UN panel calls for new global reserve, credit systems to avert future crises
UN News Service -Sept 10, 2009
So here is another item, straight from the United Nations News Service, talking about a 'global reserve currency'. Yes, 'globalization' changes many factors regarding finance and economics in general, but is it really the way we should do business?
Should countries lose control over their own currency and economy through 'treaties' and the like?
Is this rather a way to 'equalize', or to use the 'politically correct' buzzword, to 'harmonize' every country's economy on the planet?
We are moving closer to a 'one world' currency, and because it moves slowly, most do not see what is happening, just like watching grass grow.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32020&Cr=financial+crisis&Cr1=
Energy Firms Find No Unity on Climate Bill
By JOHN BRODER and JAD MOUAWAD - New York Times October 18, 2009
"WASHINGTON — As the Senate prepares to tackle global warming, the nation’s energy producers, once united, are battling one another over policy decisions worth hundreds of billions of dollars in coming decades. Some supporters of global warming legislation believe that the division in the once-monolithic oil and gas industry, as well as other splits among energy producers, could improve the prospects for the legislation.
“It’s much harder to pass clean-energy legislation when big oil and other energy interests are united in their opposition,” said Daniel J. Weiss, climate policy director at the liberal Center for American Progress.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/business/energy-environment/19fuel.html?_r=1&hp
9 Banks in Major Holding Company Fail
FBOP's banks in California, Illinois, Texas and Arizona bring the number of '09 failures to 115. Depositors insured up to $250,000.
CNN Money - Oct. 30, 2009
"....The nine banks are Bank USA N.A. of Phoenix, California National Bank of Los Angeles, San Diego National Bank of San Diego, Pacific National Bank of San Francisco, Park National Bank of Chicago, Community Bank of Lemont in Lemont, Ill., North Houston Bank in Houston, Madisonville State Bank in Madisonville, Texas, and Citizens National Bank of Teague, Texas....."
http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/30/news/economy/fbop_failure/index.htm
High Street Banks to be Broken Up
By KAMAL AHMED/Business Editor - PATRICK HENNESSY/Political Editor - Telegraph U.K.
Oct. 31, 2009
".....Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, will confirm over the next few days that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group, both of which are majority-owned by the taxpayer, will be split up.
Many of their assets will be sold off in deals which ministers will present as fulfilling Gordon Brown's promise that the taxpayer would get "pay back" for the multi-billion pound Government bail out of the sector last year....."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/6475562/High-street-banks-to-be-broken-up.html
Pfizer Pays Record Settlement in Marketing-Violation Case
By JUN YAN - Psychiactric News - October 2, 2009
"This marks the fourth time in the past decade that the world's largest pharmaceutical company has agreed to pay the government after charges of unlawful marketing practices were filed.
Pfizer Inc. will pay $2.3 billion in a massive settlement of civil and criminal charges for illegally promoting prescription drugs for unapproved indications and bribing physicians with kickbacks, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on September 2......"
http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/44/19/1?maxtoshow=&HITS=20&hits=20&RESULTFORMAT=&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&displaysectionid=Legal+News&resourcetype=HWCIT&eaf
Dallas Fed chief says local firms likely to reap globalization benefits
By BRENDAN CASE - The Dallas Morning News - Oct. 17, 2009
"World trade has plummeted during the worst recession since the Great Depression, but increased global economic integration isn't on its way out, said Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher.
"Globalization is proceeding," Fisher said at a Friday conference on the global economy at Southern Methodist University. "That's the good news."...
.....Fisher, who was deputy U.S. trade representative in the Clinton administration, also warned that increased trade protectionism would hurt the global economy.
"One cannot be too blunt about the dangers of protectionism," he said. "It is, quite frankly, the crack cocaine of economics: It may provide politicians with a temporary high, yet it is instantly addictive and inevitably proves debilitating and fatal."...."
(ED. Note: I guess he hasn't read the U.S. Constitution!.Sounds like 'British Free Trade', instead of good ole' 'American System' economics)
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-Fisher_17bus.ART.State.Edition1.3cf43c7.html
Wall Street on Track to Award Record pay!
By AARON LUCCHETTI and STEPHEN GROCER - Wall Street Journal - Oct. 14, 2009
"Major U.S. banks and securities firms are on pace to pay their employees about $140 billion this year -- a record high that shows compensation is rebounding despite regulatory scrutiny of Wall Street's pay culture.
Workers at 23 top investment banks, hedge funds, asset managers and stock and commodities exchanges can expect to earn even more than they did the peak year of 2007, according to an analysis of securities filings for the first half of 2009 and revenue estimates through year-end by The Wall Street Journal......"
(ED. Note: This is a real 'slap in the face' to the U.S. Taxpayer. After the Wall Street crowd gambled money away for years, lied and cheated the system, and mainly the investors - and instead of losing their jobs and companies because of poor performance, as most other companies would do, they then get money from the U.S. Government, YOU! - and now, voila! - they're making more money for that poor perfomance!!!)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125547830510183749.html
The New York Times plans 8 pct newsroom staff cuts
Boston Globe -oct. 19, 2009
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/10/19/the_new_york_times_plans_8_pct_newsroom_staff_cuts/?s_campaign=8315
Insider trading case puts Indian business school in spotlight
By SUMEET CHATTERJEE - Reuters - Oct. 19, 2009
"BANGALORE - The Indian School of Business, backed by some of the leading global companies, has been dealt another black eye with an executive board member charged over the largest hedge fund insider-trading scheme.
Billionaire Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam and five others, were charged by U.S. investigators on Friday in an insider-trading case, generating profits of more than $20 million over several years......"The incident is strange and shocking," said Rishi Sahai, managing director of Cogence Advisors, a New Delhi-based corporate advisory firm. "Greed has overpowered all the corporate and management rationalities."....."
http://www.reuters.com/article/email/idUSTRE59I2UB20091019
Merck starts revealing payments to doctor-speakers
By LINDA A. JOHNSON - Boston Globe - AP Business Writer - Oct. 19, 2009
"TRENTON, N.J.—Merck & Co. paid doctors and nurses a total of $3.7 million this summer to give talks to colleagues about the drugmaker's products and other health topics, Merck disclosed Monday.
Amid growing criticism of industry influence over which treatments doctors choose for their patients, the company posted a database on its Web site listing speaking fees paid to 1,078 doctors, researchers, nurses and other health professionals. It covers July through September, and Merck -- the second major drugmaker to disclose payments to doctors -- plans to update it regularly.
"There's been a tremendous amount of misunderstanding" about the relationship between industry and doctors, said Dr. Richard Pasternak, Merck's head of scientific affairs. "This shines a light on it."
.....He said Merck's programs are balanced and some cover strategies for improving care, such as understanding patients from different cultures. Many focus on new research or overall care for a particular disease for which Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck sells a drug......"
http://www.boston.com/business/healthcare/articles/2009/10/19/merck_starts_revealing_payments_to_doctor_speakers/?s_campaign=8315
Bloomberg Wins Bidding For BusinessWeek
By TOM LOWRY - Business Week - October 13
"Bloomberg LP, the global financial data and news empire created by New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, is the winning bidder for BusinessWeek.
Terms of the offer will not be disclosed by Bloomberg and BusinessWeek parent McGraw-Hill Cos. But knowledgeable sources say that Bloomberg’s cash offer is in the $2 million to $5 million range and that it has agreed to assume liabilities, including potential severance payments. It remains to be seen how much of the magazine’s 400-plus staff Bloomberg plans to cut, but reports of a planned scorched earth campaign are overblown, say sources. BusinessWeek editor-in-chief Steve Adler told his staff shortly after the deal was announced....."
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/FineOnMedia/archives/2009/10/bloomberg_wins.html
Carl Icahn resigns from Yahoo board of directors
By TOM KRAZIT - CNET -Oct. 23, 2009
Carl Icahn, who launched a shareholder insurrection at Yahoo last year over its handling of a takeover offer from Microsoft, is leaving Yahoo's board of directors.
MarketWatch reported Friday that Icahn has informed the company he's moving on to other interests. It's been a over a year since he forced his way onto the board after expressing his displeasure at Yahoo's rejection of Microsoft's offer to acquire the company, which at one point was valued at $33 a share. Yahoo's stock closed at $17.22 on Friday.
Yahoo confirmed Icahn's departure, and said in a statement: "Carl has been an important member of our Board and has helped us through some significant transitions. We are all grateful for his active role shaping the future of Yahoo."
Icahn has recently turned his famously wandering eye to struggling financier CIT Group, offering it a $6 billion loan. In a letter to Yahoo, he said "I don't believe that it is necessary at this time to have an activist on the Board of Yahoo and currently, my attention is focused on other matters."
(ED. Note: Icahn's saying that he is, 'focused on other matters', means that he is out to destroy yet another company! Ichan's activities in the 1980's helped to destroy TWA airlines, and other companies. Certainly business's shouldn't be used for Monopoly game playing pieces - it destroys personal livelihood's and economies in general)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10382456-265.html
Apple on Snow Leopard Bug: Help Is on the Way!
By BRIAN X. CHEN - Wired - Oct. 13, 2009
"In response to widespread media coverage Monday, Apple has acknowledged a bug in its latest operating system, Snow Leopard, that involved some users losing a large amount of their data when logging into guest accounts.
“We are aware of the issue, which occurs only in extremely rare cases, and we are working on a fix,” an Apple representative said in a statement.
As far back as September, a number of Snow Leopard users documented the problem on several forum threads. They said the bug involves the home directory — the Mac’s primary user folder — being replaced with an empty folder after users log in with a Guest account. That resulted in loss of documents, downloads, pictures, music and other types of files, the affected users claimed......"
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/10/snow-leopard-bug
Silicon Valley espionage case only second of kind in nation to go to trial
By HOWARD MINTZ - Mercurynews.com/San Jose Mercury News - Oct. 18, 2009
"By the time the FBI came knocking on their doors in July 2003, engineers Lan Lee and Yuefei Ge were already caught in the cross hairs of a government investigation into whether they were stealing technology from their Silicon Valley employers to establish a rival company backed by China.
More than six years later, the story of their suspected theft of superfast computer chip plans is about to emerge from the shadows. In the second trial of its kind in the nation, the engineers are set to face economic espionage charges in federal court in San Jose. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday......"
http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_13590675?source=email&nclick_check=1
Doctors' orders: Avoid insurance
Many physicians, fed up with patient overload and filing claims, are minimizing insurance-based
coverage and offering round-the-clock service for a retainer.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/17/news/economy/healthcare_retainer_doctors/index.htm?postversion=
2009081714
Banks still stuck with the junk
By DAVID ELLIS - CNNMoney.com staff writer - October 9, 2009
"The nation's banks are still sitting on tens of billions of toxic assets -- and they likely will be for quite a while..... The main problem: Tepid interest in a government program designed to cleanse banks' books,....."
http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/09/news/companies/ppip/index.htm
Russia Gains at OPEC's Expense
By ANDREW E. KRAMER - New York Times - Oct. 19, 2009
".....Already the world’s largest oil producing nation, Russia, pumping prodigiously through the downturn, this summer passed another milestone. As Saudi Arabia tightened its belt to live by OPEC cuts, Russia surpassed it to become the world’s largest exporter......"
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/business/global/20renruss.html?_r=1
Chinese mining company exploring for potash in Saskatchewan
By ROD NICKEL - Reuters - Leader/Post
".....China is the world’s largest buyer of potash, an essential mineral needed for plant growth, along with nitrogen and phosphate. It traditionally signs an annual supply agreement with Canpotex, the offshore marketing agency for Saskatchewan’s biggest potash producers, but has not yet agreed on terms for this year......"
http://www.leaderpost.com/Chinese+company+signs+deal+mine+potash+Saskatchewan/2120082/story.html
It's China's world. (We just live in it)
By BILL POWELL - contributor - CNN Money.com - FORTUNE -oct. 8, 2009
"After a shopping spree for natural resources, the Chinese are shifting to automakers, high-tech firms, and real estate. Where will they strike next?...."
http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/07/news/international/china_natural_resources.fortune/index.htm
China May Stumble in Race With Rivals for African Oil (Update3)
By CARLI LOURENS and JOHN DUCE - Bloomberg - Oct. 19, 2009
"China’s plans to buy into oil fields in Africa may suffer a third setback in as many months if Exxon Mobil Corp. succeeds in snapping up drilling rights in Ghana, one of the continent’s newest oil nations. .....At stake is China’s ability to secure fuel for its economy, which expanded 7.9 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier. China’s oil companies in Africa are diversifying from construction projects as a means to gain access to mineral resources, and turning to strategies that include Western deal structures and local banks. In the process, they are competing with some of the world’s biggest oil companies in the U.S. and Europe also seeking resources in the region.
“The Chinese are frustrated that they’re not doing more deals,” said Kobus van der Wath, group managing director of The Beijing Axis, which advises Chinese companies expanding overseas....."
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_en&sid=aZn8PN1ipHqM
It's Time To Develop
A Third U.S. National Bank
Economist and Statesman Lyndon LaRouche offers what he sees as a solution to our banking and
financial crisis. Mr. LaRouche has succesfully forcasted economics trends for decades, and he forcasted our current world-wide crisis in the 90's!
He noticed that 'financial derivatives' were going to plummet the world into chaos.He created his
'triple curve' theory to demonstrate this.
Mr. LaRouche has earned the respect of politicians, economists, statesmen scientists etc. from all
around the world. Though he doesn't receive much coverage in the United States, (and when he does, it is mostly negative)
Mr. LaRouche has a proven track record.
Here he discusses what is known as 'Hamiltonian Banking', ergo, the 'American System' of economics as opposed to British 'Free Trade', and the 'Austrian School' of economics.
He declares elsewhere in his works, that 'American System' of econmoics is a unique model, and the
reason that the Untied States of America became the great country that she used to be, and in order
to save her, and the world, we should reimplement these ideas.
http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2009/3631lar_3rd_nat_bank.html
Microsoft's 'BING' search engine slows in race against 'GOOGLE'
BOSTON & DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 1, 2009
Microsoft’s Bing search market share in the US grew by just 0.23% in August to 9.64%, the slowest monthly growth rate since its launch, according to analysis conducted by web analytics firm StatCounter. The firm’s research arm StatCounter Global Stats also finds that Bing and Yahoo! combined declined slightly in August to 20.14% from 20.36% in July.
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090901005657&newsLang=en
Tesla Motors Hires Google Strategist to be Vice President of Communications
SAN CARLOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)
Ricardo Reyes, Director of Communications for YouTube, Will Join Leading Electric Vehicle Manufacturer.
--Google executive Ricardo Reyes will join Tesla Motors as vice president for communications, starting in mid-September.
Reyes, 35, is head of global communications and public affairs at YouTube, one of the premier destinations online and a subsidiary of Google. He previously handled litigation, competition and policy communications for the online search, services and products company.
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090831005630&newsLang=en
Bill targets business credit card abuse
Pacific Business News - Sept. 18, 2009
"Congress is expected to consider a measure this fall that is intended to help small businesses with credit card protection.
The Small Business Credit Card Act of 2009 would extend the consumer protection of the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights, passed in May, to businesses with 50 employees or fewer.
Specifically, the measure would amend the Truth in Lending Act to protect small businesses from abusive practices such as double-cycle billing, and retroactive or unannounced interest rate hikes and due date changes.
The measure also contains an opt-out provision for any business that chooses to maintain its current credit interest rates as part of an agreement with a bank or lender.
HR 3457 was introduced July 31 by U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, and three other House members. There is also a Senate companion bill...."
http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2009/09/14/daily59.html?surround=etf&ana=e_article
Where is the 'missing money'?
Trillions of dollars are missing from all of the 'bailouts' etc.
Where did it all go?
Catherine Austin Fitts has a great page with numerous links to the issue.
An 'eye-opener'
http://solari.com/archive/missing_money/
Capital One 'charge-offs' on the rise
While we are being told recently that the worst is over, and we have 'turned the corner' on our financial
and economic woes in this country, we hear once again the 'real news;.. and it isn't good!
http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2009/08/17/daily1.html
BioNeutral and the Chertoff Group Announce a Collaborative Agreement to Continue Development of BioNeutral’s Antimicrobial and Sterilant Technologies
NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BioNeutral Group, Inc. (OTCBB: BONU) has expanded its relationship with the Chertoff Group (Washington, DC). Beginning September 1, 2009, two senior members of the Chertoff Group will provide dedicated strategic and operational advisory services to BioNeutral to enhance the company’s strategic alliances, corporate operations, product testing, regulatory approvals, capital strategies and sales to the public and private sectors.
.....“As some of the principal architects of homeland security policy and doctrine, our team has a good feel for how to examine problems from end-to-end, and how to evaluate technologies that might be brought to bear in solving those problems,” said former Homeland Secretary Chertoff, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Chertoff Group......"
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090831005113&newsLang=en
Another tale of a 'whistleblower' who doesn't get the attention
of the government regulators
.."Leyla Wydler, a former Stanford Group financial adviser, said she came forward in 2003 with
allegations that Stanford was operating a Ponzi scheme and was largely ignored by securities regulators -- including the National Association of Securities Dealers, which became the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in 2007.
Wydler, who said she made a similar allegation to the SEC in 2004, was hired by the company in 2000 and fired in 2002 for refusing to push the certificates of deposit (CDs) on her clients, she told the hearing.".....
http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1742174920090817
Patent Filing for Fractal Metamaterial Invisibility On/Off ‘Cloak-On-Command’
WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fractal Antenna Systems, Inc., the pioneering innovator of fractal antenna and fractal electronics technology, today announced that it has filed for patent protection on a system for making a wideband invisibility cloak turn on and off. The invention sets a path for the realization of a practical invisibility cloak that not only makes an object disappear, but allows the cloaked object to see through the cloak, with the flick of a switch.
“Previous cloak descriptions had a fatal flaw that no one knew how to address: when you cloak you also make the object ‘blind’ as well,” notes inventor Nathan Cohen. ”Of course, you can physically remove the cloak, but that is totally impractical. What we’ve been working on for some time are ways of changing the electromagnetic characteristics of the cloak, on the fly, and that changes the cloak into a kind of lens, that you then can see out of.” Since the switching can be done rapidly, the invisibility cloak can blink on and off at will and is a ‘cloak-on-command™’.
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090828005442&newsLang=en
WhitePages Antes Up $2.5 Million to Aggressively Grow the
Largest and Most Trusted Web and Mobile Online Directory
New Website Lets People Add Cell Phone and Email With Privacy, Advances People Search, and
Makes It Even Easier for Brands to Connect With Affluent Men and Women in the Coveted 25-54 Year Old Age Group
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Whitepages-1016607.html
OriginOil™, Inc. is developing a breakthrough technology that
will transform algae, the most promising source of renewable oil,
into a true competitor to petroleum
A publicly traded company listed on NASDAQ, Origin Oil is offering a 'new' technology that is cleaner
and plentiful.
Also highlighting the aspect of lessening our dependence on foreign oil, Origin Oil makes it's pitch to
everyone on their website.
http://www.originoil.com/
IMF Governors Formally Approve US$250 Billion General SDR
Allocation
Press Release No. 09/283
August 13, 2009
"The Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved on August 7, 2009
a general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) equivalent to US$250 billion to provide liquidity
to the global economic system by supplementing Fund’s member countries’ foreign exchange reserves."
More money for dying horse?
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2009/pr09283.htm
(Check out the 'factsheet' 'SPECIAL DRAWING RIGHTS' )
http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/sdr.htm sdr fact sheet
World Economic Outlook Update
Contractionary Forces Receding But Weak Recovery Ahead
The global economy is beginning to pull out of a recession unprecedented in the post–World War II era, but stabilization is uneven and the recovery is expected to be sluggish.
Is that right? What figures are they using?
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2009/update/02/index.htm
Florida’s First Population Decline Since 1946 Squeezes Budget
- Florida’s population declined for the first time since 1946 as the housing-market collapse cut migration, research shows, making it harder for the state to balance a budget dependent on sales taxes.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aZOI02HF8V80
Four More U.S. Banks Bite the Dust, Bringing Total to 81
August 22, 2009 (LPAC)—Four U.S. banks failed on Friday, bringing the total to 81 for the year, as the rate of failures accelerates, and the size of the banks being closed grows. The closings brings the year-to-date assets of failed banks to $89 billion, and the deposits to $72 billion. This compares to 25 failures in all of last year, though the failure of the $307 billion Washington Mutual drove the assets of failed banks to $373 billion, and the deposits of failed banks to $235 billion.
Closed were: Guaranty Financial of Austin, Texas; CapitalSouth Bank of Birmingham, Alabama; First Coweta of Newnan, Georgia; and ebank of Atlanta, Georgia. All but Guaranty Financial were small banks, with assets and deposits under $1 billion. Guaranty Financial, with $13 billion in assets and $12 billion in deposits, was the second-largest bank to fail this year, topped only by last week's closure of Colonial of Montgomery, Alabama ($25 billion and $20 billion, respectively).
Guaranty Financial is the tenth-largest bank failure in U.S. history, and could only be closed because a sale had been arranged to BBVA Compass, the U.S. unit of Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria. The bank held some $3.5 billion of securities backed by adjustable-rate mortgages, with delinquency rates on those holdings of around 40%.
The failure of Guaranty Financial also marks a new phase of the U.S. banking collapse, as the values of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) plunge. As of March 31, U.S. banks and thrifts held $13.5 trillion in such securities, or 16% of total assets, signalling more carnage to come from MBS, on top of the mounting losses from ordinary loans. Nearly 1,400 banks own "private label" MBS, bought from Wall Street firms and carrying no government guarantees. Banks are also being hit by losses on some $50 billion of "trust preferred securities," a form of collateralized debt obligation sold to them by the Wall Street sharks as safe investments. As the economy continues its collapse, losses of all types will accelerate.
Daimler Extending car2go Car-Sharing Program to Austin, Texas; Ramping Up in Germany
27 March 2009
A unique program known as 'car2go' is about to be implemented in Austin Texas.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/03/daimler-extending-car2go-carsharing-program-to-austin-texas-ramping-up-in-germany.html#more
Free Lakota Bank Open for Business!
There's a new bank in 'town', ...well, actually, there's a new bank in the 'territory', Indian territory that is, (remember Colonel Custer and his 'last stand?) The Lakota tribe has created a bank, as well as, a new 'Republic' a country! All are free to consider depositing 'money' , ('real' money, i.e.silver and gold) with the Free Lakota Bank.
The Lakota's are merely exercising their right to govern themselves freely,as they have been for years, but to take it a step further, and create some type of 'financial independence' also.
With destruction of the dollar going on, and talk of another, possibly, global currency,(see article above), the Lakota's are trying their hand at this.
http://www.freelakotabank.com/aboutfreelakotabank.php
Learn more about the 'Republic of Lakota at the link below.Look over the entire site, and notice how they have 'severed' their treaty with the United States.
http://www.republicoflakotah.com/
(Ed. Note:We are currently investigating whether or not this bank is affiliated with Lakotah Tribe or not. Will update as soon as we find out)
Microsoft Will Fund Open Source Foundation
By Sean Michael Kerner - Internet News -Sept. 10, 2009
:Microsoft today is spinning up a new 501.c non-profit effort as a forum to support open source community projects. The new effort is called the CodePlex Foundation and it builds on the efforts of Microsoft's Codeplex site.
The timing of this foundation, during the same week in which it was revealed that Microsoft was allegedly trying to unload anti-Linux patent is somewhat curious, don't you think?
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3838626/Microsoft+Will+Fund+Open+Source+Foundation.htm
(Read more about this and other internet related topics at Sean's blog below0
http://blog.internetnews.com/skerner/
Nigeria: Five Banks Use Only N100 Billion of CBN's N420 Billion
By OMOH GABRIEL - Vanguard (Lagos) Nigeria
Lagos — FOUR weeks after the Central Bank (CBN) sacked the chief executives and executive directors of five banks and injected N420 billion into the banks, Vanguard can authoritatively disclose that the banks needed just N100 billion financial assistance to stabilise their operations and not the whooping N420 billion injected by the apex bank.
Already, some bankers are saying the CBN blew the situation out of proportion to achieve a desired end.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200909100005.html
UN News Service -Sept 10, 2009
So here is another item, straight from the United Nations News Service, talking about a 'global reserve currency'. Yes, 'globalization' changes many factors regarding finance and economics in general, but is it really the way we should do business?
Should countries lose control over their own currency and economy through 'treaties' and the like?
Is this rather a way to 'equalize', or to use the 'politically correct' buzzword, to 'harmonize' every country's economy on the planet?
We are moving closer to a 'one world' currency, and because it moves slowly, most do not see what is happening, just like watching grass grow.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32020&Cr=financial+crisis&Cr1=
Energy Firms Find No Unity on Climate Bill
By JOHN BRODER and JAD MOUAWAD - New York Times October 18, 2009
"WASHINGTON — As the Senate prepares to tackle global warming, the nation’s energy producers, once united, are battling one another over policy decisions worth hundreds of billions of dollars in coming decades. Some supporters of global warming legislation believe that the division in the once-monolithic oil and gas industry, as well as other splits among energy producers, could improve the prospects for the legislation.
“It’s much harder to pass clean-energy legislation when big oil and other energy interests are united in their opposition,” said Daniel J. Weiss, climate policy director at the liberal Center for American Progress.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/business/energy-environment/19fuel.html?_r=1&hp
9 Banks in Major Holding Company Fail
FBOP's banks in California, Illinois, Texas and Arizona bring the number of '09 failures to 115. Depositors insured up to $250,000.
CNN Money - Oct. 30, 2009
"....The nine banks are Bank USA N.A. of Phoenix, California National Bank of Los Angeles, San Diego National Bank of San Diego, Pacific National Bank of San Francisco, Park National Bank of Chicago, Community Bank of Lemont in Lemont, Ill., North Houston Bank in Houston, Madisonville State Bank in Madisonville, Texas, and Citizens National Bank of Teague, Texas....."
http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/30/news/economy/fbop_failure/index.htm
High Street Banks to be Broken Up
By KAMAL AHMED/Business Editor - PATRICK HENNESSY/Political Editor - Telegraph U.K.
Oct. 31, 2009
".....Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, will confirm over the next few days that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group, both of which are majority-owned by the taxpayer, will be split up.
Many of their assets will be sold off in deals which ministers will present as fulfilling Gordon Brown's promise that the taxpayer would get "pay back" for the multi-billion pound Government bail out of the sector last year....."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/6475562/High-street-banks-to-be-broken-up.html
Pfizer Pays Record Settlement in Marketing-Violation Case
By JUN YAN - Psychiactric News - October 2, 2009
"This marks the fourth time in the past decade that the world's largest pharmaceutical company has agreed to pay the government after charges of unlawful marketing practices were filed.
Pfizer Inc. will pay $2.3 billion in a massive settlement of civil and criminal charges for illegally promoting prescription drugs for unapproved indications and bribing physicians with kickbacks, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on September 2......"
http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/44/19/1?maxtoshow=&HITS=20&hits=20&RESULTFORMAT=&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&displaysectionid=Legal+News&resourcetype=HWCIT&eaf
Dallas Fed chief says local firms likely to reap globalization benefits
By BRENDAN CASE - The Dallas Morning News - Oct. 17, 2009
"World trade has plummeted during the worst recession since the Great Depression, but increased global economic integration isn't on its way out, said Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher.
"Globalization is proceeding," Fisher said at a Friday conference on the global economy at Southern Methodist University. "That's the good news."...
.....Fisher, who was deputy U.S. trade representative in the Clinton administration, also warned that increased trade protectionism would hurt the global economy.
"One cannot be too blunt about the dangers of protectionism," he said. "It is, quite frankly, the crack cocaine of economics: It may provide politicians with a temporary high, yet it is instantly addictive and inevitably proves debilitating and fatal."...."
(ED. Note: I guess he hasn't read the U.S. Constitution!.Sounds like 'British Free Trade', instead of good ole' 'American System' economics)
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-Fisher_17bus.ART.State.Edition1.3cf43c7.html
Wall Street on Track to Award Record pay!
By AARON LUCCHETTI and STEPHEN GROCER - Wall Street Journal - Oct. 14, 2009
"Major U.S. banks and securities firms are on pace to pay their employees about $140 billion this year -- a record high that shows compensation is rebounding despite regulatory scrutiny of Wall Street's pay culture.
Workers at 23 top investment banks, hedge funds, asset managers and stock and commodities exchanges can expect to earn even more than they did the peak year of 2007, according to an analysis of securities filings for the first half of 2009 and revenue estimates through year-end by The Wall Street Journal......"
(ED. Note: This is a real 'slap in the face' to the U.S. Taxpayer. After the Wall Street crowd gambled money away for years, lied and cheated the system, and mainly the investors - and instead of losing their jobs and companies because of poor performance, as most other companies would do, they then get money from the U.S. Government, YOU! - and now, voila! - they're making more money for that poor perfomance!!!)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125547830510183749.html
The New York Times plans 8 pct newsroom staff cuts
Boston Globe -oct. 19, 2009
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/10/19/the_new_york_times_plans_8_pct_newsroom_staff_cuts/?s_campaign=8315
Insider trading case puts Indian business school in spotlight
By SUMEET CHATTERJEE - Reuters - Oct. 19, 2009
"BANGALORE - The Indian School of Business, backed by some of the leading global companies, has been dealt another black eye with an executive board member charged over the largest hedge fund insider-trading scheme.
Billionaire Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam and five others, were charged by U.S. investigators on Friday in an insider-trading case, generating profits of more than $20 million over several years......"The incident is strange and shocking," said Rishi Sahai, managing director of Cogence Advisors, a New Delhi-based corporate advisory firm. "Greed has overpowered all the corporate and management rationalities."....."
http://www.reuters.com/article/email/idUSTRE59I2UB20091019
Merck starts revealing payments to doctor-speakers
By LINDA A. JOHNSON - Boston Globe - AP Business Writer - Oct. 19, 2009
"TRENTON, N.J.—Merck & Co. paid doctors and nurses a total of $3.7 million this summer to give talks to colleagues about the drugmaker's products and other health topics, Merck disclosed Monday.
Amid growing criticism of industry influence over which treatments doctors choose for their patients, the company posted a database on its Web site listing speaking fees paid to 1,078 doctors, researchers, nurses and other health professionals. It covers July through September, and Merck -- the second major drugmaker to disclose payments to doctors -- plans to update it regularly.
"There's been a tremendous amount of misunderstanding" about the relationship between industry and doctors, said Dr. Richard Pasternak, Merck's head of scientific affairs. "This shines a light on it."
.....He said Merck's programs are balanced and some cover strategies for improving care, such as understanding patients from different cultures. Many focus on new research or overall care for a particular disease for which Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck sells a drug......"
http://www.boston.com/business/healthcare/articles/2009/10/19/merck_starts_revealing_payments_to_doctor_speakers/?s_campaign=8315
Bloomberg Wins Bidding For BusinessWeek
By TOM LOWRY - Business Week - October 13
"Bloomberg LP, the global financial data and news empire created by New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, is the winning bidder for BusinessWeek.
Terms of the offer will not be disclosed by Bloomberg and BusinessWeek parent McGraw-Hill Cos. But knowledgeable sources say that Bloomberg’s cash offer is in the $2 million to $5 million range and that it has agreed to assume liabilities, including potential severance payments. It remains to be seen how much of the magazine’s 400-plus staff Bloomberg plans to cut, but reports of a planned scorched earth campaign are overblown, say sources. BusinessWeek editor-in-chief Steve Adler told his staff shortly after the deal was announced....."
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/FineOnMedia/archives/2009/10/bloomberg_wins.html
Carl Icahn resigns from Yahoo board of directors
By TOM KRAZIT - CNET -Oct. 23, 2009
Carl Icahn, who launched a shareholder insurrection at Yahoo last year over its handling of a takeover offer from Microsoft, is leaving Yahoo's board of directors.
MarketWatch reported Friday that Icahn has informed the company he's moving on to other interests. It's been a over a year since he forced his way onto the board after expressing his displeasure at Yahoo's rejection of Microsoft's offer to acquire the company, which at one point was valued at $33 a share. Yahoo's stock closed at $17.22 on Friday.
Yahoo confirmed Icahn's departure, and said in a statement: "Carl has been an important member of our Board and has helped us through some significant transitions. We are all grateful for his active role shaping the future of Yahoo."
Icahn has recently turned his famously wandering eye to struggling financier CIT Group, offering it a $6 billion loan. In a letter to Yahoo, he said "I don't believe that it is necessary at this time to have an activist on the Board of Yahoo and currently, my attention is focused on other matters."
(ED. Note: Icahn's saying that he is, 'focused on other matters', means that he is out to destroy yet another company! Ichan's activities in the 1980's helped to destroy TWA airlines, and other companies. Certainly business's shouldn't be used for Monopoly game playing pieces - it destroys personal livelihood's and economies in general)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10382456-265.html
Apple on Snow Leopard Bug: Help Is on the Way!
By BRIAN X. CHEN - Wired - Oct. 13, 2009
"In response to widespread media coverage Monday, Apple has acknowledged a bug in its latest operating system, Snow Leopard, that involved some users losing a large amount of their data when logging into guest accounts.
“We are aware of the issue, which occurs only in extremely rare cases, and we are working on a fix,” an Apple representative said in a statement.
As far back as September, a number of Snow Leopard users documented the problem on several forum threads. They said the bug involves the home directory — the Mac’s primary user folder — being replaced with an empty folder after users log in with a Guest account. That resulted in loss of documents, downloads, pictures, music and other types of files, the affected users claimed......"
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/10/snow-leopard-bug
Silicon Valley espionage case only second of kind in nation to go to trial
By HOWARD MINTZ - Mercurynews.com/San Jose Mercury News - Oct. 18, 2009
"By the time the FBI came knocking on their doors in July 2003, engineers Lan Lee and Yuefei Ge were already caught in the cross hairs of a government investigation into whether they were stealing technology from their Silicon Valley employers to establish a rival company backed by China.
More than six years later, the story of their suspected theft of superfast computer chip plans is about to emerge from the shadows. In the second trial of its kind in the nation, the engineers are set to face economic espionage charges in federal court in San Jose. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday......"
http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_13590675?source=email&nclick_check=1
Doctors' orders: Avoid insurance
Many physicians, fed up with patient overload and filing claims, are minimizing insurance-based
coverage and offering round-the-clock service for a retainer.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/17/news/economy/healthcare_retainer_doctors/index.htm?postversion=
2009081714
Banks still stuck with the junk
By DAVID ELLIS - CNNMoney.com staff writer - October 9, 2009
"The nation's banks are still sitting on tens of billions of toxic assets -- and they likely will be for quite a while..... The main problem: Tepid interest in a government program designed to cleanse banks' books,....."
http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/09/news/companies/ppip/index.htm
Russia Gains at OPEC's Expense
By ANDREW E. KRAMER - New York Times - Oct. 19, 2009
".....Already the world’s largest oil producing nation, Russia, pumping prodigiously through the downturn, this summer passed another milestone. As Saudi Arabia tightened its belt to live by OPEC cuts, Russia surpassed it to become the world’s largest exporter......"
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/business/global/20renruss.html?_r=1
Chinese mining company exploring for potash in Saskatchewan
By ROD NICKEL - Reuters - Leader/Post
".....China is the world’s largest buyer of potash, an essential mineral needed for plant growth, along with nitrogen and phosphate. It traditionally signs an annual supply agreement with Canpotex, the offshore marketing agency for Saskatchewan’s biggest potash producers, but has not yet agreed on terms for this year......"
http://www.leaderpost.com/Chinese+company+signs+deal+mine+potash+Saskatchewan/2120082/story.html
It's China's world. (We just live in it)
By BILL POWELL - contributor - CNN Money.com - FORTUNE -oct. 8, 2009
"After a shopping spree for natural resources, the Chinese are shifting to automakers, high-tech firms, and real estate. Where will they strike next?...."
http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/07/news/international/china_natural_resources.fortune/index.htm
China May Stumble in Race With Rivals for African Oil (Update3)
By CARLI LOURENS and JOHN DUCE - Bloomberg - Oct. 19, 2009
"China’s plans to buy into oil fields in Africa may suffer a third setback in as many months if Exxon Mobil Corp. succeeds in snapping up drilling rights in Ghana, one of the continent’s newest oil nations. .....At stake is China’s ability to secure fuel for its economy, which expanded 7.9 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier. China’s oil companies in Africa are diversifying from construction projects as a means to gain access to mineral resources, and turning to strategies that include Western deal structures and local banks. In the process, they are competing with some of the world’s biggest oil companies in the U.S. and Europe also seeking resources in the region.
“The Chinese are frustrated that they’re not doing more deals,” said Kobus van der Wath, group managing director of The Beijing Axis, which advises Chinese companies expanding overseas....."
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_en&sid=aZn8PN1ipHqM
It's Time To Develop
A Third U.S. National Bank
Economist and Statesman Lyndon LaRouche offers what he sees as a solution to our banking and
financial crisis. Mr. LaRouche has succesfully forcasted economics trends for decades, and he forcasted our current world-wide crisis in the 90's!
He noticed that 'financial derivatives' were going to plummet the world into chaos.He created his
'triple curve' theory to demonstrate this.
Mr. LaRouche has earned the respect of politicians, economists, statesmen scientists etc. from all
around the world. Though he doesn't receive much coverage in the United States, (and when he does, it is mostly negative)
Mr. LaRouche has a proven track record.
Here he discusses what is known as 'Hamiltonian Banking', ergo, the 'American System' of economics as opposed to British 'Free Trade', and the 'Austrian School' of economics.
He declares elsewhere in his works, that 'American System' of econmoics is a unique model, and the
reason that the Untied States of America became the great country that she used to be, and in order
to save her, and the world, we should reimplement these ideas.
http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2009/3631lar_3rd_nat_bank.html
Microsoft's 'BING' search engine slows in race against 'GOOGLE'
BOSTON & DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 1, 2009
Microsoft’s Bing search market share in the US grew by just 0.23% in August to 9.64%, the slowest monthly growth rate since its launch, according to analysis conducted by web analytics firm StatCounter. The firm’s research arm StatCounter Global Stats also finds that Bing and Yahoo! combined declined slightly in August to 20.14% from 20.36% in July.
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090901005657&newsLang=en
Tesla Motors Hires Google Strategist to be Vice President of Communications
SAN CARLOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)
Ricardo Reyes, Director of Communications for YouTube, Will Join Leading Electric Vehicle Manufacturer.
--Google executive Ricardo Reyes will join Tesla Motors as vice president for communications, starting in mid-September.
Reyes, 35, is head of global communications and public affairs at YouTube, one of the premier destinations online and a subsidiary of Google. He previously handled litigation, competition and policy communications for the online search, services and products company.
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090831005630&newsLang=en
Bill targets business credit card abuse
Pacific Business News - Sept. 18, 2009
"Congress is expected to consider a measure this fall that is intended to help small businesses with credit card protection.
The Small Business Credit Card Act of 2009 would extend the consumer protection of the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights, passed in May, to businesses with 50 employees or fewer.
Specifically, the measure would amend the Truth in Lending Act to protect small businesses from abusive practices such as double-cycle billing, and retroactive or unannounced interest rate hikes and due date changes.
The measure also contains an opt-out provision for any business that chooses to maintain its current credit interest rates as part of an agreement with a bank or lender.
HR 3457 was introduced July 31 by U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, and three other House members. There is also a Senate companion bill...."
http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2009/09/14/daily59.html?surround=etf&ana=e_article
Where is the 'missing money'?
Trillions of dollars are missing from all of the 'bailouts' etc.
Where did it all go?
Catherine Austin Fitts has a great page with numerous links to the issue.
An 'eye-opener'
http://solari.com/archive/missing_money/
Capital One 'charge-offs' on the rise
While we are being told recently that the worst is over, and we have 'turned the corner' on our financial
and economic woes in this country, we hear once again the 'real news;.. and it isn't good!
http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2009/08/17/daily1.html
BioNeutral and the Chertoff Group Announce a Collaborative Agreement to Continue Development of BioNeutral’s Antimicrobial and Sterilant Technologies
NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BioNeutral Group, Inc. (OTCBB: BONU) has expanded its relationship with the Chertoff Group (Washington, DC). Beginning September 1, 2009, two senior members of the Chertoff Group will provide dedicated strategic and operational advisory services to BioNeutral to enhance the company’s strategic alliances, corporate operations, product testing, regulatory approvals, capital strategies and sales to the public and private sectors.
.....“As some of the principal architects of homeland security policy and doctrine, our team has a good feel for how to examine problems from end-to-end, and how to evaluate technologies that might be brought to bear in solving those problems,” said former Homeland Secretary Chertoff, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Chertoff Group......"
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090831005113&newsLang=en
Another tale of a 'whistleblower' who doesn't get the attention
of the government regulators
.."Leyla Wydler, a former Stanford Group financial adviser, said she came forward in 2003 with
allegations that Stanford was operating a Ponzi scheme and was largely ignored by securities regulators -- including the National Association of Securities Dealers, which became the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in 2007.
Wydler, who said she made a similar allegation to the SEC in 2004, was hired by the company in 2000 and fired in 2002 for refusing to push the certificates of deposit (CDs) on her clients, she told the hearing.".....
http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1742174920090817
Patent Filing for Fractal Metamaterial Invisibility On/Off ‘Cloak-On-Command’
WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fractal Antenna Systems, Inc., the pioneering innovator of fractal antenna and fractal electronics technology, today announced that it has filed for patent protection on a system for making a wideband invisibility cloak turn on and off. The invention sets a path for the realization of a practical invisibility cloak that not only makes an object disappear, but allows the cloaked object to see through the cloak, with the flick of a switch.
“Previous cloak descriptions had a fatal flaw that no one knew how to address: when you cloak you also make the object ‘blind’ as well,” notes inventor Nathan Cohen. ”Of course, you can physically remove the cloak, but that is totally impractical. What we’ve been working on for some time are ways of changing the electromagnetic characteristics of the cloak, on the fly, and that changes the cloak into a kind of lens, that you then can see out of.” Since the switching can be done rapidly, the invisibility cloak can blink on and off at will and is a ‘cloak-on-command™’.
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090828005442&newsLang=en
WhitePages Antes Up $2.5 Million to Aggressively Grow the
Largest and Most Trusted Web and Mobile Online Directory
New Website Lets People Add Cell Phone and Email With Privacy, Advances People Search, and
Makes It Even Easier for Brands to Connect With Affluent Men and Women in the Coveted 25-54 Year Old Age Group
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Whitepages-1016607.html
OriginOil™, Inc. is developing a breakthrough technology that
will transform algae, the most promising source of renewable oil,
into a true competitor to petroleum
A publicly traded company listed on NASDAQ, Origin Oil is offering a 'new' technology that is cleaner
and plentiful.
Also highlighting the aspect of lessening our dependence on foreign oil, Origin Oil makes it's pitch to
everyone on their website.
http://www.originoil.com/
IMF Governors Formally Approve US$250 Billion General SDR
Allocation
Press Release No. 09/283
August 13, 2009
"The Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved on August 7, 2009
a general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) equivalent to US$250 billion to provide liquidity
to the global economic system by supplementing Fund’s member countries’ foreign exchange reserves."
More money for dying horse?
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2009/pr09283.htm
(Check out the 'factsheet' 'SPECIAL DRAWING RIGHTS' )
http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/sdr.htm sdr fact sheet
World Economic Outlook Update
Contractionary Forces Receding But Weak Recovery Ahead
The global economy is beginning to pull out of a recession unprecedented in the post–World War II era, but stabilization is uneven and the recovery is expected to be sluggish.
Is that right? What figures are they using?
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2009/update/02/index.htm
Florida’s First Population Decline Since 1946 Squeezes Budget
- Florida’s population declined for the first time since 1946 as the housing-market collapse cut migration, research shows, making it harder for the state to balance a budget dependent on sales taxes.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aZOI02HF8V80
Four More U.S. Banks Bite the Dust, Bringing Total to 81
August 22, 2009 (LPAC)—Four U.S. banks failed on Friday, bringing the total to 81 for the year, as the rate of failures accelerates, and the size of the banks being closed grows. The closings brings the year-to-date assets of failed banks to $89 billion, and the deposits to $72 billion. This compares to 25 failures in all of last year, though the failure of the $307 billion Washington Mutual drove the assets of failed banks to $373 billion, and the deposits of failed banks to $235 billion.
Closed were: Guaranty Financial of Austin, Texas; CapitalSouth Bank of Birmingham, Alabama; First Coweta of Newnan, Georgia; and ebank of Atlanta, Georgia. All but Guaranty Financial were small banks, with assets and deposits under $1 billion. Guaranty Financial, with $13 billion in assets and $12 billion in deposits, was the second-largest bank to fail this year, topped only by last week's closure of Colonial of Montgomery, Alabama ($25 billion and $20 billion, respectively).
Guaranty Financial is the tenth-largest bank failure in U.S. history, and could only be closed because a sale had been arranged to BBVA Compass, the U.S. unit of Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria. The bank held some $3.5 billion of securities backed by adjustable-rate mortgages, with delinquency rates on those holdings of around 40%.
The failure of Guaranty Financial also marks a new phase of the U.S. banking collapse, as the values of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) plunge. As of March 31, U.S. banks and thrifts held $13.5 trillion in such securities, or 16% of total assets, signalling more carnage to come from MBS, on top of the mounting losses from ordinary loans. Nearly 1,400 banks own "private label" MBS, bought from Wall Street firms and carrying no government guarantees. Banks are also being hit by losses on some $50 billion of "trust preferred securities," a form of collateralized debt obligation sold to them by the Wall Street sharks as safe investments. As the economy continues its collapse, losses of all types will accelerate.
Daimler Extending car2go Car-Sharing Program to Austin, Texas; Ramping Up in Germany
27 March 2009
A unique program known as 'car2go' is about to be implemented in Austin Texas.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/03/daimler-extending-car2go-carsharing-program-to-austin-texas-ramping-up-in-germany.html#more
Free Lakota Bank Open for Business!
There's a new bank in 'town', ...well, actually, there's a new bank in the 'territory', Indian territory that is, (remember Colonel Custer and his 'last stand?) The Lakota tribe has created a bank, as well as, a new 'Republic' a country! All are free to consider depositing 'money' , ('real' money, i.e.silver and gold) with the Free Lakota Bank.
The Lakota's are merely exercising their right to govern themselves freely,as they have been for years, but to take it a step further, and create some type of 'financial independence' also.
With destruction of the dollar going on, and talk of another, possibly, global currency,(see article above), the Lakota's are trying their hand at this.
http://www.freelakotabank.com/aboutfreelakotabank.php
Learn more about the 'Republic of Lakota at the link below.Look over the entire site, and notice how they have 'severed' their treaty with the United States.
http://www.republicoflakotah.com/
(Ed. Note:We are currently investigating whether or not this bank is affiliated with Lakotah Tribe or not. Will update as soon as we find out)
Microsoft Will Fund Open Source Foundation
By Sean Michael Kerner - Internet News -Sept. 10, 2009
:Microsoft today is spinning up a new 501.c non-profit effort as a forum to support open source community projects. The new effort is called the CodePlex Foundation and it builds on the efforts of Microsoft's Codeplex site.
The timing of this foundation, during the same week in which it was revealed that Microsoft was allegedly trying to unload anti-Linux patent is somewhat curious, don't you think?
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3838626/Microsoft+Will+Fund+Open+Source+Foundation.htm
(Read more about this and other internet related topics at Sean's blog below0
http://blog.internetnews.com/skerner/
Nigeria: Five Banks Use Only N100 Billion of CBN's N420 Billion
By OMOH GABRIEL - Vanguard (Lagos) Nigeria
Lagos — FOUR weeks after the Central Bank (CBN) sacked the chief executives and executive directors of five banks and injected N420 billion into the banks, Vanguard can authoritatively disclose that the banks needed just N100 billion financial assistance to stabilise their operations and not the whooping N420 billion injected by the apex bank.
Already, some bankers are saying the CBN blew the situation out of proportion to achieve a desired end.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200909100005.html
The S.O.N.S.
The Syncretic Order News Service
The S.O.N.S - 2009 - 2010
Disclaimer
Disclaimer
Economic & Financial -
Double click to edit
A 'New World' currency?
Yes, and here is a picture of the proposed currency.
For decades there has been talk, speculation and plans for a 'One World' government and all that
goes with it.
But over the past ten years the talks and plans have been coming more into focus. At the G-8 meetings, Davos World Econimic Forum and other meetings these ideas and plans are now
out in the open. Look here for a proposed 'world currency'.http://www.futureworldcurrency.com/
http://www.futureworldcurrency.com/Documents.asp?DocumentAreaID=47&DocumentID=204
(Notice the name on this present?)
Yes, and here is a picture of the proposed currency.
For decades there has been talk, speculation and plans for a 'One World' government and all that
goes with it.
But over the past ten years the talks and plans have been coming more into focus. At the G-8 meetings, Davos World Econimic Forum and other meetings these ideas and plans are now
out in the open. Look here for a proposed 'world currency'.http://www.futureworldcurrency.com/
http://www.futureworldcurrency.com/Documents.asp?DocumentAreaID=47&DocumentID=204
(Notice the name on this present?)
A Four-Power Agreement Can Create a New World Credit System
Lyndon LaRouche gave this address to the Seventh Annual Session of the World Public Forum Dialogue of Civilizations (Oct. 8-12, 2009), on the Island of Rhodes in Greece, on Oct. 10. His remarks are followed by a brief dialogue with the audience.
".....The problem is, that the world is dominated by financier interests, which are essentially parasitical in character. Our industries, our agriculture, our infrastructure is decaying, worldwide—especially in the Americas, especially in North America, and especially in Western Europe. Western and Central Europe is a disaster area. They no longer have national security, economic security:.....
.....The monetary system is now a disease. We have to put the power over monetary systems, back in the hands of sovereign governments. This must start, with leading governments—a coalition among leading governments, which agree that this is necessary, and will agree to set up a fixed-exchange-rate system, among reorganized, sovereign, national systems of their own currency, their own credit system....."
http://www.larouchepub.com/lar/2009/3641lar_spch_rhodes.html
Lyndon LaRouche gave this address to the Seventh Annual Session of the World Public Forum Dialogue of Civilizations (Oct. 8-12, 2009), on the Island of Rhodes in Greece, on Oct. 10. His remarks are followed by a brief dialogue with the audience.
".....The problem is, that the world is dominated by financier interests, which are essentially parasitical in character. Our industries, our agriculture, our infrastructure is decaying, worldwide—especially in the Americas, especially in North America, and especially in Western Europe. Western and Central Europe is a disaster area. They no longer have national security, economic security:.....
.....The monetary system is now a disease. We have to put the power over monetary systems, back in the hands of sovereign governments. This must start, with leading governments—a coalition among leading governments, which agree that this is necessary, and will agree to set up a fixed-exchange-rate system, among reorganized, sovereign, national systems of their own currency, their own credit system....."
http://www.larouchepub.com/lar/2009/3641lar_spch_rhodes.html
Another take on a 'One World' currency
