Grand Theft Auto: How Stevie the Rat bankrupted GM
by Greg Palast
Monday, June 1, 2009

Screw the autoworkers.
They may be crying about General Motors' bankruptcy today. But dumping 40,000 of the last 60,000 union jobs into a mass grave won't spoil Jamie Dimon's day.

Dimon is the CEO of JP Morgan Chase bank. While GM workers are losing their retirement health benefits, their jobs, their life savings; while shareholders are getting zilch and many creditors getting hosed, a few

privileged GM lenders – led by Morgan and Citibank – expect to get back 100% of their loans to GM, a stunning $6 billion.

The way these banks are getting their $6 billion bonanza is stone cold illegal.

I smell a rat.

Stevie the Rat, to be precise. Steven Rattner, Barack Obama's 'Car Czar' - the man who essentially ordered GM into bankruptcy this morning.

When a company goes bankrupt, everyone takes a hit: fair or not, workers lose some contract wages, stockholders get wiped out and creditors get fragments of what's left. That's the law. What workers don't lose are their pensions (including old-age health funds) already taken from their wages and held in their name.

But not this time. Stevie the Rat has a different plan for GM: grab the pension funds to pay off Morgan and Citi. READ MORE

Newly released Pentagon statistics show that in both Iraq and Afghanistan the number of armed contractors is rising. The DoD says it sees “similar dependence on contractors in future.”

By Jeremy Scahill

A couple of years ago, Blackwater executive Joseph Schmitz seemed to see a silver lining for mercenary companies with the prospect of US forces being withdrawn or reduced in Iraq. “There is a scenario where we could as a government, the United States, could pull back the military footprint,” Schmitz said. “And there would then be more of a need for private contractors to go in.”

When it comes to armed contractors, it seems that Schmitz was right.

According to new statistics released by the Pentagon, with Barack Obama as commander in chief, there has been a 23% increase in the number of “Private Security Contractors” working for the Department of Defense in Iraq in the second quarter of 2009 and a 29% increase in Afghanistan, which “correlates to the build up of forces” in the country. These numbers relate explicitly to DoD security contractors. Companies like Blackwater and its successor Triple Canopy work on State Department contracts and it is unclear if these contractors are included in the over-all statistics. This means, the number of individual “security” contractors could be quite higher, as could the scope of their expansion. READ MORE

The Most Popular Leader in the Middle East: Hugo Chavez

The survey, which was conducted in April and May 2009, sampled the views of 4,087 people in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Lebanon, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

by Hilary Keenan
(21st Century Socialism)

The results of the new survey of 'Arab opinion' conducted by Zogby International show that Barack Obama has a much more favourable rating than did his predecessor as US president. But when asked to name the world leaders whom they most admire, the participants put the President of Venezuela at the top of the poll.

The survey, which was conducted in April and May 2009, sampled the views of 4,087 people in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Lebanon, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. According to the respected Zogby polling organisation, the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.6%. One of the questions put to the participants was "which two world leaders (outside your own country) do you admire most?" The most frequently named leader is Hugo Chavez, at 36%. Following Chavez in order of admiration are Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and former President of France Jacques Chirac (both at 18%), Osama bin Laden (16%), Mohammed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi (15%) and the current French president Nicolas Sarkozy (14%). READ MORE

Did Bernanke and Paulson Commit Bank Fraud?
by Thomas R. Eddlem
Global Research, May 30, 2009
thenewamerican.com - 2009-04-23

New revelations from the New York State Attorney General’s office have all but proven that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson committed bank fraud crimes in the case of the Merrill Lynch/Bank of America merger that took place last year. New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo revealed that Paulson and Bernanke illegally suppressed adverse financial data on the merger and threatened to replace the Bank of America CEO and board of directors if the company backed out of the Merrill Lynch merger. “Secretary Paulson has informed us that he made the threat at the request of Chairman Bernanke,” Cuomo wrote in an April 23 letter to Congress.

The two companies signed a tentative merger agreement September 15, 2008, but the agreement included a “Material Adverse Change” (MAC) clause that would allow Bank of America (BofA) to escape the merger if BofA financial officers found undisclosed financial information that would hurt BofA while looking at Merrill Lynch’s books. Bank of America shareholders approved the agreement with the MAC clause December 5, 2008. The final merger was to take place January 1, 2009.

But on December 14, BofA financial officers informed CEO Kenneth Lewis that Merrill Lynch’s quarterly losses would be $3 billion more than expected (the $9 billion in expected losses ended up being a $15 billion loss — a $6 billion increase over what stockholders expected and approved). Three days later Lewis informed U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson by phone that Bank of America planned to exit the merger using the MAC clause. Paulson urged Lewis to get on an airplane and visit his office. READ MORE

Ecuador to Shut US Base, Expand Iran Ties

TEHRAN (FNA)- Ecuadorian Defense Minister Javier Ponce Cevallos said that his country is going beyond the Cold War rules and seeking defense ties with Iran.

In a snub to US complaints, Ponce said, "we have our own policies, our own geostrategic positions, and what interests us, with Iran for instance, is boosting information technology and our national defense strategies," he told a radio channel in Ecuador, press tv reported.

He explained that Ecuador is trying to "open up to collaboration with nations that are very willing to help Ecuador develop its own defense industry."

The Ecuadorian and Iranian presidents in 2008 agreed to expand relations by establishing embassies in Tehran and Quito. This comes as the White House has expressed discomfort with Iran's growing influence in Latin America.

Ponce commented on the issue and said that his country plans to shut the US military base at Manta in western Ecuador within four months.

"I believe that eventually there will be nothing left, and the US is removing all its infrastructure," he said.

Despite strong domestic opposition, former Ecuadorian president Jamil Mahuad signed a deal that allowed the US in 1999 to use the base for ten years.

In February, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Iran's close alliance with certain Latin American countries has caused more concern for him than Russia's recent naval maneuvers in the region.

"I'm concerned about the level of frankly subversive activity that the Iranians are carrying on in a number of places in Latin America," Robert Gates told a Senate committee, without elaborating on what he meant by "subversive." READ MORE

Obama`s First Appointment Was For Son Of Zionist Terrorist

Rahm Emanuel`s father was member of militant terror group that bombed hotels, massacred villagers - Obama pick is keen supporter of lobbying group aimed at creating militarized youth brigades

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Thursday, November 6, 2008

President elect Barack Obama’s first appointment, Rahm Emanuel, who is set to become chief-of-staff, is the son of a member of the Zionist terrorist group Irgun, which was responsible for bombing hotels, marketplaces as well as the infamous Deir Yassin massacre, in which hundreds of Palestinian villagers were slaughtered.

Revelations about Obama’s relationship with Bill Ayers, a Weather Underground domestic terrorist, which dogged him during the final weeks of the campaign trail, pale in significance to his selection of Emanuel, whose father, Benjamin M. Emanuel, was an Irgun member.

Irgun has been labeled a terrorist organization by both The New York Times newspaper and by the Anglo-American Committee of Enquiry.

Irgun was closely affiliated with the widely feared hardcore terrorist Stern Gang, an organization that carried out assassinations, train bombings and bombed police stations in an attempt to pave the way for unrestricted immigration of Jews into Palestine. Irgun operated in Palestine between 1931 and 1948. READ MORE

Nigerian troops destroy another militant camp in Delta operation
www.chinaview.cn 2009-05-27

LAGOS, May 27 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian military destroyed another militant camp in its on-going operation to restore stability in the oil rich Niger Delta region, the News Agency of Nigeria reported on Wednesday.

The Joint Military Taskforce (JTF) destroyed an observation camp with a house boat hidden in a dredged creek, the report said, citing the military.

Rabe Abubakar, the JTF spokesman, said the camp was between Okerenkoko and Jones Creek village in Warri South-West Local Government of Delta.

It belonged to militant leader Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, who is currently on the run, Abubakar was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

He said from the blood stains found, the camp must have been used as an emergency treatment center for wounded militants.

The spokesman reiterated that the JTF did not kill or burn civilian houses in its search and rescue operation as being alleged by the militants.

"We are carrying out our legitimate duty of making the Niger Delta free from all forms of criminality," he said.

Abubakar noted the state chapter of Red Cross Society of Nigeria also confirmed the JTF position that no civilian house was bombed in the operation.

He said it was normal for civilians to run on sighting armed men or hearing the sounds of guns, urging members of the public not to be sentimental on security issues. READ MORE

Credit card “bill of rights” puts few restraints on banks
By William Moore
28 May 2009

Last week the US Congress passed and President Obama signed into law the so-called Credit Card Holders’ Bill of Rights, legislation that has been touted by both the Congress and the Obama administration as a major reform of unfair practices by credit card issuers.

This legislation has been pushed through Congress amid growing outrage by middle class card holders over the increasingly arbitrary and usurious methods being used by credit card issuers to extract ever more money from a shrinking pool of card holders who are, at the same time, being battered by the economic crisis. The banks, which have suffered severe losses in other areas, such as the collapse of the mortgage bubble, have turned to their credit card business as a potential source of increased revenue.

For several decades credit cards had indeed been an area of growing profitability. Credit card debt has increased by 25 percent in the last decade. About 90 million households carry credit cards, with an average debt load of more than $10,500, according to CardTrak.com. Penalty fees alone amount to $15 billion per year, representing 10 percent of the credit card industry’s revenues. Recently, however, as unemployment, mortgage foreclosures, and other aspects of the crisis have hit large numbers of people, the income realized by the banks from credit cards has declined, due both to a marked retrenchment in purchases, as well as a growing proportion of late payments and outright defaults. READ MORE

The Chinese and Russians are the laughing stock of the US and European Illuminists at the G-20 meetings concerning talk about a new world reserve currency to supplant the dollar. With China's gold reserves of about a thousand tons and Russia's five hundred tons, they are like penny ante poker players trying to get in on a thousand dollar ante game.

They need five to ten thousand tons of gold reserves just to be an average player in "The Big Game," much less a leading and influential player.

The rest of their foreign exchange reserves are denominated in fiat currencies, which are all practically worthless except for the euro and Swiss franc. The euro has about 5% backing of gold and the Swiss could have 25% backing if they again desired gold backing. China has about two trillion dollars worth of foreign exchange reserves, while Russia has about 400 billion dollars worth. It does not take a math genius to figure out that two trillion times nothing is still nothing. They are creditors who hold worthless bonds and notes. Big deal. Their only trump card is that they can make gold skyrocket and the dollar tank before the Illuminists are ready to take our financial system down. This is where their real leverage lies.

The talk about yuan and rubles as part of a world currency basket is just noise, like a bunch of clanging cymbals making cacophonous sounds, because they have very little gold backing. At best, unless China and Russia add many thousands of tons of gold to their reserves to back up their currencies, the yuan and ruble will get some regional play, as a run-up to a world currency. This is just hubris to distract us from the true agenda, which is the formation of a single world currency. READ MORE

FBI `lured dimwits` into terror plot

`It is almost as if the FBI cooked up the plot and found four idiots to install as defendants,` claimed Terence Kindlon, a defence lawyer who represented the last terror suspect to be tried in New York state.

by Tony Allen-Mills, New York
(Times Online)

ON the steps of New York city hall on Friday, Michael Bloomberg, the mayor, praised the police officers and federal agents who helped disrupt an apparent terrorist plot to blow up a synagogue and shoot down military aircraft.

The mayor was flanked by more than 100 homeland security and counter-terrorist specialists, all of whom had a hand in an elaborate sting that netted four alleged Muslim extremists. Their plan, according to FBI agents, was to detonate a “fireball that would make the country gasp”.

The operation was acclaimed by New York officials for its success in averting what David Paterson, the state governor, described as “a heinous crime”.

Yet not every New Yorker was impressed by the latest in a long line of purported anti-terrorist triumphs that have supposedly averted tragedy in New York, Chicago, Toronto and several other North American cities since September 11, 2001.

“This whole operation was a foolish waste of time and money,” claimed Terence Kindlon, a defence lawyer who represented the last terror suspect to be tried in New York state. “It is almost as if the FBI cooked up the plot and found four idiots to install as defendants.” READ MORE

Big Banks Have ALREADY Killed Derivatives Reform
by Washington's Blog
Global Research, May 28, 2009
washingtonsblog.com - 2009-05-26

Many mainstream pundits are claiming that a wave of regulation and reform of the banks and the financial industry is on its way.

On the other hand, some alternative news writers are saying that real reform may never really happen (see this, for example).

Indeed, Obama has appointed to most of the key economic posts the people most responsible for deregulation in the first place.

In fact, in at least one area - one of the most important causes of the financial crisis - reform has already been defeated.

By way of background, the derivatives industry has volunteered (once again) to regulate itself.

As Newsweek noted April 10th, the big boys were using bailout money to aggressively lobby against the regulation of credit default swaps:

Major Wall Street players are digging in against fundamental changes. And while it clearly wants to install serious supervision, the Obama administration—along with other key authorities like the New York Fed—appears willing to stand back while Wall Street resurrects much of the ultracomplex global trading system that helped lead to the worst financial collapse since the Depression.
At issue is whether trading in credit default swaps and other derivatives—and the giant, too-big-to-fail firms that traded them—will be allowed to dominate the financial landscape again once the crisis passes. As things look now, that is likely to happen. And the firms may soon be recapitalized and have a lot more sway in Washington—all of it courtesy of their supporters in the Obama administration...

The financial industry isn't leaving anything to chance, however. One sign of a newly assertive Wall Street emerged recently when a bevy of bailed-out firms, including Citigroup, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, formed a new lobby calling itself the Coalition for Business Finance Reform. Its goal: to stand against heavy regulation of "over-the-counter" derivatives, in other words customized contracts that are traded off an exchange...

Geithner's new rules would allow the over-the-counter market to boom again, orchestrated by global giants that will continue to be "too big to fail" (they may have to be rescued again someday, in other words). And most of it will still occur largely out of sight of regulated exchanges...

The old culture is reasserting itself with a vengeance. All of which runs up against the advice now being dispensed by many of the experts who were most prescient about the crash and its causes—the outsiders, in other words, as opposed to the insiders who are still running the show. READ MORE