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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 30-Aug-2012
30-Aug-12 World View -- Syria's Bashar al-Assad gives lengthy TV interview to prove he's OK

Web Log - August, 2012

30-Aug-12 World View -- Syria's Bashar al-Assad gives lengthy TV interview to prove he's OK

Citibank settles investor lawsuit without admitting guilt

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

Syria's Bashar al-Assad gives lengthy TV interview to prove he's OK
Citibank settles investor lawsuit without admitting guilt
Germany stages major neo-Nazi crackdown North Rhine-Westphalia

Syria's Bashar al-Assad gives lengthy TV interview to prove he's OK

Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday

Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday

Syria's president Bashar al-Assad has been rarely seen in public, since the July 18 Damascus bombing that killed much of his inner circle. ( "22-Jul-12 World View -- Damascus bombing marks a significant change in Syria") Rumors have been spreading that he was hurt in the bombing, or that he has to hide out because he can no longer trust anyone not to be planning to kill him. The interview was conducted on Syria's privately-owned Addounia television channel, and all the questions were softball questions. But al-Assad looked relaxed and presidential, without a care in the world as his army massacred Sunni women and children in their homes. Al-Jazeera and VOA

Citibank settles investor lawsuit without admitting guilt

Citigroup agreed to pay $590 million in cash to numerous investors who lost billions of dollars in Citi's "CDO-related quasi-Ponzi scheme." The investors in the class action suit acquired shares in Citi between February 2007 and April 2008, and ended up losing almost all of their investment. Citi lost money because of fraudulent residential mortgage backed collateralized debt obligations (RMB CDOs), synthetic securities based on subprime mortgages. Citi then lied to investors about them, saying that Citi wasn't responsible for them. Citi denies any wrongdoing, and no one will go to jail, but will pay the settlement amount anyway, and executives will presumably continue to draw their multi-million dollar salaries and bonuses, using the money they get by charging customers 30% interest.

It would be nice if a couple of Citi's banksters went to jail. I know that I would feel better about the situation. As I wrote over two years ago in "Financial Crisis Inquiry hearings provide 'smoking gun' evidence of widespread criminal fraud", it is provable from circumstantial evidence that banksters purposely created trillions of dollars in fraudulent synthetic securities, knowing that they were fraudulent, and then sold them to investors and lied about it. This is criminal activity, but the Obama justice department refuses to prosecute any banksters because of the huge campaign contributions they deliver. It's absolutely incredible to me that the biggest bankster fraud in history has impoverished millions of people, and NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON is going to jail. Incredible!

As far as I know, those RMB CDOs are still on the Citi's books at nominal values, and when they finally explode, Citi's shareholders will lose a lot more money. But Citi wouldn't be guilty of anything after 2008, because they were only doing as they were told. As I've written many times, New York Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo who spent several months in 2008 helping the banks and "monoline" bond insurance companies to collude to commit fraud, essentially by telling them to continue to lie to investors.

It would also be nice if Eric Dinallo and other regulators went to jail. Bloomberg and 2008 court document (PDF)

Germany stages major neo-Nazi crackdown North Rhine-Westphalia

More than 900 police officers raided homes and clubhouses of suspected neo-Nazis in a crackdown on Thursday, seizing far-right propaganda material, computer hard drives and a wide variety of weapons. The crackdown in North Rhine-Westphalia comes amid a greater focus nationally on the far right in Germany. That was sparked by the revelation last year that a small group of neo-Nazis apparently managed to kill nine minorities and a police officer over a seven-year period while remaining off the radar of the country's intelligence services. The German public is particularly concerned about neo-Nazi violence, as last weekend was the 20th anniversary of the violence at Rostock, when hundreds of right-wing extremists and local thugs spent four days in late August of 1992 throwing rocks and firebombs at a building used to house asylum-seekers. Thousands of others stood by and cheered on the attackers, shouting "foreigners out!" and other hateful slogans. The orgy of xenophobia ended when rioters set a neighboring building on fire housing dozens of workers from Vietnam and their families. AP and Spiegel

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 30-Aug-12 World View -- Syria's Bashar al-Assad gives lengthy TV interview to prove he's OK thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (30-Aug-2012) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 30-Aug-2012 30-Aug-12 World View -- Syria's Bashar al-Assad gives lengthy TV interview to prove he's OK

Syria's Bashar al-Assad gives lengthy TV interview to prove he's OK

Citibank settles investor lawsuit without admitting guilt

Germany stages major neo-Nazi crackdown North Rhine-Westphalia

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 30-Aug-2012
30-Aug-12 World View -- Syria's Bashar al-Assad gives lengthy TV interview to prove he's OK