WAR STILL A RACKET–BEHEADING NOTWITHSTANDING

Posted on August 21, 2014 by eggsistense

WWIII HILARIOUS

Well, didn’t take long for the “beheading” video to have the desired propaganda effect, did it?  Gotta go to war, man!  Like yesterday!  ISIS is just too badass and scary, according to Chuck Hagel:

“They’re beyond just a terrorist group. They marry ideology with a sophisticated strategic and tactical military prowess and they’re tremendously well-funded. This is way beyond anything we have seen. We must prepare for everything. Get Ready!“

Oh brother…  This kind of BS is exactly what the people on the other side of the world are saying about us!  And they’re right!

Look, it’s terrible that whoever that was in the black mask beheaded whoever that was in the orange jumpsuit.  Of course it is.  But that doesn’t justify a new war.  Or an old war.  But Hagel can’t wait to bring up the beheading:

“Evidence is pretty clear. When we look at what they did to Mr Foley and threatend to do to all Americans and Europeans. There is no other way to describe it but barbaric. They have no standard of decency of responsible human behavior. They are an imminent threat to every interest we have.“

Is beheading barbaric? Yes.  But so is killing 500,000 Iraqi children then invading the country–which didn’t attack us and didn’t have WMD–and killing at least that many more.  Who’s the bigger barbarian, the one who beheads some people on video or the one who starts a war of aggression under false pretenses and kills millions?  Is that what we’re trying to do, eradicate barbarism?  Because we gotta do some serious soul-searching and self-examination if that’s the case.

In case you forgot, here’s Madeleine Albright not only not denying that the U.S. sanctions killed 500,000 Iraqi children, she said it was “worth it”:

Please heed the words of Maj. Gen. Smedley D. Butler about these matters:

“WAR is a racket. It always has been.

It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.

A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small “inside” group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.

In the World War [I] a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows.

How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle? How many of them dug a trench? How many of them knew what it meant to go hungry in a rat-infested dug-out? How many of them spent sleepless, frightened nights, ducking shells and shrapnel and machine gun bullets? How many of them parried a bayonet thrust of an enemy? How many of them were wounded or killed in battle?

Out of war nations acquire additional territory, if they are victorious. They just take it. This newly acquired territory promptly is exploited by the few — the selfsame few who wrung dollars out of blood in the war. The general public shoulders the bill.“

 

Posted in Iraq, ISIS, War Is A Racket | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

“YOU’RE A TERRORIST IF YOU TRY TO VERIFY WHAT WE’RE TELLING YOU”

Posted on August 21, 2014 by eggsistense

At least that’s how I read the statement from Scotland Yard, reported here in the Daily Mail:

“‘We would like to remind the public that viewing, downloading or disseminating extremist material within the UK may constitute an offence under terrorism legislation.‘”

In other words, just take our word for it that these horrible terrorists committed an unspeakable atrocity–i.e., cut off Foley’s head–so now we have to go commit more unspeakable atrocities, i.e., bomb more women and children.  We have to retaliate for their retaliation.  Because freedom.  And um, peace is, ah, not that profitable.

Well, I’m in America and I did watch it.  And I know why Scotland Yard doesn’t want people watching it.  Infowars’ Paul Joseph Watson–a British citizen who put together the video analysis of the Foley situation that is linked below–has the same reaction to it that I did:

1) When the ISIS guy starts sawing at Foley’s neck, there’s not a drop of blood visible, and every guy knows that even if you just cut yourself shaving on your neck, blood appears immediately.

2) The video fades out only seconds after the bloodless sawing begins–if ISIS is trying to shock the conscience of the world, why not show the whole gruesome affair?

3) When the video fades back in, we see a still shot of headless body lying chest down with a head resting on the back of the headless body.  Easiest Photoshop assignment there is–any giveaway edits can just be covered in Photoshopped blood.

And Paul Joseph Watson brings up other points:  why was Foley so calm when reading the statement?  Why did he not struggle at all when the sawing began?  He also brings up something I hadn’t heard about–apparently a young man recently did a fake beheading video and everyone, including the authorities, were convinced it was real.  And this fellow did this without the black budget of the CIA, one would presume.

From Prison Planet:

Posted in Conspiracy, Everything Is Rigged, Middle East, War Is A Racket | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

BoA SETTLEMENT=BS

Posted on August 21, 2014 by eggsistense

WhiteBelliedSeaEagleSnake3_CM

Never fear, citizens!  With this much-ballyhooed $16.65 billion settlement, our hero Eric Holder has swooped in like the proverbial mighty raptor eagle, ruler of the skies, and snatched the lowly serpent–a “BoA”–in its fearsome talons, to be sacrificed for the eagle’s nourishment.

Yeah, I wish.

According to the New York Times:

“The landmark settlement, announced by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in Washington on Thursday morning, requires Bank of America to pay a $9.65 billion cash penalty and provide about $7 billion in relief to homeowners and blighted neighborhoods.

‘The size and scope of this multibillion-dollar agreement go far beyond the ‘cost of doing business,’’Mr. Holder said in a prepared statement. ‘This outcome does not preclude any criminal charges against the bank of its employees. Nor was it inevitable over these last few weeks that this case would be resolved out of court.'”

Wow!  A record settlement!  That’s a lot of money, right?  It would be, if that’s what BoA actually has to pay.  But that’s extremely unlikely, as pointed out yesterday by the Associated Press in an article titled “Bank of America’s $17 Billion Settlement Won’t Cost It $17 Billion”:

“How much will Bank of America’s (BAC) expected $17 billion mortgage settlement cost the company? The answer is, almost certainly not that much.

In mega-settlements negotiated with the government, a dollar is rarely worth an actual dollar.

Inflated figures make sensational headlines for the Justice Department, and $17 billion would be the largest settlement by far arising from the economic meltdown in which millions of people in the United States lost their homes to foreclosure. But the true cost to companies is often obscured by potential tax deductions and opaque accounting techniques.“

So Eric Holder/Obama get to appear to be really punishing the big bad BoA constrictor, when the reality will undoubtedly be much different than what is now being loudly trumpeted.  Especially when one considers the “opaque accounting techniques” mentioned above, which is a pleasant euphemism for fraudulent accounting.

Don’t forget that it was such “opaque accounting techniques” that resulted in a little accounting “oopsie” that persisted for 5 years which made it appear that BoA had $4 billion more than it actually had, according to the New York Times back in April:

” Bank of America disclosed on Monday that it had made a significant error in the way it calculates a crucial measure of its financial health, suffering another blow to its effort to shake its troubled history.

The mistake, which had gone undetected for several years, led the bank to report recently that it had $4 billion more capital than it actually had. After Bank of America reported its error to the Federal Reserve, the regulator required the bank to suspend a share buyback and a planned increase in its quarterly dividend.”

As they might say in Nawth Cuh-lina, BoA’s base of operations: “Well, ah dee-clay-uh!”  Everyone who looked at BoA’s books just somehow missed this.  For five years–from 2009 (the year after the financial crisis of 2008, the bailout, when BoA bought Merrill Lynch and Countrywide, the time when banks should have been under the most intense scrutiny of all) until 2014, everyone “missed” this, according to the Charlotte Business Journal:

“Bank of America’s accountants shouldn’t be the only ones blushing about their recent blunder. External auditors and federal regulators for five years overlooked the mistake, too. 

[SNIP]

The mistake, a  complicated accounting process that wasn’t carried out properly, dates back to 2009 when the bank bought Merrill Lynch and has been repeated year after year. People inside the bank last week caught the error and spoke up. It was then reported to federal regulators.

While it’s certainly the bank’s fault, for five years the blunder managed to avoid being detected by internal auditors, BofA’s external auditors and regulators at the Federal Reserve.“

Just a “mistake.” Uh, yeah…

So anyway, back to how the new BoA settlement won’t be as painful as advertised:

“Whether cash payments are structured as penalties or legal settlements can determine whether targeted companies can declare them as tax-deductible business expenses. Also, consumer relief is an amorphous cost category: If Bank of America’s deal resembles the department’s previous settlements with JPMorgan (JPM) and Citigroup (C), that part could be less costly to the company than the huge figures suggest.

Some relief comes from actions that do not cost the banks anything, including making loans in depressed areas or reducing the principal of mortgages owned by outside investors.

Banks earn a multiple of each dollar spent on some types of relief. Under Citi’s deal, for example, each dollar spent on legal aid counselors is worth $2 in credits, and paper losses on some affordable housing project loans can be credited at as much as four times their actual value.“

Of course, the details of all this surely will be overseen by federal regulators as well as outside auditors.  That will create the appearance of compliance with the settlement but will be touted as actually ensuring compliance.

And do you know who BoA’s auditor is?  The entity who will ensure compliance…I mean, create the appearance of compliance…er, um…you know what I mean… It’s PricewaterhouseCoopers, who oversaw “a series of audit failures” which was detailed in a 2013 report released by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board:

“The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) says that in many of the cases, the firms [PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG] had failed to gather sufficient appropriate audit evidence to support their audit opinions on the financial statements and on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting.

According to the PCAOB’s report on PwC, the board found significant deficiencies in 21 of the 52 audits it inspected. In one listed company audit, for example, the firm was found to have insufficiently tested the valuation of two categories of financial instruments that represented a significant portion of the company’s portfolio. Nor had it performed enough tests on controls over the valuation of fixed-maturity investment securities.”

So I feel confident that an auditor and regulators that “missed” a glaring accounting error for five years and has a record like that mentioned above will be very vigilant in seeing that Bank of America diligently pays all of its required settlement money.  Don’t you?  What’s that?  You don’t?  What are you, a terrorist?

And even if by some miracle BoA is made to strictly follow the settlement and cough up $10 billion in cash, they can just get it right back through QE, which isn’t ending until October.  And maybe not even then, according to the Washington Post:

“The Federal Reserve’s trillion-dollar effort to shore up the U.S. economy is likely to come to an end in October, closing the books on a bold but controversial experiment that has tested the limits of the central bank’s power.

For the past year and a half, the Fed has been buying tens of billions of dollars in government bonds and securities each month in an attempt to tamp down long-term interest rates and boost the recovery. It was the third and largest bond-buying program the central bank has launched since the 2008 financial crisis. But officials have been slowly scaling back the effort this year, and documents released Wednesday show that the Fed’s policy-setting committee is nearly ready to call it quits.”

All of which to say–if I were you, I wouldn’t feel too bad for bad ol’ BoA…

 

 

Posted in Bank of America, Everything Is Rigged, Federal Reserve, Foreclosure fraud, Reverse socialism, Too big to fail | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

COUNTRYWIDE FALLOUT: MOZILO AGAIN FACING FEDERAL CHARGES?

Posted on August 20, 2014 by eggsistense

26_angelo_lg

By now, we’ve all learned not to get our hopes up when the government sues the banks, but still, it’s nice to see it happen, especially when it happens twice, as is happening to Countrywide’s founder and California raisin poster child Angelo Mozilo (from Bloomberg):

“Countrywide Financial Corp. co-founder Angelo Mozilo hasn’t escaped the wrath of prosecutors for his company’s role in inflating the U.S. housing bubble that preceded the financial crisis.

More than 12 months after a deadline passed to file criminal charges, U.S. attorneys in Los Angeles are preparing a civil lawsuit against Mozilo and as many as 10 other former Countrywide employees, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

The government is making a last ditch-effort to hold him accountable for the excesses of the past decade’s subprime-mortgage boom, using a 25-year-old law that has helped the Justice Department win billions of dollars from Wall Street banks, said the people, who weren’t authorized to discuss the case publicly.”

Don’t see much coming of this other than a settlement–as usual–but then again, there’s a first time for everything…

Posted in Bank of America, Crap-italism, Fannie Mae, Financial Terrorism, Securitization Fail | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

43 YEARS OF FAKE MONEY: MUST-WATCH VIDEO

Posted on August 18, 2014 by eggsistense

ch9-history-money.jpg

Finally broke down and watched one of the videos I had been hearing about on the Peak Prosperity website.  This video was the 9th in a series of 27 and was appropriately posted last Friday, August 15, the 43rd anniversary of the Nixon Shock, a topic covered here the same day: “How Fake Money Became Legal Money: The Affirmation of the Nixon Shock.“

The video succinctly breaks down the most significant–and literally world-changing–events in US Monetary History in the last century, pointing out that the government has no problem breaking its own laws to rig the monetary system in favor of the few at the expense of the many.  As the site puts it:

“Looking at the past 100 years of the US dollar’s history, one theme becomes abundantly clear: in times of crisis, the US government has no issue with changing its own rules or breaking its own laws. And those “temporary” emergency measures have a nasty habit of quickly becoming permanent.”

And an extremely pertinent question is raised by both the video and the accompanying article:

“But as we see the US money supply exponentially accelerating since the 1970s, and the Federal Reserve more than tripling its balance sheet since 2008, it’s only prudent to ask the question: Without constraints, are we in danger of destroying the purchasing power of our currency by making too much of it? “

For those not inclined–or without the time–to watch, here are the most significant events in the last century, according this must-watch video:

1. Creation of the Federal Reserve (1913)–as the video states, the Fed is privately-owned and is a legalized cartel allowed to create our money supply

2. FDR confiscates gold of citizens (1933)

3. Bretton Woods system created (1944)–makes the US dollar the world’s reserve currency, allows foreign nations to convert dollars into gold even though US citizens are not allowed to do this

4. The Nixon Shock (1971)–Nixon ends the conversion of dollars into gold period, often called “closing the gold window” or, as this video calls it, “slamming” the “gold window.”

5. The Pure Fiat Era (1971-present)–The video does not call this period the “pure fiat era,” but that is what it is, an era in which money can be and is created willy-nilly out of nothing in ever-increasing amounts, creating ever-larger and un-repayable debts while simultaneously polluting the value of each dollar.

It is clear that the US and the world are coming to a crisis point over money, and what money means, how it is created, who controls it, and so forth.  This is the most important subject of the day in my mind, and the more people who can have their minds opened to the true nature of our system of fake, debt-enslaving money, the quicker it can be done away with.  So please share this video, if not this article, far and wide to help hasten the end of the banker occupation. 

¡Viva GIABO!

Other LRM articles on the subject of our problematic–that is to say, fraudulent–monetary system:

DOES MONEY EXIST?

 

THE SOLUTION: SINCE THE MONEY ISN’T REAL, THE DEBT ISN’T EITHER

 

INSTEAD OF BANNING CASH, GO TO SELF-ISSUED CURRENCY

 

UNICORNS ARE REAL–IF YOU’RE A BANK

 

WAR IS A RACKET TO PROP UP DOLLAR–END OF STORY

 

BANK SAYS: IF YOU BELIEVE BANKS LEND DEPOSITS, YOU ARE WRONG

 

Posted in Asset Bubble, Crap-italism, Debt, Debt Slavery, Everything Is Rigged, Federal Reserve, Feudalism, fiat currency, Financial Terrorism, Financialization, Foreclosure fraud, Keiser Report, Nixon Shock, Redistribution, Rent-seeking, Reverse socialism, Wage slavery, Wealth transfer | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

SEATTLE: SHERIFF ARRESTS DISABLED HOMEOWNER FOR TRESPASSING IN HIS OWN HOME

Posted on August 15, 2014 by eggsistense

Jean-and-Byron-Barton

Remember the Bartons?  And their eviction that was called off by Seattle’s mayor?

“‘A group of activists from Standing Against Foreclosure and Eviction (SAFE) sat outside Mayor Ed Murray’s office for four hours today, asking that he intervene to prevent the eviction of veteran and his wife from their West Seattle home, until the mayor and his chief of staff came out and met with them this afternoon.

According to SAFE organizer Josh Farris, Murray told them ‘the SPD is not coming’ to evict Byron and Jean Barton, and that he’d let the activists know if anything changes.'”

And then a lawsuit by the party that bought the Barton’s home at a foreclosure auction tried to get a writ of mandamus to make the mayor and the city police arrest the Bartons for trespassing–but the judge ruled against it?

“ORIGINAL REPORT, 11:36 AM: Just in: King County Superior Court Judge Mariane Spearman has rejected Triangle Property Development‘s petition for a “writ of mandamus” which would basically have forced Seattle Police to arrest Jean and Byron Barton for trespassing, as they continue to occupy the Morgan Junction home from which they were evicted last month, three months after Triangle bought it at a foreclosure auction. The judge’s ruling comes five days after a hearing on the issue (WSB coverage here). Judge Spearman wrote that SPD has discretion on whether to make an arrest in a situation like this, and that an “extraordinary” move such as a writ of mandamus is not appropriate for compelling an action in which there is discretion.”

Well, all that has been undone now, and a disabled veteran has been arrested and evicted from his home, thanks to the Kings County Sheriff’s concern about the “victimization” of Triangle Property Development (the entity that purchased the Barton home at the foreclosure auction) because “politics” has been “allowed to ride roughshod over the rule of law“:

“’There are no winners in this situation, not the least of which is Mr. Barton, who is gravely disabled, and was living in extremely unsanitary and therefore dangerous conditions’, said Sheriff John Urquhart. ‘But Triangle Property Development, the lawful owner of the home, is a victim of bureaucratic inaction and back-and-forth finger-pointing between the City of Seattle and the Sheriff’s Office. That is inexcusable and that’s why I ordered today’s action. When politics is allowed to ride roughshod over the rule of law, everyone suffers. I was not willing to let that continue,‘ Urquhart added.”

What the good sheriff apparently fails to understand is that the Bartons have cast doubt on whether or not Triangle Property Development is in fact the “lawful owner of the home” and there is ongoing litigation about that very question.  Howard and Nova-Lee Graber can certainly relate to this kind of treatment, since the overall details are substantially the same: disabled husband, attempt to litigate the matter ignored, forcibly removed by police.

What the good sheriff also fails to understand is that maybe the Bartons have a little more to lose here than Triangle Property Development.  Well, not maybe–definitely.  This stance of the sheriff’s will have to be remembered when election time rolls around again…

(h/t Shelley Erickson)

UPDATE: WHO IS TRIANGLE PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT?

Here is video of Triangle Property Development’s Wendy Klahr talking to the press about the Bartons:

Triangle Property Development

And this, from a post from SAFE’s Facebook page about the issue:

“Weird update from today. Company founder, Wendy Klahr, of Triangle Property Development LLC is stating a fact not in evidence. She says they own the property. I have to stress that this issue is in the courts. There is a civil case of the Barton family versus JP Morgan Chase which concerns the illegitimate foreclosure by the bank. This property is in a civil land dispute. There is a legal challenge to the foreclosure of the property which would void the sale in which Triangle purchased the home. Shall I repeat that? There is a legal challenge to the foreclosure of the property which would void the sale in which Triangle purchased the home. Is the stress here on conforming to the law? You bet your ass. She has no standing to claim her company owns the property and THAT’S JUST THE SIMPLE TRUTH. “

 

Posted in civil rights, Crap-italism, Everything Is Rigged, Eviction, Feudalism, Foreclosure fraud, Washington | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

TURNING “MISERY INTO MONEY”: THE INJUSTICE INDUSTRY OF THE BANKS

Posted on August 15, 2014 by eggsistense

Joel Sucher covers the waterfront of foreclosure fraud today, even giving a shoutout to us here at LRM.  Sucher performs the badly-needed service of humanizing and un-demonizing those damaged by the ongoing foreclosure maelstrom:

“The largely nameless victims in this crisis brings to mind Jules Dassin’s fabled 1948 film noir classic, Naked City, that explored the lives of New York’s underclass. At the movies finale a disembodied narrator’s voice proclaims, ‘There are 8 million stories in the Naked City, this has been one of them.’

The movie inspired an idea. I’d like to host a party over at my place and invite a few foreclosure victims. Perhaps Secretary Lew might attend. He lives just a stone’s throw from my digs in Westchester (he calls the Riverdale section of the Bronx home). Tim Geithner would be welcome as well. He hails from the nearby Westchester village of Mamaroneck. A meet and greet would give them a chance to chat with real flesh and blood individuals who’ve weathered the outrageous slings and arrows of an industry bent on driving them from their homes.“

He then goes on to name several of those “nameless victims,” including Mary McCulley, who has been extensively covered here at LRM:

“Montana resident, Mary McCulley, may find it difficult to attend. Currently she’s a guest of the Federal government, serving time in the slammer for allegedly “impersonating” a government agent while investigating why her bank — U.S. Bank — decided to change a 300,000 30-year loan to a 200,000 loan due in eighteen months. A Montana Jury in February, 2014, found her accusations credible to the tune of six million dollars (a verdict reached several months before her incarceration). The case, first mentioned in a Salon.com article is a jaw dropper, and enough to make you wonder why Hollywood hasn’t yet come knocking on her jail cell door. “

In case you missed it, that “jaw dropper” part links back to LRM’s interview with Mary from May 7!  Sucher also tells the stories of KathyJo Enders Torrenga (which LRM covered here and here) and JoAnn Kennedy, both on the radar screen here at LRM.  Sucher accurately (and poetically, in my view) captures the raison d’être of the foreclosure (read: injustice) industry and warns us of their upcoming plans:

“These folks represent a constituency that’s been victimized by an industry that just keeps steamrolling along looking for new ways to turn misery into money and they’ll be getting together for their own soiree in mid-September in Dallas. Yes, the foreclosure empire will be striking back with some of the biggest names in mortgage banking and servicing in attendance, all trading notes on how best to thwart any strategic offensive by the defaulting homeless rabble.“

Here’s a promo video for the soiree Sucher’s talking about (shudder):

Foreclosure confab

Have sweet dreams tonight after watching that!  Dallas is already ground zero for a whole shit-ton of foreclosure scamming and document-forging/paper terrorism, so who knows what kind of banking/foreclosure black hole could be opened up by bringing all this fraud to one place…

Posted in Conspiracy, Crap-italism, Everything Is Rigged, Foreclosure, Foreclosure fraud, Mary McCulley, Paper terrorism, Securitization Fail, Wealth transfer | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

HOW FAKE MONEY BECAME LEGAL MONEY: THE AFFIRMATION OF THE NIXON SHOCK

Posted on August 15, 2014 by eggsistense

NIXON

Forty-three years ago today in what is now not-so-commonly known as the “Nixon Shock”, Richard Nixon ended the Bretton Woods system by ending the convertibility of Federal Reserve Notes to gold, thereby putting the United States—and the world—on the road to financial ruin.  Or, to put it another way, Nixon made us all debt slaves to money printed out of thin air, leading to the inevitable foreclosure fraud, unemployment, bailouts, bail-ins and other treachery currently being visited upon us all.

Yes, Bank of America picked a winner when they plucked ol’ Dick Nixon from obscurity in 1945.  Through Nixon, Bank of America achieved a magical feat even more fantastic than alchemy—to be able to create unlimited amounts of money at will, unbound by any brutish metals or economic reality.  To be able to wield the incredible power and influence that such unlimited money can buy, and to be able to become the 1% of the population that keeps the 99% in perpetual debt servitude.  And it only took 26 short years to get it done, from the September 29, 1945 letter sent to Nixon by Bank of America’s H.L. Perry until August 15, 1971.

Nixon-BoA Letter 8-16-12

A copy of the letter is displayed in the museum of the Richard NIxon Birthplace in Yorba Linda, California.

Nixon, 9th Circuit and how fake money became “Lawful Money”

Here’s what happened in a nutshell: 1) Bank of America picked Dick Nixon, 2) Dick Nixon picked some federal judges, 3) Dick Nixon created the pure fiat/imaginary/out-of-thin-air/fictional money we now use and that is a banker’s wet dream, 4) and then Dick Nixon’s judges affirmed that the fake money is real money.  So let’s take these four points one at a time.

1. Obviously, we have the letter from H.L. Perry pictured above, which is on display at Nixon’s birthplace in Yorba Linda, CA.  We also have the following account from pioneering independent journalist Mae Brussell, from an August 1972 issue of The Realist magazine:

“In August, 1945, a Committee of One Hundred Men located in California placed an advertisement in 26 newspapers:

WANTED — Congressman candidate with no previous political experience to defeat a man who has represented the district in the House for ten years. Any young man, resident of district, preferably a veteran, fair education, no political strings or obligations and possessor of a few ideas for betterment of country at large may apply for the job. Applicants will be reviewed by 100 interested citizens who will guarantee support but will not obligate the candidate in any way. (26)

That ad was typical, a covert method of pretending this was an open contest for office. Richard Nixon, located in Maryland, still in the Navy, received a telephone call from Herman Perry. ‘Are you a republican and are you available?’ were the two questions asked of Nixon.(27)

Herman Perry was vice president of Bank of America (28) — which was soon on its way to becoming the largest private bank in the world. By 1960, one hundred top corporations were spending $21-billion for military goods. In California alone, fully half of all jobs related directly or indirectly on the continuance of the arms race.(29)

Richard Nixon, poor, from an unknown family, absent from the California scene for many formative years during law school and military service, was selected to represent old guard California republicans who picked him to run for Congress.(30) He was called upon to serve the strategists.

Nixon was ‘recognized.’”

2. Indeed, Nixon was recognized, and elected to two terms as President, which of course enabled him to appoint federal judges, including those in the influential Ninth Circuit.  Here are some of Nixon’s appointees to the Ninth Circuit: Eugene Allen Wright, Herbert Choy, John Francis Kilkenny, Ozell Miller Trask, Alfred Goodwin.  Remember those names—they’ll come up again shortly.

3. Nixon announces the end of the convertibility of the dollar into gold:

4. Noted attorney Larry Becraft has compiled a list of several cases which are cited as having “destroyed” the argument that money created out of thin air is not real money, all but one of which were decided after the Nixon Shock (as you obviously can see):

“Adverse Federal Decisions:

1. Koll v. Wayzata State Bank, 397 F.2d 124 (8th Cir. 1968)
2. United States v. Daly, 481 F.2d 28 (8th Cir. 1973)
3. Milam v. United States, 524 F.2d 629 (9th Cir. 1974)
4. United States v. Scott, 521 F.2d 1188 (9th Cir. 1975)
5. United States v. Gardiner, 531 F.2d 953 (9th Cir. 1976)
6. United States v. Wangrud, 533 F.2d 495 (9th Cir. 1976)
7. United States v. Kelley, 539 F.2d 1199 (9th Cir. 1976)
8. United States v. Schmitz, 542 F.2d 782 (9th Cir. 1976)
9. United States v. Whitesel, 543 F.2d 1176 (6th Cir. 1976)
10. United States v. Hurd, 549 F.2d 118 (9th Cir. 1977)
11. Mathes v. Commissioner, 576 F.2d 70 (5th Cir. 1978)
12. United States v. Rifen, 577 F.2d 1111 (8th Cir. 1978)
13. United States v. Anderson, 584 F.2d 369 (10th Cir. 1978)
14. United States v. Benson, 592 F.2d 257 (5th Cir. 1979)
15. Nyhus v. Commissioner, 594 F.2d 1213 (8th Cir. 1979)
16. United States v. Hori, 470 F.Supp. 1209 (C.D.Cal. 1979)
17. United States v. Tissi, 601 F.2d 372 (8th Cir. 1979)
18. United States v. Ware, 608 F.2d 400 (10th Cir. 1979)
19. United States v. Moon, 616 F.2d 1043 (8th Cir. 1980)
20. United States v. Rickman, 638 F.2d 182 (10th Cir. 1980)
21. Birkenstock v. Commissioner, 646 F.2d 1185 (7th Cir. 1981)
22. Lary v. Commissioner, 842 F.2d 296 (11th Cir. 1988)”

Notice that none of these decisions are U.S. Supreme Court decisions, and that the court that shows up the most in this list is the Ninth Circuit.  And again, all but one were decided after the Nixon Shock, as a direct challenge to the Nixon Shock, whether intentional or not. And that’s what the bank-owned courts can’t abide–challenges to their system of total enrichment for them and total enslavement for us.  So the challenges were of course slapped down.

One of these cases, number three on this list, is currently cited by the Federal Reserve on its website as being one of the cases which firmly established that Federal Reserve Notes are “lawful money”:

“In 1933, Congress changed the law so that all U.S. coins and currency (including Federal Reserve notes), regardless of when issued, constitutes ‘legal tender’ for all purposes. Federal and state courts since then have repeatedly held that Federal Reserve notes are also ‘lawful money.’ Milam v. U.S., 524 F.2d 629 (9th Cir. 1974), is typical of the federal and state court cases holding that Federal Reserve notes are ‘lawful money.’ In Milam, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reviewed a judgment denying relief to an individual who sought to redeem a $50 Federal Reserve Bank Note in ‘lawful money.’ The United States tendered Milam $50 in Federal Reserve notes, but Milam refused the notes, asserting that “lawful money” must be gold or silver. The Ninth Circuit, noting that this matter had been put to rest by the U.S. Supreme Court nearly a century before in the Legal Tender Cases (Juilliard v. Greenman), 110 U.S. 421 (1884), rejected this assertion as frivolous and affirmed the judgment. “

Boys and girls, can you guess who appointed the majority of the judges on the Milam panel?  Of course you can—Richard Nixon.  He appointed John Francis Kilkenny and Ozell Miller Trask, two of three judges on the Milam panel.  And go down the list above—the Nixon appointees named above had their hands in a number of the listed decisions.

It’s interesting to note, however, that even though the Milam court said that Federal Reserve Notes are “lawful money,” it stated that said lawfulness was pursuant to 12 U.S.C. § 411:

“The power so precisely described in Juilliard has been delegated to the Federal Reserve System under the provisions of 12 U.S.C. § 411. Appellant’s challenge to the validity of this legislation is meritless. Cf. 31 U.S.C. § 392.”

But 12 U.S.C. § 411 itself seems to make a distinction between Federal Reserve Notes and lawful money, to wit:

Ҥ411. Issuance to reserve banks; nature of obligation; redemption

Federal reserve notes, to be issued at the discretion of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for the purpose of making advances to Federal reserve banks through the Federal reserve agents as hereinafter set forth and for no other purpose, are authorized. The said notes shall be obligations of the United States and shall be receivable by all national and member banks and Federal reserve banks and for all taxes, customs, and other public dues. They shall be redeemed in lawful money on demand at the Treasury Department of the United States, in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, or at any Federal Reserve bank.”

A federal court making a decision based on circular logic?  As Yves Smith might say, “Quelle surprise!”

This can be undone

Despite what the powers that be—i.e., the courts—would have you believe, we don’t have to put up with this fakery.  We now know for absolute certain that money is fake, fictional, and created out of nothing.  Of course, these courts knew that, too, but as usual, the courts serve the banks. For how much longer?  Only as long as we put up with it before we demand that these decisions be reversed and supplanted by decisions based in reality instead of banker fantasy.  Sounds impossible, but such reversals have been accomplished before on big topics, i.e., from Plessy to Brown v. Board.

At any rate, there you have it.  A nice Nixon Shock Day tale of how fake money became real money.  All you have to do is get a frontman to rig everything in your favor, then it’s billions upon billions upon trillions, forever and ever.  For them, of course.  Nothing for you.

FREE MONEY MEME LRM

Posted in Bank of America, California, civil rights, class war, Conspiracy, Crap-italism, Debt Slavery, Everything Is Rigged, Federal Reserve, Feudalism, fiat currency, Financialization, Kangaroo court, Nixon Shock, Redistribution, Rent-seeking, Reverse socialism, Wage slavery, Washington, Wealth transfer | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

FERGUSON AND THE “POLICE-ITARY”: COPS NOT FOLLOWING CONSTITUTION, JUST LIKE COP SAID LAST WEEK

Posted on August 14, 2014 by eggsistense

Remember last week’s video of the cop who said he doesn’t have to  follow the Constitution?

And remember that the Constitution says the following:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Surely you have heard by now that the police in Ferguson, Missouri are in fact abridging all of the rights in bold above.  To be sure, the cop that said he doesn’t have to follow the Constitution was in New Jersey, but it looks like the cops in Missouri—and rest assured, across the entire country—got the same memo.

Watch this video and see whether or not you think the right to peaceably assemble is being violated or not:

How about this story—would you say that the freedom of the press is being abridged or not:

“Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post and Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post told AP they were working in a fast-food restaurant when Special Forces entered the premises and started clearing them out. Reilly tried to take a photo, and police demanded his ID, which he lawfully declined to provide. The officers detained him regardless, according to Huffington Post official statement, ‘for not packing up fast enough.’

The Al Jazeera- America crew was also attacked and tear-gassed by security forces as they tried to film the protest. The team had thought they had reached a safe area when they were tear-gassed, said Al Jazeera’s Ash-Har Quraishi.

‘The Al Jazeera crew were in a place we believed to be safe,’ he said. ‘Soon afterwards people started running toward us, saying they were being fired on with rubber bullets. Rubber bullets were fired on us, and then a canister. We had to retreat into the neighborhood.’”

Ah, takes ya back, doesn’t it?  The U.S. military…I mean, police…er, mili…the police-itary loves targeting Al Jazeera.  Remember?

The people’s reaction is natural

When an unarmed person is gunned down in the street, it is completely natural for people to get upset.  The answer to situations like this is not for the people to calm down.  The answer is for the police to stop murdering people.  And stop violating the Constitution.

But unfortunately it doesn’t look like the police are going to stop murdering people.  And then when they’re called on it, as is happening in Ferguson, the reaction of the police is to try to make the people shut up about it.  Well, they aren’t going to shut up about it.  No one should shut up about it.

As for the looting and the rioting, who’s really doing the most and worst looting?  A few dozen people in Ferguson?  Or several thousand on Wall Street?

LOOTING

 

Posted in civil rights, class war, Police State, racism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

MARY MCCULLEY: THE RAILROAD TO HAZELTON

Posted on August 7, 2014 by eggsistense

McCulley Jail

By: Clinton Kirby and Glenn Augenstein

August 7, 2014

Readers of this site and/or those who otherwise follow the news about Mary McCulley may recall the interview with her published here on May 7, 2014, titled: “The $6 Million Woman: Interview With Mary McCulley.”

The May 7, 2014 story was published the day before a hearing to determine whether or not Mary would be released from prison. For reasons of discretion the entirety of the interview was not printed.  Why give the government anything to use against her in the hearing the next day?

This led to some confusion about the nature of what actually happened in Mary’s case, and we received a number of emails about some of those issues.  Had we decided to publish the interview in its entirety, the confusion would have been kept to a minimum.  The questions we received ranged from the nature of the gun charge that kept her in jail for nearly a year, to why she entered a guilty plea regarding the charge of impersonation of a government official if she wasn’t guilty.

We didn’t disclose any more details in response to those questions but always wanted to because we felt that the story was incomplete without them. Mary has now appealed her sentence. As part of that appeal a number of documents have become publicly accessible. Within those documents are a number of details that Mary revealed in her interview but which, out of deference and discretion, we previously omitted.

The railroading of Mary McCulley

The omitted details touch on the nature of the plea-bargain system Mary was subject to. They also touch on the veracity and truthfulness of the story told to the government that led to her current incarceration. In the lay opinion of these writers, Mary was railroaded. Here we present sufficient facts for readers to come to their own determinations.

It is important for people to know the travails of those who, like Mary, fight back against fraud and corruption, so the people can appreciate the full magnitude of not only Mary’s courage (and those like her), but also of the enormity of the problem.  It is important for them to know this so that: 1) they know they are not alone in this fight should they choose to engage; 2) they know they’re not crazy—the fraud they’re witness to is not imaginary, 3) and they can be aware how far the system may go to deprive them of their liberty and property.

Below are selections from publicly accessible documents in Mary’s appeal. Minimal commentary is included.

So why did she plead guilty if she wasn’t guilty?

In this exchange with J. Mayo Ashley, Mary’s second court-appointed public defender, Mary explains why she pled guilty to the impersonation charge even though she wasn’t guilty (from the transcript of a hearing on May 8, 2014 regarding whether or not Mary could be let out of custody and report on her own recognizance to the facility in which she would ultimately serve her sentence — the motion was denied):

Q (attorney Ashley) And you previously appeared before this Court and pleaded to impersonating a federal employee; is that correct?

A (Mary) I believe an employee of the government is what the terms were, yes.

Q And it is your position that you were somehow coerced into that plea; is that correct?

A Verbatim, what was said to me was that if I didn’t take a plea deal, I was not going to be able to take US Bank to trial.

Q Okay.

A Whether that’s coercion or intimidation, I don’t really know the terminology, but they made it very, very clear. And the importance of taking the bank to trial, as evidenced by these findings of fact, was not about the money. When Mr. Racicot talked about my bizarre behavior, which I’m assuming was in 2012, when I was in the civil litigation, what I witnessed was officers of the court fabricating evidence, making false statements to the judge, affidavits from senior vice-presidents of the banks that were false, and this was a very, very difficult thing for me to comprehend, not being a lawyer, not understanding that. And it was very, very disturbing.

Q But going —

A And —

Q But going back, Ms. McCulley —

A So — yes.

Q — you did tell this Court that you impersonated a federal employee?

A I impers- — I made up the name of the company. I was honest about that, DICS. I never used the word “federal,” I never said “United States,” and I did not use the word “government,” and there’s no such company.

Q Okay. But in any event, at that point, did you tell the Court that you were concerned about doing what you were doing?

A I believe I made a statement in September when the hearing was vacated that it was very important for me to take the bank to trial, and I believe, when the judge asked me if there was a side deal, I made a comment about going to trial with the bank.  So at that point, I didn’t have a choice. I mean, it was very clear to me: “Take a plea deal, or you’re not going to go to trial with the bank.” So that’s what I did.
And that is what I did.

Q And the plea in this case, a criminal case, that occurred prior to —

A In October.

Q — to the civil case going to trial in Bozeman; is that correct?

A Correct. Correct.

Q Okay. And you’re basically telling the Court now that there was newly discovered evidence, or at least in your opinion newly discovered evidence, from the civil case that would somehow alleviate your situation here; is that correct?

A Yes. In my opinion, the government was misled, and if they reviewed the findings of fact by Judge Brown [LRM NOTE: Judge Brown presided over McCulley’s suit against US Bank in which a jury awarded her $6 million in damages] and the mentions of the closing 11 times where a lot of the documents were forged, altered, copied, those are the witnesses in this case.

Q Okay.

A So I gave Mr. Racicot [LRM NOTE: Racicot is the government prosecutor in the impersonation case] about 30 or 40 exhibits that were relative to the credibility of the witnesses against me —

Q Now —

A — and I feel like, yeah, yes, it does shed new light.  It’s new evidence and proof.

We think it should be noted that Mary originally pled not guilty to the impersonation charge, before she was railroaded into believing the only way she could take US Bank to trial—the trial at which a jury awarded her $6 million in damages—was to plead guilty to the impersonation charge.  This information comes from a sworn declaration executed by Mary dated July 7, 2014, which states:

“In or around June 2013, I was indicted on several charges stemming from a civil law suit that I filed against the witnesses in 2009. I pled not guilty to the charges because I am not guilty.  The indictment came just months after I won my appeal against US BANK, and the Montana Supreme court remanded the case back for trial.

I explained to my court appointed lawyer that the witnesses were not being truthful, and in fact were involved in the mortgage fraud that was slated for trial Feb 3, 2014.  I explained that I believed they instituted this malicious prosecution to derail my lawsuit against them. My attorney stated this was not a defense, that he did not believe me, and said that if I did not take a plea deal, I would not be able to take the bank to trial for the fraud.

I understood that if new evidence arose, I would be able to withdraw my plea. At the plea hearing, I was reluctant to say that the company I created was ‘federal’ but my attorney pulled me aside and threatened me, and I then said “yeah federal whatever.” ( see  transcript)” 

DEBS-Soul-In-Prison copy

So what about the gun charge?

Here is Mary’s explanation of the gun charge–which a jury of her peers ultimately found to be only a misdemeanor (see point #14 below)—from another sworn declaration by Mary, dated July 28, 2014:

“My name is Mary Ann Mcculley, I am currently incarcerated in SFF Hazelton, Bruceton Mills, West Virginia. I am making this declaration under penalty of perjury, all of these statements are true to the best of my knowledge.

1) April 25, 2012, I was arrested and charged with assault with a weapon, a felony.

2) I drove myself toward the Law and Justice Center to turn myself in for what I thought
would be an accidental concealed weapon violation.

3) The facts showed that I had left a 22 caliber birdshot pistol in an overcoat.

4) I was interrogated by Detective Ferguson for hours, I asked for an attorney 6 times, and they ignored my request. They failed to read me my rights before throwing me in a high security cell.

5) The affidavit of probable cause, and the reports filed by the police stated I had slammed down some papers, and said ‘This is my final offer you will sign’ and alternately ‘This is the last paper you will ever sign,’ and then pulled a gun and pointed a gun on the witnesses. This later proved to be false.

6)I was represented by a public defender, Chris Petaja.

7)I was held on a million dollar bail, despite not being a flight risk and being indigent.At the time, my civil lawsuit against the witnesses was due on appeal at the Montana Supreme Court. I was pro-se.

8)The witnesses against me were the defendants in the civil fraud case, Mcculley v US Bank and American Land Title Company. These are some of the same witnesses against me in these recent charges [LRM NOTE: i.e., the impersonation charges].

9)The DVD of the Witness interviews, given to us by the prosecution was blank.
It was six months before a DVD of the witness interviews was provided to us.

10) Upon review of the witness interviews, taped by the police officers immediately after the incident, it was discovered that the statements made by the police on the affidavit were false. There were no demands, no threats and no witness said that I had pulled a gun or pointed a gun at anyone. In fact, they specifically said I DID NOT threaten anyone and did not point a gun at anyone.

11)Subsequently, my attorney filed a motion for a Franks hearing, and a motion to dismiss the assault with a weapon charges, arguing the affidavit was fourth level hearsay and the charge arguably should have been a concealed violation.

12)The State conceded the information on the affidavit was false, the judge denied us the right to question the police officers, who had been subpoenaed- and I was rearranged with a new version of the story, after being held for nine months at this point on a million dollar bail.

13) During my incarceration, I managed to file my appeal against US Bank and American Land Title Company, hoping to overturn the summary judgment rendered by Judge Brown of Gallatin County.

14)I went to trial for the Assault with a Weapon charge in Feb. 2013, and was found not guilty of the weapon charge.  I was released after serving nearly twice the maximum time for a misdemeanor assault.

15) In April 2013, against all odds, the Montana Supreme Court reversed and remanded that US Bank stand trial for fraud.  I was indicted on these new charges within months of winning my appeal.

16) It is undisputed that one of the Governments witness was the manager of American Land Title Company where most, if not all of the fraudulent documents were signed and/or altered. According to discovery produced by one of the witnesses for the Government, the lawyer for the title company, the government witness was the one who altered the $735,000 Deed of Trust after I had left the closing, and was acting as an agent for the bank.

17) At all times these witnesses lied to the government and had motive to lie. US Bank was found guilty of actual and constructive fraud in February 2014. There is no question as to the participation of the government witnesses in the fraud and I gave the court these exhibits and documents on Feb 18 2014, when I testified and hoped to withdraw my plea.

18) Because the police filed the false information regarding the gun story on the arresting documents, and conceded doing so, I filed a lawsuit against them in Federal Court just prior to sentencing on April 25, 2014, alleging libel, slander, and intentional infliction of emotional distress etc 1983. The story, fabricated by these officers, was published from Seattle to Washington DC via the AP newswire.

19)This fictional version of events of April 2012 made it into the PSI. I objected and provided my attorney Michael Donohoe with the witness interviews and files from the district case to prove it was false. Donohoe, however, failed to correct the PSI – or properly object to the damaging false information.

20)This story, admittedly made up by the Bozeman police named in the lawsuit, was used by Judge Haddon in sentencing me with the upward departure. In fact, he read this story in the May 8 hearing, as if it was true and factual when it is actually complete fiction.

21)I had also repeatedly begged Mayo Ashley to correct the PSI and also provided him with the info needed to prove the story was false, but he said that ‘ no one pays much attention the the PSR’ and he did not file the objections.

22) No one outside of these witnesses, who the record shows have not been truthful with this court or with law enforcement, nor were they truthful with the court in the US Bank civil trial, has ever claimed I was a ‘danger to the community.’

23) The court received numerous letters acknowledging who I am in support of me , which the Judge ignored.

24) I moved home to be my mothers primary caretaker in 2010. My mother is 82 and in very poor health. Despite plenty of evidence that I am her primary caregiver, including regular visits from my pre trial probation officer, Judge Haddon claimed he had no evidence that was the truth.

25) I believe that I have more than served my time for an act of carelessness in 2012, ten months for an accidental concealed violation that had a maximum sentence of 6 months. To use this mistake to label me as ‘dangerous’ is not proper.

26) The government is in possession of extremely incriminating new evidence against the witnesses, and I want to withdraw my plea based on these facts and go to trial to clear my name.”

A good summary of the absurdity

The frightening absurdity of Mary’s railroading is laid out very plainly by her current attorney Lenore Albert (this is from pp. 17-18 of Mary’s “Urgent F.R.A.P. 9 Motion” which seeks a stay of Mary’s sentence as well as release pending the outcome of the appeal):

“She suffers from PTSD and is sitting in a medium security prison in Hazelton although, she herself, was never charged with a violent crime. In fact, she has no other prior criminal history other than the related state criminal proceeding where she was found not guilty for the charge of assault with a deadly weapon (the only other violent criminal charge she has ever had).

She was merely a photographer fighting bank fraud in pro per in a Montana civil court where she eventually won $1 million in actual damages for fraud plus punitive damages for the bank’s bad behavior that included, lying to the tribunal.  Now how can the federal government rely on the statements by those same people in asserting their prosecution (of a purported crime that is rarely ever prosecuted and never prosecuted when there is no financial gain in reality, especially when it is reported on the eve of civil mediation by the opposing party who feigns the belief that the company D.I.C.S. is a federal agency of the FBI that he believed Ms. McCulley worked for–even though she had deposed that same man seven (7) months previously).

Then the USDOJ prosecuting the case, is not just any USDOJ, but the governor’s son. So in sum, this Court would have to come to the conclusion that a local ex-cop’s son (Tom Cahill) and the governor’s son (USDOJ Racicott) both had the reason to believe that Ms. McCulley impersonated a FBI agent to Tom Cahill because she walked up to him the day before their mediation and said she worked for a company called DICS.  So that leads to the reasonable conclusion, she must be an employee of the FBI and is falsely impersonating one.  This is what the people’s federal taxes are paying for?

Then in February it was proven that Tom Cahill is the same person who actually assisted in committing the fraud by changing the terms on the loan documents and/or land records. Yet, the USDOJ still does not dismiss the case even though the complaint was brought solely on the witness statement of Tom Cahill and his wife. There was no other independent evidence.  Being thrown in prison in order to try to stop a person from continuing their civil suit for fraud, after being told they had to plead to one count or else they would not get their case to civil trial, is irreparable harm.  It not only harms Ms. McCulley, but it also harms the federal government, the overcrowding of the BOP, and the people.

Finally, Ms. McCulley has been the sole caretaker of her elderly mom who has alzheimers. They were living in Kentucky. Ms. McCulley should be released to take care of her mom. Her mom’s health is also at stake. She already lost her uncle during her civil trial, it is doubted the government would want to sit idly by and see if Ms. McCulley’s mom also dies pending her incarceration.”

And there you have it

It is our hope the information presented here will help garner more support for Mary in the minds of the public and help create a groundswell of outrage against her incarceration leading to her release, and to righting the wrongs committed against her. From our own cases we know the filing of these types of motions, pleadings, and other papers feel like screaming pointlessly into a void. Does anyone even read them? Let’s all help assure that Mary isn’t screaming pointlessly into a void…and make sure she can catch a train straight back to the outside!

Posted in Conspiracy, Everything Is Rigged, Foreclosure fraud, Mary McCulley, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments