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Jan 7, 2010

Lock the bastard up!!!!! : GEITHNER'S NY FED PUSHED AIG TO KEEP SWEETHEART DEALS SECRET

 

Lock the bastard up!!!!!
 
.r o n
 
Subject: GEITHNER'S NY FED PUSHED AIG TO KEEP SWEETHEART DEALS SECRET - WHAT ARE YOUR COMMENTS?* [1 Attachment]

 


Geithner Splash 
 
An arm of the Federal Reserve, then led by now-
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, told bailed-
out insurance giant AIG to withhold key details
from the public about overpayments that put billions
of extra tax dollars in the coffers of major Wall
Street firms, most notably Goldman Sachs.
- Huffington Post

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Hi Team!

*? 2 ALL:

GEITHNER'S NY FED

PUSHED AIG TO KEEP

SWEETHEART DEALS SECRET -

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3164/2397332061_aa64490dfe.jpg

Shahien Nasiripour reports:

"The sordid tale unfolds in a series of e-mails between the company and the New York Fed obtained by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and first publicly disclosed by Bloomberg News.

Taxpayers have committed about $182 billion to AIG. The under-regulated firm developed and sold complicated derivatives products without having adequate capital in place if those bets went bad, which they eventually did. The firm nearly single-handedly wrecked the entire financial system.

After the firm was given a taxpayer-funded backstop, one of its most controversial acts was to repay banks at 100 cents on the dollar for what was by that point nearly worthless insurance the banks had bought from AIG, known as credit-default swaps.

"A brutal report issued in November by a government watchdog disclosed that AIG had actually been trying to negotiate better terms with the banks until - guess what? -- the New York Fed stepped in. The report held Geithner personally responsible, and led to renewed questions about his fitness for the job.

"Now it turns out Geithner's people told AIG to delete references on draft regulatory filings to the sweetheart deals. And AIG then excluded any mention of them in its December 2008 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, keeping the information hidden from investors and the public."

Geithner's New York Fed pushed AIG to keep sweetheart deals secret - what are your comments?

Greg Dempsey
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SECULARHUMANIST
Voice Of The People

=======

Geithner's New York Fed Pushed AIG To Keep Sweetheart Deals Secret


First Posted: 01- 7-10 09:12 AM   |   Updated: 01- 7-10 02:26 PM

UPDATE: This post was updated at 2:15 p.m. to reflect new information obtained by the Huffington Post regarding an ongoing investigation into these matters.

"The matter is the subject of an 'ongoing review' by the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), communications director Kristine Belisle said in an e-mail to the Huffington Post. SIGTARP is headed by Neil M. Barofsky, a former federal prosecutor.

"It appears that the New York Fed deliberately pressured AIG to restrict and delay the disclosure of important information to the SEC," Rep. Darrell Issa said in a statement. "The American taxpayers, who own approximately 80% of AIG, deserve full and complete disclosure under our nation's securities laws, not the withholding of politically inconvenient information.

"This news ought to serve as a cautionary tale to those who advocate giving the Federal Reserve even more power over the U.S. economy. The lack of transparency and accountability is disturbing enough, but the outstanding question that remains is why the [New York Fed] didn't fight for a better deal for the American taxpayer. Clearly, the New York Fed wanted to suppress details and limit disclosure of the counterparty deal from the American people -- the only question is why?"

In a March 12, 2009, e-mail, Kathleen Shannon, an AIG in-house lawyer and senior vice president, told AIG executives that the firm needed to come up with a reason, per the New York Fed, for why it wasn't going to publicly disclose details regarding payments to counterparties.

"In order to make only the disclosure that the Fed wants us to make...we need to have a reasonable basis for believing and arguing to the SEC that the information we are seeking to protect is not already publicly available," Shannon wrote in an e-mail sent at 10:55 p.m. on March 12.

Around noon the next day, a New York Fed official, Alex Latorre, e-mailed a colleague, Sarah Dahlgren, writing: "...I understand that the company is still deliberating on the proposal surrounding the disclosure. It is important that they reach consensus quickly."

The power of the Fed in forcing AIG to keep these details secret cannot be understated. As detailed in journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin's recent book on the bailout, "Too Big To Fail", AIG officials had been pleading with the New York Fed for assistance throughout the crucial first weeks of September 2008 before the firm was finally given a taxpayer-funded bailout. The firm's pleadings were largely ignored by Geithner, who was preoccupied with Lehman Brothers and other Wall Street broker-dealers like Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. The firm owes the Fed its survival.

Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Wachovia got full value for their derivatives contracts with AIG, and taxpayers got stuck with the bill. In total, $27.1 billion of public money was transferred to companies that did business with AIG. It was largely seen as a "backdoor bailout" for firms like Goldman.

Instead of bargaining with AIG's numerous counterparties to resolve its billions of dollars in souring derivatives contracts, Geithner's team ended up having AIG pay top dollar for toxic assets -- "an amount far above their market value at the time," the November report noted. It described how the team led by Geithner failed nearly every step of the way.

And consider the timing of the newly discovered action. Reports first emerged that Geithner was being tapped for the Treasury secretary post on Nov. 21, 2008; the Senate confirmed his nomination on Jan. 26. Details of AIG's 100-cents-on-the-dollar payments to various banks with taxpayer-supported funds totaling in the billions, which would otherwise have become public no later than December, weren't disclosed to the public until March, when Geithner was already in office.

The Treasury's response this morning is, essentially, no harm no foul. Meg Reilly, a Treasury spokeswoman, released a statement: "In the transaction at the heart of this dispute... the FRBNY made a loan of $25 billion which is on track to be paid back in full with interest so that taxpayers will be made whole. Somehow that fact that the government's loan is 'above water' gets lost in all the consternation despite its mention on page 2 of the SIG-TARP report (and weekly updates on the FRBNY's web site."

Attachment(s) from Greg Dempsey

1 of 1 Photo(s)

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French mayor accused over portrait of wartime leader

 

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/0107/1224261823359.html

The Irish Times - Thursday, January 7, 2010

French mayor accused over portrait of wartime leader


RUADHÁN Mac CORMAIC in Paris

A SMALL town in northern France has become the unlikely setting for the latest row over Marshal Philippe Pétain's place in French history after the town's mayor refused to take down a portrait of the leader of the collaborationist Vichy regime.

Bernard Hoyé, the mayor of Gonneville-sur-Mer in Normandy, has been accused by anti-racism campaigners of seeking to rehabilitate Pétain by insisting he will not remove the portrait from a wall in his town hall.

The international league against racism and anti-semitism, Licra, accused Mr Hoyé of justifying his decision on the "false pretext" that the portrait hung in a gallery of heads of state. "I don't know of any town hall in France that displays a portrait of Pétain," Licra's general secretary, Richard Séréro, said.

"It is disrespectful towards the memory of the victims and their families who suffered due to the political decisions taken by Philippe Pétain," he said, adding that the group would make a complaint to the prefect – the regional representative of the state.

Mr Hoyé said Pétain's portrait had been in the town hall for decades and was displayed in a gallery devoted to "French heads of state, whether controversial or not. I'm not an historian."

Asked if he disputed the fact that Pétain collaborated with Nazi Germany, Mr Hoyé said: "Pétain was convicted. We can't question a judicial decision."

Pétain's legacy and France's memory of the Vichy regime remain live issues in modern political life. A first World War hero credited with outstanding leadership in battle, Pétain set up an authoritarian French regime in the spa town of Vichy after the military defeat of France by Nazi Germany in 1940.

The reactionary regime collaborated with the Nazis in mass deportations, though for decades France's memory of the war was dominated by the popular portrayal of the country as a nation of resisters.

As recently as September 1994, the late president François Mitterrand said: "France is not responsible, nor is the Republic" for the Vichy regime. The former president Jacques Chirac broke the taboo, becoming the first high-ranking French official to admit France's role, in July 1995.

Mr Chirac apologised for "the dark hours which will forever tarnish our history" and regretted that "the criminal insanity of the occupying power was assisted by the French, by the French state . . . On that day France delivered those she was protecting to their executioners."

Last February the council of state, the country's highest administrative tribunal, formally recognised the responsibility of the French state in the deportation of 76,000 Jews to Nazi death camps between 1942 and 1944. Fewer than 3,000 survived.



--
NOW AN AMAZON KINDLE BOOK ON YOUR PC, iPHONE OR KINDLE DEVICE

Debating the Holocaust: A New Look at Both Sides By Thomas Dalton

In this remarkable, balanced book, the author skillfully reviews and compares "traditional" and "revisionist" views on the "The Holocaust."

On one side is the traditional, orthodox view -- six million Jewish casualties, gas chambers, cremation ovens, mass graves, and thousands of witnesses. On the other is the view of a small band of skeptical writers and researchers, often unfairly labeled "deniers," who contend that the public has been gravely misled about this emotion-laden chapter of history.

The author establishes that the arguments and findings of revisionist scholars are substantive, and deserve serious consideration. He points out, for example, that even the eminent Jewish Holocaust scholar Raul Hilberg acknowledged that there was no budget, plan or order by Hitler for a World War II program to exterminate Europe's Jews.

This book is especially relevant right now, as "Holocaust deniers" are routinely and harshly punished for their "blasphemy," and as growing numbers of people regard the standard, Hollywoodized "Holocaust" narrative with mounting suspicion and distrust.

The author of this book, who writes under the pen name of "Thomas Dalton," is an American scholar who holds a doctoral degree from a major US university.

This is no peripheral debate between arcane views of some obscure aspect of twentieth century history. Instead, this is a clash with profound social-political implications regarding freedom of speech and press, the manipulation of public opinion, how our cultural life is shaped, and how power is wielded in our society.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_0_8?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=debating+the+holocaust&sprefix=DEBATING

Peace.

Michael Santomauro
Editorial Director
Call anytime: 917-974-6367
ReporterNotebook@Gmail.com

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RE: Wiesenthal...Nothing new...

 


MEMO: Atzmon's consideration of Guy Walters's expose Hunting Evil offers interesting stuff on Simon Wiesenthal, though maddeningly unspecific, particularly in regard to Wiesel's wartime activity. (Is anybody surprised?). The revisionist, Ted O'keefe, wrote the expose back in 1988 as well as one that appeared in Smith's Report in the 1990s. 

Did Mr. Walters learn anything from his articles?  

SEE LINKS:





 

Deconstructing Simon Wiesenthal by Lawrence Swaim

DateWednesday, January 6, 2010 at 8:52AM AuthorGilad Atzmon
The Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, California, is named after the famed Austrian Nazi-hunter, Simon Wiesenthal, a connection that turns out to be appropriate in disturbing but unexpected ways. That is, both Simon Wiesenthal and the Center named after him have been accused of flagrant lying, exaggerations and half-truths. Wiesenthal's confabulations were never a matter of published discourse among scholars, so far as this writer can determine, nor were they popular knowledge until quite recently. In any case, it is now known that Wiesenthal, a born story-teller, rarely let the facts get in the way of a good story—in fact many of the things he claimed to have done were fabrications. This recently came to light with the publication, in June of 2009, of Hunting Evil, by British Author Guy Walters, in which he characterizes Simon Wiesenthal as "a liar—and a bad one at that." Wiesenthal, he maintains, would "concoct outrageous stories about his war years and make false claims about his academic career." Walters found that there were "so many inconsistencies between his three main memoirs and between those memoirs and contemporaneous documents, that it is impossible to establish a reliable narrative from them. Wiesenthal's scant regard for the truth makes it possible to doubt everything he ever wrote or said."1
 



--
NOW AN AMAZON KINDLE BOOK ON YOUR PC, iPHONE OR KINDLE DEVICE

Debating the Holocaust: A New Look at Both Sides By Thomas Dalton

In this remarkable, balanced book, the author skillfully reviews and compares "traditional" and "revisionist" views on the "The Holocaust."

On one side is the traditional, orthodox view -- six million Jewish casualties, gas chambers, cremation ovens, mass graves, and thousands of witnesses. On the other is the view of a small band of skeptical writers and researchers, often unfairly labeled "deniers," who contend that the public has been gravely misled about this emotion-laden chapter of history.

The author establishes that the arguments and findings of revisionist scholars are substantive, and deserve serious consideration. He points out, for example, that even the eminent Jewish Holocaust scholar Raul Hilberg acknowledged that there was no budget, plan or order by Hitler for a World War II program to exterminate Europe's Jews.

This book is especially relevant right now, as "Holocaust deniers" are routinely and harshly punished for their "blasphemy," and as growing numbers of people regard the standard, Hollywoodized "Holocaust" narrative with mounting suspicion and distrust.

The author of this book, who writes under the pen name of "Thomas Dalton," is an American scholar who holds a doctoral degree from a major US university.

This is no peripheral debate between arcane views of some obscure aspect of twentieth century history. Instead, this is a clash with profound social-political implications regarding freedom of speech and press, the manipulation of public opinion, how our cultural life is shaped, and how power is wielded in our society.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_0_8?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=debating+the+holocaust&sprefix=DEBATING

Peace.

Michael Santomauro
Editorial Director
Call anytime: 917-974-6367
ReporterNotebook@Gmail.com
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Settler Rabbi publishes "The complete guide to killing non-Jews" -- UPDATED

 



isralike added a new comment to the post Settler Rabbi publishes "The complete guide to killing non-Jews" -- UPDATED.

isralike said on Settler Rabbi publishes "The complete guide to killing non-Jews" -- UPDATED

November 9, 2009 at 09:35

Nice argumentation, if you would only leave out the "converted Khazars" thing, this lowers your holy outrage in many respects.

See all comments on this post here.


--
NOW AN AMAZON KINDLE BOOK ON YOUR PC, iPHONE OR KINDLE DEVICE

Debating the Holocaust: A New Look at Both Sides By Thomas Dalton

In this remarkable, balanced book, the author skillfully reviews and compares "traditional" and "revisionist" views on the "The Holocaust."

On one side is the traditional, orthodox view -- six million Jewish casualties, gas chambers, cremation ovens, mass graves, and thousands of witnesses. On the other is the view of a small band of skeptical writers and researchers, often unfairly labeled "deniers," who contend that the public has been gravely misled about this emotion-laden chapter of history.

The author establishes that the arguments and findings of revisionist scholars are substantive, and deserve serious consideration. He points out, for example, that even the eminent Jewish Holocaust scholar Raul Hilberg acknowledged that there was no budget, plan or order by Hitler for a World War II program to exterminate Europe's Jews.

This book is especially relevant right now, as "Holocaust deniers" are routinely and harshly punished for their "blasphemy," and as growing numbers of people regard the standard, Hollywoodized "Holocaust" narrative with mounting suspicion and distrust.

The author of this book, who writes under the pen name of "Thomas Dalton," is an American scholar who holds a doctoral degree from a major US university.

This is no peripheral debate between arcane views of some obscure aspect of twentieth century history. Instead, this is a clash with profound social-political implications regarding freedom of speech and press, the manipulation of public opinion, how our cultural life is shaped, and how power is wielded in our society.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_0_8?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=debating+the+holocaust&sprefix=DEBATING

Peace.

Michael Santomauro
Editorial Director
Call anytime: 917-974-6367
ReporterNotebook@Gmail.com

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What in God's Name Are We Doing? --PHOTO ESSAY--

 







Making sure they get to school.

 

 
 
Helping Ladies across the street..
 

 


 
 
Providing childcare.
 



 
 
Allowing them a place to rest (permanently)
 
 

 


 
 
Access to Health care.
 
 


  
Construction projects (demolition)
 
 

 


 
 

Respecting American and British pacifist resisters (such as American Rachel Corrie)

 


 


 
 

And others.

 
 

 


And if you are not satisfied, now, with the truth the following pictures are war crimes as defined by the UN, The Hague and the Geneva Convention.


 
Using images of your enemy dead or alive (violation)
 
 


 
 
Human shields (violation)
 
 

 
 

Live Burial Torture (violation)

 
 

 
 
And as a last resort, Execution (violation)

 
 
 

  
These IDF soldiers have faces... I can clearly see them... Can't you? Why are they not being prosecuted? Because it is systematic process that is driven by the government designed to force the people of Palestine into exile so Israel can claim all the land and resources..


This where my American tax dollars are going, do you know where your tax dollars are at? TAKE THE TIME TO FIND THE TRUTH. So many lives depend on it. I, like so many Americans, am Caucasian, non-Arab, and religious. I can no longer sit back with goo d conscience and do nothing while my government is supporting the types of terrorist actions that we have condemned Muslim Fundamentalist for. Call your Congressman and Senator, send an email to the White House and demand that our government negotiate FAIRLY with both sides and bring a fair and just solution to Palestine and Israel .

 

(CRUELTY OF ISRAEL


PLS SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS

<http://www.google.fr/search?hl=fr&source=hp&q=Joe+Fallisi&btnG=Recherche+Google&meta=&aq=f&oq=>


Message de Joe Fallisi, le 7 janvier 2010

Très Chers Amis,
                               aujourd'hui c'est le onzième jour de ma grève de la faim. Ce que je suis en train de faire, pour ma liberté de mouvement, mais surtout pour les martyrs palestiniens de Gaza, ce n'est rien par rapport à ce que ces derniers subissent à l'intérieur de leur territoire. Entourés désormais par deux murs, les Palestiniens de Gaza, d'ici peu, ne pourront plus choisir de ne pas manger… Ils seront obligés à le faire… comme le furent les paysans d'Ukraine et du Kuban en 1932-1933 par d'autres maudits tyrans. La situation qui est vécue par les populations de la Bande de Gaza est quelque chose qui crie vengeance au monde entier. Maintenant, personne ne pourra plus dire qu'il ne savait pas. Dans la société du spectacle-des spectres, tout est devant les yeux de tous. Mais les pupilles sont vides.

W GAZA!
PALESTINE LIBRE ET HEUREUSE!
REVEILLONS-NOUS DU CAUCHEMAR SIONISTE, C'EST L'HEURE!

Avec beaucoup d'affection et d'estime,

Joe Fallisi




--
NOW AN AMAZON KINDLE BOOK ON YOUR PC, iPHONE OR KINDLE DEVICE

Debating the Holocaust: A New Look at Both Sides By Thomas Dalton

In this remarkable, balanced book, the author skillfully reviews and compares "traditional" and "revisionist" views on the "The Holocaust."

On one side is the traditional, orthodox view -- six million Jewish casualties, gas chambers, cremation ovens, mass graves, and thousands of witnesses. On the other is the view of a small band of skeptical writers and researchers, often unfairly labeled "deniers," who contend that the public has been gravely misled about this emotion-laden chapter of history.

The author establishes that the arguments and findings of revisionist scholars are substantive, and deserve serious consideration. He points out, for example, that even the eminent Jewish Holocaust scholar Raul Hilberg acknowledged that there was no budget, plan or order by Hitler for a World War II program to exterminate Europe's Jews.

This book is especially relevant right now, as "Holocaust deniers" are routinely and harshly punished for their "blasphemy," and as growing numbers of people regard the standard, Hollywoodized "Holocaust" narrative with mounting suspicion and distrust.

The author of this book, who writes under the pen name of "Thomas Dalton," is an American scholar who holds a doctoral degree from a major US university.

This is no peripheral debate between arcane views of some obscure aspect of twentieth century history. Instead, this is a clash with profound social-political implications regarding freedom of speech and press, the manipulation of public opinion, how our cultural life is shaped, and how power is wielded in our society.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_0_8?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=debating+the+holocaust&sprefix=DEBATING

Peace.

Michael Santomauro
Editorial Director
Call anytime: 917-974-6367
ReporterNotebook@Gmail.com

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.

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U.S. To Carpet-Bomb Yemen Shortly

 

U.S. To Carpet-Bomb Yemen Shortly
 
Something is going on: Most B-52s have left Barksdale AFB in Louisiana not to return.

I live by the base and am well accustomed to their maneuvers and this is different than there normal practices and touch and gos. The engines have been running since about 3am this morning and they have been taking off all morning not to return. They did this when we went into Afghanistan right after 9-11 also. I read online yesterday that General McCrystal met with the Yemen Government yesterday and I wake up this morning and read online that we along with the British closed the embassy's in Yemen and removed the personel. I think something is afoot. I think we are fixing to bomb the you know what out of Al Qaeda in Yemen. Posted by Confederate Bayou Oilman
 
 
 

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