Month: December 2015

Ex-Goldman Banker Who Profited from Housing Crash and Subsequent Bailout Donates $100k to Hillary SuperPAC

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Hillary Clinton is so completely owned and captured by Wall Street, she recently decided the only way to defend such blatant ties is to shamelessly say she helped them because of 9/11.

In case you need further evidence of how confident financial cronies are that she will do their every bidding, we learn the following from the Intercept:

The fact remains that the Clinton campaign is fundraising heavily from Wall Street. Contributions from the securities and investment industries comprise her fourth-largest pile of campaign money, totaling $2,044,471. Commercial banks have given $443,519 directly to her campaign.

One major donor to her Super PAC, Priorities USA, is Donald Mullen, Jr., a man who was singularly able to profit from the financial crisis both before and after the crash of the housing bubble.

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The Worldwide Terror Incubator – San Bernardino Shooters Had Extensive Links to Saudi Arabia

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The terror attacks of September 11, 2001 came and went, with the dimwitted American public immediately being informed that the “Axis of Evil” had been identified by government. We were told it consisted of Iran, Iraq and North Korea. Mind you, a total of zero terrorists involved in the 9/11 attacks came from these three countries, while 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens. Naturally, this raised a total of zero questions from the status quo, which has only solidified its alliance with the barbaric Kingdom in subsequent years.

This continued alliance persists despite mounting evidence of additional disturbing links between the Saudis and the 9/11 attacks. It also comes despite a seemingly never-ending string of human rights abuses. Additionally, with almost every new terror attack or emergent terror network, some sort of Saudi-link is almost always right there at the scene of the crime. The latest example relates to the San Bernardino shooters.

Multiple mainstream media outlets have reported on these links. First, from Reuters:

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Indian Government Fails to Get Citizens’ Gold, So it Shifts Focus to Temple Stash

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The scheme has only attracted about one kilogram in a month, prompting the government to nudge temples through banks to hand over their treasures, the sources said, but at least one temple said it was still unconvinced by the plan.

“Convincing retail consumers is not an easy task, it takes time,” said a senior official with a state bank, who declined to be named. “We’re planning now to focus on institutions like temples.”

A finance ministry official said if banks fail to win over temples, the government could intervene directly by talking to the temples as it is looking for a big boost to the scheme to keep both imports and the current account deficit under control.

– From the Reuters article: India Targets Temple Gold Hoard to Rescue Monetization Plan

The Indian government has been trying to get its citizenry to relinquish its gold to the bankers for a very long time. I’ve covered this saga periodically over the past several years, most recently in last month’s post, A Warning to Indian Citizens – Your Government Wants Your Gold. Here’s an excerpt:

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U.S. Military “Task Force” Wasted $150 Million on Luxury Hotels, Private Guards and 3-Star Meals in Afghanistan

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The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) is asking why a small Department of Defense task force charged with developing the Afghan economy spent nearly $150 million on private villas, security guards and luxury meals while operating in the country between 2010 and 2014.

In its letter, SIGAR said that task force employees had solicited military contractor Triple Canopy to provide rooming for them that included “Western-style hotel accommodations,” such as flat-screen televisions, mini-refrigerators and DVD players. Contractors were also hired to provide food service that was “at least 3 stars,” specifying that each meal contain “at least two entree choices and three side order choices.” Triple Canopy was also instructed to ensure that three-course meals were available for “special events.”

Triple Canopy is one of the firms that have financially benefited the most from post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, earning roughly $2.2 billion in government contracts since 2003, according to the Project on Government Oversight. The company has continued to receive lucrative government contracts despite being at the center of several controversies related to the killing of civilians in Iraq by its employees and providing falsified documents for its private security guards.

– From the Intercept article: Pentagon Task Force Spent Nearly $150M on Villas and 3-Star Meals in Afghanistan

For all its failings, one thing the U.S. government has achieved in Afghanistan is a tremendous enrichment of military contractors and warlords on behalf of the American taxpayer.

Of course, today’s story is only the latest in a series of stories related to taxpayer fraud and theft which have been unveiled in the past year alone. Let’s revisit some prior examples.

First, the following is from July’s post, How the U.S. Government Squandered $1 Billion in Taxpayer Funds on “Ghost Schools” and Warlords in Afghanistan:

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Trump to Sheldon Adelson Conference – “You’re Not Going to Support Me Because I Don’t Want Your Money”

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You’re not going to support me because I don’t want your money.

That’s why you don’t want to give me money, OK, but that’s OK, you want to control your own politician. That’s fine, good.

– Donald Trump at the Sheldon Adelson-funded Republican Jewish Coalition

Earlier today, I highlighted an article in the Liberty Links section, detailing how all the Republican candidates for President had made it a point to attend today’s conference held by the Republican Jewish Coalition in order to grovel before supporters of one of the most dangerous American oligarchs, Sheldon Adelson. A man who earlier in this year proudly stated: “I don’t like journalism.”

Here are a few excerpts from the Haaretz piece, titled, Casino Magnate Sheldon Adelson Draws GOP Hopefuls to Jewish Conference:

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Liberty Links – 12/3/15

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Below are links to some of the more interesting and important reads I came across today, but will not be publishing on in detail.

This post will be updated with new links throughout the day.

Bill Gross on Central Banks: They’re ‘Casinos’ (More like criminal cartels, Wall Street Journal)

Service Industries in U.S. Grew at Slower Pace in November (Bloomberg)

What to Watch as Court Weighs Fate of Net Neutrality (National Journal)

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German Intelligence Warns – Saudi Arabia to Play “Destabilizing Role” in the Middle East

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Saudi Arabia is at risk of becoming a major destabilizing influence in the Arab world, German intelligence has warned. 

Internal power struggles and the desire to emerge as the leading Arab power threaten to make the key Western ally a source of instability, according to the BND intelligence service. 

“The current cautious diplomatic stance of senior members of the Saudi royal family will be replaced by an impulsive intervention policy,” a BND memo widely distributed to the German press reads. 

Saudi Arabia has previously been accused of supplying arms and funding to jihadist groups fighting in Syria, including Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil).

– From the Telegraph article: Saudi Arabia ‘Destabilizing Arab World’, German Intelligence Warns

To understand the enormously dangerous wildcard that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia represents in modern geopolitics, you must understand what is going on behind the scenes.

While the Saudis were a shady monarchy well before King Abdullah passed away, the disaster that has succeeded him will make the prior rulers look like philosopher kings by comparison. Of course, this is always the risk when it comes to hereditary rule, you never know what kind of psychopath is lurking next in line. In the case of the Saudis, although the current King is Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the guy who really wields power, and who appears to be a ticking time bomb, is his son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as “Reckless.”

As I noted in September’s post, Regime Change is Coming – Saudi Prince Calls for Coup to Remove King:

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Mark Zuckerberg to Place Facebook “Philanthropic” Shares in a For-Profit LLC – This is Why

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Yesterday, all the media hoopla over Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement to “give away” 99% of his Facebook shares to philanthropic causes, came and went in the expected torrent of internet commentary. However, what you might have missed are the specifics around how he decided to safeguard those shares, and how unusual the for-profit LLC structure is for a charity.

Bloomberg reports:

The decision by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, to gradually give away 99 percent of their Facebook fortune is big news not just for the huge sum involved—about $46 billion—but for how the couple chose to achieve their philanthropic goal. Rather than set up a private foundation or charitable trust as Bill and Melinda Gates did, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will be structured as a limited liability corporation. 

It’s a highly unusual step for a massive philanthropy. “I’ve never seen someone set up an LLC exclusively for a philanthropic purpose before,” says Jane Wales, vice president of philanthropy and society at the Aspen Institute. “Normally they set up a foundation for the tax advantages of doing so.” Here are some significant ways that LLC status will shape what Zuckerberg and Chan do with their wealth.

1. There won’t be limits on lobbying

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Hollywood Unplugged – Brad Pitt Says It’s Business as Usual for Wall Street’s Criminal Class

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Hollywood has returned to its cold war role, led by liberals. Ben Affleck’s Oscar-winning Argo is the first feature film so integrated into the propaganda system that its subliminal warning of Iran’s “threat” is offered as Obama is preparing, yet again, to attack Iran. That Affleck’s “true story” of good-guys-vbad- Muslims is as much a fabrication as Obama’s justification for his war plans is lost in PR-managed plaudits. As the independent critic Andrew O’Hehir points out, Argo is “a propaganda movie in the truest sense, one that claims to be innocent of all ideology”. That is, it debases the art of film-making to reflect an image of the power it serves.

– From the post: How Hollywood Became “Propagandist in Chief” by John Pilger

Hollywood’s refusal to cover issues of national importance, as opposed to largely producing inane nonsense or outright government propaganda, represents a gigantic stain on America’s creative arts scene. Indeed, after reading the story below, you have to wonder just how deeply the CIA has penetrated Tinseltown…

Remember Zero Dark Thirty? Turns Out it was a CIA Propaganda Film After All

Given this backdrop, Brad Pitt certainly deserves credit for making the following comments in a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter discussing his role in the screen adaptation of Michael Lewis’ The Big Short:

How did you become involved as a producer?

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Liberty Links – 12/2/15

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Below are links to some of the more interesting and important reads I came across today, but will not be publishing on in detail.

This post will be updated with new links throughout the day.

Guantanamo Bay Detainee Held By Mistake for 13 Years (NBC News)

American Journalist Murdered For Exposing Turkey’s ISIS Ties (WeAreChange)

Hedge Funds Brace for Redemptions (Bloomberg)

Spanish Court Rejects Catalan Independence Resolution (AP)

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