America's Financial Crisis

[jgk3]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

I see a shit load of Chinese made American flags flying everywhere. But I ask - where is the real patriotism within Americans?

Nice burn.

[Azad]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

In these tough economic times, lawsuits are going to skyrocket. Everyone is going to point fingers at the next one for their misfortune in loosing their decadent lifestyle. Good times to be a litigation attorney.

Well, welcome to America, the nation of well spoken criminals posing as politicians and financiers, a nation where a teenager gets put into jail for having an ounce of marijuana in his pocket, while well dressed criminals that have ruined the lives of countless citizens get to maintain their lavish lifestyles...

"Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Fairfield Greenwich Group, Walter Noel’s hedge-fund firm that had $7.5 billion invested with Bernard Madoff, was sued by investors for allegedly failing to protect their assets.

Noel’s Greenwich Sentry fund invested $220 million with Madoff and his Fairfield Sentry fund invested $7.3 billion solely in Madoff, jeopardizing investors’ interests while collecting “millions of dollars in fees,” according to a complaint filed Dec. 19 in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

Fairfield Greenwich Group founding partners Noel, Andres Piedrahita and Jeffrey Tucker are accused of breach of fiduciary duty, negligence and unjust enrichment, as are Brian Francouer and Amit Vijayvergiya of FG Bermuda, a Noel affiliate. The complaint was filed as a class-action, or group, lawsuit on behalf of investors."

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=athXyvizTMBs

[SoyElTurco]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

Joseph P. Kennedy, the father of President John F. Kennedy was successful investor who became one of America's richest men after the Great Depression. As the story goes, he pulled his money out when a shoe-shine boy gave him advice on which stocks to invest, there were reports in that time as well that shoe-shine boys too were taking out $500 loans and not backing their pledges with assets to buy stocks.

Joseph Kennedy instinctively knew to pull out when he realized uneducated and unskilled children were gambling in the stock market. How could one have trusted a system that was disseminating wealth to everyone without and end?

If you think these times are tough and the worst is over, guess again. The worst is yet to come. The banks, who are the backbone of the economic system, control all our money. More important is the fact that banks know this fact - they know that they are indispensible. Knowing this, they did not worry the least bit about gambling with the money of the people - they took the greatest risk ventures to see how much profit they could make.

http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/11/11/The-End-of-Wall-Streets-Boom?tid=true

The sum of all wealth in the world is $65 trillion. The wealth of the United States is ~ $15 trillion. And then the question: How were the banks playing with $180 trillion?

http://www.rapidtrends.com/blog/derivatives-buffet-calls-them-financial-weapons-of-mass-destruction/

How did all this go unchecked?

The signs of the tell-tale shoeshine boy are everywhere. Now is the time to prepare for the worst. When a hurrican approaches, the subsiding of the violence is not any reason to stop taking caution - the eye is the calmest part of a hurricane. Surrounding the eye is the eye wall, which is the most violent part of a hurricane. The eye wall is almost a complete ring of thunderstorms and contains the strongest winds in the hurricane - we are now in a metaphorical "eye" of the hurricane.

[Armenian]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

Joseph P. Kennedy, the father of President John F. Kennedy was successful investor who became one of America's richest men after the Great Depression. As the story goes, he pulled his money out when a shoe-shine boy gave him advice on which stocks to invest, there were reports in that time as well that shoe-shine boys too were taking out $500 loans and not backing their pledges with assets to buy stocks.

It's interesting that you bring this up. Some years ago, I think it was around the year 2000, I read an article in the New York Newsday about a young inmate who had become so good in Stock Market investments that his guards, including his prison warden, would line up to take advise from him on their investments. I recall remembering this story about Joe Kennedy when I read that article. The 1990s was a time of euphoria in the US when even snot nosed teenagers could make massive fortunes in the Market. Those amongst us with some depth and a little understanding of world history, however, could see this disaster coming many years ago.

[robertik1]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

This is the murder of the British biologist who again, simply knew too much, in this case about Washington's and London's evil plans to attack Iraq under false pretenses. Makes you wonder where's the public outcry.

********************************

NEW EVIDENCE PROVES THAT DR DAVID KELLY WAS MURDERED BY BLAIR REGIME!

Dr David Kelly was found dead on 18 July 2003, just three-days after testifying at the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee in respect of fabricated intelligence on Iraq's 'imagined' WMD capabilities.

Thames Valley Police, involved in Operation 'Mason' - which started 12 hours before Dr Kelly was reported missing - failed to find the body of the missing Government scientist despite using a helicopter with heat-seeking equipment and flying over the exact spot where his corpse was later discovered. And, unusually, no inquest into his death has ever been held because it was blocked on the insistence of Tony Blair and Alistair Campbell. Instead, the whitewashed Hutton 'Inquiry' was set up by Tony Blair to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death. It was revelead just days ago that George Bush and Tony Blair deliberately ignored MI6 and CIA intelligence that showed Iraq had no WMDs in the run up to the disastrous illegal invasion of the country which has suffered more under under the illegal invasion that at any time under Saddam Hussein. And the latest damning evidence obtained under the Freedom of Information Act shows that a Police Eurocopter EC135 'failed' to detect Dr Kelly's body in the woodland in which his body was later found by search and rescue volunteers.

July 18, 2003:

1.15am: The latest time Dr Kelly could have died
2.50am: Helicopter with termal imaging equipment(below) flies over copse where his body was found - and 'fails' to spot him
8.30am: Dr Kelly is finally found by searcher on the ground

Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat MP who has written a thoroughly meticulously researched book investigating Dr Kelly’s death, said: ‘Every violent or unusual death warrants a proper inquiry. It is astonishing there has never been an inquest into Dr Kelly’s death. There is no doubt in my mind he was murdered. This information proves his body was not where Lord Hutton thinks it was. The question is, where was it?’ The whitewashed Hutton Report concluded that:

"In light of the evidence which I have heard I am satisfied that Dr Kelly took his own life in the wood at Harrowdown Hill at a time between 4.15pm on 17 July and 1.15am on 18 July 2003. I am satisfied that no other person was involved in the death of Dr Kelly for the following reasons:

* A very careful and lengthy examination of the area where his body was found by police officers and by a forensic biologist found no traces whatever of a struggle or of any involvement by a third party or third parties and a very careful and detailed post mortem examination by Dr Hunt, together with the examination of specimens from the body by a forensic toxicologist, Dr Allan, found no traces or indications whatever of violence or force inflicted on Dr Kelly by a third party or third parties either at the place where his body was found or elsewhere.


* The wounds to his wrist were inflicted by a knife which came from Dr Kelly's desk in his study in his home, and which had belonged to him from boyhood. It is highly unlikely that a third party or third parties could have forced Dr Kelly to swallow a large number of Coproxamol tablets. These conclusions are strongly supported by the evidence of Professor Hawton, Dr Hunt and Assistant Chief Constable Page. I am further satisfied from the evidence of Professor Hawton that Dr Kelly was not suffering from any significant mental illness at the time he took his own life."


According to David Broucher, Britain's Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, in testimony to the Hutton Inquiry, in late February, 2003, he had asked Kelly "What do you think will happen if Iraq is invaded?" Kelly answered, "I will probably be found dead in the woods." In this statement, Kelly implied, according to Broucher, that his death would be by someone else's hands, not his own. Before Parliament and under pressure from the media, Kelly denied almost all of his previous WMD comments to the BBC. Why did Dr Kelly criticise and then, under pressure, totally accept Blair's September 2003 pro-war '45 minutes' spin on Iraq's so called weapons of mass destruction? Moreover, why and how did Dr David Kelly die? Kelly had expressed his earlier (trimmed down) assessments to three BBC reporters and made detailed criticisms of NuLab spin doctors (especially Alistair Campbell) at the Prime Minister's office who were insisting Iraq was a 'clear and present' danger. Kelly expressed the view that there was only a 30% chance that Iraq had any weapons of mass destruction and certainly none that posed an immediate threat to the UK or Iraq's neighbours. And certainly none that could be launched in 45 minutes!

Dr Kelly at the BBC

A month after the end of the war, on May 29, 2003, Andrew Gilligan made the following report on BBC's Radio 4's Today program: "What we've been told by one of the senior officials in charge of drawing up that dossier [Blair's September 2002 speech justifying war on Iraq] was that, actually, the government probably knew that the 45 minute figure was wrong, even before it decided to put it in. What this person [Dr Kelly] says is that, a week before the publication date of the dossier, it was actually rather a bland production. Downing Street, our source says, ordered for it to be 'sexed up', to be made more exciting, and ordered more facts to be discovered ... and essentially, the 45 minute point was probably the most important thing that was added ..." On June 2 and June 4, 2003 Newsnight BBC, Susan Watts quoted from the same source (later revealed to be Dr Kelly) as follows: "The 45 minute point was a statement that was made and it got out of all proportion. They were desperate for information; they were pushing hard for information which could be released. That was one that popped up and it was seized on and it's unfortunate that it was. That's why there is the argument between the intelligence services and the Cabinet Office/Number 10 because they picked up on it and once they've picked up on it, you can't pull it back from them."

Blair's Weapons of Mass Deception

In September 2002, Blair's 'justification' for war was contradicted by many of his own intelligence officers and Dr Kelly…. Blair's Chief of Staff Jonathan Powell wrote to the PM on 17 September 2002, a week before Blair's Speech, saying "We need to make it clear in launching the document that we do not claim we have evidence that Saddam is an imminent threat." Yet, on 24 September 2002, Blair told the British Public "Saddam has existing and active military plans for the use of chemical and biological weapons, which could be activated within 45 minutes." Guardian newspaper also learned that Blair's 45 minute claim was based on 'hearsay' information from the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). The revelation that the claim was second hand appeared in an internal Foreign Office document released by the Hutton Inquiry. tremendous pressure from the British Government, Dr Kelly was essentially instructed to 'shut up'. Crumbling to this pressure he completely reversed his previous statements to the BBC when he testified before the Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, July 15, 2003.

Dr Kelly could no longer remember naming Alistair Campbell as the source of the 45 minute spin (even though he had named Campbell and the Number 10 press office to BBC's Andrew Gilligan and to Susan Watts on audio tape played before the Hutton Inquiry). Kelly was asked, "Do you believe that the document [Blair's September, 2002 speech] was transformed by Alistair Campbell?" Kelly answered, "I do not believe that at all." Kelly was asked (in Question 101) by Andrew MacKinlay: "So you made no comments about the veracity of that document [Blair's September speech] at all to Gilligan. You did not say it was exaggerated, embellished, probably over-egged?" Dr Kelly answered in a very low voice (hard to hear): "No I had no doubt that the veracity of it was absolute." Certainly 'absolute' truth is not the language of currency used by scientists. Question 144 by Chairman Donald Anderson was: "What lessons have you learned from this episode?" Kelly responded, "Never to talk to a journalist again, I think." It was the proper response - in terms of ensuring future State control of 'spin/propaganda' at all times.

In question 131, Richard Ottaway asked if he said the words '45 minutes' to the BBC's Susan Watts. The question was, "You deny that those are your words?" Kelly answered, “Yes!”. An audio tape taken by Susan Watts was given to the Hutton Inquiry.

Question 141 saw Richard Ottaway again ask, "My final question is what sort of threat do you feel Iraq posed to the rest of the world in September 2002?" Kelly replied, "I think I would quote the dossier, that it was a 'serious and current threat.'" (Kelly's reference to the 'dodgy-dossier' was as if quoting chapter and verse from Campbell's poisoned scripture.)

Question 159 witnessed Sir John Stanley going for real blood asking, "Why did you go along with this Parliamentary committee? You were being exploited, were you not?" Kelly, feebly said, "I would not say I was being exploited." But Sir John Stanley did not let up in Question 160. He asked: "Why did you feel it was incumbent upon you to go along with the request that clearly had been made to you to be thrown to the wolves not only to the media, but also, to this committee?" Kelly responded, "I think that is a line of questioning you will have to ask the Ministry of Defence. I am sorry." Kelly suggested the reasons why he agreed to appear were not his own but those of the MoD.

Question 161, Chairman Donald Anderson, wanting to make clear the witness had not been mistreated in any way asked, "Do you feel any concern at the way the Ministry of Defence responded after you volunteered your admission?" Dr Kelly: "I accept what happened."

Question 167, without mercy, Andrew MacKinlay asked: "Have you ever felt like a fall-guy? You have been set up, have you not?" Dr. Kelly: "That is not a question I can answer." And Question 168, Andrew MacKinlay: "But you feel that?" Dr. Kelly, "No, not at all, I accept the process that is going on." Question 169, Chairman: "I'm sorry, you accept… [what]?" Dr. Kelly: "I accept the process that is happening." Question 174, Mr Oliver: "Did you suggest to anyone at all that the intelligence services were unhappy about the September dossier?" Dr. Kelly: "Unhappy? I do not think they were unhappy. I think they had confidence in the information that was provided in that dossier."

Everyone was happy and confident that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction that were ready to launch in 45 minutes. And everyone was 'happily' convinced of the wisdom of Blair and Campbell's September 2002 speech and the subsequent catastrophic war in which over 100,000 people have died. The Ministry of Defence, Tony Blair, Alistair Campbell and then Dr David Kelly all agreed, and yet, the problem remained simply because the truth remained, irrespective of who lined up with whom - the dossier on WMD was fabricated to 'justify' an illegal war. So much for the 'absolute' veracity (honesty, accuracy, truth) of Blair's September speech. And on 30 August 2003, Alistair Campbell, the man who was "heavily involved in producing the September dossier" and the man who "suggested leaking Dr Kelly's name to a journalist," resigned his job as Tony Blair's Director of Communications. Would Campbell have resigned if Dr Kelly had not died and the British anti-war public had not demanded answers?

[...]

Source: http://www.news-alliance.com/_suicide_or_murder.html

I knew that the Iraq war was a sham from the start, even before it started, even while "patriotic" Americans around me were attacking me for it.

[Federate]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

J.ewish groups reel from losses to Madoff scheme

2 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) — American J.ewish groups were reeling Wednesday from multi-million dollar losses due to investments in the alleged fraud scheme run by Wall Street baron Bernard Madoff.

Among them, the philanthropic foundation run by Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel announced that it had lost nearly all its assets, worth 15 million dollars, due to the Madoff funds' collapse earlier this month.

Madoff, a mainstay of the powerful American J.ewish community who easily gained the trust of the elite in his community, has confessed to losing 50 billion dollars over years of running a pyramid scheme, where new investors were secretly fleeced to pay returns to earlier investors.

"We are writing to inform you that the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity had 15.2 million dollars under management with Bernard Madoff Investment Securities," said the foundation, which aims to combat anti-Semitism, on its website.

"This represented substantially all of the foundation's assets," it said.

"We are deeply saddened and distressed that we, along with many others, have been the victims of what may be one of the largest investment frauds in history."

The statement added that the foundation "remains committed to carrying on the lifelong work of our founder, Elie Wiesel. We shall not be deterred from our mission to combat indifference, intolerance, and injustice around the world."

Wiesel, 80, a prolific author, created the foundation some 20 years ago to foster international dialogue and youth programs to teach tolerance.

He is among dozens of wealthy J.ews to have lost substantial amounts of money to Madoff, the 70-year-old former chairman of the Nasdaq stock market who is currently free on bail of 10 million dollars as police continue their probe.

On Tuesday, representatives of around 30 J.ewish foundations met in New York to discuss potential actions in the wake of the alleged fraud.

"The purpose was to look at the effect of the Madoff scandal and try to determine what the impact has been and try to determine whether there was any possibilities for action," Mark Charendoff of the J.ewish Funders Network told AFP.

He declined to say which groups attended the meeting, but said that those in attendance were determined to "try to reverse some of the harm and try to repair some of the damage."

Adding a tragic twist to the scandal, a French investment banker who lost nearly 1.5 billion dollars in the alleged pyramid scheme was found dead of an apparent suicide in his Manhattan office Tuesday.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iIuhnmxpb816FPlg6N9iSSGW1IRA

[Azad]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

January is going to be hell on the economy and the country.
People watch out ... this is going to be the BIG one.

"One of the big worries for stores is what to do with the mounds of items they still have to sell. If 75 percent off before Dec. 25 didn't make people splurge, will even bigger deals afterward do the trick?"

[robertik1]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

http://www.infowars.com/?p=6779

Analyst: One Third Of Banks Could Collapse In 2009

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Financial analyst Ralph Silva of TowerGroup told CNBC this morning that he expects no less than one third of banks to fail in 2009 and that anything up to a thousand could collapse if they don’t merge.

Silva said that only five or six global banks have enough funds to survive comfortably throughout 2009.

“The rest of the banks, and that means a thousand other banks, don’t have enough money to get themselves through 2009,” added Silva.

(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)

“In 2009 we’re gonna see one third of the banks in the G8 countries disappear, either being merged, forced or not forced, or completely disappearing,” said Silva.

The analyst predicted that rather than letting banks fail, governments will force them to merge, citing the example of Bradford and Bingley in the UK, which would lead to “very few banks owning quite a bit more.”

Silva warned that banks would not be able to lend any money throughout 2009 because they would be more concerned with merely surviving and being able to pay their own employees.

[Armenian]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

January is going to be hell on the economy and the country. People watch out ... this is going to be the BIG one...

I also have a feeling that 2009 is going to be nasty.

[Armenian]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

The population in general is kept dumb and fed disinformation so they are rather easy to manipulate. Everyone is constantly busy watching their TV shows which disconnect their lives from reality and then they tune to the news where the rest of the world is portrayed as some violent, retarded xxxxhole. There is no unity in the "U"SA. The only unison they share is being the united slaves of Israel. Even the most basic form of unity, the family, is brushed aside in such society!

I agree. This is essentially why I am a bit pessimistic about America's longterm prognosis.