Europe austerity protests
Anti-austerity protests sweep across Europe
AP – Riot police hit out at demonstrators during protests in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2010. …
By RAF CASERT, Associated Press Writer Raf Casert, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 17 mins ago
BRUSSELS – Anti-austerity protests erupted across Europe on Wednesday — Greek doctors and railway employees walked out, Spanish workers shut down trains and buses, and one man even blocked the Irish parliament with a cement truck to decry the country's enormous bank bailouts.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of Brussels toward European Union buildings in bright red, green and blue labor union jackets, aiming to reinforce the impact of Spain's first nationwide strike in eight years.
Strikes or protests were also taking place Wednesday in Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Slovenia and Lithuania, all aimed at the budget-slashing, tax-hiking, pension-cutting austerity plans that European governments have implemented to try to control their debt.
The march in Brussels was taking place just as the EU Commission proposed new penalties to punish member states that have run up deficits, mainly to fund social programs in a time of high unemployment. The proposal, backed by Germany, is running into strong opposition from France, which wants politicians to decide on sanctions, not rigid rules alone.
"It is a bizarre time for the European Commission to be proposing a regime of punishment," John Monks, general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, told Associated Press Television News. "How is that going to make the situation better? It is going to make it worse."
Unions fear that workers will become the biggest victims of an economic crisis set off by bankers and traders, many of whom were rescued by massive government intervention.
"It is not right that people on low salaries have to pay to prop up the country. It should be the banks," said Belgian demonstrator Evelain Foncis.
Several governments, already living dangerously with high debt, were pushed to the brink of financial collapse and have been forced to impose punishing cuts in wages, pensions and employment — measures that have brought workers out by the tens of thousands over the past months.
"There is a great danger that the workers are going to be paying the price for the reckless speculation that took place in financial markets," Monks said. "You really got to reschedule these debts so that they are not a huge burden on the next few years and cause Europe to plunge down into recession."
In Spain, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's Socialist government is under severe pressure because of unpopular measures put in place to save Europe's fourth-largest economy from a bailout like one that saved Greece from bankruptcy.
Click image to see photos from the protests
AP/Manu Fernandez
The cuts have helped Spain trim its central government deficit by half through July but the unemployment rate stands at 20 percent, and many businesses are struggling to survive.
The strike Wednesday was Spain's first general strike since 2002 and marked a break in the once-close relationship between unions and the Socialist government.
Whistle-blowing picketers blocked trucks from delivering produce at the main wholesale markets in Madrid and Barcelona. Strikers hurled eggs and screamed "scabs" at drivers trying to leave a city bus garage in Madrid. Airlines canceled hundreds of flights.
Greece, which had to be rescued this spring by the 15 other nations that share the euro currency just to stave off bankruptcy, has also been forced to cut deep into workers' allowances, with weeks of bitter strikes and actions as a result.
Greek bus and trolley drivers walked off the job for several hours while Athens' metro system and tram shut down. National railway workers also walked off the job, disrupting rail connections across the country, while doctors at state hospitals were on a 24-hour strike.
Greece has already been suffering from two weeks of protests by truck drivers who have made it difficult for businesses to get supplies. Many supermarkets are seeing shortages, while producers complaining they are unable to export their goods.
Greece's government has imposed stringent austerity measures, including cutting civil servants' salaries, trimming pensions and hiking consumer and income taxes. Several other EU nations are also planning actions.
In Dublin, a man blocked the gates of the Irish parliament with a cement truck to protest the country's expensive bank bailout. Written across the truck's barrel in red letters were the words: "Toxic Bank" Anglo and "All politicians should be sacked."
Police arrested a 41-year-old man but gave few other details.
The Anglo Irish Bank, which was nationalized last year to save it from collapse, owes some euro72 billion ($97 billion) to depositors worldwide, leaving Irish taxpayers with a mammoth bill at a time when people are suffering through high unemployment, tax hikes and heavy budget cuts.
Also Wednesday, some 400 protesters rallied in an illegal demonstration in Vilnius to demand authorities in Lithuania cease harsh austerity measures such as salary cuts.
"All of working Europe is on the streets today to express dismay over nearsighted income-cutting politics," said Vytautas Jusys, a 40-year-old engineer who lost his job this year.
In Slovenia, thousands of public service workers continued their open-ended strike on Wednesday to protest the government's plan to freeze their salaries for two years — or until economy grows again at a rate of 3 percent.
Unions in Portugal expect some 30,000 people to show up for demonstrations.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Man attacks Elmo
EDT, September 25, 2010
Police in Winter Park said a man dressed as Elmo was attacked at a local music store on Saturday afternoon by a man who believed the Sesame Street character was a threat to him.
According to Winter Park police Lt. Wayne Farrell, the man had been hired to wear the Elmo suit for an event at Winter Park Village, and was on his break when the attack occurred at the Guitar Center on Orlando Avenue at about 3 p.m.
"He just wandered into the Guitar Center to look at instruments," Farrell said. That's when police say a man, who they said felt "threatened" by the Sesame Street star, attacked.
Farrell said the attack was "unprovoked."
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"He immediately thought (the man dressed as Elmo) was a threat," Farrell said. Farrell called the ensuing struggle a "very physical fight," with multiple punches thrown.
"Elmo got the best of the guy," Farrell said. "He broke two of his fingers."
Police took the assailant to a local hospital, where Farrell said he will be temporarily detained for mental health evaluation.
And though he was the victim of the attack, police said the man dressed as the loveable children's character emerged unscathed.
"Elmo was unhurt," Farrell said.
Jeff Weiner can be reached at 407-420-5171 or jeweiner@orlandosentinel.com.
EDT, September 25, 2010
Police in Winter Park said a man dressed as Elmo was attacked at a local music store on Saturday afternoon by a man who believed the Sesame Street character was a threat to him.
According to Winter Park police Lt. Wayne Farrell, the man had been hired to wear the Elmo suit for an event at Winter Park Village, and was on his break when the attack occurred at the Guitar Center on Orlando Avenue at about 3 p.m.
"He just wandered into the Guitar Center to look at instruments," Farrell said. That's when police say a man, who they said felt "threatened" by the Sesame Street star, attacked.
Farrell said the attack was "unprovoked."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Get the day's top stories in your inbox. Click here to sign up for the Midday Update newsletter
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"He immediately thought (the man dressed as Elmo) was a threat," Farrell said. Farrell called the ensuing struggle a "very physical fight," with multiple punches thrown.
"Elmo got the best of the guy," Farrell said. "He broke two of his fingers."
Police took the assailant to a local hospital, where Farrell said he will be temporarily detained for mental health evaluation.
And though he was the victim of the attack, police said the man dressed as the loveable children's character emerged unscathed.
"Elmo was unhurt," Farrell said.
Jeff Weiner can be reached at 407-420-5171 or jeweiner@orlandosentinel.com.
Friday, September 24, 2010
MIchael Geoghegan HSBC Hong Kong (Part of video in English)
Shocking new revelations now unfolding in British and American media reports concerning the Carroll Foundation Trust Case has revealed that the HSBC Holdings Plc. CEO Michael Geoghegan who is now based in Hong Kong together with the Chairman Stephen Green located at the HSBC Canary Wharf London headquarters have been named in Britain's biggest ever ongoing organised crime offshore tax evasion money laundering racketeering case in modern economic history.
Boardroom battle shakes up HSBC
EXCERPT:
25 Sep, 2010, 01.12AM IST,REUTERS
Boardroom battle 'shakes up' HSBC
Hong KONG/LONDON: A dramatic upheaval among HSBC’s top management after a boardroom row has left the bank scrambling to limit damage to its reputation but unlikely to alter its increasing focus on Asia.
Chief executive Michael Geoghegan is set to be replaced by Stuart Gulliver, the head of investment banking, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
Its finance director Douglas Flint is to take over as chairman, as a power struggle after the announced departure of its chairman two weeks ago spread across the board. “It’s quite remarkable for a company that’s renowned for its stewardship,” said Chris Wheeler, analyst at Mediobanca in London.
Michael Eisner 9/2/2010 'The View' video
EXCERPT from following article
2) Note: Both Rosen's now raise money for Joseph Lieberman who is now a
traitor to his own party. It can now also be reported that Mossad agent
Marvin Rosen was tied to Michael Eisner and the ABC Mickey Mouse Disney
Year 2000 Election coup d'etat.
Rahm and Refco
EXCERPTS:
1) Bush Clinton Mossad Fund-raiser Marvin Rosen is now under investigation by the U.S. Justice Dept. for his relationship with noted disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Rosen along with Richard Dennis, Chicago Commodity trader helped raise funds for Bush and Bill Bradley in the Year 2000 U.S. Presidential Election. Rosen is now conspiring with former General Electric CEO Jack
Welch to rig the Year 2008 Democratic Primary.
Reference: Rosen also does fund-raising for William gay-in-the-closet Frist (R. Tenn.).
2) Note: Both Rosen's now raise money for Joseph Lieberman who is now a
traitor to his own party. It can now also be reported that Mossad agent
Marvin Rosen was tied to Michael Eisner and the ABC Mickey Mouse Disney
Year 2000 Election coup d'etat.
Mia aka Edgar Bronfmans daughter in law phony yet catchy
EXCERPT:
However, the unbearable heat Klores’ should be feeling is tied to his numerous dealings with Associate #3, Marvin Rosen, who was a former partner at the Greenberg Traurig law firm. You know, the one where imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff used to work. And no surprise, Abramoff was a client of Klores. But there may be another former client of Klores tied to Greenberg Traurig who is causing Klores…. and Rosen sleepless nights.
Sara Lee kills people
EXCERPT:
• Sara Lee's biggest scandal involved the sale of listeria-tainted hot dog meat that killed 15 people and sickened more than 100 in 2001.
Shocking new revelations now unfolding in British and American media reports concerning the Carroll Foundation Trust Case has revealed that the HSBC Holdings Plc. CEO Michael Geoghegan who is now based in Hong Kong together with the Chairman Stephen Green located at the HSBC Canary Wharf London headquarters have been named in Britain's biggest ever ongoing organised crime offshore tax evasion money laundering racketeering case in modern economic history.
Boardroom battle shakes up HSBC
EXCERPT:
25 Sep, 2010, 01.12AM IST,REUTERS
Boardroom battle 'shakes up' HSBC
Hong KONG/LONDON: A dramatic upheaval among HSBC’s top management after a boardroom row has left the bank scrambling to limit damage to its reputation but unlikely to alter its increasing focus on Asia.
Chief executive Michael Geoghegan is set to be replaced by Stuart Gulliver, the head of investment banking, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
Its finance director Douglas Flint is to take over as chairman, as a power struggle after the announced departure of its chairman two weeks ago spread across the board. “It’s quite remarkable for a company that’s renowned for its stewardship,” said Chris Wheeler, analyst at Mediobanca in London.
Michael Eisner 9/2/2010 'The View' video
EXCERPT from following article
2) Note: Both Rosen's now raise money for Joseph Lieberman who is now a
traitor to his own party. It can now also be reported that Mossad agent
Marvin Rosen was tied to Michael Eisner and the ABC Mickey Mouse Disney
Year 2000 Election coup d'etat.
Rahm and Refco
EXCERPTS:
1) Bush Clinton Mossad Fund-raiser Marvin Rosen is now under investigation by the U.S. Justice Dept. for his relationship with noted disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Rosen along with Richard Dennis, Chicago Commodity trader helped raise funds for Bush and Bill Bradley in the Year 2000 U.S. Presidential Election. Rosen is now conspiring with former General Electric CEO Jack
Welch to rig the Year 2008 Democratic Primary.
Reference: Rosen also does fund-raising for William gay-in-the-closet Frist (R. Tenn.).
2) Note: Both Rosen's now raise money for Joseph Lieberman who is now a
traitor to his own party. It can now also be reported that Mossad agent
Marvin Rosen was tied to Michael Eisner and the ABC Mickey Mouse Disney
Year 2000 Election coup d'etat.
Mia aka Edgar Bronfmans daughter in law phony yet catchy
EXCERPT:
However, the unbearable heat Klores’ should be feeling is tied to his numerous dealings with Associate #3, Marvin Rosen, who was a former partner at the Greenberg Traurig law firm. You know, the one where imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff used to work. And no surprise, Abramoff was a client of Klores. But there may be another former client of Klores tied to Greenberg Traurig who is causing Klores…. and Rosen sleepless nights.
Sara Lee kills people
EXCERPT:
• Sara Lee's biggest scandal involved the sale of listeria-tainted hot dog meat that killed 15 people and sickened more than 100 in 2001.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Fear suspicion as US military en route to Costa Rica
EXCERPT:
The contract has drawn confusion about the intent of the ships more than anything else, stemming from a general distrust of US action in the region, likely based on recent events like the tacitly-approved military coup in Honduras (and news emerging last week of new plans for another military base there), as well as last year’s controversial accord to establish seven new military bases in Colombia.
The announcement has already provoked a fierce response in Costa Rica. The measure, which can be also renewed after December 31, has drawn sharp criticism from both lawmakers and civilians. Critics say that a massive foreign military landing at their shores not only directly violates that constitution as it stands today, but tears at the moral fabric of a nation which constitutionally abolished its own army in 1949.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Honduras
Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Chief Deputy David Hendershott in Honduras???By Stephen
With the MCSO so deep in the red that it cannot perform crucial functions, what are MCSO officers doing in Honduras of all places training the local gendarmes down there?
As incredible as it sounds, according to a radio show focused on Honduras' Bay Islands called The Roatan Bruce Show (Roatan being the capital of the Bay Islands, one of Honduras' 18 "departments"), Sheriff Joe's personal "Dick Cheney" Chief Deputy David Hendershott, MCSO Captain Jim Miller and other MCSO deputy dawgs have for the past year been advising the police in that part of the world.
This, while the MCSO has had to cut back in overtime expenditures, reduce visitation hours for prisoners (the Sheriff is still fighting a judge's order to reinstate them), threaten to close down the courts by not delivering defendants to their trials, neglect its duties in unincorporated areas such as Aguila, and on and on.
Take a look at the above pic from the online pub "Honduras This Week Travel," wherein Roatan Bruce recounts his interview with Hendershott and others from the MCSO. Check Hendershott's Panama hat and that Tommy Bahama shirt. The guy looks like a cross between Marlon Brando in The Island of Dr. Moreau, and the mad scientist Dr. Mephisto from South Park, known for genetically engineering a monkey with four asses.
Just thank Yahweh that Hendershott ain't wearin no Speedo.
Discussing the MCSO's helping hand in an October 27, 2007 article for the same publication, Roatan Bruce informs readers,
There was a time when crime was difficult to stop. It resulted in the federal government eventually sending in more and better qualified police. One of those police is National Police Commissario of The Bay Islands, Julio Benitez. Having two years experience, one as a sub Commissario and for the last year as Commissario, he has attracted the help of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, one of busiest and most respected Sheriff's Offices in the United States, which serves citizens in Phoenix, Arizona.
Busy? Maybe. Respected? Only if you're a third-world police force, boyo.
In the same article, Roatan Bruce notes,
Sheriff Joseph Arpaio sent down two teams of expert police in the last year to establish a sisterhood relationship between Honduras, Bay Island Police and their office. Captain Brian Beamish from Special Operations and Lieutenant Kevin Riddle from the Central Investigations Division were part of a second wave of police that spent a month in Honduras training policemen in Tegucigalpa before coming here.
Nutty. Wonder if the MCSO is showing the Hondurans the best way to use a restraint chair?
Captain Beamish tells Roatan Bruce that the MCSO's initial mission was to train 160 police officers in the islands off the coast of the Central American nation. And the MCSO's work there is still ongoing, according to Beamish.
"After two weeks," Captain Brian continued, "the students then receive the other instructor. At the end, there will be a large graduation. There is more training scheduled for the beginning of the year (2008) and it is going to continue for the next several years. The next group to come down will be on anti-corruption."
Are you kidding me? "Anti-corruption"? What, are they gonna show the Honduran po-po how to raise ducats from the sale of pink underwear?
One thing Hendershott can certainly advise them on is how to police a banana republic.
Jokes aside, I'll certainly be looking into this further next week, and making some public records requests to see who's paying for what. I know that last year, I asked for travel records on Hendershott, and the very few I got to view did not include any airplane flights or hotel stays in Honduras.
Has this been covered in the local media somewhere and I just missed it? Doing various searches online, I did note this proclamation by Governor Napolitano issued back in June for the "Bay Island Sister agency Project for Justice and Service Day," but on the face of it, the whole thing seems outrageous. Is the MCSO doing this on our dime? Plus, you've gotta wonder if this is Hendershott's fall plan if Buckeye Police Chief Dan Saban whips Arpaio's fanny in the general election later this year. You know, retire to sunny Honduras...
"I'm not opposed to helping other nations and countries," Saban told me when I asked him for a comment. "But at a time when the MCSO is under-staffed, under-resourced, and we've got 40,000 felons running loose in this county? Helping other nations should come way at the other end when we're fully staffed."
Well said, Chief. If the MCSO is as stretched financially as they claim, then they have some explaining to do...
Thanks to veteran Arpaio critic Jim Cozzolino for the 411 on Hendershott's Bermuda-shorts junkets to the Caribbean.
PS: You can listen to audio files of Roatan Bruce's interviews with Hendershott and other MCSO operatives, here.
EXCERPT:
The contract has drawn confusion about the intent of the ships more than anything else, stemming from a general distrust of US action in the region, likely based on recent events like the tacitly-approved military coup in Honduras (and news emerging last week of new plans for another military base there), as well as last year’s controversial accord to establish seven new military bases in Colombia.
The announcement has already provoked a fierce response in Costa Rica. The measure, which can be also renewed after December 31, has drawn sharp criticism from both lawmakers and civilians. Critics say that a massive foreign military landing at their shores not only directly violates that constitution as it stands today, but tears at the moral fabric of a nation which constitutionally abolished its own army in 1949.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Honduras
Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Chief Deputy David Hendershott in Honduras???By Stephen
With the MCSO so deep in the red that it cannot perform crucial functions, what are MCSO officers doing in Honduras of all places training the local gendarmes down there?
As incredible as it sounds, according to a radio show focused on Honduras' Bay Islands called The Roatan Bruce Show (Roatan being the capital of the Bay Islands, one of Honduras' 18 "departments"), Sheriff Joe's personal "Dick Cheney" Chief Deputy David Hendershott, MCSO Captain Jim Miller and other MCSO deputy dawgs have for the past year been advising the police in that part of the world.
This, while the MCSO has had to cut back in overtime expenditures, reduce visitation hours for prisoners (the Sheriff is still fighting a judge's order to reinstate them), threaten to close down the courts by not delivering defendants to their trials, neglect its duties in unincorporated areas such as Aguila, and on and on.
Take a look at the above pic from the online pub "Honduras This Week Travel," wherein Roatan Bruce recounts his interview with Hendershott and others from the MCSO. Check Hendershott's Panama hat and that Tommy Bahama shirt. The guy looks like a cross between Marlon Brando in The Island of Dr. Moreau, and the mad scientist Dr. Mephisto from South Park, known for genetically engineering a monkey with four asses.
Just thank Yahweh that Hendershott ain't wearin no Speedo.
Discussing the MCSO's helping hand in an October 27, 2007 article for the same publication, Roatan Bruce informs readers,
There was a time when crime was difficult to stop. It resulted in the federal government eventually sending in more and better qualified police. One of those police is National Police Commissario of The Bay Islands, Julio Benitez. Having two years experience, one as a sub Commissario and for the last year as Commissario, he has attracted the help of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, one of busiest and most respected Sheriff's Offices in the United States, which serves citizens in Phoenix, Arizona.
Busy? Maybe. Respected? Only if you're a third-world police force, boyo.
In the same article, Roatan Bruce notes,
Sheriff Joseph Arpaio sent down two teams of expert police in the last year to establish a sisterhood relationship between Honduras, Bay Island Police and their office. Captain Brian Beamish from Special Operations and Lieutenant Kevin Riddle from the Central Investigations Division were part of a second wave of police that spent a month in Honduras training policemen in Tegucigalpa before coming here.
Nutty. Wonder if the MCSO is showing the Hondurans the best way to use a restraint chair?
Captain Beamish tells Roatan Bruce that the MCSO's initial mission was to train 160 police officers in the islands off the coast of the Central American nation. And the MCSO's work there is still ongoing, according to Beamish.
"After two weeks," Captain Brian continued, "the students then receive the other instructor. At the end, there will be a large graduation. There is more training scheduled for the beginning of the year (2008) and it is going to continue for the next several years. The next group to come down will be on anti-corruption."
Are you kidding me? "Anti-corruption"? What, are they gonna show the Honduran po-po how to raise ducats from the sale of pink underwear?
One thing Hendershott can certainly advise them on is how to police a banana republic.
Jokes aside, I'll certainly be looking into this further next week, and making some public records requests to see who's paying for what. I know that last year, I asked for travel records on Hendershott, and the very few I got to view did not include any airplane flights or hotel stays in Honduras.
Has this been covered in the local media somewhere and I just missed it? Doing various searches online, I did note this proclamation by Governor Napolitano issued back in June for the "Bay Island Sister agency Project for Justice and Service Day," but on the face of it, the whole thing seems outrageous. Is the MCSO doing this on our dime? Plus, you've gotta wonder if this is Hendershott's fall plan if Buckeye Police Chief Dan Saban whips Arpaio's fanny in the general election later this year. You know, retire to sunny Honduras...
"I'm not opposed to helping other nations and countries," Saban told me when I asked him for a comment. "But at a time when the MCSO is under-staffed, under-resourced, and we've got 40,000 felons running loose in this county? Helping other nations should come way at the other end when we're fully staffed."
Well said, Chief. If the MCSO is as stretched financially as they claim, then they have some explaining to do...
Thanks to veteran Arpaio critic Jim Cozzolino for the 411 on Hendershott's Bermuda-shorts junkets to the Caribbean.
PS: You can listen to audio files of Roatan Bruce's interviews with Hendershott and other MCSO operatives, here.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Its about what you do not what you say strategies for reducing turnover
EXCERPT:
The first crack came with the advent of the 401(k) and (b) plans that freed employees from corporate retirement programs. The 401 programs are, in effect, portable pensions. In effect, you take your accumulated savings and add to them somewhere else. Silicon Valley companies had never set up pension programs because the young companies there, with non-union workers, did not feel any need to establish retirement programs. So they were the first to feel the impact of 401 programs as workers started understanding what they were all about.
I found the following and thought it needed sharing. How many 'REAL' people know anything about any of this stuff? When I worked at HOLOGIX our CFO was making all of the decisions for the employees. This was the first time ever that I had even thought about retirement and believe me after all the stress at this job (hostile takeover) when I walked out the door at night, I shut it all off.
All of the attention put on outsmarting this guy and that guy is all wrapped up in these white man's EGOs and these guys need to be stopped. The brainwashing needs to be stopped.
It is insane that this world is run by people that think they are smart but are missing out on the most important part of being human......... LOVE.
CalPERS after scandal embraces risk for pensioners facing 20 billion-gap
EXCERPT:
“This could mark a sea change, and not just for Calpers but for every other pension fund out there,” Lo says.
Calpers is at the forefront of a national crisis as public pension funds struggle to meet their obligations to more than 19 million active and retired firefighters, police officers, teachers and other state workers. In 2000, more than half of the 50 states had the funds to cover what they owed. By 2008, that number had shrunk to four -- Florida, New York, Washington and Wisconsin -- as total unfunded liabilities reached a record $1 trillion, according to a February 2010 report by the Pew Center on the States that uses the latest available data.
Pension fund and 401K
EXCERPT:
Hedge funds in 401(k)?
Hedge funds in a 401(k)? People will need to invest prudently for their MANY decades in retirement. But what are they going to be ALLOWED to invest in? How can individuals be expected to take responsibility for their financial future when most will not be permitted to have proper strategy diversification, access superior managers or REDUCE risk with better quality funds? Long only stocks and bonds is dangerous and unsuitable for most of them.
How much of the population actually understands Hedge Funds or 401K
EXCERPT:
Blame for crash? The market sell-off has been caused by hedge funds? Some argue, like the IMF chief economist Raghuram Rajan, that incentive fees induce hedge funds into taking more risk and that this is a cause of market volatility. WRONG. It might push long only and non-hedged speculators marketing themselves as "hedge funds" into risky areas but with competent managers, high water marks, their own wealth at risk and incentive fees encourage them into reducing their volatility.
EXCERPT:
The first crack came with the advent of the 401(k) and (b) plans that freed employees from corporate retirement programs. The 401 programs are, in effect, portable pensions. In effect, you take your accumulated savings and add to them somewhere else. Silicon Valley companies had never set up pension programs because the young companies there, with non-union workers, did not feel any need to establish retirement programs. So they were the first to feel the impact of 401 programs as workers started understanding what they were all about.
I found the following and thought it needed sharing. How many 'REAL' people know anything about any of this stuff? When I worked at HOLOGIX our CFO was making all of the decisions for the employees. This was the first time ever that I had even thought about retirement and believe me after all the stress at this job (hostile takeover) when I walked out the door at night, I shut it all off.
All of the attention put on outsmarting this guy and that guy is all wrapped up in these white man's EGOs and these guys need to be stopped. The brainwashing needs to be stopped.
It is insane that this world is run by people that think they are smart but are missing out on the most important part of being human......... LOVE.
CalPERS after scandal embraces risk for pensioners facing 20 billion-gap
EXCERPT:
“This could mark a sea change, and not just for Calpers but for every other pension fund out there,” Lo says.
Calpers is at the forefront of a national crisis as public pension funds struggle to meet their obligations to more than 19 million active and retired firefighters, police officers, teachers and other state workers. In 2000, more than half of the 50 states had the funds to cover what they owed. By 2008, that number had shrunk to four -- Florida, New York, Washington and Wisconsin -- as total unfunded liabilities reached a record $1 trillion, according to a February 2010 report by the Pew Center on the States that uses the latest available data.
Pension fund and 401K
EXCERPT:
Hedge funds in 401(k)?
Hedge funds in a 401(k)? People will need to invest prudently for their MANY decades in retirement. But what are they going to be ALLOWED to invest in? How can individuals be expected to take responsibility for their financial future when most will not be permitted to have proper strategy diversification, access superior managers or REDUCE risk with better quality funds? Long only stocks and bonds is dangerous and unsuitable for most of them.
How much of the population actually understands Hedge Funds or 401K
EXCERPT:
Blame for crash? The market sell-off has been caused by hedge funds? Some argue, like the IMF chief economist Raghuram Rajan, that incentive fees induce hedge funds into taking more risk and that this is a cause of market volatility. WRONG. It might push long only and non-hedged speculators marketing themselves as "hedge funds" into risky areas but with competent managers, high water marks, their own wealth at risk and incentive fees encourage them into reducing their volatility.
Hedge Fund terms A-Z
EXCERPT:
A portion of the Investment Company Act of 1940 that permits the exclusion of investment companies from standard registration requirements with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) if they have fewer than 100 U.S. investors.
ABack to topAbsolute Return
The return that an asset achieves over a certain period of time. This measure looks at the appreciation or depreciation (expressed as a percentage) that an asset - usually a stock or a mutual fund - achieves over a given period of time. Absolute...
Absolute Return Index
A stock index designed to measure absolute returns. The absolute return index is actually a composite index made up of five other indexes. This index is used to compare the absolute returns posted by the hedge fund market as a whole against...
Agency Problem
A conflict of interest arising between creditors, shareholders and management because of differing goals.
Airbag Swap
An interest rate swap whose notional value adjusts according to rising interest rates by indexing the floating portion to a constant maturity swap (CMS).
Alternative Asset
Any non-traditional asset with potential economic value that would not be found in a standard investment portfolio. Due to the unconventional nature of alternative assets, valuation of some of these assets can be difficult.
Alternative Investment
An investment that is not one of the three traditional asset types (stocks, bonds and cash). Most alternative investment assets are held by institutional investors or accredited, high-net-worth individuals because of their complex nature, limited...
CalPers big lawsuit
EXCERPT:
May 6, 2010
Big lawsuit in CalPERS scandal
California officials filed a fraud suit against the former chief executive of CalPERS and his close friend, a former pension fund board member turned placement agent, in an explosive new twist in the influence-peddling scandal that's been simmering at CalPERS for months.
The lawsuit by Attorney General Jerry Brown says former CalPERS CEO Fred Buenrostro accepted thousands of dollars worth of gifts from Alfred Villalobos, a former CalPERS board member who has earned tens of millions of dollars as a placement agent. These agents are hired by private equity firms to obtain investments from public pension funds such as the California Public Employees' Retirement System.
Among other things, the suit says Villalobos "substantially subsidized" the cost of Buenrostro's 2004 wedding at Villalobos' Lake Tahoe mansion - an incident first reported by The Bee last fall. Buenrostro has said he reimbursed his host.
The suit demands the return of at least $70 million in commissions earned by Villalobos over the years from CalPERS investments.
Departure not connected Buenrostro
EXCERPT:
The resignation of the CEO of California's public employee retirement system, announced Monday, was its second high-level departure in less than a week, prompting speculation about turmoil at the $240 billion pension fund.
Still, the retirement of Chief Executive Officer Fred Buenrostro Jr. is a personal matter that's not part of a broader management shakeup at the California Public Employees' Retirement System, board members and outside experts said Tuesday.
Buenrostro said Monday that he is retiring at a date still to be determined after 5 1/2 years as CalPERS' top executive. The announcement followed by a few days disclosure of the departure of Russell Read, the fund's chief investment officer, who said he is leaving in June to focus on environmentally friendly investing.
Hedge Funds v Porsche
EXCERPT:
US hedge funds are taking legal action against Porsche in a New York court for allegedly manipulating stock prices during its 2008 takeover tangle with Volkswagen. Public prosecutors in Stuttgart are investigating too.
Traders and hedge fund managers hate the weekends because they can't take react immediately to corporate announcements until trading floors reopen on Monday.
Sunday, October 26, 2008 was a particularly bad day for 35 American hedge funds. That was the day German sports carmaker Porsche announced that it owned 42.6 percent of Volkswagen's common stock and options for another 31.5 percent - bringing its total stake in the company to 74.1 percent. The announcement then declared Porsche was seeking to obtain 75 percent of VW shares - a plan that eventually backfired.
India-Cricket
EXCERPT:
Modernisation was equated with the privileging of the private sector and maximising profits.
In this lay the seeds of the scandal that has transformed the way people look at the tournament. It's the private franchising that created the morass that's now under investigation. Among the allegations are bribery, kickbacks, insider trading, tax evasion, money laundering, offshore tax scams and violations of foreign exchange regulations. Behind all these manoeuvres lies a tangle of conflicts of interest, with IPL and BCCI officials and their relatives financially involved in the private franchises and the broadcasting-rights holders. It's a web that involves government ministers, the CEOs of some of India biggest corporations, media powers and Bollywood stars.
Definition of side pockets
What Does Side Pocket Mean?
A type of account used in hedge funds to separate illiquid assets from other more liquid investments. Once an investment enters a side pocket account, only the present participants in the hedge fund will be entitled to a share of it. Future investors will not receive a share of the proceeds in the event the asset's returns get realized.
Investopedia explains Side Pocket
Investors who leave the hedge fund will still receive a share of the side pocket's value when it gets realized. Usually only the most illiquid assets, such as delisted shares of a company, receive this type of treatment, because holding illiquid assets in a standard hedge fund portfolio can cause a great deal of complexity when investors liquidate their position. Overall, side pocket accounts resemble single asset private equity funds in structure.
Joe Biden't tangled web of hedge funds
EXCERPT:
By lostincali in MLP
Sun May 03, 2009 at 09:39:42 AM EST
Tags: Joe Biden, hedge funds, political influence (all tags)
FT Alphaville, a blog run by the Financial Times, is running a three part series on the dealings surrounding a hedge fund management company purchased by the Biden family in 2006. The upshot: no allegations directly linking Biden to corruption, but good dose of lobbying sleaze, nepotism, an opportunistic asbestos/mesothelioma law firm, indirect links to fraudulent financial entities and more conflicts of interest than you can shake a stick at.
Placing for paradigm (Biden)
EXCERPT:
The whole Biden/Paradigm affair also links back to the murky – though largely legitimate – world of pension fund placement agents so much in the news of late.
In this case, it shows how people as politically well-connected as James and Hunter Biden might once have hoped to use their political knowledge to great effect in the hedge fund business.
Hedge funds and Enron
EXCERPT:
1. Side Pockets: A way to move toxic holdings "Off Balance Sheet," to a netherland, hidden from investors and perhaps regulators. This lack of transparency does not exactly comply with truth-in-reporting to your investors or FASB accounting standards.
Sound familiar? It should: It's remarkably similar to Enron Off Balance Sheet Special Partnerships. The WSJ's Scott Patterson went into the details last week:
Even if Bear's pain spreads through the market, other hedge-fund investors might not feel it, at least right away. Sometimes, hedge funds move big pieces of their holdings into separate accounts known as side pockets to keep declining assets from hurting a main fund's performance record -- and managers' wallets. They can also block investors from cashing out.
2. Mark-to-Model: The similarities to Kenny boy's outfit don't end there: What do we do with illiquid holdings where the fund is both the buyer and seller, and the parent company is the buyer of last resort? Unlike most mutual and hedge funds, who mark-to-market based upon the closing price of their assets, holders of these CDOs get to indulge their "creative" side. Instead of writing the great American novel, they derive a model that optimistically prices these illiquid assets.
Astarra shares Hong Kong link to broking scandal
EXCERPT:
Stuart Washington
January 5, 2010
A COMPANY under investigation over the whereabouts of $118 million in funds channelled through the British Virgin Islands shared a Hong Kong address with a firm linked to one of Britain's biggest stockbroking scandals.
The address given for Astarra Asset Management's Hong Kong-based owner, Century Investments Holdings, matches the address given by Zetland Financial Services Group until late 2008.
Zetland and its chief executive, James Sutherland, were named in the British press as the Hong Kong-based owners of Pacific Continental Securities, a British broker that used high-pressure, ''boiler room'' tactics to sell risky and sometimes worthless US shares to British investors.
PCCW
EXCERPT:
Corporate history
PCCW was formed by Richard Li, the younger son of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka Shing. Formerly Pacific Century Development, it was an investment holding company. The company's English name was changed from "Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited" to "PCCW Limited" on 9 August 2002.
It then won a controversial land deal, acquiring valuable waterfront real estate from the government without any public auction bids. Many in Hong Kong cried cronyism, as the Hong Kong Government, under chief executive Tung Chee Hwa, gave away the land to his new high-tech residential and commercial venture called Cyberport.[9]
Li Ka shing
EXCERPT:
Pyramid structure
Like many Asian conglomerates, the Li Ka-shing group is structured to retain disproportionate control without incurring the cost of owning an equivalent economic interest. This separation between control and interest is accomplished through pyramid structure, dual-class equities and cross-holdings.[citation needed] While such structures are rarer in the US and UK, they do exist. For instance, Google uses a dual-class structure to give its founders and insiders 10 votes for each class-B share while the general public is offered class-A shares with 1 vote each.
[edit] Internet
His investment company, Horizon Ventures bought a stake in doubleTwist.[16] Li Ka Shing Foundation bought a 0.8% stake in social networking website Facebook for $120 million in two separate rounds.[17][18] and invested an estimated $50 million in music streaming service Spotify.[19] Some time between late 2009 and early 2010, Li Ka-shing led a $15.5 million Series B round of financing for Siri, an artificial intelligence based virtual personal assistant application for the iPhone.[20]
[edit] Others
Besides business through his flagship companies Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa, Li Ka-shing also personally has extensively invested in real estate in Singapore and Canada. He was the single largest shareholder of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), the third largest bank in Canada until the sale of his share in 2005 (with all proceedings donated, see below). He is also the majority shareholder of a major energy company, Husky Energy, based in Alberta, Canada.[21]
In January 2005, Li announced plans to sell his $1.2 billion CAD stake in the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, with all proceeds going to private charitable foundations established by Li including the Li Ka Shing Foundation in Hong Kong and the Li Ka Shing (Canada) Foundation based in Toronto, Canada.[22]
Li has some real estate interest in Vancouver, specifically in connection with Concord Pacific Developments that developed the old Expo '86 lands in Yaletown.[citation
THE SATANIC BLOODLINES
Introduction
1.1. The Astor Bloodline
2.2. The Bundy Bloodline
3.3. The Collins Bloodline
4.4. The DuPont Bloodline
5.5. The Freeman Bloodline
6.6. The Kennedy Bloodline
7.7. The Li Bloodline
8.8. The Onassis Bloodline
9.9. The Reynolds bloodline
110. The Rockefeller Bloodline
11. The Rothschild Bloodline
12. The Russell Bloodline
13. The Van Duyn Bloodline
EXCERPT:
A portion of the Investment Company Act of 1940 that permits the exclusion of investment companies from standard registration requirements with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) if they have fewer than 100 U.S. investors.
ABack to topAbsolute Return
The return that an asset achieves over a certain period of time. This measure looks at the appreciation or depreciation (expressed as a percentage) that an asset - usually a stock or a mutual fund - achieves over a given period of time. Absolute...
Absolute Return Index
A stock index designed to measure absolute returns. The absolute return index is actually a composite index made up of five other indexes. This index is used to compare the absolute returns posted by the hedge fund market as a whole against...
Agency Problem
A conflict of interest arising between creditors, shareholders and management because of differing goals.
Airbag Swap
An interest rate swap whose notional value adjusts according to rising interest rates by indexing the floating portion to a constant maturity swap (CMS).
Alternative Asset
Any non-traditional asset with potential economic value that would not be found in a standard investment portfolio. Due to the unconventional nature of alternative assets, valuation of some of these assets can be difficult.
Alternative Investment
An investment that is not one of the three traditional asset types (stocks, bonds and cash). Most alternative investment assets are held by institutional investors or accredited, high-net-worth individuals because of their complex nature, limited...
CalPers big lawsuit
EXCERPT:
May 6, 2010
Big lawsuit in CalPERS scandal
California officials filed a fraud suit against the former chief executive of CalPERS and his close friend, a former pension fund board member turned placement agent, in an explosive new twist in the influence-peddling scandal that's been simmering at CalPERS for months.
The lawsuit by Attorney General Jerry Brown says former CalPERS CEO Fred Buenrostro accepted thousands of dollars worth of gifts from Alfred Villalobos, a former CalPERS board member who has earned tens of millions of dollars as a placement agent. These agents are hired by private equity firms to obtain investments from public pension funds such as the California Public Employees' Retirement System.
Among other things, the suit says Villalobos "substantially subsidized" the cost of Buenrostro's 2004 wedding at Villalobos' Lake Tahoe mansion - an incident first reported by The Bee last fall. Buenrostro has said he reimbursed his host.
The suit demands the return of at least $70 million in commissions earned by Villalobos over the years from CalPERS investments.
Departure not connected Buenrostro
EXCERPT:
The resignation of the CEO of California's public employee retirement system, announced Monday, was its second high-level departure in less than a week, prompting speculation about turmoil at the $240 billion pension fund.
Still, the retirement of Chief Executive Officer Fred Buenrostro Jr. is a personal matter that's not part of a broader management shakeup at the California Public Employees' Retirement System, board members and outside experts said Tuesday.
Buenrostro said Monday that he is retiring at a date still to be determined after 5 1/2 years as CalPERS' top executive. The announcement followed by a few days disclosure of the departure of Russell Read, the fund's chief investment officer, who said he is leaving in June to focus on environmentally friendly investing.
Hedge Funds v Porsche
EXCERPT:
US hedge funds are taking legal action against Porsche in a New York court for allegedly manipulating stock prices during its 2008 takeover tangle with Volkswagen. Public prosecutors in Stuttgart are investigating too.
Traders and hedge fund managers hate the weekends because they can't take react immediately to corporate announcements until trading floors reopen on Monday.
Sunday, October 26, 2008 was a particularly bad day for 35 American hedge funds. That was the day German sports carmaker Porsche announced that it owned 42.6 percent of Volkswagen's common stock and options for another 31.5 percent - bringing its total stake in the company to 74.1 percent. The announcement then declared Porsche was seeking to obtain 75 percent of VW shares - a plan that eventually backfired.
India-Cricket
EXCERPT:
Modernisation was equated with the privileging of the private sector and maximising profits.
In this lay the seeds of the scandal that has transformed the way people look at the tournament. It's the private franchising that created the morass that's now under investigation. Among the allegations are bribery, kickbacks, insider trading, tax evasion, money laundering, offshore tax scams and violations of foreign exchange regulations. Behind all these manoeuvres lies a tangle of conflicts of interest, with IPL and BCCI officials and their relatives financially involved in the private franchises and the broadcasting-rights holders. It's a web that involves government ministers, the CEOs of some of India biggest corporations, media powers and Bollywood stars.
Definition of side pockets
What Does Side Pocket Mean?
A type of account used in hedge funds to separate illiquid assets from other more liquid investments. Once an investment enters a side pocket account, only the present participants in the hedge fund will be entitled to a share of it. Future investors will not receive a share of the proceeds in the event the asset's returns get realized.
Investopedia explains Side Pocket
Investors who leave the hedge fund will still receive a share of the side pocket's value when it gets realized. Usually only the most illiquid assets, such as delisted shares of a company, receive this type of treatment, because holding illiquid assets in a standard hedge fund portfolio can cause a great deal of complexity when investors liquidate their position. Overall, side pocket accounts resemble single asset private equity funds in structure.
Joe Biden't tangled web of hedge funds
EXCERPT:
By lostincali in MLP
Sun May 03, 2009 at 09:39:42 AM EST
Tags: Joe Biden, hedge funds, political influence (all tags)
FT Alphaville, a blog run by the Financial Times, is running a three part series on the dealings surrounding a hedge fund management company purchased by the Biden family in 2006. The upshot: no allegations directly linking Biden to corruption, but good dose of lobbying sleaze, nepotism, an opportunistic asbestos/mesothelioma law firm, indirect links to fraudulent financial entities and more conflicts of interest than you can shake a stick at.
Placing for paradigm (Biden)
EXCERPT:
The whole Biden/Paradigm affair also links back to the murky – though largely legitimate – world of pension fund placement agents so much in the news of late.
In this case, it shows how people as politically well-connected as James and Hunter Biden might once have hoped to use their political knowledge to great effect in the hedge fund business.
Hedge funds and Enron
EXCERPT:
1. Side Pockets: A way to move toxic holdings "Off Balance Sheet," to a netherland, hidden from investors and perhaps regulators. This lack of transparency does not exactly comply with truth-in-reporting to your investors or FASB accounting standards.
Sound familiar? It should: It's remarkably similar to Enron Off Balance Sheet Special Partnerships. The WSJ's Scott Patterson went into the details last week:
Even if Bear's pain spreads through the market, other hedge-fund investors might not feel it, at least right away. Sometimes, hedge funds move big pieces of their holdings into separate accounts known as side pockets to keep declining assets from hurting a main fund's performance record -- and managers' wallets. They can also block investors from cashing out.
2. Mark-to-Model: The similarities to Kenny boy's outfit don't end there: What do we do with illiquid holdings where the fund is both the buyer and seller, and the parent company is the buyer of last resort? Unlike most mutual and hedge funds, who mark-to-market based upon the closing price of their assets, holders of these CDOs get to indulge their "creative" side. Instead of writing the great American novel, they derive a model that optimistically prices these illiquid assets.
Astarra shares Hong Kong link to broking scandal
EXCERPT:
Stuart Washington
January 5, 2010
A COMPANY under investigation over the whereabouts of $118 million in funds channelled through the British Virgin Islands shared a Hong Kong address with a firm linked to one of Britain's biggest stockbroking scandals.
The address given for Astarra Asset Management's Hong Kong-based owner, Century Investments Holdings, matches the address given by Zetland Financial Services Group until late 2008.
Zetland and its chief executive, James Sutherland, were named in the British press as the Hong Kong-based owners of Pacific Continental Securities, a British broker that used high-pressure, ''boiler room'' tactics to sell risky and sometimes worthless US shares to British investors.
PCCW
EXCERPT:
Corporate history
PCCW was formed by Richard Li, the younger son of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka Shing. Formerly Pacific Century Development, it was an investment holding company. The company's English name was changed from "Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited" to "PCCW Limited" on 9 August 2002.
It then won a controversial land deal, acquiring valuable waterfront real estate from the government without any public auction bids. Many in Hong Kong cried cronyism, as the Hong Kong Government, under chief executive Tung Chee Hwa, gave away the land to his new high-tech residential and commercial venture called Cyberport.[9]
Li Ka shing
EXCERPT:
Pyramid structure
Like many Asian conglomerates, the Li Ka-shing group is structured to retain disproportionate control without incurring the cost of owning an equivalent economic interest. This separation between control and interest is accomplished through pyramid structure, dual-class equities and cross-holdings.[citation needed] While such structures are rarer in the US and UK, they do exist. For instance, Google uses a dual-class structure to give its founders and insiders 10 votes for each class-B share while the general public is offered class-A shares with 1 vote each.
[edit] Internet
His investment company, Horizon Ventures bought a stake in doubleTwist.[16] Li Ka Shing Foundation bought a 0.8% stake in social networking website Facebook for $120 million in two separate rounds.[17][18] and invested an estimated $50 million in music streaming service Spotify.[19] Some time between late 2009 and early 2010, Li Ka-shing led a $15.5 million Series B round of financing for Siri, an artificial intelligence based virtual personal assistant application for the iPhone.[20]
[edit] Others
Besides business through his flagship companies Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa, Li Ka-shing also personally has extensively invested in real estate in Singapore and Canada. He was the single largest shareholder of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), the third largest bank in Canada until the sale of his share in 2005 (with all proceedings donated, see below). He is also the majority shareholder of a major energy company, Husky Energy, based in Alberta, Canada.[21]
In January 2005, Li announced plans to sell his $1.2 billion CAD stake in the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, with all proceeds going to private charitable foundations established by Li including the Li Ka Shing Foundation in Hong Kong and the Li Ka Shing (Canada) Foundation based in Toronto, Canada.[22]
Li has some real estate interest in Vancouver, specifically in connection with Concord Pacific Developments that developed the old Expo '86 lands in Yaletown.[citation
THE SATANIC BLOODLINES
Introduction
1.1. The Astor Bloodline
2.2. The Bundy Bloodline
3.3. The Collins Bloodline
4.4. The DuPont Bloodline
5.5. The Freeman Bloodline
6.6. The Kennedy Bloodline
7.7. The Li Bloodline
8.8. The Onassis Bloodline
9.9. The Reynolds bloodline
110. The Rockefeller Bloodline
11. The Rothschild Bloodline
12. The Russell Bloodline
13. The Van Duyn Bloodline
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