"that which is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it. Every one thinks chiefly of his own, hardly at all of the common interest; and only when he is himself concerned as an individual. For besides other considerations, everybody is more inclined to neglect the duty which he expects another to fulfill"
Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Wednesday that the Obama administration is determined to avoid the automatic cuts which take effect in January, and is pushing ahead with a strategic pivot from Iraq and Afghanistan to the Pacific Rim, as well as spending billions to prepare for new threats such as bioengineered pathogens.
Iran’s government has repeatedly used commercial aircraft to smuggle weapons and explosives to Syria and Lebanon, the German broadcaster ZDF reported Wednesday.
More than 35,000 people who had income of more than $200,000 in 2009 paid no federal income taxes that year, according to a new report from the Internal Revenue Service.
Rising bond yields in Italy and a bank crisis in Spain dragged Wall Street lower on Wednesday, as Europe's financial woes continued to dictate the direction of U.S. stocks.
Gunfire at a North Seattle cafe and in a downtown parking lot has brought the number of homicides in Seattle this year to nearly as many as in all of 2011.
Why would super-secret spy software be written in a video game language? As security researchers continue to unpack the digital mystery that is the Flame virus, that's just one question looming over perhaps the world's most intriguing digital whodunit.
A wildfire burning in the Gila National Forest consumed nearly 20,000 more acres in a day and is now, by far, the largest blaze on record in New Mexico, a fire incident spokesman told msnbc.com.
By Bhavna Vij-Aurora, Dhiraj Nayyar and Shantanu Guha Ray | India Today – Mon 28 May, 2012 1:01 PM IST
By Bhavna Vij-Aurora, Dhiraj Nayyar and Shantanu Guha Ray
A late-night bust-up involving charges of molestation and assault at a hotel suite in Delhi booked in the name of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Deccan Chargers on May 18. An early morning Income Tax raid at the offices of Pune Warriors and Royal Challengers Bangalore on May 23 following a TV sting operation in which five fringe players were caught striking deals on spot-fixing and switching teams for more money. A brawl at Wankhede Stadium leading to a five-year ban by the Mumbai Cricket Association on Shah Rukh Khan on May 16. It was a week from hell for IPL. And the week promised to stretch into a long year.
Around 6.30 p.m. on May 22, Zohal Hamid, 27, was giving yet another live interview on her now famous charge of molestation by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) player Luke Pomersbach. The incident acquired bizarre momentum, especially after her ‘fiance’ Sahil Peerzada, 33, was hit by Pomersbach and she turned out to be close to a defence agent. India Today was present at the plush farmhouse of her “rakhi” brother Abhishek Verma, an accused in the naval war room leak and under investigation for his suspected role in defence deals. Sahil made a dramatic entry while she was on camera. “How dare you speak to the media without my permission?” he asked. Zohal placated him and they then drove off in Verma’s Hyundai Sonata. Both she and Sahil then went incommunicado. Clearly, they had received instructions to go quiet. Some deal had been struck to cover up an intoxication-fuelled, unscripted drama that threatened to blow apart the nocturnal mix of sex and money that plays behind the televised scenes of IPL. Sahil and Zohal met their lawyer Rajneesh Chopra who had worked out a compromise with RCB owner Sidhartha Mallya, who had so charmingly described Zohal’s allegations against Pomerbasch as a “load of f…..g s..t” in a tweet. On May 22, Zohal agreed to withdraw her case against Pomersbach and drop the defamation threat against Mallya, who has not even deigned to remove the offending tweets from his account-another said “what this girl is doing is idiotic”. On May 23, though, he tweeted, “So glad all charges have been dropped and Luke can return Down Under a free man!”, followed by “Oh and btw, I know ppl can be cynical, so just so u know, the settlement wasn’t financial in any way!”
These shenanigans took TV cameras into the bedroom, the last thing IPL wanted as its oversold carnival becomes a sordid circus. The manufactured silence was designed to avoid some basic questions:
Why did Deccan Chargers book a Rs 20,000-a-day suite for Sahil at ITC Maurya?
What is Sahil’s connection, if any, with cricket and IPL?
What is Zohal’s real link with Sahil? She claims he is her “fiance”. Sahil is a trifle hesitant about the honour.
Why was Zohal sleeping in Sahil’s suite if she was not booked there?
Why were two men, Miraj and Moin, sleeping in Sahil’s room?
Why was RCB hosting an after-party despite an IPL ban on them in 2010?
The mystery became more mysterious with Verma’s involvement. His former New York-based business partner and lawyer C. Edmonds Allen claims that Zohal was an employee of Ganton Indian Private Limited, and that he recommended her for a visa to visit India on Verma’s request last year. Allen is the president of Ganton, which he claimed he set up to handle $205 million (Rs 1,127 crore) made by Verma through arms deals and lobbying for defence firms. Verma denies any link with Ganton and claims that Zohal too has nothing to do with Ganton. He says “my wife Anca Neacsu is best friends with Zohal” and recommended her for an Indian visa through Allen.
Born in Afghanistan to an Afghan father and an Iranian mother, Zohal’s family migrated to US in the late 1980s. Now an American citizen, she works for a cosmetics company in New York as a sales manager. She did part of her schooling in India, where she picked up conversational though accented Hindi. She went to Rutgers University in New York. After watching her first IPL match on May 17, goes her story, she landed at the RCB party and in the room booked by Deccan Chargers at ITC Maurya. Every answer begs a further question.
But Rajiv Shukla, who took over as the IPL commissioner in September 2011 and is also a Union minister, has no answers, except an evasive one. “I am the IPL commissioner, not police commissioner. I have nothing to do with what is happening in the hotel room.” The fact that he mentioned “police commissioner” involuntarily speaks for itself. He believes media is exaggerating the problems of the league by highlighting stray off-field incidents. He does not deny knowing Sahil Peerzada. “He is the son of a Congressman,” he says. Sahil’s father, Peerzada Ghulam Mohammed, who died in 1994 at the age of 52, was a ticketing agent at the Sopore (J&K) bus stand in the 1970s, and went on to become a junior-level Congress leader. The family migrated to Mumbai in 1992.
Sahil’s brother, Feroze, says he has a real estate business in Mumbai, as well as two Kashmir handicrafts showrooms at the Leela in Bangalore and near Pavilion Mall in Kuala Lumpur. But Sahil’s reputation has been made in bedrooms rather than boardrooms. He is a serial dater of semi-famous women such as TV actors Shama Sikander and Gauhar Khan. Deccan Chargers is silent about why they rented such an expensive suite for him. Manjula Harpanahalli, media coordinator for Deccan Chargers, told India Today that they had no comments to offer. Repeated calls and text messages to E. Venkatram Reddy, director (operations), Deccan Chargers, went unanswered.
Investigating agencies are silent but taking a keen interest in the events. They have been busy. There has long been a suspicion that IPL is a breeding ground for bookies. Days before the start of the tournament, CID officers of Mumbai Police traced a conference of bookies from all over India huddled inside a five-star hotel room in Mumbai to plan their strategy: Essentially, to cooperate in the milking of those who like a flutter.
On May 17, when Chennai Super Kings was taking on Kings XI Punjab, Arun Chavan, head of Mumbai Police’s Property Cell, arrested two well-known bookies from a Lokhandwala flat. Devendra Kothari, 42, and Sonu Jalan, 30, were taking bets on the crucial match. Both were arrested immediately and 20 mobile handsets, a dozen SIM cards, two laptops, two voice recorders and an LCD T recovered. They led the police to another bookie, Mohammad Feroze Ansari, 38, from Nagpada in Mumbai. On May 19, the police arrested him too. The probe has now moved to Delhi. A team from Mumbai Police left for Delhi on May 21. Their goal: Check the truth in Kothari’s claim that he paid Rs 10 crore to a Sri Lankan cricketer to fix a one-day international match in 2006. “We cannot reveal the name of the Sri Lankan player. Investigations are still on,” said Mumbai Additional Commissioner of Police Vishwas Nangre-Patil.
In Delhi, the police confirmed that Kothari and Jalan were part of a global betting racket and among 170 suspects scheduled to visit Sri Lanka to fix matches. “There was to be a meeting in Colombo in anticipation of the fourth T20 World Cup which will take place in Sri Lanka. But it was cancelled,” says Brijesh Kumar Gupta, Delhi’s police commissioner. The police’s suspicions about a Colombo meeting were confirmed when a woman they picked up on May 19 from Delhi for possessing cocaine confessed to her involvement in the betting racket and said she was to travel to Colombo. On May 24, Delhi Police busted a betting racket in west Delhi, unearthing a mini-telephone exchange comprising 113 lines used for transmitting information about rates to over 300 betting syndicates across India.
India’s betting laws date back to the Public Gambling Act of 1867. Bail, therefore, is guaranteed for a paltry Rs 100 and allows bookies to get free within days of their arrest. No one has bothered to change this. “There’s very little time for questioning. And rarely are the big fish netted because the bookie chain is inordinately long,” says Gupta. This year alone, Delhi Police conducted more than 75 raids on bookies in Delhi and arrested over 100 people placing bets on IPL, the highest since the tournament started four years ago. The core problem hampering investigations is that there is no complaint, says Gupta.
ULTIMATE SECRET SOCIETY
Cricket is hardly the primary activity in IPL. The large, growing and dark circle around the field includes a secret society of franchise owners, pretty party girls and men of unknown means. Presiding over this is the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which has ensured lack of transparency. BCCI is a registered society completely autonomous from the Government. It only started paying income tax in 2007 after authorities decided that it wasn’t simply a charitable organisation “promoting the sport of cricket”. In the effort to become successful, IPL has cut corners. Interpol wanted to investigate the bookie phenomenon and and asked for Rs 90 crore as expenses, just as it had asked FIFA when it set out to investigate football sleaze. FIFA paid. International Cricket Council (ICC) President Sharad Pawar refused. Very conveniently, ICC’s Anti Corruption Unit was hired. “If ICC had hired Interpol, cricket’s cleansing process would have begun. But that did not happen,” says Union Sports Minister Ajay Maken.
In 2011, IPL had hit a ratings low. A new model was sought to be created, as highlighted in broadcaster Set Max’s ads which encouraged viewers to watch the game on the ground. Rajiv Shukla says that the average gate receipts for the 2012 season will be Rs 30 crore for each franchise. He also argues that the decline in TAM TRP ratings, from an average of 4.81 in IPL-1 to 3.33 in IPL-5 so far, is misleading because the goalposts have changed. “The ratings of even the most popular entertainment programmes have fallen as a result. IPL is still doing very well on television,” he says. Shukla is also buoyant about overseas revenues.
EVADING THE TAX NET
All nine IPL franchises have been under the scanner of the Income Tax Department after a report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Finance in July 2011 instructed tax officials to scrutinise the accounts of all IPL teams. What aroused the suspicion of the Standing Committee was a wide discrepancy between the annual financial returns statements for the assessment year 2008-09 and the assessment year 2009-10. For the year 2008-09, also the first year of IPL, three of the eight franchises, Mumbai, Chennai and Deccan Chargers, showed nil loss. The remaining five showed minor losses-Rajasthan Rs 6 lakh, Punjab Rs 14 lakh, Kolkata Rs 50 lakh, Bangalore Rs 79 lakh and Delhi Rs 2.92 crore. In 2009-10, each franchise reported huge losses-Rajasthan Rs 35.5 crore, Punjab Rs 65.68 crore, Kolkata Rs 11.85 crore, Mumbai Rs 42.89 crore, Chennai Rs 19.3 crore, Bangalore Rs 5.58 crore, Deccan Rs 87.09 crore and Delhi Rs 47.11 crore.
There was no particular reason why losses should have mounted so steeply. The player auctions had been conducted before IPL-1. The cost of players would be the same for IPL-2. The revenue streams would have been greater-the success of IPL drew more advertisers and spectators to the second edition. The only reason for higher costs was the move to South Africa, but that alone could not explain the wide discrepancies. According to sources at the Income Tax Department, while the assessment is complete, investigation is ongoing and franchises have been asked to furnish details.
There are several other issues of apparent financial irregularities red-flagged in the report of the Standing Committee. At least four teams-Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders, Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians- received investments from abroad from tax havens such as Mauritius, Bahamas and British Virgin Islands. BCCI, in its reply to the committee, put all the blame on former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi. Even if true, and that is not proven, how does this exonerate the franchise owners who got the money from questionable unnamed sources? The Enforcement Directorate (ED), charged with investigating these violations, said its investigations have not been completed.
Even BCCI and IPL are under investigation by ED and Reserve Bank of India for operating bank accounts along with Cricket South Africa during IPL-2 without permission. IPL Commissioner Shukla shrugs aside the allegations of financial irregularities, just as he dismisses anything in convention with his usual bluster.
PLAYERS DON’T HAVE LEVEL PLAYING FIELD
There are other problems, inbuilt into IPL, which have created irregular incentives for players. In 2010, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was banned from season 3 of IPL for trying to negotiate a contract in violation of league rules. Jadeja, who at the time had not played for the IndianTP Sudhindra national team, was entitled to a salary of Rs 25 lakh, not more, set by the IPL Governing Council. Already a rising star in his franchise, Rajasthan Royals, Jadeja believed he deserved more money. This perverse rule on pay caps for Indian players who have never represented the country has made them vulnerable to the lure of illegal negotiations with franchises and offers from bookies. Curiously, no such cap is applicable to foreign players who have not represented their countries.
A recent TV sting operation on five Indian players who have never represented India revealed the dangerous consequences. The players- TP Sudhindra (Deccan Chargers), Shalabh Srivastava (Kings XI Punjab), Mohnish Mishra (Pune Warriors), Amit Yadav (Kings XI Punjab) and Abhinav Bali-were caught on camera either offering to indulge in spot-fixing or ready to negotiate with other franchises or admitting that their franchises paid them significantly more than the official figure, in cash. An underground economy is clearly thriving in IPL. Modi, the creator of IPL and commissioner in its first three editions, admits that not auctioning uncapped players was a mistake.
There are several possible reforms that can salvage the situation:
No player should be retained by a franchise without an auction. In 2008, for example, M.S. Dhoni was bought by Chennai Super Kings at the highest bid price of $1.5 million (Rs 7.5 crore). He was not put up for auction for the 2011 and 2012 seasons in which Gautam Gambhir came out on top with a bid price of $2.5 million (Rs 12.5 crore) from Kolkata Knight Riders. It would be unreasonable to expect Dhoni to have commanded anything less in an open auction.
The only players not subject to an auction in IPL-1 were the icon players-Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai), Rahul Dravid (Bangalore), Sourav Ganguly (Kolkata), Yuvraj Singh (Punjab) and Virender Sehwag (Delhi). Each was, however, to be paid a 10 per cent premium on the highest bid paid out by their team in the open auction. There was some transparency then. Now, with the icon system being replaced by the system of retaining players (icons or not), no one knows how much players are being paid, whether by cheque or in cash. Says Modi, “No one should be allowed to be retained. If a player is important for the franchise, let them bid for him.” Rajiv Shukla also recognises the opacity of retaining players. “We will consider revising this in our next Governing Council meeting,” he says.
There should be an independent regulator for sports. “No one is being able to self-regulate. If not for anything else, let the regulator look into the alleged financial bungling of the state cricket associations,” says Ajay Maken. “Put rules in place, things will start moving,” says Bishen Singh Bedi. The former Indian captain says it’s time BCCI auctions each player every year. “Let there be transparency, let us see who is paying what for whom. Let the juniors get a price for themselves so that they do not take money under the table,” adds Bedi.
POLITICS OF CRICKET
IPL would not have survived its serious flaws were it not for a strong cross-party political alliance lending its weight. Shukla is a prominent minister. Arun Jaitley, leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, is on IPL’s Governing Council and heads its legal and disciplinary committee. The cricket establishment of BCCI and its regional components are packed with powerful politicians. Four are members of the Union Cabinet-Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar (ICC president), Congressmen C.P. Joshi (president, Rajasthan Cricket Association) and Vilasrao Deshmukh (president, Mumbai Cricket Association), and Farooq Abdullah (president of the J&K Cricket Association) of the National Conference. The quartet has successfully stalled Maken’s attempts to legislate a sports bill that will force BCCI to be more accountable. “What can I do if no one wants to clean the dirt from cricket?” says Maken.
Shukla says there is no need for BCCI to be under the Government. “We don’t take a penny from the Government. And we have made a global name for ourselves,” he says. The cricket establishment can count on some support from outside the Government. Apart from Jaitley, Anurag Thakur, a BJP MP and son of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, is president of his state’s cricket association which hosts IPL games at its stadium in Dharamshala. His party colleague, Kirti Azad, is however a staunch opponent of IPL and went on dharna demanding the abolishing of the league after its string of recent scandals. Azad said that India’s image was being spoilt at an international level because of IPL debauchery and that he has written a letter to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to take action against IPL.
Politics is a power game, and for now Maken and Azad are weak before a muscular establishment. But a poisonous worm is corroding the IPL apple from within, and all the might of Pawar, Shukla and friends will not stop this disease from spreading, if they do not use a sharp scalpel.
Washington, May 11 (IANS/EFE) A team of US archaeologists announced Thursday the discovery of the oldest Mayan calendar to date, a ninth-century artifact amid the ruins of an ancient city inGuatemala.
The calendar documents cycles of the moon and, apparently, those of Venus and Mars as well, Boston University’sWilliam Saturno andUniversity of Texas archaeologist David Stuart told a press conference.
The find, to be detailed in this week’s issue of the journal Science and the June issue of National Geographic, also further discredits the notion that the Mayas predicted the world would end in December 2012.
Proponents of the doomsday idea said 2012 would mark the conclusion of the last of the 13 “baktuns” – cycles of 400 years – that make up the Mayan calendar.
But the calendar found in Xultun, Guatemala, has 17 baktuns, and Stuart said the Mayas method of time measurement included units much larger than the baktun.
“The Mayan calendar is going to keep going for billions, trillions, octillions of years into the future,” he said.
The hieroglyphs in Xultun are several hundred years older than the calendar and astronomical tables of the Dresden Codex, which dates from the 11th or 12th century.
The home containing the calendar was part of a large residential complex.
Though Xultun was discovered in 1915, 99.9 percent of the site has yet to be explored, according to Saturno, who spoke of “the great wealth of scientific material that remains in Guatemala in the Maya area for us to discover”.
Note from Admin : – As usual one of the biggest most insidiously jobful bitches of the West is as usual again at it, doing what she does best, fulfilling the geo-political strategical wishes of her servant manor masters of the 13 messed up royalty banking bloodlines by coming over to the east, to my country and poking her disgusting dirty little nose into the local politics of local states in my nation.
How the hell is it even allowed to happen by all who notice this. Why the hell would a Secretary of State of the most gluttonous country in the world come over to talk politics with local chief ministers of my country. We are sovereign and independent and we don’t need any form of outside interference and/or assistance with how we should run our nation. Please F**K OFF!!
Bringing in the NCTC Act and FDI Retail Investments from the likes of Wal-Mart and others will wreck the SMBs and Cottage/Rural industries in my nation. They get mowed down by your wicked and greedy MNCs.
One of the prime opposers to this move is the Bengal Chief Minister and top political leader Mamata Bannerjee and so she is right now being coaxed to do the unthinkable and actually listen to the wonderful advice given my Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Great news for the NWO as it rumbles on in full gear forward. Either that peaks in 4 years from now or I am leaving this planet for so many other reasons.
“I come with certainly a belief that India can compete with anybody, anywhere. And the more open India becomes over time, the greater is the rise in the standard of living and (the more) the opportunity for the broader number of people,” Clinton said during an interaction at the La Martiniere school for girls here.
“But I also understand politics. And I understand how lots of these decisions are difficult,” she said.
Referring to the US desire to try to open the (Indian) market to multibrand retail, she said the primary reason for this was the “enormous amount of experience that has been brought to India by supply chain management in developing relationships with producers” so that their produce was easily and abundantly available and of larger quantity.
In this connection, she mentioned the factory of Fritolay India, the snack food division of Pepsico, in West Bengal, and said: “There are a lot of benefits that may not be immediately perceived.”
With her visit taking place in the backdrop of speculation that she would raise the India-Bangladesh Teesta treaty with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Clinton said: “Water is an issue about the world that will be increasingly contentious.”
“We have to do a better job of trying to find a win-win solution for everybody because the alternative will be perhaps worst than conflict, leading up to dislocation, destabilisation, refugee flows, famine and other kinds of problems that we are seeing in places like north Africa.”
“We have to work together in the international community,” she said.
Clinton clarified that the US does not have any interest on how water issues are resolved. “But we know from working on our own projections what will be the hard issues in future unless water issues are properly dealt with,” she added.
Besides FDI, she also said the US wants “greater debate” on civil nuclear cooperation.
“We want to have far greater debate and dialogue on FDI and civil nuclear cooperation. US was in conversation with Indian government on those issues for a long time,” she said.
Replying to a question on the Indian Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act passed by parliament last August, Clinton said: “We have made it clear to the government that under the legislation that was passed, it would be difficult for US companies to participate.”
“We’re still discussing this and hoping there’s a way to work it out,” she said.
The US has objected to some provisions of the Indian nuclear liability bill which allows citizens to file tort claims for damages and the nuclear plant operator’s right of recourse against nuclear suppliers.
The FBI has launched “The Vault”, a searchable database of declassified documents that were previously unavailable online. The most notable ones are those about the Roswell UFO and pop culture icons such as Jimi Hendrix, Notorious B.I.G., the Grateful Dead, Marilyn Monroe (who was apparently heavily monitored), Janis Joplin and many others. The documents I’ve reviewed wereheavily redacted and probably do not contain earth-shattering revelations (or they would probably not be made available for download) but still contained interesting information. For example, a 1997 document on Tupac Shakur states that he was receiving death threats from a “domestic terrorist group”. Here’s an excerpt of it:
“During the interview, (censored) advised writer that (censored) and others yet unidentified have been extorting money from various rap music stars via death threats. The scheme involves (censored) and other subjects making telephonic death threats to the rap star. Subjects then intercede by contacting the victim and offering protection for a fee. The victim and their family are taken to a “safe haven”, usually a private estate, and are protected by gun-totting body guards associated with the JEWISH DEFENSE LEAGUE (JDL). The subjects convince the victim they have worked a “deal” out with the person(s) making the death threats and the threats cease. The victim then pays the subjects for protection services rendered and resume their normal lifestyle with no fear of further death threats.”
The dossier also contains numerous news clippings relating to Tupac and his death, proving that the FBI keeps a close watch on the contents of the press. Here’s an article from the The Australian Telegraph about the newly released documents.
FBI upgrades online public records, featuring searchable dossiers
FEATURING searchable dossiers on characters as wide-ranging as Al Capone, Notorious B.I.G. and the 9/11 hijackers, the FBI has upgraded its online public records.
FOXNews.com reports more than 2000 digitised documents have been added to “The Vault”, a fascinating new electronic reading room that can be accessed atvault.fbi.gov.
“The new website significantly increases the number of available FBI files, enhances the speed at which the files can be accessed and contains a robust search capability,” David Hardy, chief of the FBI’s Records Management Division, said.
More importantly, it also contains stuff about UFOs.
One document, for example, pertains to Guy Hottel, a special agent in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, who sent a memo concerning flying saucers at Roswell to the FBI’s director in March 1950.
“An investigator for the Air Force stated that three so-called flying saucers had been recovered in New Mexico,” according to the memo dated March 22, 1950.
“They were described as being circular in shape with raised centers, approximately 50 feet in diameter. Each one was occupied by three bodies of human shape but only three feet tall, dressed in metallic cloth of a very fine texture. Each body was bandaged in a manner similar to the blackout suits used by speed flyers and test pilots.
“According to Mr. (redacted) informant, the saucers were found in New Mexico due to the fact that the Government has a very high-powered radar set-up in that area and it is believed the radar interferes with the controlling mechanism of the saucers. No further evaluation was attempted by SA (redacted) concerning the above.”
One file relates to an incident recorded in 1983 when iconic astronomer Carl Sagan received a letter that appeared to show prior knowledge of a terrorist group sabotaging the space shuttle Columbia.
It states: “On November 23, 1983, there will be a terrorist bomb attack on a market or warehouse that is distributing free food to a crowd in San Salvadore. This will be a diversion for an attack on a fuel storage facility in the vicinity. If Columbia goes as scheduled, there will be an explosion in the rocket due to a fuel leak.”
This purported to come from a “M. Springfield”, but the only person of such name in the area had died 10 years earlier. Sagan himself died in 1996, seven years before the Columbia exploded on re-entry from its 28th mission.
9/11 attacks
Some of the documents include a detailed chronology of the hijackers’ movements prior to September 11, 2001, including their ATM withdrawals, mobile phone activity and training flights taken in Florida, New Jersey and elsewhere.
A chronology of events – the “Hijackers Timeline” – is a 150-page spreadsheet detailing the terrorists and their associates.
Beginning with Mohamed Atta, who crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, the document lists each subject’s country of origin, date of birth and tracks every known movement they made leading up to the attacks.
The inquiry ended in early 2005, after federal prosecutors concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to pursue a case against any officers or another man implicated in the 1997 shooting death.
The decision was made after agents in Los Angeles, San Diego and New York tried to track down potential suspects and witnesses who might shed new light on the unsolved killing that came months after another rap superstar, Tupac Shakur, was shot dead in Las Vegas.
The investigation started out as a civil rights violation and public corruption review, but efforts were made to solve the homicide case. The FBI’s file included police reports.
Informants told the FBI that the killing of B.I.G., whose real name was Christopher Wallace, may have been aided by corrupt police officers. The heavily redacted files include several mentions of sources who wouldn’t talk to Los Angeles police investigators about Wallace’s death because of suspicions about corruption.
Gangsters and pop culture
Users of the FBI’s new system can also search through topics like counterterrorism, the Gangster Era and Popular Culture, where they will find the FBI’s file on subjects like Usama bin Laden, George “Machine Gun” Kelly and Malcolm X, respectively.
And thanks to new technology developed by the FBI, users can also search for keywords within individual files.
Many of the older records, however, include handwritten notes that are not easily searchable.
The best place to start, however, is here, at The Vault Index.
- with AFP
Could this site highly publicized site contain purposeful disinformation (i.e. 9/11)? Everything is fair game in the information war.
Also, the SEC has a database named EDGAR that is open to the public. After a little research, what was discovered is that corporations must report said resignations on Form 8-K, Item 5.02. From there, it was a simple matter of searching only Form 8-Ks within a specific range of dates, and including the boolean search terms “Resigns” and “Resignation”.
From the start of 2008 to the second quarter of 2011 the resignations remained steady @ about 2000 per quarter.
Suddenly in the 3rd quarter of 2011 they increased by 50% to 3000 for that quarter. (That’s an extra 1000). Then in the 4th quarter they jumped to 7000. (That’s an additional extra 5000 resignations).
Now without the full quarter results for the first quarter of 2012 they are up to 16,000. (That’s an extra 14,000 resignations & increasing fast).
That’s a total of 20,000+ extra resignations that no one is reporting in newspapers & nothing of course in the major media!
These are people who were in sting situations but didn’t know it when their opportunistic thefts of funds became a trap providing evidence of their wrong doing. Reports of their resignations usually involve house arrest in many cases including inability to leave the country. Full exposure of their crimes will follow in due course. This involves financial houses and banks worldwide.
650 RESIGNATIONS FROM WORLD BANKS, INVESTMENT HOUSES, MONEY FUNDS
I don’t mind if you re-blog this listing. Save yourself the wear and tear on your karma and do me the favor of including http://americankabuki.blogspot.com in your reposting. Thanks to all who have caught minor errors. Special thank to Gabriel at Facebook Global Mass Resignations for some resignations I did not find in my searches.
Abreviations used: CEO = Chief Executive Officer CFO = Chief Financial Officer CIO = Chief Investment Officer COO = Chief Operating Officer INC = Incorporated (can be private held or publically traded shares) PLC = Public Limited Company (publicly traded shares can be listed or unlisted on stock market) LTD = Limited Company (privately held) LLC = American version of LTD, but can have a shareholder/member that is an INC, often hybrids of both AG = German version of PLC AB = Swedish version of PLC SA = Society Anonymous in various latin languages – same as PLC NV = Dutch version of PLC BV = Dutch version of LTD LP = Limited Partners (partnership with limited liability)
9/06/11 (BELGIUM) Dexia confirmed that its CEO Stefaan Decraene had left the company. Its exposures to sovereign debt in the PIIGS nations are larger than its core Tier 1 capital. http://goo.gl/vuhvd
9/12/11 (HONG KONG) HSBC Group Hang Seng Bank Non-Executive Director Mark McCombe resigns http://goo.gl/mCTgi
9/14/11 (USA NJ) Columbia Bank CEO Raymond G. Hallock Announces Retirement http://goo.gl/UjUZY
9/18/11 (JORDAN) Central Bank governor Faris Sharaf resigns over policy http://goo.gl/8yU5N
9/20/11 (SCOTLAND) SCOTTISH WIDOWS (RETIREMENT INVESTMENT SAVINGS FUND) There could be no Scottish representative on the board of Lloyds Banking Group, owner of Bank of Scotland, in future after it announced the departure of Lord Sandy Leitch, the chairman of Scottish Widows and group deputy chairman. http://goo.gl/Dx8qs
9/21/11 (AUSTRALIA & NZ) JP Morgan Australia and New Zealand Worldwide Securities Services CEO Jane Perry resigned http://goo.gl/Qx0Va
9/25/11 (SWITZERLAND)UBS CEO Oswald Gruebel quits over £1.5bn rogue trader crisis http://goo.gl/WCeqB
9/25/11 (USA CA)Douglas E. Tow, Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer, will retire from the Company http://goo.gl/24aAU
9/28/11 (SWITZERLAND) SNB Bank Council: Fritz Studer resigns as per end-April 2012 http://goo.gl/7dNiD
9/29/11 (UK) Barclays, Head of UK & European Retail Banking Deanna Oppenheimer resigned. http://goo.gl/o63jO
10/03/11 (INDIA) The of Euram Bank Asia, president Arun Panchariya, has resigned after being implicated in a stock trading scandal in India. http://goo.gl/yh2bF
10/03/11 (GHANA) Intercontinental Bank Ghana Limited, Managing Director and CEO Albert Mmegwa resigned. http://goo.gl/Vc252
10/03/11 (USA FL) Quantek Opportunity Fund, portfolio manager Javier Guerra. Arbitration awarded $1 million damages to Aris Multi-Strategy Fund. Quantek Asset Management made false statements to Aris. http://goo.gl/udpBA
10/05/11 (UK) UBS co-chief François Gouws of global equities had resigned after last month’s revelation of a $2.3 billion loss from unauthorized trading. http://goo.gl/OuUjr
10/05/11 (UK) UBS co-chief Yassine Bouhara of global equities had resigned after last month’s revelation of a $2.3 billion loss from unauthorized trading. http://goo.gl/OuUjr
10/10/11 (BELGIUM) Dexia (Franco-Belgian bank) its chairman Jean-Luc Dehaene will give up his role on the board of Dexia’s Belgian division, which is being sold to the Belgian state as part of a rescue deal, the group said on Monday. http://goo.gl/vyldE
10/11/11 (CHINA) China Construction Bank Non-Executive Direct Sue Yang resigns for personal reasons. http://goo.gl/ip8Un
10/14/11 (USA TX) Deutsche Bank Investment Advisor Griffin Perry resigns, SEC regulations prevented him from campaigning for his father Rick Perry’s Presidential campaign. http://goo.gl/R0PgH
10/23/11 (USA) Fairholme Capital Management LLC, Director Charles Fernandez stepped down for personal reasons. Fairholme Fund has lost 26 percent of its net asset value due to bets that have backfired on AIG Inc, Bank of America Corp and Florida-based landowner and developer St Joe Co. http://goo.gl/vzTbY
10/24/11 (ICELAND) Icelandic State Financial Investments board members of Icelandic State Financial Investments have resigned following “outside interference” with their Sept. 30 decision to hire Pall Magnusson, the former political adviser to the island’s industry minister, as chief executive officer. [names and positions have been requested from the reporter on 3/9/12] http://goo.gl/lEpz2
10/24/11 (SINGAPORE) Keppel Corporation Limited, Teo Soon Hoe will resign from his role as group finance director Jan 1. http://goo.gl/l90be
10/26/11 (INDIA) Beed District Bank (Coop Bank) CEO B S Deshmukh arrested for embezzling Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd payment deposits. http://goo.gl/CXL7Z
10/26/11 (INDIA) Beed District Bank (Coop Bank) former CEO A N Kulkarni arrested for embezzling Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd payment deposits. http://goo.gl/CXL7Z
10/27/11 (USA NY) Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc (KBW) CEO John Duffy stepped aside. Duffy has prostate cancer. http://goo.gl/i1s3E
10/29/11 (CHINA) China Construction Bank Corp Chairman Guo Shuqing resigns http://goo.gl/fdd9v
10/29/11 (CHINA) Agricultural Bank of China Ltd Chairman Xiang Junbo resigns http://goo.gl/yWX9R
10/31/11 (BELGIUM) European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, resigns. http://goo.gl/ygG59
11/01/11 (INDIA) Beed District Bank (Coop Bank More directors resign [research still being conducted on the names] http://goo.gl/HD8BQ
11/02/11 (UK) Lloyds Banking Group chief executive, António Horta-Osório, is to take leave of absence on health grounds for six to eight weeks, the BBC has reported. (STILL OUT AS OF 2/24/12 - DEFACTO RESIGNATION) http://goo.gl/3L9gE
11/03/11 (POLAND) Nordea Bank Poland, Wlodzimierz Kicinski resigned from as President of the Management Board of Nordea Bank Poland as of the 10th of November. http://goo.gl/oKUVZ
11/04/11 (USA NY) MF Global, Jon Corzine, stepped down as chairman and CEO, hired criminal attorney to represent him. http://goo.gl/tUaVY
11/11/11 (HONG KONG) Goldman Sachs’ Asia Pacific co-head Yusuf Alireza is retiring from the investment bank after 19 years http://goo.gl/pejs3
11/10/12 (INDIA) UBS The head of India operations at UBS AG , Manisha Girotra, has resigned http://goo.gl/3aTh2
11/15/11 (USA NY) Icahn Enterprises LP, senior managing director of health-care investing, Alex Denner, has resigned. http://goo.gl/X1A4i
11/17/11 (NETHERLANDS) Syntrus Achmea (pensions manager), CIO Marjolein Sol is resigning. http://goo.gl/Xqxsr
11/21/11 (JAPAN) UBS’s Japan Investment Banking Chairman Matsui to Resign http://goo.gl/OiDiq
11/23/12 (USA SC & NC) Bank of the Carolinas, CFO Eric Rhodes resigns for personal reasons. Bank of the Carolinas was delisted from the NASDAQ on 3/9/12 http://goo.gl/oytcD
11/28/11 (LATVIA) Latvia’s chief banking regulator, Irena Krumane, said she resigned today, a week after the state took over Latvijas Krajbanka AS (LKB1R), the Baltic News Service reported. The bank regulator suspended operations at Krajbanka, a subsidiary of Lithuania’s Bankas Snoras AB, on Nov. 21 and said around 100 million lati ($191.8 million) was missing. The Lithuanian government seized Snoras on Nov. 16 saying assets reported on the lender’s balance sheet were missing. http://goo.gl/mUvLF
11/29/11 (USA)R. David Land Submits Resignation from the Boards of Directors of Peoples Bancorp. and Seneca National Bank http://goo.gl/XncOc
11/29/11 (NORWAY) Carnegie ASA’s co-head of investment banking in Norway, Cato Holmsen, has resigned http://goo.gl/utIfy
11/30/11 (LITHUANIA) Lithuania Central Bank, Governor Vitas Vasiliauskas fired Kazimieras Ramonas, head of the banking supervision department, after seizing Bankas Snoras AB, the country’s third-biggest deposit bank. http://goo.gl/EiqUC
12/02/11 (PAKISTAN) NIB Bank, Singapore forced resignation of CEO Khawaja Iqbal Hassan, for mismanagement http://goo.gl/ojDcu
12/03/11 (USA SC) South Carolina’s $25 billion pension fund chief investor Robert Borden resigned. Borden’s resignation comes as the SC Retirement System faces a $13 billion deficit, prompting state lawmakers to call for a massive overhaul of the system. http://goo.gl/ypK2G
12/05/11 (BERMUDA) HSBC Bermuda Ltd, chairman of the board and director John Campbell resigns http://goo.gl/peFGD
12/05/11 (BERMUDA) HSBC Bermuda Ltd, CEO Philip Butterfield retires http://goo.gl/peFGD
12/06/11 (USA ) Western Liberty Bancorp CFO George Rosenbaum has resigned. http://goo.gl/ozuwB
12/08/11 (USA) Fidelity Global Special Situations Fund, manager Jorma Korhonen resigned. http://goo.gl/a7Rhw
12/14/11 (MAURITIUS) African Alliance Africa Pioneer Fund I (the “Fund”), Portfolio Manager Paul David Austin Clark resigned http://goo.gl/YiagF
12/19/11 (CANADA) Holloway Lodging Real Estate Investment Trust (a REIT) CEO Glenn Squires has resigned http://goo.gl/8rAKb
12/19/11 (JAPAN) Citibank Japan CEO, Darren Buckley, resigns after Citibank was punished by regulators for the third time in seven years. http://goo.gl/ScT47
12/19/11 (DENMARK) Danske Bank Peter Straarup, who will retire February 15 http://goo.gl/06c2b
12/19/11 (DENMARK) Danske Bank Eivind Kolding has resigned as Chairman of the Board of Directors and from the three board committees on which he served, He continues as member of Danske Bank’s Board of Directors until he assumes the position of Chairman of the Executive Board on 15 February 2012. On the same day, at the latest, Eivind Kolding will resign from the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group. http://goo.gl/06c2b
12/20/11 (USA MA) Century Bancorp, Inc., Director Roger S. Berkowitz resigned. http://goo.gl/bbdeT
12/23/11 (USA VA) Virginia National Bank (VNB) Chairman Mark Giles quits http://goo.gl/dFDpH
12/23/11 (USA VA) Virginia National Bank (VNB) Board Member Claire Gargalli quits http://goo.gl/kowkW
12/23/11 (USA VA) Virginia National Bank (VNB) Board Member Leslie Disharoon quits http://goo.gl/kstLp
12/23/11 (USA VA) Virginia National Bank (VNB) Board Member Neal Kassell quits http://goo.gl/NrrPZ
1/01/12 (NIGERIA) United Bank for Africa Plc Victor Osadolor resigns http://goo.gl/b6AoA
1/01/12 (ISRAEL) Israel’s Bank Leumi CEO Galia Maor steps down after 16 years http://goo.gl/xwlFt
1/03/12 (USA VA) Suffolk Bancorp president and CEO J. Gordon Huszagh steps down http://goo.gl/joExI
1/03/12 (USA WI)Michael Falbo, president and CEO of Southport Bank, has resigned just six months after accepting the position. http://goo.gl/DP1uK
1/03/12 (UK) Arbuthnot Banking Group: Neil Kirton resigned from the Board http://goo.gl/SKE7j
1/03/12 (UK) Arbuthnot Banking Group: Atholl Turrell left the Board. http://goo.gl/bzZtQ
1/05/12 (UK) Saunderson House [Private Bank] CEO Nick Fletcher steps down http://goo.gl/zvo1L
1/07/12 (UK) Arab Banking Corporation Intl. Bank (ABCIB) Manama, Bahrain: ABCIB announced retirement of CEO Nofal Barbar from its London office. http://goo.gl/yF0Mm
1/09/12 (SWITZERLAND) SNB Chairman Philipp Hildebrand resigns http://goo.gl/5qsUu
1/09/12 (USA WASHINGTON DC) Whitehouse former banker and Chief of Staff William M. Daley resigned http://goo.gl/34F0B
1/11/12 (KAZAKHSTAN) BTA Bank, CEO Marat Zairov resigns for health reasons. http://goo.gl/yAHgr
1/12/12 (USA) Goldman Sachs, Co-Head Securities Trading Edward K. Eisler retires http://goo.gl/i2TVk
1/12/12 (USA) Goldman Sachs, Co-Head Securities Trading David B. Heller retires http://goo.gl/i2TVk
1/13/12 (IRELAND) National Asset Management Agency, head of lending Graham Emmett is resigning http://goo.gl/GN3h3
1/17/12 (HONG KONG) Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (OCBC Bank) CEO David Conner retires. http://goo.gl/83Z1i
1/19/12 (UK) Santander, senior director Americas division Francisco Luzón is retiring with a pension pot of about €56m, a package whose generous size is expected to reignite controversy over bankers’ remuneration. http://goo.gl/XMRvP
1/19/12 (EGYPT) Beltone Financial Holding (BTFH) Alaa’ Sabaa resigned from board of directors. http://goo.gl/5Eze1
1/19/12 (EGYPT) Beltone Financial Holding (BTFH) Wael EL Mahgary resigned from board of directors. http://goo.gl/5Eze1
1/20/12 (JAPAN) Normura’s head of wholesale banking Jasjit Bhattai quits http://goo.gl/6FuWe
1/20/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) First National Bank’s sharia banking division is in a state of flux after it was hit by a corporate governance scandal in which its chief executive, Ebi Patel, was put on “special leave” for almost a month while an internal probe was conducted. Patel has been reinstated, but is facing disciplinary action. Islamic finance forbids the payment and receipt of interest (riba), and investment in some industries. Sharia law states that interest-bearing transactions result in economic ills such as unemployment and high inflation. Trading in derivatives and speculative investment are also forbidden. Sharia law requires all transactions to be backed by tangible assets. http://goo.gl/NmGJP
1/20/12 (USA) TIAA-CREF executive vice president and president of Asset Management, Scott C. Evans resigned http://goo.gl/f6qLs
1/21/12 (UK) Butterfield Private Bank head Danny Dixon Steps Down http://goo.gl/sdY1p
1/21/12 (SINGAPORE) ANZ Asia’s private banking head Nina Aguas resigns as managing director of Asia-Pacific private banking. http://goo.gl/hlHvG
1/21/12 (GREECE) Institute of International Finance negotiator Charles Dallara quits http://goo.gl/NbPlt
1/21/12 (GREECE) Institute of International Finance negotiator Jean Lemierre quits http://goo.gl/E3AkE
1/21/12 (USA CA) Nara Bancorp (Now called BBCN) President and CEO Min Kim Resigns http://goo.gl/rcfJ3
1/22/12 (KENYA) National Bank of Kenya’s (NBK) managing director, Mr Reuben Marambii, will resign before year end. http://goo.gl/c2n7r
1/24/12 (USA) Fortress Investment Group, CEO Daniel Mudd will resign, a month after he took a leave of absence from the company amidst charges over his role in understating Fannie Mae’s exposure to subprime mortgages. http://goo.gl/tXQwP
1/27/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) ABSA Group COO Alfie Naidoo would be leaving to pursue personal interests http://goo.gl/cVWnA
1/27/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) ABSA Group chief marketing and communication officer Happy Ntshingila, will be taking up an “exciting position” outside banking http://goo.gl/cVWnA
1/27/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) ABSA Group CEO Daphne Motsepe retires at the end of April after a 10-year career at the bank. http://goo.gl/cVWnA
1/29/12 (PORTUGAL) Banco Santander Totta SA executive chairman Nuno Manuel da Silva Amado has resigned http://goo.gl/Glvdn
1/29/12 (NEW ZEALAND) New Zealand Reserve Bank Gov Alan Bollard to Step Down http://goo.gl/BwUgv
1/30/12 (UK) British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) COO Andrew Graham steps down http://goo.gl/4SDW8
1/31/12 (SCOTLAND) Royal Bank of Scotland former CEO Fred Goodwin Stripped of Knighthood http://goo.gl/CoLVS
2/01/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) ABSA [Barclay's Bank] deputy CEO Louis von Zeuner resigns http://goo.gl/IP8nH
2/01/12 (UK) Lloyds Bankging Group head of wholesaleTruett Tate quits http://goo.gl/OqRVo
2/01/12 (UK) Llyods Banking Group Tim Tookey leaving end of February http://goo.gl/vjO5M
2/02/12 (VENEZUELA) Banking Crisis Arne Chacon arrested for Banking Corruption http://goo.gl/bb5sh
2/02/12 (USA) American Perspective Bank, President and CEO Thomas J. Beene resigned. http://goo.gl/K66eb
2/03/12 (UK) VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Ltd, Non-Executive Director Horst Geicke has resigned. http://goo.gl/r955T
2/03/12 (UK) UBS London trader, Kweku M. Adoboli, was arrested and charged with fraud and false accounting, forcing UBS to announce a $2.3 billion trading loss. http://goo.gl/ClTaq
2/07/12 (IRAN) Iran denies central bank resignation rumor (don’t believe until its denied?) http://goo.gl/PiQSy
2/08/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) Standard Bank Group Ltd – Resignation of Group Secretary Loren Wulfsohn http://goo.gl/K1pfn
2/09/12 (VATICAN) Four Priests Charged In Vatican Banking Scandal (names not known) http://goo.gl/tW8Sj
2/09/12 (UKRAINE) National Bank of Ukraine deputy governor Volodymyr Krotiuk quits http://goo.gl/8BuXy
2/09/12 (UK) JP Morgan Chinese Investment Trust PLC, non-executive Director Madam Yujiang Zhao resigned http://goo.gl/CPO23
2/09/12 (UK) Alliance Trust Savings (ATS), Robert Burgess is stepping down as CEO. http://goo.gl/ohHG3
2/10/12 (KOREA) Korea Exchange Bank chief Larry Klane steps down http://goo.gl/DBKdc
2/10/12 (INDIA) Tamilnad Mercantile Bank CEO A K Jagannathan resigns http://goo.gl/wMl5g
2/13/12 (KUWAIT) Kuwait Central Bank CEO Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al Sabbah resigns http://goo.gl/GFvIy
2/13/12 (UK) Goldman Sachs confirmed on Monday that George N. Mattson, one of the firm’s top deal makers in the industrial sector, will retire. He was a senior relationship banker with a client list that included General Motors, General Electric and Caterpillar. http://goo.gl/vgnq2
2/14/12 (NICARAQUA) Nicaraqua Central Bank President Antenor Rosales resigns http://goo.gl/iQ0n8
2/14/12 (UK) Social finance pioneer Malcolm Hayday quits Charity Bank http://goo.gl/uHp6C
2/14/12 (PAKISTAN) National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) chairman Syed Ali Raza resigned http://goo.gl/scexo
2/14/12 (USA NY) Goldman Sachs Jeffrey Moslow resigns, an investment banker to companies such as Tyco International Ltd, Nstar, the Boston-based utility, and defense contractor Dyncorp International Inc. http://goo.gl/7h4O7
2/15/12 (WORLD) World Bank CEO Zoellick resigns http://goo.gl/dHDSm
Did the White House tell the World Bank president that he’s out? http://goo.gl/wUOgb
2/15/12 (CHINA) Morgan non-executive chairman Stanley Stephen Roach will be retiring. http://goo.gl/MQeGW
2/15/12 (SLOVENIA) Nova Kreditna Banka Maribor CEO Andrej Plos resigns http://goo.gl/SNsVI
2/15/12 (SLOVENIA) Nova Ljubljanska Banka d.d. CEO Bozo Jasovic resigns http://goo.gl/TyYiJ
2/16/12 (USA IL) Deerfield Capital Management LLC, CEO Daniel Hattori and CEO of CIFC Corp resigned. http://goo.gl/LLNnD
2/16/12 (USA IL) Deerfield Capital Management LLC, COO Luke Knecht and CEO of CIFC Corp, resigned both positions. http://goo.gl/LLNnD
2/16/12 (UK) The Financial Services Authority Margaret Cole is to step down http://goo.gl/yT6rS
2/16/12 (GHANA) Databank Group Executive Chair Ken Ofori-Atta steps down http://goo.gl/c7PtU
2/16/12 (SAUDI ARABIA) Saudi Hollandi Banks Managing Director Geoffrey Calvert Quits http://goo.gl/CtmOU
2/16/12 (AUSTRALIA) ANZ Bank Australia CFO Peter Marriott resigns http://goo.gl/I7Alo
2/16/12 (UK) Royal Bank of Scotland Sr Equities Trader Jason Edinburgh Arrested http://goo.gl/WczHh
2/16/12 (UK) Royal Bank of Scotland director equities bus. Vincent Walsh director Arrested http://goo.gl/I7Alo
2/16/12 (UK) Marex Spectron senior trader Michael Elsom Arrested http://goo.gl/I7Alo
2/16/12 (AUSTRALIA) Royal Bank of Scotland Austraila CEO Stephen Williams resigns http://goo.gl/4r16D
2/17/12 (PAKISTAN) PICIC Asset Management Company Limited CFO Ahmed Raza resigns http://goo.gl/K8A2I
2/17/12 (USA NY) Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein out as by summer http://goo.gl/UjpzD
2/17/12 (SWITZERLAND) SNB Council President Hansueli Raggenbass resigns http://goo.gl/1n1Nr
2/17/12 (UK) Insight Investment, asset manager Mike Pinggera has resigned.. http://goo.gl/uDplK
2/18/12 (PAKISTAN) The Bank of Azad Jammu and Kashmir executive Zulfiqar Abbasi resigns
2/20/12 (RUSSIA) Head of Russian Bank Regulator Gennady Melikyan Steps Down http://goo.gl/Unuez
2/20/12 (SWITZERLAND) Credit Suisse Chief Joseph Tan resigns http://goo.gl/F5twL
2/20/12 (ISRAEL) Bank Leumi le-Israel Ltd: Zvi Itskovitch resigns http://goo.gl/aA0RW
2/20/12 (USA WA) First Financial Northwest Director Spencer Schneider Quits http://goo.gl/6Dj0i
2/21/12 (ARGENTINA) Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA) Gen Mgr Benigno Velez, resigns http://goo.gl/DuMrm
2/21/12 (BANGLADESH) Nitol Insurance Co. Ltd director Abdul Matlub resigns
conflict of interest with director seat on unknown bank http://goo.gl/aEmwB
2/21/12 (BANGLADESH) Nitol Insurance Co. Ltd director Selima Ahmad resigns
conflict of interest with director seat on unknown bank http://goo.gl/aEmwB
2/21/12 (BANGLADESH) Nitol Insurance Co. Ltd director Abdul Musabbir Ahmad resigns
conflict of interest with director seat on unknown bank http://goo.gl/aEmwB
2/21/12 (BANGLADESH) City General Insurance Co. Ltd director Geasuddin Ahmad resigns
conflict of interest with director seat on unknown bank http://goo.gl/aEmwB
2/21/12 (BANGLADESH) Social Islami Bank Limited director Taslima Akter resigns
conflict of interest with director seat on Eastland Insurance Company Limited http://goo.gl/aEmwB
2/21/12 (JAPAN) CITIBANK JAPAN: Bakhshi is taking over duties from Brian Mccappin, who the bank said in December would resign after the unit was banned for two weeks from trading tied to the London and Tokyo interbank offered rates. http://goo.gl/Z1rnw
2/22/12 (HONG KONG) DZ BANK project finance head Tim Meaney quits http://goo.gl/ppKno
2/22/12 (USA NY) Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Group Chief Howard Wietschner to Retire http://goo.gl/x4Zsr
2/22/12 (UK) UBS AG’s (UBSN) Doug McCutcheon, head of Healthcare Banking in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific region, has left Switzerland’s biggest bank after 25 years at the firm. http://goo.gl/Dnxqh
2/23/12 (UK) Goldman Sachs Nordic M&A banker Luca Ferrari has decided to retire from the firm, clients included the largest telecommunications operator in Spain the Spanish telecommunications. http://goo.gl/qmCh3
2/23/12 (SOUTH AFRICA)Richard Gush resigns from Standard Bank http://goo.gl/DTL5S
2/23/12 (SCOTLAND) Royal Bank of Scotland Group director John McFarlane resigns. http://goo.gl/KoEUI
2/24/12 (GUERNSEY) Spearpoint Limited (SPL) Investment Funds, director Mike Kirby resigns for business reasons. http://goo.gl/9stPB
2/24/12 (INDIA) Breaking: ICICI Bank GC Pramod Rao resigns http://goo.gl/5eUqU
2/24/12 (HONG KONG) Citigroup Pvt Bank Global Real Estate Kwang Meng Quek Resigns http://goo.gl/JIC9A
2/24/12 (NEW ZEALAND) FSF Executive Director Kirk Hope resigns http://goo.gl/6UJau
2/24/12 (USA NY) Evercore Partners Head Eduardo Mestre steps down http://goo.gl/n5RLY
2/25/12 (AUSTRALIA AND NZ) Goldman Sachs Chairman Stephen Fitzgerald quits http://goo.gl/nMTLW
2/27/12 (GERMANY) Deutsche Bank Americas chief Seth Waugh steps down http://goo.gl/8lxSw
2/27/12 (BAHRAIN) Khaleeji Commercial Bank CEO Ebrahim Ebrahim quits http://goo.gl/yKjzL
2/27/12 (FRANCE) Societe Generale’s Investment Banking Chief Michel Péretié Steps Down http://goo.gl/IJ5Lw
2/27/12 (GERMANY) Equiduct chairman Artur Fischersteps down http://goo.gl/Q0dWR
2/27/12 (BAHRAIN) - Mumtalakat Holding [Sovereign Wealth Fund] CEO Al Zain resigns http://goo.gl/hhHSm
2/27/12 (IRAN) Bank Melli CEO MahmoudReza Khaavari Resigns - Flees to Canada! http://goo.gl/DDEUk
2/27/12 (IRAN) Bank Saderat CEO Mohammad Jahromi resigns http://goo.gl/ZD0mc
2/27/12 (UK) Lloyds Banking Group Glen Moreno steps down http://goo.gl/dsXcE
2/28/12 (HONG KONG) Hang Seng Bank CEO Margaret Leung Ko May-yee quits http://goo.gl/Uo800
2/28/12 (CHINA) Bank of China International ECM global head Marshall Nicholson quits http://goo.gl/26MYq
2/28/12 (SINGAPORE) DBS security head Jim Pasqurell quits, cites health reasons http://goo.gl/NDJze
2/28/12 (HONG KONG) Bank of America’s Asia-Pac. mrkts Brian Canniffe quits http://goo.gl/cRkCP
2/28/12 (BELGIUM) KBC’s CEO Jan Vanhevel is to retire after a career spanning 41 years. http://goo.gl/1rCWd
2/28/12 (CANADA) Ontario Securities Commission chairwoman Peggy-Anne Brown quits http://goo.gl/HIYXv
2/28/12 (AUSTRALIA) Bank manager Colin John Carleton jailed nine years for $3m theft http://goo.gl/ggPvq
2/28/12 (SRI LANKA) Sri Lanka Com Bank CEO Amitha Gooneratne retires http://goo.gl/YxvNA
2/28/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) REDEFINE INCOME FUND director Gerald Leissner resigns http://goo.gl/F0UgN
2/28/12 (ITALY) UNICREDIT: Chairman Dieter Rampl not available for a new mandate http://goo.gl/7aLRU
2/28/12 (UK) Bank of England Sir David Lees re-appointed Chair of Bank of England and gives notice of resignation at end of 2013 http://goo.gl/LkJhV
2/28/12 (IRELAND) State Street Global Advisors Cash Funds plc Director Keith Walsh resigns http://goo.gl/n6uoM
2/29/12 (AUSTRALIA) Perpetual portfolio manager Matt Williams steps down http://goo.gl/Jh9jd
2/29/12 (UK) Honister Capital CEO Richard Pearson steps down http://goo.gl/014or
2/29/12 (GUYANA) National Investment and Commercial Investments Ltd. (NICIL), Executive Director Winston Brassington resigns, “We feel that (Winston) Brassington knows everything…A to Z about all the transactions,” said Chairman of the Alliance for Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan, as he sounded a warning that controversial figure could be subpoenaed to appear before the Parliamentary Economic Sector Committee. http:// goo.gl/L7I35
3/01/12 (MALAYSIA) RHB Bank Bhd deputy managing director Renzo Viegas quits http://goo.gl/wACrI
3/01/12 (ITALY) Italian Banking Association Chairman Giuseppe Mussari talks to reporters in Rome after he and seven other executives offered to resign in protest over new banking-fee rules included in the government’s legislation on boosting competition. http://goo.gl/3llyT
3/01/12 (USA FL) Florida Venture Forum [Venture Capital] Exec Dir Robin Lester quits http://goo.gl/nA8g9
3/01/12 (USA NY) PineBridge Investments said Win Neuger has resigned as chief executive. Neuger helped build AIG’s third party asset management business, PineBridge still manages AIG assets
3/04/12 (KOREA) Hana Financial Group Inc, prominent figure in the history of South Korean finance Kim Seung-yu , resigns http://goo.gl/fmNxY
3/04/12 (USA NY) JP Morgan prop trading chief Mike Stewart quits http://goo.gl/gubPj
3/05/12 (SAUDI ARABIA) Al Rajhi Bank CEO Abdullah bin Sulaiman Al Rajhi has resigned http://goo.gl/pNx0l
3/5/12 (UK) Jupiter fund co-manager Tony Nutt steps down http://goo.gl/RPqOp
3/05/12 (UK) Jupiter fund co-manager John Hamilton steps down http://goo.gl/RPqOp
3/05/12 (NEW ZEALAND) Insured Group Bill Jeffries has resigned as chairman and director http://goo.gl/gX7wu
3/05/12 (USA) Reliance Bancshares chairman Patrick Gideon resigned http://goo.gl/u6BT4
3/06/12 (FRANCE) Blackstone Group’s Paris office leader Jean-Michel Steg will step down http://goo.gl/w3Ca5
3/06/12 (JAMAICA) Jamaica Money Market Brokers Limited, Patricia Sutherland has resigned as Executive Director http://goo.gl/oMwv6
3/06/12 (JAMAICA) Jamaica’s Financial Services Commission (FSC), Executive director Rohan Barnett, has resigned the position, the Ministry of Finance, Planning and the Public Service announced this afternoon. http://goo.gl/FBwFo
3/06/12 (USA PA) USA Technologies Inc Bradley M. Tirpak,a nominee of Shareholder Advocates for Value Enhancement,has resigned from its board subsequent to a settlement agreement with the investing group, according to an SEC filing. Provides a network of wireless non-cash transactions, associated financial/network services and energy management. It provides networked credit card and other non-cash systems in the vending, commercial laundry, hospitality and digital imaging industries. http://goo.gl/8oi7C
3/06/12 (UK) Sterling Green Group has announced that Philip Kanas, a non-executive director, has decided to resign
Sterling Green Group PLC became a cash shell following the disposal of their subsidiaries Taxdebts Ltd, Sterling Green (Mortgages) Ltd and the back books of the clients of Sterling Green Ltd. during December 2011. http://goo.gl/qc3jB
3/06/12 (UK) Aberdeen Asset Management, non-executive director Gerhard Fusenig has resigned from the board. http://goo.gl/ZIkvQ
3/07/12 (GERMANY) Deutsche Bank AG’s (DB) Chief Risk Officer Hugo Baenzigeri to resign http://goo.gl/MWqsH
3/07/12 (GERMANY) Deutsche Bank AG’s (DB) Chief Operating Officer Hermann-Josef Lamberti to resign http://goo.gl/MWqsH
3/07/12 (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES) Dubai Mercantile Exchange announced Thomas Leaver will step down as CEO http://goo.gl/rfhWN
3/07/12 (SCOTLAND) Macfarlane Group Chairman Archie Hunter to step down after 8 years of service http://goo.gl/RHllr
3/07/12 (USA) BlackRock Emerging Markets Fund co-head Daniel Tubbs, has left the group to pursue other opportunities. http://goo.gl/CpEzZ
3/07/12 (UK) Goldman Sachs (GSI) Christopher French resigns from board http://goo.gl/3yQDS
3/07/12 (UK) Goldman Sachs (GSI) David Wildermuth resigns from board http://goo.gl/3yQDS
3/07/12 (UK) Goldman Sachs (GSI) Matthew Westerman resigns from board http://goo.gl/3yQDS
3/07/12 (UK) Goldman Sachs (GSI) co-head of global mergers and acquisitions Yoel Zaoui resigns http://goo.gl/3yQDS
3/07/12 (UK) Goldman Sachs (GSI) Phil Beatty resigned as head of European power and natural-gas trading http://goo.gl/jqbYY
3/07/12 (SINGAPORE) Nikko Asset Management Timothy McCarthy is retiring as chairman and CEO at the end of the month http://goo.gl/v8tcT
3/07/12 (HONG KONG) UBS Senior Asia Economist Jonathan Anderson Departs http://goo.gl/09VqT
3/07/12 (HAITI) FORMER DIRECTOR HAITI CENTRAL BANK SLAIN! ⑆44541444⑈ http://goo.gl/UtVz3
3/07/12 (FRANCE) Société Générale Private Banking, Daniel Truchi is to step down as head of Société Générale Private Banking http://goo.gl/XhgJ9
3/07/12 (AUSTRALIA) Customers Ltd, Tim Wildash has cashed himself out as chief executive of Australia’s largest ATM operator http://goo.gl/eZJMb
3/07/12 (USA CA) CALSTRS, Pascal Villiger, senior private equity portfolio manager at the $145 billion California State Teachers’ Retirement System resigns http://goo.gl/ub0ke
3/07/12 (USA) Astaire quits Bank of America Merrill to dance to Barclays Capital’s tune http://goo.gl/Zv6Ny
3/08/12 (USA NY) Schroders, CIO Alan Brown is steps down http://goo.gl/ZTtYo
3/08/12 (USA IL) CBOE Executive Patrick Fay Put on Leave Amid SEC Probe http://goo.gl/x5snO
3/08/12 (USA NH & RI) Bristol County Savings Bank president E. Dennis Kelly retires after 35 years http://goo.gl/8KVKn
3/08/12 (GERMANY) Clearstream Banking AG – Katja Rosenkranz To Leave Deutsche Börse Group [stockmarket] http://goo.gl/RiVNi
3/08/12 (UK) B&CE CEO Brian Griffiths is to retire later this year http://goo.gl/AV7Sk
3/08/12 (UK) Invesco Trimark Ltd, portfolio manager Dana Love has resigned. http://goo.gl/MyQ90
3/09/12 (MONGOLIA) Mongol Bank President Alag Batsukh submitted his resignation letter to Speaker of Parliament D. Demberel at the end of last month. He described his reason for resigning as a lack of support by Parliament. http://goo.gl/RDmNx
3/09/12 (MONGOLIA) Asia Pacific Securities, General Manager Narantuguldur Saijrakh recently resigned, to focus on his role as Director of Khan Investment Management, investment advisor to the Khan Mongolia Equity Fund – the first open-ended investment vehicle with monthly dealing that invests in Mongolia related equities listed both domestically and internationally. http://goo.gl/2T4R6
3/09/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) African Bank Investments Ltd, company secretaryYashmita Mistry has resigned http://goo.gl/tHRH4
3/09/12 (Côte d’Ivoire) Banque Central des Etats d’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO) The Ivorian governor of the multi-billion dollar West Africa Francophone bank, Philippe-Henry Dacoury-Tabley, resigned his post. http://goo.gl/CevLn
3/09/12 (UK) Lazard , co-head of investment banking Alexis de Rosnay quits. De Rosnay specialises in the healthcare sector, he has advised Teva Pharmaceutical and Novartis. http://goo.gl/3gzbi
3/09/12 (UK) Deutsche Bank PWM, UK head of portfolio management Martyn Surguy resigned. http://goo.gl/5Ti2p
3/09/12 (UK) Deutsche Bank PWM, head of discretionary management, Kypros Charalambous, having also stepped down. http://goo.gl/5Ti2p
3/09/12 (HONG KONG) Bank of America Merrill Lynch, K.J. Kim, responsible for Southeast Asia, resigned http://goo.gl/sE7xh
3/09/12 (HONG KONG) Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Jimmy Choi, who was in charge of high-yield debt, resigned. http://goo.gl/sE7xh
3/09/12 (HONG KONG) Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Leonard Ng, a vice-president in Hong Kong resigned. http://goo.gl/sE7xh
3/09/12 (AUSTRALIA) Bank of Queensland CFO Ram Kangatharan plans to leave the bank. http://goo.gl/ieNea
3/09/12 (USA) Cerberus Capital Management LP, CEO Robert Nardelli resigns. http://goo.gl/9uKVx
3/10/12 (AUSTRALIA) WESTPAC, Rob Chapman opted to quit running its regional subsidiary St George Bank. http://goo.gl/G6MD
3/10/12 (TURKEY) Garanti Bank, The deputy CEO of Turkish lender Tolga Egemen, has decided to quit. http://goo.gl/vAMzV
█▓▒░ End of list as of 3/8/12 ░▒▓█
Addendum:
It is not known under what circumstances these individuals have left their positions, I make no judgement on that. I find the timing of so many resignations extremely curious and a temporal marker in history of high significance. No one should assume I make any judgement about the character of these people. I frankly don’t know their reputations except for a few rather famous ones. This list includes Banks, Investment Houses, Sovereign Wealth Funds, Equity Funds, Savings Retirement Funds and other shadow banking organizations. The line is very blurry between these entities, some are owned by banks some are banks, some invest in banks as well as owning entire industries (common in Hong Kong and Japan).
The last hundred years have borne witness to humankind’s extraordinary technological advancements. Man has walked on the moon, ventured deeper into the oceans than ever before and even uncovered the building blocks of life, DNA. But even with our inexorable progress as a species there are still mysteries and enigmas the solutions to which elude us. Below is a selection of 10 of the most puzzling mysteries in history.
In June 1947, a chilling SOS message was picked up: “All officers including captain are dead lying in chartroom and bridge. Possibly whole crew dead.” This was followed by some indecipherable Morse code, and one final grisly message… “I die.” Then, silence.
It was picked up by nearby ships and listening posts, who identified the vessel as the Dutch freighter SS Ourang Medan and located it within the Strait of Malacca that separates Indonesia from Malaysia. The nearest merchant ship, The Silver Star, raced to her aid. The Silver Star was soon alongside the Dutch ship and their boarding party found a macabre sight: every member of the crew lay dead, their corpses scattered on the decks. More than this, their eyes were still open and expressions of sheer terror were etched on their features. The Silver Star’s party found the radio operator dead too, his hand still on the Morse sending key, eyes wide open and teeth bared. There were no sign of wounds or injuries on any of the bodies.
The decision was made to tow the mysterious ship back to port, but before they could get underway, smoke began emanating from the decks below. The boarding party hurriedly returned to their ship and barely had time to cut the tow lines before the SS Ourang Medan exploded and swiftly sank.
It has been claimed that clouds of noxious natural gases could have bubbled up from fissures in the seabed and engulfed the ship; even aliens and ghosts have been cited as possible explanations for the Ourang Medan’s macabre and mysterious demise. To this day, the exact fate of her crew remains an impenetrable mystery.
In 1974 (or 1973 depending upon which source you believe) a curious aluminum wedge was discovered on the banks of the Mures River in Transylvania, near the city of Aiud. It was found buried deep beneath the sand alongside two mastodon bones.
Upon examination, the object – which resembled a hammer head – was found to be encased in a one millimeter thick layer of oxide which suggests that it is some 300-400 years old. A second, Swiss investigation confirmed the results of the first examination. Furthermore, as it was found with mastodon remains it could even be as much as 20,000 years old.
Aluminum is abundant in the earth’s crust but it is always combined with other minerals and the wedge predates the technology used to extract it. An aeronautical engineer suggested that the wedge is similar to the foot of landing gear used on spacecraft. The scientific community believes ‘the wedge was made on earth and its purpose is not yet identified’. Unfortunately, the Aluminum Wedge of Aiud is currently locked away in a secret location; however, some photographs of the curious, unexplained object do exist online.
Supposedly, a top secret subterranean complex is carved into the rock below the Archuleta Mesa in Dulce, New Mexico. Claims that the base is a ‘genetics lab’ in which humans and extraterrestrials cooperatively conduct disturbing experiments have been made by various ‘leaked documents’, witness reports and even an ex-employee.
Strange humming sounds that seem to emanate from the earth near the town of Dulce have added to speculations of an underground facility, as have the presence of military helicopters that have been spotted around the area.
An author with the nom de plume of Branton claims to have interviewed former workers at the base who said: “[There] are experiments done on fish, seals, birds and mice that are vastly altered from their original forms. There are multi-armed and multi-legged humans and several cages of humanoid bat-like creatures up to seven feet tall. The aliens have taught the humans a lot about genetics, things both useful and dangerous.” The U.S. government denies the base’s existence, but that doesn’t stop the speculation.
7) BEKs
Chances are you have not heard of BEKs (Black Eyed Kids) yet. Sightings of them are few and far between but via the internet they are growing in number, and the reports describe close encounters that are not only weird, but also frightening.
The stories almost always start with a ring of the doorbell. One, two or more children appear on a ‘victim’s’ doorstep and ask for help: they need to use the toilet, make an urgent phone call or relate another tale of distress. They ask to come in, plead in some cases, but the homeowners never let them in due to an unexplained feeling of terror that overcomes them. Perhaps it is the BEKs’ entirely black eyes that induce the overwhelming horror; perhaps it is because, as one ‘witness’ described, their faces appear as slightly blurry. The mysterious encounters don’t stop there, either: “For a period of three days straight, [the BEKs] kept showing up on my driveway. When the police came they were nowhere in sight. After that, they never showed up on my driveway, but every once in a while, I will see them in the downtown area, like they are following me. They will be behind a tree, I will drive to another section of Sacramento and I would see them again or I will see them on the side of the road as I am driving by and they will stare at me.”
One man did let the children in. They claimed to need to use the toilet and phone, but it was only when they entered into the house that he saw their peculiar eyes and felt the full force of dread. The BEKs moved towards him, saying that ‘they had come to collect him’. He fled the house in terror.
Currently located in the Library of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, the Piri Reis map is a puzzling enigma. It outlines the coast of western Africa, the eastern coast of South America, and even a section of the northern coast of Antarctica (thought to have been discovered 300 years after Piri Reis’s lifetime). Furthermore, the map shows the coastline without its glacial covering. Geological evidence suggests that Antarctica was last in this ice-less state in 4000 BC. Reis was a famous Turkish admiral whose passion (understandably for a seafarer) was cartography. Taking advantage of his rank and his privileged access to the Imperial Library of Constantinople, his 1513 gazelle skin map was built upon the work of others, with some of his cartographical sources dating back as far as the time of Alexander the Great. The map also seems to detail more about the topographical features of South America than Europeans were thought to have in 1513, such as the Andes.
5) Commandment Rock
An 80 ton boulder on the side of Hidden Mountain in New Mexico bears a puzzling inscription. Carved into the stone’s flat side is what has been interpreted by some to be a version of the Ten Commandments in a form of ‘Paleo-Hebrew’.
Discovered by academia in 1933 by archaeology Professor Frank Hibben, it had been known to locals for decades, and the guide who led Hibben to it said he had known of it since the 1880s – a date which, if genuine, means the rock’s authenticity is likely, as the Paleo-Hebrew script was then unknown. This means it outdates Columbus’s discovery of America and suggests that people from Israel or Phoenicia (who used a similar language) discovered the continent centuries before it was thought possible. Skeptics draw upon punctuation and grammatical ‘errors’ as evidence of it being a fake, while others still doubt this debunking.
4) The Somerton Man
In the early hours of December 1, 1948 a dead body was found lying on Adelaide’s Somerton Beach. The man was judged to be in his early forties and in good physical condition. Curiously, all the labels were missing from his clothing, he had no identification and his dental records did not match any known person.
Even the coroner and Scotland Yard had no luck finding out the man’s identity or cause of death. The mystery deepened when a piece of paper with the printed words “Tamam Shud” on it was discovered in a secret pocket concealed within the dead man’s trousers. The scrap of paper was traced to a rare edition of a book entitled The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, the back of which contained some kind of a code. Numerous unsuccessful attempts by amateurs and professional codebreakers to crack it have failed. The identity of the deceased man and even the cause of death remain unsolved to this day. The case was never closed by the South Australian Major Crime Task Force and many individuals continue to work on it.
3) Gef the Talking Mongoose
Also referred to as the Dalby Spook, Gef was said to be a creature resembling a mongoose. It was reported to live with the Irving family in their farmhouse near the hamlet of Dalby on the Isle of Man. Gef’s true identification remains shrouded in mystery. It has been interpreted as (among other things) a poltergeist, a cryptid and of course, a hoax.
In September 1931, the Irvings started hearing strange scratching noises coming from their farmhouse’s attic. Soon the scratching became more like a baby ‘gurgling’. The gurgling then evolved to ‘resemble a baby learning to talk and shortly after to mimic certain words that the ‘animal’ seemingly picked up from the Irving family’. If that wasn’t weird enough it described itself as a “an extra, extra clever mongoose,” an “earthbound spirit” and “a ghost in the form of a weasel.” It could even sing.
The case was investigated by Harry Price, but aside from a few grainy photographs of a strange animal roaming the fields outside the house, nothing substantial was ever recorded.
2) The Black Mausoleum – Tomb of ‘Bluidy’ MacKenzie
Edinburgh is a ghost hunter’s paradise. It seems that there is barely a nook or cranny of the Scottish capital that doesn’t lay claim to spooky goings-on of one kind or another, and there is one hot spot in particular that boasts inexplicable activity which is unusually well-documented.
George MacKenzie (1638–1691), Lord Advocate of Scotland, was a merciless persecutor of the Presbyterian Covenanters in life, and now it seems that he (or something else) has returned from parts unknown to take up residence in his tomb and continue his nefarious deeds.
In 1998, a vagrant broke into his tomb and fell through a rotten lower floor into a plague pit filled with skeletons. Since then, there have been over 450 reports of strange incidents, from people having lost consciousness to inexplicable fires breaking out and an unusually high number of dead animals having been found around the tomb. Visitors have had their fingers broken, hair pulled and been punched or kicked by an invisible assailant. Unexplained bruises, scratches and burns, skin gouges, nausea and numbness are all commonly reported.
The physical signs of attack often go unnoticed until people arrive home and relax or return to their hotels for the night. Witnesses have even reported activity following them home. Whatever lurks within the Black Mausoleum, it is certainly active.
1) DB Cooper
The solution to one of the greatest mysteries of all time still eludes America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation. On the November 24, 1971, a man in his mid forties and giving the name Dan Cooper (he is also known as DB Cooper due to a ‘press miscommunication’) hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft and demanded $200,000 in ransom and two parachutes. His claim of having a bomb in his briefcase was verified by an air stewardess.
Cooper was given the ransom money at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport. He allowed passengers and some members of the flight crew to leave before ordering the plane to be flown to Mexico.
Soon after the plane took off, Cooper then opened the rear airstairs and parachuted into the pitch black, rain-lashed night. A five month manhunt – said to the most extensive and expensive of its kind – was immediately launched. Despite $5,880 of the ransom being discovered by a boy in 1980, no other trace of the hijacker was ever found.
In 2007, the F.B.I. reopened the case, saying that it does not believe Cooper survived the jump, but expressed an interest in ascertaining his identity, saying: “Would we still like to get our man? Absolutely.”
Despite there being hundreds of leads since 1971 (including many deathbed confessions), Cooper’s identity remains a mystery and the world’s only unsolved skyjacking case.
This is the article that sparked the fight between Makow and Rense. If Rense was honest, why would he avoid this?
This article needs greater exposure and distributed protection. It needs more than the few million reads it has had so far. Post it everywhere – even on your site, I don’t make money from this – the truth just NEEDS TO BE KNOWN. It really is US against the lie machine. Cache the pictures locally also, they MUST be available if I get taken down. If this truth does not get spread we WILL see more disasters just like Japan.
NHK released a bogus report – NHK PULLED IT, PROBABLY IN RESPONSE TO THIS SITE! – On Feb 26 2012, claiming they have the first aerial footage of Fukushima when far better aerial footage has been posted on this site since May of 2011! Furthermore, NHK modified their photos! What are they hiding? Well, what is reported here, of course!
DEAR NHK NEWS IN SENDAI JAPAN: If you really cared about the Japanese people, you would show them THIS picture of reactor 3!
3/11 was Japan’s 9/11. It’s all documented folks!
This report is based on official records and evidence which cannot be silenced. The whole truth could not be definitively dug up with 9-11, but this was NOT the case with Japan’s disaster.
Jim Stone, Freelance Journalist, Updated Tuesday, Feb 28, 2012
This is a massive and technical report. If you have troubles understanding it, just look at THIS classified picture of the vanished reactor, THIS classified picture of the destroyed facility and THIS picture of Magna BSP’s camera. Then scroll down to the photos which prove there was no actual quake damage to Japan and the original Japanese seismic charts which prove there was no 9.0. The linked public records prove that the very real tsunami which destroyed everything in it’s path could not have been natural. The fact that what happened in Japan did not occur naturally has been very well documented by a skilled investigator, who spent hundreds of hours getting to the bottom of this story.
NEW INFO: Japan offered to enrich uranium for IRAN!
This report includes classified photos and the schematics for Fukushima to support it’s claims.
They are,
1. Reactor 3 is completely missing, which means the press and anyone who has claimed anything about pressures, temperatures, containment, ect at reactor 3 after March 14 is lying and people need to pay attention to it, because failure of the public to realize the massive extent of the lies about what is going on there will leave the door open to a repeat event.
2. Reactor 4 is Building 7, demolished by explosives. Reactor 4 had been defueled and was undergoing replacement of it’s internal stainless steel shroud, yet blew it’s containment anyway. That is the FINAL smoking gun, an empty reactor is inert, and cannot produce an explosion, yet one happened at 4 that was so powerful it destroyed the structure leaving it in danger of falling over. Overheated open fuel pools cannot produce hydrogen because in an open fuel pool the water boils off at 100 Celsius, and won’t be present in pressurized form at 2,000 degrees Celsius to liberate it’s hydrogen by losing it’s oxygen to the zircon cladding in the fuel rods. The rods will prefer the free oxygen in the air and burn long before attempting to claim the oxygen in whatever humidity there might be. Fuel rods only contain 20 percent fissionable material, and therefore could not have produced the “prompt criticality” in the fuel pools Arnie Gundersen, “The most qualified nuclear engineer in the world” has spoken of. This report includes a background investigation of Arnie Gundersen which proves he is a fraud who is hiding how big the disaster at Fukushima is. He is making statements which defy the laws of physics, and hide what really happened at Fukushima because if it became widely known serious questions would be asked. When have you heard Gundersen talk about a totally missing reactor? SOMETHING had to cause #3 to vanish. It weighed over a million pounds, where did it go?
Reactor 4′s dome was removed for defueling. Drone photos prove it. This dispels the rumors surrounding unit 4′s explosion. Some people have said that this reactor was secretly in operation to enrich plutonium. This photo proves it was disassembled for shroud replacement as stated. Tepco is going out of it’s way trying to explain the explosions, especially at reactor 4 because they did indeed occur, so an explanation is needed. As a result they are giving reasons that cannot happen just to say something. They need to see this post and get the Arava perspective(Arava is a district surrounding Dimona).
3. That the destruction of the facility is so severe it could only have been accomplished with nuclear weapons. Hydrogen gas produces a non-ideal subsonic explosion. It cannot turn concrete into dust. It can produce high pressures if sealed off, but the metal roof on all the reactor containments should have provided the relief and been the only thing destroyed. It takes a high intensity explosive to strip concrete off rebar, a blast wave many times faster than supersonic. This means that whatever happened at Fukushima did not have blast characteristics that fit the “official” story. If you missed it in the high resolution photo of the destroyed facility, I took a car that was laying around in the remains and placed it on top of one of the blown away walls at reactor 3, which clearly gives the reference that the walls had support columns at least 15 feet thick. Fukushima was built with the Mark 1 containment design, but beyond Mark 1 standards which was a common upgrade(reference is the included photos, it is obvious). It is true that gas explosions can be very destructive, but only in facilities that were not designed to handle them. Even the basic mark 1 containment was many times beyond capable of withstanding the worst hydrogen blast.
4. That nuclear weapon(s) were placed inside of the reactor containment(s) disguised as security cameras installed under contract this year by Arava based security firm Magna BSP (Arava is a district around Dimona, not a city.) Their “security cameras” weighed over 1,000 pounds and were the size and shape of gun type nuclear weapons.The reason Magna BSP gave for the odd shape, enormous weight, and giant proportions of their cameras was that they were stereoscopic. A stereoscopic camera could be plausible at an airstrip, where the camera would need depth perception out miles, but not indoors where focal lengths are short. Depth perception going out miles could also be accomplished with two separately mounted cameras weighing only a few pounds; the giant thousand pounder is a dead giveaway. Why this giant thing, when smaller nukes are possible? Nuclear weapons always produce a certain amount of heat, and if a small design was used it would be obvious the “camera” was warm, even when turned off and sitting on the shelf. This would cause questions to be asked, especially in a nuclear power facility. The enormous size and weight helped conceal the decay heat.
. . . . . . . . . .9/11, 4/11, 3/11? see a pattern? Let’s not see another X/11. Your time and effort in spreading the word may really make a difference.
The quake was not what we were told.
In fact, the quake was a bold faced lie, packing a political agenda. The proof goes beyond the linked Japanese chart. This original seismic data is the smoking gun, however, I have something better. I analyzed the falsified charts put out by the USGS, and from them wrote this sad, sad story about how it had to be according to those charts, not what you will see in the newsroom video I have linked farther down the page which documents what really happened. Keep in mind that precise top speeds of flying debris cannot be determined with complete accuracy, but this story will at least be close to the numbers put out by the USGS.
The people in the newsroom did not die, this story is what would have happened if the USGS charts were true.
Meet Atsuo, Airi, and Akiyoshi. They were all the best and most dedicated people at the NHK newsroom, in Sendai Japan. Akiyoshi loved Airi, and Atsuo was the one who introduced them. Unfortunately, all 3 died in the quake. Akiyoshi got a severe cut and bled to death when he hit a display screen behind him at 44 miles an hour, and was then thrown out through a hole in a collapsed wall. Airi followed pretty much the same path, and died beside him in the rubble. Atsuo flew through the open door behind him, then crashed through a window and was crushed when he landed in a massive seismic crack in the road, which closed in on him. Others in the newsroom died also, but I never thought up names for them. At least, according to the official USGS charts. The laser printer was never found, but the table it was on ended up on top of the rubble, smashed to pieces, where one of the few survivors used a piece of the metal frame to splint his broken leg.
The chart is from station MYG012, which is less than 1/2 mile from the NHK newsroom. THIS PROVES THE USGS LIED. THERE WAS NO 9.0
The USGS charts are phony folks, that’s all there is to it! Scroll down to the video of the quake represented in the above chart, which represents a 9.0 and was reportedly from a seismic station only one half mile away from where the video was shot.
The implications of this run deep. The seismic chart, in conjunction with the following video, proves that the US government is also involved in the lie about the quake at some level. The video proves the USGS falsified records.
Some people keep typing on their computers as the quake happens.
Also, note that most of the stuff stays on the desks, at the end, a laser printer is still sitting on a cheap table, ect. some things fall but things return to normal quickly, all the while the English announcer is reading a script of devastation with all the pep of some paid fool who does not believe what he is saying in a cheezy infomercial. The quake was significant, but only in a 6.0 sense, as recorded by the JAPANESE seismographs, and FAKED to a 9.0 by the USGS. This is important footage, because it proves the earthquake measured at a 6.8 was an instrumentation based richter reading. Confusion between the Shindo and Richter scale is being used to cover this up . I chose this video because it’s location is documented to have been the worst affected, and was recorded in a news room with a known fixed location.
This video gets deleted off youtube occasionally, if it does not work check back later and I might have re-linked it.
Remember that this video is proof of what really went on. This means there never were significant aftershocks, never was a natural tsunami, and if they lied about that, what else? This video is pivotal and vital to exposing the truth. Sure there was a quake, but at this newsroom it was not much over a six if it even was a six. I chose this video because the news room is within eyeshot of station MYG012, which was used by the USGS to make these graphs which represent an 8.8 AT THAT STATION, as was stated in this (English) newscast and was probably used as a guide to fudge the lie due to the closeness of the newsroom to the seismic station. Here is the full chart put out by the USGS Of course, they offer no reading from MYG011, which was closest to the 9.0 “epicenter” by a long shot, because it only got a 5.63′s worth of shaking. I will do that work for them. That map is below.
I challenge ANYONE to send me pictures of this quake showing me devastation in an area not hit by the tsunami.
All we have, all the pictures are tsunami damage. Let’s see pictures of quake damage. The Kobe quake was a 6.9/7.2 depending on source. That makes this quake, at a 9.0 100X as powerful. Sendai was near the epicenter, where station MYG012 was and would have been devastated if it really happened as stated by the USGS. Look at the earthquake photos of damage from the Kobe quake, and try to find ONE THING SIMILAR in SENDAI. Just try. They do not exist. Outside of the tsunami, the quake which supposedly hit Sendai with many times the power of the one in Kobe, did not destroy a single building there. Sendai was only 48 miles from the epicenter of this “9.0″ which would have devastated everything in an area 1,000 miles across if it was real. All of Japan would be toast. Try to find a photo of seismic damage in Sendai. I challenge you. Try to find it in any of the coastal cities, as little as 25 miles from the “epicenter”. I looked for 5 hours, and except for some tanks that fell at a brewery not a single one exists. No pictures of collapsed skyscrapers or high rises equals NO 9.0. You will not find a single skyscraper photo where the windows got broken either. You will find no downed power poles, no flipped over cars, no uprooted trees, no derailed trains (except for one the tsunami hit), and the road damage is typical of even a 5.0. You will not find pictures of a single damaged multi story building or even a structurally damaged wood framed house outside the tsunami zone. In Sendai the quake messed up grocery stores and kitchens and that really is about it.
And now, I will say it like I knew it had to be.
I believe the phony 9.0 story was used as seismic cover for a tsunami nuke, which produced the tsunami of a 9.0 when detonated in the Japan trench (where no earthquakes of significance happen) as punishment for Japan offering to enrich uranium for Iran. The rest of the story, the concealment, is black ops. Bet on it. In the tsunami videos, the tsunami rips through pristine and undamaged cities, where business as usual is obvious and the tsunami is an ambush; not 9.0 earthquake ravaged debris. The quake is a paper thin story taped together by the undeserved trust of a gullible public. And the stories? The CIA did not hire a million people last year for nothing. If there is evidence of a 9.0 SHOW ME. A 9.0 will devastate an area over 1,000 miles across.That is how big a 9.0 is. The entire nation should be in ruins, especially judging from the damage the 6.9 Kobe quake did, and no where, no where outside the tsunami zone in the entire country is there a single damaged multi story building, a single collapsed bridge, a single structurally damaged wood framed house, or skyscraper. If a picture exists that can be definitively pinned to this quake, show me. The only collapsed structure in all of Japan was an old welfare shelter near station MYG004, the true epicenter.
Take a look at these frame captures, and ask a question – Why is no one trying to run? Why are the cars all just parked peacefully as the tsunami arrived? Why was there no warning? Why did the tsunami sirens only go off after the tsunami arrived? Could it be that the people and the governement had not felt a significant earthquake and did not measure one either?
Question: Why are none of the roads packed with people trying to flee the approaching tsunami?
Could it be that the people and government were not expecting one? Tsunami sirens blare only when it arrives, rather than 40 minutes before, which is how much warning they would have had if a real quake in the ocean had been detected. Consider that. Parking lots full of cars, everyone at work, no one trying to leave. AMBUSH!!.
When people keep typing at their keyboards during the quake, it’s obviously not what we were told.
When reviewing the seismic data for the supposed 9.0, I knew there were instead 3 small simultaneous inland epicenters. This made me suspicious right from the start that the quake was artificially triggered and used as seismic cover for a tsunami bomb. But I needed a reason to believe an artificial quake could have been done. I suspected that either Japan was testing nukes and Israeli intelligence was onto it and used the tests as the “start of clock” for their operation, or Israel managed to smuggle nukes into lava tubes and tunnels far underground to trigger earthquakes and contain the blasts. So I was hunting for tunnels and lava tubes near each of the three epicenters, and wanted to find them before writing this into this report. As it turns out, I did not need to. This military briefing with Secretary of Defense William Cohen, dated all the way back to 1997! shows that even then, Cohen knew about EM weaponry that could trigger quakes and set off volcanoes. I have ignored everything regarding this subject, I thought it was the realm of kooks. I thought EM weaponry would be effective in weather modification only, but I am not going to argue with the Secretary of Defense. There are obviously then, energy technologies which have never been publicized, such weaponry would need far more energy input than the electrical grid could provide. And the systems Cohen spoke of in 1997 would be outdated now.
Cohen stated: “Others are engaging even in an eco- type of terrorism whereby they can alter the climate, set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves. So there are plenty of ingenious minds out there that are at work finding ways in which they can wreak terror upon other nations. It’s real, and that’s the reason why we have to intensify our efforts, and that’s why this is so important. – William S. Cohen, Secretary of Defense, April 28, 1997. Left unsaid by William Cohen is that such systems would be developed by DARPA and owned by America first!
I would expect with 14 years of advancement that these technologies could now trigger devastating earthquakes in non-seismic zones.
The following picture is the strongest reading for this quake on any seismogram anywhere in Japan. This was before the lie machine got running smoothly. Early on there were a few sputters and this REAL chart got out. As you can see on this chart, it was a 6.67 on the Richter scale, (not shindo scale, confirmed by PGA reference) This would fit in with NO structural damage in Sendai and the level of shaking in the video
This quake was initially asessed a 6.8, and the seismic data will show anyone the epicenter was inland, not at sea. So it started a 6.8, then got upgraded to a 7.9, then got upgraded to an 8.4, then got upgraded to an 8.8, then got upgraded to a 9.0, and had the epicenter put out in the ocean. Now many are saying it was a 9.1 which would bump up MYG011′s number to 1200 from 1070, and it is all based on tsunami effects, not seismic data.
The following seismograms clearly show epicenters from 3 separate small quakes all occuring simultaneously. This is what would be expected of an attack, rather than a natural occurence.
One problem with people grasping how big a 9.0 is, is exponential charts which will hide how much energy is really being released behind confusing gradient marking. To answer the need for clarity, I got out the calculator and produced a chart that shows you how big a 9.0 earthquake is on a linear scale. Make sure you expand and scroll it, it is 5,000 pixels tall. Due to its large verticle height it opens on the left side of the screen and is almost invisible until you expand it. Confusion over how GIANT a 9.0 really is has helped the elite scammers enormously in their lie. There is simply no way much of anything will remain standing, yet as the tsunami rolls in . . . . . .
And now, I will bite. This is what I did not want to publish, but I know it has to be true. Call this creative journalism, because I never called Netanyahu, but here is the most rational conclusion I can draw, based on all info gathered so far including the original not faked seismic data.
I honestly believe Japan is being held a nuclear hostage. It all makes sense.
1. Japan offers to enrich uranium for Israel’s GREAT SATAN, Iran
2. Immediately, Israel sets up front companies masquerading as security companies, and one of them succeeds in getting a security contract at a Japanese nuclear facility. 4 months later the Dimona Dozen shows up, and under the cover of a security contract gets unlimited access to the heart of Fukushima. They plant the virus, install real cameras outside the facility, and functional poorly disguised nuke cameras inside the facility. In addition to this, they install an unauthorized data connection to allow control of all the guts of the facility via the virus. (they admitted to this connection, as discussed later on this page)
3. After installing Stuxnet and the nukes they scram
4. Israel waits for one of the many natural quakes in Japan to provide cover for a tsunami bomb, and they already have it at the bottom of the Japan trench. VLF communications are established with the bomb to penetrate the water. David in Dimona gets seismic reading from Japan. 6.67 in progress, BOOM. (new evidence shows the quake most likely was not natural)
Tsunami comes in, swamps stuxnet infected power plant, direct video feed from legitimate cameras security company installed gets to David via totally unauthorized channel, and David knows just when to cut the generators off. Others on the team do all they can to counteract measures taken by the employees at fukushima, who are unaware an attack is taking place and do not understand why everything is going crazy
5. Israeli Prime Minister calls Japan, and says TAKE THAT for offering help to Iran, and ya know, there are FIVE MORE NUKES in the ocean off the coast of Japan, and we are going to set those off and destroy your coastal cities if you do not forget that 6.67, and say it was a 9 to cover for tsunami effects. AND NOW we are going to make your people DEMAND you move away from nuclear power so you can NEVER threaten us like that again. We are BLOWING UP FUKUSHIMA DIIACHI and you are going to go along with whatever story we tell you to. SO THERE!!
6. David and his pals close ALL valves to the reactors via the remote data link they admitted to installing, and put them full throttle, to melt them down while the virus keeps control room readouts displaying false info, like nothing is going on even though the place is coming apart. After enough mayhem ensues to provide plausibility, they set off planted nukes and blow the place sky high.
And even if the quake was real, there are nukes that can reach an 8.4. Close enough. Though I have yet to work out the final details, I probably have enough to hang them because:
1. I got the real seismic data that proves beyond a doubt the quake is not what we were told and was in fact an inland 6.8, (calculated higher than the seismogram due to the triangulated true epicenter being a little higher) which would get noticed but not feared in quake ridden Japan.
2. Numerous referenced sources prove Stuxnet really was written by Israel
3. Japan really did offer to enrich Uranium for Iran, and Israel has been documented to have attempted to destroy the reactor in Iran, and probably did. Japan contributing to Iran’s nuclear future would make them just as much an enemy to Israel as Iran. Israel would want them taken out.
4. It is documented that a team from Israel, with a history consisting only of working in Israeli defense, got unlimited access to a Japanese nuclear facility, which then went boom
5. Reactor 4 had been defueled and proven disassembled, and therefore no explosion there was possible. What should have happened at reactor 4, if anything at all? the fuel pools should have melted down and caught fire once the water boiled off from lack of recirculation AT Worst, and badly contaminated the containment structure, NOTHING ELSE. NO explosions, NOTHING ELSE. Reactor 4 is building 7, PERIOD. Why did an explosion there happen that was so severe it blew the outer containment walls (4 feet thick) and inner containment walls that were much thicker? Reactor 4 is reportedly now in danger of falling over. HOW?
6. The Japanese government is going along with the story of a scientifically proven false 9.0. There is a reason, and my guess is that Israel has made threats to wipe out Japanese coastal cities with additional tsunamis if the government of Japan speaks a word of what went on, there should be no reason for Japan to go along with this other than a continued threat.
Is it not interesting this “quake” reportedly happened at the bottom of the Japan trench, which would be perfect for hiding an atomic bomb blast?
Is the Department of Homeland Security trying to keep American industries (and nuclear facilities) in the dark about Stuxnet? After Fukushima fell victim to unwary operators, I would think such a conference would be a TOP priority here! The genie is out of the bottle. It is a fact that the writers of Stuxnet intend to use it. So cancelling a well researched conference about the vulnerabilities of the Siemens SCADA system to Stuxnet in the name of “keeping hackers from getting info” seems to me like an effort to keep the threat alive. Ignore the fluff at the beginning, and read the “About TakeDownCon” summary near the bottom so you know what they actually cancelled rather than settle for the no-panic fluff at the beginning. This is SERIOUS. I fear that by the time the Hacker Halted conference happens in October, the summer of disaster may have passed. And if it has not, I bet any discussion of Stuxnet at Hacker Halted will also be cancelled. Stuxnet is too good a toy for a very powerful group to let go of. Something is fishy here.
Other publications picked up this story now, and are poo pooing the issue into the ground. They are obviously attempting to morph responsibility for Stuxnet style attacks away from Israel so that they can regain cover and use the weapon as a false flag tool to destroy internet freedom. This is where they are going to go with this – count on it, and when the disasters happen there will be a cozy blanket of lies shielding Israel from all blame. Never forget, THIS IS THEIR BABY, NEVER FORGET. Prior to them doing this, WE NEVER HEARD OF IT.
About “prompt criticality” – As it turns out, Arnie Gundersen, mister “prompt criticality” with regard to the massive explosion at #3 is very poorly credentialed. His crowning achievement was playing with a 100 watt open water tank reactor in a classroom for a short period of time.
Fuel rods are only 20 percent fissionable, sometimes even less, and until you reach over 90 percent purity in U238 and about 70 percent purity in Plutonium NO “prompt criticality” is possible in ANY case no matter how much of it you have laying around. Furthermore, even with 100 percent pure material you need a precision trigger slamming or crushing material together to get a detonation. Even if 100 percent pure material is slammed together at high speed, if it is not done right you will get only a nuclear “sputter” that pushes the pieces apart, and no detonation. Nukes are hard to do! Why have so many of us seemed to have forgotten that nuclear detonations are hard to accomplish? The “prompt criticality” in spent fuel story is something I would have expected to hear from an Ewok praying to a gold robot. I can’t believe even a scammer would have the guts to suggest it, let alone allow it to be spread around in his name. For an explanation for the explosions, just look at the cameras the Dimona Dozen brought in. If someone is waving a degree as an anchor for this “prompt criticality” bull hockey, remember that there is such a thing as a paper trained idiot and if you look into Gundersen’s background you will discover he is barely that, with his ONLY hands on experience outside a classroom being an intern at a nuclear facility two years before he got his degree!
If the mainstream media wanted the facts, why did they pick this guy? Because he said what they wanted, truth be damned.
“We at Vermont Yankee are well acquainted with Arnie and his exaggerations. He plays to a public and a legislature that has zero knowledge of nuclear power or engineering and is willing to accept any negative claim as truth.” And since he gave an impossible “prompt criticality” explanation which diverted attention away from the only real explanation for the magnitude of the explosion at #3 – a nuke, they gave him a ton of air. Enough said.
Arnie Gundersen’s consulting firm, which has only him (no employees yet or ever, and therefore it’s easy to be “senior engineer”) was curiously founded within months of the release of the spider man villain Critical Mass, who, as Spider man’s fourth grade classmate went by the name of ARNIE GUNDERSEN. Critical Mass had the ability to project explosions from his fingertips. Hmm, perhaps THAT gave birth to the “prompt criticality” in a 20% fuel pool when 90+ percent is needed for an explosion of any sort no matter what the circumstance? If you need 90 or more percent and you have only 20 percent, THE LAWS OF PHYSICS WILL BE OBEYED. Folks, In perfect form, the scamming media hunted out a fraud and rammed him down your throats. Arnie Gundersen has a phony company and was inspired in his fraud by a Spider Man comic. NO ONE at the college Arnie supposedly attended even heard of him, I went down that rabbit hole and the man is a mystery.
This post has been greatly improved via input from readers. If you have information proving any points wrong, or think something should be clarified, as well as new info that can further solidify the case, contact me. Thanks!
If you read this far, I invite you to take part in the Truth Project
The article about Fukushima follows.
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Fukushima was impossible. The swamping of the external generators by the tsunami was irrelevant, because the real emergency backup systems are driven by steam from the reactors themselves. No electricity is needed to operate three separate emergency systems at each reactor, each of which will keep a reactor safe even if only one works. Interesting it is then that all 9 non electrical backup systems across the three fueled reactors failed. This is technically impossible outside of willful intent, and was likely the result of a Stuxnet attack.
Stuxnet was designed specifically to target Siemens SCADA controllers and is most effective at tampering with fluid control systems. The centrifuges it attacked in Iran were ideal. So are the fluid control systems at a nuclear facility. Oil refineries are equally at risk, Stuxnet is most dangerous when affecting a system which needs to control the flow of any liquid, be it hydraulic, for cooling, or combining chemicals. Stuxnet is documented to have been produced by the Israeli Defense Forces, for the purpose of destroying any industrial system that can be destroyed by improper fluid flow.
Magna BSP, a Dimona based company with no history outside of IDF contracts prior to Fukushima has a suspiciously short domain history despite a 10 year claimed history.Magna BSP had a full time internet linked two way connection to the Fukushima reactor room(s) all the way through the disaster. They told TEPCO about that connection on March 15 (after everything blew sky high) via an article printed in the Jerusalem Post. Why did Manga BSP wait until everything was blown sky high to tell Tepco the data link existed, and then did not tell them face to face? I find it hard to believe that TEPCO would not have been interested in viewing a reactor that was about to explode. It seems impossible that Tepco would not have wanted to view the reactor, and probably did not ask because the link was kept a secret. It is a simple fact that internet connections are never allowed inside a reactor’s containment. The connection was mentioned in the Jerusalem Post AFTER the destruction was finalized.
Stuxnet has two modes, random and administrative. It can be administered to optimize the damage and can also transmit setup information and industrial system information to a remote computer. Once installed on the host system via a flash drive it causes that system to violate it’s normal security protocols and internet administration becomes possible if a connection exists. Tampering is not visible on the control room readouts, because Stuxnet learns what “normal” looks like and keeps the temperature, pressure, and other readouts within normal limits so that the operators are oblivious to the destruction happening in secret. Stuxnet appeared in Japan in June of 2010, shortly after Magna BSP arrived. Remote administration mode can be adjusted on demand to suit any need. No doubt the people at Fukushima sat there in idle mode thinking all was well until something screamed or went boom and at that point it would be too late to do anything other than cry.
I am a lifer in the types of control systems Fukushima and it’s clone, TVA owned Browns Ferry have. BOTH have been upgraded to modern Siemens controllers running the Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) system Stuxnet was designed to attack; upgrades are the norm in any major facility. On many blogs people say the controls were old and therefore Stuxnet immune; they are out of touch or have no knowledge of industrial control systems. I actually ferreted it out.
And now I will explain in detail why the problems before the explosions had to be sabotage
The diesel generators were not out in the open as we were led to believe, they were in fact located in the basements of the turbine buildings which were sealed off and never significantly flooded. One of them stayed running the entire time, but the electrical switch gear attached to it disconnected it for an unexplained reason which made it useless. Each of the backup generators at Fukushima were capable of running 14,000 households each, which means they had to be over ten megawatts each. It is obvious then that Fukushima was set up to survive on only ONE of 13 backup generators, and ONE did keep running. One would be many times larger than needed to run last ditch backup systems at all reactors, but would not keep business as usual. But that is not the real story, which is that even others which were high and dry stopped as well.
I hypothesize that the ONE generator that kept running was kept as a lone reserve, never hooked up to a SCADA controller. Why did the switch gear disconnect a working generator? That is the type of thing Stuxnet was designed to do. On top of these things, emergency generators arrived on scene within 9 hours, before anything bad happened at all but were not able to provide power because the switch gear would not let them. This deceptively written report from the World Nuclear Association contains all this information, but it is presented in a way which will cause you to overlook these things if you are not careful while reading it. This report contains accurate information presented in a very misleading way, which will protect the liars who wrote it – they actually did speak the truth here but in a way it would be missed by virtually anyone. Study the facts presented here with the full ramifications of those facts in mind, not their shallow misleading conclusions.
From this report you can get:
1. The generators never got submerged – you have to connect the dot between them being in a contained area and the tsunami thereby not being able to get to them. Some water got into one of the the turbine buildings where several were located and flooded the lowest point in that building to a depth of 4 feet, which means that even if the generators were on the floor at the lowest point they likely would not have been swamped because they are too big – the water would not get past the footings. Perhaps a one megawatt generator would have swamped; certainly not one of the big diesels, which were, according to this report enough to run 14,000 homes each. In addition to this, there were several generators in a second location that never got flooded at all. One of these generators kept running but was not able to get power into the facility because the switchgear prevented it.
2. You have to have watched the robot videos, which clearly show the switch gear that malfunctioned after the tsunami never got wet – there was a non tsunami reason for the failure. Also look at the high resolution photos referenced below. There is no switch gear for the diesel generators outside the facility, it is all indoors in areas higher than the water got. Remember that there was no emergency when the off site generators arrived, which means that they could work efficiently to get things up and running. With my experience in this area, Assuming it DID get soaked, a complete replacement of high capacity switch gear should only take an afternoon if done with an emergency attitude. A truck mounted crane or a forklift does all the heavy lifting and the stuff is modular. In every major facility there are spares galore. It is not that hard to make the terminations. A worst case scenario could have been addressed before things went horribly awry, that is, unless a virus did not let the new switch gear activate either. It would take days to conclude a virus was messing things up. You would not expect that. I am sure there is a LOT we never heard about.
3. That batteries held, leaving only a one hour gap in time where there was no power present to run things before adequate off site power drove into the facility on the road all nice and ready to hook up, but was denied to by switch gear which this report says was swamped but that is likely an assumption because swamped switchgear could have been replaced even before the batteries died. The fact that the offsite generators were able to be driven into the facility also proves that other lies told about the earthquake in general – employees leaving only to find cracks in the road so bad they had to walk home; Why? Why lie like this? AT LEAST this report has some modicum of honesty.
4. You have to look at the chart that shows the thermal output of the reactors 8 hours after the earthquake, which is when the batteries running the electrical cooling pumps died, the output at that time was less than 20 megawatts from each reactor, which means that they would not have had troubles before the off site generators were hooked up to restore power if it was not denied by what I suspect was stuxnet infected switch gear. The real critical time is in the first 3 hours after shutdown.
5. Reactor 3 exploded entirely, yet this reactor had the most functional backup systems. At least this report says the explosion remains “unexplained”. Perhaps those who wrote the report should take a look at this for an answer.
6. The reactors are stated to be an “early 1960′s design” apparently to mislead people into believing they were outdated even when installed. This was not the case. Their design was an early 60′s concept but in fact a late 60′s design, and since installation takes years, what more could you expect in the early 70′s? The reactors were in fact a very safe design. This report at least states that the facility was very well updated. Identical reactors at TVA owned browns ferry have been certified safe and licensed to operate through the year 2035. These reactors were also converted over to run the Siemens Scada system. The reactors at Fukushima were not garbage. The fastest cars in production still function on a late 1800′s concept.
I hypothesize that the situation at Fukushima is not being properly assessed by facility controllers because STUXNET is STILL giving false readings to the control panels, readings which obviously have to be false because they show containment pressure when confidental leaked photographs prove beyond a doubt no containment exists AT ALL at reactor 3. There is not even a reactor there.
This report is perfectly inaccurate with regard to reactor 3 containment. Perhaps the people who wrote this report have not actually looked at the facility or seen the confidential photographs.
This report supports what I have said here entirely. It was written by an experienced reactor operator. I found this on May 10. I was absolutely right!
Each reactor has 8 separate emergency backup systems, each capable of saving the reactor on it’s own. Three are designed to function perfectly if all power is lost and even the generators fail. Fukushima did not need any electrical systems operating AT ALL to keep itself from blowing up, when power is lost steam from the reactors is automatically diverted from the generator turbines to two totally separate steam turbines connected to totally separate water pumps needing only reactor steam to power them. Even that backup system has dual redundancy, only one of the two is needed for the job. But the valves which have to activate to re-divert the steam, all 6 valves on a total of 3 fueled reactors, eventually failed to. At reactors 1 and 3 these systems worked, but switched off at reactor 1 within an hour and off at reactor 3 after running for more than two days. No one has been able to explain why these systems switched off all by themselves, when they need a powered command to switch off. At reactor 2 they were never allowed to activate. This can only happen if the control system tells them to shut off or stay off, absent intervention from the controller they automatically and seamlessly switch cooling modes to passive rather than electrical.
Some readers may remember that the real issue at Fukushima was malfunctioning valves, and the need to get someone past the radiation to open them. These are the valves that were spoken of. Because Stuxnet kept the readouts normal, no one knew this system did not function until major problems happened as a result flooding the area where the valves are with radiation. This prevented last ditch efforts (running and cutting the wires). One automatic valve jamming and mechanically failing would be a surprise,6 failing can only be sabotage.
In addition to this, another completely independent separately piped backup with an entirely different electronic decision tree which injects borated water at a pre charged 3,500 PSI into the reactor to irrevocably shut down all chain reactions (reactor rebuild required) also simultaneously failed at all 3 fueled reactors. The borated water systems have explosive operated valves so reliable that even one out of 3 failing would be a ten thousand to one possiblity, if that. The reliability of the borated water systems is technically theoretically assured. All three failing at the same time at Fukushima can only mean sabotage.
High pressure in all of the reactors proves the quake did not damage any of the infrastructure at fukushima because any leaks would have let the pressure go. In addition to this, the seismic readings at Fukushima were 6.07 Fukushima was designed to handle being at the epicenter of an 8.
The media keeps harping about how all the water went away. It only did because these three backup systems were prevented from cooling the reactor which caused the water to boil off and never be replaced. High pressures were talked about constantly in the press; This means beyond a doubt that all 6 steam powered backup systems were intact, and all 3 borated water systems were intact also because if they were not the pressure would have escaped through them. Absent emergency backup control power keeping the virus alive; (control power Magna BSP admitted was there the whole time by mistake when they said their cameras and supporting computers captured the explosions and maintained a data link) the valves which control these systems would have opened when the generators failed and there would have been no disaster. 3 worst case scenarios where all 9 automatic valves across 9 separate emergency backup systems are held shut by the controller when no power should have been present to prevent them from activating can only mean sabotage.
A historical perspective of Fukushima shows the hydrogen blasts were bogus.
Hydrogen blasts could not have damaged Fukushima so badly, this is a media fed lie. If hydrogen gas alone mixed with air could produce blasts strong enough to blow reactor containment buildings to pieces, which are among the strongest structures on earth (exceeded in strength only by ones like Hoover Dam,) then hydrogen gas filled bombs would be the prime military option. In reality, the Three Mile Island incident proved hydrogen ignition in open air after reactor meltdown is likely to only scare employees, while causing no damage at all to the facility, as was the case there. It is extremely important to know the differences between the boiling water reactor design and the design of Chernobyl. At Chernobyl, a hydrogen blast DID cause destruction of the facility, but it was because the reactor design caused hydrogen and oxygen at a perfect ratio to ignite at thousands of PSI inside the reactor pressure vessel. That’s a big difference from hydrogen alone igniting in relatively oxygen starved open air at one atmosphere (14.5 PSI). The difference would be similar to the difference between a small firecracker and a case of dynamite; there were many orders of magnitude lower blast potential at Fukushima.
Just to be absolutely safe after the Three Mile Island incident, many nuclear facilities installed hydrogen hard vent stacks hooked directly up to the relief valves on their reactors, and Fukushima was one of them. This was to prevent a hydrogen buildup in the containment building in the event of a core meltdown, which caused a minor explosion at Three Mile Island. These stacks are the tall white towers you see in the photographs of Fukushima, and they are effective in getting rid of hydrogen buildup, are directly piped, and vent completely outside. “Hard piped” means that the electrical failures would have had nothing to do with the blasts, because a hard vent is exactly that – no fan needed at all because the system is sealed. Even if the hard piping at all 3 fueled Fukushima reactors failed entirely, it should not have been any worse than Three Mile Island which did not have any hard venting to begin with. While hydrogen venting might be a problem if it ignited, it would not mean the death of a facility. It makes no sense that at Fukushima we got a nuclear weapon style mushroom cloud far in excess of the highest yield conventional bomb.
Below are the classified photos
What then, caused the explosions? The containment walls were at their thinnest points in the lowest allowed General Electric design a minimum of 4 foot thick steel reinforced concrete, were likely to be a minimum of 8 feet thick, and were totally blown away. All concrete was stripped from the rebar, which was left dangling. Reactor 3 vanished entirely,as seen in the classified photo used to compare the destruction to the diagram and reactor 4 appears to have been blown to pieces as seen in this classified photo The yellow dome which should be sitting on top of reactor 4 can be clearly seen on the wrong side of the containment building. This type of destruction is is indicative of hard weaponry in use; a hydrogen air mix will not do that. Reactors are not made out of tinfoil. On top of this, there was no potential for an explosion at reactor 4 at all, it had been defueled. SO WHAT, PRAY TELL, BLEW IT APART? That’s the dirty question no one is asking – how did that happen?
To give you an idea of how big the reactors at Fukushima were, look at this. It’s the top of the same make and model at Fukushima’s American twin, TVA owned Brown’s Ferry, and it is only the top. The yellow dome sits above this, and is even bigger. (here the yellow dome has been removed for refueling). over 150 feet of reactor sits below that cap. Hydrogen will not vaporize that, which appears to be what happened to #3, only a nuclear weapon would. Reactors are about 14 digits beyond incapable of going supercritical even with a complete core meltdown. The reactors did not explode, something placed in their vicinity did.
Magna BSP had access to the reactors at this facility. They were based in Dimona, which is a military base that manufactures nuclear weapons. Stuxnet was made in their yard. They are stated to be a military company.
There is extremely strong evidence that Dimona based Magna BSP placed nuclear weapons at the exploded or vanished reactors at Fukushima, possibly hidden inside one of their unbelievably GIANT stereoscopic cameras. These cameras were installed inside the reactor containment of Fukushima reactor 3 under the cover of a security contract in the year prior to the disaster. These cameras are identical in size and appearance to a gun type nuclear weapon. Since previous hydrogen explosions at boiling water reactors have never caused any sort of damage to equipment or buildings, even during complete meltdowns, it begs the question how on earth one at reactor 3 produced a mushroom cloud. Three Mile Island sits in the evidence pool against what we have been told about Fukushima. History does matter.
One problem with the reporting in the mainstream media is that it failed to convey just how massive and strong the containment structures really were, as seen in this classified photo. A hydrogen explosion would only blow the sheet metal off the steel framed roof if it even did that, at Three Mile Island the hydrogen ignition did nothing at all. It just scared employees. Another thing the reporting failed to convey is the gravity of the disaster. Compare the containment diagram to the remains of reactor 3. It is painfully obvious that many tons of highly radioactive plutonium in the containment pools is nowhere to be found, the entire floor they were on is completly gone. We are getting lied to.
That was a LOT more than a hydrogen blast, and as a result there are thousands of pounds of plutonium scattered everywhere. TEPCO was ridiculed for initially stating that the radiation from the facility was “immeasurable”. I think they at first told the truth. Now they have this story about the Fukushima 50. Is it in fact a “wag the dog”? No one could be there and live. Why is remote controlled heavy equipment doing the cleanup? The official story is hydrogen blasts, not nukes, so the story line has to at least be within the far outer limits of what a hydrogen blast could actually accomplish; not missing reactors and entire fuel pools blown away.
I suggest you ponder the pictures and materials presented and reach your own conclusion. A government issued training manual for the reactors at Fukushima is here
Now that Osama, who has been dead for 10 years is officially dead, Al Quaida is going to use a nuke, so they say; I strongly urge you to consider this article if a nuke actually does go off somewhere or if other nuclear facilities start acting like Fukushima.
The only reason I believe the management at Fukushima is not telling it like it really was is because victim status has been so well asserted by the ethnic group in question that it is career suicide to point the finger at them, even when they try to kill you. I find it interesting that all 12 Non Japanese employees of Magna BSP returned to Israel a week before the tsunami . . . . .
I might have understood the need for Stuxnet if it’s use would have ended with Iran. Unfortunately that does not appear to be the case. I do hope this article breaks their toy.
For those of you who are reluctant to re-post this because the wording is too strong, I ask you to consider this;
The real answer came out of Fukushima. We have a member of the international community which has already done horrendous damage to a very advanced and (presently) innocent civilization and we simply cannot continue to tolerate it. Consider what ignoring this will cost you. Are you prepared to have a major disaster at the convenience of the couch; because you sat there watching TV rather than dragging your butt over to the computer to at least spread the word? Are your video games, ball games, 4×4 and porno really worth continuing to lose everything for? Is your religion going to keep you silent as well? We really need a serious wake up call. Please let this post be it, rather than some other unforseen disaster.
Thank you to the many readers who pointed out flaws, gave tips, and suggested clarifications, you studied this indeed! My thanks also goes out to the radio hosts who have had me on the air and invited me to appear to discuss this subject. BTW, this article was written via code entry, without spell check. Consider that.
These references included as e-mail compatible links.
New Delhi, Feb 23 (IANS) A proposal has been sent to the commerce ministry to permit foreign carriers invest in India‘s cash-strapped private airlines, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said Thursday.
“We have sent the proposal to them,” Singh told reporters here.
However, he did not divulge any timeframe for the cabinet to examine the matter.
Foreign airlines are currently not allowed to directly invest in Indian carriers for security reasons. However, 49 percent FDI is allowed by non-airline players.
On Jan 17, a group of ministers (GoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee agreed to draft a cabinet note proposing a 49 percent cap on FDI by foreign carriers in domestic airlines.
Before the Jan 17 decision, various government departments had proposed different investment caps – from 24 percent to 26 percent. The commerce ministry’s Department of Industrial Policy and promotion (DIPP) had suggested a 26 percent cap.
“Private airlines in the country are in need of funds for operations and service upgrades to compete with global carriers,” said the DIPP note.
Industry sources say the fresh infusion of investment would give a lifeline to the struggling sector, which bears the brunt of high jet fuel prices caused by state levies and high interest cost of their debt.
“The current financial position of Indian carriers is extremely challenging. FDI by global airlines in India would be a very welcome step,” Amber Dubey, director (Aerospace) for consultancy firm KPMG told IANS.
“It will provide access to global funds, routes and management expertise,” he added.
Three domestic airlines — Kingfisher, Jet and SpiceJet – have reported heavy third quarter losses.
“I am an avid supporter of FDI. I don’t see any reason why FDI from strategic partners like an airline should be banned or not permitted. Who would understand an airline better than another airline,” Mallya had asked.
Note By Admin: Remember that in all the Arab nation uprising observed during the last one ad a half years, either MI6, CIA, black ops and Xe forces along with SAS covert troops have been noticed masquerading as activists and inciters to provoke and create strategically timed revolts in each of the nations.
Not to mention for those of you who have kept abreast with updates from Project Camelot where an interview was conducted by Kerry Lynn Cassidy with Aaron McCollum, he mentioned that the Powers that Be were planning such strategies to hide the ‘ethereal’ like experiences created by this massive Gulf of Aden Stargate anomaly which has united over 300 maritime navy and battle ready ships from the navies of all the powerful nations in the world including USA, China, India, Israel, Iran, Russia all united and keeping a 15 nautical mile boundary of observance on this anomaly while at the same time benevolent ET ships are decloaking to reveal their enormous size when they appear into this dimension to observe and supervise our world. Also to be noted is that there is an underwater base right beneath the Stargate anomaly. Remember a stargate is way bigger and more massive and complex compared to a portal and is usually a naturally occurring vortex of coalescent energy.
It cannot be manufactured unless there are extremely powerful negatively oriented and purely service to self beings with tremendous 4D technologies to create one and operate and maintain it.
Either way both versions attract an lot of attention from off worlders for various reasons and they draw up huge amounts of energy which is now being facilitated and provided by the Great Central Sun of our Galaxy and the super massive black hole at its centre. Also a ring of quasars are right at the event horizon periphery of this black hole emanating bands of radiation to help all DNA based lifeforms existing on our world to ascend. Then there are the photon bands into which we are increasingly entering more towards their maximum intensity central sub-bands.
The ETs and Dark Illuminati humans operating this Underwater Base below the Gulf of Aden are trying to assimilate various regressively oriented ET races’ DNA strands with that of Earth humans to create a perfect assimilation and synthesis of the perfect Super Soldier that can always be controlled for whatever ends they are required for.
A lot is happenign on this world now and a lot is yet to be explained. Sounds confusing, it is and wait there will be some more later.
Oh and one more thing, even if you are a billionaire you can’t fly anywhere near that anomaly cause you will just be shot down with EMF oriented scalar weapons. Infact your pilot won’t even know what hit the navigations systems before the plane drops like a stone into the surrounding ocean and due to the Earth’s concavity, you need to be at least within 15kms or near the ships to witness what is on the horizon, otherwise the object falls off below it making it not visible.
Also naturally occurring star gates are not messed around with by good ETs because they know that these gates themselves are sentient and activate at the right time to help the beings on the planet ascend and the other point is they cannot be controlled.
CAIRO (Reuters) – An Egyptian court will start the trial on February 26 of activists from mostly American civil society groupsaccused of working illegally in Egypt, in a case which has strained U.S.-Egyptian ties.
A judicial source told Reuters that the 43 accused, including around 20 Americans, would go on trial next Sunday, charged with working in the country without proper legal registration.
The state new agency MENA said the hearing would take place at North Cairo Criminal Court.
Investigators swooped down on the offices of civil society groupson December 29, confiscating computers and other equipment and seizing cash and documents.
The American defendants have been banned from leaving Egypt and some have taken refuge in the U.S. embassy. Among those accused is Sam LaHood, Egypt director of the International Republican Institute and the son of the U.S. transportation secretary.
“The date of the first hearing in the case of foreign funding involving foreign civil societyorganizations has been set for February 26,” a judicial source told Reuters.
Egyptian Minister of Planning Faiza Abul Naga has linked U.S. funding of civil society initiatives to an American plot to undermine Egypt. The democracy groups’ leaders denied their activists had done anything improper or illegal.
The spat is one of the worst in more than 30 years of close U.S.-Egyptian ties and has complicated Washington’s efforts to establish relations with the military council that took power from Hosni Mubarak after his overthrow in a popular revolt a year ago.
A delegation of U.S. lawmakers is scheduled to arrive to Egypt Monday headed by Senator John McCain who has said he hoped Egyptian officials understood the situation was unacceptable to the United States.
(Reporting by Marwa Awad: Writing by Shaimaa Fayed)
By Elisa Forte and Gavin Jones | Reuters – 14 hrs ago
POTENZA, Italy (Reuters) - Italian police said on Friday they had seized about $6 trillion worth of fake U.S. Treasury bonds and other securities in Switzerland, and arrested eight Italians accused of international fraud and other financial crimes.
The operation, co-ordinated by prosecutors from the southern Italian city of Potenza, was carried out by Italian, Swiss and U.S. authorities after a year-long investigation, an Italian police source said.
It began as a investigation into mafia loan-sharking, but gradually expanded as prosecutors used telephone and computer intercepts to unearth evidence of illegal activity surrounding Treasury bonds.
The fake securities, worth more than a third of U.S. national debt, were seized in January from a Swiss trust company where they were held in three large trunks.
The U.S. Embassy in Rome thanked the Italian authorities and said the forgeries were “an attempt to defraud several Swiss banks”. It said U.S. experts had helped to identify the bonds as fakes.
Potenza’s prosecutor Giovanni Colangelo said an international network “in many countries” was behind the forgeries.
Italian daily Corriere della Sera said on its website that the criminal network was believed to be interested in acquiring plutonium, citing sources at the prosecutors’ office.
VERSAILLES
Police videos showed images of the trunks, with “Federal Reserve System, Treaty of Versailles” stamped on the side in large, golden letters.
Bond certificates marked “Chicago, Illinois, Federal Reserve Bank” and other securities, some for one billion dollars, were also shown.
U.S. bond traders took a light-hearted view of the news.
“If there’s that much less supply now, Treasuries should be rallying,” joked Kevin Flanagan, fixed-income strategist at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.
A trader at Citigroup said he had swapped jokes with colleagues about the seizure, which would not move markets.
“It’s kind of like fake inflation I guess, if you take it to the max, but I don’t think it means that much.”
Prosecutors said the forgers had hoped to use the fake bonds as collateral to secure loans.
The eight men arrested are accused of counterfeiting bonds, credit card forgery, and loan-sharking in the Italian regions of Lombardy, Piedmont, Lazio and Basilicata, police said.
The Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s office said Zurich state prosecutors had worked on the investigation at the request of the Italian prosecutor. The Swiss handed over their findings in July last year.
In 2009, Italian financial police seized $742 billion of fake U.S. bearer bonds in the of Chiasso, on the Swiss-Italian border.
(Additional reporting by Steve Scherer and Emily Flitter; Editing by Andrew Roche)
(In 11th paragraph, corrects company name of strategist to Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, instead ofMorgan Stanley)
Fake U.S. Treasury bonds are displayed during a news conference in the southern Italian city of Potenza February 17, 2012. REUTERS/Tony Vece
Chief prosecutor of Potenza Giovanni Colangelo (C) talks during a news conference in the southern Italian city of Potenza February 17, 2012. Italian police said on Friday they had seized about $6 trillion of fake U.S. Treasury bonds in Switzerland, and issued arrest warrants for eight people accused of international fraud and other financial crimes. The operation, co-ordinated by prosecutors from the southern Italian city of Potenza, was carried out by Italian and Swiss authorities after a year-long investigation, an Italian police source said. REUTERS/Tony Veceless
A trunk containing fake U.S. Treasury bonds is displayed during a news conference in the southern Italian city of Potenza February 17, 2012. REUTERS/Tony Vece
Italian Carabinieri display fake U.S. Treasury bonds during a news conference in the southern Italian city of Potenza February 17, 2012. REUTERS/Tony Vece
London, Feb 17 (IANS) Adolf Hitler had a son with a French teenager while serving as a soldier during the First World War, The Telegraph reported Friday.
Jean-Marie Loret, who died in 1985 aged 67, never met his father, but went on to fight Nazi forces during the Second World War.
His extraordinary story has now been backed up by a range of compelling evidence, both in France and in Germany, which is published in the latest edition of Paris’sLe Point magazine.
Hitler is said to have had an affair with Loret’s mother, Charlotte Lobjoie, 16, as he took a break from the trenches in June 1917.
Although he was fighting the French near Seboncourt, in the northern Picardy region, Hitler made his way to Fournes-in-Weppe, a small town west of Lille, for regular leave, where he met Lobjoie.
The pair started a brief relationship, which resulted in the birth of Jean-Marie, who was born in March 1918 after being conceived during a “tipsy” evening in June 1917.
Jean-Marie was, like thousands of other French children with German soldier fathers, badly treated by his peers at school.
He was referred to as “the son of the Bosh”, and often had fights as he tried to defend his father, who had by now disappeared over the border to Germany.
Lobjoie, meanwhile, refused to discuss Jean-Marie’s father, and ended up giving her only son away for adoption in the 1930s to a family called Loret.
Just before her death in the early 1950s, Lobjoie finally told Jean-Marie that his father was arguably the most infamous dictator in human history.
Loret said: “In order not to get depressed, I worked non-stop, never took a holiday, and had no hobbies. For twenty years I didn’t even go to the cinema.”
Hitler, who was born in an Austrian village, frequently spoke of his love for France, and especially for Paris.
Although he never officially had any sons or daughters of his own, Hitler often spoke of his love of children and animals.
He married his mistress, Eva Braun, as the Red Army shelled his bunker in Berlin, in 1945, and committed suicide shortly afterwards.