18 April 2012 Last updated at 11:52 ETWho are the Kwok brothers?
By Juliana Liu Hong Kong correspondent, BBC News
A corruption case against Hong Kong's two richest property tycoons has been attracting a lot of media attention
Continue reading the main storyRelated Stories
Housed in a glass atrium atop Hong Kong's third-tallest skyscraper, Sky City Church boasts panoramic views of Victoria Harbour.
On a recent Sunday, its charismatic Australian pastor urged the congregants to close their eyes and raise both hands toward the heavens.
"Let Jesus provide a supernatural answer to life's natural challenges," Pastor Wayne Crook told a mixed crowd of about 150 local and expatriate English-speaking worshippers.
Among them sat devout evangelical Christian and billionaire property developer Thomas Kwok, 60, who is currently facing a scandal that is the talk of the town.
Three weeks ago, Mr Kwok, his younger brother Raymond and Rafael Hui, previously the second-highest ranking government official in Hong Kong, were arrested by the city's anti-corruption agency on suspicion of bribery.
The three have not been prosecuted with any crime.
But the continuing investigation by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) casts a shadow over the company the brothers run together.
Hong Kong-listed Sun Hung Kai Properties is Asia's most valuable real estate company and the second most valuable in the world, after a shopping mall operator in America.
The case also throws a spotlight on a dynasty notable for a violent headline-grabbing family kidnapping, accusations of infidelity and a bitter boardroom battle.
Long-time Hong Kong-based shareholder activist David Webb says the Kwok family is the Asian version of the American oil industrialists, the Gettys.
Tallest buildingsThe Kwok brothers are the joint chairmen and managing directors of a company with a market value of $32bn.
The men in question: Raymond and Thomas Kwok, who own Asia's largest real estate developer
That is roughly equivalent to 14% of Hong Kong's entire economy.
For comparison, Mr Webb says a company would have to be three times more valuable than Apple for it to be as important to the US economy as Sun Hung Kai is to Hong Kong.
Collectively, its properties compose this city's iconic skyline.
Their notable buildings include the International Commerce Centre (ICC), currently the tallest building in Hong Kong, and One IFC and Two IFC, where many international investment banks make their home.
Central Plaza, which houses Sky City Church, was the tallest skyscraper in town until 2003, when it was surpassed by Two IFC.
Church organisers say the building's developers gave them the prime location, which is occasionally rented out as a function room during the week.
Second-generation wealthThe properties are the crown jewels in a business founded by patriarch Kwok Tak-seng, who arrived in Hong Kong from Guangdong - the neighbouring province in China - after World War II.
He first started a grocery store, then moved onto selling Japanese zips at a time when the city's garment industry was taking off.
Eventually, he went into the property business, establishing Sun Hung Kai with two partners in 1958.
One of the partners, Lee Shau-kee, eventually founded Henderson Land Development, another top property firm.
Continue reading the main story“Start Quote
End Quote Francis Lun Managing director of Lyncean SecuritiesHe felt he was being wronged. He is getting his revenge”
Mr Lee ranks just behind the Kwok brothers in this year's Forbes global billionaires list.
The elder Kwok continued to run the company until he died of a heart attack in 1990, at which point leadership of the family firm, by then a listed blue-chip, passed to his eldest son, Walter.
Violent kidnappingThe Kwok family's wealth caught the eye of Cheung Tze-keung, an ambitious gangster known as "Big Spender".
After being tried and acquitted for armed robbery, Cheung hatched a plot to kidnap the city's ten richest people for ransom, according to Hong Kong media.
Reports say, in 1996, he successfully kidnapped and ransomed Victor Li, the eldest son of Li Ka-shing, Asia's richest man, who owns businesses from ports to shipping to property.
Mr Li, known here as "Superman", was believed to have cooperated quickly, with little fuss. He reportedly paid a record ransom of more than HK$1bn ($128m; £83m).
Emboldened, Cheung and his associates went after Walter Kwok a year later.
Unlike the younger Mr Li, Mr Kwok reportedly refused to cooperate with the kidnappers, so he was stripped and beaten.
Hong Kong media say he was kept in a wooden crate for several days, until his family paid the ransom, a rumoured HK$600m.
Cheung eventually faced a firing squad in mainland China in 1998. He was said to have confessed to the kidnappings.
Boardroom shake-upWhile Walter Kwok retained his title as chairman and chief executive of Sun Hung Kai Properties following the kidnapping, in reality he relinquished day-to-day control of the company to his younger brothers, Thomas and Raymond.
Sun Hung Kai Properties is a major properties developer in Hong Kong
Francis Lun, a stockbroker and managing director of Lyncean Securities, says it is common knowledge in the financial community that Walter Kwok developed psychological problems as a result of the ordeal.
"He developed anxiety. He couldn't get along with his fellow workers," Mr Lun says. "His younger brothers put him in charge of food and beverages, a non-essential unit."
Mr Kwok has denied allegations that he has any mental disorder.
Hong Kong media reported that Walter Kwok had rekindled a romance with a former girlfriend, who they said was enormously influential in his business decisions.
The alleged affair was the catalyst for an attempt by the younger brothers, Thomas and Raymond, to remove Walter from the board.
The family feud became public knowledge in 2008, when Walter Kwok sought a court injunction to stop his removal.
He lost, and his mother replaced him as chairman in May 2008. She eventually passed her job to her two younger sons.
Revenge?The fact Walter Kwok was not arrested by the corruption watchdog has led some people to suggest he was the one who gave information to the authorities.
"The mother left him out of the family trust. He felt he was being wronged. He is getting his revenge," says Mr Lun, the stockbroker.
The corruption authority has declined to give details of the investigation.
And, except for a brief press conference in early April when Raymond and Thomas said it was "business as usual" at Sun Hung Kai, the firm has not provided details either.
Mr Webb, the shareholder activist, is less certain that Walter Kwok is the source of the corruption probe.
But he believes the investigation is tarnishing the image of the property firm and the Hong Kong government, which has always prided itself as being squeaky clean.
"Its just one more tile in the mosaic of collusion between business and government," he says.
Fully backed by their board, Thomas and Raymond Kwok continue to run Sun Hung Kai.
And, accompanied by burly bodyguards, Thomas Kwok regularly attends services at Sky City, believed to be the tallest church-in-a-skyscraper in the world.
His strong Christian faith will no doubt fortify him during the investigation.
4/18/2012
Who are the Kwok brothers?
Tribunal to Hear Second War Crime Charge Against Bush & Associates
1 comments:
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And....The kangaroo court strikes again. This five member panel from a third-world country with no authority will not hold up in court. They are a joke, even though they mean well. They will not be taken seriously. Nothing happened from the last time.
ReplyDelete
Getting ready for the Paradigm Shift?
What is Singularity University?
By Tony Cartalucci
April 18, 2012 - A paradigm shift is coming that will change everything about the way people work, learn, and interact - it will be the beginning of a new age and the shape that age takes depends greatly on the number of informed people that take part in it and where they decide to steer it. Already, the top minds across a variety of industries are converging and preparing for the shift. One such group, an educational institute called "Singularity University" comprises of innovators, teachers, scientists, and engineers from both the private and public sector. Some could be considered elitists interested in consolidating power, others are truly forward thinking and interested in a better world for all of mankind.
Video: An introduction as to what "Singularity University" is. It is easy to pick out good and bad people, corporations, and agendas involved in Singularity University, it is much more difficult to determine what its overall agenda is. It may be possible, if average people became informed on a large scale, to steer its agenda toward what benefits humanity as a whole, rather than a handful of corporations.
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The battle that will play out depends entirely on the general public becoming informed and active in the coming paradigm shift, guiding it toward a society of solidarity and progress rather than one of disparity between enslavement and superiority. Analyzing Singularity University's website and video productions, the impression is one of a multitude of ideas and directions - not a predetermined agenda, so far.One concept that is omnipresent throughout Singularity University's activities is cutting edge technology and the possible implications it will have on society. This includes everything from 3D printing, robotics, artificial intelligence, and radical advances in genetics and biotechnology. The implications range from the ability for every individual on Earth to "print" at will any conceivable object they are able to obtain the blueprints for or design, to gene therapies capable of extending human life to centuries.
While the public is distracted with gritty political ploys, wars, and engineered destabilization, it is hoped that these emerging technologies can be meshed into the existing power structures and preserve the power of elites who have reigned over humanity for generations. Sabotaging education, ruining family and culture, and perpetuating the futile "rat race" also plays a role in keeping the vast majority of humanity out of the debate, and thus at a clear disadvantage.
Video: An amazing presentation given by Singularity University's Daniel Reda discusses the latest breakthroughs in biotechnology and bioinformatics. While some of these breakthroughs carry with them horrifying implications, they are only horrifying if the knowledge and techniques surrounding them remain monopolized in the hands of a select few. Just as many would argue against gun control and the dangers of an unarmed society subjected to the whims of a brutal dictatorship, the same could be said of a technologically and intellectually disarmed population as well.
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Just like Europeans arriving on the shores of the New World - with vastly superior weapons and institutions to perform a campaign of full spectrum domination over natives that has endured ever since, the global elite of today hope to assume a position of vast superiority enabled by quantum leaps in technology while the rest of us, through ploys such as "environmentalism" and "sustainable living" increasingly disarm ourselves industrially and technologically. Polluting our priorities with political issues instead of pragmatism also widens the rift of disparity between the people and the ruling elite.What many may find as a surprise however, is that not only are there members and guests of Singularity University that are aware of this, but many are very outspoken about this issue and insistent on the masses becoming engaged and participating in the coming paradigm shift.
One comment by entertainer William James (Will I Am), speaking as a guest at a Singularity University event, made the point that progress is moving at such a pace that those not involved in science and technology stand a very real danger of being left behind. James made the point that his reason for coming to Singularity University was to raise awareness of technological advances amongst people from the inner cities and inspire them to become engaged and involved directly. He also made the point that technology stands at a crossroads where it could either doom humanity or produce unthinkable benefits and pressed for caution as humanity moved forward.
Video: A panel featured at a Singularity University event featuring a wide range of views from a Hollywood monopolist, to entertainer William James, to techno-entrepreneur Elon Musk of SpaceX.
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The points James brings up are indeed valid and in fact, the very root of the problem we now face - an ignorant population facing a profound paradigm shift that will leave them vulnerable to great exploitation should they fail to "catch up." This was a point famous astronomer Carl Sagan made during one of his last interviews where he too pointed out that civilization was increasingly built upon science and technology the vast majority of the population did not understand, and warned of the dangers that might result.
Video: One of the last interviews Carl Sagan gave, warning of the consequences of a technologically advanced civilization where the population is vastly ignorant of both science and technology.
....Those dangers include the vast majority of decisions being monopolized by very few individuals, a scientific-dictatorship of sorts, that can manipulate, abuse, and exploit the ignorance of the population with devastating results. The future we live in, Sagan explained, will be determined by those who understand the principles our modern, scientific and technological society is built on. In essence, all of the "democratic" trappings any given society may have, or may pose to fight for, are irrelevant where proper education and understanding regarding pragmatism and technical subjects is lacking, sub-par, or worse yet, non-existent.For a ruling elite who presumes dominion over mankind, providing such education is almost unthinkable. It is not something we will be able to ask our representatives to do for us, but something we must do for ourselves. No amount of "freedom" or "security" can be achieved unless we are fully informed, not simply in terms of history and the functioning of our chosen form of governance, but also in the essential subjects of science and technology that have inevitably achieved supremacy in the administration of human society.
Get Informed.
For the population to become informed - it would be best to follow those converging at Singularity University, and by following William James' advice, being cautious about the progress and achievements showcased there instead of blindly being caught up in the enthusiasm. The Internet is a vast resource available for anyone willing to take on the responsibility of becoming informed regarding these essential topics. Any word or concept mentioned during any of the talks featured on Singularity University's YouTube channel can easily be looked up and researched. TED Talks are another great resource for finding the very latest topics in science and technology to begin researching and understanding. TED represents another forum where both "good" and "bad" interests converge and compete in the court of opinion.
For those seeking more academic presentations, universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) or Berkley University provide "open course ware," or in other words, an entire series of lectures for free on both their own websites and on YouTube.
If one has the money or opportunity to take courses in a technical trade - this too would be highly recommended. The "service economy" and much of the current economic paradigm will be swept away as emerging technologies like 3D printing, personal manufacturing, and biotechnology comes of age. Entire supply chains and even the concept of "logistics" may be radically changed or even effectively ended when all someone has to do is hit a "print" button and an object is produced before their very eyes. Biotechnology has made it possible to create artificial genetic sequences capable of producing raw materials for anything from fuel to construction materials to spare body parts. The speed at which these technologies are being developed and implemented is increasing exponentially.
Video: Carl Bass, president and CEO of Autodesk, discusses the paradigm shift 3D printing is going to have as well as the convergence of disciplines and the need to vastly overhaul the way we approach education.
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Becoming aware is the first step of getting involved. Even as just a part-time hobby it would be immensely beneficial to pursue something constructive, either machining, wood working, or studying in an amateur capacity any number of scientific fields. Another topic at Singularity University that is brought up time and time again is the fact that fields of research as well as occupations are beginning to converge. Just as our forefathers were jacks of many trades, technology is once again making it possible, even necessary to have a multitude of talents and pursuits as well as a wider range of knowledge to be productive and successful in society.As mentioned before, it is essential that people understand the world around them, understand the role large multinational corporations play in maintaining the crippling disparity between themselves and an infinitely ignorant population, and the necessity to reverse this disparity before the paradigm shift unfolds.
We must boycott those corporations, institutions, and individuals that seek to dominate humanity, and support those that believe in a future we all will benefit from. We must be ever vigilant as technology emerges that we both understand it, its benefits and dangers, and examine with due diligence the best way to implement it within our changing society. We must examine, then reexamine the leaders in industry, their motivations and agenda, and help encourage them to do what is right, while penalizing them with boycotts and alternatives when they are demonstratively harming society.
The future is in the hands of whoever reaches out and grabs it. Right now, we as a population are distracted, our heads are down, our eyes fixed to only what is directly before us. The future, no matter how many times we "vote" and no matter how vigorously we "protest," is demonstratively not in our own hands. We must get informed, we must get pragmatically involved. We must look at what the top minds across industry and innovation are doing at Singularity University, who are preparing themselves for this convergence and acceleration, and likewise prepare ourselves, lest we find ourselves on the wrong divide of an infinitely vast disparity.
John Ward – The Gold Price : How Long Can They Keep The Lid On? – 16 April 2012
Organizers propped up a chalk board at the base of a grassy slope and wrote out a detailed schedule of the day’s events. Meetings and teach-ins were marked with letters of the alphabet and groups gathered around flags branded with their respective letters.
Occupy Unveils ‘Spring Awakening’
by Allison Kilkenny
April 16, 2012
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/04/16-11
During the long winter months, Occupy protesters kept reassuring those of us in the media still covering their actions that the spring would prove to be a time of resurgence for Occupy Wall Street. If the “Spring Awakening” meet-up at Central Park this past weekend is any indication of future turnouts, OWS organizers may be correct in their predictions.
Hundreds of protesters gathered at New York City’s most famous park, an inspired location that placed Occupy in the heart of tourist alley, guaranteeing the group’s activities attracted the attention of curious passersby.
Two women walking by the “People’s Assembly” that took place during the tail end of the day’s festivities were heard remarking, “That’s the group that occupies shit”—a not entirely inaccurate statement.
“Today is about coming together in a space that’s going to allow us to be less confrontational than we often are downtown and kind of bond, and also engage the Saturday, Central Park–going public,” said Scott, an OWS protester.
That “confrontational” nature, some might argue, is what makes Occupy a unique protest movement, but Scott isn’t concerned about the group becoming too passive.
“Occupy is more confrontational than ever,” he said, citing the “sleepful protests” currently taking place in the financial district. “Zuccotti was great, but it was a little bit off the beaten path. Being on Nassau Street all day, what happens there is Occupiers talking to bankers and tourists witnessing those conversations, and that’s what needs to happen.”
Occupy’s Spring Awakening was used as a space to allow protesters to plan for the future and to “come together to unite organizations, activists, and others to create a transformative, citywide, mass movement,” according to the event pamphlet.
Organizers propped up a chalk board at the base of a grassy slope and wrote out a detailed schedule of the day’s events. Meetings and teach-ins were marked with letters of the alphabet and groups gathered around flags branded with their respective letters.
I attended the healthcare talk where individuals shared their tales of insurance (or lack of insurance) woes.
Jennifer, 44, a freelancer, said she never had health insurance. One morning, she woke up in extraordinary pain, but fearful of being buried in debt should she venture to the hospital, she remained curled up on the floor of her boyfriend’s apartment for three days, unable to move.
Finally, realizing the pain was not going to subside on its own, she managed to get into a taxi and get to the hospital. Final diagnosis: a herniated disk, a completely treatable ailment that shouldn’t have ended up costing as much as it ultimately did, but because Jennifer waited so long to get to the hospital, the treatment ended up being much more complicated.
Emergency surgery cost her $50,000.
David, 48, said he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in third grade, but was never able to get insurance before the Affordable Care Act because his Crohn’s is considered a pre-existing condition.
A young medical student shared a story about treating an 11-year-old having an asthma attack because her father couldn’t afford her inhaler.
But commiserating and bonding over the reality of crushing debt and an insane privatized health care industry that provides neither health nor care were only a sliver of the day’s events. Serious planning for Occupy’s future occurred later in the evening after the People’s Assembly (Occupiers were very careful not to call it a “General Assembly,” as no voting took place).
Upcoming foreclosure auction blockades are planned in several New York City boroughs, including this afternoon in the Bronx, Brooklyn on April 19, and Queens on April 20, which is also #A20, or “the Great Meeting,” at Union Square Park, when organizers hope “the outdoor public assembly” will make a return.
The single-payer movement continues to have a huge presence at Occupy events and Health Care Now NYC advertised “petitioner training” scheduled for April 21.
ACT UP and Occupy are partnering for a day of action April 25 to commemorate the direct action advocacy group’s twenty-fifth anniversary.
And of course, there were constant reminders about May 1, the so-called “General Strike” nationwide actions that Occupiers are anticipating will steal headlines as the movement first did back in the fall.
© 2012 The Nation
John Ward – The Gold Price : How Long Can They Keep The Lid On? – 16 April 2012
The Slog was out on something of a limb a few years ago when I began tracing daily ‘gold dumps’ in New York. For fully nine months in 2008, the East bought everything it could get hold of (85 degree upward curve overnight) and at 10.01 am every day, the Feds in the West dumped tons of it, creating the same curve downwards.
Being 280 years younger back then, I assumed the US was defending the Dollar. I hadn’t as yet caught on to the reality that the Fed had much greater fear of a collapsing Stock Market, and was planning a dirt-cheap Buck to reduce its real debt anyway.
While a relatively commonsense Grade II observer of all bollocks financial, I am a fully trained black-belt when it comes to supply and demand as the driving factors in every market in history. If these laws aren’t being obeyed, then trust me, dirty deeds are being perpetrated by those who always insist that market forces must prevail.
This is the way it is with Gold. The paper price dives, and then hits a false ceiling. Meanwhile, outside the bubble, you can’t buy the stuff for love nor money.
Nobody has audited the contents of Fort Knox since 1961. But even if the Americans have in there what they say they have, their debt is still over forty times more than its value. The standing joke on Wall Street is that the Knox security arrangements (and BTW, they are higher than anything the Pentagon has) is not to protect the gold, but rather the secret that there’s no gold in there. My theory is that there are 80 billion packs of B&H Special Filter in there: either that, or Terry’s All Gold.
In the end of course, the US must accept defeat and realise that a stock market collapse is inevitable: a past President by the name of Abe Lincoln holds the key to this certainty with his shtick about fooling all the people all of the time.
When this happens – and this is purely my own personal view, not a recommendation – gold will sky-rocket again. Problem is, nobody knows the ‘when’ thing.
Yoshi Tsurumi – The Japan Times – Supreme Court Is Destroying US Democracy – 16 April 2012
By YOSHI TSURUMI
Special to The Japan Times
NEW YORK — Last month, we witnessed the conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court resort to foolish sophism — what the Japanese call herikutsu (smelly gaseous logic). It would be hilarious were it not so serious for America and the world.
Justice Antonin Scalia, the intellectual leader of the conservative majority, equated a broccoli market with a health insurance market. He asked, “If the government can require Americans to buy health insurance, can it require them to buy broccoli?”
The issue is the limit of federal power. In a functioning democracy, government power is checked by Congress. ( Read more at: www.japantimes.co.jp link to original article
Yoshi Tsurumi – The Japan Times – Supreme Court Is Destroying US Democracy – 16 April 2012
Special to The Japan Times
NEW YORK — Last month, we witnessed the conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court resort to foolish sophism — what the Japanese call herikutsu (smelly gaseous logic). It would be hilarious were it not so serious for America and the world.
Justice Antonin Scalia, the intellectual leader of the conservative majority, equated a broccoli market with a health insurance market. He asked, “If the government can require Americans to buy health insurance, can it require them to buy broccoli?”
The issue is the limit of federal power. In a functioning democracy, government power is checked by Congress. ( Read more at: www.japantimes.co.jp link to original article
Dolores Cannon – The Three Waves Of Volunteers & The Earth (Repost) – 17 April 2012
Uploaded by linuxfrik 20 juli 2011 on Youtube.
July 17, 2011
Born in 1931, Dolores Cannon is a regressive hypnotherapist and psychic researcher who records “Lost” knowledge, through her own hypnosis technique which enables her to gain the most information from her clients. In 1986 she expanded her investigations into the UFO field, including working with abductees. She is also an international speaker who has lectured on every continent in the world. Her thirteen books are translated into twenty languages. In this interview, Dolores will discuss The Three Waves of Volunteers and The New Earth. Dolores, in her hypnosis work, has discovered three waves of volunteers who have come to help Earth. Some have come direct from the “Source” and have never lived in any type of physical body before. Others have lived as space beings on other planets or other dimensions. Because all memory is erased upon entry to the Earth dimension, they do not remember their assignment. Thus these souls have a difficult time adjusting to our chaotic world. Dolores says these souls have a vital role to play as they help the rest of us ascend to the New Earth. We’ll discuss the characteristics, difficulties and roles of these volunteers. Later, Dolores tells us about the New Earth, how the separation from this Earth will happen, what it will be like and the effects we’ll feel in our body
Thank s for reminding me of her interviews I already heard last year Andrea from The Galactic Free Press/ www.soundofheart.org. The link to the article and video their is link to article The Galactic Free Press by Andrea
Dolores Cannon – The Three Waves Of Volunteers & The Earth (Repost) – 17 April 2012
Uploaded by linuxfrik 20 juli 2011 on Youtube.
July 17, 2011
Born in 1931, Dolores Cannon is a regressive hypnotherapist and psychic researcher who records “Lost” knowledge, through her own hypnosis technique which enables her to gain the most information from her clients. In 1986 she expanded her investigations into the UFO field, including working with abductees. She is also an international speaker who has lectured on every continent in the world. Her thirteen books are translated into twenty languages. In this interview, Dolores will discuss The Three Waves of Volunteers and The New Earth. Dolores, in her hypnosis work, has discovered three waves of volunteers who have come to help Earth. Some have come direct from the “Source” and have never lived in any type of physical body before. Others have lived as space beings on other planets or other dimensions. Because all memory is erased upon entry to the Earth dimension, they do not remember their assignment. Thus these souls have a difficult time adjusting to our chaotic world. Dolores says these souls have a vital role to play as they help the rest of us ascend to the New Earth. We’ll discuss the characteristics, difficulties and roles of these volunteers. Later, Dolores tells us about the New Earth, how the separation from this Earth will happen, what it will be like and the effects we’ll feel in our body
Thank s for reminding me of her interviews I already heard last year Andrea from The Galactic Free Press/ www.soundofheart.org. The link to the article and video their is link to article The Galactic Free Press by Andrea
Mish/ Mike Shedlock – Spain Government May Take Over Some Regions Finances; Spanish 10 Year Yield His 6.15%,CFSpain Government May Take Over Some Regions’ Finances; Spanish 10-Year Yield His 6.15%, CDS At Record High; Mission Impossible – 17 April 2
Madrid Threatens Intervention as Regional Debt Worries Mount
The Financial Times reports Madrid threatens to intervene in regions
Madrid has threatened to seize budgetary control of wayward Spanish regions as early as May if they flout deficit limits, officials said – as investors took fright at the fragility of some eurozone economies.
Concerns about overspending by Spain’s 17 autonomous regions and fears that its banks will need to be recapitalised with emergency European Union funds undermined confidence in the country’s sovereign bonds, forcing down prices and pushing yields up above 6 per cent on Monday – towards levels considered unsustainable.
The cost of insuring the country’s debt also rose, with Spanish credit default swaps jumping to a record 510 basis points, according to Markit, the data provider.
One possible candidate for intervention is Andalucia in the south, Spain’s most populous region, which has attacked Mr Rajoy’s austerity measures. Mr Rajoy’s Popular party had hoped to win a regional election last month and oust the leftwingers who have run Andalucia for 30 years but the PP did not get enough votes and the left remains in control.
Andalucia, however, is not alone in failing to obey fiscal rules. All the major political parties, including the PP, have exceeded deficit targets in the regions they administer.
Spain Government May Take Over Some Regions’ Finances
The Wall Street Journal has additional details in its report Spain Government May Take Over Some Regions’ Finances
Spain’s government Monday warned it could take control of finances in some of its autonomous regions to slash one of Europe’s largest budget deficits and shore up investor confidence.
A top government official, who asked not to be named, told journalists there will soon be new tools to control regional spending. Parliament is expected to pass legislation by the end of this month allowing Madrid to force spending cuts, impose fines and take over financial management in regions breaching budget targets or falling into deep difficulties.
The official said Madrid may move take over at least one of the country’s cash-strapped regions this year, as lack of access to financial markets and plummeting tax revenue are undermining their capacity to fund themselves.
“The way things are going, the regions themselves will request the intervention,” the official said. “There are regions with no access to funding, no way to pay bills. That’s why we are going to have to intervene.”
The official added Madrid should have more information by May on the state of regional finances, and on which might need to be taken over. The government has set up a new credit line to regions so they can pay off large debts to their suppliers. To access the facility they must present a plan to pay back the money and provide detailed information on their finances.
Separately, Spanish Education Minister Jose Ignacio Wert met regional education authorities to agree a series of measures, including larger class sizes and longer teachers’ hours, to cut EUR3 billion from regional budgets. The government meets regional health officials Wednesday to find another EUR7 billion in cuts. These two social services account for the bulk of regional spending, and the regions have long complained they can’t reduce it unless Madrid changes regulations governing the services they must provide.
Mission Impossible
Wolfgang Münchau a Financial Times columnist says Spain has accepted mission impossible
News coverage seems to suggest that the markets are panicking about the deficits themselves. I think this is wrong. The investors I know are worried that austerity may destroy the Spanish economy, and that it will drive Spain either out of the euro or into the arms of the European Stability Mechanism.
The orthodox view, held in Berlin, Brussels and in most national capitals (including, unfortunately, Madrid), is that you can never have too much austerity. Credibility is what matters. When you miss the target, you must overcompensate to hit it next time. The target is the goal – the only goal.
This view does not square with the experience of the eurozone crisis, notably in Greece. It does not square with what we know from economic theory, or from economic history. And it does not square with the simple though unscientific observation that the periodic episodes of market panic about Spain have always tended to follow an austerity announcement.
European policy makers have a tendency to treat fiscal policy as a simple accounting exercise, omitting any dynamic effects. The Spanish economist Luis Garicano made a calculation, as reported in El PaÃs, in which the reduction in the deficit from 8.5 per cent of GDP to 5.3 per cent would require not a €32bn deficit reduction programme (which is what a correction of 3.2 per cent would nominally imply for a country with a GDP of roughly €1tn), but one of between €53bn and €64bn. So to achieve a fiscal correction of 3.2 per cent, you must plan for one almost twice as large.
Spain’s effort at deficit reduction is not just bad economics, it is physically impossible, so something else will have to give. Either Spain will miss the target, or the Spanish government will have to fire so many nurses and teachers that the result will be a political insurrection.
Market Screams Mission Impossible As Well
I too have been preaching the “Mission Impossible” idea for months if not years. More importantly, the market has once again latched on to that idea with credit default swaps on Spain’s sovereign debt at record highs, and the yield on 10-year Spanish bonds back above 6% today, settling at 6.07% after reaching a high of 6.156% according to Bloomberg.
History suggests the more eurocrats resists a default for Spain, the bigger the resultant mess. Greece should be proof enough. However, eurocrat clowns have no common sense, no economic sense either, and they do not care about history. Expect a gigantic eurozone mess as efforts to kick the can do nothing but make matters worse.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
www.globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com link to original article
Tim Karr – Big Brother Is Not Your ‘Friend’ – 18 April 2012
Human Rights Watch UK press release : LONDON – April 17 – Council of Europe member states should reject proposed UK changes to the European Court of Human Rights that could limit access to the court for those who most need it, Human Rights Watch said today. The proposals will be among a range of suggested changes to the court considered at a three-day summit starting on April 18, 2012, in the UK city of Brighton.
The draft proposals put forward by the UK contain many positive proposals, including a range of measures aimed at improving implementation of judgments by national authorities, Human Rights Watch said. But two proposals – one to limit the court’s ability to hear cases involving serious human rights abuse and other emphasizing principles that serve the interests of governments over those of the potential victims of human rights violations – are deeply problematic, and risk undermining the court. The UK currently chairs the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, the organization’s highest decision-making body.
“These proposals risk creating a two-tier system, barring some of those who need the European Court’s protection most,” said Benjamin Ward, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Council of Europe governments should shelve those risky plans, and focus instead on the positive ideas to improve implementation at home.”
The UK has made reform of the European Court of Human Rights the priority of its chairmanship. The court has a backlog of 150,000 cases, and the stated objective of the proposals is to address that problem.
Steps are already being taken to address the backlog, with the court streamlining its decision-making, and applying priority criteria to ensure that only cases raising serious human rights issues are heard. A mechanism aimed at ensuring that governments carry out judgments, known as Protocol 14, has been in force for less than two years. The failure by governments to address systematic problems leads to repeated cases seeking relief for same abuses and is a key reason for the backlog. The UK proposals to improve national implementation are a positive contribution, Human Rights Watch said.
The two problematic proposals could have an impact on the backlog, but only at the expense of human rights protection the court offers, Human Rights Watch said.
The first would require the European Court to reject an application if a national court has already considered the human rights issues it raises and taken into account the European Court’s approach in similar cases in the past. An exception would be allowed if the European Court concluded there was a “serious” question about the correct interpretation of its own case law.
The effect of this change could mean that in some instances the European Court might have to reject cases even if they raised serious human rights issues. This is especially worrisome for Council of Europe countries like Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Russia, where the national courts have a poor record of protecting human rights, Human Rights Watch said.
The second would amend the convention to emphasize that the national governments should be given latitude (known as “the margin of appreciation”) by the European Court to decide how rights are applied and that decisions should be made by national authorities rather than the European Court where possible (known as “subsidiarity”).
The two principles are already given due weight by the court, together with others of equal importance, such as the principle that the essence of a right cannot be limited and that rights protection should be “practical and effective,” Human Rights Watch said.
Codifying principles that emphasize government interests is unnecessary,” Human Rights Watch said. It would give them undue weight in relation to other principles that ensure that rights are genuinely protected. It also risks playing into the hands of governments that wish to deflect attention from their abusive practices.
The two problematic proposals have drawn widespread criticism from leading human rights groups and from civil society organizations across Europe. The strength and breadth of opposition to them should give Council of Europe member states serious pause, Human Rights Watch said.
“For many victims of human rights abuse in Europe, the European Court offers the only real chance for justice,” Ward said. “Limiting access to the court in the way the UK proposes would put this crucial safeguard at risk.”
###Human Rights Watch is one of the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, we give voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes. Our rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy build intense pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse. For 30 years, Human Rights Watch has worked tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world.
Human Rights Watch
Tim Karr – Big Brother Is Not Your ‘Friend’ – 18 April 2012
Increasingly, the U.S. government has shown an intense desire to “friend” you, to “follow” you, to get to know your every online move.
Now they’re channeling that desire towards legislation that clears a path for authorities to work with companies like Facebook, Google and AT&T to snoop on Internet-using Americans.
The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act or CISPA, is wending its way through Congress where it could get a favorable vote unless elected representatives hear their constituents’ concerns in time.
That’s why a coalition of online rights advocates (including the Free Press Action Fund) have joined forces to kill CISPA before more of our online rights are lost to those seeking to turn the Internet into a massive surveillance complex.
Promoted to protect our national interests against a loosely defined horde of cyber-terrorists, CISPA goes far beyond its stated purposes, sacrificing almost all of our online privacy rights without any safeguards against abuse. It’s the type of misguided Internet legislation that we have seen in the past, where government and corporations craft restrictive new laws without giving Internet users a seat at the table. Will they never learn?
Groups including EFF, Avaaz.org, Free Press Action Fund, ACLU, Access, CDT and the American Library Association have just launched “Stop Cyber Spying Week” so that Washington understands that the online rights of millions of Americans are not negotiable. In addition to helping Americans contact Congress, these groups have unleashed the power of Twitter against any legislator weighing a vote for this bad bill.
The folks behind CISPA claim that national security interests make this surveillance necessary, but the bill’s language is so vague and overreaching that it opens the door for rampant abuse. Here’s what’s wrong:
- CISPA would allow companies and the government to bypass privacy protections and spy on your email traffic, comb through your text messages, filter your online content and even block access to popular websites.
- CISPA would permit companies to give the government your Facebook data, Twitter history and cellphone contacts. It would also allow the government to search your email using the vaguest of justifications — and without any real legal oversight.
- CISPA contains sweeping language that could be used as a blunt weapon to silence whistleblower websites like WikiLeaks and the news organizations that publish their revelations.
- CISPA would have a chilling effect on our ability to speak freely online by stoking fears that the National Security Agency — the same agency that has conducted “warrantless wiretapping” online for years — could come knocking.
CISPA could lead all too easily to governmental and corporate attacks on our digital freedoms. And while there is a real need to protect vital national interests from cyber attacks, we can’t do it at the expense of our rights.
Facebook, which supports CISPA, now counts more than 800 million users worldwide. It’s frightening to imagine a world where Mark Zuckerberg and his colleagues could act with impunity to help the U.S. government keep tabs on all of us.
The goal of Stop Cyber Spying Week is simple: Get Congress to back away from this dangerous legislation. The only way to do that is by speaking out.
© 2012 SavetheInternet.com
As the Campaign Director for Free Press and SavetheInternet.com, Karr oversees campaigns on public broadcasting and noncommercial media, fake news and propaganda, journalism in crisis, and the future of the Internet. Before joining Free Press, Tim served as executive director of MediaChannel.org and vice president of Globalvision New Media and the Globalvision News Network.
www.commondreams.org link to article original from www.savetheinternet.com link to original article
Wes Annac – The Pleiadian Council Of Nine : A Call For Humanity To Begin Utilizing Your Collective Potential – 18 April 2012
Thanks to Lisa (Wolfke74) for the Image
-Channeled through Wes Annac-
The scope to which this overall Lighted operation that is currently underway has been planned out will truly boggle your minds and have you wondering how such an organized and carefully planned out effort was not discovered or known about, even by the very dark souls who have been trying to stop this plan.
The dark on your world are just as perplexed as you will be as to how these operations have been and will be panning out in favor of abundance and Joy being returned to your world, and the reason that we are able to bring forth such complex and intricate plans without the knowledge of the dark on your world who have thought themselves to be all-knowing, is because there are many ascended beings whose intelligence and understanding far outweigh any of those of the souls on your world still attempting to get their way and win every ‘battle’ through any despair and any conniving means that they could think of.
More than anything, these souls need Love sent their way and this is a topic and truth that has been discussed in previous messages. These souls cannot thrive without the density and hate manifested continually on the surface of Gaia, and if they were to be sent pure Love unconditionally it would disempower their dark agendas and moves substantially, which is why we make the call now for you to begin to collectively beam these souls as much and as pure Love as you can.
We recommend you all begin to get together in organized discussion groups, perhaps through the power of your internet which spans countries and continents. You cannot move forward on your world without making the collective effort and seeing the resulting progress play out, and we can feel that many of you are quite connected with each other through the realms of the astral and through previous experience with each other.
The internet has rekindled many strong and Loving relationships between awakened and unawakened souls alike, and it is with the internet that we recommend the startup of various forums and discussion groups related to not just the beaming of Love to the dark souls on your world who are clinging desperately to power, but related to other issues that have needed discussion as these things have been ignored for the most part by those in power and influence.
We will focus on the aspect of beaming the dark cabals Love and of your working together to achieve such means in this communication, as we want to stick to specific facets of this discussion that will lay the foundation for further discussion. This is how many ascended souls choose to give our communications forth; by laying the foundation for a very grand and informative discussion by first setting the stage so to speak.
You all have the power now with your internet, to Create many different types of discussion groups to begin mapping out your various activities for the Light. We recommend a planned mass mediation session in which you focus and beam your beautiful Kundalini energy to the souls who need it most. By this we mean not just the dark souls on your world clinging to power who need this Love to transmute their own long held darkness.
We speak as well of the various areas of Gaia’s surface that are still experiencing suffering and densities, the likes of which cannot be fathomed and understood fully by the many souls Living in more prosperous countries. You have all played each and every role that the Earth experience has had to offer, which has included roles in the countries and as souls who are experiencing despair rather than prosperity. Deep down within for each and every soul who will be led to this communication, you all hold and carry memories of your own difficult experiences toiling in such low density for so long, which is why we ask you to give your energies of compassion to these souls [experiencing such poverty] en-mass upon a large, planned out and organized meditation session.
There are numerous areas of Gaia’s surface that could use your Loving energies as a collective, and while many of you have been personally and individually beaming Love to various souls and areas on Gaia’s surface and this power is very strong and has served to help and uplift, the power you carry individually is not as strong and pure as the power the that you carry collectively and this is because that at its heart and at its core, individuality is an illusion as we are all soul-fragments of our One Infinite Creator.
We are all aspects of the divine Mother/Father being who Created us and allowed us these dimensional experiences along various octaves and planes of reality, and we will all eventually reunite in a Grand display of Love and togetherness, as all of Creation shoots blissfully back toward the pure dimensions and realms of our true home, wherein resides our beautiful and Loving Creator.
The coming together of humanity that is to occur when the most noticeable changes pick up are simple preludes to the mass awakening, remembrance and reuniting that is taking place throughout your entire Universe with each and every planet and soul all taking place in this reunion, remembrance and ascension.
Indeed, your whole Universe is ascending at this point and this is a process that the ascension of Earth will serve to kick-start greatly, and the various actions performed as a collective by each and every one of you staring with your organization and hopeful meditations for Light and Peace, will see the ascension of Earth be a marvelous boost for the ascension of various other planets, Galaxies and Star Systems in this beautiful Universe that we all have the supreme pleasure to enjoy and inhabit.
There is so very much to be done on your world, in both physical terms and in etheric terms. The sooner that the many of you who are attuned to the energies of the Earth and the streaming-forth energies being given to you from the higher realms, begin to come together and use your higher dimensional abilities and powers as a collective for the good of the world, the sooner that the physical manifestation of many changes which involve the healing of your world will begin to come to fruition.
Those areas of your surface that are experiencing lack, turmoil or any other form of lower vibration that keeps one in a state of unhappiness, will be sent the energies that you all as a collective manifest and bring through yourselves whilst in mediation.
Many of you have been planning out trips in the dreamscape to the various Light Ships which are common throughout this Universe, and we say that this is a wonderful first step in the realization of your collective power and ability to find the higher realms and many aspects of the higher realms by simply getting together and planning out such endeavors. Continue on in these efforts and again, find it in yourselves and with each other to begin the energetic enactment and alignment of what you as a collective were and are truly meant to do at this time.
In doing so, you will find many hurts and pains in yourselves individually that will come up to the surface faster for review, transmutation and release back into this beautiful Creation of ours. You will be given the choices as to how these pains and fears manifest before you, but the more energetic and ascension-based work you perform for yourselves and for your world as well as everyone around you, the faster and more intensely the most difficult events in your Lives which serve to give you difficult lessons, manifest.
This is why many souls who have been especially advanced in their ascension process thus far and this includes many souls who are incarnate starseeds, have found so very much difficulty and pain along your ascension paths, in your current Lives and in many past Lives as well.
We hope for and would Love to see the collective coming-together of humanity take place before and during the initial disclosures and announcements, which is why we are making the push for you to begin coming together as a collective in much more solid ways than many of you have thus far. There is a certain complacency that can still be noticed amongst many on your world, even many awakening souls, when it comes to the enactment of various changes in their own Lives and in the overall play of events on Earth.
There truly is no more time to collect one’s thoughts and continue to run oneself through the grinder about whether or not all that you have heard about is real. There has been solid evidence given in abundance that everything you have heard and read about is real, and you are to see proof in the times ahead that is so real and pure, that you will be wondering just how you did not know about all of this before.
We would recommend you aim your attention less toward the ‘takedown’ and defeat of the dark souls on your world as it is proceeding and will continue to proceed until their fair trials, and rather at this time we ask you to turn your attention and energies toward Loving and forgiving these souls for all that has been done to yourselves and to your world.
Forgiveness will underlay and unlock many hidden aspects of your own personal and collective ascension processes, which is why forgiveness will be a very crucial test when it comes to the trails of the dark souls who have done so very much to you and your world.
You will be given the full decision as a collective as to how you wish to feel about what has been done, as we cannot tell you how to feel but at the same time we would never recommend holding a grudge toward anyone, no matter what they have done and how bad it seems because holding a grudge will only keep and continually reproduce similar energies as those of the souls one is holding a grudge against.
The energies and perceptual blocks in relation to perceiving the higher realms that are held onto when holding a grudge serve to hold one back exponentially. Imagine being held back so far on a collective level, dear souls. We can feel that many of you will choose forgiveness and Love toward these souls and many of you are already coy to the idea of sending these souls Love, and the failure of many of their recent attempts has proven this.
It is now time to turn away [for now] from all that has happened and from the exposure and takedown of those who have perpetrated such acts, and begin instead to heal and rebuild your world as you know and can feel that you will be. There is no reason to wait for disclosure announcements that will not manifest until you as a collective have shown the willing intent to be a part of the cleansing of your world on a grand scale, and one of the reasons that things have not manifested sooner is because of the unpredictability and instability in much of humanity when it comes to not only absorbing many paradigm-shattering truths, but when being given back control of your entire world.
You will be in control of your world as a collective, and each and every moment will be a big job that you will eventually get used to and enjoy quite a bit, but there may be many who are not quite yet ready to take responsibility and will instead choose to revert, perhaps deciding subconsciously to leave this world before the most noticeable changes begin or even during such times.
For some, the mere shock of everything you will be let know will take them some ‘time ‘to recover. The healing energies that will be given to you and absorbed by you upon fathoming our forms in your physical reality will ensure that any perceived trauma or exponential shock is mitigated and you are all helped to feel the wonderful, pure feelings and emotions that you deserve to feel upon our arrival on your world.
Some of you will choose to come work on the many Motherships and Starships of the Galactic Federation or those of the various Councils of races making up the Galactic Federation, and some of you may choose to Live on one of our Motherships for lifetimes to come as you will find a wonderful and amazing home within our ships.
While inhabiting any of our Motherships based on the specific designs and form of each one, you can use [holographic] simulation to manifest whichever types of environment one wishes to be in. One can manifest any type of higher vibratory environment that one wish to inhabit, and you are certainly not limited to rooms and halls as your traditional perceptions of [our ships] may entice.
Indeed, there will be so very many things about us and about your reality that you do not remember one bit at this current moment and that will surprise you but we know that the sheer Loving energies being given by us and our technologies alike will see an opening, a remembrance in many of you who have been with us so very much before your incarnation on Earth.
Your release from the grip of those on your who have maintained control is fast approaching and the collective action needed to be take a this time will ensure the success of many events that have needed to come to fruition, if only the effort is made on the part of humanity. Each and every one of you can play a strong hand in bringing these changes about, and it only starts with the collective efforts to begin to visualize such changes on a mass scale. We will be with you so very soon, assisting you in these endeavors happily.
Thank you to the Pleiadian Council of Nine.
John Smallman – Saul – An Enormous Change In Perception – 18 April 2012
When humanity awakens it will be to a fantastic welcome from all who have been watching and encouraging you on your homeward journey since it began, eons ago. Time has frequently seemed interminable as you struggled with the confusion and inconsistencies of your gaming arena, trying to make sense of it and to appease the various imaginary gods with which you endowed it. And, as time passed, the confusion and inconsistencies seemed only to grow. We have been with you throughout the eons offering comfort and support, although most of the time you have remained locked in your tunnel-vision perception, unable to bring yourselves to awareness of our presence and of our intense desire to help you awaken.
Of course you did not realize that you were basically asleep and dreaming, mostly nightmares of fear, suffering, and conflict with one another, or of judgment and condemnation from a merciless god of wrath who spent his time watching you to ensure that you diligently obeyed his endless rules and regulations. Nevertheless, there were always a few who, aware of our presence and availing of our help, attempted to show you by loving example how to move forward and awaken into the knowledge of your divine origin and destiny. However, these kind and generous souls were mostly disregarded as their loving messages did not conform to the overriding belief that life had to be an interminable struggle, in which frequent wars were the honorable way to show the might and prowess of those who would be leaders, kings, and dictators, and for the rest of you to demonstrate your misguided loyalty to them.
Even today many still believe in that insane philosophy, and in the need for preemptive military action to preserve their homes and their cultures. But after all these eons the majority are finally deciding that enough is enough, that there has to be a better way to live, and this perception alone is enabling you to begin the process of really listening to one another so that true communication can occur, replacing the dishonesty of endemic bluster and bluff that has for so long made a mockery of all but your most basic communicative functions.
This enormous change in perception is the driving power that is propelling you forcefully forwards towards the grand awakening that is both your desire and your destiny. And because it is also the divine Will for you, your success is assured. Your increasing awareness that others are often well-meaning is lifting your spirits and encouraging you to look for that attitude instead of expecting to be attacked and therefore needing to be ready to defend yourselves from some kind of assault. As you become able to release the need to be ever ready to protect yourselves at short notice, your available energy to communicate lovingly and compassionately grows, with the result that interactions with others become pleasurable and harmonious instead of competitive and defensive.
Discovering that cooperative friendly interactions achieve far greater success in resolving issues than your old confrontational methods builds confidence in your abilities deal with situations as they arise. This further strengthens your self-confidence and self-esteem, and gives you the faith to start accepting, valuing, and loving yourselves – as your Father always does – for the wonderful divine creations that you truly are.
Focus on valuing yourselves and others highly. Why would you not? After all, God does. And because He does, then you must all be of infinite worth and value, and to value yourselves less highly than He does makes no sense at all. He will bring you all together to show you the truth of that as soon as you will allow Him to do so. Open your hearts to Him and allow Him to fill them with the Love and acceptance that you so desperately desire, and know that there is nothing that would give Him greater joy.
With so very much love, Saul.
UntitledJohn Ward – Greek Election Sensation : What The Voters Weren’t Told…But Just Found Out – 18 April 2012
Papademos…possibly not entirely honest with Greeks
IMF blunder forces out the truth about post-election crackdown
Yesterday, the IMF released disastrous forecasts about the Greek economic outlook for 2012. Unwittingly or otherwise, this development set Athenian journalists and anti-Establishment groups on a hunt for the truth about post-election austerity. The details (revealed today in Ekathimereni and other newspapers) can only benefit the smaller anti-EU Parties. The revelations follow hot on the heels of Monday’s Slog exclusive about plans to install another unelected Prime Minister in the event of an electoral dead-heat.
The Greek deficit this year will be far greater than expected, the IMF announced yesterday. According to their new report, there will be a need for additional spending cuts of more than 15 billion euros between now and 2017. This would represent 7.7% of gdp.
The IMF expects the deficit to end the year at 7.2% of gdp – something of a leap from the 6.7% previously forecast.
The new government (if any) to emerge from the May 6 election will have to bite the bullet and cut a further 11.6 billion euros from 2013 and 2014 alone. But yesterday’s IMF update hints that spending cuts will continue well beyond 2014 – from 48.9% of GDP, spending will have to go down to 41.2% of GDP by the start of 2018 fiscal year.
The Troika team in Athens (so popular, their offices were bombed last week) are hard at work, as the election unfolds, finalising the new measures. But as discussed here on Monday, the implementation of these depends on a pro-EU Coalition being in power. The very fact of electors now knowing what’s in store is certain to affect the election against the EU’s interests. Maybe, once could hypothesise, that’s what the Sprouts want anyway.
Whether the new measures see the light of day or not, the account of them splashed today by Ekathimerini makes for almost unbelievable reading:
1. Further cuts in social benefits.
2. Cutbacks in defence spending without regard the country’s defence capability. (But, I’d imagine, exempting German contracts)
3. Restructuring of the central government, which will operate with less staff, meaning that there will be more layoffs in the public sector.
4. Cuts in drug cost subsidies, and hospital expenses to be slashed, removal of some existing health benefits.
5. Wages and the pensions to be reduced by at least 15%.According to Vima newspaper, Troika’s first target is social benefits given to larger families and single mothers. These benefits will be removed without exception.
As yet, nobody in Brussels, Berlin, Washington, or the IMF seems to have detected the likely link between severe cuts and falling output. As The Slog has posted endlessly, once debts get beyond a certain size – and cuts to control them are left too late – the maths simply don’t work: lots of noses get cut off to save lots of face, but it’s all pointless. This has been the major learning from the eurozone crisis…and at a lower (but equally serious) level, it represents the exact same dilemma as that facing George Osborne: far too much cloth was ordered, and cancellation came far too late. Not even a draper’s scissors can defy that logic: it is immutable.
Thus the Left v Right, Cuts v Stimulation debate is completely sterile throughout the West. Cutting output still further to chase uncatchable debt is sheer insanity. As I have said right from the start, debt forgiveness on a massive scale is the only answer: it is too late in the day now for anything else. There is no such thing as ‘austere simulation’: it is just another mad oxymoron invented by the Brussels morons.
Yesterday, The Slog told everyone that the necrophilia will continue until more sane voices are allowed to be heard. As usual, you read it here first.
Steve Beckow – The Mass Arrests Will Remove The Cabal Completely – 18 April 2012
On April 16, the Huffington Post featured a story on CISPA (the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act), which raised fears that the cabal was trying anew to censor the Internet. (1)
Has the cabal the power any longer to curtail our civil rights and bring in a repressive new world order? Let’s take a moment to look in more depth at the subject of the attempts to take away our rights and freedoms, the planned mass arrests of the cabal, and the legal proceedings that will follow them.
Long ago (2008), Matthew Ward assured us that we need not fear initiatives like CISPA and that promise has not lost its relevance or promise today: “Plans based in darkness will not come to fruition and all cruel and unjust laws, policies and traditions will be struck down and in their stead, love and fairness will reign.” (2)
Matthew has regularly issued calming messages to us about all aspects of the dark’s efforts to strip us of our civil rights and imprison those who oppose the cabal. Here are some of them:
April 1, 2012: “There will be no filled detention camps or application of ominous new or proposed laws, and none of the other fearful-sounding possibilities or claims will come to pass either.” (3)
Sept. 21, 2009: “Disclosure of ages old deception is on your very near horizon, and once there is the first hole in the dike that has been holding back long hidden truths, the outpouring will create shock waves around your world. The enormity of lies, greed, collusion, corruption and heinous acts committed by groups under the Illuminati umbrella will be staggering as they are disclosed, but more so will be the emergence of truth about religions and their dogmas. Everything that the darkness has contrived to enslave Earth’s peoples for millennia literally will “come to light” after a period of great upheaval.” (4)
May 21, 2008: “More evidence of this dual energetic influence are the ever increasing numbers of stories about people in all walks of life, from small townships to national and international bodies, who have been engaged in such [activities] as sexual molestation, embezzlement, bribery, robbery, illegal business negotiations, child pornography and blatant lies; and at the other end of this particular spectrum is the truth being disclosed. Eventually there will be no ‘sacred cows’ remaining as nefarious activities even in long-honored institutions keep emerging into the limelight.
“This ‘housecleaning’ within governments, religions, banking, corporations, education, commerce, medicine and health care—every source that has been instrumental in forming your beliefs and conscripting your activities—will continue until all those sources of deception and corruption have been purged. This spiritual and moral cleansing is in tandem with, and is as imperative to your world as, the geographic cleansing, so please don’t feel dismayed or disgusted as one after another of these exposures comes forth—instead, welcome their ‘coming to light’ because each is another step forward to Earth’s Golden Age.” (5)
What Matthew has been telling us would happen for a number of years is now about to occur.
Recently I reposted a March 1, 2012 message from Matthew in which he said that “military leaders are cooperating with the light forces to impede aggression by troops still in the Illuminati camp, and the destruction of some of their cavernous underground areas has halted heinous experiments and other covert activities.” (6) Unfortunately he does not say that our military helped in the destruction of the underground bunkers. If he had, that would have established that the military was cooperating as of last August.
I’m quite sure the Navy was cooperating by that time and earlier, but not as sure about the Army or the Air Force.
Let’s now turn to what SaLuSa of the Galactic Federation, speaking through Mike Quinsey, has said about the upcoming mass arrests and clean sweep of the Illuminati stables. SaLuSa reveals that “you have been totally misled about your rights, that have been slowly taken from you to remove your independence. Your enslavement was been very carefully planned, and you were nearly under the total control of the Illuminati.” (7) Our enslavement had been planned millennia ago, he says.
“Your rights would have been strictly controlled and curtailed, so that you had little freedom unless you conformed to the new world order. It has not come about overnight, but has been planned for millennia of time. Slowly and almost unnoticed you have been fooled and misled so that you gave your rights away. There were plenty of warnings, but you were lulled into a false sense of security. You need to understand the reasons so that you fully benefit from the experiences.” (8)
As far back as May 3, 2010, he said it would be impossible for the Illuminati to stem the tide of freedom.
“It is in fact too late for the last cabal to stop the incoming tide that will sweep away the dross and lies, that have brought about your problems. … Fortunately, you have since seen through their plan to enslave you, and bring it about by creating chaos and taking away your sovereign rights.” (9)
On two occasions, he said that our rights would be restored and all unjust laws struck down.
June 14, 2010: “There will be changes in your laws so that justice can be seen to be operating in a fair manner. Your rights will be restored and fully protected, so that you cannot be held or imprisoned without sufficient evidence. It is also important that you are allowed legal representation as your right, and not held guilty until it is proven.
“Equally as important will be a re-structuring of the powers given to those who apply the law and police your streets. In actual fact, once we come to your Earth and address your problems, and people see a brighter future ahead, the level of crime will dramatically fall.” (10)
Feb. 22, 2012: “You will be freed from the many unjust laws that the dark Ones have brought in, and people unfairly imprisoned will be released. It sounds like a lot of time will be needed to bring it all about, but you shall be astonished at how quickly matters will move. We come nearer to that time when it shall commence in such a way, that you will know for certain what is taking place.” (11)
Not only would crime be eradicated but war as well, he told us Feb. 20, 2012.
“It is a Divine Decree that your cycle of duality ends with war having been totally eradicated, and peace having been firmly established. For too long your rights have been taken away, and the time has been reached for them to be totally restored. The old paradigm is now defunct, and will draw no more energy to sustain it any longer. A new day has commenced that will bloom into its magnificence with Ascension.” (12)
We can expect to have the extent of corruption revealed to us and all the agents of corruption replaced.
“Until you learn how you have been manipulated and used by the dark Ones, you will have little idea of how far their tentacles reached. Even some judges who you may have thought were beyond bribery and corruption are involved. None shall escape as we know exactly who has been guilty, and have all the evidence that will convict them. Your societies will become cleansed and start again with people you know you can trust. They will be responsible for implementing new laws, and revival of the Constitution that upholds your rights.” (13)
In this new era, “your rights will be restored, and power returned to the people.” (14)
Finally the Galactic Federation through Greg Giles gives more details on what to expect during the mass arrests. First of all they will come quickly and with little warning.
“The changes you wish to see in your world will come as a thief in the night. One moment your world will carry on with the hustling and bustling of the old paradigm, then suddenly, nothing that you have come to know as your reality will ever be the same. …
“What will happen is a complete and thorough uprooting of the organizations of your world who have engaged in agendas and activities to pilfer the people’s money and resources as well as strip them of their rights and their health in order to further imprison them in their own world.” (15)
The arrests will come as the result of much legal planning and preparation.
“These are, of course, very serious charges, and that is one of the reasons much work has had to be done behind the scenes before justice could be dispensed. We have reached the point where all the necessary paperwork and initial legal proceedings are completed, and the time has now come to begin these arrests of the leaders and participants of the criminal empire we have referred to as the Cabal. …
“Much has been put into these proceedings and a tremendous amount of preparation was needed, so we are sure you will understand why none of this could be rushed as sufficient time to make sure all matters were handled properly was called for. We are confident you will agree once the magnitude and scope of these proceedings is made clear to you.” (16)
The GF says it cannot be overly specific yet of exactly who will be arrested.
“The Cabal, of course, is not an official name of any of these groups, as there are so many different groups and individuals who swear their alliance to them that using only one of these group’s names would send a wrong message of who is controlling your world and who will soon be facing justice for their crimes.
“There are also many individuals who have conspired and have taken part in these many crimes who do not consider themselves allied with any particular organization. They too will face the consequences of their actions, and will be held just as responsible as those affiliated with any of these groups.
“There are many of these individuals and many groups as well involved in serious crimes against you, the people, and through these arrests and many more to come in the following days ahead our intentions are to destroy these alliances. …
“It has been decided by all involved that these organizations must be abolished, and abolished they will be. They will not be permitted to regroup again. We see this as one of the most significant events in the history of your world, and our hopes are that many of you will as well.” (17)
Once the news of mass arrests is announced, the GF knows that at least the lightworkers will realize that something Earth-shaking is happening.
“Upon the news broadcasts of these arrests, all those who had been informed of this event and what it means will understand that something truly Earth changing is happening. This is what we are hoping for, and much rides on this part of the plan. We appreciate greatly all of you doing your part to see this phase of the plan reach a successful conclusion. Readings indicate great numbers of you are being exposed to this news, and we are very encouraged by this. Please continue on in your efforts, they will soon pay off for all of you.” (18)
And what will happen after the arrests? The GF through Greg reveals a few of the details:
“Moving ahead to matters after these initial arrests, there will be a great many legal proceedings before courts all across your world. These proceedings will be handled by those who have demonstrated their commitment and integrity in seeking justice in these matters, and you can be assured there will be no unjust bias permitted in any court where these proceedings will be handled. We will oversee these proceedings, and from our vantage point we will know if these cases are proceeding justly or not.
“No one, no matter their seat of power, connections, or financial stature will be able to successfully manipulate any of these proceedings. You can be assured of this, and any attempts to do so will be met with additional charges and harsh penalties. We have made ourselves clear on this.” (19)
The purification that is begun with the removal of the cabal will continue until all darkness has been removed from the Earth prior to Ascension.
“Your world is to be purified of all that is dark; this is what is planned for this Earth. These proceedings are merely the beginning as the light will continue to spread far and it will spread wide all across your planet, and these proceedings are the pebble splashing into the pond. The ripple effects will continue all the way up to your ascension, where a complete purification of all that is dark will take place. …
“These proceedings are being carried out in order to help facilitate a smooth transition leading to your ascension, as it was decided these dark ones and their alliances would be too disruptive a force and needed to be removed from your societies. Upon removal of these dark ones, we see an upsurge in your collective vibration, and we would like to see the greatest possible boost from this event.” (20)
Thus the Company of Heaven is telling us that we don’t need to fear cabalistic measures designed to take our freedom away. None will succeed and those that are passed will be rolled back. The enormity of the cabal’s greed and corruption is about to exposed and its members arrested and prosecuted. This housecleaning will not stop until all criminal and immoral elements are purged and even after, until Ascension, more and more darkness existing on the Earth will be eliminated until none remains.
Unjust laws will be rolled back and people unlawfully imprisoned will be released. The military will help in these operations and the courts will prosecute the cases. Our rights will be restored and power returned to the people. All this will happen quickly when it does. But much planning and preparation will have gone into it. Nothing now can prevent the defeat and removal of the cabal or push back the time at which the restoration of the people and their rights will begin.
Footnotes
(1) David Segal, “CISPA Is the New SOPA: Help Kill It This Week,” Huffington Post, April 16, 2012, at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-segal/cispa-sopa_b_1427314.html
(2) Matthew’s Message, July 4, 2008.
(3) Matthew’s Message, April 1, 2012.
(4) Matthew’s Message, Sept. 21, 2009.
(5) Matthew’s Message, 21 May 2008.
(6) Matthew’s Message, Mar. 1, 2012.(7) SaLuSa, April 2, 2012.
(8) SaLuSa, Oct. 21, 2011.
(9) SaLuSa, May 3, 2010.
(10) SaLuSa, June 14, 2010.
(11) SaLuSa, Feb. 22, 2012.
(12) SaLuSa, Feb. 20, 2012.
(13) SaLuSa, Feb. 22, 2012.
(14) SaLuSa, April 16, 2012.
(15) Greg Giles, Mar. 3, 2012.
(16) Loc. cit.
(17) Loc. cit.
(18) Loc. cit.
(19) Loc. cit.
(20) Loc. cit.
