The New York Federal Reserve on Friday released documents showing it knew banks were manipulating a key interest rate more than four years ago.
The documents, which date back to 2007, show that the Fed became fully aware that banks were lying about their borrowing costs when setting Libor, and chose to take no action against them.
The documents will likely feed growing concerns about whether the New York Fed, its former chief Timothy Geithner and other market watchdogs did everything they could to stop the manipulation. The documents also raise more questions about whether the New York Fed and other regulators were too cozy with the banks involved, looking the other way in order to spare the banks too much pain at a time when the financial crisis was still brewing.
"We know that we’re not posting um, an honest LIBOR," a Barclays employee tells a New York Fed analyst in an April 11, 2008, call, "and yet we are doing it, because, um, if we didn’t do it, It draws, um, unwanted attention on ourselves."
The New York Fed representative expresses sympathy and understanding:
"You have to accept it," she says. "I understand. Despite it’s against what you would like to do. I understand completely."
The widespread manipulation of Libor, an interest rate set by banks self-reporting what they pay to borrow money for short periods, may have cost borrowers (when rates were manipulated higher) and state and local governments (when rates were manipulated lower) untold millions of dollars. And it could end up costing several banks billions of dollars in penalties and lawsuits.
In the documents released Friday -- at the request of Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Tex.), Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations -- the New York Fed shows it was aware of problems with Libor as early as the fall of 2007.
The documents also show a swirl of activity by the New York Fed in the early months of 2008 relating to Libor, including memos and meetings and phone calls with bankers. Those calls included several conversations with people at Barclays, which recently agreed to pay $450 million to settle charges of manipulating Libor.
The activity culminated in a six-point memo written by then-New York Fed President Tim Geithner to Bank of England chief Mervyn King on June 1, spelling out ways to fix Libor. The documents also show that King agreed with Geithner's suggestions, and said he had passed them on to the proper British authorities.
Up to 16 banks in the U.S. and U.K. are under investigation in the scandal, which appeared to go on for years despite the knowledge of regulators in the U.S. and U.K., raising questions about whether those regulators were complicit in the scandal.
The release of the documents on Friday appears to be an effort to demonstrate that the New York Fed took an active role in trying to stop Libor manipulation -- while also pushing blame off on regulators in London.
"The New York Fed helped to identify problems related to LIBOR and press the relevant authorities in the UK to reform this London-based rate," the New York Fed said in a statement on its Web site.
But though the Fed said it continued to follow developments in Libor after mid-2008, it offers little documentation of that interest, beyond a handful of phone calls. There is no evidence that Geithner's recommendations were acted upon or that the Fed tried to make sure that they were.
"Our contacts at LIBOR contributing banks have indicated a tendency to under-report actual borrowing costs... in order to limit the potential for speculation about the institutions' liquidity problems," one New York Fed analyst wrote in April 2008.
In late October 2008, several months after Geithner's memo to King, a Barclays employee told a New York Fed representative that Libor rates were still "absolute rubbish."
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Home Loans
Libor is used to price the rates on various home loans, particularly adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), the National Association of Realtors reports. If Libor is pushed upward, homeowners pay more. If Libor is pushed downward, investors pay more.
Consumer Loans
Libor affects the interest rates on certain consumer loans ranging from credit card payments, student loans and car loans, reports NPR. According to NPR, <blockquote>"If Barclays traders managed to get the rates higher before the financial crisis, as they requested, then consumers suffered. Any loan that was adjusting based on LIBOR might have a slightly higher rate."</blockquote>
Savers
If Libor was artificially pushed down, savers would get lower returns, The New Statesman reports.
Pension Funds and 401ks
Pension funds and 401ks may have earned lower returns because of artificially lowered interest rates, CNNMoney reports.
Municipal Bonds
At a time when cities are charging for police and fire-fighting services, and cutting back on their budgets, municipalities are claiming some of their losses are the result of Libor-rigging, The New York Times reports.
$10 Trillion In Loans
Some $10 trillion in loans and $350 trillion in derivatives are tied directly to Libor, CNNMoney reports.
Mortgage-Backed Securities
Mortgage-backed securities would have earned a lower rate of returns as a result of an artificially-low Libor, The Guardian reports.
7/14/2012
New York Fed's Libor Documents Reveal Cozy Relationship Between Regulators, Banks
Visa, MasterCard Settlement: Credit Card Companies Agree To Pay $6 Billion Over Fee Fixing Claims
NEW YORK -- Visa, MasterCard and major banks agreed to pay retailers at least $6 billion to settle a long-running lawsuit that alleged the card issuers conspired to fix the fees that stores pay to accept credit cards. As part of the settlement, announced late Friday, stores from Rite Aid to Kroger will be allowed to charge customers more if they pay using a credit card.
The pact, which is being called by lawyers involved in the case the largest antitrust settlement in U.S. history, is seen as a major victory for merchants that have long complained about the billions of dollars in so-called "swipe" or "interchange" fees that they pay to banks for purchases made using plastic. But at a time when shoppers increasingly are using credit and debit cards, merchants will face a dilemma: Whether to charge shoppers extra for using plastic, and if so, how to do so without angering them.
Marilyn Landis, who was last year's chairman of the National Small Business Association, said that the settlement is a victory for small businesses across the country because it could ultimately lead to banks lowering the fees they charge stores for customers' credit card purchases.
Landis, who owns Pittsburgh-based financial services firm Basic Business Concepts, said that would be a big relief. She's now paying 3.75 percent each time a customer pays with a credit card. If bank card companies reduce the fees they charge her to 2.75 percent, she would save a dollar on every $100 in sales.
"That's huge," she said.
According to the National Retail Federation, the nation's largest retail group, swipe fees costs for stores total about $30 billion per year. Mallory Duncan, senior vice president and general counsel for the group, said the settlement is a step in the right direction.
"What we need are changes in the rules that bring about transparency and competition that would be here for years to come," he said.
The dispute between stores and banks dates back to 2005. That's when large retailers, including Kroger Co., Safeway Inc. and Walgreen Co. began filing price-fixing lawsuits against Visa, MasterCard and other banks.
The retailers claimed the credit card issuers worked together to fix the fees that stores pay to accept credit and debit cards. The fees, which vary depending on the type of store and the type of card issues, average about 2 percent of the price of a purchase.
Visa and MasterCard make money on the fees that stores pay for each customer that uses credit or debit cards for their purchases. The fees are set by card processing networks but collected by, and split with, the banks that issue the cards.
The card companies long have defended the fees they charge stores. They say stores benefit from being able to accept credit and debit cards from customers, who often spend more when they're using plastic instead of cash or checks.
Retailers fought to charge customers who use plastic for their purchases extra. They've argued that the ability to charge customers who use plastic more for their purchases would reduce their costs for accepting the cards.
But up until now, Visa and MasterCard have banned stores from charging customers who use credit cards more. Merchants, however, have been allowed to offer customers discounts if they pay with cash. Some gas stations do this, for example.
As part of the settlement, credit card companies have agreed to reduce swipe fees for eight months. The temporary reprieve on fees is valued at $1.2 billion. The settlement does not apply to debit cards, which have grown in popularity for small-value transactions.
"These new rules will give merchants the tools they need to put pressure on the credit card networks to lower interchange or swipe fees, which are the second-or third-highest cost of doing business for many retailers," said Patrick J. Coughlin, senior trial counsel at Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP, and one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs.
Joseph W. Saunders, chairman and chief executive of Visa Inc., said in a statement Friday that he's comfortable with the agreement, which he believes will not affect the company's earnings outlook.
"We believe settling this case is in the best interests of all parties," he said.
Noah Hanft, MasterCard Inc.'s general counsel, said in a separate statement on Friday that the decision to settle "was based on our belief that MasterCard and our stakeholders are best served by an amicable resolution."
"Although we have strong defenses to all claims, a settlement avoids years of litigation and uncertainties that are inherent in such cases," he said. "We believe that today's settlements should resolve all issues with the merchant community."
Visa and MasterCard stock both jumped in after-hours trading. Visa climbed 2.8 percent, and MasterCard rose 3.7 percent.
Related on HuffPost:
Russell Wasendorf Sr., CEO Of Peregrine Financial Group, Arrested Following Suicide Attempt, Firm's Collapse
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Federal prosecutors say the chief executive officer of an Iowa-based brokerage firm that is missing more than $200 million in customer money has been charged with lying to regulators.
Peregrine Financial Group CEO Russell Wasendorf Sr. admitted responsibility for the fraud that led to the loss in customer funds at his firm, in a suicide note that his son found in his car Monday. In the note, Wasendorf Sr. says that the fraud went undetected for 20 years (h/t Zero Hedge).
"Through a scheme of using false bank statements, I have been able to embezzle millions of dollars from customer accounts," the note reads.
Wasendorf Sr. went on to write that he was the only one in the entire firm to ever see its bank statements. The statements would be delivered directly to him, Wasendorf wrote, and then he would make forgeries "using a combination of Photo Shop, Excel, scanners and both laser and ink jet printers" and deliver those to the accounting department before anyone else could see them.
A complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids says 64-year-old Wasendorf, Sr., made false statements to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission about the value of customer funds held by his company, Peregrine Financial Group, Inc.
A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office says Wasendorf was arrested Friday by FBI agents and is due in federal court in Cedar Rapids for an initial appearance.
Wasendorf had been hospitalized at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics after attempting suicide outside the company's headquarters on Monday. Court records do not list an attorney for Wasendorf.
Read Wasendorf Sr.'s full suicide note below:
Republicans Try to Scare America into Supporting Romney by Claiming Obama’s from Outer Space | The 2012 Scenario
You remember I said this site won’t be pursuing the story that President Obama was rated better than Mitt Romney at meeting an “alien” attack? The Republicans appear to be testing the water on the “alien” and “starseed” themes, as the following story suggests. The story reflects the reason why we won’t be playing into the cabal’s hands by publicizing stories like this.
Republicans Try to Scare America into Supporting Romney by Claiming Obama’s from Outer Space
By: Jason Easley, Politicus USA, July 8th, 2012
http://www.politicususa.com/republicans-scare-america-supporting-romney-claim...
Since the whole birth certificate thing didn’t pan out, Republicans are trying a new approach. RNC chairman Reince Preibus is claiming that Obama doesn’t live on Earth.
[Chairman Priebus says in the interview:]
“I don’t think people are begging for another four years of this misery, John. And that’s what they’re going to be thinking about in November. Do we want another four years of this stagnant job growth where the president that acts like he’s not living on Earth.”
I know you can’t say it out loud, Chairman Preibus, so you had to put it in code. What you were trying to tell us is that Barack Obama really isn’t “one of us.”
This is definitely taking the othering of President Obama to a whole new galaxy. Not only is Obama not like “real America,” because he was obviously born in Kenya, but he is not even like us earthlings. Obama is so out of touch that it is like he living on another planet. He just doesn’t see reality.
According to Preibus what the country really needs is someone who can connect with the everyday experiences of the American people like Mitt Romney.
What American hasn’t felt the financial insecurity sweep over them when their car elevator broke down? Mitt Romney is real America, real white, real rich, and real out of touch with people which is the new Republican way.
Having established in their minds that Obama is un-American, the Republican Party has moved on to declaring that Obama isn’t even a human being. I guess the Republican Party found us out. Democrats have been running an advanced race of socialist aliens for the presidency since 2000.
Republicans have tried to make America hate President Obama for four years based on his birth certificate and his race. Having failed at both, the GOP is now going the sci fi route.
When the best thing that Republicans can say about their candidate is that he lives on Earth, they think, the GOP has a lot of problems.
All Hail Barack Obama and his White House rotating among the moons of Jupiter, may our non-Earth residing overlord be blessed with a second term.
Auditors ‘Think’ Over $51 Billion of Taxpayer Money Wasted in Iraq | The 2012 Scenario
Auditors ‘Think’ Over $51 Billion of Taxpayer Money Wasted in Iraq
Stephen: So, not only does the cabal cause and create the war that sees the loss of over 120,000 lives; and leaves at least 10 times that figure traumatised for the rest of their lives by what they seen or been made to do…
It devastates and decimates a country and her people, making billions from the sales of legal and illegal arms in doing so… It then gets access to lucrative multi-billion dollar re-build programs, and then wastes billions of taxpayers money it has been paid to undertake (pun intended) the re-build process.
I’m not surprised that no one is quite sure just how much they’ve wasted – the paper trails would be endless. But then, no one could really measure of the true cost of this (and every) futile ‘war’ in dollar terms could they?
Thank goodness none of this will be happening soon.
Auditors Say Billions Likely Wasted in Iraq Work
By Robert Burns, AP National Security Writer, The Associated Press – July 14, 2012
http://www.centurylink.net/news/read.php?id=19003822&;ps=1018&cat=&cps=0&lang=en&src=email
WASHINGTON (AP) — After years of following the paper trail of $51 billion in U.S. taxpayer dollars provided to rebuild a broken Iraq, the U.S. government can say with certainty that too much was wasted. But it can’t say how much.
In what it called its final audit report, the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Funds on Friday spelled out a range of accounting weaknesses that put “billions of American taxpayer dollars at risk of waste and misappropriation” in the largest reconstruction project of its kind in U.S. history.
“The precise amount lost to fraud and waste can never be known,” the report said.
The auditors found huge problems accounting for the huge sums, but one small example of failure stood out: A contractor got away with charging $80 for a pipe fitting that its competitor was selling for $1.41. Why? The company’s billing documents were reviewed sloppily by U.S. contracting officers or were not reviewed at all.
With dry understatement, the inspector general said that while he couldn’t pinpoint the amount wasted, it “could be substantial.”
Asked why the exact amount squandered can never be determined, the inspector general’s office referred The Associated Press to a report it did in February 2009 titled “Hard Lessons,” in which it said the auditors — much like the reconstruction managers themselves — faced personnel shortages and other hazards.
“Given the vicissitudes of the reconstruction effort — which was dogged from the start by persistent violence, shifting goals, constantly changing contracting practices and undermined by a lack of unity of effort — a complete accounting of all reconstruction expenditures is impossible to achieve,” the report concluded.
In that same report, the inspector general, Stuart Bowen, recalled what then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld asked when they met shortly after Bowen started in January 2004: “Why did you take this job? It’s an impossible task.”
By law, Bowen’s office reports to both the secretary of defense and the secretary of state. It goes out of business in 2013.
Bowen’s office has spent more than $200 million tracking the reconstruction funds, and in addition to producing numerous reports, his office has investigated criminal fraud that has resulted in 87 indictments, 71 convictions and $176 million in fines and other penalties. These include civilians and military members accused of kickbacks, bribery, bid-rigging, fraud, embezzlement and outright theft of government property and funds.
Much, however, apparently got overlooked. Example: A $35 million Pentagon project was started in December 2006 to establish the Baghdad airport as an international economic gateway, and the inspector general found that by the end of 2010 about half the money was “at risk of being wasted” unless someone else completed the work.
Of the $51 billion that Congress approved for Iraq reconstruction, about $20 billion was for rebuilding Iraqi security forces and about $20 billion was for rebuilding the country’s basic infrastructure. The programs were run mainly by the Defense Department, the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
A key weakness found by Bowen’s inspectors was inadequate reviewing of contractors’ invoices.
In some cases invoices were checked months after they had been paid because there were too few government contracting officers. Bowen found a case in which the State Department had only one contracting officer in Iraq to validate more than $2.5 billion in spending on a DynCorp contract for Iraqi police training.
“As a result, invoices were not properly reviewed, and the $2.5 billion in U.S. funds were vulnerable to fraud and waste,” the report said. “We found this lack of control to be especially disturbing since earlier reviews of the DynCorp contract had found similar weaknesses.”
In that case, the State Department eventually reconciled all of the old invoices and as of July 2009 had recovered more than $60 million.
The report touched on a problem that cropped up in virtually every major aspect of the U.S. war effort in Iraq, namely, the consequences of fighting an insurgency that proved more resilient than the Pentagon had foreseen. That not only made reconstruction more difficult, dangerous and costly, but also left the U.S. military unprepared for the grind of multiple troop deployments, the tactics of an adaptable insurgency and the complexity of battlefield wounds. It also left the U.S. government short of the expertise it needed to monitor contractors.
Although the audit was labeled as final, a spokesman for Bowen’s office, Christopher M. Griffith, said several more will be done to provide additional details on what the U.S. got for its reconstruction dollars and what was wasted.
Media And The 9/11 Cover- UP : BBC Accused Of Breaking Its Own Fairness Rules – 14 July 2012 | Lucas 2012 Infos
(Lucas : Why we still think even with fairness rules a mayor news outlet is reporting the whole truth is after all the knowledge about manipulations, mindcontrol, etc, you gathered a mystery. Even the blind can hear so open up otherwise your ears and the ultimate remedy is to open up your heart that can feel the truth. That will bring you more clarity in your discernment of true or not.)
BBC reported the “collapse” of WTC-7 almost half an hour before the demolition. Its 9/11 coverage hasn’t gotten any better since then.
Craig McKee’s Truth and Shadows blog is consistently high-quality, and its comments section is becoming a 9/11 truth movement forum. Below is McKee’s latest post. -KB
By Craig McKee
The first time I walked into the offices of my university newspaper to offer my services, I noticed a slogan on the wall that read: “Don’t cover the news, UNcover it.”
That distinction appealed to every idealistic bone in my body. There were 206 of them then, give or take. Things have settled a bit since, but I’m still idealistic to a fault. Even so, my expectations of the mainstream media – at least when it comes to the big picture items – can’t get much lower.
Instead of uncovering the news, now I’d settle for: “Don’t cover it up.”
But that’s exactly what the major media have been doing with 9/11 for nearly 11 years. They have been utterly complicit in the deception since the first moments after the North Tower was hit. And it’s not just the “corporate” media that have driven the cover-up, publicly funded media outlets have been just as guilty.
It’s one of those state funded networks that is now having its own rules used against it. Three British members of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth have filed three formal complaints with the venerable British Broadcasting Corporation for its biased 9/11 coverage.
Peter Drew, Paul Warburton, and Adrian Mallett are using the publicly funded television network’s own rules to highlight its failure to fairly report the facts of 9/11. The three have launched their complaints with the BBC Trust claiming that the network failed to live up to its own Royal Charter and Agreement in two documentaries released last year – The Conspiracy Files: 9/11 Ten Years On and 9/11 Conspiracy Road Trip.
The complaints allege that the docs were not fair, not accurate, and that critical information was deliberately withheld from viewers to further an agenda supporting the official story. The complaints have reached the highest levels of the BBC complaints process, and the complainants are now requesting a face-to-face meeting with BBC Trustees to discuss the situation. A possible result could be an apology or the screening of some documentaries with different points of view (such as films produced by AE) to balance out the record.
The BBC’s Royal Charter and Agreement states: “The Agreement accompanying the BBC Charter specifies that we should do all we can “to ensure that controversial subjects are treated with due accuracy and impartiality” in our news and other output dealing with matters of public policy or political or industrial controversy.”
In its Editorial Values we read: “Impartiality lies at the core of the BBC’s commitment to its audiences. We will apply due impartiality to all our subject matter and will reflect a breadth and diversity of opinion across our output as a whole, over an appropriate period, so that no significant strand of thought is knowingly unreflected or under-represented. We will be fair and open-minded when examining evidence and weighing material facts.”
Not even close. They haven’t even attempted to be fair. The BBC first enraged truthers with its 2007 program 9/11 Conspiracy Files. It is filled with such blatant disinformation that it provoked a counter documentary called 9/11 and the British Broadcasting Conspiracy. This film chronicles how the BBC’s film slanted its coverage to support the official story.
Here are just a few of the issues with that BBC film:
- The fact that the FBI didn’t have enough evidence to link Osama bin Laden to 9/11 was not mentioned
- That FBI director Robert Mueller stated in 2002 that they had no proof that the 19 alleged hijackers were in fact on the planes that day was not mentioned
- They relied on Davin Coburn of Popular Mechanics to back the official story, rarely challenging any of his statements
- The film stated that the U.S. was unprepared to deal with hijacked aircraft even though 67 planes had been intercepted after going off course or out of contact the year before
- The fact that most of the steel from the towers was hauled away without being forensically tested was not mentioned
- That the BBC reported on the collapse of Building 7 20 minutes before it happened was not mentioned
- Contradictions in the Flight Data Recorder data for Flight 77 was not mentioned
- That Israelis linked to Mossad were arrested after “chronicling” the destruction of the towers was not mentioned
This is just touching the surface. There was a lot more they “missed” and a lot of key witnesses they didn’t interview as shown in British Broadcasting Conspiracy.
If 9/11 Conspiracy Files and the Ten Years On follow-up weren’t bad enough, the BBC produced a kind of Magical Mystery Tour attack on “conspiracy theorists” in 9/11 Conspiracy Road Trip to coincide with the 10th anniversary last year.
This ugly piece of work has Irish comic Andrew Maxwell taking five people who don’t believe the official story of 9/11 on a road trip to visit the scenes of the “attacks” so he could show them the error of their ways. The film features the magic conversion of the fakest of 9/11 truthers, Charlie Veitch.
Maxwell wonders aloud at the beginning of the film about how the experience of seeing these 9/11 sights and talking to “experts” might change the views held by these kooky conspiracy theorists.
“Do they harden their opinions?” he wonders in the voice-over. “Or do they step back and realize there was real suffering here?”
Get it? People who don’t believe the official story are insensitive to, or unaware of, the suffering that occurred on 9/11. He also states that he’s “as certain and certain can be that Osama bin Laden order the attacks.” AE911truth is encouraging people to write to the BBC and to Labour Party MP Tom Watson in support of the complaints. Watson is a member of the parliamentary media select committee, which has responsibility for the BBC. For details and sample letters, check here.
None of this, of course, is new. The majority of what has passed for 9/11 journalism is little more than propaganda in support of the official story. At best, basic questions are not asked, and the most obvious anomalies and inconsistencies in the official accounts are ignored or glossed over. At worst, we get a superficial and condescending dismissal of “conspiracy theories” with lip service being paid to telling the public what those theories are based on.
The only real investigative journalism on 9/11 is being done by independent journalists, researchers, and alternative news sites. For an excellent analysis of media complicity, I recommend Barrie Zwicker’s Towers of Deception: The Media Cover-up of 9/11.
In Canada, we have the publicly funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which also has a Charter requiring it to be fair and accurate. The CBC also showed the BBC documentaries in question as well as producing its own 9/11 programs (as part of the current affairs show The Fifth Estate) with very mixed results. I have to say, hearing about what’s being done in the UK is giving me ideas. But that’s another story.
Source: Media and the 9/11 cover-up: BBC accused of breaking its own fairness rules
Common Dreams – Student Groups and Civil Rights Organizations Applaud Dismissal Of Lawsuit Seeking To Chill Student Speech Settlement Agreement Requires Dismissal Of Lawsuit Targeting Arab And Muslim Student Activists – 14 July 2012 | Lucas 2012 Infos
SAN FRANCISCO – July 13 – A settlement agreement terminating a federal lawsuit against UC Berkeley is a victory for free speech, say civil rights advocates and student groups Students for Justice in Palestine (Cal SJP), the Muslim Student Association (Cal MSA), the Asian Law Caucus (ALC), the National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Area Chapter (NLGSF), American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations San Francisco Bay Area (CAIR-SFBA).
“The lawsuit, Felber v. Regents, was based on false and inflammatory allegations that the plaintiffs could not substantiate in court,” said Margaret Zho a student representative of Cal SJP. “It was legal bullying as part of a larger coordinated attempt to silence speech critical of Israel.”
Liz Jackson of NLGSF added, “The facts alleged in the lawsuit were delusional and laced with anti-Arab and Muslim bigotry. The settlement agreement proves that the lawsuit was meritless. The only outcome is a promise that the University will hold a public meeting to discuss clarification of some policies about the use of toy weapons and the flow of foot traffic in symbolic displays on campus. But the University is not obligated to change any of its speech policies.”
Students have long held symbolic demonstrations criticizing the Israeli occupation at U.C. Berkeley, including mock checkpoints which aim to bring awareness to how Palestinian civilians are treated at Israeli military checkpoints in the occupied Palestinian Territories. These checkpoints are staffed by students of all backgrounds, including Jewish students, who engage in the simulation with fellow actors in full accordance with campus protest regulations. In 2011, two students affiliated with the pro-Israel student group Tikvah filed and twice amended a lawsuit claiming that their civil rights were infringed by the University’s toleration of speech singling out Israel for harsh criticism.
“The allegations in the Felber lawsuit and the strategy behind bringing the suit were carefully calibrated to defame and harass Arab and Muslim student groups at Cal,” said Mohamed Haimoud, president of Cal MSA.
An earlier version of the lawsuit was dismissed by the Court in December 2011. In dismissing the case, the Court held that plaintiffs had failed to allege any viable cause of action and that U.C. Berkeley, the birthplace of the free speech movement, might violate the First Amendment if it attempted to curb criticism of Israel. After the dismissal, the lawsuit was amended, and plaintiffs and the University entered into settlement negotiations resulting in the recently announced settlement agreement.
“The terms of the settlement agreement support our position that the lawsuit was baseless. The agreement reflects a rejection of the two core fallacies in the lawsuit: first, that the allegations themselves were false, and second, that criticism of the humanitarian crisis created by the state of Israel is not anti-Semitism,” stated George Khadifa, an incoming ASUC student senator and a student representative of Cal SJP.
Having failed in court, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the plaintiffs have now filed complaints with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Education (DOE) asserting the same false allegations. This is a continued attempt to squelch Cal SJP and Cal MSA speech rights, as part of a larger coordinated assault on free speech. Efforts are also underway to pressure the UC Regents to issue policies which unlawfully restrict student speech.
“Cal SJP, Cal MSA and our civil rights partners will work to ensure that these complaints are dismissed and the legacy of U.C. Berkeley as the birthplace of free speech is protected,” stated ASUC Senator Sadia Saifuddin.
SEE: Settlement Agreement, U.C. Berkeley Statement Re Settlement, and the Court’s dismissal of prior version of lawsuit.
Max Keiser On Press TV – European Banks Are Technicaly Bankrupt – 14 July 2012 | Lucas 2012 Infos
Uploaded on 13 July 2012 by MaxKeiserTV
A new report by the International Labor Organization (ILO) says the eurozone is in danger of losing 4.5 million jobs over the next four years, unless it changes its current economic policies.
Brittany Stepniak – Bounty Hunters Unleashed On Crooked Bankers – 14 July 2012 | Lucas 2012 Infos
Iceland has potentially set a new trend in the finance community. According to Business Insider, their government has hired an ex-cop; a white collar crime bounty hunter who wants to make sure the bankster criminals pay the price for their elaborate crimes.
Iceland’s government appointed Ólafur Þór Hauksson to locate such individuals that had a helping hand in the collapse of the banking sector in a time of extreme credit-crunching. Hauksson is responsible for investigating any and all suspicious cases involving fraud before 2009.
The good news for him is that he’s not working alone. He’s got 100 top-notch researches rigorously working around the clock to help make this a smoother and quicker process.
Mr. Hauksson expands on this notion saying, “…on the other hand, we bring the lawsuits against the suspects to court ourselves.” This technique is brand new stuff which allows the investigators to “follow the case” and the judicial system to “know the cases like the back of their hand”. This is undeniably advantageous in order “to compete with the well-prepared defence attorneys”.
And don’t think that fleeing the country warrants your safekeeping. LeMonde reporter Charlotte Chabas explains, “Searches continue and the team pursues its investigations abroad in the foreign subsidiaries of the Icelandic banks and includes questioning foreigners.” “We enjoy full international cooperation,’ adds Olafur Hauksson.”
Hauksson has all of his ducks in a row when it comes to this mission and he’s got some impressive convictions under his belt meriting quite a bit of respect for the success he’s experienced in this new job. He’s even tracked down the former chief of staff of the country’s finance minister and arrested him for insider trading.
While many criminals that have already been caught still await their sentencing, Hauksson is actively on the prowl to find more felons. With plenty of places to run, but nowhere to hide, some big bankers are surely weak in the knees and stressed to the core.
Who’s to say other countries aren’t already doing the very same thing in order to crack down on the greed and fraudulence that led to the latest overwhelming economic collapse?…
Source: http://www.wealthwire.com/news/finance/3501?utm_source=feedburner&utm_med...:+wealthwire+(Wealth+Wire)
Similar Story: http://www.businessinsider.com/iceland-has-hired-an-ex-cop-bounty-hunter-to-g...
www.wealthwire.com link to original article / www.soundofheart.org -The Galactic Free Press – link to article
RT – Blockade Breakdown: WikiLeaks Wins Case Against Visa – 14 July 2012 | Lucas 2012 Infos
Uploaded on 12 July 2012 by RussiaToday.
A court in Iceland has ruled that Visa and MasterCard’s local partner broke the law in the country by blocking WikiLeaks from receiving money. The court ordered the company to resume processing donations to the website within two weeks – or face daily fines of over 6 thousand dollars. For more RT talks to human rights activist Peter Tatchell.
Breaking News – FBI UFO Disclosure On FOX News 13 July 2012 – 14 July 2012 | Lucas 2012 Infos
Uploaded on 13 July 2012 by DDSDTV.
Project Blue Book; DISCLOSURE JULY 13, 2012 (((BREAKING NEWS))) FBI ADMITS TO UFO CRASH AND ALIEN TECHNOLOGY. THE FBI ASSURE US THAT THE ALIENS ARE FRIENDLY AND DO NOT POSE A THREAT TO HUMANS.
Thanks Rain – www.soundofheart.org – The Galactic Free Press
Hong Kong Graft Watchdog Arrests New Minister – 13 July 2012
HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s anti-corruption watchdog said Thursday it had arrested a minister for allegedly abusing his housing allowances, plunging the new government into scandal.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said it had arrested four people including a minister and a senior civil servant for allegedly violating their government housing allowances.
Public broadcaster RTHK identified the officials as development minister Mak Chai-kwong and Tsang King-man, an assistant highways director. An ICAC spokesman declined to comment when contacted by AFP.
Read the whole story at: www.channelnewsasia.com / link to original article /www.2012indyinfo.com link to article
Nassim Haramein – Sacred Geometry & Unified Fields – 13 July 2012 | Lucas 2012 Infos
Uploaded by imzaiaTV on 24 November 2011.
At the Nexus Conference in July 2010, physicist Nassim Haramein presented new concepts explaining how we are all interconnected and can access infinite knowledge.
http://www.theresonanceproject.org
Full Bio:
As early as 9 years old, Nassim was already developing the basis for a unified hyperdimensional theory of matter and energy, which he eventually called the “Holofractographic Universe.”
Haramein has spent most of his life researching the fundamental geometry of hyperspace, studying a variety of fields from theoretical physics, cosmology, quantum mechanics, biology and chemistry to anthropology and ancient civilizations. Combining this knowledge with a keen observation of the behavior of nature, he discovered a specific geometric array that he found to be fundamental to creation and from which the foundation for his Unified Field Theory emerged.
This unification theory, known as the Haramein-Rauscher metric (a new solution to Einstein’s Field Equations that incorporates torque and Coriolis effects) and his last published paper The Schwarzschild Proton, lays down the foundation of what could be a fundamental change in our current understandings of physics and consciousness. This groundbreaking theory has now been delivered to the scientific community through peer-reviewed papers and presentations at international physics conferences. Further, The Schwarzschild Proton paper recently received the prestigious “Best Paper Award” in the field of physics, quantum mechanics, relativity, field theory, and gravitation at the University of Liège, Belgium during the 9th International Conference CASYS’09.
Fluent in both French and English, Haramein has been giving lectures and seminars on his unification theory for over 20 years. His lectures are engaging multimedia presentations that lead his audiences through the validity of his theories with extensive observational and theoretical data.
In addition to his scientific papers, Mr. Haramein imparts this theory in a layman’s paper, a 4 DVD set entitled “Crossing the Event Horizon: Rise to the Equation,” a 90-minute DVD entitled “Black Whole,” and his international speaking tours.
In the past 10 years, Haramein has directed research teams of physicists, electrical engineers, mathematicians and other scientists in exploring the various aspects of unification principles and their implications in our world today . He has founded a non-profit organization, the Resonance Project Foundation, where, as the Director of Research, he continues in developing a research park in Hawai’i where science, sustainability, and advanced technology come together to generate viable solutions for our planet’s current energy crisis.
Greg Giles – Message From The Galactic Federation Of Light – 14 July 2012 | Lucas 2012 Infos
You are hearing this; Timothy Geithner, Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, has been taken into custody, has been tried by our High Courts, and has been convicted and has been sentenced for his crimes against the people of the United States who he was sworn to serve, but instead chose to victimize, steal from and manipulate, and push to the brink of financial destitution. This individual, after careful contemplation of his crimes against you, the people, has been sentenced to a maximum life of 63 years, of which time he is to spend in a mortal physical vessel where he will be reeducated and rehabilitated before he is once again permitted to walk freely amongst the people of a free society.
This is his punishment; this is the retribution for his crimes. There is no other penalty imposed upon this individual, and there will not be any further punishment imposed upon this soul, as he will receive just what it is he needs to further develop, grow and mature as a being on a journey through physicality, and soon the spiritual realms of this multidimensional universe. Do you see dear ones, what we mean when we say that there will be those of the cabal arrested and there will be those of the cabal sentenced for their crimes against you? No member of the cabal will walk free without first receiving rehabilitation services in the form of programs offered to them by we of the higher dimensions.
Not all, if even many, of the arrestees of the cabal and their minions will be tried and, if convicted, sentenced within courts of law of the different jurisdictions of your world. A large number of those being taken into custody will stand before a High Court manned by ascended beings whose task it is is to review the life record of the accused and determine a suitable means for their successful rehabilitation. Punishment is not the order of the day, though this word can be used loosely, it can be used poetically, metaphorically, and it can be used by those of you who feel better feeling someone has been punished for their crimes against you. We say to you though, no one at all will be ‘punished’, in this sense of the word, for their crimes against you or any of their crimes. Instead, we wish to focus only on effective measures of rehabilitation, as rehabilitation for a soul is what will give them another chance and an opportunity to develop into a worthy member of a societal structure, either here on Earth or another planet in this solar system, galaxy or universe.
There are many worlds who can and will benefit from the existence and the citizenship of many of these members of the cabal who have already been or will be arrested for crimes against humanity. These souls are not lost souls as no one is truly lost, as we are all finding our way someway, somehow, someday. In this light, is a soul really ever lost if a soul will always find their way home? A soul is never truly lost. A soul, no matter which dark or negative detour they may take for a while to experience certain aspects of themselves, of life and of existence, to wander and explore through lower depths of themselves, is still walking back towards the light and their Creator, even when they are walking downhill and in the opposite direction, for this multidimensional universe is a one-way street. This is the greatest secret that we will share with you today. There is only one way, and that way is back into the light, back into your Godliness, your holiness, your greatness, your life in eternal light.
This man who you know as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury is and has always been heading in the same direction as those of you who may today see him as the enemy, as an opposing force, as a criminal, as darkness. He is not though, anything different than you. You are all the same; you are all of the light. You are all a part of your and our Creator and so is he, and he will continue his journey now, though he will receive further assistance that will help him develop at a little faster pace than he has experienced through recent incarnations. This is where we, your ascended family of the Galactic Federation of Light, step in and use our levels of expertise, our wisdom and our systems and structures to assist a soul on their journey.
Our job is not and has never been, to come to a world and take people into custody and throw them into dungeons or prison cells. This is ungodly and unholy treatment of another soul, and we do not participate in such cruelty to others and we never will. Timothy Geithner will be treated with love, with kindness, with caring, with patience. He, the soul that he is, will be blessed with the loving, nurturing wisdom and guidance of a higher dimensional being who has amassed superior wisdom and skills through his or her many experiences that yes, have also taken them through dark corridors just as their student may have wandered, just like Mr. Geithner.
Do you understand now that we all take these detours through the darkness, through tests and trials of our spirit, our soul, for if we did not, how would we ever know that we are of the light if we did not defend ourselves from being submerged by the darkness? The dark is a task, a challenge, an ocean we must learn to cross by building a ship made of light. The dark is a sharpened sword that we must forge a shield of light to defend ourselves against. The dark is a foe when it needs to be a foe, and the dark is a friend when it needs to be a friend, but the dark is never truly your enemy. He is your friend because he does help you find your way back into the light, back to where it is you always are, as in the light is where you always belong, where you were born, where you may seemingly die, where you will reemerge and where you will eternally exist on your never ending journey back to source.
We hope today’s message reaches many of you who may now see through the darkness and see the darkness in a little brighter way, a little brighter sense today. We are your family of light, existing within the darkness of this universe that contrasts the light and lets us see how it shines so bright. We are the Galactic Federation of Light.As channeled through Greg Giles
Saudi King Invites New Egypt President to Friendly Talks | The 2012 Scenario
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah (R) meets with Egypt’s President Mohamed Mursi at the Royal Palace in Jeddah airport July 11, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Saudi Press Agency/Handout
Saudi King Invites New Egypt President to Friendly Talks
sage: These sorts of “olive branches” warm the cockles of our hearts.
King Abdullah, a prominent member of the Committee of 300 (http://the2012scenario.com/2012/04/ever-wondered-just-who-is-the-committee-of..., enjoyed close relations with Egypt’s former dictator, Hosni Mubarak. So one may assume that now Egypt has a democratically-elected President (its first), Mohamed Mursi, King Abdullah may feel threatened.
But it seems this is not so. Saudi Arabia has been lending assistance to Egypt and the countries’ two leaders are now meeting and talking, at King Abdullah’s invitation. I feel that this may be further proof of a turning point and the ongoing trek to peace for these middle-eastern countries.
Egypt’s Mursi Visits Saudi Arabia to Mend Ties
By Asma Alsharif, Reuters, Jedda, Saudi Arabia, July 12, 2012
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/12/us-saudi-egypt
(Reuters) – Saudi Arabia gave a lavish reception to Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi on Thursday, a gesture analysts said indicated the Arab world’s wealthiest country was ready to put old tensions behind it to do business with the new Islamist president.
In his first official foreign visit since his election in June, Mursi, who belonged to Egypt’s influential Muslim Brotherhood movement which had long had strained ties with Saudi Arabia, arrived in Jeddah late on Wednesday.
Saudi media said on Thursday that Crown Prince Salman and a host of other royal family members were at the airport to greet Mursi upon his arrival in Jeddah, the summer seat of the Saudi government, before he was driven to a meeting and dinner with King Abdullah late on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia enjoyed strong ties with former president Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled last year by a popular uprising that propelled Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood to the top political spot in the Arab world’s most populous country.
The Brotherhood and Saudi Arabia share Sunni Muslim values, but Riyadh regards the movement as an ideological rival with an aggressively activist political doctrine that might destabilize allies and foment discord inside the kingdom.
Yet Mursi’s election left Saudi Arabia with little option other than to try to extend its hand to the new president.
Saudi analysts said the reception King Abdullah prepared for Mursi showed the kingdom was willing to start a new era in relations with the Muslim Brotherhood.
“The message is that we have no problem with the revolution or the Brotherhood and let’s continue with the well-established Saudi-Egyptian relationship,” said Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi analyst.
Hussein Shobokshi, another Saudi commentator, said: “Through this visit Saudi Arabia has made it very clear and obvious that it is over the Mubarak era and that it has started a new chapter with the new leader of Egypt.”
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, has pledged $2.7 billion to support Egypt’s battered finances after the uprising that toppled Mubarak.
But relations nosedived in April when Riyadh briefly recalled it ambassador to Cairo, Ahmed al-Qattan, after protests outside the embassy over the arrest of an Egyptian lawyer in the kingdom.
Egyptian parliament members, including senior Muslim Brotherhood figures, travelled to Saudi Arabia to defuse tensions.
INVITATION
Saudi Arabia took the first step towards building new ties with Egypt. Qattan said earlier this month that King Abdullah had extended an invitation to Mursi to visit Saudi Arabia.
Saudi media said the talks centered on “major regional and international issues, including ways to contain the Syrian crisis”, but revealed few details.
Saudi Arabia has been a major supporter of Syrian rebels trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. Mursi has said that Egypt would work to end bloodshed in Syria.
Saudi media said that Mursi’s visit was a recognition by Egypt of Saudi Arabia’s regional weight.
“By choosing the kingdom for his first visit abroad, … Mursi recognizes that the two countries are the pillars of Arab national security,” the deputy editor of Saudi Arabia’s al-Riyadh newspaper, Yousuf Al Kuwailet, wrote in a column.
The Arabic language al-Watan daily said that Mursi’s visit was a signal that Saudi Arabia and Egypt were ready to work together on critical regional issues, such as Syria.
“The Saudi and Egyptian leadership greatly realize the importance of tidying up the ‘geo-political house’ of the region and to prepare things for a new Syria,” Yasir ba Amer wrote in al-Watan.
Mursi was due to make a minor pilgrimage to the Muslim holy city of Mecca on Thursday and to meet members of the Egyptian community in Jeddah before returning home.
(Reporting by Sami Aboudi and Asma al-Sharif; Editing by Samia Nakhoul and Andrew Osborn)
