http://www.liveleak.com/browse?q=npa Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:26:52 -0400 Liveleak http://edge.liveleak.com/80281E/u/u/ll2/logo.gif http://www.liveleak.com/browse?q=npa Tue, 04 Jun 2013 06:53:34 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8fe_1370343026 Detroit Iron by J. CHRISTIAN ADAMS 3 Jun 2013 Campaign finance zealots and free speech regulators have sought to stifle the freedom of conservative organizations, such as the Tea Party, by falsely claiming they are "political" while giving a pass to leftist groups that still enjoy unimpaired 501(c) IRS tax-exempt status. As the IRS attacked Tea Party groups, it left hundreds of leftist activist groups alone. A quick review of just eight of those leftist, tax-exempt activist groups demonstrates the IRS's hypocrisy. Americans United for Change Americans United for Change enjoys 501(c)4 tax-exempt status. The organization exists, according to its own website , "to amplify the progressive message--to contribute to a grass roots groundswell for progressive policies. Progressives need to redefine 'common sense'--by reasserting the primacy of the traditional progressive values that resonate with most Americans." The group spent $4.7 million in 2009 "redefining" common sense and, according to their IRS form 990 , on "advocacy and education about public policy issues." Americans United for Change directly engaged Republican senators facing reelection in 2008, running television advertisements against them. Naturally, no Democrat complained. Nor did the IRS revoke its 501(c) status. Ruckus Society The Ruckus Society (photo above) is part of the Occupy Movement--and donations to this 501(c)3 organization are tax deductible. The George Soros-funded organization's purpose reads like a parody of the modern Left. The Ruckus Society provides environmental, human rights, and social justice organizers with the tools, training, and support needed to achieve their goals through the strategic use of creative, nonviolent direct action. Ruckus also evidently organizes criminal trespass : The Brass Liberation Orchestra accompanied a second round of the "I Will Survive...Capitalism" flashmob before leading the crowd of over 1,000 people onto the Bank of America, and deployed a giant balloon banner with our friends at reading "Defend Human Dignity: Challenge Corporate Power"...The day of course culminated in the truly mass marches to the Port of Oakland to shut down all operations at the Ports for the night. Some reports say 50,000 people marched and danced the three miles to the ports from Camp, and it was truly an unforgettable experience, marching in a sea of thousands at sunset.None of this seems to attract any IRS attention. Ruckus's 2011 IRS Form 990 indicates that it has maintained undisturbed 501(c)3 status. The form states Ruckus "provides environmental, human rights, and social justice organizers with the tools, training and support needed to achieve their goals." The Ruckus training offers the manual " Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution " and provides suggestions for direct action such as "take over intersections and use for community activities," give "fake parking tickets on SUV's," "Occupy Bank Foreclosed Homes," and "rip out rancher's fences" to free livestock. Planning illegal acts is incompatible with 501(c)3 status . Ruckus is run by Megan Swoboda . Women's Action for New Directions Women's Action for New Directions (WAND) is another leftist organization funded by George Soros that engages in activity designed to transform politics and America. It dates back to the era when the KGB was funding anti-nuclear movements in the West, and was involved in the effort to block installation of Pershing II missiles in West Germany. After the Soviet Union collapsed, the organization continued to oppose America's national defense.WAND enjoys 501(c)4 tax-exempt status. The organization also boasts a "Students Action Network for New Directions" that encourages leftist students "to become politically active, to vote, and to network with other WAND members." Despite the overt political mission and anti-defense militancy, the 990 Forms submitted by WAND to the IRS whitewash their mission in one short sentence: "Empowering women to stop violence through the legislature." New World Foundation The New World Foundation, like so many others, uses the money from industrialists who built America to help reduce America. Cyrus McCormick's daughter formed the NWF to help transform the world, starting with America. The foundation enjoys 501(c)3 tax exempt status and exists, according to its IRS Form 990, to support "community activists across America and around the world." The IRS Form 990 also states that the NWF seek to "build stronger alliances for social justice, environmental justice...while encouraging democratic participation to achieve real and lasting ." The form details the mission of "mobilizing of the least enfranchised in working class and people of color communities." In 2010, NWF spent over $15 million. It funnels money to a variety of activist leftist groups like the Coal River Mountain Watch , Colorado Progressive Action and National Peoples Action . Fierce Fierce is a New York-based organization that employs the Saul Alinsky organizing model toward activist gay issues. Its website unapologetically proclaims that it is "building the leadership and power of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth of color," and "We develop politically conscious leaders." Looking toward the future, as always, "FIERCE is dedicated to cultivating the next generation of social justice movement leaders who are dedicated to ending all forms of oppression." This unapologetic political mission is also included in the IRS Form 990 submitted by Fierce, so it should not surprise the IRS. Fierce also provides a chart showing its organizing model is dedicated first to "Build our Power," then "Exercise our Power," and finally "Sustain our Power." Fierce! has 501(c)3 status, making contributions to the overtly political organization tax deductible. Last tax year it spent $529,713 on stipends for activists, travel and other expenses. Black Alliance for Just Immigration The Black Alliance for Just Immigration enjoys 501(c)3 status. The organization "advocates for administrative changes to visa, detention and deportation regulations" according to the IRS Form 990 it filed with the IRS. For whom does it advocate these changes? The Black Alliance webpage states : Historically and currently, U.S. immigration policy has been infused with racism, enforcing unequal and punitive standards for immigrants of color. African Americans, with our history of being economically exploited, marginalized and discriminated against, have much in common with people of color who migrate to the United States, documented and undocumented. Executive Director Gerald Lenoir told me by telephone that the IRS has never questioned the tax status of the organization. After providing this information, Mr. Lenoir also asked: "is Breitbart a progressive news publication?" Brennan Center for Justice Few organizations have worn nonpartisan sheep's clothing while behaving like a partisan wolf better than the Brennan Center for Justice. Enjoying 501(c)3 status, the Brennan Center's stated mission on its IRS Form 990 barely scratches the surface. They merely "focus on fundamental issues of democracy and justice," they claim. The Brennan Center also told the IRS that it is engaged in "the study and solving of intractable problems of social justice and implementing those solutions by coordinating strategies." What Brennan didn't tell the IRS was that those "coordinating strategies" involved bare-knuckle attacks on election integrity laws around the country. The IRS probably doesn't know that Brennan is hip deep in the effort to derail public policies such as photo voter identification laws. Both the effort and the results of the effort are bathed in politics. Brennan's executive director Michael Waldman isn't above publishing outright falsehoods or phony social science data about election integrity measures in order to advance the group's agenda and enable voter fraud. Voto Latino Voto Latino is dedicated to mobilizing Hispanic voters into powerful political coalitions. It also enjoys 501(c)3tax exempt status. The group holds an annual "Power Summit." The April 2013 Power Summit included panels entitled "Activism Everyday--I'm Hustling," "We Voted, Now What?," "How to Run for Office," and "Field Operations for Beginners." Voto Latino also has a webpage dedicated to the 2012 Democratic National Convention ( click while it still exists ). Some on the left are defending the IRS attacks on the Tea Party by falsely claiming the Tea Party is a political organization. These charges sound like projection when considering the descriptions of Voto Latino on its own webpage : "We firmly believe that the quality of our future depends on our ability to mobilize and vote....Texas and Florida, two states with the largest Latino populations, passed restrictive voting laws that intimidate people from going to the polls. There's never been a more pivotal time for us to flex our collective power and move our country forward. Despite our economic difficulties and educational needs, Latinos profoundly believe in America....The quality of our future depends on our ability to mobilize today." When contacted, a representative at Voto Latino told me its IRS 501(c)3 tax status had never been challenged. Voto Latino receives money from the Soros-affiliated Open Society Foundations. These are a mere eight groups dedicated to activist political outcomes. Many, many more exist. Under the law, anyone can demand a copy of the IRS 990 form filed by a tax-exempt organization. All you need to do is pick up the phone and call whatever leftist organization you wish and demand its "IRS 990 form." If they don't send it, call the IRS. http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/04/Leftist-Groups-Enjoy-IRS-Tax-Exempt-Status-While-Tea-Party-Suffers http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8fe_1370343026 Detroit Iron LEFTIST GROUPS ENJOY IRS TAX-EXEMPT STATUS WHILE TEA PARTY SUFFERS IRS, Tea Party, 501(c) IRS tax-exempt status Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:34:05 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0c4_1342121476 funker530 More videos - http://YouTube.com/FunkerTactical http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0c4_1342121476 funker530 INSERTING A <span class="highlight">NPA</span> UP YOUR OWN NOSE?! medical procedure, npa, casualty Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:22:50 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=dca_1309375040 anglosaxonwarlord Two of the attackers were shot by police personnel and one bleeds to death right in front of the camera,must have caught his femoral-artery.One police man and two insurgents were killed in this attack. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=dca_1309375040 anglosaxonwarlord Footage Of Attack By <span class="highlight">NPA</span> Mati Southern Philippines. NPA southern philippines Mati city Mon, 25 Jun 2007 23:59:44 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f8f_1182830384 Teufelhunden PFC gets NPA shoved down his nose http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f8f_1182830384 Teufelhunden Combat Lifesavers Course marines, nose, npa, hawaii Fri, 01 Oct 2010 11:35:24 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=da1_1285947051 jamie25 I do that with my spaghetti noodles :) http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=da1_1285947051 jamie25 Canadian Forces Training (Pte getting <span class="highlight">NPA</span> put down nose) Canadian,forces,training Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:27:03 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c72_1363649099 absu69 You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone. -- Al Capone In Reckless Endangerment , a lively expos'e of the frauds at the heart of the subprime meltdown, journalists Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner wrote that if "mortgage originators like NovaStar or Countrywide were the equivalent of drug pushers hanging around a schoolyard and the ratings agencies were the narcotics cops looking the other way, brokerage firms providing capital to the anything-goes lenders were the overseers of the cartel." Their observations are all the more relevant given the outrageous behavior by major banks which polluted an already terminally corrupt financial system with blood-spattered cash siphoned-off from the global drug trade. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to insist that drug money laundered by financial giants like HSBC and Wachovia were in fact, little more than "hedges" designed to offset losses in residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS), sliced and diced into toxic collateralized debt obligations, as the 2007-2008 global economic crisis cratered the capitalist "free market." And like Wachovia's ill-fated $25.5 billion (lb16.96bn) buy-out of Golden West Financial/World Savings Bank at the top of the market in 2006, HSBC's 2002 purchase of Household International and its mortgage unit, Household Finance Corporation for the then princely sum of $15.2 billion (lb10.02bn) also proved to be a proverbial deal too far. Evidence suggests that HSBC stepped up money laundering for their cartel clients as the hyperinflated real estate bubble collapsed. Along with other self-styled masters of the universe who were bleeding cash faster than you can say credit default swaps, HSBC posted 2008 projected first quarter losses of "$17.2 billion (lb8.7bn) after the decline in the US housing market hit the value of its loans," BBC News reported. From there RMBS deficits skyrocketed. By 2010, as Senate and Justice Department investigators were taking a hard look at bank shenanigans, Reuters reported that HSBC Holdings was "working off $20 billion worth of loans per year in its US Household Finance Corp. unit" where "liabilities stood at about $70 billion ." However you slice today's epidemic of financial corruption, a trend already clear two decades ago when economists George Akerlof and Paul Romer published their seminal paper, Looting: The Economic Underworld of Bankruptcy for Profit , incentives were huge as senior bank executives inflated their balance sheets with "criminal proceeds ... likely to have amounted to some 3.6 per cent of GDP (2.3-5.5 per cent) or around US$2.1 trillion in 2009," according to a 2011 estimate by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime ( UNODC ). To make matters worse, willful criminality at the apex of the financial pyramid was aided and abetted by the US Justice Department and the federal regulatory apparatus who allowed these storied economic predators to walk. 'Change' that Banksters Can Believe In In late January, Bloomberg News reported that US prosecutors have "asked a federal judge to sign off on HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA)'s $1.9 billion settlement of charges it enabled drug cartels to launder millions of dollars in trafficking proceeds." Prosecutors justified the settlement on grounds that "it includes the largest-ever forfeiture in the prosecution of a bank and provides for monitoring to prevent future violations," arguing that "strict conditions, and the unprecedented forfeiture and penalties imposed, serve as a significant deterrent against future similar conduct." Let's get this sick joke straight: here's a bank that laundered billions of dollars for Colombian and Mexican drug lords, admittedly amongst the most violent gangsters on earth (120,000 dead Mexicans and counting since 2006) and we're supposed to take this deal seriously. Seriously? Remember, this an institution whose pretax 2012 profits will exceed $23.5 billion (lb15.63bn) when earnings are reported next week and the best the US government can do is extract a promise to "do better"--next time. That deal, a deferred prosecution agreement ( DPA ) was cobbled together between the outgoing head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, Lanny A. Breuer and HSBC, Europe's largest bank. At the urging of former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, no criminal charges were sought--or brought--against senior bank executives. Why might that be the case? During a press conference trumpeting the government's "shitty deal," Breuer breezily declared that DOJ's decision not to move forcefully against HSBC was in everyone's best interest: "Had the US authorities decided to press criminal charges, HSBC would almost certainly have lost its banking license in the US, the future of the institution would have been under threat and the entire banking system would have been destabilized." As if allowing drug-connected money launderers license to pollute one of the world's largest financial institutions hadn't already "destabilized" the banking system! Although Obama's Justice Department smeared "lipstick" on this pig of a deal, their own "Statement of Facts" submitted to US District Judge John Gleeson paints a damning picture of criminal negligence that crossed the line into outright collusion with their Cartel clients: From 2006 to 2010, HSBC Bank USA violated the BSA and its implementing regulations. Specifically, HSBC Bank USA ignored the money laundering risks associated with doing business with certain Mexican customers and failed to implement a BSA/AML program that was adequate to monitor suspicious transactions from Mexico. At the same time, Grupo Financiero HSBC, S.A. de C.V. ("HSBC Mexico"), one of HSBC Bank USA's largest Mexican customers, had its own significant AML problems. As a result of these concurrent AML failures, at least $881 million in drug trafficking proceeds, including proceeds of drug trafficking by the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico and the Norte del Valle Cartel in Colombia, were laundered through HSBC Bank USA without being detected. HSBC Group was aware of the significant AML compliance problems at HSBC Mexico, yet did not inform HSBC Bank USA of these problems and their potential impact on HSBC Bank USA's AML program. As with Wachovia, oceans of cash generated through drug trafficking were laundered by HSBC via the Black Market Peso Exchange (BMPE), a nexus of interconnected firms controlled by Colombian and Mexican drug cartels. According to the DPA, "peso brokers purchase bulk cash in United States dollars from drug cartels at a discounted rate, in return for Colombian pesos that belong to Colombian businessmen. The peso brokers then use the US dollars to purchase legitimate goods from businesses in the United States and other foreign countries, on behalf of the Colombian businessmen. These goods are then sent to the Colombian businessmen, who sell the goods for Colombian pesos to recoup their original investment." "In the end," the Justice Department informed us, "the Colombian businessmen obtain US dollars at a lower exchange rate than otherwise available in Colombia, the Colombian cartel leaders receive Colombian pesos while avoiding the costs associated with depositing US dollars directly into Colombian financial institutions, and the peso brokers receive fees for their services as middlemen." Got that? And it wasn't only plasma TVs, diamond-studded Rolexes or armored-up SUVs that cartel heavies were buying from enterprising businessmen on this side of the border. Add to their list of must-haves: fleets of airplanes and enough weapons to equip an army! DOJ investigators discovered that "drug traffickers were depositing hundreds of thousands of dollars in bulk US currency each day into HSBC Mexico accounts. In order to efficiently move this volume of cash through the teller windows at HSBC Mexico branches, drug traffickers designed specially shaped boxes that fit the precise dimensions of the teller windows. The drug traffickers would send numerous boxes filled with cash through the teller windows for deposit into HSBC Mexico accounts. After the cash was deposited in the accounts, peso brokers then wire transferred the US dollars to various exporters located in New York City and other locations throughout the United States to purchase goods for Colombian businesses. The US exporters then sent the goods directly to the businesses in Colombia." The investigation further revealed that "because of its lax AML controls, HSBC Mexico was the preferred financial institution for drug cartels and money launderers. The drug trafficking proceeds (in physical US dollars) deposited at HSBC Mexico as part of the BMPE were sold to HSBC Bank USA through Banknotes." What's the "get" for the bank? Former Senate investigator Jack Blum told Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi: "If you have clients who are interested in 'specialty services'---that's the euphemism for the bad stuff--you can charge 'em whatever you want." Blum said "the margin on laundered money for years has been roughly 20 percent." How's that for an incentive! 'Big Audits, Big Problems. No Audits, No Problems' In cobbling together the HSBC deal, the Justice Department ignored Senate testimony by whistleblowers, some of whom were fired or eventually resigned in disgust when higher-ups thwarted their efforts to get a handle on AML "lapses" by the North American branch during a critical period when it was becoming clear that losses in the subprime market would be huge. We were informed that senior level officials at HBUS were keep in the dark about the extent of problems plaguing HBMX by HSBC Group (London) executives, "including the CEO, Head of Compliance, Head of Audit, and Head of Legal," all of whom were aware "that the problems at HSBC Mexico involved US dollars and US dollar accounts." We're supposed to believe that Canary Wharf "did not contact their counterparts at HSBC Bank USA to explain the significance of the problems or the potential effect on HSBC Bank USA's business." This fairy tale is further enlarged upon when we're informed that "HSBC North America's General Counsel/Regional Compliance Officer first learned of the problems at HSBC Mexico and their potential impact on HSBC Bank USA in 2010 as a result of this investigation." According to the suspect narrative concocted by government prosecutors, HBUS's General Counsel was informed by HSBC Group Compliance Chief, David Bagley, that she wasn't told about "potential problems" at HBMX because the bank doesn't "air the dirty linen of one affiliate with another . . . we go in and fix the problems." Really? Keep in mind that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency had issued not one, but two toothless cease-and-desist orders between 2003 and 2010 ordering HSBC to clean up their act, all of which revolved around strengthening anti-money laundering controls which were promptly ignored. But as the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations revealed in their 335-page report (large PDF file) and related hearings last summer, despite the fact that "Compliance and AML staffing levels were kept low for many years as part of a cost cutting measure," Senate investigators learned through HSBC internal correspondence that those charged with monitoring suspicious transactions were "struggling to 'handle the growing monitoring requirements' associated with the bank's correspondent banking and cash management programs, and requested additional staff." "Despite requests for additional AML staffing," the Senate reported that "HBUS decided to hold staff levels to a flat headcount." "After being turned down for additional staff, Carolyn Wind, longtime HBUS Compliance head and AML director, raised the issue of inadequate resources with the HNAH board of directors. A month after the board meeting, after seven years as HBUS' Compliance head Ms. Wind was fired," Senate investigators disclosed. Wind, who had met with HNAH's board in October 2007 to discuss staffing, was reprimanded by her supervisor, Regional Compliance Officer and Senior Executive Vice President Janet L. Burak, for raising the issue. In an email to disgraced Group Compliance chief David Bagley, who dramatically resigned on camera during those Senate hearings, Burak "expressed displeasure" with Wind and told Bagley: "I indicated to her my strong concerns about her ability to do the job I need her to do, particularly in light of the comments made by her at yesterday's audit committee meeting .... I noted that her comments caused inappropriate concern with the committee around: our willingness to pay as necessary to staff critical compliance functions (specifically embassy banking AML support), and the position of the OCC with respect to the merger of AML and general Compliance." In marked contrast to the government's version, it appears that HBUS had been fully apprised of "cash management" problems three years earlier than claimed in the DPA, yet senior level executives choose to look the other way--so long as the cash keep flowing. Burak's firing of Wind should have raised eyebrows at the Justice Department. As Regional Legal Department Head for North America, Burak was appointed by the HNAH board to serve as the bank's Regional Compliance Officer, a move which was even criticized by Bagley, but he was overruled by his Canary Wharf masters. Her appointment as Regional Compliance Officer shouldn't come as a surprise however, considering that before joining the HSBC team, Burak "was group general counsel, Household International . . . as well as for Household's federal regulatory coordination and compliance function," according to a 2004 BusinessWire profile. And with the bank on the hook for some $70 billion (lb46.17bn) and counting in toxic Household International mortgage liabilities, her choice by London to supervise AML operations was a slam dunk. In her new dual-hatted role, Burak was taken to the woodshed by both the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve "for her lack of understanding of AML risks or controls" according to the Senate report. Indeed, OCC stated that Burak had "not regularly attended key committee or compliance department meetings" and had failed to keep herself and other bank executives "fully informed about issues and risks within the BSA/AML compliance program." But if the task at hand was to keep AML staff to a "flat headcount" and not make waves with pesky audits that might force compliance with trivial matters such as legal requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act, well you get the picture! Senate investigators learned however, that BSA compliance issues were legion and what they found was just a tad troubling: The identified problems included a once massive backlog of over 17,000 alerts identifying possible suspicious activity that had yet to be reviewed; ineffective methods for identifying suspicious activity; a failure to file timely Suspicious Activity Reports with U.S. law enforcement; a failure to conduct any due diligence to assess the risks of HSBC affiliates before opening correspondent accounts for them; a 3-year failure by HBUS, from mid-2006 to mid-2009, to conduct any AML monitoring of $15 billion in bulk cash transactions with those same HSBC affiliates, despite the risks associated with large cash transactions; poor procedures for assigning country and client risk ratings; a failure to monitor $60 trillion in annual wire transfer activity by customers domiciled in countries rated by HBUS as lower risk; inadequate and unqualified AML staffing; inadequate AML resources; and AML leadership problems. But wait, there's more! After Wind's dismissal, the HNAH board hired Lesley Midzain to fill the posts of Compliance head and AML director. But as Senate investigators revealed, "Ms. Midzain had no professional experience and little familiarity with US AML laws." Indeed, in December 2008 "HNAH's regulator, the Federal Reserve, provided a negative critique of Ms. Midzain's management of the bank's AML program." According to Senate staff, the Federal Reserve complained that "Ms. Midzain did 'not possess the technical knowledge or industry experience to continue as the BSA/AML officer'." It noted that she "was interviewed by OCC examiners from another team and they supported the conclusion of the OCC resident staff that Midzain's knowledge and experience with BSA/AML risk is not commensurate to HNAH's BSA/AML high risk profile, especially when compared to other large national banks." As a result of these rather pointed criticisms, Midzain was removed from the AML post and HBUS hired a new director, Wyndham Clark, a former US Treasury official. According to the Senate report, Clark "was required to report to Curt Cunningham, an HBUS Compliance official who freely admitted having no AML expertise, and through him to Ms. Midzain, whom the OCC had also found to lack AML expertise." Call it a small world. It soon became clear to Clark that although the bank had an "extremely high risk business model from AML perspective," as director he was "granted only limited authority to the AML director to remedy problems." According to a memorandum sent by Clark to his boss Curt Cunningham, he complained that "AML Director has the responsibility for AML compliance, but very little control over its success." If one were a "conspiracy buff" one might even argue this was precisely as intended . Senate investigators revealed that as he continued his work, "Clark grew increasingly concerned that the bank was not effectively addressing its AML problems. In February 2010, Mr. Clark met with the Audit Committee of the HNAH board of directors and informed the committee that he had never seen a bank with as high of an AML risk profile as HBUS." In May 2010, he wrote to a more senior compliance officer: "With every passing day I become more concerned...if that's even possible." Less than a year after taking the thankless job, in July 2010 Clark quit. He wrote HSBC Group Compliance chief David Bagley that he had neither the authority nor the support from senior managers needed to do his job. He told Bagley in no uncertain terms: he bank has not provided me the proper authority or reporting structure that is necessary for the responsibility and liability that this position holds, thereby impairing my ability to direct and manage the AML program effectively. This has resulted in most of the critical decisions in Compliance and AML being made by senior Management who have minimal expertise in compliance, AML or our regulatory environment, or for that matter, knowledge of the bank (HBUS) where most of our AML risk resides. Until we appoint senior compliance management that have the requisite knowledge and skills in these areas, reduce our current reliance on consultants to fill our knowledge gap, and provide the AML Director appropriate authority, we will continue to have limited credibility with the regulators. According to the DPA, despite the risks associated with HSBC's highly-profitable Banknotes business, used and abused by all manner of shady customers, "from 2006 to 2009, Banknotes' AML compliance consisted of one, or at times two, compliance officers." In 2006, the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an Advisory warning that "US law enforcement has observed a dramatic increase in the smuggling of bulk cash proceeds from the sale of narcotics and other criminal activities from the United States into Mexico. Once the US currency is in Mexico, numerous layered transactions may be used to disguise its origins, after which it may be returned directly to the United States or further transshipped to or through other jurisdictions." What was HSBC's response? The Justice Department informed us that despite the FinCEN notification "Banknotes stopped regular monthly monitoring of transactions for HSBC Group Affiliates, including HSBC Mexico, in July 2006." And despite multiple notifications from government regulators, the bank accelerated their shady purchases: "Banknotes purchased approximately $7 billion in US currency from Mexico each year, with nearly half of that amount supplied by HSBC Mexico. From July 2006 to December 2008, Banknotes purchased over $9.4 billion in physical US dollars from HSBC Mexico, including over $4.1 billion in 2008 alone." As a result of these rather willful "lapses" by senior executives, the Justice Department's "Statement of Facts" cited HSBC's, a. Failure to obtain or maintain due diligence or KYC information on HSBC Group Affiliates, including HSBC Mexico; b. Failure to adequately monitor over $200 trillion in wire transfers between 2006 and 2009 from customers located in countries that HSBC Bank USA classified as "standard" or "medium" risk, including over $670 billion in wire transfers from HSBC Mexico; c. Failure to adequately monitor billions of dollars in purchases of physical US dollars ("banknotes") between July 2006 and July 2009 from HSBC Group Affiliates, including over $9.4 billion from HSBC Mexico; and d. Failure to provide adequate staffing and other resources to maintain an effective AML program. Yet in the face of evidence that laundering drug money was anything but a mistake, Judge Gleeson was told that DOJ's decision not to criminally prosecute senior HSBC executives was predicated on the fiction that the $1.9 billion settlement's "strict conditions, and the unprecedented forfeiture and penalties imposed, serve as a significant deterrent against future similar conduct." Never mind the lack of evidence that DPA's are a "deterrent" to financial crimes. Indeed, a 2009 study by the US Government Accountability Office ( GAO ) concluded "that the Department of Justice (DOJ) lacked performance measures to assess how Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPA) and Non-Prosecution Agreements (NPA) contribute to its efforts to combat corporate crime." Well, if the Justice Department lacked "metrics" as to whether or not their agreements with corporate criminals act as a deterrent to future crimes, were there other considerations behind the sweetheart deals forged between the Criminal Division, HSBC and other banks? You bet there were and it's worth recalling statements by former UNODC director Antonio Maria Costa in this regard. In 2009, Costa told The Observer that "he has seen evidence that the proceeds of organised crime were 'the only liquid investment capital' available to some banks on the brink of collapse last year. He said that a majority of the $352bn (lb216bn) of drugs profits was absorbed into the economic system as a result." Costa said that "in many instances, the money from drugs was the only liquid investment capital. In the second half of 2008, liquidity was the banking system's main problem and hence liquid capital became an important factor." "Inter-bank loans were funded by money that originated from the drugs trade and other illegal activities... There were signs that some banks were rescued that way." Although Costa declined to identify the banks involved because it would not be "appropriate," he told The Observer that "money is now a part of the official system and had been effectively laundered." "That was the moment when the system was basically paralysed because of the unwillingness of banks to lend money to one another," Costa averred. "The progressive liquidisation to the system and the progressive improvement by some banks of their share values the problem has become much less serious than it was." In other words, as illegal cash propped up the banks while the crisis was being sorted out, at the expense of the working class mind you, the financial pirates responsible for the capitalist meltdown have become even larger, thanks to taxpayer bailouts, in effect holding the economy hostage as they became "too big" to either "fail or jail." As Matt Taibbi observed in Rolling Stone , "At HSBC, the bank did more than avert its eyes to a few shady transactions. It repeatedly defied government orders as it made a conscious, years-long effort to completely stop discriminating between illegitimate and legitimate money. And when it somehow talked the U.S. government into crafting a settlement over these offenses with the lunatic aim of preserving the bank's license, it succeeded, finally, in making crime mainstream." What we are dealing with here is nothing less than a perverse economic system thoroughly criminalized by its elites; a bizarro world as Michel Chossudovsky pointed out where "war criminals legitimately occupy positions of authority, which enable them to decide 'who are the criminals', when in fact they are the criminals Monday, January 21, 2013 Wrist Slap for 'Too Big to Fail or Jail' JPMorgan Chase With money laundering "lapses" and CEO mea culpas all the rage on Wall Street and the City of London, you would think that Hope and ChangeTM grifter Barack Obama's Justice and Treasury Departments would want to send a strong message to banksters who break the law. You'd be wrong of course. 'There's Nothing to See Here...' While the financial press is all aflutter over news that JPMorgan Chase (JPMC) CEO Jamie Dimon had his annual pay package cut by 50 percent, from $23 million (lb14.5m) to $11.5 million (lb7.25m) over $6.2 billion (lb3.91bn) in losses in the risky derivatives market, you'd almost believe that Dimon was lining up for food stamps or hunting down mittens to stave off New York's bone-chilling winter. Despite allusions to what are euphemistically called "bad bets" by JPMC trader Bruno Iksil, the so-called "London Whale" on the hook for proverbial "shitty deals" that cost shareholders billions, Bloomberg News reported that JPMC's "fourth-quarter profit rose 53 percent, beating analysts' estimates as mortgage revenue more than doubled on record-low interest rates and government incentives." Incentives? Now there's a polite word for a megabank with more than $2.3 trillion (lb1.45tn) in assets handed some $600 billion (lb378.24bn) in TARP funds, which included Federal Reserve engineered deals for their buy-out of Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual that wiped out shareholder equity as the capitalist system threatened to implode in 2008. Adding to the sleaze factor, it emerged in 2011 that JPMC had wrongfully overcharged thousands of military families on their mortgages, including active duty personnel serving in Afghanistan. As a result of a class-action lawsuit, the bank was forced to admit they had illegally overcharged 6,000 active duty military personnel, had seized the homes of 18 military families and then paid out $27 million (lb17.05m) in compensation. At a shareholder's meeting later that year Dimon "apologized" for the "error" and lending chief David Lowman fell on his sword as he was shown the door. Talk about stand-up guys! And never mind, as Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi pointed out, "at the same moment that leading banks were taking trillions in secret loans from the Fed, top officials at those firms were buying up stock in their companies, privy to insider info that was not available to the public at large." While drug-tainted Citigroup's former CEO Vikram Pandit "bought nearly $7 million in Citi stock in November 2008, just as his firm was secretly taking out $99.5 billion in Fed loans," that other paragon of banking virtue, Jamie Dimon, who "respects" the JPMC board's decision to slice his pay in half "bought more than $11 million in Chase stock in early 2009, at a time when his firm was receiving as much as $60 billion in secret Fed loans." Such "stock purchases by America's top bankers," Taibbi wrote, "raise serious questions of insider trading." Yet not a single bankster has been seriously investigated let alone held to account, by the Justice Department. How sweet a year was it for JPMorgan Chase? Pretty sweet by all accounts. Overall, Bloomberg reported, "revenue increased 10 percent to $23.7 billion from $21.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011. Annual revenue was $97 billion , down from $97.2 billion the prior year." This included investment banking fees which jumped 54 percent to $1.7 billion (lb1.07bn) and revenue in the commercial banking sector which rose to $1.75 billion (lb1.1bn). And with the formation of a new housing bubble due to taxpayer-subsidized record low interest rates, JPMC's profits in the mortgage writing mill rose to $418 million (lb263.5m) in 2012, compared to losses which topped $263 million (lb165.8m) a year earlier. But far from being a sign that the economic black hole opened by 2008's financial collapse has contracted, there's bad news on the horizon for distressed homeowners and taxpayers who will be forced to pay the piper for the next round of predatory loans. As analyst Mike Whitney recently pointed out in CounterPunch a new rule defining a "qualified mortgage" by the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau "creates vast new opportunities for the nation's biggest banks to engage in predatory lending practices with impunity." According to Whitney, while the financial press have described the rule "as an attempt to protect borrowers from the risky types of loans that caused the financial crisis, the opposite is true. The real purpose of the rule is to provide legal protection for the banks from homeowner lawsuits, and to lay the groundwork for more reckless lending that could inflate another housing bubble." "In other words," Whitney noted, "the rule was designed to serve the interests of the banks and the banks alone. This is why bankers everywhere are celebrating the final draft." Never mind that leading financial institutions were forced to cough up $25 billion (lb15.76bn) in a settlement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve over shady foreclosure practices and wrongful homeowner evictions that ruined millions of lives. JPMC's $2 billion (lb1.26bn) portion of the settlement, which included "a one-time pretax charge of $700 million in the fourth quarter to cover the costs associated with settlement" according to Bloomberg, was a pittance compared to the trillions of dollars in assets controlled by the bank. 'A Trillion Here, a Trillion There...' But as bad as these gift horses are, they pale in comparison with federal government inaction when it comes to policing financial predators who inflate their balance sheets with laundered drug money and loot derived from terrorist financing and organized crime. As Yury Fedotov, the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), pointed out in that agency's 2011 report, Estimating Illicit Financial Flows Resulting from Drug Trafficking and Other Transnational Organized Crime : "Prior to this report, perhaps the most widely quoted figure for the extent of money laundering was the IMF's 'consensus range' of between 2-5 per cent of global GDP, made public in 1998. A study-of-studies, or meta-analysis, conducted for this report, suggests that all criminal proceeds are likely to have amounted to some 3.6 per cent of GDP (2.3-5.5 per cent) or around US$2.1 trillion in 2009." The UNODC research team averred: "If only flows related to drug trafficking and other transnational organized crime activities were considered, related proceeds would have been equivalent to around US$650 billion per year in the first decade of the new millennium, equivalent to 1.5% of global GDP or US$870 billion in 2009 assuming that the proportions remained unchanged. The funds available for laundering through the financial system would have been equivalent to some 1% of global GDP or US$580 billion in 2009." However you slice these grim estimates, it should be obvious that banks have every incentive to remain key players in the transnational narcotics complex and will continue to do so thanks to the federal government. Last week, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released their cease-and-desist order against JPMC. Unlike other drug money laundering banks such as Wells Fargo-owned Wachovia Bank, which agreed to a mere $160 million (lb100.86m) settlement in 2010 in a deferred prosecution agreement ( DPA ) after admitting to laundering upwards of $368 billion (lb231.99bn) for Colombian and Mexican drug cartels or the recent $1.9 billion (lb1.2bn) DPA with Britain's HSBC global financial empire, the OCC's consent order didn't even impose a fine on JPMC for money laundering "lapses." Now that's juice! Though short on details the order however, is a damning indictment of JPMC "indiscretions" when it comes to drug and other criminal money laundering. Keep in mind this is an institution that was slapped with an $88.3 million (lb55.66m) fine less than 18 months ago for shipping a ton of gold bullion to Iran in breach of harsh Treasury Department sanctions. (I neither endorse nor support draconian sanctions imposed by the imperialists on the Islamic Republic, my purpose here is to point out the double standards which would land the average citizen in the slammer under "material support" statutes for trading with Iran). The January 2013 Consent Order stated although the Comptroller found serious "flaws" in their accounting practices, "the Bank neither admits nor denies" the following: (1) The OCC's examination findings establish that the Bank has deficiencies in its BSA/AML compliance program. These deficiencies have resulted in the failure to correct a previously reported problem and a BSA/AML compliance program violation under 12 U.S.C. SS 1818(s) and its implementing regulation, 12 C.F.R. SS 21.21 (BSA Compliance Program). In addition, the Bank has violated 12 C.F.R. SS 21.11 (Suspicious Activity Report Filings). (2) The Bank has failed to adopt and implement a compliance program that adequately covers the required BSA/AML program elements due to an inadequate system of internal controls, and ineffective independent testing. The Bank did not develop adequate due diligence on customers, particularly in the Commercial and Business Banking Unit, a repeat problem, and failed to file all necessary Suspicious Activity Reports ("SARs") related to suspicious customer activity. (3) The Bank failed to correct previously identified systemic weaknesses in the adequacy of customer due diligence and the effectiveness of monitoring in light of the customers' cash activity and business type, constituting a deficiency in its BSA/AML compliance program and resulting in a violation of 12 U.S.C. SS 1818(s)(3)(B). Wait a minute, if these were "previously identified systemic weaknesses" and if JPMC "failed to adopt and implement a compliance program" that would shield the American financial system from a tsunami of drug-tainted cash annually washing through the economy, especially "in light of the customers' cash activity and business type," why then has OCC issued another toothless Consent Order rather than forcing the bank to comply with the law? Accordingly, federal regulators charge: (4) Some of the critical deficiencies in the elements of the Bank's BSA/AML compliance program, resulting in a violation of 12 U.S.C. SS 1818(s)(3)(A) and 12 C.F.R. SS 21.21, include the following: (a) The Bank has an inadequate system of internal controls and independent testing. (b) The Bank has less than satisfactory risk assessment processes that do not provide an adequate foundation for management's efforts to identify, manage, and control risk. (c) The Bank has systemic deficiencies in its transaction monitoring systems, due diligence processes, risk management, and quality assurance programs. (d) The Bank does not have enterprise-wide policies and procedures to ensure that foreign branch suspicious activity involving customers of other bank branches is effectively communicated to other affected branch locations and applicable AML operations staff. The Bank also does not have enterprise-wide policies and procedures to ensure that on a risk basis, customer transactions at foreign branch locations can be assessed, aggregated, and monitored. (e) The Bank has significant shortcomings in SAR decision-making protocols and an ineffective method for ensuring that referrals and alerts are properly documented, tracked, and resolved. (5) The Bank failed to identify significant volumes of suspicious activity and file the required SARs concerning suspicious customer activities, in violation of 12 C.F.R. SS 21.11. In some of these cases, the Bank self-identified the issues and is engaged in remediation. (6) The Bank's internal controls, including filtering processes and independent testing, with respect to Office of Foreign Asset Control ("OFAC") compliance are inadequate. How large were the "significant volumes" of "suspicious activity" alluded to opaquely? Where did they originate? Who were the "suspicious customers" and why did JPMC not have "enterprise-wide policies and procedures" after being previously ordered to do so to ensure that said "suspicious customers" at foreign bank branches didn't include drug lords or terrorist financiers? All of these are unanswered questions for which the Obama administration should be held to account. In fact, according to OCC's own regulations , 12 C.F.R. SS 21.21 clearly states that the federal government "requires every national bank to have a written, board approved program that is reasonably designed to assure and monitor compliance with the BSA." At a minimum , an anti-money laundering program "must" (this is not optional): "1. provide for a system of internal controls to assure ongoing compliance; 2. provide for independent testing for compliance; 3. designate an individual responsible for coordinating and monitoring day-to-day compliance; and 4. provide training for appropriate personnel. In addition, the implementing regulation for section 326 of the PATRIOT Act requires that every bank adopt a customer identification program identification program as part of its BSA compliance program." Keep in mind that Wachovia and HSBC under terms of their DPA's were forced to admit that illegal transactions "ignored the money laundering risks associated with doing business with certain Mexican customers and failed to implement a BSA/AML program that was adequate to monitor suspicious transactions from Mexico." Furthermore, those risks were compounded, wilfully in this writer's opinion, in order to inflate bank balance sheets with drug money, through their failure to correct "systemic deficiencies in its transaction monitoring systems, due diligence processes, risk management, and quality assurance programs." On every level, JPMorgan Chase failed to comply with existing rules and regulations that have earned penny-ante offenders terms in federal prison. In fact, just last week Los Angeles-based "G&amp;A Check Cashing, its manager, Karen Gasparian, and its compliance officer, Humberto Sanchez" were sentenced by US Judge John Walker to stiff prison terms, The Wall Street Journal reported. For violating the Bank Secrecy Act, Gasparian was "ordered to prison for five years and Sanchez for eight months." Are you kidding me! The Journal averred, "While it is common for banks to face scrutiny from the U.S. for complying with the Bank Secrecy Act, it is rare for authorities to pursue check-cashing businesses for anti-money laundering compliance issues, as they are often used by the poor, who may not have the funds to maintain a bank account." In full clown-car mode, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, Obama's chieftain over at the Justice Department's Criminal Division, who last month refused to file criminal charges against drug-money laundering banksters at HSBC said in a statement : "Karen Gasparian, Humberto Sanchez and their company G&amp;A Check Cashing purposefully thwarted the Bank Secrecy Act, making it easier for others to use G&amp;A to commit illegal activity. They knew they were required to report transactions over $10,000, but deliberately failed to do so." Although the OCC Consent Order does not spell out who benefited from JPMC's "systemic weaknesses" when it came to lax drug money laundering controls, the suspicion persists that somewhere fugitive billionaire drug lord Chapo Guzm'an is smiling as he enlarges his stable of thoroughbreds. http://antifascist-calling.blogspot.com/ http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c72_1363649099 absu69 DOJ Urges Federal Court to Approve Sweetheart Deal with Drug-Tainted HSBC (Long Read) hsbc,fraud Sat, 20 Oct 2012 12:24:07 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=53d_1350749862 altai8008 NPA guerillas attack a lone police officer at a bus station in Mati city. Officer Alfredo Salva was killed but not before killing one of his attackers and wounding another. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=53d_1350749862 altai8008 rebel attack in Phillippines June 7th 2011 phillippines, police, shootout, rebel scum Wed, 26 Sep 2012 00:02:50 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=916_1348631688 brontemark RED ALERT! If you're a lover of bacon, sausage or pork chops, you might want to stock your freezers now. A pork industry trade group in Britain is warning that the world is headed for a pork shortage, all because of a summer of desperately low rain in the U.S. According to the National Pig Association in Britain, pig farmers in the U.K., who rely on corn and soy exports from the U.S. to feed their animals, are drastically culling their herds in the wake of the drought that destroyed thousands of feed crops across the U.S. corn belt. The farmers say feed shortages and price increases have simply made it too expensive to keep large pork herds. The industry group is warning that the pattern of culling herds will almost certainly spread around the world, making a world shortage of pork and bacon next year "unavoidable," they say. "New data shows the European Union pig herd is declining at a significant rate, and this is a trend that is being mirrored around the world," the National Pig Association said in a recent news release. They warn that as farmers reduce their herds this year, pork prices will soar next year as supply dwindles. "NPA believes slaughterings could fall by as much as 10 per cent in the second half of next year, which indicates a doubling of the price of European pork and pork products." With U.S. hog farmers slaughtering their animals quickly, the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows estimates that the pork supply next year will drop to the lowest per-capita rate since 1975, Bloomberg News reports. One of Canada's biggest hog producers, Big Sky Farms, has already felt the squeeze from higher feed prices. Big Sky Farms, based in Humboldt, Sask., which accounts for 40 per cent of Saskatchewan's total hog production, has gone into receivership while it attempts to restructure its debt. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=916_1348631688 brontemark Global Bacon Shortage Looms Bacon, shortage, Muslims, pigs, conspiracy Wed, 02 Mar 2011 08:19:32 -0500 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bcd_1299070446 Mr-Creosote Warrior heroes of the New People's Army mount another successful ambush operation upon a Military Police unit in Rizal. The NPA treat their fellow Filipinos extremely well after capture. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bcd_1299070446 Mr-Creosote Warriors of the New People's Army take Military police prisoners: Rizal Resistance, Ambush, Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:17:21 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6fc_1247584609 aipworld Major reshuffle in JK police Mir Umar Agence India Press, Correspondent July 14, 2009 Srinagar Amid the growing unrest in Jammu and Kashmir, the state government Tuesday ordered a major shake-up in the police department transferring many senior officers. The reshuffle in the state police was ordered in the cabinet meeting headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The shake-up comes as protests have been raging this summer in the Kashmir Valley over alleged rights abuses and killings by security forces. Ashok Bhan, who was the director general Criminal Investigation Department (CID), has been posted as director general prisons. K. Rajendra, inspector general of police (Jammu zone), has been promoted as additional director general and posted as the new CID chief of the state. Ashok Gupta would be the new inspector general of police Jammu. P.L. Gupta, inspector general of police (headquarters), will be now additional director general of the vigilance commission. Farooq Ahmad, inspector general of police (CID), has been transferred and posted as inspector general of police (Kashmir zone) replacing B. Srinivas who goes as inspector general of police (security). The government has also changed deputy inspectors general (DIGs) of Srinagar, Baramulla, Anantnag and Kathua ranges replacing them with new faces. Transfers have also been made at the levels of the senior superintendents of police (SSPs) at the district levels including SSP (Srinagar) Afadul Mujtaba who has been replaced by Riyaz Ahmad Bedar. This is the first major shake-up in the state police administration after Omar Abdullah took office as the chief minister of the state earlier this year. Though terrorist violence in Kashmir has drastically come down the valley has been rocked by protests since May over alleged human rights violations by security forces. First it was in south Kashmir's Shopian where two women, aged 17 and 22, were found dead May 30. Locals allege they were abducted, raped and killed by security forces. A government appointed probe commission has indicted some police officers for the crime. After the Shopian incident that sparked valley-wide protests came the violence in north Kashmir Baramulla where a woman last month alleged she was abused by cops in a police station. Police have, however, denied the allegations. Four protesters were killed in firing allegedly by paramilitary men in Baramulla and neighbouring Sopore town. Police have registered murder cases against paramilitary troopers reportedly involved in the firing. Then violent protests rocked this Jammu and Kashmir summer capital early this month after a missing youth was found murdered in an old city area triggering a fresh wave of violence in an already vitiated atmosphere. People blamed police and other security agencies for his "custodial death". Normal Life returns in Kashmir Sheikh Imran Bashir Agence India Press, Correspondent July 14, 2009 Srinagar Life today returned to normal in the summer capital, Srinagar, its outskirts and other parts of the Kashmir valley after a day-long undeclared curfew restrictions and general strike yesterday. Shops and business establishments reopened this morning and traffic on all routes was plying normally. Work in government offices, banks and other commercial establishments was going on smoothly and the educational institutions also registered full attendance. The authorities had imposed undeclared curfew restrictions in the city and its outskirts yesterday following a '' Lal Chowk Chalo'' call given by the moderate Hurriyat Conference (HC). In other parts of the valley, general strike was observed on the 78th anniversary of 1931 martyrs. Reports from Anantnag and Baramulla said life was normal in all parts of the south and north Kashmir districts and towns with shops and business establishments doing normal business and traffic plying on all routes. One killed, ten injured Sadat Khan Agence India Press, Correspondent July 14, 2009 Srinagar A girl was killed and ten others were injured while three houses were gutted in the Kashmir valley overnight, official sources said here today.They said a vehicle hit and injured a girl Sania at Tangdhar in north Kashmir. She was immediately admitted to hospital where she died. Four people were injured when a vehicle, in which they were travelling, met with an accident at Repora bypass while a vehicle hit and injured a woman and a teenage girl at Damhal Hanjipora in Kulgam district. They said four people were injured in two different motorycle accidents at Bandipora and Kunzer. All the injured were admitted to different hospitals, they said. Three houses and four shops were gutted in a devastaing fire at Damhal Hanjipora in Kulgam district of south Kashmir. The cause of fire was not known; they said adding no one was injured. Soldier kills colleague and shoots self in Kashmir Majid Kapra Agence India Press, Correspondent July 14, 2009 Srinagar A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldier killed his colleague before attempting suicide in Kashmir valley, official sources said. Manooj Phukan shot dead another soldier Manjeet Singh of 84 batalion CRPF in a camp here late last night. The two had an exchange of hot words before the firing took place, which caused panic in the camp as other security personnel mistook it as a fidayeen attack. They said Singh later shot himself with his service weapon. However, he was immediately taken to Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) at Soura, where his condition is stated to be critical. The cause of their quarrel was not known, they said, adding the police have registered a case and initiated proceedings. The trend of killing of colleagues and committing suicide among the security forces has not ended in Kashmir even after the authorities introduced Yoga and Art of Living to help them come out of stress. Hizbul militant shot dead in JK Agence India Press Bureau July 14, 2009 Jammu A Hizbul Mujahideen militant was shot dead in an encounter with security forces in Reasi district Tuesday morning. On a tip off, Rashtriya Rifles troops launched an operation in Mahore area in the wee hours and in the subsequent encounter shot dead the militant identified as Bashir Ahmed Sheikh alias Jan Baaz alias Ghulam Ullah, defence sources said. The militant, who had received arms training in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, was active in the area since 1988, they said. An AK 56 rifle, 80 AK rounds and three AK magazines were recovered from him. No helicopter service to Holy Cave from July 22 SASB relocates the Amarnath helipad to Panchtarni Agence India Press Bureau July 14, 2009 Srinagar In furtherance of the decision taken by the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), Governor, N. N. Vohra, today approved the relocation of helipad from the Holy Cave Shrine of Shri Amarnathji to Panchtarni, the forward Base Camp on the traditional Pahalgam route. B. B. Vyas, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Shrine Board, stated that the helicopter service shall now operate on the Baltal-Panchtarni sector with effect from July 22, 2009, and emphasized that there shall be no service to the Holy Cave for the remainder period of the current year's Yatra. Henceforth, Vyas stated, the existing helipads near the Holy Cave shall be used only in exigencies such as evacuation of ailing pilgrims and rescue, as and when required, as well as for any other emergent and extra-ordinary landing, in rare cases, with the approval of the Governor, who is Chairman of the Board. In a significant decision taken at the 16th Board Meeting, the SASB had decided to relocate the helipads from the Holy Cave in order to maintain the spiritual ambience of the Cave periphery and to meet the Yatris' perception that the helicopter movement, close to the Cave, impacted on the longevity of the Holy Ice Lingam. Also, environmentalists had averred that the exhaust fumes, vibrations and sound waves arising from the helicopter operations could adversely impact on the fragile ecology of this snow covered mountain ranges. The Board had desired to shift the helicopter operations from the Holy Cave to Panchtarni as early as possible during the on-going Amarnath Yatra-2009. However, the helicopter service operators felt that as a good number of the pilgrims who had made advance bookings were of advanced ages and, as such, adequate time would be required to inform all such persons about the relocation of the helipad from the Holy Cave to Panchtarni. Keeping the aforesaid concern in view, the Board has informed both the helicopter service providers, M/S Himalayan Heli Services (Pvt.) Ltd. and M/S Deccan Charters Ltd. that from Wednesday, 22nd July, 2009, all services will operate between Baltal and Panchtarni. Thus, there shall be no service to the Holy Cave after the last flight on Tuesday the 21st July, 2009. The Board has further asked the helicopter operators to ensure that in the remaining seven days i.e. from 14th to 21st July, the required action is taken to suitably advise and inform all those who have made advance booking for any date after 21st July, 2009, about the change in the location of the helipad from the Holy Cave to Panchtarni and consequential changes in the schedule of helicopter operations. The Board has also observed that, considering the increased turn around time as a result of the change in the landing site/helipad, the helicopter service providers will provide adequate choice and flexibility to the aforesaid passengers to either change the date of their travel or cancel their earlier bookings, against full reimbursement of the fare, as the case may be. Meanwhile, the Shrine Board has also decided that, for the Yatra 2010 and onwards the helicopter services shall only be to and from Panchtarni. As such, all the intending helicopter service providers will be advised to bid accordingly, as soon as the tendering process is initiated by the Shrine Board, for this purpose. Vyas observed that Panchtarni has adequate space for landing several helicopters at a time and, in the past years; bigger machines like MI-17 have also operated from this area. It was further stated that "the SASB is also contemplating to allow a helicopter service on Pahalgam-Panchtarni sector, keeping in view the demands received from Yatris and the tour and travel operators of Pahalgam". Such a service will enable the pilgrims who are unable to walk on this arduous track to fly over the traditional route and have darshan of Sheshnag and Mahagunas Top. The Board's Spokesman stated that the decision with regard to the relocation of the helipad from the Holy Cave was taken after B. B. Vyas, Chief Executive Officer of the Shrine Board, held a series of meetings with the service providers. Referring to the recent unfortunate accident in the Holy Cave Lower Camp area, the Spokesman stressed the importance of having an adequate number of helipads in the Yatra area for evacuating those injured in accidents, those who take seriously ill etc and for launching rescue operations in exigencies, keeping in view the difficult terrain and fast changing weather conditions in the high altitude Himalayan region. It was noted that the Board had organized seven rescue operations from Sheshnag, Panchtarni, Holy Cave and Brarimarg and saved several precious lives during the ongoing Yatra. Meanwhile, 9845 Yatris performed darshan at the Holy Cave Shrine of Amarnath on Monday. While around 1400 pilgrims left from the Baltal Base Camp and 3600 from the Nunwan Base Camp this morning on their journey to the Holy Cave Shrine, another batch of 1699 Yatris left from Jammu to the Pahalgam and Baltal Base Camps today. J&K Bank Q1 net profit Rs 117 crores Operating Profit up 42 % to Rs 256 crore Agence India Press Bureau July 14, 2009 Srinagar While registering a business turnover of Rs 51,975.56 crore during the quarter ended June, 2009, the J&K Bank recorded an increase of 41 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year in the operating profit which increased to Rs.256 crore. For the said quarter, the Bank recorded a net profit of Rs 117.05 crore, an increase of 24 % over Rs 94.56 pertaining to the corresponding period of the previous year. The bank announced the un-audited financial results for the quarter ended June 2009, following the approval of its Board of Directors in a meeting held here today. "The financial results of Q1 speak our performance despite adverse market conditions prevailing in the J&K state. In fact, the growing profits vet our renewed strategy where we have focussed on J&K state and our investment strategy in a declining interest rate scenario," said Drabu while commenting on the performance of the bank. He further stated that the bank has leveraged technology to maximize efficiency in the system and also to bring down the operating expenses. The Gross NPAs and the Net NPAs as proportion of Gross and Net Customer Assets for the quarter ended June, 2009 were at 2.44 % and 0.77 % respectively. The NPA Coverage Ratio, which is an indicator of safety and shows the level of provision a bank has for its bad assets, has gone up to 68.79 % from 59.53 % a year ago. It is now amongst the highest in the industry. As a result of efficient leveraging of its assets, the Bank has been able to bring down its Cost to Income ratio to 32.79 % from 37.66 % a year ago. The Return on Assets has improved to 1.29 % (annualized) compared to 1.16 % a year ago. Dr. Drabu cited productization of financial services, where the bank has tailored a wide range of products to suit various sectors of economy, be it agriculture, horticulture, artisan or industries sector, as a major contributing factor for the healthy performance of the Bank. "This initiative has resulted in tapping the unexplored areas of our economy and enhanced our outreach to unbanked areas in the state", he emphasized. "Due to improvement in yield on advances from 10.37 % in Q1 FY 2008-09 to 11.55 % for the current quarter, the interest income on advances went up by 19 % on a Y on Y basis. Despite increase in Interest expenses by 20 % Y on Y, attributed to rising cost of deposits, bank has been able to maintain its margins at 3.10 % due to a concurrent increase in the lending rates, "said Dr. Drabu. Operating Income (Net Interest Income plus Other Income) stood at Rs. 381.67 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2009 as against Rs. 291.13 crore for the corresponding quarter of last fiscal registering an increase of 31 %. The Other Income of the Bank has gone up by 78 % to Rs. 115.68 crore from Rs 64.88 crore a year ago, largely on account of trading income. The Bank has restructured loans during the quarter to the extent of around Rs 100 crore mostly by way of realignment of interest rates. The Capital Adequacy Ratio under the Basel I norms stands at 14.33 % at the end of June 30, 2009 and Tier I capital amounted to 13.63 %. Net Worth of the Bank stood at Rs. 2739.91 crore as on June 30, 2009 compared to Rs. 2403.49 crore a year earlier, registering a growth of 14 %. Gul appointed Advisor to CM Agence India Press Bureau July 14, 2009 Srinagar State Chief Omar Abdullah today appointed legislator and senior National Conference leader Mubarak Gul as his Advisor with the status of Cabinet rank. The Chief Minister himself accompanied Gul to his office in the Civil Secretariat and remained with him for a while. The Chief Minister's Secretariat will be the feeding department for Mubarak Gul. Gul, soon after taking over charge, received large number of individuals and deputations. He gave a patient hearing to the pleas presented to him and issued instructions on the applications for redressal of genuine grievances of the public. Kargil tourism festival concludes Agence India Press Bureau July 14, 2009 Kargil The two days Kargil Tourism Festival concluded here at Khree Sultan Choo Sport Stadium Kargil yesterday. Executive Councilor, Tourism, Punchok Tashi was the chief guest on the occasion. In his address, Tashi lauded the efforts of tourism department for successful conduct of such event to promote tourism and to preserve age old tradition of the area. He said that all efforts are being made by the Hill Development Council, Kargil to promote tourism sectors and to revive the ancient tradition of the district to attract foreign and domestic tourists to Kargil. He further said that Kargil district has a rich potential of multi tradition and culture of different tribes like Shina, Dard, Purki, Balti, Ladakhi and Kashmiri etc. He said by tapping and exploring these unique traditions we can boost and flourish our tourism industry in the region for socio economical development of the people. On the occasion, colorful traditional cultural programmes were also presented by the artists of various ethnic groups which include Dard, Shina, Balti, Purik tribes. For the first time artists from outside the state also participated in the festival and performed Punjabi Bangra, Assami Bangoo dance, Minipuri marshal arts and Khokhori dance which mesmerized the audience. Later, the Executive Councilor distributed prizes among the participants. The festival was inaugurated on July 12, by chief Executive Councilor, LAHDC, Kargil, Kachu Ahmad Ali Khan. Pak Army building new bunkers along border: BSF Ashish Mehra Agence India Press, Correspondent July 14, 2009 New Delhi The Border Security Force (BSF) on Tuesday raised alarm at the Pakistan Army's move to build more bunkers along the border with India. A top BSF official said that the Pakistani Army had stepped up building bunkers along the border in the recent past, especially after last November's Mumbai terror attacks. According to Special DG BSF UK Bansal, apart from the concrete bunkers Pakistan was also constructing observation towers. He, however, added that there was no cause of concern and that India was taking measures to neutralise Pakistan's actions. The latest news clearly points to a new aggressive line being adopted by Pakistan along its border with India, especially in view of its continued reluctance to act against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks. The revelation comes at a time when the infiltration activity along the border is at its peak due to favourable weather conditions prevalent in summer. The disclosure further assumes significance in the wake of reports that Jammu and Kashmir's major power project Baglihar Dam is on the radar of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, as was claimed by the two alleged LeT militants who were recently caught from the forests of Shamsabari near the Line of Control in North Kashmir's Kupwara district. 'Swine flu vaccination compulsory for Haj pilgrims' Manoj Khar Agence India Press, Correspondent July 14, 2009 New Delhi Haj pilgrims from India this year will have to compulsorily get themselves vaccinated against swine flu to avoid getting quarantined in Saudi Arabia, as per the latest requirements of the government there. This was announced Tuesday by Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor who also advised that elderly, pregnant women and children should avoid making the pilgrimage this year due to the pandemic. "The Hajis should take suitable precautions and get themselves inoculated as they will be medically screened at the point of disembarkation. This is an advise for the pilgrims to avoid getting quarantined at the point of disembarkation," he said at the Annual Haj Conference here. Seasonal flu vaccination has been made compulsory and it is to be ensured that pilgrims from all over the world must take the vaccine at least two weeks before travel, the Saudi government has advised. It also said that health certificates would have to be signed by government doctors. Tharoor said the Saudi government has intimated that the pilgrims should have international passports only, instead of any other travel document. Google Hyderabad office shuts for 2 days over Swine flu scare Naveed Bazaz Agence India Press, Correspondent July 14, 2009 Hyderabad The swine flu scare forced IT Major Google Tuesday to shut down its Hyderabad office for two days as a precautionary measure. A company spokesman confirmed that Google has announced two-day holiday for all its employees at the office here to enable them undergo screening for Influenza A(N1H1). Over 1,000 employees of the firm were told to contact the Andhra Pradesh Chest Hospital after one employee was tested positive for the swine flu. He was among the six employees of three IT companies who contracted the virus from a software engineer, who returned to the city from Houston July 5, according to health authorities. The 29-year-old techie, who approached the Chest Hospital July 11 after he developed swine flu symptoms, spread the infection to employees of the IT companies with whom he worked. The techie and six others were tested positive Monday, spreading the swine flu scare in IT companies in Madhapur here. Employees of one company have already started taking medicines as a precautionary measure. Health authorities said the swine flu symptoms in the techie could not be detected despite compulsory screening of all air passengers at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here. This was the first cluster formation in the city. With eight new cases including a two-and-half-year-old boy who arrived here from Dubai, the swine flu cases in the city has gone up to 31. Sensex up 453 pts, closes at 13,854 Dheeraj Paul Agence India Press, Correspondent July 14, 2009 Mumbai The benchmark Sensex zoomed by over 453 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Tuesday on reports of early signs of economic recovery amid upbeat data from neighbouring countries. The Sensex, which lost nearly 10 percent in the last few trading sessions, bounced back to record a hefty gain of 453.38 points at 13,853.70, after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that the economy was showing early signs of recovery and the government had to increase borrowing to invest more, in the absence of private investment. The 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty surged by 137.35 points at 4,111.40, after touching the day's high of 4,128.90. The market also received a booster following upbeat economic data from Singapore and Australia and a surge in investor confidence data in Germany. A better opening at European stock markets and an overnight surge on the Wall Street were other supporting factors. The realty sector index gained the most, 9.38 percent, to 2,995.16. The metal sector index was the second-best performer, gaining 5.53 percent to 10,273.75, as market participants felt the improvement in economic conditions would raise demand for base metals. 206 sugar mills sick, 153 went under this season: Govt Manoj Khar Agence India Press, Correspondent July 14, 2009 New Delhi The government on Tuesday said as many as 206 sugar mills across the country are sick, with two major producing states of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh accounting for over half of them. Co-operative sector, Minister of State for Agriculture K V Thomas said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. While 63 mills in Maharashtra have been declared sick, 44 in Uttar Pradesh share the same fate, Thomas said. Tamil Nadu accounts for the closure of around 23 mills while Karnataka follows closely with 22. "The main reasons for the closure/sickness of these mills are non-availability of adequate raw material, poor recovery from sugarcane, uneconomic size, lack of modernisation, high cost of working capital, declaration of high state advisory price of cane by some states (among others)," Thomas said. Moreover, 153 sugar mills across states stopped functioning till March 31 of this season, ending September, the minister pointed out, adding that some of these units may start operation in the next season. As many as 49 mills in Maharashtra and 27 in Uttar Pradesh stopped working during this period. The closure of mills is again bad news on the sugar front as the output of the sweetener is projected to slump by over a million tonnes to 15.5 million tonnes in the 2008-09 season against the domestic demand of 22.5 million tonnes. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6fc_1247584609 aipworld News from India Kashmir Agence India Press Sat, 26 Apr 2008 07:37:42 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e82_1209209862 MikL0 a propulsion invention made in 2006 at the Kumpula Space Centre, Finland is finally in a state it can be actually used in reality. Solar wind is a constant plasma flow from sun. We can even see the effect on earth as aurora borealis and -australis. the video provides A schematic view of the deployment phase of a spinning electric sail. Only eight wires have been drawn for simplicity. The violet-blue surfaces are solar panels and the yellow lines are propulsive arms (with small rockets attached to the tips) which create the initial spacecraft spin. quote from electric sailing dot com: "The electric sail is a new space propulsion concept which uses the solar wind momentum for producing thrust (Janhunen, P., Electric sail for spacecraft propulsion, AIAA Journal of Propulsion and Power, 20, 4, 763-764, 2004, Janhunen, P. and A. Sandroos, Simulation study of solar wind push on a charged wire: solar wind electric sail propulsion, Ann. Geophys., 25, 755-767, 2007). The electric sail is somewhat similar to the more well-known solar radiation pressure sail which is often called simply the solar sail. A full-scale electric sail consists of a number (50-100) of long (e.g., 20 km), thin (e.g., 20 microns) conducting tethers (wires). The spacecraft contains a solar-powered electron gun (typical power a few hundred watts) which is used to keep the spacecraft and the wires in a high (up to 20 kV) positive potential. The electric field of the wires extends a few tens of metres into the surrounding solar wind plasma. Therefore the solar wind ions "see" the wires as rather thick, about 50 m wide obstacles. A technical concept exists for deploying (opening) the wires in a relatively simple way and guiding or "flying" the resulting spacecraft electrically. The implementation details are presently under study. The solar wind dynamic pressure varies but is on average about 2 nPa at Earth distance from the Sun. This is about 5000 times weaker than the solar radiation pressure. Due to the very large effective area and very low weight per unit length of a thin metal wire, the electric sail is still efficient, however. A 20-km long electric sail wire weighs only a few hundred grams and fits in a small reel, but when opened in space and connected to the spacecraft's electron gun, it can produce a one square kilometre effective solar wind sail area which is capable of extracting 1-2 millinewton force from the solar wind. For example, by equipping a small, 200 kg, spacecraft with 100 such wires, one may produce acceleration of about 1 mm/s^2. After acting for one year, this acceleration would produce a significant final speed of 30 km/s. Small payloads could be moved quite fast in space using the electric sail, a Pluto flyby could occur in less than five years, for example. Alternatively, one might choose to move medium size payloads at ordinary 5-10 km/s speed, but with lowered propulsion costs because the mass that has to launched from Earth is small in the electric sail. One limitation of the electric sail is that since it uses the solar wind, it cannot produce much thrust inside a magnetosphere where there is no solar wind. Although the direction of the thrust is basically away from the Sun, the direction can be varied within some limits by inclining the sail. Tacking towards the Sun is therefore also possible". http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e82_1209209862 MikL0 The electric solar wind sail space, travel, science, solar, wind, propulsion, electric, sail, finland