United Airlines finally apologizes, as image takes beating

Yahoo – AFP, Nova SAFO, With Luc Olinga in New York and Roland Jackson in London, April 11, 2017

Oscar Munoz, President and CEO of United Airlines says the company will
conduct a "thorough review" of its procedures, including "how we handle oversold
situations" and how the airline partners with airport authorities and law
enforcement (AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB)

Chicago (AFP) - The chief executive of embattled United Airlines unequivocally apologized Tuesday for an incident in which a passenger was dragged off a plane, and promised a thorough review of the airline's practices.

The apology came after a torrent of criticism of the carrier's action on a flight Sunday and its initial explanation of it. In images now seen around the world, a passenger was forcefully removed and bloodied in the process -- the entire event captured on video by passengers and posted on social media.

The 69-year-old passenger had refused to be "bumped" off the overbooked flight -- an airline practice that has come under increased scrutiny since the incident.

"I continue to be disturbed by what happened on this flight and I deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all the customers aboard," CEO Oscar Munoz said.

"I want you to know that we take full responsibility and we will work to make it right."

The comments were in stark contrast to the company's initial response, in which it seemed to at least partially blame the passenger, inflaming worldwide outrage.

US media published an email Munoz sent earlier to employees, in which he said the passenger "defied" authorities and "compounded" the incident.

"Our employees followed established procedures for dealing with situations like this," the CEO wrote.

'No compassion or concern' 

Andy Holdsworth, a crisis management specialist at the British PR firm Bell Pottinger, said United's initial response focused on the wrong thing.

"Whilst the passenger's behavior was not good, United have shown no compassion or concern for the man," he said.

Munoz said Tuesday that the company will conduct a "thorough review" of its procedures, including "how we handle oversold situations" and how the airline partners with airport authorities and law enforcement.

He promised to release the results of the review by April 30.

But the public relations damage was done, with calls for boycotts, the US Department of Transportation promising a review of the airline's actions, and even the White House weighing in.

"Clearly, when you watch the video, it is troubling to see how that was handled," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said.

The furor battered United's stock Tuesday, sending it down 2.9 percent in afternoon trading and closing down 1.1 percent.

It was the second time in about two weeks the airline found itself in the middle of a firestorm.

In late March, two teenage girls were prevented from boarding a flight in Denver because they wore leggings. The airline defended its action at the time by saying the girls were flying on passes that required them to abide by a dress code in return for free or discounted travel.

"They will need to be careful that these small incidents all start to add up and only remind us of the last incident as well as the current one," Holdsworth said.

'You don't really have any rights'

The passenger on the overbooked Sunday flight from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky was one of four involuntarily bumped off in order to make room for United crew that needed to be repositioned.

The incident shined a new light on the practice of overbooking and bumping passengers off flights, which airlines increasingly rely upon to avoid losing money on empty seats when some passengers do not show up for scheduled flights.

If they were to stop overbooking, "the only way of trying to compensate for that over the long term would be to raise fares on everyone else," said industry analyst Robert Mann.

Instead, airlines sell more tickets than there are seats on a plane, and are generally able to properly forecast demand to avoid major disruptions in getting passengers to their destinations, Mann said.

But, sometimes, they miscalculate and there are more passengers than a flight can handle.

In those instances, airlines offer travel vouchers and cash compensation to entice passengers to voluntarily give up their seats for later flights.

When enticing does not work, airlines have wide latitude under the law.

"If you're still in the terminal waiting to board, you can be told you can't board, even if you have a reservation," Mann said.

"And once you're on board, you are subject to being deplaned based on the order of the crew. So you don't really have any rights."

Last year, 434,000 passengers volunteered to be bumped off flights, while another 40,000 were bumped involuntarily and compensated.

Image takes a beating: Protesters rally against United Airlines’ forcible removal of a passenger from a plane at O'Hare Airport in Chicago pic.twitter.com/PZ2mLnHf8z

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 12, 2017

Alabama governor brought down by humiliating sex scandal

Yahoo – AFP, April 11, 2017

Then Alabama Governor Robert Bentley speaks during an event in Birmingham,
AL, in 2011 (AFP Photo/Mario Tama)

Washington (AFP) - The governor of the conservative southern US state of Alabama resigned Monday, shortly after lawmakers began impeachment proceedings linked to his affair with a senior aide that was made public in humiliating detail.

Robert Bentley, 74, pleaded guilty in an agreement with prosecutors on Monday to two misdemeanor campaign violations and is barred from seeking public office again.

"I have spent the last year in deep and earnest prayer over our state and our people. I pray every morning for wisdom and guidance and forgiveness for the sins I have committed," the former dermatologist and church deacon told a news conference announcing his resignation, never directly acknowledging his romantic relationship with 45-year-old political adviser Rebekah Caldwell Mason.

The relationship between Bentley and his married aide became a topic of speculation in 2015, when his wife of 50 years, Dianne, abruptly filed for divorce.

The scandal broke last spring when the state's top police officer -- fired by Bentley -- provided the news organization AL.com with salacious details of the secret romance.

The media outlet reported on a 2014 phone conversation between Bentley and a woman he called Rebekah that was secretly captured by Dianne Bentley.

"When I stand behind you, and I put my arms around you, and I put my hands on your breasts, and I put my hands (unintelligible) and just pull you real close. I love that, too," the governor is heard saying.

"Baby, let me know what I am going to do when I start locking the door," he said during another part of the tape.

"If we are going to do what we did the other day, we are going to have to start locking the door."

Robert Bentley, then Governor of Alabama, attends the groundbreaking

 ceremony for Airbus airplane-assembly plant at Brookley Aeroplex in 

Mobile, AL, in April 2013 (AFP Photo/Matthew Hinton)

Last week, an impeachment investigation report prepared for the Alabama House Judiciary Committee said Bentley tried to cover up the affair "in a process characterized by increasing obsession and paranoia."

"To ensure the silence of his staff, Governor Bentley encouraged an atmosphere of intimidation," it added. "Concern over the recordings appears to have become an obsession."

The report revealed that Bentley once opened the door of his hotel room in Washington clad in boxer shorts, thinking Mason was the other side when it was actually hotel staff.

On the same trip in 2014, Dianne Bentley attended a group dinner with her husband and Mason, and saw the text messages he was sending his mistress while seated next to his wife, including "I can't take my eyes off of you."

Bentley once mistakenly sent his wife a text message that said, "I love you Rebekah," accompanied by a red-rose emoji.

Dianne Bentley was able to access other text messages sent by her husband because he had given her his state-issued iPad, not realizing texts from his iPhone would show up on her tablet because the devices were linked.

As part of his plea deal, Bentley must surrender $37,000 in campaign funds and perform 100 hours of community service.

He pleaded guilty to failing to properly report a $50,000 loan made to his campaign, and using campaign funds to pay nearly $9,000 for Mason's legal fees last year.

Lieutenant Governor Kay Ivey was sworn in as governor Monday evening.

Canada province axes rule forcing women to wear high heels at work

Yahoo – AFP, April 8, 2017

"In some workplaces in our province, women are required to wear high heels
 on the job. Like most British Columbians, our government thinks this is wrong,"
the province's premier Christy Clark said (AFP Photo/Andrew Chin)

Montreal (AFP) - Believe it or not, some companies in Canada's British Columbia province can force women to wear high heels at work. But not any more.

The premier of the province, Christy Clark, announced Friday that companies can no longer impose such a rule.

"In some workplaces in our province, women are required to wear high heels on the job. Like most British Columbians, our government thinks this is wrong," Clark said Friday.

Clark, who belongs to the Liberal Party, called the practice dangerous and discriminatory.

"There is a risk of physical injury from slipping or falling, as well as possible damage to the feet, legs and back from prolonged wearing of high heels while at work," she added in a statement Friday, co-signed by the province's labor minister, Shirley Bond.

"I expect employers to recognize this very clear signal that forcing someone to wear high heels at work is unacceptable," said Bond.​

Clark has thus endorsed a Green party bill aimed at changing workplace laws so that safety regulations -- including those involving footwear -- are the same for men and women.

A month ago, 25 restaurant chains in Ontario stopped forcing female employees to wear heels and short skirts as part of their uniform.

Related Article:

"Listening to the Voice of Spirit" (2) - Feb 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (DNA Efficiency is on average at 35 percent now) - (Text version)

“… With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional. If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test! Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash. …”

“… You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything. You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down. …”

Trump strategist Bannon dropped from National Security Council: official

Yahoo – AFP, April 5, 2017

US President Donald Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon was dropped from
the National Security Council on April 5, 2017 (AFP Photo/Nicholas Kamm)

Washington (AFP) - Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump's chief strategist, has lost his seat on the powerful National Security Council in a high-level shakeup, a US official confirmed Wednesday.

Trump's elevation of Bannon to a permanent spot on the NSC had been widely criticized as injecting politics into White House deliberations on sensitive defense, foreign policy and intelligence matters.

A former head of the far-right website Breitbart and now chief White House strategist, Bannon is regarded as a controversial proponent of the nationalistic anti-globalism that helped propel Trump to the White House.

In a presidential memo dated April 4, Bannon no longer appears on the list of regular attendees of NSC meetings.

Confirming that he has been removed as a permanent NSC member, a White House official said the move resulted from a reorganization by Trump's new national security advisor, Lieutenant General HR McMaster.

McMaster took over February 20 after his predecessor Michael Flynn was fired amid a scandal over his secret conversations with Russia's ambassador to Washington, Sergey Kislyak.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said McMaster has his own ideas about how to do things and Trump had promised he could name his own people to the NSC.

Dutch tax office opens hunt for tax-dodging American Express users

DutchNews, April 4, 2017    

Photo: DutchNews.nl

Credit card company American Express has been told to hand over information to the US tax office tax authorities about Dutch residents with bank cards linked to accounts outside the Netherlands, Bloomberg said on Tuesday. 

The US tax service has asked for the information to help the Dutch government determine if residents are complying with local tax laws, Bloomberg quoted a justice department statement as saying. 

The Dutch made the request under a treaty which allows the exchange of tax information between the two countries.

‘The department of justice and the IRS are committed to working with the United States’ international treaty partners to identify individuals using secret offshore accounts to evade tax laws,’ said acting assistant attorney general David Hubbert in a statement. 

The case focuses on tracing the identities of Dutch taxpayers who had American Express cards between 2009 and 2016 that were linked to bank accounts outside the US. 

Efforts to trace potential tax cheats through other payment agencies have succeeded but American Express has so far refused to cooperate, the Volkskrant said in its report. 

Dutch investigators arrested two people last week as part of a five-country probe linked to Credit Suisse accounts.

Related Articles:

Credit Suisse apparent target of massive tax fraud probe
Dutch investigators in hunt for tax evaders

Credit Suisse apparent target of massive tax fraud probe

Yahoo – AFP, Ben Simon, March 31, 2017

Credit Suisse simply said its offices had been 'visited' by authorities, but reports
 say it's the main target of a sweeping tax evasion probe (AFP Photo/FABRICE
COFFRINI)

Geneva (AFP) - Authorities in Europe and Australia announced a sweeping tax evasion probe Friday reportedly targeting Credit Suisse clients and senior employees, as investigators detailed arrests and the seizure of artworks and gold.

There was no definitive confirmation that Credit Suisse was the main target of the fraud investigations, run by at least four European countries and Canberra and apparently involving hundreds of suspects.

The Swiss financial giant simply confirmed that its offices in London, Paris and Amsterdam had been visited by local authorities on Thursday "concerning client tax matters".

"We are cooperating with the authorities", Switzerland's number-two bank said in a statement.

Dutch prosecutors said dozens of people who allegedly concealed millions of euros were being probed for tax fraud and money laundering and that records were seized on Thursday from "a Swiss bank" which they did not name.

Similar operations were carried out in Britain, France, Germany and Australia, all focused on clients who "deposited their money in the same Swiss bank", according to a statement from the National Prosecutor's Office for Serious Fraud, Environmental Crime and Asset Confiscation (FIOD).

Two people accused of not declaring their savings have been arrested and two other suspects were interrogated, the FIOD said.

"Properties, and jewellery, an expensive car, expensive paintings and a gold bar", were seized from houses in The Hague and three other areas, the Dutch statement added.

'Senior employees' targeted

Britain's Revenue and Customs office said that it on Thursday along with international partners had launched a criminal probe into tax evasion and money laundering "by a global financial institution".

"The first phase of the investigation, which will see further, targeted, activity over the coming weeks, is focused on senior employees from within the institution, along with a number of its customers," the statement from London said.

It also made no mention of Credit Suisse, but said the investigation should serve as a stark reminder to institutions that aim to help clients evade tax.

Would-be tax cheats "need to wake up to reality and accept that attempting to hide wealth overseas, or within institutions, doesn't work."

French prosecutors confirmed that they too had opened a tax fraud investigation into undeclared Swiss bank accounts.

The financial fraud office said it had identified several thousands of accounts in Switzerland that were allegedly used to hide money.

This amounted to suspected "aggravated dissimulation of tax fraud", it said, with no reference to Credit Suisse.

346 people implicated

In Australia, revenue and financial services minister Kelly O'Dwyer said investigators there had identified more than 346 people "with links to Swiss banking relationship managers" who allegedly promoted tax evasion.

Australian investigators plan to "move quickly" against those who schemed to hide wealth, she said, noting however that some of those in the firing line will likely be exonerated.

The launch of a coordinated, international probe targeting an iconic Swiss bank came as a surprise to Bern, Switzerland's ATS news agency reported.

The Swiss attorney general's office was not aware of the operations and demanded a written explanation from Dutch officials in particular over the lack of cooperation, according to ATS.

Credit Suisse has previously been in the crosshairs of tax officials.

US regulators fined the bank $2.6 billion (2.4 billion euros) in 2014 for helping Americans evade taxes.

"Credit Suisse continues to follow a strategy of full client tax compliance," the bank said Friday.

The coordinated probe comes as Credit Suisse rolls out its new Automatic Exchange of Information programme designed to share taxpayer information with relevant global authorities as part of a wider Swiss crackdown on money laundering and secretive banking.

burs/bs/jh

Related Article:

Dutch investigators in hunt for tax evaders

South Korea's ousted leader Park Geun-Hye arrested

Yahoo – AFP, Hwang SUNGHEE, March 30, 2017

South Korea's ousted president Park Geun-Hye (front) arrives for questioning
 on her arrest warrant at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul on
March 30, 2017 (AFP Photo/Ahn YOUNG-JOON)

South Korea's ousted president Park Geun-Hye arrived at a detention centre near Seoul early Friday after being arrested over the corruption and abuse of power scandal that brought her down.

The Seoul Central District Court ordered Park's arrest on charges of bribery, abuse of authority, coercion, and leaking government secrets, after a marathon court hearing the previous day.

"It is justifiable and necessary to arrest (Park) as key charges were justified and there is risk of evidence being destroyed," the court said in a statement.

Television footage of the former leader showed her looking grim and staring straight ahead as she left the prosecutor's office to be taken into custody.

Despite the early hour, when Park arrived at the jail in a black sedan at around 4.45am (1945 GMT), about 50 supporters were at the gates to greet her, waving national flags and chanting slogans demanding her release.

Park, 65, becomes the third former leader to be arrested over corruption in Asia's fourth-largest economy, where politics and big business have long been closely tied.

She will now be processed and placed in a cell after changing into prison garb with her prisoner number emblazoned on the chest.

Being taken into custody is a dramatic step in the disgrace of South Korea's first woman president, and was a key demand of the millions of people who took to the streets to protest against her as the scandal engulfed her leadership last year.

The former leader was grilled for nearly nine hours in court Thursday as a judge deliberated whether she should be arrested.

She was stripped of her immunity when she was dismissed from office by the country's top court earlier this month. She has denied the accusations against her.

Choi Soon-Sil, Park's secret confidante at the heart of the scandal, is already on trial for forcing top local firms including tech giant Samsung to "donate" nearly $70 million to non-profit foundations which she allegedly used for personal gain.

Choi is being held at the same detention centre as Park. Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-Yong was also arrested last month in connection to the scandal.

Seoul has seen months of political turmoil, with rival rallies for and against

former president Park Geun-Hye (AFP Photo/Ed JONES)

Ahead of the hearing Thursday, prosecutors submitted around 120,000 pages of documents to the Seoul Central District Court relating to the charges against Park, and said it would be "counter to the principle of fairness" if she was not arrested.

"The accused is denying most of the charges, and there is a risk of destroying evidence in the future," they said.

Opposition lawmakers had called Thursday for Park's arrest.

"The least she can do as the ex-president who damaged national dignity is to admit her criminal acts, bow her head and seek forgiveness," said a spokesman for the main opposition Democratic Party.

An election to choose her successor will be held on May 9. Moon Jae-In, her rival in 2012 and a former Democratic Party leader leads opinion polls by large margins.

'Sleepless nights'

Park, daughter of late dictator Park Chung-Hee, secured the largest vote share of any candidate in the democratic era when she was elected in 2012.

But she was impeached by parliament in December, as the scandal combined with mounting economic and social frustrations to trigger huge candlelit demonstrations. The Constitutional Court later upheld the decision.

Last week she underwent a 21-hour interrogation session at the prosecutors' office, having refused repeated requests to be interviewed while in power.

She had been "lost for words" when authorities asked for her arrest, the Chosun Ilbo daily quoted an unidentified pro-Park lawmaker as saying.

Another said she had been having "sleepless nights and skipping meals" since moving out of the presidential palace.

Park allegedly offered governmental favours to top businessmen who enriched Choi, including Samsung's Lee.

She is also accused of letting her friend, a high school graduate with no title or security clearance, handle a wide range of state affairs including nomination of top officials.

Park is also said to have cracked down on thousands of artists who had voiced criticisms of her or her father's iron-fisted rule from 1961 to 1979.

She has repeatedly apologised for the upset caused by the scandal but not admitted any wrongdoing, blaming Choi for abusing their friendship.

Brazilian ex-speaker sentenced to 15 years for corruption

Yahoo – AFP, Sebastian Smith, March 30, 2017

Brazil's former President of the Chamber of Deputies Eduardo Cunha, arrives
 at the Forensic Medicine Institute in Curitiba, on October 20, 2016 (AFP Photo/
Heuler Andrey)

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Eduardo Cunha, the once-powerful speaker of Brazil's lower house of Congress who spearheaded the impeachment of leftist president Dilma Rousseff, was sentenced Thursday to more than 15 years in prison for corruption.

The sentence, imposed by top anti-corruption judge Sergio Moro in Curitiba, was a landmark for the country's battle against rampant, high-level graft.

Moro, frequently cited as a hero by Brazilians at demonstrations, cited Cunha's conviction for corruption, money laundering and tax evasion in handing down the sentence of 15 years and four months.

Cunha "took wrongful advantage of his mandate as a federal (congressional) deputy," Moro wrote. "There can be no more serious offense than betraying the parliamentary mandate and the sacred trust placed in him by the people for personal gain."

Cunha's defense lawyer immediately said an appeal would be lodged, G1 news site reported. However, Cunha will remain incarcerated in Curitiba, in the south of Brazil.

Prosecutors said he took millions of dollars in bribes as part of a sprawling corruption network in which politicians and major contractors embezzled from state oil company Petrobras. The investigation, dubbed Operation Car Wash, has upended Brazilian politics, with dozens of politicians accused of participating in the scheme.

A member of current President Michel Temer's PMDB party, Cunha, 58, was one of Brazil's most influential politicians until he was removed from his speaker's post in July and arrested in October 2016.

When he outmaneuvered Rousseff and triggered impeachment proceedings, she was replaced by Temer, then her conservative vice president in a coalition between the PMDB and Rousseff's Workers' Party. This briefly left Cunha first in the line of succession for the presidency.

Widely hated by Brazilians, Cunha earned a reputation as the ultimate master of dark political arts and was dubbed Brazil's Frank Underwood -- the scheming, corrupt anti-hero of the hit Netflix series "House of Cards" about a US politician.

Symbol of rot

Cunha is only one of many politicians tainted by the Car Wash probe or by other investigations. No less than one in three members of the lower house -- 155 out of 513 deputies -- face criminal cases, according to the specialist political website Congresso em Foco.

That number could shoot up soon when the Supreme Court, which handles all cases involving sitting politicians, acts on a request by the prosecutor general to open new Car Wash-related probes against about 100 as-yet unnamed politicians.

Among the many big names already in the crosshairs is former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a larger-than-life figure in leftwing Latin American politics who founded the Workers' Party and helped Rousseff into power.

Like Cunha, Lula is accused of corruption and money laundering.

However even in this rogue's gallery Cunha stood out, a feared and grudgingly admired political operator who ended up symbolizing the thieving and lack of accountability in the capital Brasilia.

Even before his arrest, Cunha was already in trouble for lying to Congress. Through a variety of delaying tactics he managed to avoid his eventual expulsion from the legislature for months.

According to analysts, Cunha triggered the impeachment of Rousseff -- after a long period of merely threatening to make the move -- in order to stave off his own legal problems.

Wall Street's 'Fearless Girl' statue to stay until 2018

Yahoo – AFP, March 28, 2017

The " Fearless Girl " statue on Wall Street is seen by many as a defiant symbol of
women's rights under the new administration of President Donald Trump (AFP Photo/
TIMOTHY A. CLARY)

New York (AFP) - The popular bronze statue of a young girl staring down a bull on Wall Street will stay in place until March 2018, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday.

Initially installed on March 7 for one week, the "Fearless Girl" sculpture appeared in media around the world, seen by many as a defiant symbol of women's rights under the new administration of President Donald Trump, who has bragged about sexually assaulting women.

The exhibit of artist Kristen Visbal's work was first extended until April 2 and is now set to run until next year's International Women's Day on March 8.

De Blasio, an outspoken Trump critic, said the statue "means so much to the people of New York," especially the city's women and girls.

"She spoke to the moment," he told reporters in front of the defiant girl.

The relevant municipal agencies voted in favor of keeping the statue, he said.

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio poses for a photo with the "Fearless Girl" 

statue in New York City (AFP Photo/Drew Angerer)

The artwork was installed by asset managers State Street Global Advisors, with City Hall's agreement.

It marked the start of the firm's campaign to encourage companies in which it invests to increase the number of women on their boards of directors.

The young girl faces down the "Charging Bull" sculpture, installed in December 1989 -- also temporarily at first -- by Italian-American artist Arturo Di Modica to symbolize "the strength and power of the American people."

It has since become a symbol of Wall Street.

Visbal chose to depict a young girl to show others that it is possible for them to forge a career on Wall Street, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer said.

She was referring to a recent report showing that fewer than 20 percent of board seats of S&P 500 companies are occupied by women.

"We can issue all the reports we want," Brewer said, "they will have not have the symbol a sculpture does."

Related Article:

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

"... Integrity That May Surprise…

Number five: There will be those who think it impossible to have a search for integrity and fairness in all things. In other words, Human Beings will not simply go with what they are told is the status quo. They will look at it and they will say, "Well, I think it could be better. I'm going to look around for something that has more integrity and fairness." Yes, there will be those who tell you, "Look, the institutions hold all the cards and you have to do it their way. If you want health insurance or you want loans from the banks for your home, you better do it their way." I have news for you. Even this is going to change.

"What are you going to do?" the Human asks. "They hold all the power!" In the past, there was nothing you could do. Now I'll tell you what the potentials are. You're going to pull out the puzzle and look past the walls of the maze. You're going to say, "Well, then I'll start my own institution." And some will. The new institutions, based on integrity, will sweep right past an old energy. In other words, there will be those who are young today who are going to start a new way of banking, a new way of health care, and a new way of insurance. And when you see these plans, you'll say, "Why didn't we think of that?"

Have you seen innovation and invention in the past decade that required thinking out of the box of an old reality? Indeed, you have. I can't tell you what's coming, because you haven't thought of it yet! But the potentials of it are looming large. Let me give you an example, Let us say that 20 years ago, you predicted that there would be something called the Internet on a device you don't really have yet using technology that you can't imagine. You will have full libraries, buildings filled with books, in your hand - a worldwide encyclopedia of everything knowable, with the ability to look it up instantly! Not only that, but that look-up service isn't going to cost a penny! You can call friends and see them on a video screen, and it won't cost a penny! No matter how long you use this service and to what depth you use it, the service itself will be free.

Now, anyone listening to you back then would perhaps have said, "Even if we can believe the technological part, which we think is impossible, everything costs something. There has to be a charge for it! Otherwise, how would they stay in business?" The answer is this: With new invention comes new paradigms of business. You don't know what you don't know, so don't decide in advance what you think is coming based on an old energy world.

The Unthinkable… Politics, A Review

Humans will begin to search for integrity and fairness and it's going to happen in the places you never expect. I said this last week, so this is a review. There'll come a time when you will demand this of your politics - fairness and integrity. So when the candidates start calling each other names, you will turn your back on them and they won't get any votes. They're going to get the point real fast, don't you think? How about that?

Let me give you another potential. This country that I sit in right now [USA] will set the mold for that particular attribute. I have no clock. Watch for the youngsters to set this in motion, and they will, for they are the voters of tomorrow and they do not want the energy of today. To some of them, it's so abominable they won't even register to vote in this energy. You're going to see this soon. That was number five.

The News

Number six. I'll be brief. Watch for your news to change. It has to. When the media realizes that Human Beings are changing their watching habits, they're going to start changing what they produce for you to watch. Eventually, there's going to be something called "The Good News Channel," and it will be very attractive indeed. For it will be real and offset the drama of what is today's attraction. This is what families at night, sitting around the table, will wish to watch. They'll have something where the whole picture of a situation is shown and not just the dramatic parts. You will hear about what's happening on the planet that no one is telling you now, and when that occurs [we have no clock, dear one], it's going to compete strongly with the drama. I keep telling you this. Human nature itself is starting to be in color instead of black and white. Watch for it. And that was number six.

Predictions

There are two more. Very recently we gave you a prophecy of prediction. We reiterate it now. Right now on the planet there's something in the works that is going to bring big pharma to its knees. Much like what happened to the tobacco industry, where there was a realization of a lack of integrity, there was alarm and outrage. You saw an industry that knowingly addicted the young and caused death, and this was revealed. And it didn't take that long, did it? And we said this not too long ago, and I repeat: When you see an entire industry that, for monetary reasons, is willing to keep people sick for profit, it's going to fall over. Sooner than later. You're going to see the rumblings of it very soon.

You're going to start to see Human Beings look at their health in a different way. Do you know what the real answer to long-term health care is? Not only in this country, but the earth? I will give you a hint. Don't get sick! And that, dear Human Being, is what I'm going to tell you is at hand. Coming is an understanding of the body in a way you have not understood it before. Your DNA is built to regenerate and last for hundreds of years. Right now, you're here for a moment and you die. The research is there. The beginning of extended life is there. Human Beings are going to search for things that are natural and processes that have always existed, and that will have an avenue of opening because of the demise of big pharma. And you'll wonder why you didn't know it before and you will look back and cringe, like you do today with the ads of the '50s with the doctor smiling, recommending a certain kind of tobacco.

I don't have a clock, dear one. I cannot tell you when. I can only guarantee you it is going to happen. It has to. You cannot have systems that are that large that have no integrity existing in the new energy. Do you understand? Then there are those who will say, "I hope it happens while I'm here." Oh, it will. Maybe you won't be who you are today, but you'll be here to see it, old soul. [Kryon smile] And that was number seven.

The End of War

The last one is the best. For thousands of years on this planet, Human Beings have warred with each other. If you take a look at the reasons they warred with each other, you will quickly see there aren't any good ones - land, resources, greed. Those are not reasons. That is a description of old energy. Those are not reasons. Reasons would be perhaps defense against an aggressor. But what if there is no longer the consciousness of the aggressor?

When I appeared in my partner's life more than 20 years ago, I said to him privately that the first messages we're going to give will be unbelievable. There would be laughter. We told him that Human nature and consciousness itself would change, and that the seeds of peace would be planted and there would come a time where there is no more war. Indeed, the laughter was great because humans look at history and they see patterns based on an absolute energy called Human Nature. "Impossible! There always has to be war. There always has been. Therefore, there always will be." This is you, in a box, in a black and white potential, where you can only see the black and white of what is and the black and white of what has been. You have no idea the shades of color that are there in your consciousness and the beauty of the love of God.

North Korea is on the edge of change, as we told you it might be. What did this require? The death of the old energy, and I want you to watch this take place. The advisors of the young leader are going to do their best to pull him back into an old energy. This free choice of his will be far different than his father, for he sees some color. Watch for these things. They'll take longer than you want, but it is the beginning of the beginning.

You'll see a fresh unification of South America sooner than not, for what is going to take place potentially this year in Venezuela. You'll see Iran changing. We have no clock. These are the potentials. These can change with free choice. These are not prophecies. This is a reality shift, dear ones, so number eight becomes the propensity not to war again. This is what Humans are going to want. This is what governments are going to want. There is a wisdom factor that will begin to happen on the planet that is grander than what you think is possible. For when you look at government, what do you think about? You see dysfunction, and there is an axiom that says the more people that try to do something together, the worse it gets. It all settles to the lowest common denominator. I'm telling you even those things are going to become old energy concepts. Instead, you're going to watch wisdom become the top potential.

I have no clock. I cannot tell you when. I can just tell you it is in the works, and there will be the seeds of it for you to observe soon - right now, in every single of the eight categories I showed you.

There are those who will say, "Well, Kryon, you're doing a lot more predictions than you used to." I want to tell you what's going on, dear one. I am not predicting anything. I am just telling you what's already there in the potential soup of your reality. That's what Humans are doing on this planet, and for those who believe this communication, you should breathe a sigh of relief and say, "It's about time."

I'm about to leave yet again, but not before this admonition. Seed planters, you have 18 years to plant these new seeds. They will grow faster if you do it now rather than later. Your part to play is to have a higher consciousness in these areas at home and at work, and to show those around you what you know through your wisdom. Show them the love of God in your life by treating them as you would yourself - to be slow to anger and quick to forgive. Create solace around you, a bubble of peace around you that is so desirable that people will want to be with you. Be non-judgmental.

These are the seeds that will change the Crystalline Grid of this planet, and your children and their children are the ones who will inherit what you do today. This shift is about consciousness change; it's why you're here.

This is the truth of this day, and again, I say it: All things may pull backwards a bit before they move forward, but this is the way of things and always has been. If you look at the last 50 years, you will see a tremendous change in Human nature. However, it's nothing compared to what you're going to see.

I am Kryon. Twenty-two years ago, my partner let me into his life. I knew it would take four more years for him to get going, and it did. Eighteen years ago was when the alignment started, and that's when the work began. I am here because of what humanity did. Kryon has always been on the planet, but only in the last 18 years were the messages profound about the shift. The grid alignment group arrived in 1989 and left in 2002 and the magnetics were set. Then Human consciousness began to shift as we said it would.

This is our message for today. Leave differently than you came.

And so it is.

KRYON

Oxfam exposes tax haven habits of EU big banks

Yahoo – AFP, March 27, 2017

Oxfam uncovered that European banks posted 628 million euros in profit in
tax havens where they employed zero staff (AFP Photo/OZAN KOSE)

Brussels (AFP) - The twenty biggest banks in the eurozone booked over a quarter of their 2015 profits in tax havens, with Luxembourg and Ireland the favourite destinations, a report by Oxfam said on Monday.

The findings come as the tax affairs of major multinationals are under the microscope after revelations in the LuxLeaks and Panama Papers scandals showed the methods used by big companies to avoid paying tax.

"New EU transparency rules give us a glimpse into the tax affairs of Europe’s biggest banks and it’s not a pretty sight," said Manon Aubry, a tax specialist at Oxfam.

"Governments must change the rules to prevent banks and other big businesses using tax havens to dodge taxes or help their clients dodge taxes," she said.

The report said that tax havens account for 26 percent of the profits made by the 20 biggest banks in Europe, adding up to an estimated 25 billion euros ($27 billion).

By example, Barclays, Europe's fifth biggest bank in 2015, booked profits of 557 million euros in Luxembourg and paid only one million euros in taxes, an effective tax rate of 0.2 percent.

The report also uncovered that European banks posted 628 million euros in profit in tax havens where they employed zero staff.

In the Cayman Islands for example, France's BNP Paribas booked 134 million euros in profit tax free without a single employee present.

Other banks reported profits in tax havens while reporting losses elsewhere.

In 2015, Deutsche Bank registered no or low profits in several major markets, while booking almost 2 billion euros of profits in tax havens.

Oxfam uncovered the data using new EU legislation that requires banks to report their profit on a country by country basis.

The law is intended to stop big banks from artificially shifting their profits to low tax wealth centres with very low, or zero, corporate tax rates.

"These rules must now be extended to ensure all large corporations provide financial reports for every country where they operate," Aubry said.

"This will make it easier for all countries – including the poorest – to establish if companies are paying their fair share of tax or not," she said.

Luxembourg and Ireland were the most favoured tax havens.

Europe's 20 biggest banks posted more profits in the small EU duchy of Luxembourg than they did in the UK, Sweden and Germany combined.