the United States has already been defaulting... Washington had already defaulted on its loans by allowing the dollar to weaken against other currencies - eroding the wealth of creditors including China, Mr Guan said." This follows on the heels of German credit rating agency Feri's downgrade of U.S. bonds a full notch - from AAA to AA - saying: "The U.S. government has fought the effects of the financial market crisis primarily by an increase in government debt. We do not see that there is sufficient attention being paid to other measures," said Dr. Tobias Schmidt, CEO of Feri Rating & Research AG. "Our rating system shows a deterioration in economic health, so the downgrading of the credit ratings of U.S. is warranted." I would suggest that Dagong and Feri were rather generous in their rating for obvious reasons (China being one of the largest creditor cannot afford to trigger an immediate collapse of US bonds). If a country has defaulted, its credit standing cannot be rated as AAA. It is a junk debtor, no two ways about it! If Joe Six-Packs defaults on a loan, no banks, credit-card companies etc. would extend further credit facilities. Period! In November, 2011, the Guardian reported as follows: Dagong, which has maintained a pessimistic outlook on US fiscal policy, has been leading the charge to downgrade US debt over the last 12 months, lowering the US rating from AA to A+ a year ago. In August it downgraded US debt again, to A. Days later, Standard & Poor's followed in its wake, becoming the first western agency to downgrade US debt after the threat of a default was narrowly avoided following weeks of political squabbling in Washington over whether President Obama should be allowed to raise the US debt ceiling. So, why are the so-called economists so reluctant to tell the simple truth? Why are these economists not writing articles to expose the ugly truth and save Joe Six-Packs from having their hard-earned money from being wiped out by inflation and confiscations etc.? The reason is simple. They have sold their souls. And this cowardice is unforgivable because the taboo has already been broken - two agencies have exposed the reality. So, is my article stating that US Treasury Bonds are junk bonds really that outlandish?? Even the S&P down- graded the US albeit not to junk status! The above downgradings were made even before the massive QEs by Bernanke. The financial status has not changed for the better since the down- grades, in fact it has gotten worse and have caused panics and dissension within the ranks of the financial elites. Bloomberg reported that, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher, one of the most vocal critics of quantitative easing by the central bank, called for a reduction in the $85 billion in monthly asset purchases while saying he sees an end to a three-decade bull market in bonds. In an interview with Forbes, Alan Greenspan, former FED Governor said, We have at this particular stage a fiat money which is essentially money printed by a government and it's usually a central bank which is authorized to do so. Some mechanism has got to be in place that restricts the amount of money which is produced, either a gold standard or a currency board, because unless you do that all of history suggest that inflation will take hold with very deleterious effects on economic activity... There are numbers of us, myself included, who strongly believe that we did very well in the 1870 to 1914 period with an international gold standard." Given the fact that US cannot mathematically repay its debts at all in the next fifty years, how can any reasonable man and or economist not conclude that the US Treasury Bonds are indeed junk bonds? If anyone still believes in the fancy economic fairytale dished out by presstitudes, financial harlots etc. they deserve to be wiped out. The situation gets more absurd as only a few days ago, the S&P rating agency upgraded US from negative to stable because: Under our criteria, the credit strengths of the U.S. include its resilient economy, its monetary credibility, and the U.S. dollar's status as the world's key reserve currency. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8f2_1371061970 omniradar US Treasury Bonds are Junk Bonds? Is America Defaulting on Its Sovereign Debt? Fraud, Wall St, Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:32:43 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ad5_1371061563 funkdelux121 Mom and teen daughter tried to sneak cash into U.S. from Canada JUNE 11--A Canadian mother and her teenage daughter were found to have nearly $60,000 stuffed in their bras after they were stopped and searched Sunday afternoon as they tried to cross into the U.S. via the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, investigators report. According to a U.S. District Court filing, Moura El-Esmar, 51, and her daughter Jacinta, 16, were passengers in a car driven by a fellow Canadian citizen who El-Esmar identified as her boyfriend. El-Esmar told border agents that she and her child were being driven to the Detroit airport, where they were booked on a flight to Lebanon (where they planned to visit with relatives for about 10 weeks). During a search of El-Asmar's purse, agents found $15,000 in Canadian currency and $300 in U.S. bills, which she failed to declare as required by law. In response to the discovery, Customs and Border Protection officers proceeded to conduct pat downs of El-Asmar and her daughter. While frisking the older El-Asmar, "a bulky mass was discovered on the bra," according to a court affidavit. El-Asmar copped to having "money sewn into her bra." The Canadian cash--found in four separate bags--totaled $39,000. During questioning, El-Asmar acknowledged that she had also sewn money into her teenager's bra. A subsequent search recovered two bags from the lining of the girl's bra (each bag held $10,000 in Canadian currency). El-Asmar told agents that she "concealed the money for safety" and only declared $3300 at the border crossing because she did not want her boyfriend to know she was so flush. She claimed to have retrieved the currency from her bank safety deposit box, adding that her primary sources of income are her "disability checks and her paper route." El-Esmar's daughter said her mother "sewed currency into her bra and asked her to wear the bra," but that she "did not know how much money was in the bra," according to the court filing. Agents seized the equivalent of about $73,000 in U.S. currency from El-Asmar, who was arrested for bulk cash smuggling, a felony that carries a maximum five-year prison term. She was also charged with making false statements and failing to declare the cash. Her daughter was not arrested. While the pair's respective bras were confiscated by federal agents, it is unclear whether the undergarments would be subject to future forfeiture proceedings. ******************************************************************* http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/feds-bust-bra-smuggle-bid-678921 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ad5_1371061563 funkdelux121 Bra Smuggle Bid Is Busted, Feds Seize $60,000 bra, money, stash, smuggle, border, Canada, WTF Mon, 27 May 2013 12:23:32 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2da_1369671619 politebrazilian Arthur Budovsky Belanchuk, the owner of Liberty Reserve, has been arrested in Spain for money laundering.This was revealed by a joint investigation by the Spanish and US police agencies. Raids were conducted at his home and office's. The investigation had been on since 2011. Also apparently Budobsky's business in Costa Rica was financed by child pornography websites and drug trafficking. Libirty Reserve's main domain libertyreserve.com is not showing the original site, its pointing to a sinkhole . Liberty Reserve was the most popular digital currency service, vastly used by cyber criminals. Link: http://www.ehackingnews.com/2013/05/liberty-reserve-owner-arrested.html http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2da_1369671619 politebrazilian Liberty Reserve Owner Arrested for money laundering liberty reserve digital currency fraud money laundering scam