TiLTNews Network: Earth Watch - Freedom is defined by the ability of citizens to live without government interference, not by safety. It is easy to clamor for government security when terrible things happen; but liberty is given true meaning when we support it without exception, and we will be safer for it ~ Dr. Ron Paul
The following listing of important phone numbers and web sites for COMSEC Custodians was obtained from the website of the University of Central Florida.
COMSEC CUSTODIAN IMPORTANT NUMBERS & ASSOCIATED WEB SITES
- 5 pages
- For Official Use Only
- February 2013
(U//FOUO) NSA COMSEC Custodian Important Phone Numbers and Web Sites List
Public Intelligence
Tue, 13 May 2014 02:09:55 GMT
Maybe a child safety seat would be a great place to stash-your-cash while traveling!
As you plan for your summer travels we all need to be on the look out for VIPR’s, I’m not talking about the car, but rather a program developed by the Department of Homeland Security, and deployed at the state level. Tennessee was the first state to experiment with this new form of tyranny. VIPR’s patrol the interstates looking for “terrorist”. That’s right, “terrorist”. With so much evidence supporting the possibility of a terrorist attack on US interstates this program should have been rolled out when the first interstate was built. It seems like every week I read a report about another “terrorist” attack being instigated from one of the major interstates that criss-cross our once proud Republic. Let’s not forget that a viper is also another word for snake. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary the word viper is defined as – a limbless reptile with a long body [a viper sliding silently through the field]. Sounds about right to me.
I am sure a lot of you have read articles regarding how local and state police just randomly stop people while traveling down the freeway. If you happen to be carrying a large amount of cash, you know to make a legitimate purchase or you simply like having a lot of cash, you will need to hide it really well. Another story of a law abiding citizen having there cash stolen by the police state has recently surfaced. These dirtbags are getting more brazen all the time. Let’s not forget the police are here to “protect and serve”. No one ever said who they were protecting and serving. As time goes by the picture is getting quiet clear who is being protected and served, and it ain’t us.
According to PoliceStateUSA.com:
Tan Nguyen was the lucky gambler who was stopped along I-80 in Humboldt County. Nguyen was stopped by Deputy Lee Dove for only going 3 miles per hour above the posted speed limit.
First, raise your hand if, under normal driving conditions and circumstances, while driving on the interstate, you drive slightly above the posted speed limit. I dare say most vehicles, including the ones supposedly representing the law, travel slightly above the posted speed limit. So far, sounds like a target of opportunity.
To establish the grounds for searching Nguyen’s vehicle, the deputy began to claim that he smelled drugs.
“I just smelled weed. I know I did. I know I smelled weed,” said Dove in the dash-cam video available from KLAS-TV.
Deputy Dove is a skilled narcotics agent that knows that accusing someone of drug trafficking is all that is required to walk away with their money and property. The policy that enables him to do this is known as civil asset forfeiture. “How much money you got?” asks the deputy.
What stands out to me, are the words “began” and “just”. What is this so-called “skilled narcotics agent” talking about? When did he “begin” to “just” smell weed? Right before stopping at the doughnut shop or immediately after leaving? Can you say, bullshit? I knew you could. What this establishes is the fact that you and I are wards of the state. We have no rights and the people that are suppose to represent the law are establishing themselves as being above the law. In case after case it is shown that motorist are like an ATM machine for the state.
NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather
You feel you have been wronged and the state simply stole your money? Well, good luck getting your money back. According to a report from Infowars.com, you may need an attorney:
There’s a state law in Tennessee that allows police to keep large amounts of cash from routine stops if they suspect it’s going to be used for drug trafficking. If the money’s owner doesn’t seek legal recourse to get their money back, the agency gets to keep it.
I suspect our Founding Fathers are either rolling in theirs graves or crying for the loss of their Republic. When will the people rise up and say no more? When a state writes into law they can steal your cash, based on nothing, the control mechanism has been greatly enhanced.
Stash your cash when going to make that legitimate large purchase and happy motoring!
Delivered by The Daily Sheeple
Contributed by Rory Hall of The Daily Coin.
As a daily contributor at SGTReport.com. for the past two years I have written a several original articles and interviewed some of the top precious metals professionals in the industry, as well as top preparedness specialists in the world. YouTube Channel, The Daily Coin, was launched in February 2014 and website TheDailyCoin.org was launched April 25, 2014. As a student of monetary, financial and economic history for the past five years it has taught me to watch the markets with an open mind and a hand on my wallet.
Also, built and maintained Rory’s Glass (Eyes of the Heart Glassworks) – now closed to the public.
Stash Your Cash!
Rory Hall
Tue, 13 May 2014 03:57:33 GMT
3:07 PM, MAY 13, 2014 • BY JOHN MCCORMACK
Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday that the Department of Justice doesn't have any plans to investigate allegations that veterans placed on secret waiting lists at VA hospitals died while waiting for care.
"Well, obviously these reports if they're true are unacceptable, and the allegations are being taken very seriously by the administration. But I don't have any announcements at this time with regard to anything that the Justice Department is doing," Holder told reporters at a press conference.
"This is something on our radar screen at this point, but there is an investigation being done by the [VA] inspector general, and we'll see what happens as a result of that inquiry and other information that comes to light in some form or fashion," Holder added.
According to CNN, at least 40 veterans died while waiting for treatment at one VA hospital in Phoenix. Members of Congress have said in recent weeks that the inspector general investigation is inadequate and have called on the DOJ to launch its own investigation.
"Because these cases involve individuals working in their capacity as federal employees, and these incidents have occurred at federal facilities throughout the nation, I urge you to work with the state Attorneys General in Arizona and across the country to investigate these preventable deaths thoroughly, determine appropriate criminal charges, and prosecute the offenders accordingly," Rep. Tom Rooney, a Republican of Florida, wrote in a letter to Holder on May 1.
Holder's announcement that the DOJ doesn't currently have any plans to investigate the VA hospital scandal was made Tuesday afternoon at a press conference held to announce that the DOJ was filing a lawsuit against lenders under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which caps interest rates on student loans at 6 percent for members of the military.
"We are here to announce a landmark step forward in our effort to achieve justice for victims of improper lending practices--and to protect the men and women of America's armed services from anyone who would take advantage of those who wear the uniform," Holder said.
What we have here is out-of-control, police-state government at its worst. A Florida couple is going to court after being fined thousands of dollars and threatened with jail time for feeding the homeless in their community.
from NBC:
Debbie and Chico Jimenez openly admit committing the act that earned them two citations apiece: feeding more than 100 people who are homeless in Daytona Beach.
Police in Daytona Beach also threatened them with arrest and incarceration, if they offer any more of their home-cooked meals at Manatee Island Park, a gathering the Jimenezes say they’ve hosted every Wednesday for the past year.
“The worst thing is, these are people we have grown to love, they’ve become like family to us, and now we’re not allowed to go down and do that anymore. It’s just heartbreaking. I have cried and cried and cried,” said Debbie Jimenez, 52, a retired auto parts store manager. She and her husband, 60, a retired construction manager, operate New Smyrna Beach-based ministry called “Spreading the Word Without Saying a Word.”
“One of our (homeless) friends said that Wednesday is just not going to be Wednesday anymore,” Debbie Jimenez added. “We were given 10 days to either pay the fine or tell them we’re going to court. We’re going to court. The police don’t like it. But how can we turn our backs on the hungry? We can’t.”
In all, police officers ticketed six people, including four volunteers who helped the Jimenezes on Wednesday – one of them, a man in a wheelchair who recently escaped homelessness and participated “to pay it forward,” Debbie Jimenez said. The fines levied by authorities total $2,238.
The police claim that some of the homeless people have been gathering in the park in a drunk and disorderly fashion, and thus they’re taking it out on the compassionate people who are trying to better the situation.
This is a perfect example of big government vs private charity. Statist government hates private charity because it does not allow officials the luxury of control.
- See more at: http://poorrichardsnews.com/post/85652038358/florida-couple-fined-thousands-of-dollars-threatened#sthash.POrUp2fB.dpuf
by David Griffith
Contributor
The Law of non interference. I looked it up and it didn’t make a lot of sense to me.
Oh – it’s a spiritual law. Yes – everyone is on their own spiritual journey – however dimly perceived it be and we have no right to interfere – unless asked. Does that have to be verbally expressed?
I’ll accept that this may be true for aliens visiting Earth who don’t want to be mistaken for the panacea of all that ails mankind.
I’ve found breath taking selfishness at all levels of society and although I’ve visited no mansions, hovels I know.
We had what is called an intervention here in Australia and did it kick in some furious debate. Did we have the right to prohibit – to a large degree – the massive sale of alcohol into vulnerable Aboriginal out stations and communities when the damage done is obvious to all but the venal and the stupid.
“Freedom of choice.” goes up the cry with echoes of “Dignity of risk” and yet – and yet – an Aboriginal voice cries out the truth of the matter.
To paraphrase : if your family were disintegrating before your eyes – from many causes undoubtably – would you accept that continuous drunken behaviour was somehow a ‘freedom of choice’ issue?
You’d take the steps needed to rectify the situation. You would fail in your duty as a parent or a family member if you did otherwise.
None of us are so inherently daft that we can’t recognise evil consequence when we see it.
The law of non interference isn’t a law. It’s a general guide and probably stated as a law to perhaps prevent us from wasting our resources and getting into ‘deep shit.’
I was brought up with a degree of such folk wisdom as “If you’ve got nothing nice to say about a person then say nothing at all.”
It’s got echoes of “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” and I understand that in a similar way as I do ” For God’s sake please don’t discuss politics or religion at the dinner table.”
Judgement and discrimination aren’t even related concepts as I understand it. I don’t judge but I do discriminate.
So it’s often about ‘polite and decorum’ and it saddens me to call anything evil – evil doesn’t like to be publicly named as such – but I find myself – in one lifetime having great sympathy, as a child, for the poor Jews of the Second World War….. and then losing it. I didn’t lose the sympathy for wrongs done but gained a horror as the state of Israel used the same tactics as the Nazis did in order to fulfill their aims.
Rwanda had a holocaust as did Cambodia as did millions more elsewhere. They don’t get a mention in the world press – neither does Palestine.
Re-incarnated Nazis or otherwise infest Israel and play out their miserable games of superiority just as others have done over eons no doubt.
Do I hide behind some spiritual law which the Divine has not made known to me except by virtue of ‘You could shorten this particular life by speaking up.’
Meanwhile, in Gaza ……
There are limits to everything – apart from the Divine – and polite doesn’t cut it anymore. You don’t personally have to take action now, speak up or be revealed. Different times at different moments for different folks applies.
That, I think I understand.
[More from David, including his music, at Saucepanbach]
+++
The post Laws and Laws and Laws appeared first on Zen Gardner.
Laws and Laws and Laws
David Griffith
Tue, 13 May 2014 14:28:35 GMT
The Indiana National Guard has purchased two military UH-72 Lakota helicopters which will also be used by local law enforcement and the DHS for “homeland security missions”.
“The Lakotas, manufactured by the Airbus Group, will also aid local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in case of an emergency,” reports the Indiana Daily Student, adding that the helicopters “will also aid in homeland security missions”.
The chopper is renowned for its “maneuverability and power” and also features sophisticated sensor technology used for “automatic target tracking” that can “spot a weapon or read a license plate from a distance where the Lakota remains undetected,” according to a promotional video for the helicopter.
The on board system can also transmit live video feed to a ground station up to 30 miles away while an individual can easily be followed via high power search lights linked up with the sensor system.
The chopper is normally used to pursue drug traffickers on the Mexican border as well as for search and rescue missions, but will now be utilized to keep tabs on residents of Indiana, which some will see as another sign of America’s increasing lurch towards a militarized police state.
Given that the Department of Homeland Security is now targeting groups named “Free Americans Against Socialist Tyranny” as part of its exercises, it’s unsurprising that many conservatives fear the federal government is paying an unhealthy amount of attention to people with certain political beliefs while some 68,000 convicted illegal immigrants are released each year.
As we have exhaustively documented on numerous occasions, federal authorities and particularly the Department of Homeland Security have been involved in producing a deluge of literature which portrays liberty lovers and small government advocates as extremist radicals, a chilling trend given the Lakota helicopter’s specialty at detecting guns from a distance.
The increasing use of military hardware in the field of domestic law enforcement has caused consternation amongst some who see the police’s role as changing from ‘protect and serve’ to treating the American people as some kind of enemy. Since the winding down of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Department of Defense has been donating armored vehicles to the Department of Homeland Security which in turn has been selling them to police departments across the country.
Former Marine Corps Colonel Peter Martino, who was stationed in Fallujah and trained Iraqi soldiers, warned last year that the Department of Homeland Security is working with law enforcement to build a “domestic army,” because the federal government is afraid of its own citizens.
Martino was speaking at a council meeting concerning a decision to purchase a BearCat armored vehicle. The purchase of the vehicle has surrounded by controversy after the city’s Police Chief wrote in an application filing to the DHS that the vehicle was needed to deal with the “threat” posed by libertarians, sovereign citizen adherents, and Occupy activists in the region.
Another resident at the meeting who grew up in Czechoslovakia also warned of parallels between Communists using tanks in her former country as a means of intimidation to suppress free speech.
Indiana’s purchase of the two military choppers, partly for “homeland security missions,” is another disturbing benchmark of the increasingly blurred line between military operations and domestic law enforcement.
Delivered by The Daily Sheeple
Contributed by Paul Joseph Watson of Infowars.com.
Indiana Gets New Military Helicopters for “Homeland Security Missions”
Contributing Author
Tue, 13 May 2014 15:00:09 GMT
Activist Post
The Missouri House gave final approval Friday to legislation protecting electronic communications and data. As a proposal for a state constitutional amendment, it bypasses the governor’s desk and goes directly to the people for consideration on the ballot this November.
When proponents of mass, warrantless surveillance find themselves backed into a corner on the basis that such activities violate Fourth Amendment warrant requirements, they often make the claim that electronic data falls outside the scope of the constitution because it doesn’t qualify as “persons, houses, papers, or effects.”
Instead of engaging in a long legal debate with opponents who likely hold a political agenda, the Missouri legislature took a different path. It passed legislation to expressly gives “electronic data and communications” the same state constitutional protections as “persons, homes, papers and effects.”
Introduced by Sen. Rob Schaaf, Senate Joint Resolution 27 (SJR27) passed the full House Friday. It previously passed the Senate by a vote of 31-1.
The text of SJR27 is short and concise, replacing the “privacy rights” section in the state constitution with the following language, adding electronic communications to the objects protected from search or seizure without a warrant.That the people shall be secure in their persons, papers, homes [and], effects, and electronic communications and data, from unreasonable searches and seizures; and no warrant to search any place, or seize any person or thing, or access electronic data or communication, shall issue without describing the place to be searched, or the person or thing to be seized, or the data or communication to be accessed, as nearly as may be; nor without probable cause, supported by written oath or affirmation.
The effect of this resolution would prove significant. The addition of electronic communications to the list of privacy items would make emails, phone records, Internet records and other electronic information gathered without a warrant inadmissible in state court. That would include data gathered illegally by overzealous state and local law enforcement as well as the federal government.
OffNow coalition spokesman Shane Trejo welcomed the progress that SJR27 represents in the on-going battle against warrantless spying.
“While Missouri might not be able to physically stop the NSA and other federal agencies from collecting our data without a warrant, legislation such as this can significantly reduce the practical effect of what they are trying to do with it. Compliance with the NSA’s illegal spying program would be illegal in Missouri if this is passed, and that is no small feat,” he said.
SJR27 addresses one aspect of OffNow’s campaign to thwart NSA spying at the state and local level – data sharing.
As Reuters reported in August, 2013, the secretive Special Operations Division (SOD) is “funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans.”
Documents obtained by Reuters show that these cases “rarely involve national security issues,” and that local law enforcement is directed by SOD to “conceal how such investigations truly begin.”
Reports in the Washington Post and USA Today last fall documented how “the FBI and most other investigative bodies in the federal government” are regularly using a mobile device known as a “stingray” to intercept and collect electronic data without a warrant. Local and state police “have access through sharing agreements.”
SJR27 will now move to the November ballot, where approval by a majority vote of the people will make it a part of the state constitution and give it legal force.
The OffNow coalition is group of grassroots organizations and individuals spanning the political spectrum committed to stopping unconstitutional NSA spying through state and local activism.
Source:
The Tenth Amendment Center
Missouri Bill to Protect Electronic Communications and Data Bypasses Governor and Moves to Voters
Activist
Fri, 16 May 2014 23:01:00 GMT
Details
How the new cost-control strategy works
Your health insurance plan slaps a hard limit on how much it will pay for certain procedures, for example, hospital charges associated with knee and hip replacement operations. That's called the reference price.
Say the limit is $30,000. The plan offers you a choice of hospitals within its provider network. If you pick one that charges $40,000, you would owe $10,000 to the hospital plus your regular cost-sharing for the $30,000 that your plan covers.
The extra $10,000 is treated like an out-of-network expense, and it doesn't count toward your plan's annual limit on out-of-pocket costs.
That's crucial because under the health care law, most plans have to pick up the entire cost of care after a patient hits the annual out-of-pocket limit, currently $6,350 for single coverage and $12,700 for a family plan. Before the May 2 administration ruling, it was unclear whether reference pricing violated this key financial protection for consumers.
Source: Associated Press
By The Associated Press
Published: Thursday, May 15, 2014, 9:00 p.m.
Updated 9 hours ago
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has given the go-ahead for insurers and employers to implement a cost-control strategy that puts a hard dollar limit on how much health plans will pay for some expensive procedures, such as knee and hip replacements.
Some experts worry that such a move would surprise patients who choose to use more expensive hospitals. The cost difference would leave them with big medical bills that they'd have to pay themselves.
That could undercut key financial protections in President Obama's health care law that apply not just to the health insurance exchanges, but to most job-based coverage as well.
Others say it's a valuable tool to reduce costs and help keep premiums in check.
There is concern among some federal regulators. A recent administration policy ruling went to unusual lengths, acknowledging that the cost-control strategy “may be a subterfuge” for “otherwise prohibited limitations on coverage.”
Nonetheless, the departments of Labor and Health and Human Services said the practice — known as reference pricing — could continue. Plans must use a “reasonable method” to ensure “adequate access to quality providers.” Regulators asked for public comment, saying they may publish more guidance.
HHS spokeswoman Erin Shields Britt said in a statement that the administration is monitoring the effects of reference pricing on access to quality services and will work to ensure that financial protections for consumers are not undermined.
One way the new approach is different is that it sets a dollar limit on how much the health plan will pay for a given procedure. Most insurance pays a percentage of costs, and those costs can vary from hospital to hospital. The insurance pays the same percentage whether a patient's choice of hospital charges more or less for the procedure.
Some experts are concerned.
“The problem ... from the patient's perspective is that at the end of the day, that is who gets left holding the bag,” said Karen Pollitz of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, formerly a top consumer protection regulator in the Obama administration.
The new pricing approach is not yet on consumers' radar, but it's gaining ground. The Mercer benefits consulting firm said 12 percent of the largest employers were using reference pricing last year, nearly double the 7 percent in 2012.
The approach has been pioneered in California by CalPERS, a giant agency that manages health and retirement benefits for public employees and is the nation's second-largest purchaser of health benefits after the federal government.
CalPERS started with knee and hip replacements in 2011, steering patients to hospitals that had been vetted for quality and charged $30,000 or less.
Ann Boynton, CalPERS' health benefits director, said the program has been a success, with patients able to choose from about 50 hospitals.
“People do not feel like we went to bargain-basement hospitals where the quality is not good,” she said. “The quality is the same and, in some instances, better.”
Economist James C. Robinson of the University of California at Berkeley studied the CalPERS experiment and found that many patients shifted to lower-cost hospitals, saving money, and that expensive hospitals responded by cutting their prices.
Although insurers don't appear to be using reference pricing on the new health exchanges, Robinson said he thinks it's only a matter of time.
“The vast majority of people buying on the exchanges are price sensitive,” he said. “People, when they are spending their own money, tend to go for thinner benefits.”
However, the strategy appears to be suitable only for a subset of medical care: procedures and tests that are frequently performed, where the prices charged vary widely, but the quality of results generally does not. In addition to knee and hip replacements, that could include such procedures as MRIs and other imaging tests, cataract surgery and colonoscopies.
Robert Berenson, a physician and health policy expert at the Urban Institute think tank, said he worries that advocates of reference pricing may be overlooking quality differences.
“There are differences in MRIs and in how a hip replacement is done,” he said. “If you are going to say ‘Our judgment is better than your doctor's,' then you've got to meet tests that you are actually assuring quality and safety.”
Read more: http://triblive.com/usworld/nation/6122757-74/health-cost-limit#ixzz31uRocaKs
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/15/2014 08:52 -0400
inShare34
Earlier today many were stunned when the historic, 117-year old, London Silver Fix announced that in three months it would no longer exist. However, silver is only one half of the world's two best known precious metals. Which is why we decided to take a long, hard look at that other fix: gold.
The reason for this particular inquiry is because in the aftermath of the rapid and dramatic departure of the world's largest bank by outstanding notional derivatives, and Europe's biggest bank by any metric, Deutsche Bank, from the precious metal fix, something felt out of place: almost as if the participants of the "fixing" process which for so many years took place in the office of none other than Rothschild on St. Swithin's Lane in London, were suddenly scrambling to disappear without a trace.
In conducting our research we hope to not only memorialize just who are these particular individuals who "fix" gold using nothing but publicly available information of course - because after all it is not as if they have anything to hide or fear - but to connect some of the very peculiar dots behind the scenes of what to some, is the original, and most manipulated market in history - that of gold.
* * *
First, as has been reported previously, when Deutsche departs, this will leave only four gold fix members, namely, Barclays, HSBC, Société Générale (SocGen) and Scotiabank, and since only two silver fixing entities remained, HSBC and Scotiabank, the traditional silver price discovery mechanism was shuttered. The Fixings are conducted twice daily at 10:30 am and 3 pm London time and are used widely by all participants in the precious metals industry for benchmarking prices and valuations and also as trading price reference points.
The gold and silver fixings are organised through UK limited liability companies of which the member investment bank traders are directors. Before the resignation of Deutsche Bank, there were five directors and five alternate directors of "The London Gold Market Fixing Limited" and three directors and three alternate directors of "The London Silver Market Fixing Limited."
Earlier this year on 16th January, German financial regulator BaFin stated that possible manipulation of currency and precious metals markets could be more serious than the manipulation that has already been proven in the Libor rigging scandal. On the very next day, January 17th, Deutsche Bank announced that it was withdrawing from both the gold and silver fixings in what it called "a scaling back of its commodities business."
Needless to say, in aftermath of the termination of the silver fix, and now that there are significant regulatory and litigation spotlights on the Fixings, and one major member exiting, some are wondering: will the demise of the Silver Fixing undermine the rationale for retaining the Gold Fixing? And what will replace it.
* * *
We don't have the answer. What we do know is that using public records such as the British Companies House database and other public databases, one can find not only all the available information on the London Gold Market Fixing Limited company before it too disappears into thin air, but to get a sense of the kind of people it employs.
Below is the full list of 10 most recent directors and backups of the Gold Fixing:
So let's start with everyone favorite French bank: SocGen, where we meet young master Vincent Domien, born June 13, 1980, and director since January 25, 2010. His Goldfixing phone contact info is +44 207 762 5374, and he can be reached at: vincent.domien@sgcib.com. His LinkedIn profile has extensive details on what it takes to become a gold fixer.
Sadly, the other director from SocGen, Xavier Lannegrace, born 1964 and director since December 19, 2013, has no LinkedIn profile, so we had to go to other primary sources. As it turns out Mr. Lannegrace keeps a low profile but does have occasional media appearances, such as this one in Risk.net from 2011
Instead of increasing margin calls to protect against credit risk as many banks did at this time, SG CIB began providing some unmargined lines to mining firms, even taking over margined positions that miners had with other lenders and making them unmargined.
"To avoid a cash constraint we can provide some unmargined lines - transforming risk on the price into risk of performance. But in that case what we really need to see is the miner performing, producing the material, and delivering the material," explains Xavier Lannegrace, managing director of base metals, precious metals and agriculture at SG CIB in Paris.
And also from Risk, from the year before:
“The Meteor system has been able to handle a massive increase in both flow and new transactions, which leaves us in a very strong position on the operational side. We looked at all our operational risk reporting, counterparty risk exposures and risk limits, and Meteor told us we are solid. So we can keep on developing a stronger commodities desk, moving into agricultural commodities and developing new indexes because we know commodities are going to be the hot spot with investors in 2010,” says Xavier Lannegrace, global head of commodities marketing and sales in Paris.
* * *
“You can go to bed at night having left an order with Société Générale knowing that order is going to be watched and looked after, so there is no problem when you come into the office the next morning. The service is first class.”
And from yet another year prior:
As well as the sharp drop in metals prices last year, the collapse of Lehman on September 15 sent reverberations around the metals markets. The investment bank was not a big player in the metals markets, but the collapse of the broker-dealer caused counterparty credit risk to become the number one issue for market credit risk, we have seen investors and corporates diversify their hedges amongst several banks. Those who normally traded with one, two, or three banks are now trading with five or six different banking counterparties,” says Xavier Lannegrace, global head of commodities marketing at Société Générale Corporate and Investment Banking (SG CIB) in Paris.
* * *
Moving to the bank that redefined the term "money laundering", HSBC we meet David Rose, contact phone +44 207 992 8041 and contact email: david.b.rose@hsbcgroup.com, who has the following rather sparse LinkedIn profile:
And his alternate director, Peter Drabwell, self-described on LinkedIn as "a precious metals sales and trader"
* * *
We then proceed to the current Chairman of the Gold Fixing group, Simon Weeks, born 1962, who hails from Canada's Scotiabank, aka ScotiaMocatta. He is one of the veteran directors, appointed in February 1995. Those who so wish can reach Simon at +44 207 826 5930 and his contact email is simon.weeks@scotiabank.com. Alas, there is not much in his LinkedIn profile:
* * *
And the alternate from ScotiaMocatta: Steven Lowe
He has been a member of the LBMA Management Committee for numerous years and has acted as Vice Chair of the committee for two years. He also sits on the LBMA PAC committee.
* * *
Next we get to most British notorious bank, Barclays, we find director Mr. Martyn Whitehead, contact phone: +44 20 7773 8106, contact email: martyn.whitehead@barcap.com, whose LinkedIn profile describes him as "Global Head of Mining & Metal Sales at Barclays Capital", and who previously worked for 6 years at Rothschild.
* * *
Also from Barclays, there is Jonathan Spall, who also has quite an extensive LinkedIn profile.
Alas, Mr. Spall won't be at Barclays, or the fix, for long. As Bloomberg reported in January 2014
Barclays Plc cut commodities jobs in London and New York as part of reductions in fixed income, currencies and commodities, according to two people familiar with the matter. Bharath Manium, a managing director in commodities structuring, Paul Jackman, a managing director in the commodities index business, Jonathan Spall, product manager for metals in London, and Sudakshina Unnikrishnan, an analyst in London, are leaving, according to the people who asked not to be identified because the move hasn’t been made public.
In fact as was reported by London Gold Market Fixing Ltd, Mr. Spall is no longer with the company since April 9, 2014.
* * *
Which leaves us with the two most interesting and curious individuals: the "fixers" from Deutsche Bank, which as was reported previously, is no longer a member of the gold fix company courtesy of BaFin's accelerated procedure to reign in the German bank.
What follows next is an intricate timeline journey into the gold fixing rabbit hole, where we find some very suspicious and unreported issues about Deutsche Bank's departure from the Gold and Silver Fixings, namely Matthew Keen's sudden resignation and departure in January after BaFin's statements, followed by the resignation of Kevin Rodgers. Why did Keen resign? Secondly, Deutsche quietly stopped contributing to GOFO as early as February or March.
1. On Friday January 17th, Deutsche announces that its quitting the gold and silver fixings. On Monday 20th January, Matthew Keen, Deutsche's head of precious metals, resigns from the London gold and silver fixings companies and is replaced by Kevin Rodgers, Deutsche's global head of FX. Matt Keen then departs fully from Deutsche Bank in January, and starts a new job for Jefferies in April.
Deutsche Bank then announces on 28th April that Kevin Rodgers is resigning from Deutsche Bank, the day before it announces that it can't sell its two seats on the gold and silver panels and that it is resigning. The resignation of Matthew Keen has not been reported anywhere it seems.
2. Sometime in March at the latest, Deutsche Bank quits being an LBMA forward market maker, and stops contributing to GOFO rates and forward curve data. This also appears to not have been reported previously.
The following timeline illustrates some important information that has not been discussed:
November 27th 2013: German regulator BaFin announces that it is reviewing how banks participate in the gold and silver price setting
December 12th 2013: The Financial Times states that BaFin has already been interviewing Deutsche Bank on this for several months and has demanded various documens from Deutsche.
FINANCIAL TIMES: "BaFin has grilled Deutsche Bank staff during several on-site inspections in the past few months"
Wednesday January 15th 2014: Reuters reveals that Deutsche has suspended New York based FX traders and that Fed and
OCC visited Citigroup offices in Canary Wharf, London
REUTERS: "Deutsche, Citi feel the heat of widening FX investigation"
Thursday January 16th 2014: BaFin's president Elke König says in a speech in Frankfurt that currency and precious metals price manipulation is "worse than Libor".
BLOOMBERG: "Metals, Currency Rigging Is Worse Than Libor, Bafin Says"
Friday 17th January 2014: Deutsche Bank announces that it is withdrawing from the gold and silver price fixings
Monday 20th January 2014: Matthew Keen, Director (precious metals) at Deutsche Bank resigns as a director of the gold and silver fixing companies and Kevin Rodgers, Global Head of Foreign Exchange at Deutsche Bank is appointed as Deutsche Director in both of these companies (why an FX trader is appointed to trade commodities is not quite clear).
On the same day, Matthew Keen also resigns as the Deutsche director representative of London Precious Metals Clearing Limited (LPMCL) and is replaced by Raj Kumar, Deutsche'sEuropean COO, Commodities.
Curiously, Matt Keen did not operate out of either London or Frankfurt, but instead relocated from London to Dubai with Deutsche in 2012. Is that the farthest one could get away from US and European regulators one wonders?
Sometime in February or March - Deutsche stops contributing to GOFO
LBMA rolled out a new web site in ealr April. This was mentioned in the LBMA's Alchemist, Issue 73, published March 31st. The wayback machine has an imprint from the new site on April 9th. In the GOFO contributor list, Deutsche is not listed
Deutsche disappeared from GOFO before 9th April - new web site
Deutsche was still listed as a GOFO contributor on the old LBMA web site, latest imprint is February
Sometime in February or March - Deutsche ceases to be a market maker for forwards
Deutsche not a forward market maker now
Old market makers list - February 14th
April 25th 2014: Reuters reports that sources say Deutsche canot sell gold and silver seats due to US lawsuits
REUTERS: "U.S. lawsuits hobble Deutsche Bank's bid to sell gold fix seat"
Just what was Deutsche worried buyers would find during the due diligence?
April 28th 2014: Deutsche Bank announces that Kevin Rodgers, Global Head of FX is quitting the bank in June
WALL STREET JOURNAL: "Deutsche Bank Head of Forex to Retire - Kevin Rodgers to Leave Industry in June; Departure Not Linked to Global Investigation"
Burying the evidence, and firing the bodies?
April 29th 2014: Deutsche resigns seats on gold and silver fixes, can't sell them, gives 2 weeks notice, last day 13th May
REUTERS: "Deutsche Bank resigns gold, silver fix seat with no buyer"
Saturday May 10th 2014: FT's John Dizard comments that "Precious metals market people tell me that even in advance of Deutsche's formal departure from both the gold and silver fix, the bank had reduced its participation in putting up bids or offers at the silver fix very substantially."
FINANCIAL TIMES: "No silver lining for gold-fix regulation"
May 13th 2014 - Deutsche's last day on gold and silver panels
... However....
As Reuters reported earlier today:
A source familiar with the situation told Reuters that Deutsche Bank had postponed its resignation, responding to a specific request from Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
"The other banks may have indicated to the regulator that they were looking to withdraw as well and so to make this an orderly affair Deutsche was asked to postpone the date of resignation," the source said.
In other words, just as the Silver Fix is no more, so the Gold Fix will almost certainly be nothing but a memory in a few short months now that the spotlight is shining on its members. But why the sudden scramble to depart and not just by Deutsche but by all other members? (... that was rhetorical)
Other questions also remain unanswered.
Looking at Mr. Keen's LinkedIn profile we find that before Deutsche, Keen worked as Head of Precious Metals at none other than the infamous Koch Industries. Here he "Built a global precious metal business around Precious Metal and PGM inventory management for the oil refining and speciality chemical processing industries."
Wait, so the Deutsche trader who is most suspect of rigging the Fix, and who quit first (and hence, best), learned his craft at Koch Industries? It almost makes one wonder just what kind of gold and silver trading the Koch brothers engage in.
* * *
But perhaps the most curious and surprising finding here is what Bloomberg reported back in November, when it wrote one of the first articles exposing the "Fix" to the mainstream (if not so much the "tinfoil blog" vertical which was well aware of all of this years ago). To wit:
London Gold Market Fixing Ltd., a company controlled by the five banks that administers the benchmark,has no permanent employees. A call from Bloomberg News was referred to Douglas Beadle, 68, a former Rothschild banker, who acts as a consultant to the company from his home in Caterham, a small commuter town 45 minutes south of London by train. Beadle declined to comment on the benchmark-setting process.
"No permanent employees": extremely convenient when one has to pick up and simply disappear without a trace...
Jeffrey Green
Activist Post
My kids are obsessed with watching gamer channels on YouTube. At first I thought these YouTubers must be deadbeat basement dwellers until my kids showed me that they have billions of views. I later found out that some of them make up to $8000 per day from Google ads alone! If teenage gamers can make more money than their parents by using free technology to do what they love, anyone can do it.
In the U.S., 102 million working-age Americans are unemployed (41% of this age group). This statistic seems horrible, and it surely is for some, but a good many are voluntarily unemployed -- like stay-at-home moms, homeschooling parents, or self-employed people working in the gray market. Heck, I'm considered unemployed according to official numbers, but I still pay my bills.
If you are involuntarily unemployed, this expanding gray market now offers unlimited opportunities to end your dependence on the job/public-assistance paradigm. The gray market is essentially the economy that happens without permission. In other words, it's made up self-employed people who don't formally register a business but transact in legal products or services.
Free technology opens a global marketplace to anyone who's willing to endure the learning curve to gain the necessary skills. And it's never been easier to learn because of countless "How To" videos on YouTube. All you have to do is define something you're passionate about, identify the market, and locate the tools to make money from it.
Technology has made it so simple to turn your passion into a living income, it's almost inexcusable not to. You owe it to yourself and all others who will benefit from your participation in that arena.
Here are 10 of the easiest Do-It-Yourself (DIY) real employment opportunities including the tools needed to succeed:
Vintage dealer - Are you an obsessive collector of vintage items? Clothing, jewelry, coins, antiques, toys, etc.? Well, why is that not your business? Between moving sales, storage auctions, Craigslist and eBay you could be getting paid for doing what you love. No excuses.
Chef/Cook - Good, passionate chefs rarely have trouble finding work. However, the restaurant business has grueling hours. If you love to cook but hate working in restaurants, services like EatWith connect you with customers who want a homecooked gourmet meal with a more personal setting. You can now get paid to cook a few meals per week for small groups of people on your terms.Reporter - Are you a wanna-be reporter or just a loud mouth with an opinion? Why aren't you making money from that? There are many freelance profit-sharing platforms like Examiner or DigitalJournal. Plus, setting up a free blog website has never been easier. Professional website templates exist for free platforms like Blogger or WordPress. Monetization with Google ads, Amazon and other affiliates are a breeze to set up. Additionally, learning to set up and operate a blog is vital to every profession on this list. Consider it your new business card. Get a good DIY guide to blogging and get it done.
Novelist - If you loving writing fiction, your dream of making money from it is frictionless in the digital age. I scarcely know anyone who reads fiction that doesn't use a Kindle-like device. Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing makes it easy for you to publish books, series, short stories, informative pamphlets; whatever, and sell them through Amazon. Then you promote them through blog posts, interviews, and writing reviews for, and networking in, your genre. Simple formula. If you produce good content, you will make money.
Professional Foodie - Food prices are exploding, especially for quality food. This presents huge opportunities for organic gardeners or animal lovers to make a living from the food revolution. I have a doctor friend who just bought a milch cow due to the high demand for grass-fed raw milk in our area. At the current price per gallon, he will make his money back in 4 months if his family was the only ones using the milk, 2 months if he sells some of it. I buy his milk, and I also buy sprouts from a guy who grows them in his apartment, pastured broiler chickens from a family who raises them in their yard, raw honey from local beekeepers, and when my personal production of organic fruits and veggies and free-range eggs fall short they're easily found locally. I found them on Craigslist, LocalHarvest, and at my local farmers markets. These products cost about double what their factory-produced alternatives cost, and I and many others gladly pay it. In fact, demand is so high there are often waiting lists to get these foods! Produce it and they will come.
Driver - Do you have a car, time on your hands, and enjoy meeting new people? Uber, Lyft, and other ridesharing services are simple platforms to connect you to paying customers who need a ride. (Even if you don't have a car, you could offer walking tours of your town or city to introduce newcomers and tourists to the local sites and businesses.)Technician - Can you fix or service computers, lawn mowers, anything? Can you build a website, write code, or design a logo? Then why are you even looking for a normal job? Have you heard of Craigslist, elance, fiverr, LinkedIn, etc.? Mechanics can even use Snapgoods to rent out their tools and equipment. All this can be managed with a smartphone now. What are you waiting for?
Contractor/Handyman - Do you like to build things or refinish old stuff to look beautiful again? Offer your services on Angieslist, Craigslist, or local timebanks or cooperatives. Or you can develop a niche like building custom chicken coops or dog houses. Build one, display it in your front yard with a sign, and put it for sale on Craigslist. Design a few different models and sell the blueprints and how-to instructions at your blog. Tell me this wouldn't be more satisfying than hanging drywall 6 days a week ... if those jobs even still exist.
Inventors - Kickstarter.com, enough said.
Artists - Artists, musicians, animators, crafters, video producers and creative people everywhere, listen up: there is no reason why you can't make a living with your craft. You have instant access to free blogs, ecommerce templates, podcast software, YouTube channels, and every tool in between to be self-employed. Musicians can pre-sell a new album and tickets to their launch concert using Indiegogo, or do guitar lessons on YouTube or Skype. Graphic artists, animators and video producers can submit bids at 99designs or launch their own products. Photographers can sell images using SmugMug or other services. The opportunities are endless.
While it's true that it takes dedication to make a living at these, the sky is truly the limit once you start. It only takes one step at a time to reach your peak and, luckily, the climb is not nearly as steep as it used to be when these tools did not exist.
Recently by Jeffrey Green:
- Creepy CDC Video Promotes HPV Vaccine to ALL Children
- USAID Top Scientist: "For the first time food production will be limited on a global scale"
- Can't Find a Job? Join a Timebank
- 13 Ways Foodies Are Changing The Food Industry
- 5 New Solutions For Growing Healthy Produce Indoors
10 Easy DIY Employment Opportunities
Activist Post
Fri, 16 May 2014 17:20:00 GMT
