Cempaka Occupy

Many vets with PTSD prescribed opioid painkillers

2012-03-06T13:43:00.000-08:00

Reuters, ByGenevra Pittman, NEW YORK, Tue Mar 6, 2012

(ReutersHealth) - Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who are treated for painare more likely to get very strong painkillers if they also have mental healthproblems, including post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a new study.

OxyContin Addiction

That'sworrisome, researchers said, because some people who take opioids -- whichinclude OxyContin and Vicodin -- abuse the drugs or overdose on them, and thosewho already have mental troubles may be most at risk.

"There'sreally been a culture of, 'Let's get rid of pain,' and I think unfortunatelythat pendulum may have swung too far," said Dr. Karen Seal, from theUniversity of California, San Francisco and the San Francisco Veterans AffairsMedical Center, the study's lead author.

"Whatwe need to do now is really individually assess patients and talk to patientsabout what we know of the risks of opiates, especially in those with mentalhealth problems," she told Reuters Health.

Prescriptionsfor the powerful painkillers have been on the rise not just among veterans, butin civilians as well, with more deaths and hospitalizations attributed to thedrugs as a result.

Accordingto the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of Americans whodie of a prescription drug overdose has tripled in the past 20 years, with14,800 people killed by an overdose in 2008 -- more than from heroin andcocaine combined.

Seal saidthat instead of taking opioids, some patients with pain and mental healthproblems may do just as well, or even better, with talk therapy, physicaltherapy and anti-inflammatory medications such as ibuprofen.

She and hercolleagues analyzed data from about 141,000 war veterans who were treated forpain at a VA medical center between 2005 and 2010, some of whom also had beendiagnosed with a mental health disorder. Out of all patients, close to 16,000were prescribed at least a three-week course of opioids.

Theresearchers found that while less than seven percent of veterans without anymental health problems were prescribed the powerful painkillers, close to 12percent with a diagnosis such as depression or anxiety were given opioids, andalmost 18 percent with PTSD got a prescription.

More thanone-third of veterans with both PTSD and a drug use disorder who had pain wereprescribed opioids.

Veteranswith PTSD were also more likely than others to be prescribed multiple opioiddrugs at a time, to get higher doses of the drugs and to receive early refills,Seal and her colleagues reported Tuesday in the Journal of the American MedicalAssociation.

And thosetreated with opioids were more than twice as likely as veterans not prescribedthe painkillers to suffer an injury, overdose on drugs or alcohol orintentionally hurt themselves.

Seal saidshe thinks too many veterans are being prescribed opioids, instead of going totalk therapy and getting other types of pain treatment, for example.

"Oneof the things that we're trying to do is, if it appears that there may be arisk for unsafe use of opioids, to really bring that up honestly with thepatients, and suggest that there may be other alternatives," she said."It's important to be open to alternative ways of treating pain."

The study"further draws attention to the challenges of meeting the pain care needsof veterans with chronic pain and mental health conditions, particularlypost-traumatic stress disorder," said Robert Kerns, the National ProgramDirector for Pain Management at the Veterans Health Administration and apsychologist at Yale University in New Haven.

Kerns, whowas not involved in the new study, agreed that it's important to develop otherapproaches for managing pain.

"Atthe same time I think it's still widely accepted that opioids may have a rolein the management of chronic non-cancer pain, even in persons with mentalhealth conditions," he told Reuters Health. But, "they need to beused responsibly and safely."

Seal saidthat veterans and their families should be open to the idea of talk therapy andother help for mental health problems.

"It'sokay to accept mental health help," she said, "and that mightactually help both their pain and their PTSD or other mental healthproblems."

SOURCE:bit.ly/hwxtTL Journal of the American Medical Association, online March 6,2012.

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More corporate crime charges coming: Attorney General Holder

2012-03-06T12:11:00.000-08:00

Reuters, byAruna Viswanatha, WASHINGTON, Tue Mar 6, 2012

U.S.Attorney General Eric Holder delivers a national security speech

regarding theObama administration's ongoing counter terrorism efforts

during his visit tothe Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago,

March 5, 2012. (Credit:Reuters/Jeff Haynes)

(Reuters) -The Justice Department plans to take action in the coming months againstindividuals involved in corporate fraud, Attorney General Eric Holder said onTuesday, adding that fines against companies are not enough of a deterrent.

"We'regonna make some news with regard to holding individuals responsible for thingswe tend to think of as corporate crimes," Holder said at a meeting ofstate attorneys general in Washington.

Thecomments came in response to a question from Virginia Attorney General KenCuccinelli about individual prosecutions in Medicare fraud cases, but Holdersaid the remarks applied "more generally" to corporate fraud.

In thecorporate fraud area, the Justice Department has received especially sharpcriticism for not bringing more cases against entities and individuals whoplayed a role in the 2007-2009 financial crisis.

Federaljudges in recent months have also criticized other enforcement agencies forbringing cases against corporations while limiting any action againstindividual employees who may have been responsible for the conduct.

In the mostnotable example, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in November threw outCitigroup's proposed $285 million settlement with the U.S. Securities andExchange Commission over the sale of toxic mortgage debt, and called the fine"pocket change" for the company.

Holderechoed that sentiment on Tuesday and said: "Especially when you look atthe securities field, there have been far too many repeat offenders."

"Itcan't simply be that you make billions of dollars and then you pay hundreds ofmillions of dollars in penalties. That's not a disincentive," he said.

The remarkscome as a new federal-state working group gets under way to investigate thepooling and sale of home loans that contributed to the financial crisis.

The group,which President Barack Obama announced during his State of the Union address inJanuary, has held meetings and is moving forward with its investigations,Holder said.

Thedepartment has sent 16 civil subpoenas in its investigation, Holder said, fivemore than had been revealed during a January press conference.

Reutersreported last week those subpoenas appeared to overlap with previousinvestigations undertaken by the SEC, suggesting that the Justice Departmentwas treading on cases the SEC has struggled to bring for years.

A JusticeDepartment spokeswoman said last week the working group is "marshalingparallel efforts" and "pooling resources" to investigate thoseresponsible for misconduct.

(ReportingBy Aruna Viswanatha; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Lives For A Life Changing Newsflash! – Mar 5, 2012 (Channelled through Greg Giles)

“… All your life you have waited for the goodnews, and that day has finally come. Very soon you will witness large-scalemass arrests all ov...er the world of many men and women who you have come toknow as our world's political and financial leaders. These arrests will reachhigh into the U.S. Government and include many members of the financial andbanking worlds. Many of these names you will immediately recognize, though someyou may not immediately recognize, but all have actively taken part in seriouscrimes against the people, leaving our nations bankrupt why they looted ourhard earned money. …”

Peres to tell AIPAC: Israel not 'rushing into war' with Iran

2012-03-05T10:51:00.001-08:00

The Israelipresident will also thank Obama for the assistance he has given Israel duringthe three-and-a-half years of his presidency.

Haaretz, by Barak Ravid, 4 Mar 2012

WASHINGTON,D.C. - President Shimon Peres will meet with President Barack Obama in the U.S.capital on Sunday. Peres will also tell delegates of pro-Israel lobby AIPACthat Israel is not rushing into a war with Iran.

President Shimon Peres (Photo: GPO)

Ahead ofhis meeting with the American leader, Peres will deliver a speech to AIPAC inwhich he will express his support for, and faith in, the friendship betweenIsrael and the United States. He will also thank Obama for the political andsecurity assistance he has given Israel during the three-and-a-half years ofhis presidency to date.

Sourcesclose to Peres told Haaretz on Saturady that the Israeli president's speechwill focus mainly on the debt that Israel owes the U.S., the American peopleand Obama for the close ties between the two countries.

Peres willtell delegates attending the AIPAC conference that Israel should "get backto the basics" of the Israeli-American relationship, and that"sometimes it does no harm to say 'Thank you'." Peres will concludehis speech by saying he is "confident that the United States will alwaysstand by Israel."

Peres willalso dedicate a large portion of his speech to Iran, telling delegates that"Israel is not rushing into war. We are a country that always seeks outpeace and peace is always our preferred option, but our enemies should make nomistakes. We have fought six wars that were forced upon us and we have won themall. If another war is forced upon us, we will fight it and we will winit."

Peres willalso talk about the importance of renewing negotiations between Israel and thePalestinians. Peace, he will say, is not just in Israel's interest, it is"a moral duty for the Jewish people."

Immediatelyafter Peres' speech, Obama will take to the podium. The American leader is notexpected to unveil any new initiative on the Iranian issue. Instead, he willreiterate a message he has been relaying for several months - that the UnitedStates will not allow the Islamic Republic to become a nuclear-armed power.Obama is expected to focus on the series of measures that his administrationhas taken to tighten security cooperation with Israel.

Sourcesclose to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, do not believe thatObama's speech will include anything dramatic on the Iranian issue, but,rather, that it will stress the severity of the threat posed by a nuclear-armedIran and the United States' commitment to thwarting Tehran's aspirations onthis front.

Netanyahu,who began his North America trip on Friday in Canada, told the Canadian primeminister, Stephen Harper, that the international community should not allowwhat he called "Iran's relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons" tosucceed.

BinyaminNetanyahu said to Barack Obama: 'When it comes

to security, Israel has thesovereign right to make its own

decisions.' Photograph: SaulLoeb/AFP/Getty Images

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(Religions – Zionism - March 1, 2012 - Matthew Channelled by Suzanne Ward)

9. It canbe no other way—simply, this is the physics that governs life in this universe.As Earth continues apace into successively higher planes, nothing with lowvibrations in any form—physical bodies, subversive plans, theft, dishonesty,unjust laws and imprisonment, bigotry, cruel customs and deeds—can survive.

10. Movingon, no, it will not be quite like religions being “totally discarded and replacedby universal laws in the Golden Age.” When the truths come forth that scienceand spirit are one and the same and that religious dogmas were originated byearly leaders of church and state to control the masses, people whoseconsciousness has risen beyond the constraints of third density will adhere tothe spiritual aspects of their respective religions and the devised,controlling aspects will fall by the wayside.

11. One ofthe truths to come forth is that Zionism, which by dark intent has been madesynonymous with Judaism, actually is a bellicose political movement within theIlluminati, and its aim for more than six decades has been to create conflictand instability in the entire Middle East. Zionists, who have wielded powerfulinfluence within and behind major governments and their military forces, do NOTrepresent the Jewish peoples in Israel or anywhere else. And, like all otherIlluminati factions, they have been committed to that cabal’s goal of globaldomination.

12.Although Semites are of diverse national origins and religions, the Zionistshave been successful in convincing many that “anti-Semitic” is exclusivelyprejudice against the Jewish peoples and opposition to Israel’s right to defenditself from its “enemies.” By means of that blatant distortion, they obtainednot only world sympathy, but also massive defense funding from Israel’s allies,most especially the United States, all of which served to increase theIlluminati’s vast profits from their industrial-military machine.

13. In additionto controlling the masses through dogmatic teachings, religions have served thedark purpose of divisiveness to such an extent that it resulted in centuries oftrauma and bloodshed. Witness the Crusades, wars between Catholics andProtestants, pogroms against Jews, executions of “blasphemous” individuals whorefused to “recant.” (Read More …)

"Matthew preparing us for the Golden Age." - Jan 19, 2012 (Channelled by Suzy Ward)

Some Sponsors Rush Away From Limbaugh’s Show

2012-03-03T15:33:00.001-08:00

ABC News, Mar 3, 2012

(Image Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Foursponsors have severed ties with Rush Limbaugh’s radio show after the outspokenhost called law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute.”

Nationaladvertisers LegalZoom, Quicken Loans and Sleep Number along with West Coast adbuyer The Sleep Train announced this week they were pulling all advertisements.

“We don’tcondone negative comments directed toward any group. In response, we arecurrently pulling our ads from Rush with Rush Limbaugh,” Sleep Train wrote onTwitter.

SandraFluke, a Georgetown Law Student, was thrust into the spotlight this week afterLimbaugh called her a “slut” for her stance on a new insurance mandate thatrequires employers to cover the cost of contraception.

“What doesit say about the college co-ed Sandra Fluke, who goes before a congressionalcommittee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex, what doesthat make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute,” Limbaughsaid Wednesday.

The radiohost’s comments caused customers to lobby advertisers to pull their money fromthe show or risk losing business.

TheCalifornia-based Sleep Train has enjoyed a relationship with Limbaugh since itopened its first store in 1985.

FounderDale Carlsen told the Sacramento Bee in 2006 that Limbaugh was introduced tohim through an ad sales representative.

“The ad guysaid, ‘Now he’s a little bit controversial, but he needs a bed, would you takecare of him?’ ” Carlsen said. “I needed every sale that I could get at thattime, so I said, ‘Yeah, bring him in and I’ll take care of him.’ ”

Not onlydid advertisers feel the heat, bit Limbaugh’s shot at Fluke has been drawn intopresidential politics. President Obama called Fluke Friday to make sure she wasokay, Fluke said.

The threeRepublican candidates have been less eager to discuss Limbaugh, a favorite ofconservatives.

When askedabout Limbaugh today, Newt Gingrich criticized Obama’s phone call to Fluke.

“I thinkthe president will opportunistically do anything he can,” Gingrich said after arally at the Back Porch Saloon. “I think the most important use of language inthe last week has been the president’s apology to religious fanatics, and Iwant to stay focused on what the president has said, and I think what he saidwas inexcusable and is exactly the wrong policy at a time of life and death,and playing political games is irrelevant as far as I’m concerned.”

Mitt Romneywas more measured in his response.

“I’ll justsay this, which is, it’s not the language I would have used,” Romney told anOhio crowd.

Rick Santorumcalled Limbaugh’s comments “absurd,” but said Limbaugh was just being anentertainer.

SandraFluke said President Obama told her that her

parents "should beproud"

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(Photo: YouTube/rightwingwatch.org)

American TV dramas take aim at amoral super-rich elite

2012-03-03T10:22:00.000-08:00

New showssuch as Revenge, Ringer, GCB and Downwardly Mobile win viewers with stories ofinequality, covering ground where US politicians fear to tread

guardian.co.uk,Paul Harris New York, Saturday 3 March 2012

Revenge rivals Emily Thorne (played by Emily Vancamp) and Victoria
Grayson (played by Madeleine Stowe). Photograph: Colleen Hayes/ABC

It soundsso nice in theory. A hyper-rich American family, amoral to the core and livingin the wealthy playground of the Hamptons, get their thoroughly deservedcomeuppance at the hands of an ordinary American girl whose own family theydestroyed.

In the ageof the Occupy Wall Street movement that has popularised the concept of the 99%and demonised the activities of the elite 1%, no wonder such a story has astrong pull for the American public.

Of course,this is fantasy, not reality. While American politicians show little real signof exacting much meaningful punishment on Wall Street bankers and thehyper-rich, the same cannot be said for US television, in the form of the newhit show, Revenge.

The ABCseries, which began in the autumn, has won an audience of millions with a storythat is aimed at bringing down at least one family of "onepercenters". They are the Graysons, embodied by the evil matriarch of theclan, Victoria, played by the actress Madeleine Stowe. They live an exaltedlife of wealth and snobbery in the Hamptons area of Long Island, which has longbeen the playground for New York's elite. Victoria's husband, Conrad, is chiefexecutive of the distinctly capitalist-sounding Grayson Global.

Theirnemesis is Emily Thorne, played by Emily VanCamp, whose innocent father wassent to jail by the Graysons, and who returns to the Hamptons incognito towreak her revenge.

But, in atime of hesitant recovery from the Great Recession, many are seeing the storyas a 99% versus 1% narrative. "The Graysons themselves do stand in for the1%. They are so extremely venal," said Jace Lacob, a television columnistfor Newsweek.

Yet, bad asthe Graysons are, the methods Thorne employs to exact revenge are extreme, fromcomputer hacking to arson. Blood is spilled and people die. It is a long wayfrom the tradition of camp American TV dramas such as Dallas, Dynasty anddaytime soap operas, where the rich and their lifestyles are to be aspired to,not destroyed. "The show reveals the downside of wealth and materialism.These are people who are morally corrupt. It is a takedown of the rulingclass," said Lacob.

Others gofurther, seeing Thorne as a cipher for the frustrations and unhappiness ofordinary Americans. "There is a little bit of Emily in all of us,"said Richard Laermer, a celebrity expert and head of RLM, a public relationscompany. Nor is Revenge alone as a new drama with a political undertone.Ringer, another TV series, features one twin from a poor background assumingthe identity of her identical sister, who is wealthy and has a summer house in…yes, you guessed it, the Hamptons. The twin, Bridget Kelly, played by SarahMichelle Gellar, has to navigate the morally dubious, twisted ways of her deadsister's elite social life.

Then thereis GCB, a new comedy drama that explores the shallow social mores of a group ofwealthy Texan socialites. The heroine has fallen on hard economic times and asa result has become a better person.

RoseanneBarr, whose hit 1990s sitcom Roseanne was a rare primetime depiction ofAmerican working-class life, is meanwhile producing a pilot for DownwardlyMobile, a show where she plays the boss of a mobile-home park full of theeconomic casualties of the Great Recession.

However, ifAmerican audiences are showing a sudden political edge in their viewing, it isnot one that extends to their foreign TV viewing habits. While Revenge may be asurrogate for the anger of the 99% at the American economic elite, viewers areat the same time big fans of Downton Abbey, which has become a huge hit inAmerica.

Revellingin class warfare and rooting against the 1%, it seems, is something reservedfor the current moment in their homeland. Or to put it another way, no onewatching these shows was kicked out of their home or lost their jobs due to theactions of a British aristocrat. Thus an American audience can enjoy and admirethe goings-on at Downton.

"Therise of Downton has happened because it is trapped in amber at a specificmoment in time. There is a safe distance," said Lacob. The same cannot besaid for a drama featuring super-rich Americans or powerful financiers. Inpopular culture, at least, some American viewers are now out for a littlepayback.

Nazi ties unbroken in post-war government

2012-03-03T09:04:00.001-08:00

Deutsche Welle, 3 Mar 2012

Civilservants with ties to the Nazi Party were the rule rather than the exceptionafter World War II, according to several studies. The German government has setout to investigate this dark period of its history.

Investigatorsmade a chilling discovery in November 2011: What had seemed to be unrelated 10murders of victims of Turkish and Greek origin between 2002 and 2007 were infact a series of racially-motivated murders committed by a neo-Nazi terrorcell. Critics allege that security agencies like the police and particularlythe Office for the Protection of the Constiution had failed completely - andthat they had possibly even turned a blind eye to the neo-Nazi terrorists.

Parliamentarycommittees and a joint federal-state commission have been charged withinvestigating the state's missteps. The question that worries many is whetherwhether neo-Nazi sympathizers may still occupy high German offices.

Post-1945careers unbroken by a Nazi past

Hans Globke's government career
spanned the Nazi era and post-war
democracy

In theearly days of West Germany after the war, right-wing sympathizers werecertainly present in government offices.

The better part of the Nazi'sbureaucratic apparatus and personnel was simply reinstated after 1945, andsilence about officials' own past shaped the intellectual climate in governmentinstitutions.

The mostprominent example of a career unbroken by a Nazi past is that of Hans Globke,who served as chief of staff and a close advisor to Chancellor Konrad Adenauerin the 1950s. Globke had formerly worked in the Nazi administration as a lawyerwho wielded significant influence in creating the Nuremberg Race Laws. Thatlegislation built the foundation for the discrimination and persecution againstJews that led in part to the Holocaust.

Globke'scase does not lend itself to generalizations about the Nazi elite's post-warfate. But it is significant that systematic investigations into continuitieswithin the government's personnel came so late after the end of the war.

Investigationsinto the past

Guido Westerwelle with the authors
of "Das Amt und die Vergangenheit"

There isstill much research to do when it comes to uncovering how careers in German bureaucracycontinued before and after 1945. The German Foreign Ministry led the way in2005, when then-Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer commissioned severalhistorians to investigate the Ministry's past. The result was published in2010, under the title "Das Amt und die Vergangenheit" (The Office andthe Past).

In thesummer of 2011, the Social Democrats (SPD) and Green Party succeeded in theircalls for a non-partisan committee to examine the continuities and breaks amongstaff in governmental agencies. The goal is to arrive at a "definitiveconcept for coming to terms with the Nazi past." The petitioning partieswould like the federal government to present such a concept.

But theformer Director of the Institute for Cultural History Horst Möller and historianMichael Stolleis advised the parliament not to issue "wide-rangingresearch proposals without a problem-oriented program," and also to avoidthe appearance of "politically-motivated assignments."

Politicalinfluence and limited access to documents

Reinhard Gehlen: a general
under Hitler, later an intelligence
director after the war

In the caseof historians commissioned to investigate the past of the German IntelligenceService, political influence was in fact too big, says intelligence expertErich Schmidt-Eenboom.

He also claims that the researchers unduly acceptedguidelines from the head of the BND.

Theresearch commission's leader Klaus-Dietmar Henke as well as BND head GerhardSchindler disagree, with the latter having promised to provide "thegreatest possible transparency."

Thedisagreements over investigating the German Intelligence Service's pastdemonstrate the challenges involved with such research. In the case of anintelligence service, the entanglement with the Nazi regime is likely to bemuch more significant than in, for instance, the ministry for agriculture. Itbecomes apparent, too, in the fact that the German Intelligence Service was ledby Reinhard Gehlen, a general in the military during Hitler's rule, and otherhigh-ranking Nazis.

Not even athorough investigation into the BND's history will answer all questions,remarked Michael Hollmann, head of the Federal Archives located in Koblenz. Ata parliamentary hearing, he made it clear that historians will be able toaccess most of the documents they requested, but not all of them.

Hollmannstressed that restricting documents doesn't represent an arbitrary exercise ofpower.

"Theprotection of sources and methods must, as in journalism, be accepted,"otherwise the agencies could "close up shop," Hollmann said.

'Relativelyhigh' continuity after 1945

In Decemberlast year, the federal government replied to an appeal issued by the LeftParty, which had wanted to know how German political institutions had dealtwith the Nazi past.

For WestGermany, the federal government's commission noted that after the war's end,"continuities in personnel among civil servants was relatively high."Experts estimate that on average 70 percent of the personnel were able tocontinue their work without problems after 1945 despite having been employed inministries and agencies during Nazi rule.

Some evensuggest that figure could be closer to 90 percent.

How coulddemocracy emerge?

Micha Brumlik say the Allies are
to credit for the emergence of
democracy in western Germany

Forhistorian Micha Brumlik it is not the personnel of the federal ministries thatcan be credited with the fact that a democracy emerged successfully in westernGermany after 1945. The Allies were the real initiators, he argued, noting thatformer Nazi Party, SS and Gestapo members could hardly be expected to havepushed for democracy.

AndDresden-based historian Klaus-Dietmar Henke wonders how democracy could havefunctioned so well "despite the lingering poison of Nazism and the lack ofchange among staff."

Part of theanswer is likely that the several hundred thousand Nazi followers and even theremaining Nazi culprits adjusted quickly to the new times out of concern fortheir careers, just as they did in 1933 when the Nazis took power.

Thoughdisagreements have emerged and much work remains, uncovering such networks inthe State Department and well beyond has been a rewarding task - on that point,the experts in the German Parliament agree.

Author: Marcel Fürstenau / gsw

Editor: Andrea Rönsberg

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Some Wall Streeters Facing Tough Times On Just $350,000 A Year

2012-03-02T03:31:00.000-08:00

MSNBC News,by msnbc.com staff, Mar 1, 2012

Pity thepoor investment bankers.

Facing asharp decline in revenue from banking and trading, many Wall Street firms havetrimmed 2011 discretionary pay, according to a Bloomberg News report, and thathas translated into shrinking paychecks and widespread unease.

Wall Streettypes like Andrew Schiff, director of marketing for broker-dealer Euro PacificCapital, are feeling the pain.

Schiff toldBloomberg that his reduced bonus means his $350,000 salary doesn’t cover hisfamily’s private-school tuition, a Kent, Conn., summer rental and the upgradethey would like for his 1,200-square- foot Brooklyn duplex.

“I feelstuck,” Schiff told Bloomberg. “The New York that I wanted to have is still justbeyond my reach.”

Cue thetiny violins.

Across WallStreet, smaller bonus checks are making upscale lifestyles harder to maintain,Bloomberg reports, based on interviews with bankers, accountants, therapists,advisers and headhunters.

At GoldmanSachs and Barclays Capital, the cuts were at least 25 percent, Bloomberg said,while Morgan Stanley has capped cash bonuses at $125,000.

However,Bloomberg also notes that median household income in 2010 was $49,445,according to the U.S. Census Bureau — lower than the previous year and lessthan 1 percent of Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein’s $7 millionrestricted-stock bonus for 2011.

RichardScheiner, a 58 year-old real-estate investor and hedge-fund manager, toldBloomberg that he spends about $500 a month to park one of his two Audis in agarage and at least $7,500 a year each for memberships at the Trump NationalGolf Club and a gun club in upstate New York.

He alsopays $17,000 a year on food, health care, boarding and a daily dog-walker (whocharges $17 each per outing) to look after a labradoodle named Zelda and arescued bichon fries named Duke.

But to makeends meet he has sold two motorcycles he doesn’t use and makes do with hisPorsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet, which he called “the Volkswagen ofsupercars,” Bloomberg said.

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Australian Treasurer Hits Out at Billionaires

Australian Treasurer Hits Out at Billionaires

2012-03-02T00:14:00.001-08:00

Jakarta Globe, March 02, 2012

Julia Gillard, Australia’s prime minister, center, walks with Craig Emerson,
minister for trade, left, and Wayne Swan, treasurer. Swan on Friday singled
out three of his country’s billionaire mining magnates by name in an unusual and
high-profile attack on what he called “vested interests.”

Relatedarticles

Sydney.Australia’s Treasurer Wayne Swan on Friday singled out three of his country’sbillionaire mining magnates by name in an unusual and high-profile attack onwhat he called “vested interests.”

In anopinion piece for The Monthly magazine, Swan argued that a minority of thecountry’s wealthiest were using their power and money to oppose good publicpolicy and economic reforms designed to benefit the majority.

Politicians,he said, had a choice “between standing up for workers and kneeling down at thefeet of the Gina Rineharts and the Clive Palmers”.

Rinehart isthe wealthiest woman in the Asia-Pacific with a fortune estimated at $18billion built on her iron ore projects while Palmer’s wealth comes primarilyfrom coal.

Last monthRinehart increased her stake in press group Fairfax to 12.8 percent, whilePalmer has also said he would consider a Fairfax investment amid fears they areattempting to expand their influence.

Swan alsotook aim at Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, executive chairman of Fortescue Metals andone of the country’s richest men.

“A handfulof vested interests that have pocketed a disproportionate share of the nation’seconomic success now feel they have a right to shape Australia’s future tosatisfy their own self-interest,” he said.

“Thispoison has infected our politics and is seeping into our economy. Though thesevested interests have not yet prevailed, every day their demands get louder.”

The Monthlyis one of Australia’s most highbrow publications.

Swanhighlighted the “ferocious and highly misleading” campaigns waged against theLabor government’s mining tax and carbon pricing plans.

Australia’scontroversial tax on the country’s mining boom is due to start on July 1 withthe proceeds put towards funding infrastructure, pensions and tax cuts forsmall businesses.

Thegovernment originally wanted a 40 percent tax on all extraordinary profitsgenerated by resources firms as the nation enjoys unprecedented demand for itsvast mineral deposits.

But thatwas scrapped in favour of a 30 percent tax only on iron ore and coalsuper-profits after a furious and intense campaign from the powerful andwealthy mining industry.

Thecountry’s tax on pollution also met fierce resistance. The scheme will levy aprice of Aus$23 (US$24.85) per tonne on carbon pollution before moving to anemissions trading scheme in 2015.

“I fearAustralia’s extraordinary success has never been in more jeopardy than rightnow,” Swan said.

“We mustfight a pitched battle against the influence of vested interests that seek toshape public policy to their own excessive benefit and at the expense of ourmiddle-class society.”

Agence France-Presse

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Trailer for "Heist: Who Stole the American Dream?"

2012-03-01T07:33:00.001-08:00

Pleasewatch the newly updated trailer for "Heist: Who Stole the AmericanDream?," the new, explosive documentary from Frances Causey and DonaldGoldmacher exposing the roots of the American economic crisis and thedestruction of the American dream. Visit www.Heist-TheMovie.com for moreinformation on how to see the feature film and how to Take Action in restoringdemocracy and economic justice in the United States.

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THE GREAT CON JOB - DYLAN RATIGAN (April 8 2010)

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Exclusive: Undercover Grandma Catches Medicare Fraud on Tape

2012-03-01T06:57:00.003-08:00

ABC News, By Megan Chuchman (@megcourtney) and Brian Ross (@brianross), March 1, 2012

video platform video management video solutions video player

In the wakeof an ABC News undercover investigation, federal authorities in Texas areinvestigating how an active 82-year-old grandmother was diagnosed as homebound,with a range of ailments that she did not have, including Type 2 diabetes,opening the door to potentially tens of thousands of dollars in Medicarepayments for home health care, supplies and equipment she did not need.

A hiddencamera recorded the undercover grandmother's visit to a doctor in McAllen,Texas, where she told the doctor and nurses she exercised regularly and, otherthan some hypertension and arthritis, was in excellent health.

Doris Ace,grandmother to ABC News

producer Megan Chuchmach, went

undercover as part of anABC News

investigation in McAllen,Texas.

"I'vereally enjoyed good health all my life, God's been good to me," the doctorwas told by Doris Ace, the grandmother of ABC News producer Megan Chuchmach.

Yet theofficial certification sent to Medicare for home health care services indicateshe was homebound and suffered from two internal infections, incontinence andneeds "assistance in all activities, unable to safely leave home, severesob," an abbreviation for shortness of breath.

Mrs. Acehad specifically told the doctor and her nurses she did not suffer fromincontinence or shortness of breath.

On apatient referral form for home health care service, signed by the doctor, ourundercover grandmother was also wrongly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, eventhough she was not given a blood test which doctors say is the only way toauthoritatively diagnose diabetes.

The overalldiagnosis of the undercover grandmother's health could have provided the justificationfor what could be tens of thousand dollars a year worth of unneeded treatmentand medical supplies and equipment, federal investigators said in an interviewto be broadcast tonight on ABC News' "World News with Diane Sawyer"and "Nightline".

"That'sfraud," said Tim Menke, senior adviser for investigations in the InspectorGeneral's office at the Department of Health and Human Services.

"OurMedicare system is an honor system," said Menke after viewing the filesand the ABC News undercover tape of the doctor's office visit. "Andthere's not much honor left in the system when you see things like that."

McAllen isconsidered a hotbed of Medicare fraud by the Inspector General's office whichhas already brought cases against a number of doctors and health care agenciesand has many others under investigation.

"Thefraud indicators are off the charts," said Menke of McAllen andsurrounding towns in the Rio Grande Valley. "We have ten of the topphysicians who have billed nearly $200 million in one specialty last yearalone."

Nationwide,the Inspector General's office estimates that $60 billion dollars of taxpayermoney is lost to unchecked Medicare fraud every year.

"We'veseen it in Miami, Detroit and now in McAllen and it's very, very common,"he said.

"They'relying in order to steal from you and me and the taxpayers," he added.

The McAllendoctor, Dr. Padmini Bhadriraju declined to comment to ABC News but denied anywrongdoing through her lawyer.

The lawyer,John Rivas, said the doctor acknowledged an "error" in the diabetesdiagnosis for ABC News' undercover grandmother on the patient referral form butsaid, "this section was filled out by someone other than Dr.Bhadriraju," even though he confirmed the doctor did fill out the majorityof the form and signed it in her handwriting.

Hersignature served as certification that "my clinical findings support thatthis patient is homebound."

Thedoctor's lawyer said neither the doctor nor others in her office knew whofilled in the incorrect diabetes diagnosis.

Rivas alsosaid the doctor played no role in the official certification form sent toMedicare, although records show she billed Medicare for the review of the formand its plan of care.

"Therecords provided by ABC News do not support any allegations of fraud. It wouldbe irresponsible journalism to air a story on Medicare/Medicaid fraud usingthis referral as an example when there is clearly no evidence of fraud,"he added in a letter to ABC News.

ABC Newsended the undercover investigation before any medical supplies or equipmentcould be billed to Medicare based on the false diagnosis.

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THE GREAT CON JOB - DYLAN RATIGAN (April 8 2010)

2012-03-01T04:23:00.000-08:00

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Dozens charged in massive U.S. auto insurance fraud scheme

2012-02-29T13:50:00.002-08:00

English.news.cn 2012-03-01

NEW YORK,Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- A total of 36 people were charged on Wednesday in New YorkCity with defrauding automobile insurers out of more than 275 million U.S.dollars in accident benefits.

Accordingto an indictment released in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the racketeeringand money laundering ring used phony clinics that billed insurers forunnecessary treatments.

New Yorklaw requires vehicles registered in the state to carry no-fault insuranceproviding as much as 50,000 U.S. dollars per person to cover injuries sustainedin auto accidents.

FBI agentsand police detectives around the New York City area began taking the suspectsinto custody early Wednesday morning and suspects will face charges thatinclude racketeering, health care fraud, money laundering, insurance fraud andwire fraud.

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Exclusive: U.S. conducting criminal Libor probe

FBI sees more hedge fund trading probe informants

Goldman gets Wells notice from SEC: filing

2012-02-29T07:22:00.001-08:00

Reuters, WedFeb 29, 2012

A GoldmanSachs sign is seen on at the company's post on the floor of

the New York StockExchange, January 18, 2012. (Credit: Reuters/

Brendan McDermid)

(Reuters) -The Securities and Exchange Commission notified Goldman Sachs Group Inc that itmay file a civil case against the bank related to a $1.3 billion offering ofsubprime mortgage securities, Goldman said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

Goldmanreceived the "Wells notice" on February 24 related to the bond deal,which was underwritten by Goldman in 2006, according to the 10-K filing.

A Wellsnotice indicates that SEC staff plans to recommend that the Commission takelegal action, and gives a recipient a chance to mount a defense.

The banksaid it will be making a submission to SEC staff "and intends to engage ina dialogue" with them to address their concerns.

(ReportingBy Lauren Tara LaCapra; Editing by Gary Hill)

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James Murdoch gives up News International chairman role

2012-02-29T07:08:00.003-08:00

Reuters, WedFeb 29, 2012

BSkyBchairman James Murdoch speaks at the BSkyB Annual General

Meeting at the QueenElizabeth II Conference Centre in central London

November 29, 2011. (Credit:Reuters/Timothy Anderson/BSkyB/Handout)

(Reuters)James Murdoch, the younger son of Rupert, will relinquish his position asexecutive chairman of News International, its parent company News Corp said onWednesday.

The youngerMurdoch will remain deputy chief operating officer of News Corp and will focuson its international TV business, the company said in a statement.

JamesMurdoch, once seen as a heir apparent for News Corp's top job, has been underpressure in Britain since last summer following the phone-hacking scandal thaterupted at the unit which he oversaw.

TomMockridge, chief executive of News International, will continue in his post andreport to News Corp President Chase Carey.

News CorpChairman Rupert Murdoch said in a statement his son would still play an keyrole at the company.

"Nowthat he has moved to New York, James will continue to assume a variety ofessential corporate leadership mandates, with particular focus on importantpay-TV businesses and broader international operations."

(ReportingBy Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Derek Caney)

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880,000 Pensions Hit by Japan Investment Scandal

2012-02-28T02:28:00.001-08:00

Jakarta Globe, February 28, 2012

According to media reports, Japan’s Financial Services Agency has
ordered AIJ Investment Advisors Co., which manages corporate pension
funds, to halt operations after investigators found the company lost about
$2.3 billion. Authorities have to track down the money lost by AIJ as the
total amount seems to reach new heights to become a major case in
Japan. (EPA Photo)

Relatedarticles

Tokyo. Agrowing scandal around an investment company that has lost $2.3 billion hasaffected pensions for up to 880,000 people, Japan’s government said Tuesday.

AIJInvestment Advisors has reportedly been lying to clients for years, boasting ofannual returns of up to 240 percent while in fact 185 billion yen in pensioninvestments has melted away.

Thecompany’s operations were suspended last week and the government ordered aprobe of 260 asset management firms nationwide after allegations that most of themoney in its care had disappeared.

The scandalhas shocked Japan, where a rapidly ageing middle class population isincreasingly looking to private pension funds, while the state retirement potalso struggles due to gross mismanagement of its own.

Thegovernment said Tuesday that the 185 billion yen was from 84 separate pensionfunds, and affected 540,000 employees who were saving for retirement, as wellas more than 340,000 people already drawing their pensions.

Most of the84 funds entrusted fractions of their savings to AIJ, but 13 funds had aquarter of their investments exposed to AIJ, the health ministry said.

Thecompany, which was set up in 1989, has consistently reported healthy returns oninvestments since the start of the last decade, but financial regulators nowsay the bulk of the money it looked after is gone.

It was notknown whether the money was lost due to market turbulence or because the firmdiverted it for other purposes.

The head ofthe Financial Services Agency (FSA), Shozaburo Jimi, said he had orderedinvestigations into the assets of 260 investment management firms.

“We willput all of our efforts in to clarify the facts of the AIJ case. We will get tothe truth and draft ways to prevent similar incidents in the future,” he told apress conference.

Exactdetails of how much has been lost were not available as the FSA said it wasunable to comment on an ongoing investigation.

The case,however, has further highlighted the gap between what the greying nation needsand its creaking public pension system, run by a government already saddledwith debt worth double the nation’s GDP.

The stateborrows money to finance roughly a half of its annual budget, amid dwindlingtax income due to two decades of economic stagnation and a shrinking workforcecaused by population decline.

Agence France-Presse

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Barclays prevented from using loopholes to dodge paying £500m in tax

2012-02-28T01:49:00.001-08:00

Daily Mail, by Hugo Duncan, 28th February 2012

Barclayswas yesterday prevented from using two ‘highly abusive’ loopholes to dodge paying £500million of tax.

The Britishbanking giant – which recently signed a pledge not to engage in tax avoidance –was ordered to cough up the cash by the Government.

It willcome as an embarrassment to Barclays and its multi-millionaire chief executiveBob Diamond who is in line for a bonus of up to £10million.

Embarrassment: Barclays was yesterday prevented from using two
'highly abusive' loopholes to dodge paying £500million of tax

Barclays,which earlier this month unveiled £6billion of profits, has faced questions foryears about the amount of tax it pays.

The bank isalso disputing the amount of tax it should pay, saying the real figure shouldbe £200m.

The Treasuryyesterday accused an unnamed lender – understood by the Daily Mail to beBarclays – of using two ‘highly abusive’ and ‘aggressive’ avoidance schemes.

More...

HSBC boss forfeits £1.3million of his bonus in 'gesture of remorse' at mis-selling scandal affecting thousands

TheGovernment has now outlawed both loopholes. This is expected to earn it afurther £2billion in tax in future years that would otherwise have gone unpaid.

DavidGauke, exchequer secretary to the Treasury, criticised the bank for cooking upthe schemes, having pledged not to avoid tax under the Banking Code of Practiceon Taxation.

Bad news: The new development will
come as an embarrassment to Barclays
and its multi-millionaire chief executive
Bob Diamond, pictured, who is in line
for a bonus of up to £10million

‘TheGovernment wants to ensure that the tax system is fair for all and we will notallow those who seek to benefit from this aggressive avoidance to get an unfairadvantage,’ he said.

‘We do nottake today’s action lightly, but the potential tax loss from this scheme andthe history of previous abuse in this area mean that this is a circumstancewhere the decision to change the law with full retrospective effect isjustified.

TheGovernment is committed to creating a competitive tax system and we havebrought in a range of corporate tax reforms, but we are absolutely clear thatbusiness must pay the tax they owe when they owe it.’

The taxdodges at Barclays came to light after they were disclosed by the bank to HMRC.The first scheme involved the bank claiming it should not have to paycorporation tax on profits made when buying back its own debt.

The secondinvolved claiming tax credits on non-taxable income in what the Treasury saidamounted to ‘an attempt to secure repayment from the exchequer of tax that hasnot been paid’.

Barclaysyesterday declined to comment on the matter.

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"Big Four" auditors brace for big changes in China

2012-02-28T01:05:00.001-08:00

Reuters, by RachelArmstrong, Tue Feb 28,2012

(Reuters) -The Big Four global audit firms, which dominate the Chinese market, arenegotiating with Beijing to lessen the impact of forced changes that could meanonly accountants with Chinese qualifications can be partners in their auditpractices.

The overhaulcomes at a delicate time for an audit industry reeling from a rash ofaccounting scandals at Chinese companies, particularly those listed inhigh-profile overseas markets such as the United States.

Anyreduction in the audit capacity of KPMG, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst &Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) would increase foreign regulators' andinvestors' concerns about Chinese auditing.

"TheBig Four play a critical role in the integrity of financial markets, it'sessential they have the right to practice in China," said Paul Gillis,visiting professor of accounting at Peking University and author of the ChinaAccounting Blog.

The foreignjoint venture arrangements signed in China 20 years ago by KPMG, Deloitte andErnst & Young expire later this year. PWC's joint venture expires in 2017,but it is also involved in restructuring discussions.

China'sMinistry of Finance (MOF) is using the expiry milestone to force the globalauditing giants to form special group partnerships, which in theory would meanall partners would need to hold notoriously tough Chinese accountancyqualifications.

But China'syoung accounting industry means there aren't yet enough experiencedChinese-qualified accountants to run these businesses, say people close to theBig Four, who did not want to be identified as they are not authorized to talkto the media.

"TheChinese authorities have indicated for some time that the four will have toconvert into the same mode of practice as local firms when the joint ventureterms end," said Winnie Cheung, chief executive at the Hong Kong Instituteof Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA).

The BigFour dominate China's accounting industry, having won much of the lucrativework to audit the books of the country's state-owned enterprises when theyfirst listed.

In 2010,their audit practices, excluding their consultancy businesses, had combinedrevenue of more than 9.5 billion yuan ($1.5 billion), according to the ChineseInstitute of CPAs (CICPA). However, their market share has slipped in recentyears to around 70 percent of the revenue among the top-10 auditors, down from85 percent in 2006.

Includingconsulting, the four firms say they each employ around 10,000 people in GreaterChina, which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan.

BIG FOURLOBBYING

A firmdominated by Chinese-qualified partners would raise concerns at the Big Four'sglobal headquarters as they'll have less control over their China practices.The joint ventures agreed in 1992 allowed foreign-qualified partners to dominatethe practices.

The fourare now pushing for many of their foreign-qualified partners to be allowed toretain their roles during a 'grandfathering' handover period.

"TheBig Four will want to get enough foreign partners into a deal so they can stillcontrol it for a few more years," said Peking University's Gillis.

"Althoughthey will be delaying the inevitable, it will at least give them a few moreyears control until they migrate to a completely Chinese-owned and controlledentity," he added.

Over thelast five years, the firms have collectively doubled the number ofChinese-qualified CPAs they employ, according to the CICPA, but many of theirpartners gained their qualifications in Hong Kong, the United States or Europe.

An emailcirculated by management at one of the Big Four firms on February 22, seen byReuters, said the finance ministry was demanding a break-down of all thequalifications held by the firm's China partners.

"Thisis a complex process and the MOF have been requesting a great deal ofinformation to understand our practice," it said, adding the firm plannedto send the data last week.

"Thequestion for the authorities is; are the firms mature and ready enough to justhave local qualified partners?" said Cheung at the HKICPA. "Theyshould also think about diversity and expertise, the advantages of allowing acertain number of non-locally qualified partners in the transition of the jointventure to a local firm."

KPMG, Ernst& Young, Deloitte and PWC all declined to comment for this article.Partners at the firms told Reuters they could not discuss the matter publiclyas the MOF had insisted the negotiations be confidential.

Neither theMOF nor CICPA responded to faxes asking for comment.

SCANDAL-TAINTED

Overseasregulators will be watching events keenly.

The U.S.Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is in negotiations with the MOF andthe China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) about being allowed toinspect firms that audit Chinese companies listed in the United States.

The U.S.Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has struggled in some of itsinvestigations into alleged fraud at U.S-listed Chinese firms, partly due tothe fact auditors in China haven't been able to provide them with keyinformation.

Last year,several Chinese companies were de-listed in the United States after beingcaught up in accounting scandals, some of which were highlighted byshort-sellers such as Muddy Waters.

Onehigh-profile blow-up, Longtop Financial Technologies Ltd LGFTY.PK, showed thedifficulties that auditors in China can run into.

Deloitteresigned as the software company's auditor last May, alleging Longtop tried tofalsify its financial statements and bank confirmations. The auditor noted inits resignation letter that Longtop management had threatened Deloitte staffand tried to stop them leaving company premises when the discrepancies wereuncovered.

But the SECis struggling in its investigation of Longtop management as Deloitte's Shanghaioffice said it cannot provide U.S. authorities with its audit work papers. TheSEC has gone to the courts to try and force Deloitte's hand, but the auditorsays it cannot comply as this could breach China's state secrecy rules.

"Ifthe change in the structure of audit firms loosens their ties to the U.S., thechallenges for the SEC enforcement program in China will increase," saidWilliam McGovern, partner at Kobre & Kim in Hong Kong.

A reportlast week from the Canadian Public Accountability Board on the audits ofCanadian Chinese companies found many auditors in China failed to apply proceduresthat would be "considered fundamental" in Canada.

While theBig Four were caught up in a number of recent Chinese accounting scandals, mostwere at mid-cap companies audited by smaller audit firms.

China'saccounting exams are among the toughest around. The pass-rate is well below 20percent and all papers are in mandarin, making it even tougher for non-Chineseauditors at the Big Four to try to convert.

Thedifficult exams and the economy's rapid growth over the past two decades meansthere is currently a shortage of qualified accountants in China.

The CICPAwants to have 250,000 members by 2015, up from around 180,000 today, and aimsto boost the number of people in the accounting industry nationwide to 12million.

A widerpart of the ministry's plan for the industry is to develop 10 big domesticaccounting firms, reducing their reliance on foreign auditors. The MOF wants atleast three local audit firms to be among the world's top 20.

"Chinarecognizes the expertise of the Big Four and the need for them as far as theworldwide market is concerned, but they want to expand and help the growth oflocal firms to the size and expertise and quality that is required to supportthe country's increased importance," said HKICPA's Cheung.

($1 = 6.2978 yuan)

(Reportingby Rachel Armstrong in SINGAPORE, additional reporting by Dena Aubin in NEWYORK; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)

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A protesterwho accused the World Bank of poisoning China

is removed by security as hetries to hand out leaflets a

press conference by World Bank president RobertZoellick

at the World Bank China office in Beijing, China,

February 28, 2012.(Photo: European Pressphoto Agency)

Anonymous joins forces with OWS against NDAA-supporting politicians

2012-02-27T13:20:00.000-08:00

RT.com, 28February, 2012

Photo from anonops.blogspot.com

America’smost powerful protest groups are joining forces to warn elected officials thatthey will be held accountable for their actions. The campaign is called OurPolls and its being launched with help from both Anonymous and the Occupymovement.

The AnonOps Communications website revealed details early Monday this week regarding thehacktivist collective’s latest campaign. Along with the nation-wide Occupy WallStreet movement, Anonymous says they are going after the politicians in Americathat supported legislation that both entities have largely advocated against.

“Electedofficials serve one purpose — to represent their constituents, the people whovoted them into office,” reads a statement posted to the website. “Last year,many of our elected officials let us down by giving in to deep-pocketedlobbyists and passing laws meant to boost corporate profits at the expense ofindividual liberty.”

Thelegislation in question include the National Defense Authorization Act forFiscal Year 2012, the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act. In an actof retaliation aimed at those that supported these bills, the groups havereleased a roster of politicians that have not only expressed favor for the laws,but that are also up for reelection this year.

“You areone person. You have one vote. Use that vote on November 6 to hold your electedofficial accountable for supporting bills such as NDAA, SOPA and PIPA,” readstheir statement.

Althoughboth SOPA and PIPA have been halted in Congress, the NDAA was successfullysigned into law by US President Barack Obama on December 31, 2011, granting thecommander-in-chief the power to authorize the military detainment of Americancitizens without ever bringing charges against them.

“OurSenators and Representatives showed how little they cared about personalfreedoms when they voted overwhelmingly to pass the National DefenseAuthorization Act (NDAA),” reads Monday’s statement, which also calls the act“a prominent threat to the inalienable due process rights of every US citizenas laid out in the Constitution.”

“It allowsthe military to engage in civilian law enforcement, and to suspend due process,habeas corpus or other constitutional guarantees when desired. Our congressmenpassed one of the greatest threats to civil liberties in the history of theUnited States.”

Similarlegislation in the vein of the failed SOPA and PIPA acts have also been draftedsince their defeat, which critics fear could cause the US government toimplement a veil of censorship over the World Wide Web. Although activists withboth Anonymous and Occupy have openly opposed such laws in the past, the latestcampaign will at last bring both bodies together to protest any other damninglegislation.

Accordingto a statement released Monday, both groups aim to make sure that any lawmakerchosen by the American people will walks away Election Day a loser if theysupport any such acts.

“We arecalling on voters, activists and keyboard warriors under all banners to uniteas a single force to unseat the elected representatives who threaten ouressential freedoms and who were so quick to minimize our individualconstitutional rights for a quick corporate profit,” they write.

Althoughboth Anonymous and OWS are described as leaderless movement with no formalorganization, the AnonOps Communication website and its related Twitteraccounts have served as an unofficial conduit of sorts in terms of relayinginformation pertaining to the hacktivist collective. The site has previouslyannounced, confirmed and commented on hacks and other campaigns credited to Anonymous.

During lastweek’s installment of Anonymous’ #FuckFBIFriday campaign, the group tackled thewebsite of GEO Group, Inc., a multi-national private prison management firmoperated out of Florida. In a statement that accompanied that hack, operativesaligned with the Anon collective announced another plan put together incooperation with the Occupy movement. In that instance, both groups intend tojoin forces on Tuesday this week to march in cities across America to demand anend to the suppression of the OWS movement. Hacktivists with Anonymous havealso previously condemned law enforcement agencies across America for violentlyresponding to the occupier's peaceful demonstrations which began last Septemberin New York.

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FBI sees more hedge fund trading probe informants

2012-02-27T12:31:00.001-08:00

Reuters, byGrant McCool, NEW YORK, Mon Feb 27, 2012

Galleonhedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam arrives at Manhattan Federal

Court in NewYork May 10, 2011. (Credit: Reuters/Brendan McDermid)

(Reuters) -The FBI says it has enough informants lined up to keep its investigations ofsuspected illegal insider trading at hedge funds going for at least five moreyears.

In abriefing on Monday with reporters at the New York office of the Federal Bureauof Investigation just blocks away from Wall Street, agents who manage squads ofinvestigators likened the probes to penetrating a secret society.

Theinvestigations are building on a mission dubbed "Perfect Hedge" thathave led to the prosecutions of multimillionaire Galleon Group hedge fundfounder Raj Rajaratnam and dozens of traders, executives and researchconsultants since late 2009.

"Wehave cooperators set up for years to come," said David Chaves, asupervisory special agent for securities and commodities fraud investigations.

He toldreporters that the informants include cooperating witnesses -- people who havebeen identified as conducting illegal trading but who have agreed to assistauthorities to catch others in the hopes of receiving a lighter sentence -- andsources within hedge funds.

"Idon't want to say it's infinite, but clearly in five years we think we will beworking it," Chaves said.

The Galleonprosecution and other recent insider-trading cases have used secretly-recordedtelephone conversations to gather evidence, an investigatory tool traditionallyused in organized crime or narcotics cases.

The use ofwiretaps sent a chill through the hedge fund industry closed to outsiders andwhat the FBI calls "undercover resistant."

Investigatorshave tracked mobile phone calls, instant messaging and social media to collectevidence.

The FBIsays it is alert to new ways in which people may try to exchange information onpublicly traded companies to gain an illegal edge.

"Wewill go to whatever lengths we have to keep up with changes intechnology," said Richard Jacobs, another FBI supervisory special agentfor white-collar crime cases.

Bothofficials emphasized that law enforcement believes that the overwhelmingmajority of hedge funds and their traders are law-abiding and run their firmsresponsibly.

A similarbriefing was given to reporters in Washington on Monday, where officialsdiscussed the agency's shift in focus of the past 10 years to financial fraudcases involving larger amounts of money than in the past.

Forexample, out of the 2,600 mortgage fraud investigations open nationally, 70percent involve more than $1 million, compared with smaller bank frauds under$25,000 that were previously typical of the caseload.

In NewYork, the FBI said that to date, out of 64 arrests made in "PerfectHedge," 59 people have been convicted or have pleaded guilty. Theseprosecutions, in partnership with the office of the Manhattan U.S. Attorney andthe U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, have been an important deterrent,the agents said.

Anothertool for deterrence is the publicity the cases have generated in the UnitedStates and abroad.

To thatend, Michael Douglas, the Academy Award-winning star of the 1987 movie"Wall Street," agreed to a request from the FBI to record a publicservice announcement.

"Inthe movie 'Wall Street' I played Gordon Gekko, who cheated to profit whileinnocent investors lost their savings," Douglas, 67, says in the videorecording released on Monday.

"Themovie was fiction but the problem is real," Douglas says in the video."Our economy is increasingly dependent on the success and integrity of thefinancial markets. If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is."

(ReportingBy Grant McCool, additional reporting by Aruna Viswanatha in Washington;Editing by Martha Graybow)

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Germans protest anti-piracy treaty

2012-02-27T09:17:00.003-08:00

Deutsche Welle, 27 Ferbruary 2012

Protestershave hit Germany's streets again to show their oppostion to the globalanti-piracy treaty, ACTA. Several European governments, including Germany, havealready postponed signing the controversial agreement.

Anti-ACTAProtesters marched in dozens of cities across Germany over the weekend, withthe biggest demonstration of around 2,000 people taking place in Munich.

Rallies inHamburg, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Mannheim and Leipzig attracted more than a 1,000people each, while numerous smaller demonstrations took place across thecountry.

ACTA, asthe Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is known, aims to fight thecounterfeiting of goods like fake Gucci sunglasses and copied pharmaceuticaldrugs. It is also designed to reduce online piracy such as the illegaldownloads of music, films and software, which the industry says is costingmillions in lost revenue around the world.

Criticsargue the measures to combat counterfeiting outlined in ACTA could forcetelecommunication companies to watch over and pass on customers' onlinemovements to the government - which, in turn, could stifle free expression onthe Internet.

Internetgeneration

Many ofthose against ACTA are in their teens and early 20s, which is hardly surprisingconsidering that the anti-ACTA demonstrations are mainly about the Internet.

Some protesters have donned Guy
Fawkes masks

One ofthose protesting on Saturday was Filip (who, like all of those at the rally,preferred not to reveal his last name). A clean-cut computer science studentenrolled at the prestigious Karlsruhe University of Technology, Filip had neverattended a protest before in his life.

"TheInternet is important enough for me to come out in the cold weather and standaround and support everyone who is here to not pass the act," he said atthe protest in the south-western town of Karlsruhe, which was attended by severalhundred people.

"Idon't want my Internet provider to be watching every more I make," hesaid, his voice almost drowned out by those around him cheering and clapping insupport of the protest speakers.

Fourteen-year-oldhigh school student Michael came to the rally to defend his right to downloadmusic.

"Ican't afford the music I want to listen to and music should be available toeveryone," he said, adding it was unjust for Germany to consider banningpeople from using the Internet who were repeatedly caught illegally downloadingcontent like music and videos.

"Societytoday only takes place online, and if you don't have Internet access, then youcan't be part of society anymore," he said.

TheFederation of German Industries (BDI) has voiced support for ACTA. "It isnot a right to use someone else's property for free," said BDI legalexpert, Heiko Willems. "Copyright-holders have to decide for themselves ifthey will make their creations freely available or available on a commercial basis."

For 23-year-oldstudent Shushu, the issue of illegal music and film downloads needs to betackled in a different way.

Critics say copyright laws should be
more thoroughly revamped, rather than
tightening Internet regulations

"Thecontent industry needs to make us an offer of how we can legally do this, byaccepting a cultural flat-rate fee or setting a monthly streaming fee withouthaving to turn people into criminals," she said.

ACTA on ice

Severalcountries such as the United States, Canada, Japan and South Korea have alreadyratified ACTA. And up until a few months ago, ACTA seemed like a done deal inEurope as well.

In Decemberlast year, the European Council representing the European heads of governmentunanimously agreed to pass ACTA and the agreement was signed by 22 of the 27European member states. ACTA can't be passed into European law, however, untilevery one of the European Union's member states agrees to it.

The problemfor ACTA is that several European countries, including Germany, Poland theNetherlands, have postponed signing the agreement after a wave of Europe-wideprotests over the past month.

Inaddition, the European Commission last week said it would refer ACTA toEurope's highest court, the European Court of Justice, to determine whether itlimited the "EU's fundamental rights and freedoms."

Back at theKarlsruhe rally, the crowd marched through the streets chanting, "ACTA, adacta," a play on a Latin expression used in German to archive something.

"Wewill keep protesting until ACTA has not just been postponed but shelved forgood," one of the protesters said.

Author: Kate Hairsine

Editor: Kate Bowen

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WikiLeaks publishes security think tank emails

2012-02-27T00:01:00.003-08:00

Reuters, LONDON,Mon Feb 27, 2012

WikiLeaksfounder Julian Assange arrives at the Supreme Court in

Westminster, on thesecond day of his extradition appeal, in London,

February 2, 2012. (Credit:Reuters/Andrew Winning)

(Reuters) -The anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks began publishing on Monday more than fivemillion emails from a U.S.-based global security analysis company that has beenlikened to a shadow CIA.

The emails,snatched by hackers, could unmask sensitive sources and throw light on themurky world of intelligence-gathering by the company known as Stratfor, whichcounts Fortune 500 companies among its subscribers.

Stratfor ina statement shortly after midnight EST (0500 GMT) said the release of itsstolen emails was an attempt to silence and intimidate it.

It said itwould not be cowed under the leadership of George Friedman, Stratfor's founderand chief executive officer. It said Friedman had not resigned as CEO, contraryto a bogus email circulating on the Internet.

Some of theemails being published "may be forged or altered to include inaccuracies;some may be authentic," the company statement said.

"Wewill not validate either. Nor will we explain the thinking that went into them.Having had our property stolen, we will not be victimized twice by submittingto questioning about them," the statement said.

WikiLeaksdid not say how it had acquired access to the vast haul of internal andexternal correspondence of the Austin, Texas company, formally known asStrategic Forecasting Inc.

Hackerslinked to the loosely organized Anonymous hackers group said at the beginningof the year they had stolen the email correspondence of some 100 of the firm'semployees. The group said it planned to publish the data so the public wouldknow the "truth" about Stratfor operations.

Stratfordescribes itself as a subscription-based publisher of geopolitical analysiswith an intelligence-based approach to gathering information.

WikiLeaksand Anonymous maintain the emails will expose dark secrets about the company.Stratfor said in its statement it had worked hard to build "goodsources" in many countries, "as any publisher of global geopoliticalanalysis would do."

InDecember, hackers broke into Stratfor's data systems and stole a large numberof company emails.

WikiLeaksfounder Julian Assange told Reuters: "Here we have a private intelligencefirm, relying on informants from the U.S. government, foreign intelligenceagencies with questionable reputations and journalists."

"Whatis of grave concern is that the targets of this scrutiny are, among others,activist organizations fighting for a just cause."

Friedman,the chief executive, said on January 11 the thieves would be hard pressed tofind anything significant in the stolen emails.

"Godknows what a hundred employees writing endless emails might say that isembarrassing, stupid or subject to misinterpretation. ... As they search ouremails for signs of a vast conspiracy, they will be disappointed."

MEDIAPARTNERS

Peoplelinked to Anonymous took credit for the data theft. "Congrats on theamazing partnership between #Anonymous and #WikiLeaks to make all 5 millionmails public," AnonSec Tweeted. AnonSec is one of several Twitter accountsused to promote and organize activities associated with Anonymous.

It was notimmediately clear what impact the release of the emails might have on Stratfor,its employees, clients and information sources.

Previousreleases from WikiLeaks, such as secret video battle footage and thousands ofU.S. diplomatic cables about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, in 2010 haveangered the U.S. government. WikiLeaks' disclosures also have raised questionsabout the safety of confidential sources quoted in previously secret documents.

WikiLeakssaid it was working with two dozen media organizations worldwide that haveaccess to a database of the Stratfor emails. These include the U.S. newspaperpublisher McClatchy Co..

"Wehave begun reviewing the emails and will publish as warranted,"McClatchy's Washington bureau chief, James Asher, told Reuters.

WikiLeakssaid its other media partners include L'Espresso and La Repubblica newspapersin Italy, the ARD state broadcaster in Germany and Russia Reporter.

The groupgave a sneak preview of the emails to The Yes Men, an activist group thattargets what it views as corporate greed.

TheStratfor emails discuss an elaborate hoax the group staged to criticize DowChemical Co's handling of the Bhopal chemical disaster in India, according toAndy Bichlbaum, one of The Yes Men.

"Whatis significant is the picture it helps to paint of the way corporationsoperate," Bichlbaum told Reuters. "They operate with completedisregard for rule of law and human decency."

AfterStratfor's computers were hacked at least twice last December, the credit card detailsof more than 30,000 subscribers to Stratfor publications were posted on theInternet, including those of former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger andformer U.S. vice president Dan Quayle.

The FBIbegan investigating the matter in December.

Australian-bornAssange, 40, is currently under house arrest in Britain and fightingextradition to Sweden for questioning over alleged sex crimes.

(Reportingby Stephen Grey. Additional reporting by Jim Finkle and Jim Wolf; editing byPhilippa Fletcher and Todd Eastham)

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Koran burnings put the heat on ISAF

2012-02-26T12:25:00.001-08:00

Deutsche Welle, 26 February 2012

While theburning of the Koran set off the protests raging in Afghanistan that haveclaimed over 30 lives, destroying the holy book is no longer the main reasontensions are running high, one expert says.

Oneprotester was killed on Sunday and seven US soldiers were wounded during agrenade attack in the sixth day of protests since some Korans were burntoutside as US airbase in Afghanistan. US President Barack Obama and otherleading US diplomats and military officials have apologized for the burnings, whichthey said were accidental, but it has done little to suppress Afghans' anger.

However,Thomas Ruttig of the Afghanistan Analysts Network said the protests beingwitnessed Sunday were no longer directly connected to the Koran burnings but anexpression of Afghans' anger at the way they are treated by the internationalcommunity.

The burnt Qurans are not longer
driving protests, one expert said.

"Whatangers Afghans much more is that Special Forces kill people in their nightraids who are rebels," he said. "That's been happening more and morelately."

Wide-rangingrethink needed

The West'sstrategy in Afghanistan needs a wide-ranging rethink, Ruttig said.

"Overthe short term all we can hope for is that the Afghan officials can have acalming effect," he said adding that Afghan President Hamid Karzai as wellas some mullahs have called for peace.

Karzai'sconcern about the on-going protests is evident in the many written statementshis office has issued on the topic as well as his appearance Sunday in a radiointerview in which he said now was "the time to return to calm."Though his comments did not seem to influence protesters, Karzai also said theUS troops responsible for the burning the Muslim holy book should be heldaccountable for their acts.

Karzai appealed to Afghans for calm

NATO,Britain, Germany and France recalled their advisers from Afghan ministries inKabul after two US officers were found dead in their office. The Talibanclaimed responsibility for the act, saying it was revenge for the burnings. Notbeing directly involved in the burnings is unlikely to protect other foreigntroops, Ruttig said.

"Thereis no longer much willingness on the part of the Afghan population todifferentiate," he said.

Anunpredictable situation

In northernAfghanistan, where the German Bundeswehr is stationed, General Erich Pfeffersaid the situation was "not predictable" Germany has withdrawn troopsfrom one of its bases, Camp Talokan, ahead of schedule. At least threeprotesters died on Saturday outside a German camp near Kunduz.

The Bundeswehr pulled out of one
base early after protests

Ruttigwarned against pulling troops out of the country.

"Youcannot run away," he said. "Especially not when the internationalcommunity has made so many promises to help restore stability and committed somany soldiers."

Instead, herecommended additional training for troops and civilians sent to Afghanistan,"We have to develop a much better sensitivity for the country."

Author: Andreas Noll / sms

Editor: Chuck Penfold

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"Healing the Military Energies in our family Tree" – Jun 13, 2011 (Kryon channelled by David Brown)

“ … There’s much violence and anger throughout the world; when we look at the Middle East, we can see that changes are coming there. The West has a lot of power over the Middle East, but that power will begin to dissolve. The Muslim people of this world will begin to have their own power, and their own prosperity, and they will begin to disconnect from the Western World. This disconnection doesn’t have to be violent as violence only happens when somebody hangs onto what doesn’t belong to them....

... What Military Energy means if we use an analogy: it would be like putting grinding paste into the oil of your motor car. Once you release these energies you will begin to feel lighter as you disconnect from this reality, and, you will find it easier and easier to release any other negative emotions. Military Energies are the core of all your problems...."

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US private security contractors securing the site where a
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Shock news: Murdoch paper pledges 'decency'

2012-02-26T01:59:00.001-08:00

smh.com.au, February26, 2012

Rupert Murdoch with the first edition of The Sun in 1969 and with the
first edition of The Sun on Sunday last night. Photo: Reuters

The firstSunday edition of The Sun has hit news stands across Britain with a pledge of"trust" and "decency" following the damaging phone hackingscandal.

Mediatycoon Rupert Murdoch personally supervised the final stages of production ofthe new title which promised readers it would remain "fearless, outspoken,mischievous and fun".

The Sun onSunday claimed it would hold all journalists to account and said it hadappointed a readers' champion to deal with errors and feedback from the public.

In aneditorial, the newspaper also commented on the arrests of 10 current and formeremployees over alleged corrupt payments to public officials, saying they were"innocent until proven guilty".

It saidthat the closure of its sister paper the News of the World, which ceasedpublication last July at the height of the hacking scandal, was a"sobering experience".

In aneditorial, titled: A new Sun rises today, it said: "As we launch the sevenday Sun, we want to strengthen that connection (with the readers) with a newindependent Sun Readers' Champion to accept feedback and correct significanterrors.

"Ourjournalists must abide by the Press Complaints Commission's editors code, theindustry standard for ethical behaviour, and the News Corporation standards ofbusiness conduct.

"Wewill hold our journalists to the standards we expect of them. After all anewspaper which holds the powerful to account must do the same with itself.

"Youwill be able to trust our journalists to abide by the values of decency as theygather news."

It said theSun has been a "tremendous force for good", adding: "It is worthreminding our readers, and detractors, of that as we publish our historic firstSunday edition during what is a challenging period.

"NewsInternational closed our sister paper the News of the World over the phonehacking scandal.

"Sincethen some of our own journalists have been arrested, though not charged, overallegations of payments to public officials for stories. We believe thoseindividuals are innocent until proven guilty.

"Ithas been a sobering experience for our entire industry."

The frontpage of the new title features an exclusive interview with Britain's Got Talentjudge Amanda Holden, the first after the birth of her daughter, which left herin a critical condition in hospital.

The storyis headlined: My Heart Stopped For 40 Seconds, and is accompanied by a pictureof Holden cradling her daughter Hollie.

Holden, 40,a mother of two, was in a critical condition for three days after giving birthto Hollie in January.

She toldthe newspaper she was "moments from death" and describes her ordealin an interview spread over five pages.

Thenewspaper, which contains 92 pages and a 28-page football pull-out, alsofeatures a topless photo of singer Kelly Rowland on Page 3, but the X Factorjudge is covering her modesty.

Murdoch,80, travelled to the paper's printers in Hertfordshire, on Saturday night towitness the new Sunday tabloid roll off the press for the first time.

He hadearlier thanked staff at The Sun, tweeting: "New Sunday edition nearlyready. Fantastic achievement by great staff. Many thanks."

It isunderstood that three million copies of the paper were printed overnight andMurdoch said he would be "very happy" if his new paper exceed twomillion copies and enjoyed success similar to the NotW.

Bosses atNews International have recruited a clutch of celebrity columnists includingKatie Price and Nancy Dell'Olio for its latest title, while the Archbishop ofYork and chef Heston Blumenthal will also have weekly slots.

NewsInternational announced the birth of a Sunday edition of the biggest selling UKdaily newspaper on Monday and it quickly sold out of advertising space.

Chinese 'netizens' inundate Obama's Google+ page

2012-02-25T12:34:00.000-08:00

BBC News, 25February 2012

ChangingChina

Despite China's Great Firewall, internet
users have been able to reach Barack
Obama's Google+ page

PresidentObama's page on Google's social network site has been inundated with messagesin Chinese after restrictions in China were removed.

Everycurrent topic on Mr Obama's Google+ page attracted hundreds of Chinesecomments.

Somecontributors made jokes; others said they were occupying the site in the styleof western Occupy campaigns.

Google+ isnormally blocked in China along with other social media that the authoritiesdeem unacceptable.

SinceGoogle+ was launched in 2011, software known informally as the Great Firewallhad appeared to block it within China.

But on 20February 2012 internet-users in many parts of China found they could gainaccess to the site - prompting some to suggest occupying it, in atongue-in-cheek reference to the Occupy Wall Street campaign.

On 24 and25 February, to the consternation of American readers, every current topic onPresident Obama's 2012 election campaign page attracted hundreds of comments,apparently from China.

Their exactprovenance cannot be verified, but the expressions contributors used were inthe style of mainland China and in simplified Chinese.

A fewappealed for the liberty of the civil rights activist Chen Guangcheng, who isunder house arrest.

Othersasked about a recent political intrigue in south-west China, in which one ofthe country's top policemen, Wang Lijun, spent a day in the US consulate inChengdu for undisclosed reasons.

But manysimply voiced delight at their freedom to speak: they talked about occupyingthe furniture and bringing snacks and soft drinks.

The WhiteHouse in Washington has not commented on the upsurge of Chinese interest inPresident Obama's campaign site.

But it hasprompted one poster to suggest that if China ever abandoned its internetrestrictions, the United States would have to protect its social media with aGreat Firewall of its own.

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MP questions Santorum's forced euthanasia claims

2012-02-24T11:27:00.001-08:00

RNW, 24February 2012

(Photo: YouTube/rightwingwatch.org)

DutchLabour MP Frans Timmermans has asked questions in parliament about a commentmade by Rick Santorum who is in the race to become the Republican presidentialcandidate. During a meeting at a religious college, he claimed that forcedeuthanasia accounts for 5 percent of all deaths in the Netherlands.

The filmwas made by rightwingwatch.org from a position in the audience.

MrTimmermans wants to know why the Dutch embassy has not challenged the USpolitician over the comment. The embassy says it does not want to interferewith the US elections.

"Accordingto the New York Times the ambassador gave “no comment” on Santorum’s scandalousaccusations aimed at our country. How is that possible?", Mr Timmermanswrote on Facebook. "It’s not right."

RickSantorum is a conservative Catholic running to become the Republicanpresidential candidate. He is doing well in the opinion polls. During themeeting, he said that 10 percent of deaths in the Netherlands were caused byeuthanasia. "Half of those people are euthanised involuntarily.” He goeson to say that the elderly seek treatment abroad to avoid Dutch hospitals so thatthey come out alive. He also claimed that elderly patients wear bracelets withthe text “Don’t euthanize me”. The audience can be heard gasping.

The figurescited by the US politician are incorrect. Only two percent of deaths in theNetherlands are attributed to euthanasia. Dutch law is very strict abouteuthanasia only being carried out at the request of the patient him or herself.The patient has to be suffering unbearably from an incurable condition. Thepatient's request must also be assessed by two doctors.

The issuehas been raised in many small reports in US papers, but is hardly mentioned inthe Dutch press.

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German supreme court strengthens data protection

2012-02-24T09:17:00.001-08:00

Deutsche Welle, 24 February 2012

Germany’shighest court has ruled against the law allowing the storage and sharing oftelecommunication data by security services. Now the provisions need to becurbed.

Germany'sconstitutional court has ruled the current law allowing security services to storeand share telecommunications data to be too far-reaching and thereforeunconstitutional.

The currentlegislation allows prosecutors to access passwords and PIN numbers ofprospective offenders. The judges found that to be in violation of the basic lawon self-determination as stated in the German constitution.

There itsays that citizens have the right to maintain control over personalinformation.

The judgeson Friday found that it was unconstitutional to allow investigators to gathersensitive information without clearer restrictions on how to use them.

Informationon individuals' telephone, internet or bank details can be obtained fromtelecommunications companies only for criminial prosecution. But investigatorshave been found to have gathered and stored sensitive information extensivelyin the name of preventing criminal activity. But now the constitutional courthas found this to have been excessive.

In 1983 thesupreme court in Karlsruhe passed its first verdict on data protection andruled as unconstitutional the procedure where town registry offices passed oninformation to be used in the general census of that year. Back then the judgeshad clarified that every citizen has the right to know what personalinformation is recorded where.

The latestruling this Friday means that the law governing the storage and use by publicadministration offices has to be ammended by June 2013.

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WikiLeaks informant Bradley Manning in court

2012-02-23T11:50:00.000-08:00

RNW, 23February 2012, by Willemien Groot

(Photo: ANP)

To oneperson a hero, to another a lunatic endangering the state: the American soldierBradley Manning. This week he stands before the military court at Fort George GMeade in Maryland for accusations of passing on hundreds of thousands ofmilitary and diplomatic documents to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks duringhis stay in Iraq .

Mr Manningwas arrested in May 2010, after the hacker he had taken into his confidencehanded him over to the authorities. The 24-year-old American soldier who servedas an intelligence specialist is accused of, among other things, endangeringstate security. His most sensational revelation was the so-called CollateralMurder video which shows how a US military helicopter over Baghdad shot at agroup of civilians. Among the eleven victims were two journalists from Reuters.

Mr Manning isalso accused of passing on 260,000 diplomatic posts or cables to WikiLeaks.

It isgenerally assumed that the prosecutor will demand life in prison. The leak isthe largest in American military history.

Militaryjudgment

Mr Manningis appearing before a military court. Ultimately, the jury must come to adecision. But how unprejudiced can a military jury be in its verdict of aformer colleague, asks Terry Gill, professor of military law in Amsterdam.

"Theywill of course receive instructions. They should base their judgments on soundevidence in all parts of the indictment. If something is lacking, a verdict ofinnocent is, in principle, possible. But it's true that the fact that he isbeing tried by the military, the reputation he has within the service as asoldier and the impression he makes will have a significant impact on theoutcome. "

Accordingto Mr Gill, a lot hangs on how Mr Manning presents himself during the trial. Ifhe gives the impression of being a calculating spy who deliberately wanted tocause harm, the punishment will be greater than if it appears he was unable tounderstand his actions' consequences.

Justification

Thequestion central to the trial is whether there's any justification for MrManning's actions or, for that matter, a legal requirement to honour it, saysDutch lawyer Bart Stapert. Mr Stapert specializes in human rights and Americanlaw. So far, the defence has paid much attention to Mr Manning's personal life.

"Supportersof Manning and WikiLeaks always insist that this can be justified, even if hedid it deliberately. It was important information that should not be kept awayfrom the public. I think that line is legally difficult to follow in thislawsuit. And so the defence case rests on the personal circumstances ofManning."

His lawyersand human rights activists complained repeatedly about his "inhuman"prison regime. Since April last year, Mr Manning has been held in anotherprison with a slighly more flexible regime. According to Mr Stapert, a militarytribunal is unlikely to take that into account.

JulianAssange

Americanmilitary researchers found the phone number of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assangeon Mr Manning's computer. Mr Assange has never cited him as a source, thoughhas expressed support for Mr Manning. This relationship could prove importantin the future, says Mr Stapert. The Americans are intent on achieving MrAssange's extradition. To get a reduced sentence, Mr Manning could at somepoint testify against him.

Severeregime

The lawsuitconcerning the American soldier is receiving worldwide attention, not leastbecause it is so far the only one of the voluminous WikiLeaks cases to come tocourt. But many more people were involved, says Mr Stapert.

"WhatI find harrowing is that a lot of other people have used WikiLeaks information.Reputable newspapers have also used it to increase their circulation, so theyhave benefitted from the information. Although everyone is devouring it, it'salso just juicy information for anyone involved in foreign policy concerns. ButBradley Manning gets the full weight of government on his head because this hascome out. That's hardly fair, and a fair-minded judge would have to considerthat."

TheAmerican public doesn't know what to make of the matter. To some, he's atraitor. Others see him as a frustrated homosexual who has suffered an identitycrisis spurred on by the US Army's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy. He is adoredby those who praise him for daring to bring to light US war crimes in Iraq andAfghanistan.

Early thisweek, the former intelligence specialist was nominated for the Nobel PeacePrize. A group of Icelandic parliamentarians asked for the nomination to focusattention on the precarious legal position of whistleblowers.

Obama proposes corporate tax cut and says system needs to change

2012-02-22T12:57:00.000-08:00

President'splan would set a new corporate tax rate of 28% – but Republicans in Congresssay that is still too high

guardian.co.uk, Associated Press, Wednesday 22 February 2012

Barack Obama's plan would mean corporations would have to give up
dozens of cherished loopholes and subsidies. Photograph: Andrew Harrer/EPA

PresidentBarack Obama on Wednesday proposed a lower corporate tax rate and an end todozens of loopholes he said helps US companies move jobs and profits overseas."It's not right and it needs to change," he said.

Thepresident wants to lower the US corporate tax rate from the current 35%, thehighest in the world after Japan. Under his plan, manufacturers would receiveincentives so that their effective tax rate could be even lower.

Obama'selection-year plan would set a new 28% corporate tax rate, still higher thanthe 25% rate sought by congressional Republicans.

"It'sa framework that lowers the corporate tax rate and broadens the tax base inorder to increase competitiveness for companies across the nation," Obamasaid in a statement.

Corporationswould have to give up dozens of cherished loopholes and subsidies that they nowenjoy. Corporations with overseas operations would also face an unspecifiedminimum tax on their foreign earnings.

Theproposal outlined by Geithner would also eliminate tax loopholes and subsidiesthat Geithner called "fundamentally unfair."

Obama alsowould set a minimum tax on the foreign earning of US companies.

Chances ofaccomplishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year dominated mostlywith presidential and congressional elections. But for Obama, the proposal ispart of a larger tax plan that is central to his re-election strategy.

Treasurysecretary Timothy Geithner, who rolled out the plan on Wednesday morning,acknowledged that the debate "will be politically contentious."

"Somewill say these proposals are too tough on business, and others will say thatthey're not tough enough," he said.

Obama'splan would be part of a larger effort to overhaul the US tax system, and itdovetails with Obama's call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintainingcurrent rates on individuals making $200,000 or less. But White House spokesmanJay Carney said Congress could act separately on the corporate tax component ofObama's overall tax strategy.

Republicanreaction was mixed. House Ways and Means Committee chairman Dave Camp said heappreciated the administration's plan, though it set a corporate tax rate thatis higher than the 25% he has proposed. He faulted Obama, however, for notoffering a wholesale overhaul of the entire tax system for businesses andindividuals.

"Whilethis is a good step by the administration, I will borrow from the president'sown words to Congress from just yesterday: 'Don't stop here. Keep going,'"Camp said in a statement. But seantor Orrin Hatch, the top Republican on theSenate Finance Committee, dismissed the president's plan as a "set ofbullet points designed more for the campaign trail than an actual blueprint forfixing our tax code."

While the35% nominal corporate tax rate ranks among the highest, deductions, credits andexemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a much lower rate.

Under theframework proposed by the administration, the rate cuts, closed loopholes andthe minimum tax on overseas earning would result in no increase to the deficit.

That meansthat many businesses that slip through loopholes or enjoy subsidies and pay aneffective tax rate that is substantially less than the 35% corporate tax couldend up paying more under Obama's plan. Others, however, would pay less whilesome would simply benefit from a more simplified system.

Reducingthe corporate tax rate from 35% to 28% would reduce tax revenues by about$700bn over the next decade, according to an estimate prepared in October bythe Joint Committee on Taxation, the official scorekeeper for Congress.

That meanslawmakers would have to find about $70bn a year in tax increases to keep thepackage from adding to the budget deficit, hardly an easy task. In 2010, thecorporate income tax raised a total of $278bn, according to the InternalRevenue Service. Corporate income taxes have been shrinking as a share ofoverall federal taxes for decades. In 2010, corporate income taxes made up just12% of all federal tax receipts, down from 24% in 1960, according to the IRS.

Geithnersaid the Obama plan aims to help US businesses, especially manufacturers whoface strong international competition. Obama's plan would lower the effectiverate for manufacturers to 25% by offering other tax incentives that emphasizedevelopment of clean energy systems.

Manymembers of both parties have said they favor overhauling the nation'sindividual and corporate tax systems, which they complain have rates that aretoo high and are riddled with too many deductions.

Thecorporate tax debate has made its way into the presidential contest. MittRomney has called for a 25% rate, Newt Gingrich would cut the corporate tax rateto 12.5%, and Rick Santorum would exempt domestic manufacturers from thecorporate tax and halve the top rate for other businesses.

While Obamahas been promoting various aspects of his economic agenda in personalappearances and speeches, the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to theTreasury Department to unveil signaled its lower priority.

What'smore, the administration's framework leaves much for Congress to decide — adeliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but which alsodoesn't subject the plan to detailed scrutiny.

Obama'splan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would lower thecorporate rate to 25%.

Still,Obama has said corporate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminatingtax breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits overseas. He alsohas proposed giving tax breaks to US manufacturers, to firms that return jobsto this country and to companies that relocate to some communities that havelost big employers.

Geithnertold a House committee last week that the administration wants to create moreincentives for corporations to invest in the United States.

"Wewant to bring down the rate, and we think we can, to a level that's closer tothe average of that of our major competitors," Geithner told the HouseWays and Means Committee.

White Houseeconomic adviser Gene Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits.Currently many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United Statesto avoid the 35% tax rate.

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Web crash after Italian ministers list Vespa and Harley-Davidson as assets

2012-02-22T11:59:00.001-08:00

Onlineregister overwhelmed as Mario Monti's cabinet members detail their income andassets following transparency drive

guardian.co.uk,Tom Kington in Rome, Wednesday 22 February 2012

George W Bush, then the US president, climbs on a Harley-Davidson
while touring company premises in Pennsylvania in 2006. One Italian
cabinet member has listed such a bike in the register of assets.
Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

MarioMonti's "grey" government of technocrats and professors in Italy maynot be so dull after all. Thanks to a transparency drive which compelledministers to list income and assets online, Italians have discovered to theirsurprise that the cabinet includes millionaires and fans of Harley-Davidson andVespa.

Afterpromising to cut tax evasion and endemic fraud, Monti set an honest example bygoing public with his cabinet's wealth. The results were so intriguing thegovernment's website crashed due to intense traffic when they were published.

Top earneris justice minister Paola Severino, a lawyer, who pocketed €7m (£4.5m) lastyear.

"I amproud of making money legally and paying my taxes to the last euro," saidthe minister, who handed over €4m in tax in 2011. This year her ministerialsalary stands at €195,000.

Secondrichest is Corrado Passera, minister for economic development and the formerhead of Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo, who earned €3.5m before joining thegovernment.

Apart fromthe odd Jaguar, motor yacht and the Harley-Davidson owned by 65-year-oldforeign minister Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata, ministers favour sensible Japaneseand Italian cars.

But whileone vice minister gets around on a Vespa and environment minister Corrado Clininips around in a Fiat 500.

Ministersappear to have splashed instead on real estate, including properties in NewYork, Brussels, Paris and a ski resort in the Dolomites. Monti is the proudowner of 16 properties, although Piero Giarda, keen to show he is no tycoon,published photos of stone huts he owns in the Alps.

"I hada look at the sites of other G7 leaders and struggled to find anythingcomparable to our initiative," said Monti.

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Swiss take steps to clean up tax-haven image

Swiss take steps to clean up tax-haven image

2012-02-22T06:56:00.001-08:00

Reuters, BERNE | WedFeb 22, 2012

(Reuters) -Switzerland announced plans on Wednesday to force banks to do more to make sureforeign clients' money is taxed in an attempt to shake off its past as a havenfor untaxed funds as it seeks to put an end to a damaging U.S. tax probe.

"Thefocus is on enhanced due diligence requirements for banks when accepting assetsas well as a requirement for foreign clients to make a declaration on thefulfillment of their tax obligations," the cabinet said in a statement.

Theannouncement comes on top of a raft of measures already announced in recentyears, including a planned withholding tax on foreign assets held inSwitzerland and better co-operation with foreign authorities pursuing allegedtax dodgers.

A globalcrackdown from cash-strapped governments in recent years has chipped awaySwitzerland's cherished tradition of banking secrecy, which helped it build upa $2 trillion offshore wealth management industry.

(Reporting by Caroline Copley)

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Anti-piracy ACTA treaty referred to EU high court

2012-02-22T05:51:00.001-08:00

Deutsche Welle, 22 February 2012

TheEuropean Commission said Wednesday it would present the controversial ACTAtreaty on copyright and counterfeiting law to the European Court of Justice, torule whether it violates the fundamental rights of Europeans.

The EUCommission has asked the European Court of Justice to rule on the legality ofthe controversial ACTA treaty which regulates counterfeiting, copyright andInternet freedom and has been fiercly opposed around Europe.

EU TradeCommissioner Karel De Gucht said the court could adjudge independently onwhether the treaty was "incompatible one way or another with thefundamental rights and freedoms of the European Union."

"Thisdebate must be based upon facts, and not upon the misinformation and rumour thathas dominated social media sites and blogs in recent weeks," De Gucht tolda news conference in announcing the decision.

He said theagreement "aims to raise global standards for intellectual propertyrights" and said ACTA "will help protect jobs currently lost becausecounterfeited, pirated good worth 200 billion euros ($264 billion) arecurrently floating around."

Critics ofthe ACTA treaty have argued that it restricts Internet freedom. Recent weekshave seen mass demonstrations around Europe against the treaty, which hasalready been agreed to at the EU level but must still be ratified by individualmember states.

Germany hasrefused, for now, to sign the international online anti-piracy treaty. TheGerman government had already agreed in principle, but appears to be waveringin the face of public protest. Justice Minister SabineLeutheusser-Schnarrenberger has suggested that the government was not preparedto give the treaty the green light. The United States, Japan and Canada arealso among signatories.

dfm/ai (AFP, Reuters)

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Johnson & Johnson CEO Bill Weldon retires in April

2012-02-21T14:15:00.001-08:00

Associated Press,by Linda A. Johson, AP Business Writer, Feb 21, 2012

TRENTON,N.J. (AP) -- Johnson & Johnson's longtime CEO, Bill Weldon, is retiringthis April, following an embarrassing string of product recalls over more than2 years that has cost the health care giant hundreds of millions of dollars andconsumer trust.

(APPhoto/Mel Evans, File)

The makerof Band-Aids and biotech drugs said Tuesday that Weldon will remain chairman ofthe board for the time being, while ceding the chief executive post to AlexGorsky, head of the medical device and diagnostics business. The officialtransfer will be on April 26, the day of the company's next annual shareholdersmeeting.

Weldon, 63,has spent his entire career at J&J and became chief executive in 2002. Thedeparture is being described as normal succession planning, but Weldon hasrepeatedly said he had no plans to leave unless asked to do so by the board ofdirectors, which has long been loyal to him.

His tenurehas been tarnished by more than two dozen recalls of nonprescription Tylenol,Motrin, Benadryl and other drugs began in 2009. Medical devices and consumerproducts also have been recalled.

J&J'sMcNeil Consumer Healthcare unit has had about 25 product recalls sinceSeptember 2009. Federal regulators have had three of its factories underscrutiny for nearly two years, and one of those, in Fort Washington, Pa., hasbeen shut and is being rebuilt from the ground up.

Meanwhile,the prescription drug division has had at least two drugs, for seizures andHIV, recalled over that time. Gorsky's medical device unit, the company'sbiggest by revenue, has had faulty hip implants that were painful to patientsrecalled, along with contact lenses that sting the eyes.

While therehaven't been reports of patients harmed by the recalled products, the sheervolume of them is probably unrivaled in the industry. Weldon has repeatedlysaid he had the problems under control, only to have another recall pop up,with the latest just last week.

WilliamWeldon compensation

package is about $29.3 million,

according to page 43 ofthis SEC

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"The Many 'Shoulds' " – Jan 26, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

(Subjects: .. Health, Prescription Drugs, Homeopathy, Food, Global Unity, ... etc.) - New !

Gay black police officer wins discrimination case

2012-02-20T15:42:00.001-08:00

Detectiveconstable Kevin Maxwell had sued the Metropolitan police for race and sexdiscrimination

guardian.co.uk,Ben Quinn, Monday 20 February 2012

Kevin Maxwell has won his case of racial and sexual discrimination
against the Metropolitan police'. Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP

A gay blackpolice officer who accused Scotland Yard of racial and sexual discriminationhas won his case at an employment tribunal, which also found that anotherofficer deliberately leaked a "distorted account" of the details ofthe claim to the Sun newspaper.

DetectiveConstable Kevin Maxwell, 33, sued the Met for race and sex discrimination afterhe was abused by colleagues while working in the counter-terrorism unit atHeathrow airport's terminal five.

Folllowinga 36-day hearing in which Maxwell said he was used as a "buffer" whenethnic minority passengers were stopped at Heathrow, the Metropolitan policewas heavily criticised by a judge at a Reading employment tribunal for failingto train officers to deal with ethnic minorities. The tribunal found thatMaxwell was required to stop black and Asian people and then hand them over towhite officers. It judged that his claim of direct racial discrimination wascorrect.

Maxwellsaid he had been subjected to harassment on the grounds of sexual orientationin March 2009 when a detective from Special Branch made comments in hispresence about gay men.

A tribunaljudge, Richard Byrne, said: "The tribunal makes the observation that it isvery surprising given the resources of the respondent [Metropolitan police] anda well-drafted reporting wrongdoing policy that the respondent failed to trainofficers in the application of the policy and failed to comply with it on thisoccasion."

The panelwas also told how Maxwell had been at a presentation at Paddington policestation in London during which reference was made to a photograph of a man in afairground surrounded by children and that he was "as gay as a gay in agay tea shop."

Byrne said:"The comment having been made and other people in the room, includingother supervisors, laughing and finding it amusing was inevitably conduct thata gay police officer would reasonably consider as having the effect ofviolating their dignity and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading,humiliating or offensive environment for them."

Followingthe incidents, Maxwell went on extended sick leave but was said to have beentreated dismissively by senior officers during this period.

When raisedhis concerns by telling told a chief inspector it was "difficult beingblack and gay", the senior officer said: "That's life". Byrneruled this was direct discrimination on the grounds of race and sexualorientation, along with harassment.

Ruling onthe claim by Maxwell's partner, Alex Parr, that details had been leaked to theSun newspaper about the claims, Byrne said, "The tribunal is entirelysatisfied on the evidence heard that on the balance of probabilities theinformation about the claimant's case acquired by the Sun came from an officerworking for the respondent."

On thismatter, a spokesperson for the Independent Police Complaints Commissionconfirmed it was supervising an investigation by the Metropolitan policedirectorate of professional standards into a complaint.

Occupy movement targets corporate interest group with ties to legislators

2012-02-20T13:36:00.000-08:00

Protestplanned against the American Legislative Exchange Council, which critics sayhas undue influence on US lawmakers

guardian.co.uk,Adam Gabbatt in New York, Monday 20 February 2012

Arizona's controversial immigration law, SB 1070, was modelled on Alec's
No Sanctuary Cities for Illegal Immigrants Act. Photograph: Michael Dwyer/AP

Co-ordinatedprotests are planned in some 60 cities later this month against a right winggroup which activists say has an unfair hand in writing state legislation thatfavours corporate interests.

Workingunder the banner Shut Down the Corporations, activists plan to target corporatemembers of the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) with nationwideprotests on 29 February.

Organiserssay Alec, a nonprofit free-market policy group whose membership includes some2,000 state legislators, wields undue influence by drafting legislationbeneficial to its corporate members, which in some cases is then used as amodel for legislation in states across America.

Thenationwide protest is being co-ordinated by Occupy Portland, with activistsacross the country due to take part – including from Occupy Wall Street andOccupy Oakland.

"Wecall on people to target corporations that are part of the American LegislativeExchange Council which is a prime example of the way corporations buy offlegislators and craft legislation that serves the interests of corporations andnot people," reads a statement on Shut Down the Corporations' website.

DavidOsborn, from Occupy Portland, said "non-violent direct action" wasbeing encouraged, including protests, rallies and sit-ins.

"Indifferent places it's going to look really different," he said. "Insome places it's going to be more of a rally, or a protest outside acorporation that's involved with Alec, whether that's Bank of America, orPfizer, Altria, or whatever. In other places, and certainly here in Portland,it's going to take more of the form of civil disobedience or direct action,where people will be doing a sit-in or other creative things to disruptbusiness as usual."

Alec wasfounded in September 1973 as a "nonpartisan membership association forconservative state lawmakers". The organisation, which counts theconservative billionaire Koch brothers among its financial backers, has amembership some of the largest companies in America.

One of thebetter known examples of Alec's influence can be found in Arizona's SB 1070bill. The legislation, seen as one of the strictest anti-illegal immigrant lawsin America's history and criticised by Barack Obama, was modelled on Alec's"No Sanctuary Cities for Illegal Immigrants Act", which had beenapproved by an Alec task force made up, in part, of prison companies that stoodto benefit from the act being passed.

Democraticlawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin are seeking to introduce the AlecAccountability Act in their states, which would require Alec to register as alobbying organisation and subsequently disclose its financiers.

Mark Pocan,a Democratic member of the Wisconsin state assembly who is gunning for Congressin in Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District, is behind the proposed Wisconsinlegislation.

"Alecis like a giant corporate dating service [for] lonely legislators and theirspecial interest corporate allies," Pocan told the Guardian. "Alecoperates best when it operates in the shadows. Once people find out that it'sreally nothing but a front for corporate special interests you start to knowthat the ideas they put forward aren't in the public good."

Occupy WallStreet has been involved in planning the February 29 protests, which will takeplace in New York on the day, said Ed Needham, who acts as a spokesman for thegroup.

"Peoplereally see it as an incredible example of the type of corrosive relationshipbetween money and politics," he said.

"It'sreally to shine a focus on what Alec is and how it's very much an instrument ofthe corporations in terms of buying off state and federal legislators andcrafting legislation that is strictly within the 1% interest."

Last yearthe Center for Media and Democracy and The Nation magazine published a leak ofmore than 800 pieces of Alec's model legislation, which can be found on theAlec Exposed website. The list includes legislation that Alec Exposed and ShutDown the Corporations say was used to draft anti-Labour legislation in Wisconsin and the controversial Arizona immigration law.

KaitlynBuss, director of communications at Alec, said the protests were "notembarrassing in the slightest".

"Alecfeels that we understand that not everyone agrees with the principles that werefounded on, which is to promote free markets, limited government and federalismthroughout American government," she said. "We fully respect theright and expression of those who are protesting but it's not going to distractus from what our mission is."

Buss saidlegislation that originates with Alec is "brought to us by statelegislatures" and then "approved by their legislative board ofdirectors".

"Whatwe do value is the energy and the job creation of the private sector and arguevery strongly that they should be part of conversation of what our laws are,what our regulations are," she said.

"Mostof these regulations end up very strongly affecting the private sector of oureconomy, so Alec, as we promote free markets and limited government, it allworks together that we value the private sector, but the actual legislation isvery legislative driven."

Alec'swebsite says that "each year, close to 1,000 bills, based at least in parton Alec model legislation, are introduced in the states.

"Ofthese, an average of 20 percent become law."

France asks EU to suspend Monsanto GM corn approval

2012-02-20T13:19:00.001-08:00

Reuters, Paris,Mon Feb 20, 2012

(Reuters) -France asked the European Commission on Monday to suspend authorization toplant Monsanto's genetically modified (GM) MON810 corn, the environmentministry said, as the country seeks to keep a ban on GM crops despite losingcourt rulings.

Francebanned in 2008 the growing of MON810 corn, the only GM crop approved forplanting in the European Union, citing environmental risks.

Its highestcourt ruled against the ban in November, following a similar decision by theEuropean Court of Justice last September, leading the government to say itwould look at all ways to maintain the freeze on GM planting.

The Frenchgovernment's request to the EU executive was based on "significant risksfor the environment" shown in recent scientific studies, the ministry saidin a statement.

EUgovernments are divided over authorizing GM crop cultivation, with somecountries like France reluctant to allow them in view of public hostility.

Denmark,which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, is seeking to revive stalledtalks on allowing individual countries to decide on whether to allow GM crops.

Thestalemate over GM crops has frustrated crop farmers and biotech companies, mostof which have scaled back research on such varieties in Europe.

(Reportingby Gus Trompiz; Editing by William Hardy)

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Lloyds becomes the first bank to strip executives of bonuses as it takes back £2m from senior management

2012-02-20T11:03:00.003-08:00

Formerchief executive and four other previous directors targeted
Move willprompt calls for other banks to follow suit

Daily Mail, by Ruth Sunderland, 20th February 2012

Clawback: The move is understood
to come on the orders of Lloyds chief
executive Antonio Horta Osorio (pictured)

LloydsBanking Group has become the first bank to strip executives of part of theirbonuses since the start of the financial crisis.

In total 13executives will lose some of their bonuses for 2010 in the wake of the scandalover payment protection.

Thebailed-out bank is to take back a combined total close to £2m from its formerchief executive Eric Daniels, along with four other current and previous seniordirectors who will lose sums of up to £262,50.

A furthereight executives, below board level, will be stripped of 5 per cent of theirbonus awards of around £100,000 each, the state-backed bank added.

The movewill prompt calls for other banks to follow suit.

It isunderstood to come on the orders of Lloyds chief executive Antonio HortaOsorio.

Earlierthis year he volunteered to give up his bonus of up to £2.4 million because hehad taken a leave of absence due to exhaustion and felt bosses’ rewards oughtto reflect hardships suffered by customers during the downturn.

Theclawbacks have been imposed due to Lloyds’ involvement in the paymentprotection insurance (PPI) mis-selling scandal.

Danielswill lose 40 per cent or £580,000 £1.45m bonus for last year. The 60 year oldformer chief left the bank in March 2011 but remained on the payroll until thefollowing September receiving £100,000 a month, although he did no work for hiserstwhile employer.

The PPIscandal was one of the biggest of its kind in recent years.

More...

Customerswere sold insurance policies when they took out loans that were meant to coverrepayments if they fell sick or lost their job.

Theproducts were extremely lucrative for the banks but often turned out to be ofdubious value to consumers. Lloyds last year said it would have to write off£3.2 billion to cover the cost of redress.

PPI scandal: Lloyds last year said it would have to write off £3.2 billion
to cover the cost of redress

Sacrifice: Eric Daniels (left) and Helen Weir (right) are among the
executives targeted in the clawback

Citywatchdog the Financial Services Authority called on the banks to reflect theseriousness of the scandal in executive pay-packets. Horta Osorio was not at Lloydsat the time of the mis-selling.

The otherbosses who face a clawback are departing finance chief Tim Tookey, who willsacrifice £235,000 of his £942,000 payout; Helen Weir, the former head of theretail bank, who will lose £218,000 from her bonus of £875,000 award; wholesalebanking boss Truett Tate, who retires this month and will have £260,000 of his£1.05 million bonus clawed back and former head of risk Carol Sergeant.

The pay andbonus of Ms Sergeant, who held a senior position at the Financial ServicesAuthority prior to joining the bank is not disclosed as she was not a boarddirector.

The bank isable to claw back the bonuses because they were awarded in shares to bereleased over three years so it will simply not pay out the full awards.

So farothers have fought shy of clawbacks for fear disgruntled bosses may mount legalchallenges.

Lloyds isexpected to reveal losses of around £3.5 billion when it issues its full yearresults for 2011 later this week. Taxpayers own a 41 per cent stake following a£20bn government bailout.

Fellowstate-backed bank Royal Bank of Scotland has set aside £850million to cover PPIclaims. Its boss Stephen Hester succumbed to pressure to give up his £963,000bonus after a public outcry, but there are now likely to be fresh demands forfurther clawbacks on previous bonus awards because of PPI.

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