Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

U.S. to let spy agencies scour Americans' finances
Reuters | Emily Flitter | 03/13/13

The Obama administration is drawing up plans to give all U.S. spy agencies full access to a massive database that contains financial data on American citizens and others who bank in the country, according to a Treasury Department document seen by Reuters.

The proposed plan represents a major step by U.S. intelligence agencies to spot and track down terrorist networks and crime syndicates by bringing together financial databanks, criminal records and military intelligence. The plan, which legal experts say is permissible under U.S. law, is nonetheless likely to trigger intense criticism from privacy advocates.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation already has full access to the database. However, intelligence agencies, such as the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, currently have to make case-by-case requests for information to FinCEN. Read more

Why today's Cyprus bailout could be the start of the next financial crisis
WashingtonPost | author | 03/16/13

It is a bad day to have your money deposited in a bank in the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus. And it may just mean some bad days ahead for the rest of us.

Early Saturday, the nation reached an agreement with international lenders for bailout help. Part of the agreement: Bank depositors with more than 100,000 euros ($131,000) in their accounts will take a 9.9 percent haircut. Even those with less in savings will see their accounts reduced by 6.75 percent. That's right: Anyone with money in a Cypriot bank will have significantly less money when the banks open for business Tuesday than they did on Friday. ... Read more

Secret Banking Cabal Emerges From AIG Shadows
Bloomberg | David Reilly | 01/28/10

We're talking about the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, whose role as the most influential part of the federal-reserve system -- apart from the matter of AIG's bailout -- deserves further congressional scrutiny.

The New York Fed is in the hot seat for its decision in November 2008 to buy out, for about $30 billion, insurance contracts AIG sold on toxic debt securities to banks, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co., Societe Generale and Deutsche Bank AG, among others. That decision, critics say, amounted to a back-door bailout for the banks, which received 100 cents on the dollar for contracts that would have been worth far less had AIG been allowed to fail. ... Read more

A Secretive Banking Elite Rules Trading in Derivatives
NYT | Louise Story | 12/11/10

On the third Wednesday of every month, the nine members of an elite Wall Street society gather in Midtown Manhattan. The men share a common goal: to protect the interests of big banks in the vast market for derivatives, one of the most profitable -- and controversial -- fields in finance. They also share a common secret: The details of their meetings, even their identities, have been strictly confidential.

Drawn from giants like JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the bankers form a powerful committee that helps oversee trading in derivatives, instruments which, like insurance, are used to hedge risk. The banks in this group, which is affiliated with a new derivatives clearinghouse, have fought to block other banks from entering the market, and they are also trying to thwart efforts to make full information on prices and fees freely available.... Read more

Honor Killing In Michigan: Iranian Sanaz Nezami Savagely Beaten By Islamic Husband -- Family Watches Death Online
ItMakesSenseBlog.com | author | 01/08/14

... In August, Nezami married Nima Nassiri in Turkey and lived with him temporarily in the Los Angeles area, where he was born and raised. Her sister said the two met over the Internet.

Nezami, a native of Tehran, had a bachelor's degree in engineering and a master's in French translation. She wanted a doctorate degree in environmental engineering. The newlyweds drove from California and found a rental home in November in Michigan. Nezami stayed in touch with family through e-mail, text message and video.

Leaving her family in Iran, she took off with Nima Nassiri. Keeping in touch with her family via the internet ... Read more