"Mankind has gone very far into an artificial world of his own creation."
From Carson’s speech in acceptance of the National Book Award, 1963
http://www.fws.gov/northeast/rachelcarson/Excerpts.html
Scroll to end: click web view. Mrs. Mcmurray 's obtained proof Asarco smelter poisoned El Paso TX through what the EPA & US DOJ said was illegal burning of illegal hazardous/radioactive wastes 1991-98. (see 73 page 1998 conf. for settlement purposes only DOJ EPA Asarco doc,10/06 nytimes) We have never been told what actinides, forever chemicals, dioxins etc are present from illegal Asarco actions see "Asarco secret document"
Please donate (see sidebar) to help recoup costs of the work to uncover and blog the information contained here"THE ONLY THING NECESSARY FOR THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL IS FOR GOOD MEN TO DO NOTHING"
"Mankind has gone very far into an artificial world of his own creation."
From Carson’s speech in acceptance of the National Book Award, 1963
http://www.fws.gov/northeast/rachelcarson/Excerpts.html
Nov. 10--Asarco will nearly double production at a mill south of Tucson, but it says it will reduce dust emissions slightly by adding pollution controls in a $65 million upgrade.
The mining company wants the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality to revise its air quality permit so it can increase the amount of copper ore running through its Mission Mine's south mill by about 71 percent.... County regulators say they agree with Asarco's calculations that emissions will decline despite the higher production levels.
The mill, just south of Pima Mine Road and west of Interstate 19, is one of two at the Mission complex, which employs about 625 people.
After the mine expands the south mill's production capacity, total employment will rise by perhaps 10 to 15 people in about the first quarter of 2013, said Tom Aldrich, Asarco's vice president of environmental affairs."HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest lender, was sued for $9 billion over claims it aided Bernard Madoff’s fraud through a network of feeder funds in Europe, the Caribbean and Central America. Irving H. Picard, trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, sued HSBC and a dozen feeder funds in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, Picard said in a statement....The suit alleges the bank was aware of concerns that Madoff’s investment business was fraudulent and didn’t take steps to protect investors, according to the statement. .... HSBC said in a statement that Picard’s allegations are “unfounded” and that it will defend itself against them in court." http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-06/hsbc-holdings-sued-by-madoff-trustee-for-9-billion-for-alleged-misconduct.html
"January 6, 2011
Six deals on which Cleary Gottlieb advised during 2010 were named as “Deals of the Year” by International Financing Review.Hedge-fund firm Harbinger Capital Partners, founded by Philip Falcone, said Tuesday that Peter Jenson has resigned as chief operating officer and director....Jenson, who left Citadel Investment for Harbinger in 2009, was responsible for all operational activities of the funds....Meanwhile, Harbinger Group, a publicly traded company majority-owned by Harbinger Capital, has appointed Omar Asali as acting president, succeeding Falcone, who will continue to serve as chairman and chief executive....Asali, who is a managing director and head of global strategy for Harbinger Capital, was previously co-head of Goldman Sachs's hedge-fund strategies. "
http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/2011-07-06/harbinger-capital-operating-chief-resigns
"After more than eight years working beside Philip A. Falcone, the embattled hedge manager of Harbinger Capital Partners, Lawrence Clark, a top investment manager at the firm, confirmed on Monday that he had left to start his own fund. Mr. Clark, 39, plans to start an event-driven hedge fund focused on metals, mining, food and agriculture, areas that he covered as a senior analyst when he reported directly to Mr. Falcone.....It’s about ....striking out on my own,” Mr. Clark said, noting that he remained on the board of Mr. Falcone’s public company, the Harbinger Group."
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/top-harbinger-official-leaves-to-start-own-firm/
[see "Harbinger" within epgtlo's internal search engine for more information]
PREVIEWGrupo Mexico profit seen up on Asarco copper prices ... WHAT: Grupo Mexico Q1 earnings results * WHEN: Friday, April 23 * REUTERS FORECAST: Net profit seen soaring year-on-year By Mica Rosenberg MEXICO CITY, ... in.reuters.com/article/.../idINN2021866520100420 |
Chris Hedges' Speech in Front of Goldman Sachs Leads to Arrest
By Chris Hedges
Chris Hedges made this statement in New York City's Zuccotti Park on Thursday morning during the People's Hearing on Goldman Sachs, which he chaired with Dr. Cornel West. The activist and Truthdig columnist then joined a march of several hundred protesters to the nearby corporate headquarters of Goldman Sachs, where he was arrested with 16 others.
Goldman Sachs, which received more subsidies and bailout-related funds than any other investment bank because the Federal Reserve permitted it to become a bank holding company under its "emergency situation," has used billions in taxpayer money to enrich itself and reward its top executives. It handed its senior employees a staggering $18 billion in 2009, $16 billion in 2010 and $10 billion in 2011 in mega-bonuses. This massive transfer of wealth upwards by the Bush and Obama administrations, now estimated at $13 trillion to $14 trillion, went into the pockets of those who carried out fraud and criminal activity rather than the victims who lost their jobs, their savings and often their homes.
Goldman Sachs' commodities index is the most heavily traded in the world. Goldman Sachs hoards rice, wheat, corn, sugar and livestock and jacks up commodity prices around the globe so that poor families can no longer afford basic staples and literally starve. Goldman Sachs is able to carry out its malfeasance at home and in global markets because it has former officials filtered throughout the government and lavishly funds compliant politicians—including Barack Obama, who received $1 million from employees at Goldman Sachs in 2008 when he ran for president. These politicians, in return, permit Goldman Sachs to ignore security laws that under a functioning judiciary system would see the firm indicted for felony fraud. Or, as in the case of Bill Clinton, these politicians pass laws such as the 2000 Commodity Futures Modernization Act that effectively removed all oversight and outside control over the speculation in commodities, one of the major reasons food prices have soared. In 2008 and again in 2010 prices for crops such as rice, wheat and corn doubled and even tripled, making life precarious for hundreds of millions of people. And it was all done so a few corporate oligarchs, the 1 percent, could make personal fortunes in the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars. Despite a damning 650-page Senate subcommittee investigation report, no individual at Goldman Sachs has been indicted, although the report accuses Goldman of defrauding its clients.
When the government in the fall 2008 provided the firm with billions of dollars in the form of cheap loans, FDIC debt guarantees, TARP, AIG make-wholes, and a late-night label-shift from investment bank to bank holding company, giving the firm access to excessive Federal Reserve aid, access [the corporation] still has, it enabled and abetted Goldman's criminal behavior. Goldman Sachs unloaded billions in worthless securities to its clients, decimating 401(k)s, pension and mutual funds. The firm misled investors about the true nature of these worthless securities, insisted the securities they were pushing on their clients were sound, and hid the material fact that, simultaneously, they were betting against these same securities—$2 billion against just one of their deals. The firm then had the gall to extort from its victims—us—to make good on its bets when the global economy it helped trash lost $40 trillion in worldwide wealth and huge insurance firms were unable to cover their bad debts.
The Securities Act of 1933, established in the wake of the massive fraud that pervaded the securities market before the 1929 Crash, was written to ensure that "any securities transactions are not based on fraudulent information or practices." The act "prohibits deceit, misrepresentation, and other fraud in the sale of securities." The subcommittee report indicates that Goldman Sachs clearly broke security laws.
As part of the political theater that has come to replace the legislative and judicial process, the Securities and Exchange Commission agreed to a $550 million settlement whereby Goldman Sachs admitted it showed "incomplete" information in marketing materials and that it was a "mistake" to not disclose the nature of its portfolio selection committee. This fine was a payoff to the SEC by Goldman Sachs of about four days' worth of revenue, and in return they avoided going to court. CEO Lloyd Blankfein apparently not only lied to clients, but to the subcommittee itself on April 27, 2010, when he told lawmakers: "We didn't have a massive short against the housing market, and we certainly did not bet against our clients." Yet, they did.
And yet nothing has been done. No Goldman Sachs officials have gone to trial. This is because there is no way within the corporate state to vote against the interests of Goldman Sachs. There is no way through the formal mechanisms of power to restore the rule of law. There is no way to protect the ordinary citizen and the poor around the globe from the predatory activity of financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs. Since our courts refuse to put on trial the senior executives at Goldman Sachs, including Blankfein, who carried out these crimes and lied to cover them up, we will. Speculators like those in Goldman Sachs—who in the 17th century when speculation was a crime would have been hanged—must be prevented by law from again destroying our economy, preying on ordinary citizens, hoarding food so the poor starve and running our political process. We are paying for these crimes—not those who orchestrated perhaps the most massive fraud in human history. Our teachers, police, firefighters and public employees are losing their jobs so speculators like Blankfein can make an estimated $250,000 a day. Working men and women are losing their homes and going into personal bankruptcy because they cannot pay their medical bills. Our unemployed, far closer to 20 percent than the official 9 percent, are in deep distress all so a criminal class, a few blocks from where I speak, can wallow in luxury with mansions and yachts and swollen bank accounts.
What we are asking for today is simple—it is a return to the rule of law. And since the formal mechanisms of power refuse to restore the rule of law, then we, the 99 percent, will have to see that justice is done.
This article was published at NationofChange at: http://www.nationofchange.org/chris-hedges-speech-front-goldman-sachs-leads-arrest-1320422765.
Included here in full-text, with citation as Fair Use (creative commons, non-commercial)
for starters, see:
"Robert Scheer, Op-Ed: “Can we all agree that a $1 billion swindle represents a lot of money, and the fact that Citigroup agreed last week to pay a $285 million fine to settle SEC charges for “misleading investors” demonstrates a damning admission of culpability? So why has Robert Rubin, the onetime treasury secretary who went on to become Citigroup chairman during the time of the corporation’s financial shenanigans, never been held accountable for this and other deep damage done to the U.S. economy on his watch?”
Rubin’s tenure atop the world of high finance began when he was co-chairman of Goldman Sachs, before he became Bill Clinton’s treasury secretary and pushed through the reversal of the Glass-Steagall Act, an action that legalized the formation of Citigroup and other “too big to fail” banking conglomerates.Rubin’s destructive impact on the economy in enabling these giant corporate banks to run amok was far greater than that of swindler Bernard Madoff, who sits in prison under a 150-year sentence while Rubin sits on the Harvard Board of Overseers, as chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations and as a leader of the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project.
Rubin was rewarded for his efforts on behalf of Citigroup with a top job as chairman of the bank’s executive committee and at least $126 million in compensation. That was “compensation” for steering the bank to the point of a bankruptcy avoided only by a $45 billion taxpayer bailout and a further guarantee of $300 billion of the bank’s toxic assets.
"
http://www.nationofchange.org/too-big-jail-1320412438
Sep 17, 2009 ... Citigroup Bank is a "Key Financial Team member" for the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority (CRRMA) that builds El Paso TX highways ... epgtlo.blogspot.com/.../citigroup-bank-is-key-financial-entity.html |
Aug 4, 2010 ... ASARCO Bondholder Citigroup's head of Latin America team handled CEMEX acquisition of RMC and a 1.1 Billion$ offer for Grupo Mexico S.Peru ... epgtlo.blogspot.com/.../asarco-bondholder-citigroups-head-of.html |
Jul 30, 2009 ... Banking giant Citigroup recommends investment in Mexican state-run oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) via its dollar-denominated bonds. ... epgtlo.blogspot.com/2009/.../harbingers-citigroup-recommends.html |
Aug 27, 2009 ... Citigroup's Oil Trader's $100000000 Payday: A Wakeup Call for the Nation ... Google "Citigroup" in search engine for epgtlo.blogspot.com and ... epgtlo.blogspot.com/2009/.../bank-associated-with-asarco-bonds.html |
Jul 30, 2010 ... ASARCO former principle-bondholder Citigroup now ordered to pay SEC over ... " Citigroup to Pay $1 for Every $500 in Subprime Exposure It Hid ... epgtlo.blogspot.com/2010_07_25_archive.html |
Sep 9, 2010 ... 8: Government argues that 75 mil settlement with former Asarco principal bondholder Citigroup is"fair, adequate, reasonable and in the ... epgtlo.blogspot.com/.../2010-sept-8-government-argues-that-75.html |
Aug 4, 2010 ... ASARCO Bondholder Citigroup's head of Latin America team handled CEMEX ... "John Boord heads Citigroup Global Markets' Latin America ... epgtlo.blogspot.com/2010_08_01_archive.html |
"...Grupo Mexico said that Americas Mining the holding company of the mining division that includes Southern Copper and Asarco could list separate securities in capital markets. It did not give details about what kinds of securities AMC could offer, noting this is one of the strategic alternatives AMC is considering.
Banamex said that floating AMC shares would allow Grupo Mexico to raise capital. ....Mr Muniz [CFO of Grupo Mexico] said that Asarco's results were promising and that the mines in Arizona would be able to increase copper output to 280,000 tonnes by 2016...."
"I'm not going to say that," Puga said. "The new owners have to say that.""
God help us all, and all the little children who will be playing on the playgrounds and elementary-school-yard on top of the existing Asarco lands in the new "smart code" neighborhoods. Because the children have a high surface volume to body ratio they will intake more dusts and aerosols per pound of body than an adult, and have it affect them and their own babies' development throughout their lives. Simply covering the ground with asphalt will not stop the off-gassing of materials beneath the developments and "will not make it safe" [KVIA interview with UTEP Geologist].
The Trustee/TRUST did not test the CONTOP/Acid Plant's primary metal stack for contaminants, but wrote it off to the Bankruptcy court's decision releasing the TRUST from fiduciary-responsibility to test-for and/or remediate for the illegal chemicals illicitly incinerated by Asarco in El Paso TX from 1991-1998 -- in fact, the Bankruptcy courts totally publicly ignored that such incineration of D.O.E. and other wastes ever happened."But Puga said money from his $52 million budget could be spent only on remediation efforts. It is possible, however, that something like sealing the stacks to prevent the spread of contaminants would qualify, he added."
Interested Taylor Springs [IL] residents learned during a meeting Oct. 20 with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that a thorough study of the Asarco Superfund site is set to begin.... Within the month, residents can expect to see technicians in required protective clothing [sampling] sediment and surface water from Shoal Creek Middle Fork, ground water from 14 existing monitoring wells and six additional yet-to-be-installed wells, air quality samples, and samples of fish, plants, and animals that may have been affected by site contaminants....Asarco is the 533-acre site of which about 100 acres is covered with residue from former zinc smelting and zinc oxide operations [up to 1994]. The residue includes zinc slag, plant cinder wastes, calcine clinker, sinter clinker, and coal. The primary contaminants are arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc.http://www.thejournal-news.net/articles/2011/10/27/news/news03.txt
"Google Alert: |
Open house planned on Asarco site Your Hub Officials plan to discuss Globeville Asarco redevelopment at meeting. yourhub.denverpost.com/.../0PN6unW4KoCp5OZYFrkCoJ-st... " |