American Horror Story plays out every day in the real lives
of people at home in America and throughout the world. Thomas Jefferson said:
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our
liberties than standing armies.
If the American people ever allow
private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the
banks and corporations that will grow up
around will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up
homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”
Thomas Jefferson was soooo right. I’m beginning to think that the thing that
makes America exceptional is the exceptional stupidity of the American people
and how much they will allow themselves to be abused, raped, imprisoned,
starved, poisoned and stripped of their wealth and well-being by predators who
finance their elections.
According to The Guardian, Emma Thompson and Greg Wise have had enough of the fascist plutocratic
rule by predator banks that coordinate their terrorist activities with world
governments from their home base in the United States of America.
Excerpt:
Emma Thompson and Greg Wise in tax boycott over HSBC scandal
Actor
says he and his wife refuse to pay ‘a penny more’ until tax evaders found among
Swiss banking arm’s clients go to prison
Greg Wise, the actor married to
Oscar winner Emma Thompson, has said he and his wife will refuse to pay tax
until those involved in the HSBC scandal go to prison.
Wise spoke of his disgust with HM
Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and the bank after the Guardian and other news
organisations published leaked details of 100,000 accounts held by HSBC’s Swiss
arm which showed how the bank had helped clients to move cash out of the
country.
“I want to stop paying tax, until
everyone pays tax,” Wise told the Evening Standard. “I have actively loved paying tax, because I am a profound fucking
socialist and I believe we are all in it together. But I am disgusted with
HMRC. I am disgusted with HSBC. And I’m not paying a penny more until those
evil bastards go to prison.”
Yes, the episode of American Horror Story that Greg Wise
refers to is HSBC Bank laundering money for terrorists and drug cartels in the
United States. And who was the prosecutor
that left HSBC off the hook with a little over a billion in fines, which amounted
to about a month’s illegal profits? Why
it’s none other than Loretta Lynch, Obama’s nominee to be America’s top cop,
Attorney General of United States of America.
From The Guardian:
Excerpt:
The secret bank files – obtained
and examined in detail this week in a series of reports by the Guardian, CBS 60
Minutes and other media outlets – reveal that HSBC’s Swiss arm colluded with some high net-worth individuals to hide
their assets from tax authorities across the world.
The new data, leaked by a
whistleblower, was obtained by French tax
authorities and shared with the US government in 2010, raising questions over
why the Department of Justice has yet to take action against HSBC in the US.
US government officials have told the Guardian that investigations by
the DoJ’s tax division have been continuing for five years and criminal charges
against HSBC or its bankers remain a possibility.
Sounds like the U.S. Government, a wholly owned subsidiary
of Goldman Sachs, is running out the clock on the statute of limitations. HSBC isn’t even an American bank, so how is
it that a foreign bank could aid in financing terrorists through their bank
located in America? From Rolling Stone:
Excerpt:
The deal was announced
quietly, just before the holidays, almost like the government was hoping people
were too busy hanging stockings by the fireplace to notice. Flooring
politicians, lawyers and investigators all over the world, the U.S. Justice
Department granted a total walk to executives of the British-based bank HSBC
for the largest drug-and-terrorism money-laundering case ever.
Yes, they issued a fine –
$1.9 billion, or about five weeks' profit – but they didn't extract so much as
one dollar or one day in jail from any individual, despite a decade of
stupefying abuses.
The behemoth Department of Homeland Security created after
the 911 attacks is just a Potemkin village, a fake store front.
For at least half a decade, the
storied British colonial banking power helped to wash hundreds of millions of
dollars for drug mobs, including
Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel, suspected in tens of thousands of murders just in
the past 10 years…
The bank also moved money for organizations linked to Al Qaeda and
Hezbollah, and for Russian gangsters; helped countries like Iran, the Sudan
and North Korea evade sanctions; and, in between helping murderers and
terrorists and rogue states, aided countless common tax cheats in hiding their
cash.
In a related episode of American Horror Story that I call
The Greek Tragedy is currently playing out on the world stage. From Truthout:
Excerpt:
Swimming With Sharks: Goldman Sachs, Schools and Capital Appreciation
Bonds
Remember when Goldman Sachs—dubbed
by Matt Taibbi the Vampire Squid—sold
derivatives to Greece so the government could conceal its debt, then bet
against that debt, driving it up? It seems that the ubiquitous investment
bank has also put the squeeze on
California and its school districts.
Not that Goldman was alone in this;
but the unscrupulous practices of the bank once called the undisputed king of
the municipal bond business epitomize the culture of greed that has ensnared students and future generations in
unrepayable debt….
In 2009, the lenders’ lobbying
group then proposed and promoted AB1388, a California bill eliminating the debt
ceiling requirement on long-term debt for school districts. After it passed,
bankers traveled all over the state pushing something called “capital
appreciation bonds” (CABs) as a tool to vault over legal debt limits. (Think
Greece again.)
Also called payday loans for school districts, CABs have now been
issued by more than 400 California districts, some with repayment obligations
of up to 20 times the principal advanced (or 2000%)…
The controversial bonds came under
increased scrutiny in August 2012, following a report that San Diego County’s Poway Unified would have to pay $982 million for a
$105 million CAB it issued. Goldman Sachs made $1.6 million on a single
capital appreciation deal with the San Diego Unified School District….
The Federal Reserve could have made virtually-interest-free loans
available to local governments, as it did for banks. But the Fed (whose twelve
branches are 100% owned by private banks) declined.
In the American Horror Story episode I call “The Pied Piper Lures
Students into Slavery” students are saddled with trillions of dollars in
predatory student loan debt that cannot be expunged through bankruptcy,
disability or even death. From The San Diego Free Press:
Excerpt:
Today’s students are being crushed
with John Bunyan’s proverbial burden on their backs – student loan debt. Until
relatively recently this debt could have been discharged in bankruptcy.
Then all that changed when Sallie Mae, the Student Loan Marketing
Association, was privatized in 2004. Albert Lord, the new CEO, and his lobbyists went to work to change the laws so
that student loans could not be discharged in bankruptcy. Today the cumulative student loan debt is
more than $1 trillion.
In Sallie Mae annual reports, CEO
Albert Lord has boasted that the
company’s extraordinary financial growth
could be attributed to fees collected from defaulted loans, as well as loan
origination growth.
Lord, who personally invested
hundreds of thousands of dollars (on the books) in politicians and PACs
involved with education legislation is
probably the largest individual beneficiary of student loan privatization.
In 2001, US News reported that Mr. Lord’s compensation for the year 2000
had skyrocketed to over $33 million. From
1999-2004, Sallie Mae’s top two executives, Al Lord and Tom Fitzpatrick, received compensation worth $225 million
and $245 million, respectively.
Both men have regularly topped
Fortune Magazine’s list of highest paid CEO’s in the Washington D.C. Area….
While Albert Lord and others have
profited handsomely from student loan privatization, many of the students themselves have been driven to
despair after they graduate and payments on the loans become due….
Suicide is the dark side of the
student lending crisis and, despite all the media attention to the issue of
student loans, it’s been severely under-reported.
And then there was the episode of American Horror Story I call
“Toll Road to Hell.”
Recent guests on C-Span’s Washington Journal were
Blake Ellis and Melanie Hicken of CNN Money who collaborated on an article called
“The secret world of government debt
collection.”
Excerpt:
Government agencies across the
country are hiring private debt collectors to go after millions of Americans
over unpaid taxes, ancient parking tickets and even $1 tolls.
It’s a good deal for cash-strapped
states, cities and other local governments. By outsourcing this dirty work and letting private companies charge debtors sky-high
fees, government agencies can get these collection services free of charge.
And it's a great deal for debt
collectors. In an industry already known for bad behavior, debt collectors that work for government
agencies usually don’t have to work within the confines of consumer protection
laws – opening the door for higher fees and even more aggressive tactics.
That’s right these debt collectors do not have to work
within the confines of consumer protection laws, in other words they are like
mafia hit men, predatory sharks with no need to obey the most basic of laws
that protect American citizens from predatory lenders and unscrupulous debt
collectors.
And they use government
agencies as muscle men that have the ability to garnish wages, withhold tax
returns and even imprison people for not paying their exorbitant fees.
Their government bosses can give
them the power to threaten debtors with the suspension of their driver’s
license, garnishment of their wages, foreclosure and arrest to get them to pay
up.
State lawmakers have even passed
laws allowing private collectors to charge debtors steep fees. In Florida, for example, fees can be as
high as 40% on top of the total bill, which includes not only what they
already owe, but interest and government penalties as well.
In Texas, they can reach 30%. And
in cases of unpaid toll violations, flat fees can effectively amount to more
than 100%. As a result, small unpaid
tolls can easily balloon into hundreds of dollars, once government penalties
and collection fees are tacked on….
One of the biggest players in this
industry is law firm Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson…. Based in Texas, Linebarger works for
2,300 clients nationwide and collects $1 billion for its clients each year…
Despite decades of scandals over
the way the firm gets business -- and even
jail time for one of its top executives -- Linebarger still lands lucrative
government contracts…
For one out-of-town driver who
mistakenly failed to pay $7.50 in tolls
on a Texas highway, these fees became a $157.50 bill in a matter of months. The
toll road was due the original toll amount, plus $66 in administrative fees.
Linebarger added $84 for itself…
Because the law so often lands on
Linebarger’s side, consumers often end up in a black hole with little recourse….
And what’s in the hopper for an upcoming episode of American
Horror Story? Military Pensions and Tri
Care for Life. Seems the new “Proctor
and Gamble Businessman Ashton Carter” is going to bring the business model of
human life has no value to our veterans.
From Financial Buzz:
Excerpt:
On Sunday, Ashton Carter, Secretary
of Defense, said that he was open to changes in the system of military
retirement. But he would not be in favor of changes being imposed or forced
upon the former or existing service members.
The Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission
employed by the Congress, submitted proposals in the previous month to save the funds of the Defense Department
with respect to personnel expenses.
Get rid of those pesky personnel expenses. They are cutting into the military industrial
complex exorbitant profits.
Changes were suggested to encourage troops to shift from the existing
pension system that provides significant retirement money to the individuals
who have served for 20 or more years. At the same time it gives nothing to those who have served for a lesser period of
time.
So what is the panel that congress pays out of our taxpayer
receipts suggesting to do to provide those who serve with a secure pension and
the promise of medical care for life?
Another recommendation made by the
panel was that Tricare health insurance
should be substituted with a variety of private
source options.
Caaaching another win for banks and insurance companies and
death sentence for Americans especially those sick and injured in service to
OUR country. Meanwhile, remember last
year when the Ukrainian government was overthrown by the CIA and $3 billion in gold was shipped
to the Federal Reserve Bank in New York?
Well, that prompted the people of Crimea to throw their lot in with Russia
much to the chagrin of the American Horror Story way of life. From NewYork Times:
Excerpt:
Russia Raises Some Salaries and Pensions for Crimeans
MOSCOW — Moving quickly to envelop
Crimea in the Russian bureaucracy and economy, the Kremlin said Monday that it had nearly doubled pensions paid to
retirees on the peninsula, raising them to the average levels paid in Russia.
President Vladimir V. Putin signed a decree raising pensions and
another increasing salaries for public sector workers like teachers and doctors,
according to a statement posted on the Kremlin’s website.
Officials also announced a number
of new investment plans and tax breaks for Crimea, which Russia seized from
Ukraine two weeks ago after a rushed vote in the Crimean Legislature. The
Crimeans even realigned the clock, moving theirs ahead two hours, to be
identical with Moscow’s time zone.
No wonder the government in American Horror Story loathes
Putin so much, if people of the world start to see a choice of American Horror
Story or a legitimate government serving its people instead of its American
Horror Story bankers, there’s bound to be an upheaval in the world against the
tyranny of the billionaire banker oligarchs.
When American Horror Story took its show on the road to
Greece they destroyed the government and the way of life for its people. First they bankrupted Greece through a
combination of loans and hedge fund shakedowns, then they demanded crushing
austerity for the people.
Now the people of Greece have voted in a new government that
promised to reverse course and concentrate on the needs of the people
first. The World Bank and the European
Union are trying to stomp down on the necks of the Greeks with their heavy
American Horror Story jackboots. From
Reuters:
Excerpt:
Euro zone backs Greek aid extension, seeks clearer reforms
In American Horror Story “clearer reforms” is code for
starve your people or we will destroy you.
(Reuters) - Greece secured a
four-month extension of its financial rescue on Tuesday when its euro zone
partners approved a reform plan, as
Athens backed away from some proposed measures and promised that spending to
alleviate social distress would not derail its budget….
Don’t trust them Greece, you saw what they did to Ukraine
when their government sought to alleviate social distress.
A Greek finance ministry official
said the
euro zone's most heavily indebted nation would start discussions immediately
with its EU and IMF partners on
meeting this year's financing shortfall.
When they say EU and IMF partners, they mean partners like
when a mafia man comes and demands protection money or he will break your legs
and torch your business.
Options included allowing Athens to issue more short-term T-bills
and using ECB profits on Greek bonds, he said.
Gee, the European Central Bank will allow Athens to borrow
from their profits they made bankrupting nations across the world. Gee that sounds a lot like the California
school bonds. So what else must Greece
do?
The Greek letter pledged not to reverse ongoing or completed
privatizations, and to ensure that the fight against what the
government calls the humanitarian crisis caused by bailout-driven austerity
"has no negative fiscal effects".
So Greece is offered a death sentence of “humanitarian
crises caused by bailout austerity. In
other words, no pensions, food or any kind of security for people and
exorbitant billionaire payouts.
So what is Greece to do in this episode of American Horror
Story? I know, let’s look at what the
people of Iceland did. Back in 2012
Iceland said, screw you to the banks.
From It Makes Sense Blog:
Excerpt:
Iceland Dismantles Corrupt Gov’t Then Arrests All Rothschild Bankers
Whoo whoo. Iceland’s
got a set of brass balls.
Since the 1900′s the vast majority
of the American population has dreamed about saying “NO” to the
Unconstitutional, corrupt, Rothschild/Rockefeller banking criminals, but no one
has dared to do so. Why? If just half of our Nation, and the “1%”, who pay the
majority of the taxes, just said NO MORE! Our Gov’t would literally change over
night.
Hey sounds like Greg Wise and Emma Thompson are on to
something.
Not only have they (Iceland) been
successful, at overthrowing the corrupt Gov’t, they’ve drafted a Constitution, that will stop this from happening ever
again. That’s not the best part… The best part, is that they have arrested
ALL Rothschild/Rockefeller banking puppets, responsible for the Country’s
economic Chaos and meltdown.
You go girl.
This quiet revolutionary process has its origins in 2008 when the
Icelandic government decided to nationalise the three largest banks,
Landsbanki, Kaupthing and Glitnir, whose
clients were mainly British, and North and South American.
While banks and local and foreign
authorities were desperately seeking economic solutions, the Icelandic people
took to the streets and their persistent daily demonstrations outside
parliament in Reykjavik prompted the resignation of the conservative Prime
Minister Geir H. Haarde and his entire government.
Citizens demanded, in addition, to
convene early elections, and they succeeded. In April a coalition government was elected, formed by the Social
Democratic Alliance and the Left Green Movement, headed by a new Prime
Minister, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir.
Huh, imagine that a government of, by and for the
people. What a great idea.
Throughout 2009 the Icelandic
economy continued to be in a precarious situation (at the end of the year the
GDP had dropped by 7%) but, despite this, the Parliament proposed to repay the
debt to Britain and the Netherlands with a payment of 3,500 million Euros, a
sum to be paid every month by Icelandic families for 15 years at 5.5% interest.
The move sparked anger again in the Icelanders, who returned to the
streets demanding that, at least, that
decision was put to a referendum. Another big small victory for the street
protests: in March 2010 that vote was
held and an overwhelming 93% of the population refused to repay the debt, at
least with those conditions.
This
forced the creditors to rethink the deal and improve it, offering 3%
interest and payment over 37 years. Not even that was enough. The current
president, on seeing that Parliament
approved the agreement by a narrow margin, decided last month not to
approve it and to call on the Icelandic people to vote in a referendum so that
they would have the last word….
Returning to the tense situation in
2010, while the Icelanders were
refusing to pay a debt incurred by financial sharks without consultation,
the coalition government had launched an investigation to determine legal responsibilities
for the fatal economic crisis and had already arrested several bankers and top
executives closely linked to high risk operations….
Man that’s ballsy.
….. instead of calling experts and
politicians, Iceland decided to appeal
directly to the people, after all they have sovereign power over the law. More than 500 Icelanders presented
themselves as candidates to participate in this exercise in direct democracy
and write a new constitution. 25 of them, without party affiliations, including
lawyers, students, journalists, farmers and trade union representatives were
elected.
Man oh man, sounds like the American Revolution.
Among other developments, this constitution will call for the
protection, like no other, of freedom of information and expression in the
so-called Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, in a bill that aims to make the
country a safe haven for investigative journalism and freedom of information,
where sources, journalists and Internet providers that host news reporting are
protected.
So that was Iceland in 2012, so how did that work out? From Der Spiegel:
Excerpt:
Out of the Abyss: Looking for Lessons in Iceland's Recovery
What should one expect from a
country in which the sentence, "What an asshole!" is a compliment?
Icelanders say "asshole," or "rassgat," when they tousle a
child's hair or greet friends, and they mean it to be friendly.
While trudging through a lava field
within view of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, the guide says: "Iceland
is the asshole of the world." That, too, is a positive statement.
It's also a geological metaphor.
In Iceland, which lies on the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge and thus on the dividing line of the North American and
Eurasian tectonic plates, the earth has
a tendency to relieve itself through various geysers, volcanoes and hot
springs.
Ha, ha I guess they are the asshole of the world.
The island, an unlikely geological
accident, has existed for some 18 million years, but has only been inhabited
for 1,100 years. A pile of lava pushed out of the Atlantic that could
eventually disappear again, it's affectionately called "The Rock" by
residents. Icelanders were traditionally fishermen and farmers until they decided to turn their country into a casino for global capital
around the turn of the millennium.
What happened in Iceland from 2008
to 2011 is regarded as one of the worst financial crises in history. It seems
likely that never before had a country managed to amass such great sums of
money per capita, only to lose it again in a short period of time.
But Iceland, with a population of
just 320,000, has also staged what appears to be the fastest recovery on
record. Since 2011, the gross domestic product has been on the rise once again,
most recently at 2 percent. What's more,
salaries are rising, the national debt is sinking and the government has paid
off part of the billions in loans it received in 2008 from the International
Monetary Fund ahead of schedule.
So let’s write the last episode of American Horror Story,
and maybe Greg Wise and Emma Thompson can play the lead roles. Maybe we can call it “American Horror Story the
Last Days: Iceland’s Revenge.”
By Patricia Baeten
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